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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

[ I mean... maybe there was a chance that Rose might have followed Sam... But then she Crit Failed a Wisdom check and got a 30 Will Save so, I guess fighting the Giant MF Anaconda is totally a thing that she's going to do.]

Go - I'll catch up with the others!

[She'll leave with Felicity & Faith. Promise. (Un s u r e)

And with that she's gonna stab and slice at the snake and hope that the Snake Cult people didn't get any ideas from Inidana Jones; ATK 44, 54, 36, 31 & 38. DMG 33 (Penetration x 2), 54 (Critical Hit on 19) , 22, 18 & 14.]

[ ♫ here, let's just make this really awesome song cue canon: survivor-2WEI

dean considers - strongly- protesting what rose has to say, leaving her to fight that thing on its own, but it's a glance back at sam, who is bleeding all over that has him gripping his brother's arm and backing her up on it, as she starts launching herself at the snake ]

She's got this. C'mon. [ still, he sure is running half backwards as he keeps an eye on what's going on with her. the answer is that she delivers a blur of cuts to the beast that sink deep through its hard scales, spurting blood absolutely everywhere, as it lets out a horrific high pitched noise of utter terror, that a snake doesn't sound like it should be able to make. it's within seconds that she's standing amid a pile of blood and viscera that might have once been the snake, but now... is just a dead gigantic corpse. the cultists blink at each other, clearly unsure what to do with this horrifying turn of events for them.

dean, despite having assured his brother out loud of the fact that she could handle it on her own, still looks blown the fuck away, as he shoots one last look over his shoulder before they book it out the far door ]

[ as dean and sam bust out the front door, they would be passed by rafael and buffy, who can lead them in the direction where isabella and alainn wait. the half-elf slows just enough to raise a gun in their direction when the door bursts open... just in case... but doesn't accidentally shoot any teammates this time, so good job to him ]

[Faith turns to catch a glimpse of Rose hacking the snake to pieces and she has a mild flashback moment of a certain Father Figure. She shakes that off (const 19) and refocuses on the girl doing the slice-and-dice.]

Damn. [The word barely slips out before she turns her focus back to the door and continues the rest of her movement as far as she can to get the hell out of there.]

This way.

[ She gestures for Sam and Dean as they hustle past, then glances back at the door. She tries to slow down enough that Faith and Felicity and Rose will get a chance to see her on their way out while still getting clear of the door. ]

[Felicity is also just going to continue to book her way out, following Faith's lead and hoping that the cultists don't come to their senses fast enough to try and attack them. Better to get more distance than slow down to attack at this point.]

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