Play@YSDC

The hunting lodge where you decided to hide Madeleine is a few chilometers south of Paris. Jacques gets there first, followed shortly after by the other three. The lodge is an old wooden building, on two floors, capable of hosting comfortably half a dozen people. It's lost in the beautiful countryside, not far from a little blue lake, and for the first time in a while, war seems a far away problem.

There are three gendarme guarding Madeleine. They report that nothing unusual has happened, and the prisoner has not tried anything suspicious. You find her in a bedroom on the second floor, with windows barred from the outside, and a guard at her door. She doesn't seem particularly worried by her situation, though, and smiles as she sees you.



"Good evening, gentlemen. You probably did not have a fine time in Verchanne, but I trust it must have been an instructive experience"

"You might very well say that, Madame," says Jacques with a wry expression. "We have seen what you wanted us to see there. Two of my friends bear its wounds, as you can see. I shot it three times, twice in vital spots, and still it survived and escaped."

Francois doesn't enter. He introduces himself to the Gendarmes guarding it then does a circuit of the grounds looking to see if he can find any suspicious tracks, once satisfied he moves away from the house and finds himself somewhere with good sightlines all around but especially towards the house.

"You... fought... it? What?", she seems surprised for a second, then she exclaims: "Oh! Oh God... you met a ghoul, didn't you? Nothing else would walk in Verchanne these days, but I hadn't thought...". She stops for a second, then adds: "I'm sorry, I didn't want to put you in danger. But you had to see, what we did there... the reason why it must never be done again".

Francois,All seems calm outside, for now. You hide in the brushes, about twenty meters from the house, and starts your watch.

"It's called a ghoul?" says Jacques. "Does that mean it...eats the dead? I can see why it would be drawn to Verchanne, for there were plenty of dead there. We saw them as well, and I do understand why the weapon should never be used again, as I'm sure Monsieur Dupont must have when he saw its effects.

"I'm glad we can agree on this. That's why we chose to hide the book. In a safe place, where no one will find it. But only if I manage to disappear. Or else...", she stops for a few seconds then continues, wearing a tired expression on her face: "Or else you can kill me. That would work, too".

"I will not kill you" says Jacques. "I can't let you go, either. I take it this book has the instructions for manufacturing the weapon. I'm glad you were the one who removed it and put it somewhere safe. I had been worried that the Germans had gotten their hands on it. If you tell us where you've hidden it, we can go take care of it."

OOC,Using Reassurance.

Madeleine nods weakly: "Very well. But there will be sacrifices to make, and before we are done, you'll regret making this choice. I'll ask you one more time... are you truly sure?"

François,From your hidden position, you see a group of hooded figures closing in on the house. You count ten of them, all wrapped in heavy black robes, face hidden.

"I can speak only for myself," says Jacques, nodding, "but I would not be much of a gentleman if I allowed you to pay the price instead of me. Just having been to Verchanne means Death has already marked me. Most of my life is behind me, and most of yours is still ahead."

"Then, we need to return to Paris and...", she can't finish her sentence as you hear a gunshot coming from outside, and then more coming from outside and from the lower floor.

Francois,You are positive these are humans, with normal legs and feet. As you watch, they creep closer to the house, then they take out guns from under their robes. As you see that, you open fire on the closest figure, sending a clean bullet through his head, and splattering blood on a second men standing near your target. In a matter of moments, hell breaks loose as the hooded men and the gendarmes inside the house open fire. [ooc]Roll Stability please.[/ooc]

OOC:   Each of you can take action now. Most of the group is with Madeleine on a bedroom in the second floor, while Francois is outside.

"Stay away from the windows, Madame!" calls Jacques, drawing his pistol and ignoring his own advice. He moves to the nearest window from the side and carefully peeks out, ready to open the window and return fire if necessary.

Francois wonders whether his prey has identified his firing point if they have he'll slip out of his hide and moves to another position, otherwise he'll draw a bead on another one of the beasts and shoot it.

Francois,I have no idea whether I can spend on this or not if I can I'd like to spend +1, but I'm not sure if that is possible (in which case reduce result by 1) Stability Test [dice]0[/dice]

Jean-Luc moves to the wall while trying to struggling prepare his old pistol.

OOC:   Rolled 1d6 = 5

Madeleine follows your advice and crouches next to the bed, while you run to the window. There are several men outside, dressed in black robes, not unlike those of medieval monks. Their faces are covered by hoods, and they carry firearms. They are scattering around and firing towards the house, where the gendarmes are firing back.

François,Two of the men have turned towards you, and seem to be looking for you. If you shoot now, you will surely reveal your position.

Jean-Luc,No need to roll to prepare your weapon, but you'll need to roll to hit if you decide to shoot. Remember that you can spend Firearms points to improve your roll if you want.

Jacques is relieved that it is not ghouls attacking. Men with guns he can understand and handle. Leaning around the edge of the window frame to maximize his cover, he takes a shot at one of the armed robed men.

OOC,Firearms roll (2 points spent) shooting at a robed man: [dice]0[/dice] Damage to robed man, if the shot hits: [dice]1[/dice]

Jacques takes aim and fires, hitting one of the hooded men in the chest and sending him to the ground. One more is hit from the bullets fired by the gendarmes on the lower floor. The assailants are now in the open, and under heavy fire, but they do not seem willing to retreat, and start firing back. A couple of bullets fly near Jacques, and one manages to scratch his shoulder.

Jacques,You lose 2 Health. Also, roll Stability, then choose your actions for the next round.

François,You manage to sneak out of your hiding place and move through the trees without being seen, before fiding a new position. Choose your actions for your next round.

Jean-Luc leans over to see a bit more and tries to fire from his old, unused pistol hoping that it won't kill him in the process.

OOC:   1d6 = 5; not using Firearms atm

Jacques is shaken by the wound. While it is not that serious, it has been a long time since he has been wounded in combat, and he had not been expecting it. He tries to take another shot at one of the attackers.

OOC,Stability roll (no points spent): [dice]0[/dice]

Confident, that he has slipped away Francois settles into another firing position and selects another target he hopes the lack of fire from the direction of his hiding place may mean the two who were looking have turned their attention back to the more immediate threat from the house.

Aiming at one of the two watchers +1 spend and taking the time to aim[dice]0[/dice]

Jacques returns fire at the man who just shot him, hoping to take him out of action, but the shot goes wide due to his recent wound.

OOC,Firearms roll (no points spent): [dice]0[/dice] Can I use Intimidation to try to demoralize them?

The gunfight is reaching its climax now, as the two sides are relentlessly trying to kill each other. Jean-Luc shoots with his gun, and he's almost surprised to see that not only the gun is working just fine, but his bullet has found its way to target, as it hits the leg of one of the enemies, throwing him off balance. He rejoices for a second, but not being used to violence, he immediately cools off at the idea of having wounded, possibly killed, another human being - even if in self-defense.

Meanwhile, two more aggressors meet their end in the span of a few instants: one, hit by Francois's hunting rifle, the other by one of the gendarmes at the ground floor. Still, the hooded men are shooting back. The bullets hit the house, on both floors. One pierces Jean-Luc's shoulder, pushing him back a couple of steps, while a painful scream from the lower floor suggests that one of the gendarmes might have gone to meet his maker.

By now, only four of the hooded men are left standing. Still, they keep firing like madmen, and they seem to be screaming... a prayer, or a song... as they die. You can't quite make up the words with all the noise and the gunshots.

Jean-Luce,You lose 3 Health. Also, roll Stability please.

Jacques,You lose 2 Stability

OOC:   You can now act again.

More enraged by his wound than anything, Jacques fires a third time, caught up in the heat of battle.

OOC,Firearms roll (no points spent) shooting at an attacker: [dice]0[/dice] Damage to attacker (if the roll hits): [dice]1[/dice]

Francois moves again and then selects another target hoping that he is still undiscovered.

Keeper,Stealth:[dice]0[/dice] Firearms [dice]1[/dice]

"God forgive me..." he thinks to himself.

OOC:   Stability 1d6=3

Francois's hunting experience seems to be coming in handy, and shooting an human target, once you get past the moral implications, it's really not any harder than shooting a boar. So, one more hooded men is hit straight in the head and collapses to the floor like a broken puppet.

The moral implications of shooting to kill seems to be troubling Jean-Luc, on the other hand. God might forgive his effort of self-defense, but the man is having an hard time forgiving himself. And as he stares blankly at the gun that just shot, a bullet fired from below hits him straight on his left arm, slightly below the shoulder. Pain rushes to his brain, pushing out any other thought.

Jean-Luc,You lose 2 Stability and 6 Health.

Two more of the hooded men are gunned down by the gendarmes on the ground floor, and only one is left standing. There's a moment of sudden silence, and you think you can hear the man chuckling, then he thrusts the barrel of the gun inside his mouth and pulls the trigger. Then, it's finally over.

Francois slings his hunting rifle and pulls his pistol out before walking out of the cover inspecting each of the bodies, in turn, to make sure all are dead. He then returns to the first body and starts to search it for anything incriminating.

Jacques hurries downstairs to treat the wounded. He is of course wounded himself, but he is sure the others' injuries are worse.

Jacques runs downstairs to discover that two of the gendarmes only have a couple of scratches, while the third one was hit in his chest and looks beyond saving. He is breathing heavily, in the arms of one of his comrades, holding a small picture or her wife in his hands.

Francois checks the fallen enemies. Two of the men are wounded, not dead yet, but they'll die if not treated quickly. All of them wear the same simple clothes, a pair of trousers and a shirt, all black under the black robe with hood that they used to cover their faces - faces that, once revealed, seems to be absolutely ordinary. A more in-depth analysis reveals something peculiar about their bodies, though: on each left shoulder there's a strangely shaped scar, resembling very precisely a skull.

Evidence Collection,All the guns look new and coming from the same batch.

Forensics or Medicine,All the skull-shaped scars were inflicted with a jagged knife, to make sure the wound would not heal completely. It must have been, without a doubt, a very painful process.

Occult,The scar looks like the old symbol of [b]Mordiggian[/b], an ancient Goddess of Death. She was known with many names, her current one (Mordiggian) was born during the Black Death pandemic in the middle ages. Heretical cults were born, saying you could be healed from the plague by offering the soul of a loved one to the Goddess. These cults were violently hunted by the Church. Still, most occult experts would agree that the entity known as Mordiggian could in no way be linked directly with disease or healing. As such, those that spread her cults during the Black Plague were knowingly selling false hope to offer even more Death to their dark goddess.

1-Point Occult Spend,Ghouls and cannibalism are often linked with the cult of Mordiggian in ancient texts.

Jacques goes outside and joins his friends. "Somehow they knew we were here," he says. "I know my gendarmes did not talk. I hand picked them because I've known them for decades and trust them implicitly. It had to have been someone else who knew. We must move Madame Morvan, and this time share her location with nobody. Better still, we could report her as having been killed in the attack. They won't try again if they think she's already dead." He examines the robed men and their possessions. "These guns are all new, and from the same batch. The serial numbers are close together. And these skull tattoos were not made with needles, but with a jagged knife. The pain must have been extreme, and it was intended that the wounds would not heal fully." He sets to work on one of the wounded men. "We must keep these men alive so that we can interrogate them. It will be difficult to make these fanatics talk, seeing how willing they were to die and endure pain, but there are approaches that may work."

Francois looks at Jacques with a tired expression he finds there is as little joy in hunting men much as he had expected. Still, he does not let the past few moments cloud his thinking and he is not one to ignore the obvious.

Until we talk to these men and discover who they are and what they wanted we can assume nothing. Who is to say they were not here to rescue Madame Morvan or that she did not somehow summon them to this place herself. In addition, Andre, Jean-Luc and I all met up with Julienne before we came here, loath as I am to blame a long time friend, but who is to say that he did not tell the wrong person where we were going or any one of us might have been followed here.

Julienne says Madame Morvan is evil but we must recover the book as this is the key to the secret weapon, Madame Morvan says the book is evil and must be hidden and her with it, and the army cares not as long as they have access to their secret weapon. After all, I have seen these last few days I do not trust any of them.

Merde, hang them all, I trust none other than our small group.

"D'accord, I agree," says Jacques. "However they found this place, we need to find out. Whatever the truth is, we'll get it from them. I have much experience interrogating prisoners."

Madeleine joins you outside, looking at the dead bodies: "As I feared.... You see this mark here?", she points to the skull-shaped scar, "It's the mark of those who worship Mordiggian, an ancient deity of death. Her cult has waxed and waned over the ages, growing whenever there were massive events of death. As you can imagine, it has resurfaced again in these dark days. The book we hid... and that you unwisely seek to bring back to light, is in fact called The Book of Mordiggian. An unholy tome... and these fanatics here are looking for it".

OOC:   Ok, let's move on. Starting from friday, I'll be 10 days in Japan, so we'll have to stop again, but there's no reason not to play these days

Francois looks at Madeleine do you know how they might have found you? he asks.

"Well, I was thinking that they arrived here following you. Otherwise, they would have attacked before your arrival".

"I came here directly from General Gallieni's office," says Jacques. "I do not think I was followed. What of the rest of you?"

"I do not think as well but then again my perception is not what it used to be." says Jean-Luc.

I've been stalked by wolves in the in the Forest of Lagast and by Leopard in the jungles of Madagascar, but I don't believe I have ever been in the position of being stalked by a man. I honestly wasn't looking says Francois clearly somewhat abashed

"Well, it doesn't change what we have to do, anyway. If you want to recover that cursed book, that is. If you want to recover it... we have to return to Paris. ", Madeleine says.

"The gendarmes can take the prisoners into custody," says Jacques. "I would like to interrogate them myself, find out just how they got here, but do we have time?"

The two men get to work with alcohol and bandages, doing their best to keep the two prisoners alive. After a few minutes of sweating and grunting, their efforts seem to pay off: the two should survive to face interrogation. At the moment, though, they're unconscious. It should be possible, although a bit risky, to wake them up and have them answer questions.

Madeleine arches an eyebrow as she follows your efforts: "You're wasting your energies. These people are fanatics, and the world would be better off without them anyway".

"I've gotten hardened criminals to crack before," says Jacques, "as well as fanatical Communards and anarchists. I think it's a worth a try, so long as we have the time."

Madeleine shrugs: "The tome is not going anywhere. But there might be more danger on its way here. It would be best we are on our way within the hour".

"In that case, we should bring them to the gendarmerie," says Jacques. "We can question them there, separately, at our leisure."

Jaques Perhaps you can arrange for their transportation once we arrive back in Paris it will be rather cramped if we are to all travel back together.

Francois walks to the car opening the door he turns to Madeleine bowing slightly and gesturing for her to climb in. Mademoiselle still hasn't actually told us where the book is hidden nor how we are to deal with it after we have found it.

OOC:   Not sure if we're waiting for other players before moving on, but otherwise shall we back head to Paris?

Jacques telephones the gendarmerie for a patrol wagon to come pick up their prisoners. "I'll go aboard the wagon," he tells the others, "and the rest of you can take the car."

Madeleine gracefully enters the car. "We'll need to enter the catacombs. It would be best if one of your gendarmes could accompany us, Colonel".

The catacombs says, Francois, in which case we should obtain perhaps some rope and at least a couple of torches ideally at least one each. Because I for one do not want to become a ghostly friend for Philibert Aspairt*. You know his story, Mademoiselle? Philibert was a gatekeeper for the catacombs one day he heard a rumor there was a secret stash of brandy under a convent and so set out to find it with only a candle to light his way. His corpse was found eleven years later a few steps from the exit with a bottle of the said liquor in his hand. But do not worry they say he is a friendly ghost.

Francois will drive to an outfitter where hopefully he can acquire some electric torches similar to those the soldiers use in the trenches.

OOC:   1793 Philibert Aspairt only known death in the catacombs

"We may be able to get electric torches and other equipment at the gendarmerie," suggests Jacques. He selects one of the uninjured gendarmes that he had hand-picked to accompany them. "We'll also want entrenching tools, and there should be an ample supply. They're a soldier's best friend."

Madeleine answers Francois with a faint smile: "Charming tale, Monsieur. Let's hope we don't meet any ghost... or worse", she ends with an ominous tone of voice.

OOC:   So, you are stopping at the gendarmerie to get some equipment and then head into the catacombs, right? Meanwhile, if I got it correctly, some more gendarmes will get back to the hunting lodge to get the prisoners and carry them to the gendarmerie.

We go to the gendarmerie grab torches and other equipment and then go the catacombs I do not believe the time it would take you to extract any information from those men would offset the benefit of acting swiftly. says, Francois. So Mademoiselle, tell us more about the book's hiding place because the catacombs are a big place, who put it there? Is it simply hidden or is it guarded by someone....or something? and who does it actually belong to?

Francois thinking:   You have secrets Mademoiselle and I want to know what they are before I trust myself in the dark beneath Paris with you at my back. I wonder how many steps removed you are from those madmen who just attacked us?

OOC:   Francois will use the journey back to Paris to relentlessly question Madeleine. He wants to know the whole provenance of the book, how they found out about it, how they got it, especially how they came to think it was some kind of tool for the war.

Francois will use a 1 pt Psychoanalysis spend to see if he can gauge how truthful she is being or whether he thinks she is lying by omission.

"We hid it there, me and Sebastien. It was the only place, a place no one would stumble upon by chance in a thousand years. We knew they were looking for the book, the worshippers of Mordiggian. They let us play with it, kill those people in Verchanne. Then, when we grew scary of it, and we decided to hide it, they came after us. First Sebastien, then me", Madeleine says. "If you had just killed me, and destroyed my body, it would have been so much easier, really...", her voice trails off in a whisper.

ghill,You don't get the feeling she's lying. But she's definitely not right in the head. You can clearly see symptoms of [i]folie à double form[/i] (bipolar disorder), and she's definitely one for morbid thoughts. There's only one things bugging you: people talking and behaving like her, they tend to commit suicide rather quickly, if left unchecked and untreated. There's no sign she's tried or is willing to.

"So you made a mistake, how would killing you make things easier or are you thinking it would just be simpler for you?" says Francois

OOC:   Francois is worried she believes resolving their current problems might in some way require her death

She turns towards Francois and answers with a calm voice, as if discussing the weather, or some other trivial topic: "Without my head, they could never find the book. It's not just killing me. You must also destroy the head, or they could still dig out my memories and find it".

Well as I doubt any of this party are of a mind to do that we will simply need to recover and destroy this damn book. One other thing mademoiselle what in heavens drew you to this book in the first place, why even meddle in such things. says Francois

Madeleine falls silent for a few seconds, leaning back on the car seat, and finally answers weakly: "We wanted power. To end the war. To save people". She chuckles then, a bitter laugh, before falling silent again.

"You had never dabbled in any of this sort of thing before the war?" Francois adds as he pulls up the car behind Jaques police vehicle.

OOC:   I really can't make up my mind whether this woman is a evil cultist or not

She answers sarcastically: "What do you think? That we found an old evil tome by chance and somehow used it to summon an ancient entity of death? Of course we dabbled in the occult. Not that it helped us, oh no. Quite the contrary, I'd say. We'll probably be all dead before the end of this story, after all".

"Well as 'Les Rosbifs' say 'that is water under the bridge' " He climbs out of the car holding the door open for Madeleine

OOC:   Shall we proceed into the Catacombs?

After a couple of hours and some attention from a doctor, one of the prisoners sit tied in an interrogation room. He's a tall man, bald, with a long scar under the right eye. He would surely look intimidating, if not clearly weakened by the blood loss . He's pale and seems to be breathing with difficulty. Still, as you enter the room, he shots you a defiant glance.

He is probably expecting me to beat him, to work him over, thinks Jacques. Nothing so crude. That, he could possibly withstand. But I know the fanatical type. He will not be able to resist telling me about his cause. "Why do you want the book?" he begins. "What do you intend to do with it?"

OOC,Using Interrogation.

The man sneers, then starts speaking in bursts of angered words: "You fool... how can you understand! How can you... you have not seen it! The beauty... the beauty of our Lady! We will make an offering to her... to our Goddess! And we will become... become... like them", he ends the sentence practically spouting, saliva flowing down his chin.

"Who is your Lady?" asks Jacques, trying to appear eager and curious. "Tell me about her."

"Our Lady is merciful and kind", he answers, eyes staring into the air as if in trance, lips trembling. "She welcomes everyone in Her embrace and give them peace. It is her blessing. And we will help Her... oh yes... we will help Her show Her kindness to everyone".

"How will you help her?" asks Jacques.

The man starts laughing wildly: "Oh, you will see... yes... once the Master completes his work... you'll see".

"Who is the Master?" asks Jacques.

The man keeps laughing: "The master is strong, the master is wise. He will get the book. And when he does, his work will be complete and the Lady will smile on us", he nods vehemently more than once.

"What is the master's name?" asks Jacques.

"The name? You want the name?", the man says, then he bursts out laughing before saying, "You want the name? Come closer then. I'll whisper it in your ear".

Jacques doesn't trust the man, but there's a limit to what he can do while bound. He approaches, but he stays far enough away to prevent the prisoner from biting his ear, ready to pull back if he tries.

As soon as Jacques gets closer, the man whispers: "His name is...", but he doesn't end the phrase, instead he springs forward, trying to bite off a piece of Jacques's ear. But the old colonel is on guard, and retreats back before any real damage can be done. Nevertheless, the prisoner starts howling and laughing.

"A nice try," says Jacques, calm and collected, giving the prisoner a cold stare, "but I saw through it. I've been soldiering since before your father was born. Enough of that. Tell me his name. Now."

OOC,I'll use Intimidation along with Interrogation.

The man seems to shrink and stops laughing. He now speaks reluctantly: "We know him only as The Master. He always wears a mask, and dark clothes. He has black hair. We know he's very rich, and powerful, he could easily get lots of weapon for us, and all these strange books of magic...", his voice trails off and he falls silent. Then he seems to realize that he's been telling too much, and widens his eyes. Then, before you can stop him, he violently bites his tongue off. The lump of flesh falls on the table, along with a torrent of blood.

OOC:   Roll Stability.

As an old soldier, Jacques has seen it all before, including men killing themselves - though never before in this manner. Still, he is able to retain his composure, and he alerts the other gendarmes and his companions about what has taken place.

OOC,Stability roll (no points spent): [dice]0[/dice]

The man seems to lose consciousness, his head banging on the table in front of him, blood everywhere. By the time a medic reaches the interrogation room, he's already dead.

"I think he took his own life because he had divulged what he knew," says Jacques. "He doesn't know the name of his Master, who always wears a mask, so his face is also unknown, but he has black hair and always wears dark clothes, and is very rich and powerful. He has access to weapons and odd books."

OOC,Does this descrption match [b]Julien Faure[/b]?

"The description could match Julien Faure," says Jacques, pondering.

OOC,Yes, I'm talking to the others now.

It could be Julien, its a description so meaningless that it could match any of a thousand or more men in Paris. It is immaterial our goal lies below at the moment the faster we secure this book the better. says Francois gesturing towards the entrance to the catacombs.