CHAPTER ONE: Murray's Journey: Following

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Are the sandbags close enough that I can reach them without letting go of the door?

[Laraqua]

Show,the sandbags are by the edge of the stage toward the middle so no, not really. They're also not heavy enough to hold the doors shut against a determined push.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray knows he can't hold the door shut forever. With little other option, he prepares himself to make a run for it. He finds the key that will unlock the door to the control room and holds it ready in his hand. Then he releases the door and sprints for the control room, holding the revolver in his other hand.

[Laraqua]

Murray hears the other door open just as he rushes into the Control Room, slamming the door shut behind him.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray locks the door behind him, then makes sure that the door to the stairs is locked too. "There was another of those freaks in the storage room on the other side of the stage," he whispers to Craig. "Looks like a woman with long hair covering her face and her arms fused to her chest. I'm going to see if that dog or whatever it was in the hall is gone. If it's still there, I'll try sneaking down through the seats." He listens at the door to the hall to check.

[Laraqua]

Craig stares up at him, trembling in fear. He grasps at Murray's legs, whimpering, the message clear. He doesn't want to be left behind.

Murray can hear nothing over his whimpered cries.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let me see if the corridor's clear," Murray whispers back. "If it is, I'll carry you to the dressing rooms." With his revolver ready, he removes the mop that he had used to jam the hall door and cracks it open to look outside.

[Laraqua]

Murray reaches forward and pulls it open a crack, peering through into the corridor. It's dark, lightless out there, and he has to bring his flashlight to bear to see the blood smeared footprints on the floor. The prints are large, flat, and wider than they should be, but before he can pull the door shut or get a better view, or whichever it is that he would like to do, there's a sudden crashing weight against the door that springs it open and knocks Murray back several steps.

The man that staggers through the door is no man. He has no features but for suppurating, pus-slick wounds, as though he's been a long time rotting, riddled with wounds and crawling with maggots. He's larger than Murray, towering over him, even as he twitches, and the flesh upon his bones writhes as though each muscle were independent and latched to the bone in strange patterns beneath the fat and the skin. The stench flows into the room, filling it, and making Murray struggle not to gag. Craig whimpers, struggling weakly to slide back on the floor.

Show,with Strength 7 for Murray, it's Strength 18 gave it at automatic success on the resistance chart. Con x 5 roll to avoid the side effects of the stench. Sanity roll 1 / 1d6 to avoid the horror that is this entity (be glad its Silent Hill, in the usual CoC this sight would have a far higher cost). If you succeed on the Con x 5 roll, you get to act first due to your higher Dexterity.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray withstands the horrible smell and does his best not to think about the creature in front of him. Reacting instinctively, he raises his revolver and fires. With the thing this close, he can't help but hit it, and the bullet does some decent damage.

OOC,I get two shots per round. Do I get my second shot before it acts?

[Mr. Handy]

Murray's second shot hits the thing in the head, gravely wounding it.

[Laraqua]

Black blood and pus flick from it as the bullets burrow home but nothing beyond further twitches of muscle reveal any sign of pain. Nothing human could withstand those shots without falling, screaming to the ground. Nothing human could continue to barrel forward, as though it were entirely unaffected by the bullets. Its torso twists in an inhuman fashion and its head swivels around, slamming toward Murray but missing by a hair's whisker. How can something like this exist? There is nothing in any documentary or non-fiction book that comes close to describing its stench or unholy appearance.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray doesn't have time to think. All he can do is keep firing, for if he does not bring this thing down, both he and Craig are dead meat. His third bullet buries itself in its horrific flesh, again giving it a wound that should fell a mortal man.

OOC,Does that kill it? If not, I'll roll my second shot for this round.

[Laraqua]

The creature slumps to the floor in a pool of congealing black blood and pus that smells like nothing Murray has ever dealt with before. Craig stares at it, as it has fallen just to one side, and the door idly swings shut. So much has happened. So much has changed.

What the hell was that thing?

[Mr. Handy]

The stuff nightmares are made of... thinks Murray. He only now realizes how close he came to death. He absently reloads his revolver to replace the shots he fired. "We better get out of here," he mutters, his mind still numb. He scoops up Craig in a fireman's carry, keeping one hand free. He pushes the door open again and checks the hall, drawing his revolver and gingerly stepping over the hideous corpse.

OOC,I already rolled before to see if I could carry him, so I'm presuming I still can.

[Laraqua]

Spoiler:

Show, Absolutely you can still pick him up. Since you've rolled to see if it's possible, I'm happy to just go with that roll from now on for short stints, though it IS funny because you're very low Strength. Oh well, you obviously have the fireman hold down pat! Also, end of your first chapter so roll for skill increases and let me know if I've forgotten to check off anything. I am terrible disorganised like that. I'll open your next thread once you've done that.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Yeah, I chalked it up to adrenalin in my description. I think you got all the skills I successfully used, and there were a lot of them. Conceal(15) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524114/]increased[/url] by [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524115/]7[/url] to 22 Craft(5) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524117/]increased[/url] by [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524118/]3[/url] to 8 Fast Tak(65) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524119/]did not increase[/url] First AId(30) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524120/]increased[/url] by [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524121/]6[/url] to 36 Listen(65) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524124/]increased[/url] by [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524127/]7[/url] to 72 Locksmith(61) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524129/]did not increase[/url] Photography(60) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524130/]did not increase[/url] Psychology(55) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524131/]increased[/url] by [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524132/]3[/url] to 58 Spot Hidden(75) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524134/]did not increase[/url] Handgun(60) [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3524135/]did not increase[/url]