IC - 18 - Siege - Everyone

[Silver Priest]

Simon ignores the buzzing in his pocket, focused on Lindsay. He tries to grab hold of her, hoping that both he and Kris can free her or at least, keep her in place long enough for help to arrive.

[Philulhu]

Kris rushed to aid Simon, pulling at whatever is choking the life from Lindsay Peale.

”Get that fucking door open!” he yelled in the direction of the door, hoping his Police colleagues could get in to help drive this thing off.

[Mephistophilis]

Jocelyn squeezes under the bed but Regina backs further away in fear. Trying to manoeuvre in the cramped space Jocelyn can't get her hands on the small child. As she twists and turns something thuds onto the floor and when Jocelyn is back out from under the bed and looking towards Regina she sees the child gingerly holding a handgun.

-----

Kris and Simon pull on the cold, slimy tentacle...or tail... To touch it is not what they expect, hard, muscular, pulsatile, getting a purchase on the slick surface is enough of an effort let alone trying to loosen the powerful grip.

OOC:   Using the rules for Physical Human Limits Simon will need to roll an Extreme success on a Strength test as he has the higher Strength. Kris has helped by making the task possible with his lower Strength

Tugging on the serpentine appendage they can't help but look up, towards the open window from where the creature projects into the room. It is difficult to even resolve what they are seeing, wispy tendrils of vapour reaching out with cold fingers or a writhing mass of worms with membranous wings at random angles. From the centre protrudes something like a head, three black eyes on one side and four on the other, between them a jaw, wide open in an unnatural way, unhinged like a snake, and from that a muscular tube pokes out, its circumference filled with small, pointed teeth that surround red, glistening mucosa. Radiating from around the outside of the head are several articulated and pointed structures that flicker in and out of the mouth part like they're tasting the air or trying to grasp things to drag into the path of the razor sharp teeth.

OOC:   Sanity loss 0/1d10

[Philulhu]

SAN (68%) 1d100
SAN loss (if required) 1d10

Edit: Passed, no SAN loss, thankfully!

”Pull!” Kris exhorted Simon, even though the psychologist was clearly stronger than him and doing most of the work. ”If we don’t get this thing off her, she’s going to die!”

[Silver Priest]

1d100 Str 9

1d100 San 45

1d10 San loss

I would like to spend one luck to make that the needed extreme success, if possible.

Simon lets out a muffled cry of fear at the horror he sees, the rationality that has been getting him through all of this finally fleeing him. He wants nothing more but to crawl under the bed and hide. But looking into the terrified eyes of Lindsay, he forces himself to remember the job he has to do and the promise he's made her, and he pulls with all his might.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn slowly raises her hands. "Be careful with that, Regina," she says. "I think you'd better give it back to me. I've been trained to use it, and I can protect you."

[Philulhu]

Kris could see the fear in Simon’s eyes. ”Stay with me, Simon!” he yelled. “We can do this!”

[Mephistophilis]

Hauling with all their might, Kris and Simon eventually manage to loosen the sinuous grip around Lindsay. She gasps and then sucks in the air desperately before ducking under the slippery flesh and backing towards the bed. She grabs her shotgun and cracks it open again, her shaking hands shoving in the cartridges she rips from her pockets.

The creature seems to float in the air like a marionette, defying the laws of physics, its ragged wings providing no obvious lift. The toothed maw spasms and emits a series of low, gutteral noises, like some primitive attempt at speech. The air is filled with a foul, meaty stench. This is followed by a shrieking sound as the mouth unfolds like a three sided petal, fleshy sheath shooting across the short distance towards Lindsay, articulated appendages flicking and scratching at her face

The mouth engulfs Lindsay's head and there is a sickening sound, like a crunch followed by a squelch. Lindsay's body thuds to the ground hosing arterial blood from the ragged stump of her neck.

The creature's mouth constricts again, making more gutteral noises, and then it opens wide, emitting a chilling scream.

-----

Kris must test Sanity again 1d3/1d10.

He'd had some doubts but this confirms it to Simon, the quality of these special effects, animatronics even, Balfour's hands are all over this. He has to admit, reluctantly, the man's an evil genius. But really, floating there in the middle of the room, has the man no idea of basic physics? Still, what he did to Lindsay, he's not sure how he did that or if she is okay.

-----

Simon's insanity is automatically triggered when he loses further Sanity.

Regina continues to hold the handgun by the barrel, she looks scared and confused.

Jocelyn hears a struggle beyond the bed. Then something bumps into it and there's the sound of a gun being cracked open. This is followed by a low, gutteral noise like some primitive attempt at speech, and accompanied by a faint smell of spoiled meat. There is then a shriek and a confused sound of crunching and squelching, and then a thud. The harsh noises repeat followed by a chilling, unearthly scream.

Bite 65%: 1d100 5

Dodge 45%: 1d100 18

[Philulhu]

SAN Check (68%) 1d100

SAN loss (1d3) - 1d6 (can’t roll 1d3 so will settle for 1d6/2, rounding up (2 points).

Kris saw red (literally!) as the creature let Lindsay’s headless, lifeless, body slump to the floor. ”Add murder to your criminal damage!” he snarled and he grabbed the shotgun from the bed and swung it with all his might at the head of the creature.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn carefully and slowly reaches out for the pistol's grip.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Oof, shame Lindsay can't spend luck. Was super excited I made that roll too. RIP.

"Lindsay!" Simon screams, morning the lose of the woman he had hoped to save by this unspeakable horror.

But that's enough to push him over the edge. His panic dispels, and he finds himself rather calm. What he had just seen happen was impossible. And since it was impossible, that meant that none of this was real. Lindsay was surely fine, but he needed to prove this was all some sort of hallucination. Balfour must have drugged the room somehow. He starts to move towards the creature, intent on grabbing at it. Either it was an illusion that touching it would dispel, or he could pull its mask off and reveal it as a man in a funny suit. He wasn't going to allow Balfour to terrify anyone with his tricks any longer.

OOC:   This may be it for Simon, but I think this fits his character. Shame, if he died I was going to ask to play Lindsay. Whoops.

[Mephistophilis]

From the far side of the room the crashing against the door is growing louder and a small hole is punched through the wood. Light from the hallway streams in and illuminates the mouth of the creature, it screams again and the tissue in the light seems to steam and sear before the fleshy sheath retracts back into the head, with its asymmetrical eyes glowering.

OOC:   Yeah, Lindsay nearly made it - and that was a nice roll! Okay, Kris is swinging a shotgun - that's an improvised large club 1d8 + DB damage, roll Fighting Brawl Let's say Simon is also attacking the creature, unarmed, so that's also Fighting Brawl The creature will fight back so you can roll damage if you hit but be aware that it might hit you back if it rolls well - no bonus for it being outnumbered as it has 2 attacks I also need a group Luck roll - I think Kris has the lowest Luck There's always Bates if you die

Jocelyn reaches out and takes the handgun from Regina. From the far side of the room the crashing against the door is growing louder. She hears another inhuman scream from the direction of the window.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn crawls out from under the bed, hoping that Regina will be safe enough under there for now. There's no time to get her out, and it would only expose her to danger. The others need her help.

[Silver Priest]

Chuckling to himself, Simon attempts to grab at the creature and pull a bit of its costume off.

1d100 Brawl 25

1d6 Did 1d6 because 1d3 was not allowed, so I think that would be 2 total.

[Philulhu]

Kris swung with all his might but his aim was off and he missed the creature.

Fighting Brawl (25%) - 1d100

Luck (41%) - 1d100

At least I made the luck roll!

[Mephistophilis]

Emerging from behind the bed, Jocelyn gets her first look at what has been happening by the window. What she presumes is Lindsay's body lies on the floor, headless, in a puddle of blood.

Kris and Simon seem to be engaged in hand to hand combat with something massive, and serpentine. It projects into the room through the open window, beyond is difficult to even resolve, wispy tendrils of vapour reaching out with cold fingers or a writhing mass of worms with membranous wings at random angles. From the centre, protruding to immediately before Kris and Simon is something like a head, three black eyes on one side and four on the other, between them a jaw, wide open in an unnatural way, unhinged like a snake, and from that a muscular tube pokes out, its circumference filled with small, pointed teeth that surround red, glistening mucosa. Radiating from around the outside of the head are several articulated and pointed structures that flicker in and out of the mouthpart like they're tasting the air or trying to grasp things to drag into the path of the razor sharp teeth. Behind the head is a thick, wormlike tentacle or tail, whipping through the air menacingly.

OOC:   That's a Sanity check - 1d3/1d10

Simon swings at the section of the creature with the eyes, presumably the head, and his hand connects squarely to the side, below the set of three eyes. There is little give in the flesh which feels cold and slick and he is unable to gain any purchase, it is like striking a plank of wood, which was not what he was expecting.

Following up, Kris swings the heavy stock of the shotgun in the same direction but he's not as effective as Simon, the creature seems to recoil, or compress, and the makeshift club sails over its head and the muscular sheeth tipped in sharp teeth thrusts in Kris's direction, mercifully ending short and snapping at empty air. Kris feels warm breath gusting from its mouth, foetid and malignant.

Fighting back against Simon - 65%: 1d100 40, Fighting back against Kris - 65%: 1d100 80. Manoeuvre against Simon - 65%: 1d100 15

Behind them comes a series of sharp crunching noises, voices from beyond the hotel room become more audible, but still impossible to make out in the noise and confusion. With each crunch a thick beam of light, around the size of a fist, penetrates through the darkness and illuminates a patch of wall or floor. Several of the beams strike the creature, and where the light touches the slick, shining hide it steams and blisters.

The three sides of the mouth unfold and the creature issues a long, deeply unsettling scream. Then from behind the head the tail-like tentacle whips forward, past Kris, heading straight for where Simon is standing.

The creature is trying to grab Simon with its tail. It has achieved a hard success. Simon could avoid this with a hard success on his Dodge roll

[Mr. Handy]

As shocked as Jocelyn is by the apparition, coupled with the certainty that holograms do not cut off people's heads, the adrenaline flowing through her spurs her into immediate action and she does not process what she is seeing fully. All she knows is that they need backup now, so with her pistol in one hand, she rushes to the door to the room in order to open it.

Sanity roll (current level 58) for seeing the creature:
d%
Sanity loss:
1d10

[Silver Priest]

Simon barely has time to register his frustration at the costume not giving before he sees the tentacle coming his way. He attempts to leap out of the way.

1d100 Dodge 19 needed.

[Philulhu]

Can Kris tell if the shotgun is loaded?

[Mephistophilis]

Lindsay was loading the shotgun when her head was bitten off. When Kris swung it at the creature it was closed. So there's a good chance it has been loaded with at least one cartridge

How is she trying to open the door - pull it? shoot the door handle out? shoulder barge it? etc...