los angeles ♔ just somebody's unholy hoax

[eldritchweaver]

♬ dear god - lawless, sydney wayser

WHO || Katniss, Toby, David, Jeanne, Kenzi, Paige
WHAT || A team of Knights is tasked to infiltrate the Dead Zone in Los Angeles and try to gather intelligence
WHERE || LA
WHEN || November 21st, 2017, just after midnight of the 20th [ 5 days after the Incident ]
HOW || Actionspam

[ The strike team has limited time to prepare before they are asked to report to the dragon's fire wing. Hasmed has one of the castle's valued greater teleport scrolls ready to go, explaining to them that they will be dropped at an office building that is outside the LA zone. It is currently in an evacuated sector that is under limited military scrutiny, and still has power and internet access. They are to use that location as a jump point for evacuation when ready to leave, using an instant connectivity spell with Sir Zero to return.

Having studied the area carefully via scrying, Sir Hasmed's spell functions perfectly, and the group finds themselves in the large lobby area of an office building that feels strangely quiet, and is dark around them aside from some gently humming electronics. the crackling energy of the spell fades from them, gusting a few papers off the top of the receptionist's desk. ]

Comments

[anthophobia]

[Katniss suddenly feels like she might be able to trust David's decisions.]

Then let's keep moving.

[And if anyone hesitates, she'll try to grab them by the elbow to drag them along. She doesn't want to leave anyone behind.]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige sucks in a breath and nods, steeling herself against the pain of going against what she knows is right, but her eyes leak a bit, regardless (will save 11). She presses her hand over where her pin would be if her disguise didn’t cover it and mentally asks Milil to sing a dirge for them in apology for her inaction, and hopes this doesn’t reflect poorly on her in his eyes, and then follows David.]

[errantdetective]

[Toby isn't happy about this either. Too many people have died on her watch, and every heroic instinct in her screams that this is where she charges in and kills the monster, saving the poor kids.

They could beat it. She's sure of it. But it would cost them. And there are so many people here to save. They can't save everyone.

She swallows and nods and keeps moving.]

[behindcloseddoors]

We can't leave them! [ the youngest soldier pipes up, moving towards the corner to try and get a glimpse] What the hell is it? Our job is to clear the sector or at least report this shit.

[anthophobia]

[Katniss looks Done with these randos they've got trailing them.]

You go in there? It's your funeral. You know how to report something yourself, don't you? Why don't you get on that instead of getting on other people's cases.

[arretez]

It is a chaos demon, [ jeanne tells the boy, yanking him back behind the corner (str 21), her tone quiet but forceful, the knowledge of what awaits them down that alley giving an edge to her otherwise light voice. ] You cannot fight it, none of us can. A touch from its claws can turn you.. goutte. Shapeless, formless.

Report it. No one can go down that alley, it must be blocked off.

[generaldavideus]

We shouldn't start picking fights that we can't win now.

[That much he is definitely sure of.]

I'm sorry, but we go in there, we're all dead. That helps no one.

[somepagesturn]

[Paige pales a little more, and just keeps her mouth shut, because every instinct is screaming GET RID OF THE EVIL, and if she starts talking, she will not shut up.

This is Paige rn.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the young man in jeanne's grip glances to the side, but looks sufficiently freaked out by her description. still, his ginger buddy says: ]

It's our responsibility to blockade it, then. We're the ones who discovered it.

[somepagesturn]

[paige, still overwhelmed, steps up.]

What if we stay here and take a safe vantage point and observe it while you two bring reinforcements? Tell them we need as many people as can be spared. We didn’t want to engage without more back up after we couldn’t save two of our men.

[(diplomacy 28) at least her fear and anxiety is selling her part as a shell shocked soldier.]

[morethanasidekick]

Or you could insist on going down there. Die. And then we'll do what we just told you to do.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the youngest nods at paige's plan, seeming to see the sense in it, but the other man still looks hesitant ] We already have its location. Letting it run free risks losing it. We should block off these alleys.

[generaldavideus]

[David isn't sure that that would work - if it can turn people to goop, it can turn barricades to goop. Paige might have the magic to handle that, but they don't want to expose that to the military right now.]

We'll take care of that. You go, report back and get reinforcements.

[Please listen to him, it would be great (diplomacy 28).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he hangs on for another moment, giving david a long, lingering look, but finally nods once reluctantly and heads off with his pal ]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige waits until they've gone completely before she covers her face in her hands and lets out a quiet, frustrated noise. Once she's done, she lowers her hand to her pin and practices some deep breathing. Calming breaths, Paige.]

That should work for now. When they come back, they'll be looking for our disguises, not us.

[generaldavideus]

[David nods, before tipping his head to the side and looks at Paige and Toby.]

Do you have something that might be able to keep it in? A spell that creates a barrier or something?

[He's not married to the idea, but they should try to do something.]

[somepagesturn]

I could put a Wall of Stone around the alley here... It'll only last until the creature breaks it down, though.

[errantdetective]

I don't have anything better than that, but Paige walls it in I can ward the area. That way we'll at least have warning if it makes its way out.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ there's another horrified cry and a crunching sound from over where they last saw it. mmm. ]

[somepagesturn]

[.... yeah that was all Paige needed to hear. She marches up to the wall, clutches her harp pin, and casts Stone Wall. It can stretch up to 230 feet, so she’ll try to make it cover the mouth of both sides of the alley. Nowhere does it say how high it is, but definitely not a turtle fence. It has a hardness of 8 and 15 hit points.

It’s a very nice wall.

On the off chance 230 ft doesn’t cover it, she can substitute thickness for length if she has to BUT HOPEFULLY....] There.

[generaldavideus]

[David nods before turning to Toby.]

See if you can put the wards on it so that we know when it gets out. Once that's done, let's move.

[And he'll move in the direction that the soldiers returned by, making sure that they're gone and they have room to move (spot 23, listen 23).]

[errantdetective]

[Toby nods and goes up to the wall, the smell of copper and cut grass rising as she reaches for her magic.]

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall with our English dead.

[The spell releases with a snap, and Toby nods, satisfied.]

So long as we're within a mile, I'll know if something crosses. If we're further away than that, there won't be much we can do anyway.

[arretez]

[ jeanne makes a faint tsking noise, looking just as faintly displeased. HENRY V WAS A TWAT. vive le francais! ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ no sign of the soldiers at the moment as david takes a look around ]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige keeps eyeing the wall, nervously.] There has to be an easier way of doing this. I could possibly summon something, so some of us could just fly over the area...

I was saving those spells in case we needed to make a hasty retreat, but if you think they'd help...