illinois ♔ and the message coming from my eyes

[spellfile]

WHO || Andrew, Zero, Han, Rocket, Klaus
WHAT || The Knights investigate some strange events  around a farmhouse in Illinois
WHERE || Metropolis Kansas
WHEN || April 20th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

The route to the Moore residence is a secluded, gavel-topped county road that meanders through fields and farmland.  The roiling stormclouds and lack of city lights make the countryside seem unusually dark and forbidding.  A battered mailbox on the right side of the road indicates the Moore farm, and a pothole-filled drive leads up to the farmhouse.  On the right side of the long driveway, nestled among the snow, lies what appears to be a small family graveyard.

Beside the dilapidated house, stands a large German Shepard tethered on a leash, barking furiously as they pull up.  An older man stands on the porch looking highly displeased.  The man says something to the dog, but the barking continues unabated.

"You can just turn right around and head back the way you came," he yells from the porch.

Comments

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket's response to the dog's barking is an aggravated snarl from the vicinity of the other man's ankles. EXCUSE YOU, MONGREL.]

[badexample]

[Andrew gives a Look in Han's direction, since he was all braggy pants about his ability to talk to people.]

[parsecs]

[Han raises his eyebrows at Andrew, then he saunters over to the man with an easy, lopsided grin.]

Hey, easy, we don't want no trouble.

[He shoots Rocket a glare because he'd be more convincing if a certain raccoon weren't growling.]

We just want to talk. I promise it'll be worth your while.

[He holds out a hand to shake and by shake I mean offer a bribe since that definitely is a nice crisp $50 bill visible in his hand, though it's cleverly concealed enough that just the man can see it, not the rest of the group (diplomacy 21, sleight of hand 27).]

[spellfile]

[ the man stares down at the bill but doesn't reach for it.

"Who sent you here?" he demands. ]

[beatupgrass]

[while han tries to talk sense into Old Man Jenkins over there, rocket's gonna use his natural abilities to see if he can feel out anything. (wisdom 20 (for smell), listen 26, and spot 36.]

ROCKET'S WILDERNESS ADVENTURES

[beatupgrass]

[After everyone leaves him here in the wilds, Rocket sheds his clothes and leaves them in the hollow of a tree along with his phone. That done, he pops the cybernetics in his hip so he can stay down on all fours, making him... fairly indistinguishable from a normal raccoon from a distance.

He is not best pleased with this because it is FUCKING COLD, but whatever. That's what fur is for.

Obviously, the place to hang out right now is at the edge of the graveyard, so here he is. With a... nat 20 Hide check. He is one with the gravestones. And his eyes and ears are open (spot 33, listen 19)]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he doesn't see anything weird at all for hours. eventually, however, the sky seems to fill with threatening clouds, and thunder begins rumbling loudly ]

[beatupgrass]

[uh yeah. the last thing he wants is to get rained on, so he's just gonna start running towards the bar for the sake of shelter... and also to see if anything weird happens there.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the rain starts pouring down before he reaches the barn door, so he gets soaked cleaned through. it's good to be a naked forest creatures, isn't it. ]

[beatupgrass]

[WOW THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT.

Rocket steps shivering on all fours into the barn, glances around hesitantly like he expects ANYONE TO BE IN HERE, and gives himself a good hard shake to get rid of the water a bit.

That was mildly undignified. Anyway.

Let's explore the barn a bit, shall we? (search 30) If anything, he can at least find a comfortable place to hide and hang out for the evening.]

back to the farm~

[spellfile]

[ /assumes han is driving

as they head towards the moore farm, they'd note that the weather has grown particularly foul, and it only takes a spot 12 to notice the bank of swirling, green storm clouds hanging directly above the farm.

it's about a mile out that the car starts acting up, the engine starting to sputter. ] Now what?

[badexample]

[Andrew is more focused on that weird green cloud bullshit. But the car stopping is a thing too.]

This mission gets weirder every second. [If you think he's going to be the one to get out and try to fix the car, you are so wrong.]

[parsecs]

[HELL YES HAN IS DRIVING and... probably a little too fast and erratically (drive 12). It's hard when all the vehicle is touching the ground, cut him some slack. Luckily, he's paying enough attention (JUST BARELY spot 12) to see the cloud.

When the engine starts sputtering, Han slams his fist against the dashboard.]

Kriffing piece of junk.

[spellfile]

[ the dash lights flick off as they keep going, and while the car slows considerably, it's not until they're in the driveway that the engine gives one last sputter and dies completely.

the storm has picked up considerably, the winds gusting rain around. the green clouds swirling about the moore farmhouse are ominous enough, but closer inspection reveals that the front door is open, banging back and forth in the powerful winds. no one seems to be around, including moore's dog.

zero lifts his phone to his ear, but pulls it away, scowling. ] Nothin' but static. Can't even get a damn signal.

[badexample]

This is the part where we have to go in there, isn't it?

[aka his least fave part :( ]

klaus & zero & rocket | outside

[spellfile]

[ they head back outside into the driving rain, the wind howling up a racket. ] Don't suppose you can smell out wet raccoon.

[asuma]

[He probably could if he tried hard enough/actually wanted to, what with being part werewolf and all. But Klaus has never actually embraced his werewolf nature--probably because he'd gone over a thousand years without ever having access to those abilities. Even once they had been unlocked, he still chose to rely on his vampiric talents. Whether it was because they were what he had grown accustomed to for so long or because he deemed them "better" than their werewolf counterparts was anyone's guess.

Needless to say, the look he gives Zero seems to convey his sentiment of, "Really, bitch? The fuck do I look like?" nicely.]

That's assuming anyone could discern the smell of wet raccoon from the scent of manure that permeates this place.

[Short answer: Nope, and I probably wouldn't try even if I could. Which I might be able to, truth be told.]

[spellfile]

[ he gives a hollow laugh at that, and then starts down the steps, squinting through the rain. ] C'mon. Gonna do this the hard way. [ the barn door is swinging open in the howling wind, and zero pulls out a flashlight to shine that way. intermingled with the pools of rainwater on the ground, the beam catches a trail of noxious slime that leads towards the open doorway of the barn. ] Oh goody.

[ he turns his head back towards the field, and yells: ] Hey, Rocky Raccoon! You out there? [ listen check, rocket ]

[beatupgrass]

[his listen check was a 30 so... yep. definitely heard it. there's a moment as he crosses the field, now back to being clothed, though no less waterlogged.]

'Bout freakin' time. What'd you find?

[asuma]

[Weren't you supposed to be doing the reconnaissance , Rocket? Whatever, Klaus keeps it nonchalant as fuck.]

Zombies.

[spellfile]

[ after everyone reconvenes (including rocket - it won't take long to build a bomb with that stuff), zero rubs his face, and points at a trail of slime leading towards the fields. ] Guessing we follow that back, it's gonna take us across land lines to wherever all this is coming from.

[badexample]

[Andrew does not look at all excited. But he's actually killed some things today so he's at least still riding that rush.]

Might as well get it over with...

[asuma]

I can hardly wait to find out what awaits us on the other end.

[Klaus was here to provide the sarcasm ok. But he will head down the yellow brick slime trail first since he was probably the one here who could take the most punishment. He's keeping his eyes and ears open in case there are more zombies lurking though (spot 19, listen 24).]

[spellfile]

I doubt it's a pot of gold, at least. [ the slimy trail snakes a rambling route through the tall corn, illuminated by an occasional flash of lightning. after a few hundred yards, the corn abruptly parts to reveal a squat concrete building similar to an electrical utility shed. power lines from the nearby towers stretch to connect with it.

about two dozen yards from the bunker, two humanoid creatures apparently made of metal are standing beside a metallic utility box of some sort. they appear to be repairing something inside.

suddenly, the dull roar of thunder is overlaid with an angry buzzing sound, as though someone has disturbed a hornet's nest, seeming to issue from the shed. ]

[badexample]

[Uh... if they're made of metal can Andrew do knowledge technology on them?? Does he know what these weird cybermen mother fuckers are?? (know: tech 30).]