The voice on the phone said, "I understand that you are a friend of my son, James. He has gone missing. I require your assistance in bringing him home again...”
A university student has gone missing. Can his friends find out what has happened to James Frazer in 1920s Massachusetts?
"We're going to the ruined chapel,"William tells the soldiers as he heads in that direction as fast as he can. "You go on ahead of me, I'll only slow you down. I'll catch up to you. Time is of the essence! Carter killed the lock-up guard and sprung Gibbings, and my friends tracked them to the chapel."
The two Grapple successes don't have to be in a row, I believe, so that should do it unless he's able to counter the Grapple.
Gibbings swore as Alex also grabbed his rifle. He might not have been able to break their grips, but it didn’t mean he was going to give up without a fight, trying to twist the weapon free, albeit without success.
From the hospital, Alex and Lawrence could hear William shouting instructions to someone and they could see some men rushing towards them in the darkness.
"Over here, William! Over here!" Lawrence breaks away from Gibbings and Alex as they wrestle for the rifle, only to make a heavy swing at the young soldier's temple!
Fist 60%: 1d100
Damage 1d3+1d4: 1d4+1d62
I can't seem to get the dice roller to roll 1d3, and it looks like it didn't take 1d6÷2 either.
Umm, yeah, having gained some control over the gun, Lawrence letting go again means that Alex must grapple again in order to stop Gibbings using the rifle.
The dice roller doesn’t seem to be working again as I can’t see your results (Ignore that, I posted a test and it’s working again!)
When it’s working, for 1d3 just roll 1d6 and divide by two, rounding up.
Test 1d100
Gibbings grapple - 1d100
Gibbings punch - 1d100
”Bastard!”Gibbings staggered backwards, forced back by Lawrence’s punch, his grip on the rifle broken. ”I’ll kill you!” he screamed at Lawrence and he swung a punch of his own but his missed.
Alex has made two grapple rolls in a row, the last one an extreme success. With Gibbings letting go I assume I don't have to make another roll, but let me know if I'm wrong.
With Gibbings stumbling backwards, Alex points the rifle directly at his chest. "Don't move, Gibbings.It's over!" He does not want to fire, but he has no qualms about doing so.
There was a ‘crack’ as Lawrence’s punch broke Gibbing’s nose and the soldier fell to the floor. He looked up with murder in his eyes but saw Alex pointing his rifle at him and he just swore. ”You don’t know what you’re doing! I could get my cousin back!”
As the other soldiers rushed up, followed by William, Gibbings head sagged forward. ”I just wanted Harry back!” he howled into the mud and water in which he lay.
SP - No further grapple required. Alex has the rifle.
OOC: Damn you for making me actually feel sorry for Gibbings.
"This isn't the way, Gibbings." Alex says softly, though he's aware his words are highly unlikely to comfort the man. Maybe traveling through time could, but they had very little control over where they ended up, and there was nothing to say they'd even do it--or should do it-- again.
"We all lose people we care about, Gibbings, but that's how life works, and we all have to live with it! What you got involved with, it didn't care about you or your cousin; you're being used for god-only-knows-what. I've seen it happen before."Lawrence states, a somber expression on his face. He felt an upwelling of pity for Gibbings as he watched the private wail in the mud, recalling how Emily in Arkham had turned to the occult after learning of James's death, only to be manipulated beyond the grave by Brophy. If a mere man could do such a thing, what could the Returner of Limbs do?
"You can see your cousin again in the Resurrection," says William. "What you had planned is not the way, and it wouldn't have turned out like you expect. Talk to Father Joe. If anyone can help you, he can." His ears barely pick out something in the silence.
Two of the soldiers that had accompanied William lifted Gibbings from the ground and started to take him back to the hospital. The Lance-Jack looked around and cocked his ear. “Can you hear that too?” he asked, with a puzzled look. “It sounds like chanting…”
The Lance-Jack was right it did sound like chanting, but it felt like vibrations coming up through the earth. As they looked around, the sky started to take a reddish hue, which caused pools of water to look like blood and the ground itself to look like flesh… …
"Christ almighty..."Lawrence remarks as he gazes up at the crimson-tinted sky, awestruck and horrified by unearthly sight. His eyes, however, soon shoot downwards towards the crypt's entrance; he briskly jogs over to the door and stands ready to shoulder it open. "Reynolds, I'm going to need that rifle now! Everyone, there's more men in the crypt!"
The door to the crypt was unlocked and the steps downwards were lit with unearthly red glow which pulsed like the heartbeat of a dying man, sending uneven shadows sliding over the walls.
From below chanting could be heard, the sound of multiple voices joined as one. ”Iä! Iä! Restorer of men! Iä! Iä! Lord of the Flesh! Iä! Iä! Mordiggian! Iä! Iä!”
Above their heads, ochre clouds broiled and black ravens wheeled and banked in the stiffening breeze, shifting spasmodically to amorphous black shapes that cawed triumphantly, as red rain began to fall…
Alex knows true fear, but he presses onwards, looking at the men around him,specifically the soldiers who have no experience with this. "The only way this ends is to stop their ritual. We must remain brave; I truly fear the consequences for all others int his area if we fail. We do not fight just to save ourselves; we fight to save our brothers and sisters as well."
Lawrence nods, wordlessly handing off the bayonet to Alex. It felt good to finally have a gun; in that moment, despite all the terror coursing through his brain, it almost felt as if the rifle had been molded just to fit Lawrence's hands.
Lawrence leads the charge into the crypt, rushing down the steps towards the chamber where the altar had been found, where he assumed the ritual must have been taking place. With any luck, the worshippers of the Returner of Limbs would be so preoccupied with their ritual that they wouldn't be able to quickly mount a proper defense.
For later (and by later I mean very soon) reference, what's the damage for this rifle?
