switzerland ♔ the words tightening around my throat

[silverguardian]

WHO || Nyna, Cara, Felicity, Stiles
WHAT || The Knights are sent to hear about a prospective job from an art collector
WHERE || Bern, Switzerland
WHEN || April 13th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

The streets of Bern swell with the myriad sights and scents of its industry: the wood and polish of carpenters' shops, tantalizing aromas wafting from dozens of bakeries, and the heavy oil scent of artists.  Meanwhile, hundreds of rich colors give the district an appearance of a holiday festival.  The townhouse of Asheron Coyl comes into view, perched on a small rise that overlooks the street.  A low fence covered in vines abuts the street.  A gate opens onto a flagstone path that wends past frozen flower beds, fountains, and sculpted shrubs to the front doors.  A bell hangs next to the gate, reading "Please ring bell" in several languages.  With an 11 disguise check, Nyna didn't really bother to dress all fancy, opting instead for her paladin armor, sorry guys.   She can be the sexy bodyguard.  

Comments

[allmydreams]

[Time for art history with Felicity Braddock!]

There are a lot of different versions, but they all depict the trial of St. George versus the dragon of Silene. Silene had a dragon living in their lake, poisoning the entire countryside, and to keep it from slaughtering them in a hail of fire, they used to feed it sheep and other livestock. However, the more they fed it, the more it demanded until it demanded the first born daughter of the king. With no other resource they gave the dragon what they wanted - and then St. George showed up.

Brimming with the determination of his good Christian nature, he charged out to the lake to rescue the princess. He used his faith in the cross to drive the dragon back and then had the princess toss him her girdle so that he could use it as a leash and subdue the dragon, leading him back into town.

Naturally the people were terrified and he used that fear to force the conversion of fifteen thousand people to Christianity before he finally slayed the beast but regardless, artists felt the need to immortalize it forever.

[druidisms]

[ gd christians!

idly as he goes to poke around that desk now tbh (search 17): ] Makes you glad you were baby, doesn't it?

[killingtodeath]

Is anyone else worried about the whole "art coming to life" thing that's been happening while we stare at this? No? Just me? Cool.

[allmydreams]

[She was about to respond to Gus, but Stiles speaks and her eyes close as she turns back to face him.]

Have you ever heard of the phrase "jinxing it"?

[She doesn't mean it in a mean way, exactly, but it's not exactly happy either.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the ledger that gus notices on the desk has numerous names written on the pages... but as he looks at them, a glowing snake sigil atop the page flashes green and he must make a reflex save to look away before it immobilizes him. ]

[druidisms]

[ yeah, he didn't make it unless for some miraculous reason the dc is less than 8, so he just manages to say: ] Motherf-- [ before the effect takes hold, censoring him unwillingly. but he course corrects. ] Whaaaaaaat the fuck.

[killingtodeath]

I'm just saying! [Because he thinks that Gus is also mad at him for saying something about the painting.]

[allmydreams]

[She squints a bit at that outburst from Gus turning and noticing that he is standing very still (wisdom 20 total).]

You okay, Gus?

[druidisms]

Kinda stuck, actually. [ like not moving at all kind of stuck. while he's just hanging out though, he racks his brain for a helpful answer. (spellcraft 18) ]

[trebond]

What do you mean stuck?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ a shimmering amber field of force appears to be surrounding his body and even as the words slip from his mouth he goes suddenly entirely still, unable to even speak, unaware of his surroundings as he becomes encased in suspended animation. it's at least enough time for him to realize he's the victim of a sigil trap, that will leave him immobilized for days if it's not dispelled or broken. ]

[druidisms]

[ HE CAN'T EVEN BITTERLY THINK BITTER THOUGHTS OF BITTERNESS. :| THIS TAG IS IMPORTANT. ]

[allmydreams]

Gus?

[She wants to reach forward and shake his shoulder as though that will break the spell, but that force field might land her in the same predicament he's in and that's no good. So instead of shaking him or yelling uselessly, she'll glance back to the two magic people on the team as though they may have the answers.]

What is it? Can we fix it?

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles goes to step over towards the two of them, gently poking Gus in the cheek. That's helpful. But he's also studied a lot of magic stuff with Kat and some of the others in the Fire, so maybe he knows a thing (knowledge arcana 25)]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he would recognize that it's a magical effect, and as such, might be able to be dispelled with dispel magic or break enchantment. but at that moment, the golden tasseled rope hanging above him... comes to life o__o and tries to wrap around his throat (a 19 to attack and a 22 grapple if that hits) ]

[killingtodeath]

[It hits. And Stiles is not going to be able to beat that grapple so...he's being suffocated by a rope. Cooooooool.]

[mordsith]

[The moment the rope winds around Stiles' neck, Cara moves toward the helpless man to assist him. She grabs onto the rope with her hands trying to loosen it from around his neck. (atk 11 (sorry, Stiles) | dmg 1 (not that it even helps...)]

We need a blade to cut this!

[allmydreams]

[Felicity doesn't have a blade, unfortunately. She does have her gun and knows that Alanna has a sword so she's going to leave that for Alanna and go to try and fix Gus instead. She can tell from his eyeline that he was looking at the book when whatever this is happened to him, so she's just going to wing it and shoot the book to see what happens (reflex save 27 if she needs it, attack 14 action point says 27, damage 11 with penetration damage. On a book. Because why not).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she shoots the book, which goes careening off the table with a hole right through the middle of it - but gus doesn't budge. as the rope eludes cara's grasp, two creepy looking servants come out from behind the tapestry carrying trays that have painting supplies on them. at first glance, they look human, but a spot check of 15+ will notice that their coloration is a little richer than real humans and their movements supernaturally lithe. their eyes look blank, almost manic, and an oily substance swims in the whites of them. one of them goes to slam its tray into cara (atk 12, which i'm sure misses) and the other at felicity (atk 15, which probably also does) ]

[trebond]

[ Luckily, even if she doesn't love using it, Alanna is quite familiar with magic, and she recognizes the nature of the magic promptly as the amber forcefield descends. And given the way things appear to be escalating, Alanna has a feeling that untrapping Gus is likely the first thing to be done.

She raises a hand, waving it over him and commanding a veil of purple to descend over the sigil trap immobilizing him, her own magic trying to pierce through it and free him as she casts dispel magic. But not without noticing the uncanny valley servants entering (spot 16). ] And who are these, then?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ with alanna's dispel, the violet light shatters the amber, and gus is freed! as the rope tightens around stiles' neck... for 12 dmg :( ]

[killingtodeath]

[Well since I'm keeping my shitty roll from when I got too excited and tagged out of turn, Stiles is just going to keep uselessly pawing at the rope around his neck with his single digit attempt to get out of this grapple.]

[druidisms]

[ mellie lurches forward when alanna's magic envelops gus, growling in distress. WHY MORE MAGIC, WHY HAIRLESS CUB FROZEN. but then the glow fades and gus tips forward in the table as sensation returns to his body, gasping a breath.

it's only a second later that he's turned, drawing his quarterstaff from mellie's harness and surging toward the... manservants? WHERE THE FUCK DID THEY COME FROM? WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!?!?! he selects one and just goes to fucking town with both ends of the quarterstaff. (atk 27, 14, 31; dmg 14, 5, 6) using heroic surge, he takes one more attack for good measure. (atk 28, dmg 8) JUST IN CASE.

gus mad, y'all.

meanwhile mellie is like yes, i will maul servant number 2! coming up! (atk 30, dmg 28) ]

[mordsith]

[SO... NO ONE IS GONNA HELP THE STRANGLING CHILD? Sorry, Stiles. Either way, Cara is STILL trying to pull at this rope and this time her attack roll is a lot better (atk 22 | dmg 5)]

[allmydreams]

Looks like more paint people.

[LOOK THERE WAS A LOT OF BADNESS HAPPENING, OKAY and Felicity has no blades and zero upper body strength, but since Gus is free and dealing with the paint people (spot 22), she will now turn to work on getting Stiles out.

Unfortunately, she has zero upper body strength, so she doesn't think she'll be much help there, but she will try to shoot out the top of the rope to help it lose some of it's leverage (attack 17 including the -4 penalty for trying not to hit Cara and Stiles, damage 7 if that actually hits).]