[IC]Prologue 0.1: The Beginning - Lima, March 1921

[HelplessBystander]

Having treated the wound the best he could, John carried the girl and decided to heroically run off back towards the general direction of the hotel. He is quite sure there'll be a phone at the hotel.

[Raiko]

As de Mendoza pulls Atauchi towards him, his mouth distends, thrusting out into a disc shape larger Atauchi's hand. The insides of de Mendoza's puckered lips are covered with small, hook-like barbs upon which Atauchi can see little bits of flesh and gore left from the murder of Trinidad Rizo.

He moves his head towards Atauchi's chest.

OOC:   Please make a sanity check, lose 1d6 SAN if you fail, 0 if you pass.

[Mallet]

Antoine D'Estaing attacks without a moment's hesitation the monstrosity that de Mendoza has become !

Dice Rolls,Attack die #1 (70): [dice]0[/dice] Attack die #2 (70): [dice]1[/dice] Extreme success ! Automatic damage: 6 Damage if attack succeeded (1d4+2): [dice]2[/dice] Total damage: 6+4 = 10 ! [EDIT: realized afterwards that it was an extreme success, so updated the post accordingly.] Sanity Roll (just in case) (63): [dice]3[/dice] Sanity Loss (1d6): [dice]4[/dice] Intelligence Roll (60): [dice]5[/dice] [ooc]OK, so Antoine D'Estaing escapes having an episode of temporary madness, I believe.[/ooc]

[Raiko]

Antoine D'Estaing's sword thrust punctures straight through Luis de Mendoza's heart and out through his back. As Antoine pulls back his blade de Mendoza's limp body flops down onto the floor, a pool of blood slowly forms beneath him.

OOC,[ooc]The bonus die should have been 1d10*10, so that you get 10,20,30,etc. However I'm going to use the "tens" die of that second d100 which is correct I think, so your bonus die gave you a result of 03. So you've impaled for an extra 8 damage, ie 14 total. This is enough to finish de Mendoza. [b]However, you've also failed the SAN roll, so lose 1d6 sanity please.[/b] If he loses 5 or more sanity, then Antoine D'Estaing just keeps on stabbing de Mendoza's corpse for the next 1d10 rounds... [dice]0[/dice][/ooc] [ooc]EDIT: You've already rolled. That is correct. Antoine's mind rejects the impossibility of de Mendoza's monstrous form[/ooc]

[Mallet]

OOC,[quote="Raiko"][ooc]The bonus die should have been 1d10*10, so that you get 10,20,30,etc. However I'm going to use the "tens" die of that second d100 which is correct I think, so your bonus die gave you a result of 03. So you've impaled for an extra 8 damage, ie 14 total. This is enough to finish de Mendoza.[/ooc][/quote] [ooc]According to the rules, you absolutely are correct concerning the bonus die. Always played it as "OK, roll twice 1d100", though. My bad. :) I am not sure about how you arrived at the extra 8 points of damage, though. The maximum damage my sword can deliver is 6.[/ooc]

[Zero]

Atauchi's eyes opened wide in horror as he saw the form of de Mendoza morph into some hellish monstrosity. He fought hard against the thing's powerful grip as he remembered the state the hapless student was found in. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of steel, and his opponent suddenly fell limp before him.

"Supay!" he exclaimed, as he frantically struggled to release himself from the creature's grasp.

Sanity (64),[dice]0[/dice]

Sanity Loss (1d6),[dice]1[/dice]

OOC:   Supay translates from Quechua as "creature from hell"

[Raiko]

As Atauchi watches, the hideous maw of the monster that called itself Luis de Mendoza contracts back into the shape of a normal human mouth, by the time Jackson and Marcus arrive, there is nothing to suggest that de Mendoza's corpse is not a human body - although presumably those rows of barbs are still inside de Mendoza's mouth somewhere.

Jackson looks down at de Mendoza's body, "I never trusted that guy, but I didn't expect him to kill in the middle of Lima."

Turning to Atauchi he asks, "Are you okay? You're too fast for me, I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

OOC:   The point of sanity that Atauchi lost should have restarted his bout of madness, but the corridor is roomy and well-lit enough that he doesn't need to worry about claustrophobia, and as the fighting is over his anxiety will quickly pass.

[Zero]

Atauchi breathed deeply for several moments as he peered about the hallway, and then back down at de Mendoza's remains. He tucked his survival knife back into its sheath and looked over at Jackson who had apparently just arrived.

"Si, okay." he replied, then added in a hushed tone, "You right about de Mendoza, he not human. The mouth..."

[Silver Priest]

"Damn. I was hoping we could catch him alive, see if Larkin planned this.

"What about his mouth?" Marcus asks, then leans down to turn the man over and inspect him himself.

[Raiko]

Luis de Medonza's corpse looks normal enough to Marcus at first, taking a closer look in his mouth though reveals rows of fish-like barbs turned back against his gums and the roof of his mouth. The barbs are slowly retracting and will soon be undetectable.

"Oh my," mutters Jackson, looking over Marcus' shoulder.

"No, I was wrong Atauchi, I believed de Mendoza was human. Creatures from mythology, how is this possible?"

He stands up and says, "Maybe we should get the others and go pay a visit to Larkin's room as Marcus suggested after all. Amy is still in the basement!"

"I shall call for the Republican Guard, and try to explain what has happened, it is best you all leave quickly they are not so trusting of foreigners," says Sánchez, "Where is Trinidad? Is she okay?

"And the other girl outside? I think she was another of our students, Cynthia Vallier, a friend of Trinidad's I must check on her!"

OOC:   John is still on his way to the Hotel Maury - carrying Cynthia who is still unconscious.

[Raiko]

OOC:   Oops, almost forgot Marcus, make a SAN roll - only 1d3 loss if you fail - de Mendoza doesn't look as bad now. 0 SAN lost if you pass.

[Silver Priest]

San 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

San loss,[dice]1[/dice]

Though he does not say anything, Marcus pales visibly at the sight of De Mendoza. He's never seen anything like it. He distracts himself by responding to the others.

"I'm afraid Trinidad is dead," he tells the professor. "De Mendoza was finishing her off when we startled him. As for your other student, her wounds were severe, but Mr. Smith said he was going to try and stabilize her."

"I'm all for the idea of seeing what Larkin and De Mendoza have in their rooms. Hell, at this point I'm all for grabbing Larkin and making him talk. Not that I'm, ah, suggesting anything illegal." He adds lamely, realizing that most of the group may not be flexible with the law as he himself was.

[HelplessBystander]

John muttered curses as he marched on, slightly tired and drained, he wants another cup of hot chocolate.

[Zero]

Atauchi nodded in agreement when Jackson suggested that he and the others leave the scene prior to the authorities' arrival. He had witnessed first hand some of the injustices that could be inflicted upon those who had run afoul of a particularly ambitious or corrupt government official. The man would prefer to avoid such a fate if possible, himself.

"Maybe we need keep body for study." the tracker suggested.

The Quechua man wondered how Larkin might respond should his loyal henchman not return, and what it could mean for each of them.

[Raiko]

OOC:   I've edited my post above, as Peru has no formal police until 1923. Currently law enforcement is handled by the Republican Guard and they.only started such duties in 1919, so best get the hell away.

[Raiko]

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this Marcus, says Jackson grimly, "Trinidad was just a kid, and so's the other girl, and they're far from the first victims of de Mendoza and his cult - is it even a cult if these things are real damned monsters?"

He shakes his head, "We need to know what Larkin knows, and how many of these things there are. Just need to get Amy and John first, there could be dozens of them in Lima or just Larkin and this thing."

He points at de Mendoza's body with his .45.

"I'll go back down, an' check Amy's safe."

Professor Sánchez looks in horror at de Mendoza's body and speaks to Atachi, "I could perhaps store de Mendoza's corpse here, and would take much pleasure helping to dissect and burn it when there's time, but how do I explain Trinidad's death to the Guard? They will lynch me or worse if they suspect I have murdered my own student."

[Raiko]

At the Hotel Maury

John arrives at the Hotel Maury sweating and panting in the intense humidity from carrying de Mendoza's victim across town.

As soon as he staggers into the Maury's foyer hauling Cynthia's bloody body the hotel manager dashes to assist him - anything to get the victim out of public sight!

John is helped as to carry Cynthia to a spare room, and the manager makes a telephone call to, "The best doctor in Lima! Only the best for our guests and their friends."

He also arranged for a cup of hot chocolate to be brought to John.

By the time the steaming cup arrives, Cynthia is beginning to wake up.

There's no sign of Olivier or Michael at the Hotel Maury.

OOC:   This isn't aligned in time, but it'll never matter. I'm using "Hollywood time" to synchronise scenes when you split up - if you can't see each other, it doesn't matter what the time is.

OOC:   I'm going to be very generous thanks to John's spectacularly good first aid roll (and Cynthia now being a PC), and will put Cynthia back up half hit points. So she suffered a major wound, but no more. De Mendoza cut an artery rather than stabbing deeply, so Cynthia lost a lot of blood, but no serious muscle or organ damage.

[HelplessBystander]

"Hello, miss. Are you okay?" John asked.

[Zero]

Atauchi turned toward the professor and considered his query for a long moment. Unfortunately, there really was only one answer to their dilemma. They would have to conceal everything. Monsters didn't exist until he had seen one with his own eyes. The fewer individuals who knew about what happened here, the better. If this information reached the general public, there would be panic.

"You need hide her body too, she go missing if anyone ask." he replied bluntly.

[Mr. Handy]

Amy nearly jumps when she hears footsteps approaching, but she lets out a relieved sigh when she sees that it's Jackson. Though she is blinking back tears, she manages a weak smile. "I'm so glad to see you, Jackson," she gushes. "I heard a gunshot earlier. Is everyone okay? I found some things while I was waiting here." She shows him the notebook. "It was in her jacket pocket, but it's all in Spanish. I'm sure the professor can translate if nobody else can, but I don't need to know the language to understand 'Luis de Mendoza.' His name is in there several times. And this." She hoists the gold object, still using the handkerchief to grip it. "It was in that crate. The killer must have broken it open. There's freshly burned flesh on it, but it didn't seem to be hot. Still, I didn't want to touch it with my bare hand. There are strange shapes on it, like no writing I've ever seen before. And poor Trinidad...she's all skin and bones, and there's a round hole in her chest. It...it looks like all the fat's been sucked out of her through it. I...I know it sounds crazy, but it's just like the story you mentioned about the kharisiri! I wonder if I am crazy...I hope I'm crazy..."