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IC: S1:E1 "That's Just Nasty!"


Dave ST

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Fisher refrained from facepalming. "You're missing the point. He wanted to meet us in person!" A sigh. "Fine. We'll go see Mr. Syracuse, and you can deal with Michael, all right?" He felt as if his suspicion had been confirmed: Gollum-ichael had gone into hiding for the time being and alarming as his being on the loose was, there bigger problems according to the ancient librarian.

Ugh. Rachel and her stubbornness!

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Rachel listened to Fisher and could hear the edge in his voice. "Fisher, calm down, you guys have the car. It would take us thirty minutes to run to school, you guys can be here in five. Then we'll see if Mr. Syracuse still want's us to come in." She give Nadya a look as she shakes her head. "Okay?"

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Fisher let out air as he tried to work his head into calm. "Yes, he will. What part of 'tip of the iceberg' did you miss?" But she was right about the time frame. "He said about thirty minutes, so that gives us about fifteen once the whole group's together to deal with Michael." Give or take a few minutes for Gods know what that might happen. "That fair?"

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"Sure, just get here fast."

Rachel disconnected and looked into the yard .it was strangely quiet and still.

"The gang's on the way. Mr. Syracuse wants us back at the library, but I hate the thought of Micheal getting away. I'm gonna go around the other side and watch make sure he hasn't gone over. call me when they get here."

Without waiting, she takes off at a fast run and follows the fence around to the back.

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"Gotcha!" Nadya said in a low voice with a sharp nod as Rachel turned and sprinted off.

She was glad for a bit of reprieve. While she had always been quick, and true, she wasn't as winded as she should have been, Rachel's legs were, like, twice as long as hers, and taller girl had known what she was following while Nadya hadn't - it had taken some effort to keep. Nadya moved off a ways, near a corner of the junkyard, so she could keep an eye on two of its sides and the service road leading up to it, for when the others got there.

Standing with a still patience that few would believe the spritely girl capable of, Nadya let the lengthening shadows fall over her, concealing her in comfortable shadows. Watching the junkyard for signs of her tainted schoolmate, she pulled out one of her Divine Mom's other gifts - a folding knife with a blade like a claw - and wondered if she had it in her to use it on Micheal, a guy she knew.

Well, use it preemptively anyway. If he came after her first with his ghoul-mouth, she'd have no compunctions about stabbing the dead out of him.

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Rachel moved swiftly along the perimeter, she had Michael's scent but it seemed the problem with her gift was that it allowed her to track beings but once she found her quarry it didn't do much to help her locate the guy.  Around busted up vehicles and discarded old refrigerators through alleyways of twisted metal and scrap parts.  Dust kicked up with every step every corner she turned around his scent was there but he wasn't.  Where the hell did he go?

 

Micheal could see her, he slithered through the broken steel and discarded plastic, limb over limb he crawled watching her with jaundiced eyes, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.  His entrails were still slowly seeping out as he moved, enough so that his scent was everywhere.  Rachel looked about and was still coming up with nothing until slight shift in the wind alerted her to look to her right.

 

Michael leapt at her in that instant his loud snarl giving away his position long before Rachel knew where to look.  She instinctively dove to the right and rolled, coming up face to face with Michael, or at least the Hungry Corpse that used to be him anyway.  He snarled something, but it all came out "Argleblargleblargle..." to her.

Spoiler

Posting Order:
Rachel
Michael
Nadya

Michael's Health: XXX / 000 / 000 / 0 / Dead(er)

 

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Rachel listen wide eyed to the incoherent sounds coming from his misshapen mouth. Instinctively she knew he was about to attack so she lashed out with a left jab. She connected but he had jerked aside reflexively and she merely skinned his cheek. She shuffled forward hunching her shoulders forward preparing a hard right as a follow up.

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Her blow staggered Michael and he sloppily shambled right past her only to spin abruptly 180 degrees and lunge like a wild beast.  Rachel was shocked by the way he flailed about, claws slashing and teeth gnashing.

Overwhelmed by the barrage Rachel tried to avoid grip but it was just too much.  His claws clamped down on her shirt and with the strength of a bull he he yanked her off her feet and tossed her clear across the arena.  She slammed against an old car door, the glass shattered and the metal bent and gave way under the impact.  She should have been dead and quickly found that the hardened steel gave way before her new godbody did.

 

Spoiler

2 bashing to Rachel

Posting Order:
Rachel - X / X / 0 / -1 / 1 / -3 / Inc
Michael
Nadya

Michael's Health: XXX / XX0 / 000 / 0 / Dead(er)

 

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Nadya also didn't have any compunction about stabbing ZoMichael when he was trying to eat a friend, or at least, someone she was in same Godborn boat with. From where she was standing, she saw Rachel slam into the rusting side of the body of a car. Then Michael came prowling after her from around a tower of junk.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Nadya huffed under her breath as she sprinted across the littered terrain, her footing sure despite her heels and uneven ground. No way was she going to be able to sneak up on him if she wanted to reach him before he reached Rachel.

ZoMichael was reaching for Rachel he looked over as Nadya's boots thumped off an old washing machine as she jumped off it and at him.

"No means no!" Nadya exclaimed, driving the Fang of Cloven Shadows into ZoMichael's shoulder.

Nadya's expression was confused when the knife entered with a thunk, more like it had stuck wood than flesh, but she pulled it free and rolled back quick when ZoMichael arglebargled at her and swung an arm at her.

"Uh, now would be a good time to get up, Rae-Rae."

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As Micheal spins to take on Nadya, Rachel launches herself from the ground hitting him in the back with her shoulder and wraping her arms around his chest under his arms. Then Standing up Straight she lifts him off his feet and tightens her arms across his chest .

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Rachel's grip was ironclad as her ichor tightened her grip she became a divine vice.  Nothing mortal could break her grip and although Micheal was dead and his muscles no longer felt fatigue or stress not eve he could break her grip as he thrashed about wildly.  He was like a focused beast, Rachel held him firmly and he didn't seem to care, all that mattered to the flailing corpse was getting a hold of Nadya.  He kicked and flailed about, spewing saliva and blood, spitting remnants of his last meal and bile all in Nadya's direction.

Rachel had enough, she tightened her grip and she felt his other ribs break as Michael's innards poured out onto her arms from the hole Grace's warrior sliced through his side.  It was safe to say her shirt was ruined.  Some universal laws must have been created by women, because the moment Rachel felt the chilly, Jell-O-like blood start trickling down all over her school clothes, she lost it.  With a quick throw backwards she bridged herself, suplexing Michael into the solid, dusty earth.  His neck snapped with a grotesque crunching sound and his body finally fell limp.

Michael was dead, again.

Spoiler

Combat is over, Nadya and Rachel have defeated Michael.  You may now resume your regularly scheduled posting.

 

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Rachel staggers back until she bumps into the washing machine Nadya had launched herself into the fight from. She was breathing heavy but unable to catch her breath as anxiety and the shock of what just happened threatened to overwhelm her. She heard sound through the ringing in her ears and looked up from Micheal's ...body. Nadya was saying something a look of uncharacteristic concern on her face. Pushing back the nausea, she stepped away from the machine. "Wha?"

"I said, are you ok?" repeated the black haired girl with the wicked knife staring at her.

Rachel  looked down and felt her gorge rise again her shirt was covered in blood and bits of Michael. She quickly nodded her head. "Yeah I'm fine it's his." She indicates her ruined shirt. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, not a scratch," Nadya replies pointedly not looking at the body. "We better call the guys, huh?"

"Right." Rachel digs out her phone from her jeans. hits redial. Fisher answers a few before the first ring. "Rachel are you guys alright? we just got here but don't see anyone."

"We're ok Fisher. Drive around the back there's' a service road and call Mr. Syracuse. We got Micheal."

 

Spoiler

[Asarasa] 8:02 am: Work wasn't too bad, just got somewhat less sleep yesterday
Nina gives asa a shoulder rub
Asarasa melts
Nina *rolls* 7d10t7+1: 9,2,7,1,3,10,6.  Successes = 3. Plus 1 auto successes.  Total = 4.

stam + fort roll was to not be sick

2

 

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"That was al naibii gross," Nadya commented as she cleaned her knife with a cloth from her bag while waiting for the others to show up. Closing it with a soft snap, she gestured at Rachel's bloody shirt and her own suede boots spattered with ZoMichael's bile and the bits of the last person he ate and blood from the Lancaster residence. But she also meant the way his guts had spewed out when Rachel had bear-hugged him and the sounds of his ribs and neck breaking. "I liked these boots, but now, I'm burning them."

Nadya was putting up a nonchalant front in contrast to Rachel's shock, though she didn't look at the body again, but she was actually disturbed. And it wasn't because she'd help kill - rekill - a guy she knew from school, who had turned into a flesh-eating monster. She was disturbed because she didn't feel any regret, remorse, or lost. What she felt most was a sense of... satisfaction that an undead mob was destroyed, Michael had died before she had heard he hadn't shown up to school, and later, she'd feel the shock and lost - she presumed. But now, there was mostly triumph.

Nadya wasn't normally much for introspection, but she wondered if what she felt had always been part of the make up of her character, her personality, or if it had come with the awakening of the Divine Ichor inside her. She would probably never know, but did it even matter? She was what she was now. She just needed to find out what that was...

Nadya looked over at Rachel, who standing rigidly, looking off into the distance. The blood on her shirt had darkened at it began to dry, but it was still damp and tacky yet. That was going to be a mess. "Uh,  Rach, d'you have another shirt or something in your car? 'Cause otherwise, you're gonna get ick all over it. If not... well, I have my by jacket and vest, I can give you my shirt..."

Rachel glanced over and gave the much smaller girl a look of sheer disbelief, and Nadya shrugged her shoulders, raising her hands in placation. "Hey! It's stretchy... but yeah, you're..." Nadya raised her arms over her head, indicting Rachel's much greater height, "...and..." She stretched her hands out to the sides in imitation of the breadth of her shoulders. "... and have more..." She held her hands out in front of her chest in exaggeration of Rachel's curves. "I'm a Happy Meal, and you're kinda super-sized. "It should fit, but I hope you have an opaque bra on, cause it ain't gonna hide anything."

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She could hear the car coming down the road. "Thanks, Nadya but I'm good I have my Gym clothes in the car. I have some extra shoes if you want?. She looked down at the mess of her shirt. "I better burn this too."

As she looks at her shirt Nadya keeps talking about her bra. Rachel looks up at Nadya particularly her chest. "You know you are really not that much smaller than me."

Nadya stops talking and tilts her head to the side with a WTF look on her face.

"Well yeah I'm," she raises her hands one higher than the other, then she moves them apart at shoulder height and width, "and," then she cups them close to her breasts but not touching. "But we're pretty close here. I'm only a 34, what are you a 32, 33?"

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"We'll pick you up." Fisher simply said over the phone. At this point, it was clear that Rachel did not know the meaning of 'tip of the iceberg.' No point in trying to correct her or get into an argument about it. He gave Grace the directions to drive, and leaned back. So Michael was gone. Gollumichael and Michael Lancaster both. Unsettling.

All will pass. Dammit. More odd voices. Did being a kid of Izanami mean having the Shinigami in your head?

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"So....." Grace said conversationally as she drove - mostly within speed limits and common sense - to where the other half of their Band was waiting. "I'm guess Salem High has about the same survival rate as Sunnydale, at this point. I mean, we haven't even made it month into school and already the student body is turning into cannibalistic monsters."

As they rounded the last corner and came upon the two Scions, Grace's nose scrunched up in disgust. "Oh, man, I hope the gym showers are still open. That is going to be rank." She pulled over to the curb and waved them in. "C'mon, before someone sees you two and starts horror-movie screaming."

 

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Austin quipped back  "Of course it will last, we're children of gods, not just a bunch of kids with a few special powers."  Having treated his wound with what first aid was in the bathroom of michael's house quickly before getting in the car, the would was cleaned and covered, though in truth he knew it wasn't serious, just him being cautious. 

When he sniffed the air and the girls he  just smiled.  "I'm with Grace on this one y'all get cleaned up then we can go meet Mr. Syracuse.  I'm sure he'll appreciate that you did too."

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Nadya and Rachel may had been embarrassed at being caught comparing their breast sizes (complete with hands on visuals) by their two male counterparts if it wasn't for the fact that neither of them seemed to take notice, and that was okay.  The social climate was always in rapid flux and two men not being the slightest bit aware of two lovely young women fondling themselves over the corpse of their dead school mate was simply par for the course in today's society,  gay men were a dime a dozen and emotionally it was a lighter burden to know they wouldn't have to worry about their Band mate oogling them or making awkward advances.  Besides, it was hardly going to be the strangest thing that happened to them this week, anyway.

Suddenly realizing that people had arrived unannounced and they were still in mid cup, the ladies lowered their arms in a hurry, trying not to look guilty of anything.  "Uh, right," Rachel said, hurriedly.  She was mentally telling herself not to turn red, but that only made her turn red(der).  "Let's uh, get out of here."  Her and Nadya walked to the car's trunk, avoiding eye contact.  Grace couldn't help but smirk.

 

They parked Rachel's car in the auto shop garage and within the hour had visited the locker room showers, grabbed a bite to eat from the cafeteria and met in the school's library.  Why were school's so weird to be in after hours?  The halls were empty and quiet, barely illuminated by what seemed third or fourth florescent light fixture.  The smell... yup, it still had that at school smell though, like cheap floor wax and that red vomit powder.

Mr. Syracuse waited patiently then finally bid them all to follow him once Rachel arrived, a bit wet still, but with a towel over her shoulders and in her gym clothes.  "Sorry to tear you away from your felonious fleeing of a murder scene, but we have serious problem.  About two hours ago I noticed this,"  He'd ushered them to  bookcase in the mythology section of the library.  He held his hand over a book, The Iliad, and placed a small coin into the spine of the book.  The coin, a Greek drachma of ancient appearance possessed the face of some Macedonian king none of them recognized, matched the face of the king on the spine of the book.  With a 'click' the whole bookshelf shuddered and began to slide backwards, then finally to their left.  Beyond the shelf was a whole other room filled with even more books that looked the better part of thousands of years old.  The room was circular and only about forty feet and made with white marble from floor to ceiling veined through out with impressive gold.  The shelves were all thick mahogany and trimmed in gold.  A light seemed to shine in from the top of the domed ceiling, but none could tell where it came from.  Twixt each of the bookshelves was a fluted column that divided the room into ten sections.  One section, they noticed, was almost completely empty save for a single scrap of parchment on the shelf.  In the center of the room, rising up from a three stepped dais was a golden lectern that lay bare.  It was set with a red velvet pillow and judging from the indentation upon the pillow, something used to be there.

They stood for a moment in sheer awe of how beautiful the room was, like something from a Disney fairy tale.

"This is where I keep the amassed history of all things mythology.  The Loa, the Tuatha, Greek," His hand motioned to each of the sections and none of them failed to notice the way he skipped the last, empty section, entirely.  "You get the idea.  That's not why you're here though.  There in the center, that's where I keep the greatest piece in my collection, the only copy in existence, The Nekyia."

"The what?" Asked Austin.

"It is the Greek equivalent to the Egyptian Book of the Dead." Despite his worried expression, he was preening over being able to share his collection with others.  "In fact, it was Anubis himself who taught us the secrets of transcribing the energies of the Underworld into a physical object.  Very exciting stuff, you see back during the Trojan war there was-"

Nadya raised her hand, her bracelets jingled down her arm.  "I'm sure it's a fascinating tale, Archie, but we're on a time table.  We gotta wrap this up and I still have Spanish homework to do."

"Like you were going to do it," Grace snarked.

"I'd considered it, that counts." Nadya attempted to look innocent, but everyone knew better.

Archimedes cleared his throat, putting himself back on task.  "Yes, well, another time then.  At any rate, it's been stolen.  Whomever has this book can do irreparable damage to the fabric of the World.  The book acts as a direct conduit to the Underworld, including bringing the Underworld here, which would explain Michael's death.  He must have been exposed to something that caused his rather sudden death, then transformation into a hungry corpse.  Children, we need to find that book, or Salem is doomed."

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"No one.  You're the first to step foot in it in over seven centuries."  Mr. Syracuse replied.  He stepped in with them and waled up to the dais.

"This school hasn't been here for seven centuries." Fisher observed, looking around and getting the strange feeling one gets when they leave Kansas.

The demigod librarian smiled, the best one he could manage under the circumstances.  "That's because we're not technically in the school anymore.  This is part of my sanctum, a pocket realm, so to speak.  The coin acts as a bridge to gateway the World, with my sanctum.  Only someone with this coin could have made it in here, and it never left my side, but I know the work of the Nekyia when I see it."

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Wow, Fisher was amazed, not just at the room but at the stakes. This was definitely Death Note esque. So somehow, whoever it was managed to get access to the private library sanctum. How to solve this mystery. Ok, Fisher pulled something out of class. The Who, What, When, Where, How, Why refrain. "When did you last see it?"

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Rachel moves to where the book rested and she gets close looking for any clues, any scent that isn't Mr Syracuse or one of them. "I tracked Micheal if i can get something maybe i can track whoever took the book."

Spoiler

  [Nina] 4:49 pm: makeing a perception +awarness check
Nina *rolls* 5d10t7+1: 9,7,5,10,1.  Successes = 3. Plus 1 auto successes.  Total = 4.
      [Nina] 4:50 pm: 5 sux can i get a witness
[Long6] 4:52 pm: hallelujah

 

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"This coin has never been in anyone's possession but my own," the demigod rubbed his temples.  It was strange to see a demigod so flustered, but the stakes seemed pretty high.  "It's twenty three hundred years old, the last piece of a forgotten kingdom."

Rachel's senses reached out.  Her vision narrowed as she gained a singular focus.  Her ears opened up to spectrum's mortals only dreamed of.  She hear the heart beating of every one in the room.  Her olfactory opened up and she could smell hair products, sweat, tears... wait... where did it go?  As fast as her senses flooded they were cleared.  Nothing.  It was like... she was being blocked.

The feedback was like a punch to the face.  Her ears overloaded like a high frequency dog whistle and olfactory senses overloaded so swiftly her nose began to bleed.  Only a few drops.  The sudden headache felt more like a warning, and not a fluke.

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He rest his hand on her shoulder, comforting her form the dizziness and pain.  "Rachel, don't strain yours-..."  He paused, as if an idea had suddenly come to him.  "A God.  Rachel, you're genius."

"I am?"  She asked. dabbing her nose with her wet towel.

"She is?" Nadya asked.

"Only a God could block the connection to your abilities... and only a God could allow someone through my door without the key."  He smirked.  "Someone is looking out for our thief."

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"This would be a handy bolt-hole," Nadya commented when Archie explained the hidden Library/Sanctum qualities as she tried really hard not to see dollar signs at all the gold gilding and trim and all the books, tomes, and scrolls that had to be first editions at the least, and the only extent copies. Museums and private collectors would shell out a fortune... she presumed, of course, totally not having any first hand knowledge of such a thing... that she would admit to. "Except for the whole some-other-God-knowing 'bout it."

Nadya began snooping around, not with an eye towards lining her pockets, but considering how she would penetrate the hidden Library and looking to see if the erstwhile thief had left any evidence behind of their activities, while trying to ignore the shoes she was wearing. Rachel's gym shoes felt like clown shoes on her feet and without heels on, she was feeling all the short of her 5'3'' height.

"So, Archie, other than a God giving the thief a skeleton key, is there anyway else the thief could have gotten into your secret, pocket dimension, lair? Like, tunneling in, as it were?" she asked as she poked around the lectern. "And can it only be a God who's acting as tech support for the thief? Could one of the Titans do it?"

She sauntered over to the empty shelves and tapped on them, looking for hollows. Coming in from behind that would be better than the shelves full of books, less chance of visibly disturbing things. "When is good, who is better," Nadya suggested after her fellow Godbloods asked their questions. "Who benefits from turning Salem into a Hellmouth - 'cause I'm guessing they don't want the book just to sell it to a collector - and who knew you had the Book, Archie? Assuming the Gods don't totally have their NSA on and are actually Omnient -"

"Omniscient," Fisher corrected.

"- That's what I said, all-knowing, 'cause if they are, we're screwed anyway, wouldn't that limit our suspect pool?" Nadya quirked a be-ringed brow at Mr. Syracuse. "Also, any non-faculty, non-students hanging 'round the Library recenntly?"

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Nadya had asked the 10,000 dollar question.  "That's the part that is baffling, Nadya.  As a minor God this sanctum was gifted to me.  Any greater god would be allowed access out of respect.  The Titan's however would not have wasted their time, they would have had to act through an outside agent, else I assure you, this sanctum wouldn't still be here.  They are a less than gentle lot.  This sanctum doesn't connect with reality, Nadya, there is no place for one to tunnel in through, the coin acts the key and can be used from anywhere there is a copy of the Iliad with that particular spine.  Before you ask, one would still need the coin, which only I possess."

As Nadya wandered the room, Archimedes was still tending to Rachel.  For a demigod, the guy seemed pretty cool, his concern for Rachel was genuine, compared to what most had heard about the Gods and other immortals, about them being mostly selfish and self-serving.  He approached Nadya though as she moved closer to the empty book case with the lone parchment on it's shelf.  It was poster sized, folded into quarters, and all the writing was on inside, it just looked blank near as Nadya could tell.  He placed one arm around her, gently leading her away from the dusty shelf.  Nadya found that odd, all the other shelves were immaculately cleaned and dusted.  She knew she was being ushered away from the shelf but when she looked up at the demigod, he only shook his head softly as if to say: "Nothing there, but trouble, kid."

Once Nadya was safely away from Ground Zero book shelf he rubbed his cheek and joined the students in a circuit around the room.  "Wait."  He said finally.  "Natalie.  Natalie Myers.  She was hanging around the library after every class for the last few days, then in the last forty eight hours, she stopped."

"I don't think she was in class today." Austin said softly.  "She's on the swim team.  I didn't see her there today.  I could be wring though, she's easy to miss since her mom died last year."

Spoiler

Finding Natalie should be pretty easy in a school full of people that know all the other people they go to school with.  Getting her address is a basic task, simply ask around.  With your charisma scores that isn't hard.  The challenge is trying to get more than her address (who talks to these days, what she's been up to, places she frequents).

This will require a

Perception + Investigation roll if you're trying to investigate through snooping (going through her garbage, breaking into her house, etc).

or

Charisma + Investigation roll if you're attempting to investigate by asking around (questioning friends, family, people that see her around).

Each roll requires 4 hours of detective work, the more successes the more you glean from clues.  You need 10 successes to learn what you need, but time is short,  once you clear 10 successes any left over successes may be used to reduce the total time taken by 1 hour per additional success.  So if you manage to get 15 successes in three rolls (12 hours), then you can take the remaining 5 successes and reduce the time from 12 hours to 7 hours.

I would recommend you decide which you would like to do, then work as a team.  It would be a limited teamwork action.  You can find the rules on page 180 of the Hero book.  To summarize:

Select someone to do the actual roll (The Team Captain) (they suggest the person with the highest dice pool) and for the rest of the team helping you add +1 die to that die pool.  So in this care (Highest Dice Pool + 4 dice), since there are 5 of you.  Those assisting the dice pool may not add Epic Successes, only the Team Captain may.

You may want to talk with one another in the OOC thread or chat.  Your characters will also need to wait until the morning to begin this investigation, it's late and your parents are going to be looking for you soon. :P

 

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The next morning the Band gathered together in the cafeteria before school. "Okay, I'll play central command since I don't actually know anyone at the school yet except for you guys. Not well enough to be poking around about another student and no look super weird. You guys text me what you find out and I'll try to make something coherent out of all of it. Alright?" She looked around the group and hearing no objections she finished with, "Alright, then star pattern go or something."

 

Mechanics

Malachite *rolls* 9d10: 10+7+6+5+8+9+10+8+7x8: 560
[Malachite] 3:52 pm: Okay, ignoring the multiplier becuase I typed that part of 
the command wrong....in Scion do 10's pop or just count as two successes?
[Lobby]: Kaoleth has entered at 3:52 pm
     [Nina] 3:52 pm: 9 sux nice
     [Nina] 3:52 pm: 2 sux
Kaoleth stumbles in, looks around blearily and collapse onto a couch.
[Kaoleth] 3:53 pm: 'Allo
Malachite *rolls* 9d10: 10+1+10+4+7+7+10+6+10: 65
 

So, ignoring the extra 8 on the end because I'm bad a chat programming, that's 19 successes in 2 rounds. Ummmm....because my rolls were rediculous, given the rubric you gave us for the task, it takes -1 hours. I assume you'll want to adjust that. :P

 

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Star pattern was a go and the four half-bloods fanned out to collect their intel.

[Nadya, Austin] Just before classes began Nadya got Austin to act as her look out while she rummaged through the student records.  The doors lock gave way easily to the divine tools she possessed and within seconds her fingers were doing the walking.  Page after page of Natalie's school records assaulted Grace's mobile.  Austin patiently waited outside the door to the records room, he'd never done anything remotely this illegal, and yes, it was highly illegal.  Nadya was kind enough to point that out to him before she went inside.  With a few weeks Austins normal life of high school and the swim team was now blowing up into a life of zombies and possible felony charges.  Needless to say his game face was about as believable as Nadya being a virgin.  Okay, maybe the Nadia things was inconclusive (he hadn't gotten around to asking her), but Mercedes made a convincing argument so the point was there.

Basically, he looked like an idiot.  He bashfully smiled at just about anyone who walked past, his face was a lovely shade of red as the thoughts of getting caught and the repercussions danced through his head.  He was 'just a guy', this was way out of his league.  Moments later when Nadya sneaked out silently as Death's shadow, she took him by surprise.  She tried to conceal the smirk when she startled him.  "All set."  The young thief looked at him.  "You okay?"

"Fine, great."  Austin said nervously.

"Relax Aqualad, the most they can do is expel us."  Her casual smile and mirth unnerved the young man who up until this moment thought he might have a future in an industry besides working in a local gas station for the rest of his life.

"Oh, goody." Picaso could have painted him a more convincing smile.  "And here I was worried it could be something bad..."

They shuffled off into the crowds of student beginning their school day and blended in.

[Fisher] The anime nerd didn't have too much trouble being ignored by... well, pretty much everyone.  He spoke to a few friends but none of them really knew Natalie all that well.  Different social circles and all.  He'd never really been the sociable type.  He wasn't an outcast by any means, it was just hard for him to relate to people, given how odd it was at home with his father.  Okay, the 'you're the son of a goddess' thing wasn't helping much either lately, but for the first time in a long time, Fisher had friends... and they were pretty damn cool.

His confidence was cranked to at least a... five today.  Despite his strike outs he pushed on to his next class.  Time was of the essence, but he was confident he'd find something useful real soo- and there she was: Devenne Darcy.  Everyone called her 'Darcy' since people weren't always in agreement that Devenne could or should be pronounced 'Devin'.  Her nerd status was up for debate, but the lovely brunette was commonly seen wearing t-shirts that depicted the various logos of super heroes.  Oh, and last Halloween she did go out as Donna Troy, despite her claiming that she only had time to improvise was using a white bingo dobber all over a black tank top and tossing on a pinch of glitter.  Completely ignoring the fact that Fisher had been crushing on Darcy since Freshman year, she just happened to be a friend of Natalie's.  His having the opportunity to approach Darcy was strictly for Natalie's sake... yeah.  Natalie.

His entrance could have used a little work.  His pack got caught in the door, then a book fell out of it, but once he took in a breath and made his approach, things went smoothly.  She was concerned about Natalie, who'd been despondent and depressed a lot since her mom passed away.  She hadn't seen or heard from Natalie in almost a week.  Although distant, they'd at least text several times a day, but lately, nothing.  She was also concerned with Natalie's father, whom she also hadn't been able to reach.  If 'Nat' was despondent, then her father was down right crushed by the entire experience.  The drunk driver that hit their car slammed into the passenger side, killing Natalie's mother instantly, at least that's what the doctors always say, anyone who'd lost someone close to them always second guessed that assumption.  Since then she'd been very morose and never really in the mood to hang out.  Like her father, it felt like Nat was slowly dying inside.  If only Darcy knew how well Fisher understood that feeling.

At the end of class Fisher gathered his things and the series of notes he'd scribbled down in the last hour for Grace to look through and headed out of class in a hurry only to be stopped by Darcy a little ways out the door.  She handed him a folded up piece of paper.  "My number, in case you need help finding Natalie.  You're that only person so far that seems to care.  No one's even noticed she's not been around. So, call me if you find out anything," she bit her lip nervously.  Avoiding eye contact.  "Or, y'know, if you just want to."

She hurried off to her next class. It took Fisher a moment to process what just happened.  He opened the paper just to check and make sure... yep, there it was 'D. Darcy XXX-XXXX'.  No friggin' way.  Look for a missing girl, get some digits.  Wow... being a Scion was awesome!

[Rachel] She didn't like it.  Hel, she hated it.  She hadn't seen him in years, but according to her sources, he'd just moved back from Florida where he'd been living with his Aunt for the last... well, it wasn't long enough.  Oh, she knew him well, in fact she kicked his teeth in when she was only six years old.  That battle eleven years ago had made her a neighborhood icon, a legend among the first graders of Salem.  That's right: Billy Troup.  The foul mouthed, sarcastic, bigot, was her nemesis if she ever had one.  He'd gotten back a few days ago, but after eleven years she'd never pick him out in a line up.

After three sets of directions and one very poorly given description she saw the Junior standing at his locker.  Every muscle in her body tensed up as she approached him.  He'd been seen with her just the other day, and this was the only lead she could get.  She remembered every jab, every kick, every insult to her and her fathers.  She remembered the way he bullied every one in his path.  She remembered the way his two friends teamed up against her at the legendary Battle of Bus 117.

She tapped him on the shoulder.  Be firm.  Be fair.  Get out of here as soon as possible.  He's a jerk, you hate him and it's completely justified.  Try not to hit him. For Natalie... c'mon Rach, you can do this...

Billy Turned around to see who was trying to get his attention.  The first thing Rachel noticed was that his eyes were the color of swooning.  His smile and well developed cheek bones were somewhere between a bated breath and a distracted, longing sigh.  No longer was Billy Troup the chubby kid with the puffy cheeks and bruised knuckles, and it was at that moment that Rachel became a staunch believer in Fate... and that Fate hated her... and was possibly laughing at her at this very moment.  Also, she was staring.

"Can I help you?"  He asked, after eleven years he didn't recognize her in the slightest.

"Natalie." Was about all Rachel managed to stammer out.  Rachel was a die hard athlete and natural warrior.  Brave, loyal and willing to take any road to victory no matter how punishing, as long as it was worth the trip.  Her one weakness?  When it came to cute guys, hated or no, she expressed herself in a jumble of twisted words and phrases.  Poor girl was so busy being the absolute awesomest at everything, the birds and the bees sort fluttered right past her.

"Okay, Natalie.  I'm William, people call me Billy.  Well, they used to.  Did you need something?"

"Looking for Natalie."  She mentally screamed at herself to stop looking into his eyes, but they were just so... she sighed instead.  It was easier than thinking of a color.  "Myers."

"Oh, that Natalie." He laughed and it was cute furry baby kittens nuzzling her soul.  "I haven't seen her since the other day.  We're old friends... kind of.  Anyway, we ran into each other outside the old Burying Point on Charter Street... by the wax museum-"

"Kaybye." There was no force in the cosmos that could have kept her rooted in that spot any longer.  The All-Father himself would have been hard pressed in delaying her escape.  She rounded the corner and slammed her back against the lockers and suddenly realized she was clutching her books to her chest like some twitterpated Taylor Swift fan with a crush.  Her eyes swelled wide with an approaching fear.  A crush?  No.

Gods no.  Anyone but him.

It wasn't easy to work it all into one day of school but Grace met up with them after each class and processed the information as best she could and thy all gathered in the library after classes had concluded.  Mr. Syracuse was at a faculty meeting, so they had the place to themselves to disseminate the information.  None of them had ever seen Fisher so happy.  He was practically preening with pride, gawking at a strip of paper in his hand.  Rachel walked in, stiff as a board and pale as a sheet, like she'd just seen a ghost, still clutching her books to her chest like they were body armor.  Nadya couldn't be much happier, she got to crime.  Austin, after spending a majority of the day with Nadya, was worried his soul might need a good scrubbing.  Grace looked at the lot of them, in all manner of emotional states and had to wonder what the Hel happened today...

Spoiler

RP for a bit, talk, fight, call each other names.  When you're ready to move on, lemme know.

 

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Rachel sat at what was fast becoming her regular seat at the oval table where they did all their god stuff under Mr Syracuse's direction. One part of her brain found it funny that they all sat in the same place at the table each time they were all here. The rest of her brain was fixated on William Troup to the exclusion of all else including the conversation around her. How could fate or whatever do this to her, send her a Billy who was more than a dream. She kept trying to remember the fat little punk who had tormented her and everyone else, trying to match that creep with this... this Adonis. He had stood at least a couple of inches taller than her unlike the majority of the boys in school, and he was fit, lean and muscular without being overly bulky. Suddenly she found her self imagining him without his shirt. OMG, she thought, what if he's a scion too...

"Rachel!"

Suddenly she realized someone was talking to her. She brought her head up from where she had been staring at her books in front of her. "Huh?". But then she immediately looked down again at what she had been doing. Her cheeks reddened and she quickly shuffled her books to cover where she had been doodling on her book cover. Doodling his name over and over...Billy...William...Billy...William.

"Who did you talk to and did you find anything out?" Repeated Austin a stern look on his face as if he disapproved of her not paying attention. She noticed that Nadya was straining to get a look at what she was covering up on her books so she shifted them away from the little criminal.

"Um...ah... some guy she had been seen with. He told me they were old friends,  that he had run into her out near the Burying Point. Which is kinda creepy now that I think about it. That's all I got, sorry." She nervously brushed her hair back behind her ear with her fingers and gave her band mates an unconvincing smile.

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Austin's outburst had also broken Fisher's fixation on the number Darcy had given him. Date willing? Apparently, she did say if he wanted to. Yes, yes, coded evidence of mutual attraction! Maybe after this tome-recovery business, he could relieve the strain of the first real introduction to Scion business with a good snuggle... wait, no, presumptuous!

Or no, perhaps she would like that. Dealing with the draining factor of watching a close loved one more and more only going through the motions of life. Darcy would want the pick-me-up factor, right?

Finally, Fisher fully got his brain onto Rachel and her brief explanation. "Oh..." Fisher was going to say, his enhanced acumen reading her pink cheeks, that she'd found her male Darcy but survival instincts stepped in to muzzle him sharply.

A cough, it might have been Fisher's. "So I talked to Darcy..." the brief trail off and glow hinting a lot of the other Scions present. "...Natalie's friend, Grace." Fisher's face finally darkened. "She hasn't seen or heard from Natalie in a week, and from what I learned, Natalie and her father definitely have not been coping with the death of her mom. Which gives us the motive - our Godly mastermind offers the idea the book will bring her back, Natalie does the lifting."

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"Human pawn gets betrayed by whatever said mastermind has in store, and the whole world goes to hell in a handbasket while the other Gods just sit and watch the show, likely munching popcorn."   Austin finished the train of thought.   "Save the fact that some intrepid band of demigod heroes are there to mess up the whole plan, and save the world."  He looked at the others gathered there.  "Does this strike ANYONE else as the plot for some sort of novel series for young adults or something Joss Whedon would come up with?"

He looked at them.   They were all still just kids, and off the bat violence had been their first reaction to Michael, even his own.  Granted his intent was to disable him, so they could help...  He didn't know he was beyond help then, none of them had, but in the end the girls had killed him all the same.   It struck him as strange, and disturbing.  All the legends he could recall were heroes doing great deeds, and yes most revolved around violence, but not all of them.  Looking to Rachel his eyes narrowed slightly.  "Did her friend say when he'd last seen her out that way? Has anyone seen her in the last week?  Whatever happened to Michael happened pretty much overnight, so maybe it's worth seeing if Natalie's Father's been around, to make sure it's not the same thing that's happened to her and her father as what happened to his family."

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Blushing again, Rachel tries to answer Austin. "Um...yeah...no...um.. I ...ah...I didn't ask when. But..um... he said the other day... so... you know the other day."

She notices the looks everyone is giving her as she stammers and it makes her Angry. " Look He just said that they were old friends and that he ran into her nothing else, okay!" It was a statement not a question and when she finished she sat back and crossed her arms across her chest, her glare daring anyone to ask her anything else about...him.

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Nadya dared, daughter of a Cat Goddess or not, curiosity wasn't going to kill her! Her lips quirked into an amused smirk as she made some air quotes. "Natalie's 'friend' is pretty I take it?" Rachel's glare hardened and Nadya giggled as she glanced at the books Rachel had moved away from her, then nodded with certainty, interest even brighter in her green eyes. "Really pretty then. Zac Effron hot? Thor hot? Heh, guess that means something different to us now, huh? I mean, Hemsworth hot? Who is it?"

"Nadya..." Rachel warned angrily, even as her cheeks reddened.

Nadya's giggles turned into full fledged laughter, which only grew harder when Rachel grabbed for her and the sleek girl rolled off her chair just out of reached. "May as well tell me who it is now, Rae-Rae, 'cause I'm gonna find out."

Hands fisted at her sides, Rachel considered throwing the heavy wooden chair at Nadya and what her chances were of hitting the smart-mouthed girl. And if she did hit her, whether the girl or the chair would break. Nadya's eyes were bright and eager... though she looked poised to dodge around the table for cover all the same. Rachel sat back down angrily and crossed her arms. This was all Billy's fault, making her act all out of sorts.

"He's... a guy, just a guy, nothing more."

"Then ask him out next time," Nadya countered blithely, warily moving back to the table, in case Rachel still needed to aggressively relieve some pent up frustration, "and maybe he will be. You're tall and pretty, show off those crazy long legs, get a good push-up bra to show off the girls, he'll say yes."

"You're not helping, Nadya," Austin said, shaking his head in exasperation."

"Might not be helping with finding Natalie, but helping Rae-Rae? You betcha!" 

Nadya sat down after it looked like Rachel wasn't going to try to put her head through the table and pulled out a can of Pepsi, pulled the tab and took a sip. There was no outside food or drink allowed in the Library, but she scoffed at rules. "Book of the Dead gets pilfered, and Natalie is seen 'round a cemetery, go figure. Hungry Dead gotta eat and the Burying Pointe is, like, a buffet, I guess. Some of uscheck it out after school, and the rest of us go check out her place in case it got Lancastered too. I got her address from her school records. I brought extra clothes and a pair of shoes, just in case, this time."

She arched a brow at Austin, her grin wide. "Oh! And if we're the Scooby Gang, I call dibs on Faith. Total Badass, and way better fashion sense than Buffy."

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Grace watched the group goof off while they talked about what they'd found out. It was weird, feeling connected to people she'd just met - well, feeling really connected to anyone was weird. She smirked at "Rae-Rae" and Nadya's back and forth, then cleared her throat to rescue Rachel from the Romani girl. "So, I managed to get ahold of Natalie's school records. Turns out dear old dad works at a wax museum up next to Burying Pointe. He got canned a few weeks back, but never turned in his keys. Creepy place full of fake people that no one is going to want to actually go see seems like a great place for playing with power you don't understand and that can apparently rip apart the world. I say we head up there asap and see if there's a book and zombies hanging out with the melty people." 

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Nadya gave Grace a small bow with a flourishing of her hands, bracelets jangling, unabashedly taking full credit for providing her with Natalie's school records. "Ha! I haven't been to the Wax Museum since I was banned from there two years ago," she commented with a wistful grin. "Which is too bad, because I look awesome in Witch Couture. Might be better to go after close. Not like it's busy or anything, but if Walking Dead is there, why give his zombies something to eat, yeah? We could check out Nat's place before-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Fisher interrupted. "You got banned from the Wax Museum? Why? What could you have possibly stolen from there?"

"I'm sure I could have found something, but that isn't why I got banned." Nadya's grin widened and her green eyes sparkled with remembered mischief. "Did you know their wax figures are semi-posable? Turns out, they didn't like their Witch trial set-up being rearranged into a 17th Century orgy. They aren't anatomically correct, but the idea was obvious from the poses and positions I got them in. Unfortunately, someone came into work early and I got busted on the way out. The settled for banning 'cause they couldn't actually prove I had done anything besides trespass."

Nadya looked insufferably pleased. "It was really too bad, because I'd already bought my ticket - wanted to see the look on the faces of the people when they thought they were going to see a mock-up of the Salem Witch Trials and instead, got a scene from the Witches of Breastwick." She sighed, shaking her head in exaggerated exasperation. "People are sooo serious."

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"My god, do you ever do anything that isn't illegal? My dad was right your just a walking prison sentence waiting to happen." The disapproving frown on Rachel's face didn't faze Nadya one bit. "But your right, I would say that if there is anyplace in Salem where weird stuff can happen, its around there."

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Dark clouds gathered all around Salem as the band drove to the museum.  A storm was approaching, but something about this one told them that it was more than a little rain and drizzle coming their way.  There was still plenty of day light left, but one couldn't tell through the near blackness of the sky.  Barges of billowing clouds roiled overhead, carried on gale force winds and walking across the skies on legs of lightning.  There was no rain, just a lot of wind that made the drive difficult.  Rachel fought with the car more than once as the forces outside slammed into her Mustang in an attempt to veer it off the road.

The Band parked in the parking lot of the museum and looked at the old building.  It didn't look like much, but there was no mistaking that the vortex of the clouds was high above this place.  It was like they were living a scene from Ghostbusters.  Fisher looked up and swallowed hard.  His phone chimed with a text from Darcy, but all he could do was look up at the spiral of death.  If one looked closely they could see the souls of the dead swimming around with the ocean of clouds, like the Underworld was right above the World and their two swies were about to clash and merge.

"Where is everyone?" Grace asked, shouting over the loud winds.  They all became aware of how uncharacteristically bare the streets near the are were.  Everyone seemed... gone.

"At home," shouted a voice not far off from where they stood.  From the haze of swirling debris and dust clouds out stepped Mr. Syracuse and a few 'uninvited' guests.  Eric and his band were with him.  Bridgette's face was painted to look like a skull, Eric held a massive pistol in his hand that sparked electricity from it.  Aaron held a scalpel shaped knife and a bluish skull made from pure crystal floating next to his head.  Horace wasn't wearing his eye patch, and for the first time everyone could see that he had a false eye, a golden sphere with the eye of Horus etched into it and he held a curved blade, a kopesh sword.  Mercedes was also there and it became apparent why she was so widely sought after by everyone in school, Mercedes was astonishingly beautiful but her body language completely gave off the vibe that she felt superior to everyone around her.  She had a gladius strapped to her side and gripped a small gold trimmed shield with the image of her mother emblazoned upon it.  "Survival instinct.  The primal parts of the mind are keeping the mortals at home.  It won't last though once any real fighting starts, we'll have to work fast!"

"What are you doing here?" Rachel yelled.

"We're your back up!"  Eric yelled back at her.  "Since you guys already mucked this up, we've been called in to fix it.  You and the old man here are gonna head inside and fix this mess.  We're going to stay out here and hold this ground in case any wierd shit starts happening."  He slammed some of the energy drink he was carrying in his other hand.  It was called 'Bawlz' which was kind of funny in and of itself... if the world was about to end then the last thing anyone would want to remember was that Eric 'The Douche Bag' Donner was chugging Bawlz before everything went tits up.  Donner and those energy drinks were like Donner and a vacant stare: you never saw him without one.

The mood was different though, Donner and his Band were actually here to help.  No insults were flung, aside from Eric's opening barrage, and even Mercedes kept her trap shut and managed to only give Nadya a disapproving scowl.  At least for now, their duties to the Gods and the World took precedence over personal squabbles.

"We don't need your help, Eric."  Fisher stated stubbornly through nearly clenched teeth.

Eric smiled and patted Fisher on the shoulder.  "Sure y'don't shitdick," Fisher bravely slapped his arm aside.  "Just keep in mind, we've been doing this longer, and unless one of you knows ancient incantations from the Greek Book of the Dead... Mr. Syracuse is our best bet.  Now, time's wasting.  Go."

 

The Band ran off towards the museum.  Eric was an ass, but he was in the right this time.  Rachel kicked the doors open easily and the young Scions slowly crept into the old museum.  Even with the doors wide open and the wind blowing outside the place smelled old.  IT smelled like history, something that had been here a long time and carried with it a personal Legend.  The land beneath their feet was alive, or at least that's what it felt like.  The building was here when all of Salem's history was being forged centuries ago and that history carried a certain weight.  This place had power.

They moved past old exhibits and newer ones.  Every time the lightning outside crashed the faces of the wax mannequins lit up.  The creep factor in the place was cracked to a solid eleven.  Even Grace felt a bit of her bravado and snark muted while they looked for the epicenter of this tragedy.  With that in mind, it didn't take long for them to find it.  In on of the older and more exaggerated exhibits that depicted evil witches in Salem working their magic in a dank cellar, they saw the problem.

The makeshift alter was in the center of the exhibit and above the alter was a massive grey orb of swirling grey mist laced with jolts of blackish energy.  It swelled and grew slightly with each pulse... like a portal.  Natalie was there, clinging to the prop stairs of the cellar, she was hiding under them like she was trapped.  He eyes were swollen and she was covered in grime head to toe and her clothes were ripped in several places.  Her cheeks had two clean streams down her face where her tears had washed them but she seemed weak and dehydrated.  If she was zombiefied... she sure didn't look like it.  When she noticed the Scions she waved her hands, urging them to stay back or to leave entirely.

"It's too late!  Go!  Nothing can stop it!"  Her voice was a cry mingled with pleading regret.  "He won't let you stop it!  My father will try to stop anyone who tries!  Please, just go!  Leave us alone!"

[Epic Perception 1+]"Just... just let us die here..." Natalie mumbles softly.

Spoiler

You should know bad things are around the corner.  Natalie's father doesn't seem to be around, but your best guess is he's around somewhere... close.  You guys aren't fools.  The Michael things caught you off guard, but this situation is completely different.  You are assumed to be fully armed, and fully prepared for anything (no surprise).

Combat is coming up, so we'll hash that out as it arrives.  You get one turn (post) to do any preparatory action you'd like (survey the area, talk to Natalie, run away, draw a weapon, summon a minion, etc...)

 

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Everything else could wait. Eric and his wild bunch, our status as the second string team who needed back up, Mr Syracuse not even bothering to come to us with a plan. The only thing that mattered now was getting everyone out of here alive and ending this mess.

Rachel leaned forward and searched the room with her eyes. "No ones dying here tonight, Natalie, Not if we can help it."

She leans back, pulls her gloves out of her pocket.

With a lowered voice Rachel calls the shots. "Fisher, see if you can get to Natalie and get her out of here. Nadya, make like a cat, see if you can get around to the other side. I can't see her dad so be careful." She pulls the glove onto her left hand then pauses before putting on the right. She raises her hand to her lips and breaths onto the ring on her middle finger reciting the phrase taught her by her father. "Fra hallene Valahalla"

A crack of thunder and flash of lightning inside the building and a fully armed and armored woman is standing next to Rachel. A Norse Shield Maiden looking as if she had just stepped out of an episode of Vikings.

Rachel tugged on the right hand glove. "Austin, Grace, suit up, spread out, we go up the middle." She flexes her hand in the supple gloves making fists. Looking back at Mr. Syracuse. "If you have some way of counteracting that I suggest you get to it."

Rachel not waiting for anyone else steps into the room along with Anngbjord, her shield maiden.

Spoiler

Rachel puts on her gloves and summons her follower.

 

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  • Matt changed the title to IC: S1:E1 "That's Just Nasty!"
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