IC: London: A Reunion?

[imme]

Elizabeth speaks up, in the same tone of voice her father used when he wanted no argument. "Andrei. Do you remember the raid in Harlem? Those were armed, trained officers and it didn't go so well. Besides, Timour is still back at the museum somewhere and Johnny is God knows where. If nothing else, I would at least like to know what happened at the museum tonight. But you have caused enough of a stir here that I think we should go elsewhere to speak." She glances around at the others in her group, and heads for the door.

[Decrepit]

Caroline watches Beth prepare to leave. "Andrei," she says, "you know Beth's right. Every time we've divided up, something awful's happened. We need to stay together, find our friends, learn what we can about what's going on, and then make plans. If people really are out to get us, we'll only be helping them out by going in half cocked." She gets up and follows Beth, hoping that Andrei will follow but realizing also that there's not much more she can say to convince him in his state of mind. He at least seemed calmer and marginally more rational; what happened next was up to him.

[coffee demon]

Andrei looks visibly upset - both because everyone is disagreeing with him, and because they're all going back outside.

"I'm not..." he calls out, as they file out the door.

He peers hesitantly through the open door, looking up at the sky. Cursing to himself, he pulls his jacket up over his head (like it's pouring rain out), and runs past everyone towards the car, "COME ON THEN! HURRY!"

He leaps into a rear car seat, shielding his face from the windows. "QUICK, GET IN!"

"We'll be lucky if we weren't spotted there," he mumbles, as everyone gets in the car. "Fine. We'll find the others, but listen to me. It's going to do no good hiding. We can't hide. And remember, we can't sleep, either. We have no choice."

He says all this as though it's perfectly logical. Which it is.

[Laraqua]

Maksim, having turned his attention to his vodka flask, waits a few long moments after everyone has leaved before strolling out after them.

[imme]

Elizabeth can't help but glance up at the sky; Andrei's madness is unnerving. Nevertheless, she ignores his mad dash and follows him to the car at a walk. She turns to the others. "Whatever is the matter with him, it is at least true that we are somehow being watched, which puts us all in danger. I propose that we do not return to our hotel until we lose the sensation of being observed ... although I really do not know how we are going to be able to stop it." She frowns. "First thing we need to do is find Timour, who presumably is still sneaking around the museum."

[Raiko]

There is still no sign of Timour, as Andrei jumps into the back of the Bentley.

He glances into the night sky again as he climbs inside the car, but it doesn’t help - the fog seems much thicker now than thirty minutes ago when they left the museum. To Andrei it seems oppressive, he can still sense the unseen eyes watching him from afar - unaffected by this dreadful, stinking brown mist - but he Andrei Zakovich cannot see more than a few feet beyond his the end of his own nose.

As the others walk slowly towards the Bentley automobile, the closest street light goes out, it’s filament expiring with a sharp crack, the pool of illuminated fog near to the racing car darkening immediately. The light going out is creepy, the noise startling, but bulbs fail all the time, it’s just a spooky coincidence surely?

The street is quiet, and other than the nearby pub, all of the shops are closed, their lights off. It is quite dark near to the car now, the closest working light is thirty yards away. As the investigators resume their stroll towards the Bentley that lamp goes out as well, the closest light is now the Dog and Partridge pub, and that’s fifty yards behind them.

**********************************

OOC:

Spoiler:

Spot rolls please. No IC posting until I’ve had the results.

If Laraqua hasn’t managed to roll within 24 hours, then I’ll roll for her as I know she can’t get online often at the moment.

[DSIGFUSS]

Nathaniel looks up into the sky after Elizabeth and then shakes his head.

Oh Bollocks!

He hangs back with Gwen as they walk up the street. He looks from side to side and into the poorly lit shops, wrapped up in the party's paranoia.

You know luv.. Even if these blokes are off their bloody bird, they would all make excellent case studies now wouldn't they? Mass occult based hysteria or some rubbish like that. It's bloody fascinating I tell you. I honestly feel as though I could wet my nickers I'm so bloody shakey.

oc - Spot Hidden : Fail : 92

[Raiko]

It is hidden inside the fog, almost a part of misty vapours. Andrei doesn’t notice it as he stares fearfully out the Bentley’s side windows, nor do Nathaniel or Caroline outside.

Elizabeth notices though, and so does Gwen as she walks alongside Nathaniel. Maksim sees it as well as he walks along casually behind the others. An insubstantial foggy shape, like some huge ghostly octopus, it sparkles in the feint, distant illumination from the pub, like a million specks of starlight. Elizabeth remembers the ghostly creature in Miles Shipley’s terrible painting.

The entity seeped into the darkness as the last streetlight went out, flowing soundlessly though the night towards the lonely Bentley. Now six thin misty tendrils emerge from the shapeless whole and reach out for the car. Like spectral serpents they writhe and probe, testing the almost airtight seal between the windows and the soft-top. Trying to find a way inside.

From inside the car Andrei can see the look of horror on Elizabeth’s face, then as the first of the entity’s tentacles seeps into the interior of the Bentley and drifts silently, almost invisibly towards him Andrei smells something most peculiar, the scent of burning hair.

OOC:

Spoiler:

One last chance for Andrei to spot the creature, now that it’s reaching inside the car.

I also need SAN checks from Elizabeth, Gwen and Maksim. Sanity loss for seeing ‘The Thing in the Fog’ is 1/1d10.

If you pass the checks then you can act normally, but only one combat rounds worth of action at a time please.

Caroline and Nathaniel haven’t seen anything (yet), so they can keep walking and talking on the way to the car.

Laraqua! It’s got tentacles! I guess this could be the first ‘Masks of Hentai scene.’ LOL

[jtull_84]

OOC:SAN 62- Fog Thing (1d100=86)
SAN loss (1d10=6)

IC: Gwen stops and stares into the fog in horror. Her muscles clench and her mouth opens in a silent scream.

[imme]

"Andrei! GET OUT OF THERE!" Elizabeth screams into the night.

[Decrepit]

"What in the hell is going on?" Caroline yells at her friend. Has everyone gone insane?

[Raiko]

Inside the Bentley.

"Andrei! GET OUT OF THERE!" Elizabeth’s voice sounds strangely muffled to Andrei inside the car, as though she is calling him from far away.

The smell of burnt hair grows stronger, as finally Andrei spots the thin tentacle of mist reaching over the top of the car window towards his face.

He feels the wispy tendril force itself between his lips, invading his mouth and filling throat. Andrei panics - I can't breathe! The stench of burning hair is overpowering now.

With horror Andrei notices that two more foggy tentacles have found a way into the car’s interior and are now groping towards him.

OOC:

Spoiler:

Having finally spotted the entity, Andrei must make a SAN check (1/1d10 SAN loss).

Sadly suffering the terrible attack of the ‘Thing in the Fog’ for the first time also causes an automatic SAN loss of 1d8. (3 Sanity Lost, see link above).

Note: Thanks to Caroline’s earlier ministrations, Andrei is immune to Temporary insanity, although he will still go indefinitely insane if he loses more than 20% of his starting sanity in a one hour period (He’s currently lost 8 points in the last hour, plus another 1-10 depending on the result of his SAN check).

Assuming Andrei stays ‘sane’ then he can try to escape, by making a d100 roll on the resistance table vs the Tentacle’s STR (5), this will get much harder if the Thing gets time to attack with additional tentacles.

If he fails to free himself, Andrei will begin to suffocate next round.

GWEN:

Gwen is now temporarily insane. I’ve allowed others to pick their temporary insanities, alternatively a roll on the table gave the following result:

1d10 = 6 (Homicidal or Suicidal Mania) – Duration 1d10+4 = 6 Combat Rounds. There’s a link below.

Fortunately she’s unarmed, as far as I know!

Link to Gwen’s insanity roll.

[Laraqua]

IC:
Maksim sees the insubstantial mist and doubts his gun will do anything against it. Wishing he'd had a bit more to drink, he draws his gun and fires at the fog, aiming for a part that isn't directly before Andrei, as he's quite sure the bullet will pass through. Rolled a 41.
OOC:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1538277/ - 99 outta a 100 - FAIL
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1538279/ - 2 sanity lost

[Raiko]

Inside the Bentley:

Andrei manages to free himself from the entity’s probing for the moment.

Out on the street:

Maksim’s bullets pass though the entity with no apparent effect, the sparking mist isn’t even disturbed.

OOC:

Spoiler:

I’ve been in contact with Coffee via PM, sadly Andrei has lost more sanity. The rules on indefinite insanity allow Andrei to be played normally until the end of the encounter; apparently he has a ‘sense of foreboding’ for now!

Nathaniel and Caroline get another chance to try and see what all the fuss is about (Spot Hidden).

If they fail, then as far as they can tell Maksim is firing his revolver at nothing.

If they succeed, then they need to make a SAN check (1/1d10 loss).

I’ll wait 24 hours for Jtull to post, otherwise I’ll stick with 6 combat rounds of HOMICIDAL MANIA!!!!

[imme]

Elizabeth cannot imagine anything she can do to help Andrei, and watches helplessly as he struggles against the Thing.

"What in the hell is going on?"

Elizabeth grabs Caroline's shoulders and shakes her. "Can you not see it? In the fog! It has sent a tentacle into the car after Andrei!"

[DSIGFUSS]

Nathaniel strains his eyes as he looks into the blackness. He jumps; visibly startled when the gun shots begin to thunder into the night.

What in bloody hell are you firing at? You’re going to kill someone.

Nathaniel looks desperately for any sign of their attacker.

Spot Check 23 : pass 23 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/search/189367/


He finally spots the tentacles oozing into the car and the terrible creature wielding them. He cocks his head to the side and straightens his spectacles, quite unclear what he is looking at. He wrestles with reality for a quick moment then quickly gains control of his faculties.

Sanity check : Pass http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1539967/

Good Heavens!

He thinks back to the hours spent in the museum’s private stacks, hoping that something might ring a bell.

Cthulu Mythos roll. :61 : Fail http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1540014/

oc – Is Nathaniel in the car? Not quite sure.

[coffee demon]

Inside The Bentley:

Andrei howls and flaps his arms around his face madly. He sucks in a deep breath when the tentacle finally retracts from his mouth, and pulls himself across the backseat to the other side of the car.

IT'S HAPPENING!

Andrei scrabbles madly at the car door, trying to open it, so he can escape onto the street-side of the car...

[Decrepit]

Elizabeth cannot imagine anything she can do to help Andrei, and watches helplessly as he struggles against the Thing.

"What in the hell is going on?"

Elizabeth grabs Caroline's shoulders and shakes her. "Can you not see it? In the fog! It has sent a tentacle into the car after Andrei!"

Caroline strains to look, following the direction Beth's eyes had been following. "I -- I can't see anything!" she shouts, "apart from Andrei flailing around and Maks shooting things that aren't there!"

She hears Nathanial's call, but still doesn't see an attacker.

Feeling that everyone's gone mad, she rushes to the side of the car that Andrei has shifted to, hoping to pull him out herself if need be.

[DSIGFUSS]

DSIFUSS, I've removed the content of this post as Nethanial is interupted by Gwen before he can move.

Please see my next post.

- Raiko

[Laraqua]

Maksim is frustrated and feeling helpless. He waves his arms, hoping to draw its attention. "Come after something your own size you bastard!"