knightsoflegend | new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

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new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

WHO || Buffy, Alainn, Rose, Sam, Dean, Faith, Felicity, Isabella [closed]
WHAT || The Ex-Knights of Failboat head off to interrupt an auction for Rafael Giovanni's life...
WHERE || New Orleans, LA
WHEN || A couple weeks post-LA
HOW || Actionspam

Held in the grasp of the Knighthood's enemies for a stretch of time that has been an aching splinter in the heart of the ones who love him, Rafael Giovanni's life now stands up for auction. Having made a number of powerful enemies in his days as the vigilante assassin The Black Scourge, including the secret Vatican police known as Iscariot, Draken Crombe's organization sought to capitalize on the many who sought revenge by sending out word that Eterna Jade was not, as his trial had seemed to prove, the Black Scourge at all, and offer the chance to kill or torture Giovanni to whoever would pay the largest sum.

The Knights, being made aware of this, did what they could to stymie this auction from coming to pass, and Buffy Summer and Jack Chessing managed to at least thwart it several times, leading to its cancellation and inevitable rescheduling elsewhere. However, none of this led to Giovanni's actual location.

The capture of Draken Crombe finally allowed them to learn of the latest plans for the auction - to be held at a location in New Orleans, a temple of some sort. It seems that Crombe's other followers still intend to follow through with ridding themselves of Rafael, making it clear that even with Crombe in Knights' custody, the villains still have some organization or leadership. Tia Ellison rattled out the plan by invading Crombe's mind, learning of the way that he had been psychically manipulated by the Mind Master for years, and doing what she could to start to heal his shattered psyche.

Jack Chessing, eager to see Rafael rescued after their many efforts, cautioned however against sending too many on what might be a mission from which there is no returning. To that end, they've tried to split the forces of their magic-users, fighters, and researchers.

Now, it's up to a few to save their friend... without losing any more.

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[Sam also takes the full hit of that darkness (will 18), sucking in a pained breath through grit teeth. He looks back at Dean briefly then forward again, quickly noticing how poorly Isabella is doing, especially after they're all pelted with hailstones.]

Come on, Dean!

[He yells to his brother over his shoulder, noticing that he doesn't even hear his own voice, before dashing to Isa's left, trying to catch all three of the cultists going after her in front of him.]

Hey, assholes!

[He lifts a hand and concentrates (heroic surge to attack) and summons a ray of sparking electricity that shoots through all three of them (dmg 40, reflex 27 to halve).

Luckily, this time, he doesn't seem to suffer any mental backlash.]

[ Rose was fully prepared to take down those cultists and offer cover to Isabella with Sam to help her get out of there... until that wall of fire dropped and she was hit with the full force of the dark magic. (Will Save 19). Her eyes snap around towards the source, tension radiating through her body as she finally sets her eyes on the Iscariot Agent (Know Religion 26).

Her gaze darts between Dean and Sam then a quick check on the exit, before she does the one thing she knows that Dean is going to hate, but has to be done for the sake of the Winchesters...]

Go - get out of here.

[ Rose taking the hits from the hailstorm as she runs towards the Iscariot Agent (HS 3/5), unwilling to let him out of here alive.]

I'll be right behind you. [An aside for Faith. She wasn't about to ask her to risk her neck for something she didn't understand.

And now she unleashes a flurry of blows in the hopes of taking him out so they can get the hell out of dodge? Atk 41, 53 (crit), 47 (crit), 29, 28. Dmg 18, 57, 54,14, 15.]

[ yeahhh none of them were expecting the psychic wonder over here and they all miserably failed, cringing from the overload of electricity, although none pass out from the pain.

rose is on top of the iscariot agent before he even knows what is happening, her very first blow going right through his chest, making the rest... unnecessary stabbing, as he falls in a bloody heap to the floor.

dean hesitates, clearly not happy about the idea of leaving these three chuckleheads attacking him alive, but when he sees rose running further into the fray, he curses under his breath and does a full withdrawal towards the doors, keeping a close eye on both her and sam over there. ]

[ ♫ deliver me - sarah brightman

rafael is still shaking his head, and it's hard to tell whether it's from the injuries he has sustained, or because he can't hear anything, but his hand tightens in buffy's and he allows her to draw him out the two main heavy double doors into a hallway with a deep green rug that heads down a long white-columned expanse towards the exit. there are cultists lining the hallway here and there, turning to look towards them as they bust out. the moment seems to draw out in slow motion as they break towards the doors, rafael ~~using a heroic surge~~ making a perfectly placed shot at the one closest to the path they're heading down (atk 24, dmg 31), that drops that guy to a knee. his eyes trace over to buffy's for a moment as they run, and she can see a great number of emotions racing through them: concern, gratitude, disbelief, certainty, and a certain haunted quality as well. they make it to the exterior doors just as the turn ends... ]

[Look, she's not going to mess around here. She ducks out of the way of all of his attempts at injuring her and she manages to tolerate most of whatever that guy tries to throw at her with that light trick (will 25). It's just frustrating, but also a little amusing since she's been technically holding ~~her third attack~~ back this whole time. She likes it better when they cower and run away.

When the fire wall drops, she takes that moment to get her eyes on everyone else. Buffy and Raf aren't anywhere to be seen -- which could be good or bad. Still no one seems to be sticking around to look, so she's assuming things are falling on the 'get the hell out' side. Which is pretty much what she hears from Rose as she tries to urge the Winchesters out of the fray.

The fray that she's headed right toward.

Her fray, which isn't an issue -- but of course, she kinda doesn't retreat as quickly as she should. Watching Rose demolish that guy was a little bit more than just interesting. She recognizes that brand of rage and makes a mental note to buy her a drink... or seven, later.

Faith starts to head to the side exit, glancing up to the vent and hoping that Felicity gets out of there. She slows up, shouting up to the vent.]

Felicity -- if you're heading back the way you came -- I'll stick around and make sure you get out, too. Just -- decide quick! We've got more incoming and who knows what's past these doors.

[She doesn't want to leave her behind, in a literal trap in the ceiling.]

[ Buffy bursts out through the exterior doors and tears off to try and make it back into the cover of the surrounding foliage. The faster they put something between them and any potential people following after them trying suppressive fire, the better. ]

[Yeah, about that Faith? Felicity can't hear a thing you're saying.

She does make her will save (will save 25), so only eats half of that damage, but she still can't hear shit and it's only by the fact that Faith is looking right at her that she realizes that Faith is talking to her (wisdom 20 total). What is she saying? Who knows. But given the fact that everyone seems to be leaving, she's going to guess it's some kind of retreat.

The way out seems clear for now, the way they came does not, so she's just going to just take one last shot out at the cultist she shot at before if he's not already down (attack 32, damage 5), before crawling her way out of the vents (if that needs a tumble check, 26 since she's coming out head first) and moving however far what's left of her movement will take her to Faith.]

[ felicity lands another shot peripherally on the cultist, but he is definitely still standing.

isabella hesitates for just a moment, turning to stare at sam for a split second, as she clearly debates whether to leave him here with all three of them or get to safety... with a nat 20 wisdom check, she seems to come to the conclusion that she won't be much hope, and the bad guys aren't going to stop coming anytime soon. plus, rafael is already out safely and that's her priority numero uno. so she will do a full retreat and get out into that hallway, running past the cultists there on her way to the doors, one hand clutching at her worst wound.

the two cultists near faith and felicity fire off more shots at them as they convene (atk 14/15 & 7/14 aren't hitting anyone tho). sam is surrounded by three cultists, who move to flank and swing their axes (atk nat 20/9, 20/10, 28/crit fail), one of them managing to bury the head of the axe right in sam's shoulder (dmg 21 from the crit) while another gets him from behind (8 dmg), before yanking the axe backwards so fast that he hits himself in the head and knocks himself unconscious. the other three cultists continue to chase dean, getting in one attempted hit at him apiece (atk 13/27, dmg 7 and a crit fail)... one of them tripping over his robes and faceplanting on the ground. alainn keeps running for the door, following isabella out.

it's at that point that the priest's storm kicks up to eleven. the rain begins to beat violently down, as gusts of wind suddenly fill the room, stemming from absolutely nowhere. it's coming down so hard, that it becomes impossible to see more than five feet in front of yourself all throughout the main room, and speed becomes reduced by three quarters as you are forced to fight against the incredible winds to make any headway. ]

Edited 2019-02-11 02:53 (UTC)

[He's effectively back himself into a corner, but he also can't turn tail and run, needing to cover Alainn and Isabella's exit. There's also the fact that Dean and Rose are both still in the room and further from the door, so he's just gonna....not leave yet (wisdom...3).

He shouts out to Rose, who hasn't started to fallback yet, as if that will get her to hurry her ass before he places his palms against his chest, his wounds starting to rapidly heal until it's as if he were never hurt at all (Body Adjustment | +78 health). You know, except for the blood stains left behind.

That provokes AOO for the two standing cultists, and one hits with his axe (8 dmg). The other crit fails, his axe sticking into the wall.

He'll then use heroic surge to ready a movement action; he'll haul ass out of this storm through the exit once Dean or Rose also reaches the door.]

Edited 2019-02-11 03:17 (UTC)

[The last thing Rose sees before that storm levels up is Sam and Dean each surrounded by bad guys, just as Sam takes an axe to the shoulder.

This would have been fine if she didn't just Crit Fail her Will Save... so ya know. Rose will just be spending this whole round fighting against the storm to try and reach Sam as he was looking pretty shit (until he healed himself but thanks storm for blocking that one out) last she checked.

This is fine.]

Sam - Come on! [ We could be at this a while I imagine. Why didn't they kill that priest fool?! ]

[ dean and rose both fight against the wind towards the exit, where sam waits... he thinks. the driving rain makes it impossible to see the door, and he yells out: ] Sammy! [ bellowing at the top of his lungs, hoping for a response that'll tell him which way to go, relieved to hear rose somewhere in the direction he's heading. ]

[ buffy and rafael break out of the front doors, making their way into the thick of the tree line. blessedly, there is no one out front gunning for them - just a bunch of cars peeling off into the distance as some of the auction guests get out of dodge as fast as possible. when they make it a little ways into the tree line, rafael grabs her sleeve and comes to a halt, turning to look at her with conflicted and disoriented eyes. ]

Carina... [ he traces his gaze over her, looking for any serious injuries, despite the fact that he has sustained numerous of his own, has a number of scars and bruises visible across his own skin, and looks exhausted ] You came for me.

[With no reply from Felicity, Faith still hovers a bit as she hears the shot coming from the vent and movement. Of course, when she catches sight of the other woman coming out of the vent, she's relieved and starts to move toward the exit as best she can. Faith wishes someone had taken out that priest, but there's no sense in trying to fix that issue now. Maybe Felicity will take a few parting shots at him -- but the storm isn't helping them in any way, shape, or form.

Faith tries to just get the hell out of dodge, as best she can.]

[ Buffy skids to a stop when Rafael tugs at her and turns, still tense with adrenaline. They're not safe. They're not safe until the whole team is safe and they're out of here. She's been living on such high anxiety for so long at this point that she doesn't know that they'll ever be completely safe.

But Rafael looks ... bad. She can't exactly tell him to stow this conversation for later. Especially not when finally looking him in the eyes has her tearing up. She tries to blink away the glassy affect with a shake of her head. It's not the time for her to be emotional. Rafael is in bad shape; he needs support. Both the emotional kind and the regular kind.

She reaches out to take his hand. ]

I did.

[ And she says it kind of like truth. Like there could be no version of this where she didn't. And honestly, she's still Shook by how many other people joined her on this nigh suicide mission, but she'll process that with them later. She just wants to make sure Rafael feels in the warmth of her expression and the squeeze of her hand what she doesn't manage with words — he's worth that. To her, no matter what he's done, he's worth all of this and more. ]

[Felicity would try to shoot something but she can't actually see shit, so she's just going to follow Faith's lead, moving as far as she can in her turn that the storm will allow.]

[ isabella shoves the doors open, and makes a break for it, looking around desperately for a sign of... which way buffy and rafael might have gone, but to no avail. alainn doesn't do much better, so they are going to break into the woods in the opposite direction. that's fine.

the rest of the cultists in the room are fighting against the wind to follow the others as well, although the two close to faith and felicity lose sight of them for a moment. the others stay right on dean's tail, and the two surrounding sam continue to chop at him (atk 21/nat 20.../28/23, dmg 27+7).

meanwhile, out in the hallway, those crazy cultists are... up to something. there's a grinding noise that is probably not super audible to anyone in the wind room (listen check DC 30). ]

[Having completely lost sight of Dean and Rose, not to mention still lacking any ability to hear anything, Sam is getting more and more anxious as he stands near this door. The cultists hack at him, one getting a sound of pain that would be quite audible in any other conditions, but is probably drowned out by the storm.

He shouts not because he hears his name, but because what the hell where are you guys? It's hard to know how loud he is without being able to hear it, but he's sure yelling as hard as he can.]

Guys, we gotta go!

[Hopefully that'll get them to the door. Faster. At all. Please.

Also, clearly continuing to ready his action to haul ass out of here once Rose/Dean are there.]

Edited 2019-02-13 17:56 (UTC)

[With her super ridiculous Dhampir hearing (Listen 41) and ya know, experience with bad guys trying to blow her up (unsure), Rose is going to use her full round action (with haste still?!) to push towards the sound. She'll throw in a Heroic Surge (4/5) for good measure and hopefully be able to stop the crazy before they're screwed.]

[ dean... did not make that listen check, but he did hear sam at least, and converges on his position just in time to make out rose heading out the door looking like a woman on a mission. and then there's sam, being chopped up with axes. his head swivels between the two, as he is forced to decide whether to protect sam or go assist rose, but he doesn't actually hesitate that long, pushing through the wind as he growls towards the cultists surrounding his brother: ]

Get the hell away from him!

[ he won't be able to attack yet, however and it's up to sam if he wants to follow rose out or wait and go together with dean next round... rose breaks through out of the doorway, free of the raging storm, she can see in the long marble hallway ahead that there has been some kind of... cage rolled out. cultists surround it, and push open the grated door and a gigantic anaconda begins to slither out, the massive scales of its body undulating as it pushes across the floor towards her ]

[ well, buffy, it turns out that it is hardly much of a conversation at all. she only says a couple words to him, but the furrowing of his brow and the way his eyes skate around for a moment before he shakes his head the slightest bit indicate that he's one of those deafened by the storm.

still, the moment of connection, the reassurance in her expression, doesn't seem lost at all, and he simply nods once, gratefully, before he seems distracted looking over her shoulder through the woods.

he points that way, indicating to her where isabella and alainn are barely visible rushing the other direction into the woods. he gives her a questioning look, as if to ask whether they should risk going past the entrance again to follow them, or if there is some (or any) other exit... strategy... here... ~~he's been gone awhile ok, maybe he forgot how things go with failboat~~ ]

[She's gonna keep moving toward the exit, using her full round to just book it as fast as she can.]

[ Alas. Profound bonding, lost to deafness. Buffy tracks his gaze, spots them moving, and then takes another look at the entrance. They're not getting out of here unless it's all together, and that's only two of them out of the building, so ... probably they should loop around.

She sort of raises her hands in a shrug, like idk what you expected bae we don't do exit strategies. Then she nods in the direction of Alainn and Isabella and heads off the regroup with them. ]

[She's going to follow Faith's lead and still just keep running, for as far as her movement will take her.]

[ isa and alainn are still moving through the woods but slowing down to look back for the others.

one of the cultists gets in another hack on sam (dmg 8) as faith and felicity draw closer towards him and dean by the doors. the other cultists continue to pursue slowly, and those in the hallway back off to let the anaconda do its thing...

it comes for rose, darting out its neck abruptly, but not so abruptly that she can't move out of the path of its fangs (atk 24). ]

[Sam sucks in another pained breath before he grabs Dean by the jacket sleeve.]

Let's get the hell out of here!

[And he's going to start booking it, full withdrawal, dragging his brother with him basically. He'll grab Rose as they move into the hall and drag her with him too if she'll let him, nbd.

Fuck that giant snake. Absolutely not. Nope.jpg.]

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