[IC]Chapter 1.5 - Cold Tidings

[Leonulf]

Rebecca rushes in behind Anderson "Holy horsefeathers, he's always been a livewire but this takes the mark. I'll run down to reception and get them to call an ambulance. - Amy slap him, keep him awake if you can until an ambulance arrives."

Rebecca turns and speeds off as fast as she can back downstairs to the nearest telephone.

[Silver Priest]

Marcus curses and aims for the last attacker, looking to take down the man who had mortally wounded his friend.

Firearms 75%,[dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice] penalty So... I think that's still a success? Damage if so [dice]2[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

Amy flies to Jackson's side, tears in her eyes, all thoughts of everything else forgotten. Shoving aside the man she had just shot, she does everything she can to stop the bleeding and keep Jackson stable. "Don't die, please don't die!" she sobs. "I won't let you die! I love you, Jackson!" When she has done all she can, she gives him a kiss.

OOC,First Aid roll (51% skill) trying to save [b]Jackson[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] I'm spending 1 Luck to make that a success.

[kabukiman]

Anderson:
Handgun: 65%

[dice]0[/dice]

Penalty:
[dice]1[/dice]

[Raiko]

The murderer crashes into the French windows as Marcus and Anderson fire, smashing them open and sprawling onto the balcony.

He drops his machete, which slides over the edge and clatters down the fire escape towards the alleyway behind the Hotel Chelsea. A crumpled piece of paper blows out of his other hand back into the hotel room, swirling around the room with snowflakes carried in by the bitter wind.

OOC:   @kabukiman: If you want to spend 2 points of luck, then you'll hit the assassin. Otherwise you missed. There's no danger of friendly fire though, as you didn't roll a fumble. Marcus' shot might not be enough to stop him.

Jackson's eyes open again, but he is very weak now. Amy knows that he's not going to make it. He speaks so weakly that she can barely hear him now.

"Sorry kiddo," Jackson chuckles sadly, coughing up blood, "so dumb, I thought it was you at the door..."

He gasps for breath and nearly passes out again, "Sent... my... n... notes... to... Jonahhhh... you've... got to... stop... them..."

Another cough, more blood.

"ssssstill... time..."

OOC:   Jackson Elias is beyond help I'm afraid. Amy's first aid success has bought you a few more words with him though. Don't waste too many words, Jackson doesn't have time for long questions. Jonah Kensington (of Prospero House Publishing) is Jackson's editor and publisher. Amy certainly knows him.

[kabukiman]

Anderson aimed at the masked man; for a moment he thought he missed, but then he saw some drops of blood.

Firearm: 1d10

[dice]0[/dice]

[Anatomist]

Rebecca rushes in behind Anderson "Holy horsefeathers, he's always been a livewire but this takes the mark. I'll run down to reception and get them to call an ambulance. - Amy slap him, keep him awake if you can until an ambulance arrives."

Rebecca turns and speeds off as fast as she can back downstairs to the nearest telephone.

Dr. Sánchez sees Rebecca run by him at the top of the stair, understanding what has transpired hearing the guns blasts, yells and sobbing from
room 410.

OOC:   Nemesio Sánchez will keep in the background until things calm down. Then he will search the rom inch by inch, taking as much time he need. success Spot Hidden 89%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Zero]

In spite of the shrieking winds, Atauchi had detected the unmistakable sound of gunfire from within the Chelsea Hotel. He had little doubt that his friends were somehow involved with the incident. He trained his binoculars upon the idling vehicle he had noticed moments earlier, and attempted to spot any occupants within. Having seen no one, the Quechua man tucked the binoculars back beneath his coat and descended the ladder. Once he reached street level, he took note of the vehicle's registration and then continued to observe it. Somehow, he felt that it was connected to what was transpiring inside.

Spot Hidden (70%),[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

"Stop who?" asks Amy, blinking back tears as she gently squeezes Jackson's hand. thinking back to what he had intended to be his last words. "Who is all alive?"

[jp1885]

OOC:   I’m writing this assuming that the 3rd cultist is either killed or escapes, as Cynthia has already taken her shot.

Cynthia stands up and steps back from Jackson and Amy. As distraught as she is (Jackson had saved her life at least twice in Peru), she is tactful enough to leave the couple alone for their final moments together.

The streetwise side of her character quickly overriding her grief, her thoughts turn to the cops - potentially corrupt as they are. No doubt they will have been called by now. If she is seen at the scene, covered in Jackson’s blood...

“We gotta see what these murdering bastards have got on them and scram before the cops take the evidence and pin this on us.”

Spot Hidden 51% to search the cultists,[dice]0[/dice]

[Raiko]

OOC:   @Zero: Make a stealth roll for Atauchi. You can have a bonus die, as the conditions make you hard to spot.

Room 410

The masked man hits the ground hard after crashing through the French windows, he manages to attempt to rise, but his arms lack the strength to push him up. He lays lifeless on the balcony, the snow around his body already turning to red slush around him.

Jackson's last ounces of strength are draining from him as he lays dying in Amy's arms. He makes a last effort to speak.

"The expedition... all... al... al... ive..."

He looks into her eyes sadly, "Sorry... sssso... collld...

"Thought it was you... ran to the... d... r...

"No, no, no, find Bray... day..."

Jackson coughs weakly, blood is bubbling in his mouth now, his final words are just a tiny whisper.

"ssstop... mmmm... werrr... owe... be... for... thu... g... gate..."

Jackson Elias dies in Amy's arms.

It is silent in room 410 except for the wind whistling in though the broken balcony windows, the jazz music from across the hall has stopped.

OOC:   I'll sort out what you find searching the room / bodies in the next post.

[Mr. Handy]

Amy wails in despair, cradling Jackson's body in her arms, her heart shattered into millions of pieces. Her entire imagined future life with him, marriage and children and grandchildren, is wiped out in an instant. She can't help but feel responsible for his death knowing that he thought it was her at the door, though on some level she realizes that it isn't really her fault. Finally, she comes to the conclusion that the best way she can honor his memory is to finish his life's work, to fulfill his final request, no matter how long it takes or what it costs her. "The expedition members are all alive," she says at last. "But the bodies were found. Although, depending on the state they were in, the authorities might have just assumed that's who they were because they were white. They could have been servants or others hired by the expedition. Bray day must be Jack Brady, Roger Carlyle's friend!"

[Silver Priest]

Marcus is silent as he pulls out a cigarette. Those who closely examine him can see that his hand is slightly shaking.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." He tells Amy. "At least his last sight was of you, rather than his killer."

He shakes his head at Cynthia. "Wish we could, but too much ties us to this place. We asked the receptionist, for one. And Rebecca's going for an ambulance; she'll be connected to us." He looks around the room. "Judging by the state of things these guys were looking for something. We should see if they found it." He retrieves the piece of paper the last attacker had dropped, then goes to see if any of them are still alive. He'd try to stabilize them if he could, but only to learn more about what they were up to here; he wasn't planning on letting any of them leave this room alive.

[Leonulf]

Rebecca arrives at the front desk "Call an ambulance now for room 410 - it's urgent, I think there has been a violent robbery up there and a man is injured".

After frantically yelling at the reception she runs back the others.
"An ambulance should be on it's way, probably with the law in tow..." she looks at the scene and see's Amy's expression and sobbing "Oh doll im so sorry. I hate to make things worse but we probably don't want to be here when the law arrive. They clocked us on the way to the room anyway - but hopefully don't have any names to put to our faces. I just said it looks like a robbery had gone wrong - but remember, the police have been "tidying up" anyone and anything connected to all this. We need to quickly grab anything that could be useful as evidence and disappear out of here.".

"I really am sorry Amy".

Spot Hidden 65%,[dice]0[/dice]

[kabukiman]

"I'm very sorry Amy, I cannot imagine how you are feeling".

Then Anderson says to Marcus:
"You are right, We should try to find what those bastards were doing here".


Spot Hidden: 75%
[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you," mumbles Amy, sniffling. "Marcus is right, we need to stay and talk to the cops. They can't all be crooked. And now we have the real Voodoo Murderers, so we can clear Hilton Adams. He has a perfect alibi. He couldn't have done this while he's in Sing Sing. Look, it's the same symbol they carved into his head..." Seeing what they've done to her beloved brings on a fresh round of tears, and she wraps her arms around Cynthia and cries into her shoulder.

[jp1885]

Cynthia hugs Amy fiercely. She says nothing - there’s nothing she can say that will make this any better - but she is there for her friend.

[Zero]

Atauchi took position behind a second parked vehicle not far from the one he intended to observe. As he approached, he hoped that the blowing snow would conceal him when cover was unavailable. The tracker had inadvertently exposed his head when he reached the front of the vehicle's cabin, but was fortunately concealed by a storm-braving pedestrian who had passed between himself and his objective. He quickly stepped back behind cover.

Stealth (50%),[dice]0[/dice]

Bonus Die (1d10),[dice]1[/dice]

OOC:   Man, these dice don't want me to tick off any new skills. Spending 2 more points of Luck to make that 52 a success... le sigh.

[Leonulf]

"Amy your right, there are good cops too, if this is the play you want to make I will support it. All I ask is we keep an eye out behind us, there are some very bad cops out there and they will want to silence the truth, what we have here is evidence of who has been murdering - not who has been covering things up, it will put us out in the open with little protection. But it isn't fair on Adamseither if we don't follow through here, we should make sure this clears him.".

Rebecca makes a few notes on her notebook regarding what has transpired, "I hope you won't object but I will need to call this in at the paper, I have some free reign but the paper has been my life. It will hit the streets anyway, but I can get it out first and make sure people know Jackson was brave and was fighting them off. Other papers might not be so kind, and it helps keep my editor off my back so I can see where else this leads."

[jp1885]

"Good idea," says Cynthia, disentangling herself from a sobbing Amy as gently as possible. "The sooner this gets to the press, the sooner Adams can be exonerated and the harder it'll be to frame anyone else for the killings."

She stops, suddenly aware that the jazz music has ended.

"Hey, if these jerks put that music on to mask the sound of their activities, then one of them has just cut the sound. Hadn't we better check?"