[Group 1] Shadows Grow in the Alleyways IC

[Ionbound]

Alyx growls at the waitress seeming to imply, Get out of my city, the wound completely sealing up. Then she lunges, snapping and tearing, trying to rip into the transformed waitress.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ah, I see. I suppose it's good we caught this here then.

Attack: (1d20+5)[21]
Damage: (1d6+3)[4]

[Eonas]

Even in this relative darkness, you see the waitress' eyes gleam as you as you tear her leg out from under her - she lands on her back with a sickening cracking sound. She claws at the air above her, shrieking words in a language you've never heard before.

Spoiler: OOC

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You may make an attack of opportunity if you like; then we'll finish the opponents' turns.

[Ionbound]

Alyx barks triumphantly and lunges at the waitress, ripping and tearing at the downed opponent.

Spoiler: OOC

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AoO: (1d20+5)[25]
Damage: (1d6+3)[8]

[Eonas]

You tear a chunk out of the waitress' neck: she flails wildly, but now the only sound that comes from her open throat is a horrible sibilant piping, as of air being forced out of a punctured bag - and then the flailing and piping ends, and she just lies there, blood pouring from her wounds.

Whatever noise and scuffle that you've just made, the other two hooded figures don't turn around, just continue working on the altar. But the strange metallic figure sitting on the other altar slowly stands up on the floor, a little shakily - it's unclear what its intentions are, although its bloodshot eyes stare at you intensely.

[Ionbound]

Alyx howls triumphantly as the waitress bleeds out, then lunges at the next robed figure, determined to somehow interrupt their ritual...Or at least, in bloodthirst, still is attacking the softer target.

Spoiler: OOC

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Attack the nearest hooded figure, ignoring the barbed fellow for now:

(1d20+5)[25]
(1d6+3)[5]

Trip: (1d20+5)[16]

[Eonas]

You knock the figure over onto the altar, the screw he was holding clattering onto the floor. His succulent flesh gives way to your teeth, and you easily rip out his neck. Then you glance at the body on the table.

Below the chin, it seems to be similar to the other figure on the altar, apparently made of dried blood and razorblades. But the face... much of its skin is... the only accurate description is 'peeled off', still connected to flesh in many places, but loose and flapping in others. The muscles are damaged and punctured, its nose its non-existent, and laced into what skin remains on its forehead are thin, delicate strands of rusting metal. The other figure is doing something to its feet with his scalpel.

The body on the table's bloodshot eyes dart around wildly, and eventually (accidentally, it almost seems) notices you. With what seems to be an inhuman effort, he whimpers "Kill me..."

And then you recognize the voice. The figure on the table is Charles Farthingham.

The jagged body on the other altar walks towards you, almost casually, baring its hundredfold needlelike teeth. Hello, Alyx." it says in a hideous screechy voice, and suddenly ignites into a large aura of flame that burns your flesh. The body - who by now, you recognize to be Kalux' - stretches its jagged metallic arm and grabs you by the neck - you feel its claws resting on your skin, not puncturing it. The touch is almost soothing, until suddenly you feel something like your soul being torn to shreds.

Spoiler: OOC

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Take (1d6)[3] fire damage. Not subject to damage reduction, I believe, since it's elemental damage?
Also: (1d20+5)[21] Yup, hit.
On a hit, take (2d8+3)[9] negative energy damage, will save half.

Furthermore, make a will save (with a penalty equal to your stability... you still get to add your normal Will save bonus, by the way, in case that wasn't clear) against shock from having found your ally in such shape. You won't go paralyzed here, but neuroses might kick in.

[Ionbound]

Alyx yelps in pain as the fiery aura surrounds her as well as at the soul-sapping nature of Kalux's touch, but his unnatural form, the sheer corruption, steels her as she growls angrily at what she believes is corrupting her
beloved forests and lunges at what's left of Kalux, angrily trying to tear at his corrupted body.

Spoiler: OOC

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Will Save to Resist: (1d20+2)[16]

San save: (1d20-3)[4]

[Eonas]

Your teeth clamp down on his metallic arm - ineffectively, and almost painfully: the blades feel like they cut you more than you cut him.

Now Charles is screaming "Kill me! Kill me!", adding his voice to the symphony of rattling chains and chaotic melodies, to the high-pitched grinding of metal against metal as Kalux claws at you with sharp fingers, still aflame.

Meanwhile, the waitress stands up again, newly healed. She points at you: you suddenly feel woozy, and the world spins around you. The two bloody dancers from the club appear before your eyes, seeming as one, whirling around you like a top, laughing and moaning. The doe from last night (if it was last night you saw it) with the fawn's head hanging out of its rear end. The two deer are bloody, like the dancers. The doe grins at you, humanlike. Vaguely, in the background you see Kalux trip and fall, and the waitress cackle. The last thing you remember is hearing Charles' screams rise above all the rest of the din and seeing the floor rising up to hit you.

And then you wake, gasping and sweat-drenched. You're lying naked in human form on a small, mattressed wooden bed in a decrepit wooden building. Next to you, a man lies with his back to you, also naked. Bright yellow sunlight streams in through the many cracks in the walls and ceiling. A small bowl, filled with feces and swarming with flies and beetles, sits in the corner. There are two sets of clothing lying on the ground in a heap, as if haphazardly thrown there: one of them you recognize as yours. Your skin is still cut and bruised in various places, but the wounds are more superficial than anything else.

The man next to you turns around: it's Kalux, completely normal in appearance, made out of regular flesh and blood as opposed to razorblades and dried blood. "Good morning, good morning! How did you sleep?" he beams at you. There's something about his tone that feels slightly odd - especially given the strange circumstances you're in, especially given the fact that you don't even slightly remember how you got into bed with him, especially given the fact that what the hell happened? - but at least it's a far cry fom the hideous screeching rasp you'd heard in the nightmare.

Because it was a nightmare, right?

Spoiler: OOC

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Barely succeeded the Will save, so only 4 damage taken - DR doesn't apply here as well, I think. Bad luck for the Shock roll, though - you don't know what the effects are yet. I'm still not nuts about the whole Shock roll subsystem - it's clunky and confusing and dysfunctional. So I'll be working on fixing that when I have the time.

Claw attack 1: (1d20+4)[23] (1d6+2)[4]
Claw attack 2: (1d20+4)[20] (1d6+2)[6] So only 1 damage throughout. Not that it matters, because...
(I'll roll a will save against spells for you, just for the sake of expediency: (1d20+2)[7])

Because you heal all damage.

[Ionbound]

Alyx wakes up screaming, then retches as the scent of feces reaches her nose, then realizes who her caretaker is. Panicked, she scrambles away from Kalux and says, "Y-you...You're dead. You shouldn't be here. Where...Where am I?"

[Eonas]

Kalux draws closer, extending a hand towards you. "You're in the slums. We ran away, you and me. Charles didn't make it out of the nightclub, but we did. Remember? And then something came over you. It was all I could do to follow you here." he says, his tone hovering between nonchalance and concern.

[Ionbound]

Alyx shakes her head and rubs her temples, saying, "No...No, that's not right...I-I went home. I sent someone to help you, but I didn't come...What...What happened?"

[Eonas]

Kalux grabs your hand gently. "Are you sure you're all right, Alyx? I was right behind you as you ran. I escaped from the nightclub as they killed Charles." He looks into your eyes, full of sincerity and concern.

[Ionbound]

Alyx scrambles back away from Kalux and says, "No...No that's not what happened...I ran alone. I-You died! How are you still alive? What...What's going on!?" Her eyes dart around the room, looking for a door or any other way out.

[Eonas]

There are two exits on the opposite sides of the small room. Both wooden doors, one shut and the other obviously jammed, the latter door being too large and of the wrong shape to fit the doorway. The jammed door is cobwebbed: clearly, nobody's been through that one in quite a long time.

"Alyx!" Kalux cries, leaping towards you and grabbing your hands a second time, this time a little more forcefully. "You're not yourself! You need to rest. Let's get you back to your home. The one outside town - it's not safe anywhere else."

[Ionbound]

Alyx shakes her head and says, "No. No...Something is going on. You're a part of it. I don't trust you." With that, she kicks at the door that's jammed up, trying to knock it down.

Spoiler: OOC

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Strength Check: (1d20+3)[13]

[Eonas]

The door topples over easily, its hinges only having been affixed to weak, rotting wood. About two feet from the entrance is the wooden wall of another building, which isn't perpendicular to the ground but instead leans in towards this one. You could get through the narrow alleyway between this building and the other, to wherever it leads, but you'd probably have to either crawl or walk sideways.

"Wait! I know you're not yourself right now, but you have to trust me!" Kalux cries, and there's a note of real desperation in his voice. "It's not safe out there - Umgrub's a bad man! And don't you want to put on your clothes?"

[Ionbound]

Alyx frowns and looks back at Kalux and says, "Fine. If you're really looking out for me, where are we? Why am I here? Where are my clothes? And why is there a bowl of **** in here?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry I let this deadtime for so long. I forgot it was a thing for a while.

[Eonas]

Kalux grabs some of the clothes on the ground and tosses them at you. They're yours, all right, but all torn and bloody. "The slums! You came here last night - you weren't yourself. And we... we..." Kalux pauses. "Don't you remember anything?"

Outside, you hear footsteps, slow, heavy, irregular footsteps maybe 30 feet from where you are right now. Coming from two pairs of feet, it sounds like. Somebody's whistling (out of tune) and making a sound like they're dragging something on the ground.

[Ionbound]

Alyx shakes her head and says, "I was out hunting, blacked out, woke up in a twisted version of the city where you were a monstrosity of razors, and now I'm back here with you after you *killed* me. Forgive me for not being very trusting." Her ears perk up, though as she turns her head and says, "Someone's coming. Know who?"

[Eonas]

The whistling stops, and for a moment everything outside is quiet. Kalux, for a moment, convulses, burying his head in his hands and trembling - either out of frustration or something else. "Look, look," he says, "You just had a nightmare. Clearly you've been in Himmelburg all along, and... "

Your conversation is abruptly broken by loud banging on the walls outside. "I... I can shmell your shweat..." a deep, drunken voice yells, as the whistling resumes.

Spoiler: OOC

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Argh. Accidentally unsubscribed. Sorry!

[Ionbound]

Alex listens and shakes her head, saying, "No...I know I went home. And I know I went hunting to try to let off some steam. I just don't know how I-" She pauses, listening to the drunken voice, then looks around for a weapon as she curses, "Damn! My bow is still out in the woods somewhere. You have something like that around here?"

[Eonas]

Kalux nods, finds his pants on the ground and rummages inside them until he finds a small scalpel wrapped in cloth. He tosses it to you. It's the size of a kitchen knife.

Outside, the voice keeps yelling: "I can shmell the oil that greashes your bonesh... the blood between your gearsh..."

Another voice laughs, a grating raucous sound. There's a thud, and a splintering noise: one of the boards in the walls cracks, smashed by a large object.

Kalux pales. His hands cover his face again, and he suddenly begins whimpering. "No, no, we need to get out, we need to get out..."

[Ionbound]

Alex frowns as she listens to the words and closes her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose, trying to detect what's outside, as well as what's up with Kalux, via her lycanthropically-enhanced sense of smell.

[Eonas]

Kalux smells normal, of meat and blood and sweat. The figures outside smell the same, but there's something else: tar or hell-crack or something similar.

There's another thud, and several of the boards break in two at the impact. You see the blade of an axe poke through the hole in the wall. "Peek-a-boo, little ratsh. Daddy'sh come to play..."

[Ionbound]

Alyx nods to Kalux and says, "Alright, let's go." A hint of fear shows on her face as she turns, looking for a way out that doesn't go through the man with an axe at the door.