Play@YSDC

The streets of Soho
5:25pm – Thursday 29th January, 1925

This is a private thread for Maksim and Timour.

Tewfik al-Sayed walks through the dark streets at a brisk pace, the first time that he turns a corner Maks and Timour need to dash to keep him in sight.

He doesn’t look back, nor does he stop to look in shop windows or to tie his shoe laces or perform any other basic spy-craft technique. Either he doesn’t suspect that he is being followed, or he’s so certain that he is being tailed that he doesn’t need to check behind him.

Tewfik makes his way through Soho for ten minutes, he takes several turns – the winding streets of London lack the organisation of New York’s grid system – but he mostly heads south into the centre of the Soho district, sticking to the busier main-streets rather than the quiet back streets and alleys.

5:35pm – Thursday 29th January, 1925

Finally, ten minutes after leaving his shop Tewfik reaches his destination – The Blue Pyramid Club!

He nods in recognition to the doorman and walks inside without pausing.

Maksim pauses and gives Timour a brief smile.

OC Sorry.....is it any big deal if I just post as Trixie in the private thread...I find I'm not posting simply bcuz I'm too lazy to log out and back in again. I'll get back on board when we merge again.

Timour elbows Maks in excitement, "Looky! Where's that ol' Andrei in a time like this, uh! What're the odds!"

He looks at the doorway, peering at it. "So.....you got my back, I got yours. We good?"

The Blue Pyramid Club – Soho, London
5:37pm – Thursday 29th January, 1925

Maksim grins and leads the way inside the club. The Rukovs have to pass by two impressive looking bouncers to get inside, but the big doormen pay them little attention.

Inside the Blue Pyramid is busy and noisy inside even at this early hour. The air is thick with tobacco and hashish smoke and most of the tables are already occupied. It’s noisy with the sound of chattering and shouting patrons, and a band playing traditional Egyptian music. Scantily clad belly dancers move from table to table performing for the patrons seated there.

“Let us take a seat brother! Can you see al-Sayed? Look at these women! Remember we are here on business Timour, no touching!”

OOC,[color=#FF0000][u]OOC:[/u][/color]Please make a spot hidden roll. I’ll roll for Maksim. I’ll keep Maksim on autopilot until Laraqua has chance to join back in. BTW: It’s no problem you posting as Trixie.

Maksim grins around the room, trying to look like he's taking in the women, when really he's taking in everything...

Timour seems mesmerized by the belly dancers for a minute, a grin spread over his face in appreciation.

"Al-Sayed? Uh.....no I don't see him yet. Lemme look!"

OC Only thing I could think of is spot hidden....but usually under keeper request. Any bones ya wanna throw for tracking where he went?

Maksim elbows Timour in the ribs and mutters in Russian, a giddy smile on his face nonetheless. <<Not anything I haven't seen before and probably nothing you haven't seen before, either. Now go on, look.>>

trixie wrote:OC Only thing I could think of is spot hidden....but usually under keeper request. Any bones ya wanna throw for tracking where he went?

It's in the spoiler in my last post.

I'll let you both roll yourselves, now that Laraqua is back.

OCSpot hidden passed, 33/50

"Awright awright! Keep your bony elbows to yourself!" Timour gives him a sour look and rubs his gut protectively. He looks around the bar nonchalantly, trying to be inconspicuous. "I think I see him," he says after a moment of searching.

Maksim is more clueless as he getsdistracted by a belly dancer.

Noticing Maksim’s interest the dancer smiles seductively and moves closer, “I am Yalesha! Shall I dance for you?”

Beyond the voluptuous dancer Timour seesTewfik al-Sayed gather two Arabic men from a nearby table and head towards the private offices at the back of the club. Al-Sayed looks agitated and one of the other men glances surreptitiously towards the two Russians as he rises from his seat.

Maksim's smile widens into a fully fledged grin and he looks at his twin brother for assistance in his decision. They have a job to do, to be sure, but still ... Yalesha ... that sounded exotic.

Timour winces, and flashes Maks a look. Either way, it didn't matter. It would be better if they appeared distracted so that the men weren't on to why they were there.

"Two minutes" he murmurs to him, then heads towards the bar to keep an eye on the private room the men were headed to.

Maksim gives a cute, awkward shrug and a smile. "Two minutes," he says, repeating it for her benefit.

OC Maybe a spot hidden roll will help Timour notice where the men are going, or any details in the bar of interest. Rolled a 46 Spot hidden is 50

The Blue Pyramid Club – Soho, London
5:45pm – Thursday 29th January, 1925

Yalesha begins her dance for Maksim, she is very good and Timour struggles to keep his attention on the door at the back of the club. She smiles seductively at Maksim and sways rhythmically to the music. The hashish tainted smoke and exotic music are quite intoxicating.

“Your accents are new to me, where are they from,” asks Yalesha in her own thick accent, as she performs in front of the Russian.

By the bar Timour averts his eyes from the lithe dancer and scans the room again. Many of the patrons are Europeans, but the majority appear to be Arabic. The door at the back of the club opens again and one of the Arabs who followed Tewfik a minute ago reappears. He begins circulating the club whispering to patrons, some Arab, some European. After he's spoken to the patrons at two tables it is clear that that the Russians are the subject of the whispers, Timour notices cold glares being directed his way, murderous eyes watching his every move.

The barman leans closer, “Would you like another drink my friend?”

Under the man's shirt Timour notices a necklace with a small pendent, an inverted Ankh cross.


Yalesha

Yalesha moves closer to Maksim, her body almost touching his as she dances, she lowers her mouth towards his ear as though whispering sweet nothings, “You leave, these are bad men. They kill you both.”

“I leave here at eleven o'clock, meet me in the alley behind the club, I tell you everything.”

Timour leans up against the bar pads and nods to the barman. "Vodka on the rocks. Say....this a local bar? Like....everyone knows everyone sort of type?"

He turns to glance at Maksim, wondering how he was faring. It was just like him to get distracted by the first set of knockers walk up. Ah well....he didn't mind looking either.

He turns back, pays the bartender, and smiles, hoping for a bit of info.

Maksim gives her his sweetest smile, tilts his head down to give her a charismatically devilish smile and walks over to Timour. "I just got given the cold shoulder. Don't think they like us around these here parts... Come, we should leave."

As Maksim speaks, six men rise from their seats and begin making their way towards him and Timour, they look like they want to make trouble.

Maksim grabs Timour by the shoulder and starts heading him towards the door.

"We're leaving without any information?" Timour murmurs to Maks, briefly looking over his shoulder at the oncoming men.

The men begin following Maks and Timour out of the club,
it looks like they mean business. As they reach the exit, Timour
notices another of the inverted ankh necklaces hanging around one of
their necks - the same kind that the bartender is wearing.

"I think we have our current information," said Maksim, wondering if there were any way he could subdue them without violence. He doubted an intimidating stare would work.

"Do you have any brilliant ideas in that clever brain of yours, little brother? I think we're about to be made meatloaf, if you know what I mean." Timour saunters out of the club, trying to look unconcerned.

OC uhm.....made it but just barely? http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2244030/

Soho - some random backstreet near to the Blue Pyramid Club

As they make a hasty exit, the twins spot Tewfik leaving the bar and joining his heavies, some others are also following behind him - they all look angry and ready for trouble.

The pair dodge through some alleyways and backstreets, managing to avoid contact with the men that clearly plan to murder them. They have the distinct impression that Tewfik's men are also heading towards the spice shop, with Caroline, Nethaniel and Gwen probably still inside!

"Guess we have to go bail the others out before they drown," says Maksim in Russian, clearly enjoying himself.

"Ah yes Maks! It is like New York all over again. Time to save the librarians from the crazy people."

The brothers hurry through the streets towards the spice shop, when they finally get within sight of their destination they are just in time to see a truck pull up outside the front door. Men immediately begin clambering out of the back - more of Tewfik's friends from the Blue Pyramid Club.

Peering at the truck from around a corner, Timour says, "We should not have left my hand grenades in New York Maks."

"The others may still be inside, and the car is right over there past the Egyptians. What do you think?"

ooc,There are about ten men in the truck you think. Hopefully Trixie will be back soon, I'll look after Timour till she's back.

The rough looking men pouring out of the back of the truck are armed with vicious spiked clubs, knives and one carries a pistol. From the front passenger seat of the truck emerges Tewfik al-Sayed, in his hands are two curious ceremonial sceptres construct from a golden metal - one ends in a crook shape the other in the shape of an inverted ankh.

Al-Sayed surveys the store front as he barks orders in Arabic.

None of the men are looking in the direction of Maks and Timour, although they are currently about one hundred yards away.

Near to Tewfik Al-Sayed’s Spice Shop – Soho, London

The Rukovs see Al-Sayed cross two weird looking metal scepters in front of his chest. There is an almost blinding flash of light – seemingly errupting from Tewfik himself and then the shrill sound of a woman’s scream from inside the shop – Gwen.

Tewfik’s cultists are battering at the shop’s front door, while others head for the arched alleyway leading to the backyard.

None of them are looking this way though, there might be the chance to dash for the car unnoticed!

OOC,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC:[/b][/u][/color]If neither of you post within 24 hours, I’ll put your characters into “NPC Mode” to allow me to keep this thread in sync with the Spice Shop one. I hope you both understand. Also you both need to make a [i]SAN roll [/i]for partially witnessing [b]Tewfik’s [/b]spell. [i][b]Sanity loss is 0 / 1d6[/b][/i].

Timour yelps and makes a jump for the car. He pulls Maks by the elbow.

"Go now!" He barks, while the others are distracted.

OC Sanity check rolled an 89, failed, lost 4 current is now 59

Maksim runs toward the car, hoping like hell that they - like most people these days - left the key in the ignition in case they needed a hasty exit. Hell, he hoped the car even had a key ignition. Those new-fangled inventions made stealing cars so much easier. Oh well, if it was a wind-up car, as he liked to think of them, they'd probably left the engine idling. He tried to listen for the engine, doing his best to keep his mind too distracted to pay attention to the spell. A car could be a mighty weapon when wielded against flesh.