Chapter 3: The Path of the Righteous Man

[Enoch]

Shadrach hustles after Nora and grabs her upper arm just as she starts to reach for the curtain. He speaks with quiet urgency. "Let's settle that score later. Petyr's outside. Let's go."

The soldier squeezes his eyes shut as he turns back toward the outside door and the bouncer, half-dragging Nora around with him. I don't know how this works or if anybody can hear me, or if we can even stop Petyr. But our truck may be the best way to do it. If we can, smash him up against the building with the truck, an' we can take him apart piece by piece if we have to.

He releases his grip on Nora's bicep and breaks into a half-run, angling toward the door.

[redwarrior]

Hansel will try to use the "party line", while looking around nonchalantly and talking on autopilot with Oliver. Has Petyr been seen, or just his vehicle? While he waits for developments, he will listen to Oliver's impressions of the entertainment.

If I'm following, we have only id'd his vehicle at this point.

[Marullus]

Ambiance: Sex and Stardust

In the Bar

Your earbuds chirp, Hans' voice coming through mid-conversation - "I'd pay attention to their eyes. They're harder than one normally sees. That's the kind of thing you should notice... You should always be aware of your surroundings. For instance, that big man by the front door, you can be sure that he's trained for fighting and likely armed. And you can trust that this gentleman with the rag has something unpleasant within arm's reach. You should make a point of not getting on their bad side."

"Hell with this," says Nora, apparently coming to some abrupt decision. She pushes off the bar from between Taavi and Shadrach to start walking toward the VIP curtain.

Balygyr's voice then comes across as well. "I think i found Petyr's car in the parking lot. Does everyone copy?"

Taavi on his barstool looks down at the counter, his eyes unfocused as his attention is elsewhere. Reaching out telepathically, he connects with Emile, Baleygr, Shadrach and Hansel. He introduces them to the silent mental link, his own emotions, thoughts, and presence now felt by them even as they hear each other's mental communications in "group chat." "Marshalls outside, Nora has gone to confront Petr's mistress in here. We all heard that Petr's vehicle may be parked outside. If we find him, it seems that we must somehow break his body parts to immobilize him. Perhaps with a chair, a table leg, or whatever we can find. I'm following Nora into the VIP room here."

Taavi knocks back what's left of his beer and hurries after Nora, just as Shadrach grabs her upper arm. They stand just short of the VIP curtain. "Let's settle that score later. Petyr's outside. Let's go." The middle-aged man with weathered skin watches intently now from the bar, as Shadrach grabs Nora.

Shadrach's thoughts echo to the other Marshalls minds. "I don't know how this works or if anybody can hear me, or if we can even stop Petyr. But our truck may be the best way to do it. If we can, smash him up against the building with the truck, an' we can take him apart piece by piece if we have to."

The greasy-haired blond woman stands back up as Hans intercedes, wandering back to her pool table and leaving Oliver alone. Hansel sits near the pool tables with Oliver, watching Shadrach and Taavi go to intercept Nora as she crosses the room. "Has Petyr been seen, or just his vehicle?" he thinks to the group.


Out by the Truck

Out in the parking lot, the third drone loops back, hovering above the sports car. Emile nods and finishes the last sip of water, closing the bottle. He kicks himself off of the roof, landing next to the truck. His sun-shooter in his hand, he heads to the car to investigate. Seeing no movement, he moves closer, peering inside the car, using every bit of his Panspectral Optics to take it all in but not touching the car. His enhanced vision recognizes the smears of blood on the driver's door panel, partially masked by splattered mud. There's no sign of anyone inside the car, nor any warmth to indicate it there was recently, or that the car has been driven in the last day.

In the VIP...

"DON'T you f'ing grab me!" retorts Nora as she swats away Shadrach's grip. Whirling back to face forward she grabs the VIP curtain and throws it open, plastic rings rattling along the metal bar at its top. She stands squarely centered in the opening as she looks within, Shadrach and Taavi flanking behind her.

Nora freezes, totally still as the scene within washes over her. The curtained lounge has overstuffed leather couches, purple and blue lights illuminating it clearly. Seated on the couch opposite the entrance, his chest bare under a black suit coat, is Petyr. He looks up, fully fleshed again, handsome, a sheen of sweat on his bare skin. "My love. You couldn't stay away." His voice is velvet. Nora's breath catches in her throat, a flush spreading up her face. Two women, not club employees by the the look of the scattered clothing, lie half-dressed and unmoving on the couches on either side of him.

OOC:

Does Shadrach convince Nora to change course?
Shadrach CHA+Lead [2d6]=7
...nope.

Taavi established the mental link, but is at 0 / 5 effort.
Also, per the OOC discussion, everyone can sense Taavi's surface thoughts and emotions through the party line. Jemmus, please include that in your posts.

[greyarea]

Emile tells the others over the link, Car's cold. I don't know if he dumped it but it hasn't been driven in a while. Probably not for at least twelve hours. If Petyr's inside, he's been in there for some time...

He stands guard by the car, in case someone comes.

[Enoch]

Shadrach thinks, urgently, He's here.

Does Shadrach know anything about how to kill necromancers or anything that might be useful in combatting them?
Know Magic: [2d6+1]=11+1=12:
Also, if there are any illusions or magical disguises around Petyr, I can make a Mental save to pierce them. (You're welcome to make this in secret if necessary, of course!)

With an air of desperation, he yanks Nora back and whistles for Grim.

[jemmus]

Oh gods, no. Taavi thinks. Then, with more self-discipline to his thoughts, telepaths to the group, Peytr's right here, and he's fully healed. And we must of us don't have any weapons. We might need everyone in the bar. Remember that there's a bouncer checking for weapons at the door. And best not to show your badges. He looks at the two unmoving women, checking for signs of life.

[cybersavant]

Báleygr Gangleri 'hears' that Petyr's inside, and whole. "AI, Petyr is inside. We need options - any suggestions?" Retrieve all drones to the truck.

[greyarea]

Emile looks over the vehicle to see if he can disable it, stroking his new glowing tattooed patters absentmindedly as he does so.

I'm considering disabling his vehicle, but I'm not a car guy. Anyone have a suggestion? Would a few of my sunshots to the engine do it, you think? Suggestions might be helpful... he sends to the others.

[cybersavant]

Báleygr Gangleri sends over a drone so he can have a look. "Can you open the hood?"

[greyarea]

Emile looks for a way to open the vehicle's hood.
Notice [2d6+1]=8+1=9

[Marullus]

Shadrach wracks his brain for what the Order of Saint Chrysostom has to say about necromancers. While High Prelate Teresides emphasizes the battle against the cults of Shadow and the hellspawn that come through to our dimension at the behest of the misguided and evil, the archives of Deluga contain older works. The brittle, ancient books bound in strange leathers attracted Shadrach's attention, though he hoped never to need to knowledge.

Nice roll!

More was known at the peak of science before the Scream about the interdimensional multiverse than was known when the books were written - the existence of a Hell dimension beyond the bounds of our own reality is now measured and documented. The merger of understanding about magic and science in that regard was groundbreaking more than a century ago, but the process still difficult and esoteric. The doctrines of the church, written since the Scream and the Fall, address how the dimensions no longer are reliably separate, the ritual processes no longer as difficult to perform, and hunters like Shadrach need to find the places where this occurs and rectify them. Rifts closed, shadows slain and sent back to their own world.

That is not true for necromancy.

Necromancy is wholly separate from the dimensional science of Hell and of relations with the shadow demons who dwell there, desiring influence over our mortal realm. The ancient flesh-bound texts explain an archaic knowledge from ancient earth rooted in the power of life and death within this reality alone. A necromancer can heal or harm living forms, cause or forstall the process of death. He can imbue corpses with his own animate will, which is fundamentally different than allowing them to be inhabited by denizens of hell with their own desires.

Shadrach wracks his memories, trying to recall how to kill a necromancer, or how to combat them. He knows that the arts described in such tomes require enaction and preperation, with verbal and somatic words and gestures: catching a practitioner by surprise is better than encountering them well-prepared. He knows that the more potent the effect, the more temporary it is - something that forestalls death completely, such as surviving a radiological explosion, must be very finite in other ways, like duration. He noted that Petyr did not bleed, his insides congealed. As a soldier he knows that puncturing, even with arrows or bullets, is a hemoraging end that relies on loss of blood. He also knows that animated dead, like those in the fields at Whighte Farm, are animated by the practitioner's will rather than hellish forces, and so dependent on the practitioner to continue their actions (where a summoned shadow would be freed to act on its own will upon the summoner's death, a necromancer's animated servants have no will of their own to act upon). A practitioner is very dangerous, though, as their powers can turn allies into enemies, such as when he wielded Emile like a puppet to shoot Hansel, and he might be able to do more if given freedom to act.

Shadrach hopes to see an illusion in Petyr's hale visage, but alas, he does not.

Báleygr asks the AI for options. The cube enables a surveillance display in Báleygr's visual field through its mental access to his feed. "Power generation appears to be running through a substation visible on the roof - you see the cables, there." The visual display frames a shack-like object on the roof surrounded in metal wire fencing. "A sufficient explosion would likely disrupt the power to this whole facility, and despite it being night, there's no windows. Your own eyes are unhindered by this and I believe you have several enhanced companions as well. It might prove a crucial advantage." The AI flickers, perhaps with excitement? "A sufficient explosion would collapse the whole building as well, which, with your friends outside, could resolve it even more expediently. I would be glad to recalibrate your drone into a self-destructive charge... or more than one to achieve the latter."

Emile pops the hood on the sports car and contemplates the engine. Even with his reticence, the drone floating above his head allows Báleygr to see and explain it simply. A few handfuls of wires from the distributor system and the car will be mired until it has professional help. "Alternatively, the vehicles fuel supply would make a rather effective incindiary," the cube adds.

Hansel considers the room, looking beyond the immediate features. There's a curtained doorway behind the bar that must lead to the kitchen, judging by the food coming through it. On the far side of the curtained VIP area, between it and the stage, there's a neon sign indicating restrooms. Looking more closely, he realizes there must be a hallway there and, from the arrangement of the strip mall, it likely leads to the advertised beds, laundry, and ultimately to the mechanic at the far end. There's no other visible egress for patrons.

[redwarrior]

Hansel looks to Oliver Master Twist He speaks very quietly trying not to draw attention It's about to get very loud, I think. When it does, I've got a critical job for you. Do you think you could quietly slip through that door over there Glancing at the beaded kitchen entrance and find something good for .... slicing and dicing? I'm pretty sure I can distract the rest of the room so that you'd be unnoticed.

Over the partly line Oliver will find something for cutting, I'll take the bartender. Any luck, the patrons will run for the exits. I think the entertainment will attack. Awaiting the boom.

Held action: Draw and shoot at the bartender with laser pistol.
Trigger: Bartender drawing a weapon.
Laser Pistol [1d20+3]=19+3=22 Damage [1d6+1]=6+1=7
Oh, my, please let him draw a weapon!!!

[cybersavant]

Báleygr asks the AI for options. The cube enables a surveillance display in Báleygr's visual field through its mental access to his feed. "Power generation appears to be running through a substation visible on the roof - you see the cables, there." The visual display frames a shack-like object on the roof surrounded in metal wire fencing. "A sufficient explosion would likely disrupt the power to this whole facility, and despite it being night, there's no windows. Your own eyes are unhindered by this and I believe you have several enhanced companions as well. It might prove a crucial advantage." The AI flickers, perhaps with excitement? "A sufficient explosion would collapse the whole building as well, which, with your friends outside, could resolve it even more expediently. I would be glad to re-calibrate your drone into a self-destructive charge... or more than one to achieve the latter."

Emile pops the hood on the sports car and contemplates the engine. Even with his reticence, the drone floating above his head allows Báleygr to see and explain it simply. A few handfuls of wires from the distributor system and the car will be mired until it has professional help. "Alternatively, the vehicles fuel supply would make a rather effective incendiary," the cube adds.

Báleygr Gangleri "AI, prep the primitive drone for the power outage." Báleygr 'thinks' to the others, It's going to get dark inside.'
"Emile, grab those wires and yank them out."

[greyarea]

Emile makes short work of the engine.

[Marullus]

Shadrach and Taavi?

[jemmus]

For a second Taavi thinks over what he is telepathically hearing. He mentally says, For consideration: Collapse the roof on Peytr. While avoiding other casualties.
So: Cut the lights. Hopefully the staff and customers will evacuate. But how to keep Peytr in the building until the roof collapses? While getting ourselves out before then?

We know about the front exit and an exit into the next store in the strip mall. Correct? Does the kitchen have an exit to outside? An other exits we know of?

[Marullus]

Shadrach previously checked that there's no kitchen exit (nor external dumpster... trash service having ended 50 years ago). The rear exit is a floor down and is being watched by a drone - it is bay doors. On this level, there's the front door and the mechanicat the far end and everything else has long been boarded over.

[Marullus]

for Taavi -
Does he take an action? (Only he, Shadrach, and Nora are directly in the scene for this initial reaction. The post above reads as "Taavi freezes motionless and overthinks" which, of course, is a valid choice.)

If his action is coordinating a plan that's also cool - you get to roll Int+Lead and tell me who you are giving a Help action to.

[Enoch]

Shadrach's head whips back and forth as he looks about desperately for some sort of bludgeoning object- a chair, perhaps; or a stanchion securing a rope line.

Notice (Wis): [2d6]=8
If he finds something, he'll arm himself with it. Otherwise, he draws his knife and uses the pommel to bash. I'm assuming that Grim has not entered the club yet.
Melee Attack: [1d20+1]=14+1=15


Shadrach sends out a furious thought: He's in the VIP area. He ain't like to bleed out, so we crush him instead.

[jemmus]

Sorry for the delay. Taavi's action is to communicate with everyone on the party line and discuss collapsing the roof of Petyr.
Help action for Baleygr.
Intelligence - Int [1d6+1]=4+1=5
Lead - Lead [1d6-1]=5-1=4