Play@YSDC

Casona Colón Inn - Puno, Peru
2pm - Tuesday 22nd March, 1921

The group from the railway station arrive back at the Casona Colón Inn, accompanied by Husiy, Eliza and her little boy Renán, long before the others return from their meeting with Nayra the Yatiria.

Eventually though, early in the afternoon, everybody gathers together back in restaurant of the hotel, sharing the tales of their meetings and making plans for what to do next. Jackson Elias is smoking his pipe, and the hotel owners agree to look after Renán if Eliza wishes.

OOC,[ooc]Feel free to read the other IC thread now that you're back together. I don't think anyone was planning to keep anything secret. You can be as quick as you like about this (or tale as long as needed to plan). Once you've decided where you're heading next and whether you'll all be together, I'll switch threads again, or give this one a better name. ;)[/ooc]

Cynthia fidgets impatiently, finding it hard to keep her mouth shut while Jackson relays what they had learned from Nayra, and fidgets even more so when she hears Eliza's tale.
"So d'you think the Fallen God and Father of Maggots are the same guy?" She asks the assembled company. "He's got a knack for names if he is."
She reclines in her chair, frowning. "Have we got time to launch a rescue mission and go to the pyramid without splitting up again?"
She hates herself for thinking it, but, if push came to shove, might leaving Eliza's child to it's fate be the lesser of two evils? Assuming the woman is telling the truth of course... She nonchalantly studies the mother and child for any signs of dishonesty.

Psychology 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

Cynthia,[ooc]You can't see any indication that Eliza is lying.[/ooc]

Jackson says, "Yes, I think the Father of Maggots is the Fallen God, Nayra's people have no name for it, but it makes sense that Larkin and the kharisiri would give it a name."

"We're going to need to make the most of the daylight while we have it," says Amy. "How far away from Puno is the ranch? We'll need to get torches before we go, and anything else we can use that's flammable: jars of oil, maybe. Also, we'll need matches or cigarette lighters so we can start fires. That's the only way to destroy them for good."

Dr. Sánchez will ask the innkeepers Gonzalez to get him 14 wine bottles, 2 per members of the group. He also send one of the boys working in the inn to fetch kerosene and petrol. He will then start making fire bomb of them with a rugg as ignition device.

"As far i can understand we got 2 choices. A: we rescue Eliza's child at her farm making a trap for the karishi when they arrive at night with her boy, and then go for the pyramid.
B: we go straight to the pyramid to cut the karishi from their power source. As far i can tell Larkin is getting here soon, so if we do A we might arrive to the pyramid at the same time as Larkin. If we do B they might kill Eliza's boy as the karishi is expecting Eliza to take us to her farm tonight "

OOC:   how is the timeline for Larkin here? is he arriving Puno today or tomorrow?

"I think we have to rescue the kid," says Marcus. "I'm no saint, but I don't want to condemn a child to these monsters, and Eliza has suffered enough. Besides, if we can destroy most of them at the farmhouse, we won't have to worry about being ambushed later on."

Cynthia, who prides herself on being able to read people reasonably well, decides that Eliza and her son are showing no signs of deceit. This softens her opinion somewhat, much to her own relief.
"I don't like the idea of leaving the kid to it's fate, but would we be doing a greater good by replacing the ward straight away? But if they're all at the farmhouse... " She turns to Eliza. "How many are at the farmhouse?"

Casona Colón Inn - Puno, Peru
2pm - Tuesday 22nd March, 1921

Eliza does not understand English, so Cynthia has to repeat her words in Spanish.

<<During the day, when they hide, there are always at least three of the kharisiri devils>>

<<But the most that I have seen is eight, the night that they came to murder all of my family. I have never seen Luis de Mendoza or Augustus Larkin, but the kharisiri have spoken if them>>

<<At night there is often only one, always one is watching my Julio, but tonight there will be more to capture you all for Augustus Larkin>>

"There's a third choice," says Amy. "We can rescue Julio during the day, destroying any kharisiri that are there, and then proceed directly to the pyramid before Larkin and the others show up. I don't like the idea of facing them at night, all at once, especially when they're prepared to kill us, but we have to rescue the baby. This way we can divide their forces and hopefully stay ahead of most of them. Once we fix the ward, they won't have any more power."

"I agree with Amy. The big advantage we'll have is they'll not be expecting us during the day, and they sure as hell won't expect us to be alert to their presence. Also, from my experience with De Mendoza they're not ones for guns. So we go in, blast them, and then burn the bodies for good measure. After this Eliza and her family should probably go into hiding until Larkin and his men are dealt with; perhaps with your friend Jackson, if she's willing.'

After some deliberation, Cynthia concurs. "Yeah, okay, let's do that."

"Yes, it seems the best option"- says Anderson.

Mr. Handy wrote:

"There's a third choice," says Amy. "We can rescue Julio during the day, destroying any kharisiri that are there, and then proceed directly to the pyramid before Larkin and the others show up. I don't like the idea of facing them at night, all at once, especially when they're prepared to kill us, but we have to rescue the baby. This way we can divide their forces and hopefully stay ahead of most of them. Once we fix the ward, they won't have any more power."

"Im in on this too" Dr. Sánchez keep working on those firebombs.

Casona Colón Inn - Puno, Peru
2pm - Tuesday 22nd March, 1921

"I also agree, that sounds like an excellent plan Amy, rescue Julio from the farm, and then head to the pyramid while the rest are figuring out what happened. We'll probably arrive at the ruins after dark, but at least we'll know the kharisiri will mostly be elsewhere."

Jackson explains the plans to Eliza in Spanish and adds:

<<I'm sure that you will be safe with Nayra until the kharisiri are all dealt with>>

Cynthia squares her shoulders, or as much as her slight frame will allow. "Alright then, let's get our gear together. I suppose we'll need medical stuff and whatever it is you use to carry babies in." She shrugs. "They aren't really my field of expertise... but then again, neither are fat-sucking vampires.."

Atauchi diligently sharpened his knives as the various plans were being discussed. Occasionally he would look up to nod his approval for a suggestion he found particularly worthwhile. The tracker recalled his journey from La Paz to Lima and how he stayed hidden among the produce for many days. He suspected the tactic could work for this situation as well.

"Si, suggest we borrow produce delivery truck, most of us hide in back. Got to Lima same way."

"Good idea," says Amy, pleased that her plan has been so readily accepted. She hadn't liked either of the alternatives, and apparently neither had the others. "We need torches all around, and something with which to light them. Preferably cigarette lighters, but matches will do if we can't buy any here. We'll need to buy jars of oil or turpentine, something flammable that we pour somewhere and then ignite."

Truck, driver, horses, animal feed, kerosene; Jackson helps to translate everything so that Eliza understands.

Husiy has a cousin who drives a truck that's available to hire. Eliza trusts the owners of another ranch, closer to Puno where horses can be hired, she also says that her grandfather's farm has a dozen good Peruvian Paso horses in the corral - she also says that she is an expert at horse riding. The hotel owners Alejandro and Karla know where the rest of the list can be purchased in Puno.

Thanks to the local knowledge, it will only take an hour or so to acquire everything that is needed for the plan.

"I'm no expert on babies either," says Amy, "but I imagine a basket with a blanket it in would make a good carrier. I was wondering about the gold artifact. Might it be useful as a weapon against them, seeing that it burns them with its touch? We'd have to be careful with it, of course. We don't want to damage it."

Atauchi continued to hone the edges of his knives across a whetstone as the discussion continued. It seemed that the plan was coming together quite well. Acquiring the needed supplies would not be much of a problem, but there were still a few points that had been raised to smooth out. He looked up once more from his work to address the others.

"I will carry baby. Use traditional method, we call it a lliklla. As for artifact, if kharisiri want it, we need keep it as far from them as possible. Maybe only hurt them if touch skin." Atauchi said.

Cynthia suppresses a chuckle at the thought of the taciturn Atauchi cooing over a baby. She focuses on the more serious matter of the artefact.
"If we take it with us, we risk it falling into Larkin's hands. If we keep it at the hotel, we might delay our journey to the pyramid by coming back here first... Hey Jackson, does our route from the farm to the pyramid go via Puno?"

Raiko wrote:Truck, driver, horses, animal feed, kerosene; Jackson helps to translate everything so that Eliza understands.

Husiy has a cousin who drives a truck that's available to hire. Eliza trusts the owners of another ranch, closer to Puno where horses can be hired, she also says that her grandfather's farm has a dozen good Peruvian Paso horses in the corral - she also says that she is an expert at horse riding. The hotel owners Alejandro and Karla know where the rest of the list can be purchased in Puno.

Thanks to the local knowledge, it will only take an hour or so to acquire everything that is needed for the plan.

"Huisy fetch your friend with the truck now please" he turn to the owners of the Inn "Alejandro, Karla please get us the supplies"
Dr. Sánchez picks up his gear and hands out 2 bottle firebombs to each in the group "be sure to test your cigarette lighters"

When the trucker arrives he will take the front passenger seat with Huisy and the driver, concealing his rifle and checking his .38 in his shoulder holster

Cynthia wrote:"If we take it with us, we risk it falling into Larkin's hands. If we keep it at the hotel, we might delay our journey to the pyramid by coming back here first... Hey Jackson, does our route from the farm to the pyramid go via Puno?"

"No," Jackson looks a little concerned. "The farm sits right across the path to the ruins about three miles outside Puno, just below the path up to the plateau, it's also as close as you can get to the ruins by road."

He shakes his head, "I suspect that might be why the kharisiri chose that ranch, you more or less have to walk through the farm's land to reach the ruins from Puno. So, if we return to Puno we'd need to cross the farm again later, or take a big, tricky diversion on foot.

"Is anyone any good with a rifle? I'm a bit worried that it took more than a single gunshot to bring de Mendoza down, and Marcus mentioned that the Chávez guy had a pistol, but de Mendoza still got to him. We don't know for sure how many we'll be facing."

"Hmm, I guess we'd better take the artefact with us then. We'd best keep it hidden I suppose," Cynthia sighs. "I could stand guard in the truck en-route and keep it with me unless anyone else wants to have it."
"As for rifles - well I know my way around a pistol and regularly visit the university firing range, but I've never really handled a rifle. I could try I suppose, or maybe take a shotgun? Probably got a better chance of hitting something with a shotgun."

"I'm a pretty good shot with a rifle, not quite as good as with a pistol I reckon but still better than average. If you think I should take a rifle or something I'll be more than happy to."

"I'm not good with any gun," says Amy, "but I think I'd aim better with a longer barrel, and pack more of a punch. I'm pretty helpless otherwise."

"I'm taking a pistol and a knife, never knows when it can be useful".- says Anderson

Cynthia mulls over what's being said. "So we distribute whatever rifles can be found to those who know how to use them and Amy can have a shotgun. If nothing else can be found, the rest of us will have to make do with our pistols. Plus we have bottles of fuel and sprayers to light the khasiri up."
She thinks for a second, looking grave. "We'll also need machetes or axes to cut thier heads off - let's hope we're not squeamish... Oh, and a good supply of leaves - we don't wanna be out of breath when the time comes."
She checks to make sure she's got some leaves in her satchel, stuffing some in her jacket pocket for easy access before continuing. "So some of us rattle up to the farmhouse in the truck. What about the others? Ride around the rear on horses? Can everyone handle a horse, even if they get spooked by the vampires?"

John says, "I can ride."

"I'm afraid I've never ridden a horse before," says Amy. "I'm a city girl."

Cynthia grins. "That's why I'm volunteering to go in the truck..."

"I'm in the truck".- says Anderson.

Atauchi wiped his knives clean with a cloth and then returned them to their respective sheaths. He frowned slightly when the farm's precise position became known. It was, unfortunately for them, an excellent locale to set an ambush.

"Okay, we hide artifact in truck. Do good job." the man replied.

The Quechua tracker nodded in John's direction when the other man declared his ability to ride. It had been decided then, hree of them would approach when their adversaries' attention was elsewhere.

"Bueno. John and Marcus coming with me, we take horses, sneak in while others make distraction." he suggested.

OOC:   I reckon we have binoculars, yes?

"All right," says Amy. "I'll go in the truck too."

Casona Colón Inn - Puno, Peru
3:30pm - Tuesday 22nd March, 1921

After a hectic hour and a half of planning and purchasing, Husiy's cousin Maicu drives up outside the Casona Colón Inn in the hired truck, loaded with sacks of feed for the horses of Eliza's family ranch.

The two horses are already here, and a few minutes later everyone is ready to depart for the Rancho con Vistas al Lago.

OOC:   The adventure continues in: The Ranch