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

[spellfile]

[ on the dining room floor lie the remnants of a large table that has been smashed to bits. pools of blood stain the carpet in several locations, along with puddles of some foul-smelling, clear ooze. a muddy-sounding voice from the other door to the room says "Oscar..."

also by 'the kitchen extends around the stairs' in the last tag, i meant the living room. that they were looking at. #readingcomprehension

zero grimaces, staring at the door, knowing they've gotta look in there but not eager to be the one to do so ]

[badexample]

[Andrew is still clueless and just looking around until there's that single word in a creepy voice. He turns towards the door with wide eyes, glancing to Zero and shaking his head.]

Shit, shit, shit... We're going in there, aren't we?

[Such a knight]

[asuma]

[And Klaus comes bringing up the rear like what did I miss after all is said and ... not really done yet, still wiping one of his eyes. /useless]

[spellfile]

[ zero sighs heavily, so very put upon, and moves to shove the door open with a creak.

the kitchen is in complete disarray, and the cupboards and drawers have been ransacked. four horrible-looking figures stand over the corpse of a middle-aged woman. though they are humanoid in shape, they look like bloated zombies, with oozing flesh that sloughs off to the ground in puddles and eyes that glow with a green, unholy light. "Oscar," says one in a muddy voice, raising its head to affix them all with a hungry stare. ]

Wrong grouch.

[ one of the zombies roars and heads straight for zero, slamming into him with a nat 20, and following it up with a weighty blow (atk 20, total dmg 22). ]

[badexample]

Hey! [Andrew lets out a shout as Zero is attacked. That's like his not!dad, okay. He's not okay with this. So he fires his gun at that one!!! And only get an attack of 8.... But he has heroic surge so he tries again!!!

And seriously got the exact same fucking thing. So appropriate that it hurts.]

[herebemonsters]

[ the 4th zombie goes for andrew, clawing at him with a 7, so even he can duck it ]

[asuma]

[The zombie attacking Zero is obviously the bigger threat here, but since Klaus is standing right the fuck here he will go ahead and attempt to knock the zombie that is coming for Andrew back by slamming a bitch toward the interior of the kitchen with a lil vampiric strength (attack 26, damage 15 if it hits).

And if it staggers back or falls or dies (again) he will go ahead and move inside to put him that much closer to the one assaulting Zero and make himself a bigger target since Andrew's ass is probably the squishiest one here rn.]

[parsecs]

....nothing's right about this. [Seriously that is just karking wrong. Han lifts his blaster and shoots a blast of laser sharp energy at the zombie that's trying to eat Zero's face (atk 16, dmg 13 if that somehow hits).]

[spellfile]

[ klaus' fist sinks into the flesh of the thing, which feels like it has the consistency of pudding, making a sizable dent, but it doesn't go flying backwards because of how much it gives way.

han's blaster cuts into the other zombie...and liquified tissue comes spewing out, dealing 1 dmg to zero, andrew, and klaus, and they all get to make a fort save :') it gets zero right in the face tbh. ] Oh, for the love of--

[ he raises both hands and a cone of searing flame shoots out of his fingertips. a close look at it might reveal what looks like lines of code coursing through the flames. every last one of them fails their ref saves, given that zombies aren't the fastest fuckers (13 dmg each). it melts the one that han shot and klaus punched, but the other two further back vent bursts of steam from their mouths and then keep coming.

one of them tries to slam zero again but he sidesteps it, while andrew can easily avoid the slow fist of the other (atk 4) ]

[badexample]

[Andrew's fort was only an 11. Is he puking bc of zombie guts? Or is his flesh dissolving or something??? Anyway, he tries to shoot but lmfao no it's still single digits. He's the worst at this.]

[asuma]

[Klaus got 30 for his fort save.

He takes the opportunity to attempt to shake off some of the liquefied zombie innards that are probably making a mess all over since he literally punched through the thing's chest before Zero melted it, and then Han went ahead and hosed them down with more gore splatter by shooting the one mounting Zero.

When that doesn't seem to work he just wipes his hand and forearm on the back of Andrew's shirt instead. :')

Yeah that was how he chose to spend his full round. #priorities.]

[parsecs]

[This time Han tries to shoot the one furthest away from the group since he's pretty sure liquefied zombie innards are not the sort of thing you want all over your team. But he still wants to kill the things (atk 27, dmg 27 thank you penetration).]

[spellfile]

[ andrew seems... fine............ For now.

han explodes another one of them and zero pushes back out of the doorway to let y'all have a better shot. b/c fuck this, he's not a combat caster aight.

the last one comes in and charges han, but with an atk 9, it's too slow again :< COME ON ZOMBIES ]

[badexample]

[Andrew is just gonna... try to head over to where Zero is because he's probably got a higher chance of accidentally shooting Han than actually hitting a zombie. Also wtf Klaus quit grabbing his shirt. He's just gonna mosey over --->]

[asuma]

[And Klaus merely steps to the side so that Han can shoot the remaining threat. He just cleaned his hand ok fuck that.]

[parsecs]

[Wow Han's just doing all the work here, thanks for all the help guys.

But FINE he'll step back a few feet to get out of the blast radius and raise his pistol again, shooting out another burst of red light at the zombie (atk 20, dmg 10).]

[spellfile]

[ that strikes the zombie but it's still up, and with an annoyed groan, zero picks up a toaster and throws it at the back of the thing's head. with a whole attack 5. which means it very nearly hits han instead. yolo.

the zombie presses forward against han again, but his 12 attack is again hardly impressive ]

Zombie punk.

[badexample]

[Andrew didn't intend to leave Han out there to die. He sort of figured Klaus would help (which kind of proves that he doesn't know Klaus). Raising his gun again, he attempts this whole 'be a useful member of the team in combat'... thing. Firing off a shot, it's a vast improvement from his previous attempts (attack 15 and if that hits, 10 damage).]

[spellfile]

[ that actually ... kills it????? actual badass andrew gatewood.

/init

zero takes a step past the squishy zombie guts, glancing down at the woman. ] ... Guessing this must have been Farmer Brown's wife.

[parsecs]

[Yeah that was really gross, but it's dead now. Han doesn't put away his blaster, though. Nope, that's not happening.]

And now she's zombie food. Let's get moving before the same thing happens to the ewok.

[asuma]

[Hold pls, Klaus moves toward the sink to wash his hands because really. Andrew's shirt only cleaned off so much.

#morepriorities]

[spellfile]

[ zero steps back out of the kitchen, moving towards the only other door down here on the ground floor, beside the bathroom one. he listens at it for a second, and then seems to find it clear, pulling it open to reveal an office.

the desk that dominates this small, cramped room is far too big for the space. scattered haphazardly across the desktop are numerous papers, forms, and pieces of mail. more papers are stacked in piles on the floor. it's clear from the mess that moore had issues with paperwork. ]

[badexample]

[Andrew heads into the office and starts to poke at papers here and there, looking for anything... useful, basically (research 32).]

[spellfile]

[ andrew uncovers a set of documents from armitage industries, detailing an offer to purchase the moore farm. the map included with the offer reveals that the company owns the property to the north, abutting the farm. armitage ind. is offering a decent (but not outrageous) sum for the farm. the deadline for a reply is tomorrow.

he also finds pamphlets and literature for a local militia group that is notorious for its antigovernment rhetoric and violent demonstrations.

lastly, he finds a manifest detailing the sale of a large quantity of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals to oscar moore. anyone can make a separate knowledge (physical sciences) or demolitions check to draw a conclusion about those. ] All this seems to fit with what we already found.

[asuma]

[Klaus doesn't ... care enough to even try to extrapolate information from anything.

He just finishes washing his hands and wiping them gently on a little towel like this kitchen hasn't gone to hell already before making his way into the office where the others are?

He is here basically, and just sort of looking around wondering how anyone could have ever lived here.]