IC-Ep 3-Fire in the Dark(Eugene only)

[Mr. Handy]

THE HORROR IN THE BLACKOUT

EPISODE 3

Steadman's Warehouse - Limehouse, London, England
7:40 PM - Sunday, September 8, 1940

Suddenly, Madeline snapped shut the lid of the little yellow box, and Eugene found himself lying on his back staring up at the sky, where aircraft roared overhead and searchlights roamed back and forth trying to shine on them. He was still in intense pain, and his muscles remained locked, though he could move his eyes and direct his gaze now. Then something shimmered in the darkness in front of Madeline, and to his horror he saw a large bat-like shape materialize there. It was much larger than a man, and it had that same horrid tri-lobed burning red eye. It was gazing right at him...

OOC,[b]Eugene[/b], please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1D6/1D20, so you will lose 1D6 Sanity even if you succeed, or 1D20 if you fail. If you lose 5 or more, you will have to then roll Idea. Success at that roll means you will go temporarily insane. You will also go indefinitely insane if you lose at least 2, which is almost certain to happen, as that would mean you've lost at least 20% of your Sanity within an hour of game time. Also, please roll Luck.

[jp1885]

SAN 35 [dice]0[/dice]
Fail
SAN loss [dice]1[/dice]
Idea 65 [dice]2[/dice]
So Eugene is temporarily and indefinitely insane!

Luck 45 [dice]3[/dice]

Hah!

[Mr. Handy]

James stood staring at the apparition, slack-jawed.

"What is that?!" cried Madeline, startled. "That wasn't what I called up last night."

"It is the Father of All Bats!" said Catherine, excited. "If he has answered our call, then we cannot fail!"

Eugene's pain began to dissipate, quickly reduced to a sensation of pins and needles. Then it was gone, and all he was left with was his terror. But before he could act, the dark creature swooped toward him!

OOC,Type of temporary insanity: [dice]0[/dice] Duration of temporary insanity: [dice]1[/dice] [b]James[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 65): [dice]2[/dice] Sanity loss: [dice]4[/dice] Idea roll (65% stat): [dice]6[/dice] Type of [b]James[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]7[/dice] Duration of [b]James[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]8[/dice] [b]Madeline[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 70): [dice]3[/dice] Sanity loss: [dice]5[/dice] Creature's Grapple attack (95% chance): [dice]9[/dice] [b]Eugene[/b], your temporary insanity is echolalia. You will repeat what others say, but you may otherwise act freely. It lasts for 6 rounds. Your indefinite insanity, which will last for months, is fear of the dark. I hope you live long enough for it to mean something. Please roll Dodge.

[jp1885]

Eugene wasn't gonna hold his breath...

Dodge 20%,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   Damn, this is 6e - can't spend luck!

[Mr. Handy]

The monstrosity wrapped its tail tight around Eugene. While what little he could see of it looked insubstantial, its grip was nonetheless extremely firm.

OOC,[b]Eugene[/b], you may act now.

[jp1885]

His sanity long gone, Eugene screamed as the thing wrapped itself around him. He babbled an incoherent mix of half-remembered Bible passages, prayers and prices from the latest vacuum cleaner catalogue while struggling instinctively to free himself.
Kicking, squirming and using what little wits he had left, he frantically reached inside jacket for his pocket knife, hoping to plunge it into the creatures insubstantial flesh.

[Mr. Handy]

Eugene reached the knife without difficulty. Whatever was holding him didn't even try to stop him from digging in his pockets.

OOC,[b]Eugene[/b], if you wish to attack, please roll Knife.

[jp1885]

OOC:   On reflection I'd like to try something before I use the knife. Can I roll for luck to see if Eugene has a flashlight?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,That's an excellent idea, but I'm sorry, you can't. The characters that have flashlights (referred to as "electric torches") have it specifically indicated on their character sheets. If it's not listed there, you don't have one. [b]Brook[/b] does have one, and her player has just returned, but you don't know where she is right now. I had you roll Luck earlier to see if something would happen that might help you, but you failed that badly. There is one possibility. If [b]Eugene[/b] smokes, and most men in 1940 did, he'll have either a lighter or matches in his pocket that he can reach.

[jp1885]

OOC,Ok fair enough :)

Crazy notions swirled through Eugene's addled mind as he fought to free himself from the creature's grip - stab down at the insubstantial form; wave a torch in the air and have the Luftwaffe bring down retribution on them all; set his handkerchief alight to attract attention...
Actually...
Eugene's let go of his knife and instead brought out his cigarette lighter. His other hand pulled out his handkerchief and he frantically tried to set it alight.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllppppppppp! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!" he screamed.
Hopefully Brook was somewhere nearby!

[Mr. Handy]

The creature released Eugene as soon as the tiny light sparked into existence. It slithered back into the shadows and let out a shrill, inhuman shriek. The miniscule light was his only hope and comfort in the darkness.

"Drop it," snarled Madeline, leveling her pistol at Eugene.

Catherine began chanting under her breath and making those weird gestures again. Eugene found himself chanting along with her.

James still stood motionless, staring blankly.

[jp1885]

Between the smothering darkness and the compulsion to repeat the weird things Catherine was chanting, that tiny spark of sanity that remained within Eugene was amazed by the effect such a flickering light had on the creature.
He knew that Madeline had him covered with her pistol, but such earthly perils were nothing compared to the horrors he had endured.
No, the mother was the source of all this - it was she who had brought forth the creature. If her hair could be set alight...
Growling as he chanted, he lowered his head and, burning handkerchief held high in one hand and lighter in the other, charged at Catherine with all the speed and power of a madman.

[Mr. Handy]

While James remained motionless, Madeline stood between Eugene and her mother, and she was not about to let him pass. Instead of firing the gun in her right hand, however, she held up the tiny yellow box in her left and flipped it open, revealing the stone within to him once again.

OOC,[b]Eugene[/b], please roll POW x 3. If you succeed, you may then make an attack roll against [b]Catherine[/b]. If you fail, you will be unable to act.

[jp1885]

POW times 3 27,[dice]0[/dice]

Attack,[dice]1[/dice]

Summoning all his willpower, Eugene brought himself together enough to launch himself at Catherine. The attack was a clumsy one however.

[Mr. Handy]

Knowing what to expect and filled with bloody-minded determination, Eugene forced himself to look away from the red-streaked stone and bypassed Madeline, charging Catherine and swinging wildly at her. Unfortunately, he failed to connect, and again she pointed a finger at him. Knowing what to expect here didn't help him, as he collapsed in a writhing heap, wracked with pain and blinded once more. Worse still, the lighter slipped from his twitching hand.

OOC,Resistance Table roll: [b]Catherine[/b]'s MP 15 vs. [b]Eugene[/b]'s MP 9 (80% chance): [dice]0[/dice] [b]Catherine[/b] exercises POW ((21 - POW 18 = 3) * 5 = 15% chance): [dice]1[/dice] [b]Catherine[/b]' POW gain: [dice]4[/dice] Blindness duration: [dice]2[/dice] Incapacitation duration: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Eugene[/b], please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1/2, so you lose 1 Sanity even if you succeed, and if you fail, you lose 2 Sanity, as you can lose no more than the maximum of 7 total from this spell, and you've already lost 5. You do not get to act.

[jp1885]

SAN 27 [dice]0[/dice]
Eugene loses 2 SAN and gibbers.

[Mr. Handy]

The blindness went away quickly this time, and Eugene wished that it hadn't. Now that the area was once again enshrouded in darkness, the creature slithered out of it and directly toward him. It loomed over him, its giant red eye staring into his, and Eugene was certain that it was going to kill him - or do something far, far worse. Just as it was about to strike, he was blinded once again, this time by an extremely intense light! The monster let out a hideous wail as parts of it seemed to dissolve away, and it fled into the warehouse through the open door. Though it was clearly too large to fit through the doorway, its wings passed through the walls as if they weren't there. Now bathed in the glorious light, Catherine fled into the warehouse, followed quickly by Madeline pulling her still shocked husband with her. The door slammed shut behind them. Somehow, Eugene was still alive and no longer in darkness, but he was still in the most exquisite agony and unable to move.

[jp1885]

Eugene tried to scream as the pain wracked his body. Though motionless, he felt as if his entire form was writhing itself inside-out. Through tears of agony he found it impossible to tell if the light was salvation from the heavens or some fresh horror hell-bent on toying with him.
Still, the mysterious light was far better than the cloying, suffocating darkness that surrounded it. Sobbing and mewling he tried to force his jaw to move.

[Mr. Handy]

Eugene found that he couldn't even scream. He couldn't look towards the light, but he heard raised voices coming from that direction.

"Eugene!" shouted Brook. "I mean dad!"

"You foolish girl!" a woman's voice shouted back. "Get that light pointed back up in the air! Do you want Jerry's bombs to come down on our heads?!"

[jp1885]

Despite the pain coursing through him, Eugene was elated to hear Brook's voice. However the second voice was not so welcome.
'No!' he thought. 'Don't turn off the light!'