cape town ♔ heard you moving up now in the city of gold

[withasouvenir]

♫ these streets -- bastille

WHO || Dawn Summers, Indra Crestrage, Sebastian Trevethor, Shawn Spencer, Taradiddle Gezuntheit, Thea Queen
WHAT || Cape Town Mission
WHERE || Cape Town, South Africa
WHEN || Summer 2016
HOW || Actionspam

The Knights fly into the port city of Cape Town in the height of summer, which luckily for them is actually a comfortable Mediterranean climate. They have come in search of Le Chien de l’Onyx to return it to it's former (and rightful) owner, the elf mage Nieulor -- it had been stolen from him in eighteenth century France and once Nieulor was freed from the Bastille, he had tracked its whereabouts across the globe trying to retrieve it. Finally, he has found it in Cape Town and the Knights have been asked to meet him for further information at the Blanched Escargot, a hole in the wall French restaurant on the waterfront.

Comments

[godblessyou]

Maybe they'll at least give us breadsticks or something, right?

[bloodrager]

Perhaps he's already here.

[withasouvenir]

We can at least sit down, [ thea reasons, gesturing to a booth large enough to fit them all.

if there is a lunch crowd, which seems debatable, they've all gone, leaving only a waiter behind the counter chewing gum and flipping through a magazine and the chef listening to something on headphones in the kitchen and a couple solitary customers who look like they haven't left their stools in... a while.

a group of three burly fellows in khaki and cowboy hats tipped real low enter and shawn's stunning spot check will illuminate to him that they are not just weird americans on a safari holiday, but a trio of bugbears attempting to pass a large, hirsute humans. ignoring the waiter (who also ignores them), they stride purposefully toward a door in the back marked "STAFF ONLY" and lumber through. ]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Shawn tracks them as they move through the restaurant, presuming they must do that pretty regularly if the waiter doesn't even blink. Or maybe the waiter is just really sucky at his job. Either way, Shawn sits on the outside of the booth and squints for a moment, before leaning in to address the rest of the group.]

Are bugbears a thing in South Africa?

[bloodrager]

Thanks to the Veil, I imagine they could be a "thing", as you say, anywhere.

[godblessyou]

I could check it out. [Since no breadsticks have appeared.] See if there's anything interesting.

[withasouvenir]

[ the words are scarcely out of tara's mouth when a loud crack of a gunshot is heard, quickly followed by the eruption of machine and pistol fire for only a handful of seconds. ]

What the--

[ there is a loud crash and screams and one of the goons bursts through the door. no, literally, through the door like the kool-aid man, leaving a broken, tattered shell of a door behind him. his coat is already beginning to soak with blood and his hat has fallen by the way side, revealing his bugbear face and his ears, one of which has been shot clean off, blood spilling across the fur of his snouty face. ]

[bloodrager]

[ holy shit. indra whirls around instantly, eyes wide as she looks over the bugbear. ] Everyone down!

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Shawn does as he's told, not wanting to get in the way of the injured bugbear, but once the guy moves past him, he'll dart forward towards the bugbear shaped hole to try and see what it is that got left behind (move silently 12, hide 10). He's not being very sneaky, but he's trying.]

[opprobrium]

[ Sebastian's hunger was ignored when the gunfire started, pulling his jacket up around him more, instead of dropping down he stupidly moved after the retreating bugbear. ]

[withasouvenir]

[ unfortunately, the bugbear collapses on the spot, blood seeping from many wounds.

thea doesn't hesitate to race after shawn, keeping her head down but not actually being very self-preserving. and shawn is going to need a spot check when he gets to that bugbear shaped hole. ]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Don't worry, Eagle Eye Spencer is on the case (spot 31).]

[withasouvenir]

[ shawn gets to the door just in time to see a foot slipping through a crack in the wall to his right, but then the concealed door seals shut with a loud THUD. two bugbears and a human lay slumped on the floor, all seemingly dead of gunshot wounds.

congrats on your life, shawn??? ]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[That's okay! Shawn is good at keeping his eyes on the prize. Or ignoring the dead bodies in favor of the bigger picture of catching the bad guys.

But he feels like there should be some high pitched screeching in his ear right now.

Focus, Spencer.]

Guys! The bad guys are going this way!

[withasouvenir]

[ thea peeks around his shoulder, ] ...going where?

[pwnspatrickjane]

Secret passage.

[And with that Shawn will dart in to try and find the thing that triggered it in the first place (investigate 23).]

[bloodrager]

[ while shawn does that, indra pokes out and then darts forward to crouch next to the bugbear's body, her hands hovering over him for a second out of uncertainty before she checks for any sign of life (treat injury 16) and if he's dead, a cursory glance through his pockets (search 6) ]

[withasouvenir]

[ he hecka dead. indra doesn't find anything on his person, but his weapon -- a revolver with trigger guards sawed away so the bugbear could get his thick fingers on the triggers and enlarged handles attached with duct tape -- is still clutched in his hand and if she gives that a once over she will realize it's out of ammo. sorry bae.

shawn, on the other hand, finds both the concealed door and its concealed latch mechanism inside a false electrical outlet. while he is looking around, thea searches the bodies to of the two remaining bugbears and the dead human with distaste (search 13). she comes up with the same guns and an m10, all of which she doesn't bother taking with her. she also finds some spare change and a flask and the flask is all she tucks away in her quiver. #priorities ]

Uh, guys? Shawn found a secret passage. [ because of course he did. this finding is punctuated with the faint sound of sirens. ]

[pwnspatrickjane]

Hell yes I did.

[He's going to yank down hard on the switch once he finds it, and grin widely as the door swings open. The excited energy gives way to him bouncing up and down in one place for a moment before he turns back to the rest of the group.]

Dude, this is so Indiana Jones! Let's go!

[And then he will just take off down the passageway, someone please follow him.]

[bloodrager]

[ indra is not 100% sure this is a good idea, but she will reluctantly follow anyway, because shawn seems very squishy and needs an adult. ]

[godblessyou]

Sweet! [Taradiddle is so entirely down for this. Not least because she's pretty sure anything that'll kill them will probably go for the bigger people first. Following behind the scary barbarian lady.]

[watcherjunior]

[ Hmm. Sirens or secret passage. What a terrible decision.

So, of course, Dawn's going with the secret passage, following after Taradiddle. ]

[withasouvenir]

[ the door opens into a narrow, dark passage between this false wall and the actual outer wall of the building. thea follows the rest of them into the passage while sebastian slips out of the front of the restaurant to keep watch on the going ons outside with the police and rendezvous with them later.

a few yards into the passage, the floor opens up and a set of narrow, worn steps pitch sharply down into the darkness. once shawn takes the first step a motion-activated light illuminates the stairs with dim, yellowish light. it shows the stairs lead to a landing and then more darkness. what looks to be an electrical line runs along the edge of the stairs.

it's impossible to tell how far down the stairs go. ]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Indra is not wrong about Shawn needing an adult. Shawn always needs an adult.

The best example of that is when he stops short just at the top of the stairs that appear out of nowhere (reflex save 20), one arm and leg flailing out ahead of him for a moment before he manages to pull it back again. But that motion is enough to activate the motion-triggered lights, so when they appear to light the way ahead of him, he eyes it for a moment before nodding.]

Cool.

[and then he'll immediately take off again in hot pursuit.]

[bloodrager]

[ wow, she nearly smacked into the back of him ok, good thing she's got reflex saves of her own 8| ] Be cautious. We don't know what we'll find at the end.