new orleans ♔ need a fix cuz i'm going down | down to the abyss

[romanticidal]

♬ Season of the Witch - Dr. John

WHO || Rafael, Buffy, Spike, Des, The Mind Master, Olean Gilbert, anyone guarding Olean in the car... (including Gar) [closed]
WHAT || The Knights go to investigate Chad Becksworth's mysterious 'advisor' in her bayou home
WHERE || The Lousiana Bayou, outside New Orleans
WHEN || Thurs, Oct 18th, evening
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order! Keep it a rollin'.

Crammed inside a big white van, Olean rides up front, directing the driver outside the city of New Orleans, and in the direction of the stretches of swampland for which Louisiana is famous. He has them turn down a side dirt road, which leads them far off any highway or main street, and seems to go on without passing anything remotely similar to civilization for at least sixteen minutes of the drive.

The closer they get, the more he begins to sweat profusely, wiping his face repeatedly with a handkerchief, until he can't find a spot on it that isn't drenched. Finally, he tells them to pull over, waving his hand at the side of the road, and the vehicle pulls to a stop.

"T-this was about where we w-went in," he says. "But I can't tell you anymore, because it was only the once, and there wasn't a real path and ... and... I wasn't exactly paying attention to how to get back there anytime soon. Or ever."

Rafael cranes his neck to look out the back window, but then just pops the back doors of the van open and hops out.

"We'll find it," he says, a determined look in his eye. He nods a bit up the road, at what looks like a dilapidated shack that could be straight out of Cabin in the Woods. In front of it stands a sign that's fallen over, with "FREE TOURS" in white paint that dried dripping half down the wood. There's a light on inside, glowing through one of the windows. "And it looks like someone knows of a path."

Comments

[bigbad]

[He rolls his eyes at the swat.] Were you worried? [Because he's pretty sure that's how he should interpret Buffy violence in this instance. He steps up next to her, eyeing the cabin (spot 23).] Yeah. Place is covered in 'em.

[romanticidal]

[ meanwhile, rafael strides forward oblivious to the things and raps on the door... which suddenly gives way beneath his knuckles, and falls slowly off its rusty hinges inward, slamming onto the floor of the cabin's interior and stirring up a shit ton of dust. raf coughs and puts his sleeve over his mouth, waving away the debris with his free hand, and looking inside.

if the cabin as they'd first seen it - or its twin - looked bare, this one looks like a ghost town. there's nothing in sight to indicate anyone lives here... or ever did. but across from the door, there's what appears to be two large cellar doors leading down, although there's a heavy lock keeping them closed. ]

[slay]

[ buffy opens her mouth to protest as he knocks on the door, but it falls under his touch before any sound comes out, and it doesn't appear the demons are coming after him. so she just shuts her mouth, exchanges one more look with spike, then follows him inside.

she casually observes the empty room, meandering around, then makes her way to the cellar doors. she crouches down to get a look at the padlock, checking it for any other means of opening, then giving it a good yank (nat 20 str check). ]

[romanticidal]

[ sure enough, the lock busts off immediately, and rafael raises an eyebrow, looking turned on impressed. he takes one door as she pulls the other, and they yank the clattering wooden panels up.

revealing a dark, industrial-looking stairwell. ]

An interesting place to live.

[bigbad]

Good place for demons, though. [He steps in, looking around warily.] I've had enough swimming for one night. No way to go but down.

[slay]

Once more, into the obvious trap. [ unfortunately, they've already been caught in the trap, which means they can only go further into it. buffy begins to descend the stairs. ]

[romanticidal]

I am curious, how this was dug in the swamp. [ nat 20 wis check ftw ] Magic, do you think? [ down down down they go, for a ... very far walk. ]

[nothingsodivine]

Or they just had really ambitious decorators. [Also nat 20 wis check. He's just a dick.

Yep. Walking into the danger zone. Good plan.] So where do you think the Mind Master slunk off to?

[bigbad]

Her evil lair, no doubt. [If that was even her.] Doubt we've seen the last of her.

[romanticidal]

[ the stair finally end at a metal door... which opens easily for them this time. it's nearly blinding when the dismal, cold gray of the stairwell gives way to the sudden bright, gleaming shine of the golden hallway beyond. Not only is it opulently gilded, but the ceiling is sloped in strange gliding patterns, and the whole image is reflected in the floor, granting the room a disorienting sense of up is down. on the far side of the door is a set of double doors. rafael looks towards them grimly. ]

I hope you are right. If we wish to get any answers.

[slay]

Sure, if she's a idiot who's been reading Baddies for Dummies. Pretty sure that's the only place you'd find the plan "lure heroes into obvious trap, set them through a series of tests and wait for them at the end so you can reveal your master plan when they inevitably overcome the obstacles." Next she'll get her freeze-ray and turn Gotham into Gotharctica.

[ none of this snark stops her from heading down the hallway, trying hard not to let the wooziness of the architecture get to her (concentration 18) and succeeding. it allows her to keep a steady, straight gait down the hallway to the double doors. ]

At least it's straight forward.

[bigbad]

She's got a moat filled with demons and crocodiles. I wouldn't put it past her. [Spike isn't quite as steady as Buffy (concentration 13) as he walks behind her, looking around at all the weird patterns as he goes.]

[mindmaster]

[ ♬ Happiness Is A Warm Gun - The Beatles

wow, wrong uma thurman movie buffy, ok. rafael also manages to walk straight, and hopefully des doesn't veer off and try to walk up the walls or anything, so eventually they shove open those doors.

the room is just as gold -- and most definitely a throne room. there are no other doors to be seen in here, just a metal grate at the end of a little low decorative pool in the far corner of the room. there are etchings on the walls and top of the throne, depicting a number of reptiles.

on the throne sits the 'guide', although her swamp-venturing clothes are gone, and she's wearing dark green robes instead, tightly cinched at the waist with a gold belt to create a fashionable look. her glasses are gone, and she regards them with amused green eyes as she taps several ringed fingers lazily on the arm of her chair, and drawls: ]

Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to talk about others? Particularly under their own roof.

[slay]

Almost as rude as luring people out into a swamp and trapping them under that roof. What's the plan, make us gator food? 'Cause, lady, gotta warn you - you're gonna have some trouble with that one. [ she paces up toward the throne. ] And I'd hate for this to get R-rated when we haven't even been formally introduced, Mind Master.

[mindmaster]

You wanted a way in. That's exactly what I gave you.

You could show a little more gratitude.

[bigbad]

Why? You're a rotten tour guide. And took advantage of the idiot tourist in our midst.

[mindmaster]

It's not my fault if he's all looks. [ she smiles sweetly at rafael ] But none of you must be very stocked up on brains, to have come here.

[nothingsodivine]

Sweetcheeks, if I had a dime for every time someone told me I didn't have the brains for something, I could swim in 'em. [He straightens his jacket, because he's all manly.] We've got mutual friends. We wanna dish the dirt, like the girls do. Talk about how Chad Becksworth's shoes are last season. That kinda thing.

[slay]

Yeah, yeah, we know, you're really spooky, reducing men who are already walking sewage to wetting themselves at the thought of you. But, I got news for you. I'm scarier. So this whole intimidation threat tactic? Not really working.

1/2

[mindmaster]

Chad Becksworth? [ she doesn't even so much as spare a glance at buffy, fixing her gaze on des with a lascivious smile, like she's planning to eat him up. ] I don't think he's ever given you the time of day, darling.

2/3 i lied

[romanticidal]

[ raf steps up next to buffy, one hand on the gun at his right holster. ] Because he will not so much as meet with any of us. Which we have heard is due to your influence.

For a man who works in managing recording artists, it seems strange that he should show so little interest in hiring any.

[mindmaster]

Chad is looking for a certain type of artist, and you don't fit the bill. He isn't going to waste his precious time meeting with the rest of the rabble looking for stardom. [ her eyes glint knowingly ] Or whatever else you seek.

[ also do spot checks yo ]

[nothingsodivine]

[spot check 5. you tried des.]

Why bother associating with that kind of rabble when he's got plenty of the worse kind in his pocket.

[mindmaster]

[ her expression changes to one of faux defeat, as she lifts her eyebrows and shrugs her shoulders ] How silly of me. I forgot you have it all figured out. That must be very nice for you.

[ and then she drops it, looking back to des ] -- Except if you did, you wouldn't be here. [ she rests her chin on the back of her right hand just barely ] And I'm afraid this is a dead. End. [ she punctuates both words slowly and purposefully ] I'm just a lowly adviser. Chad's old enough to make his own decisions.

[bigbad]

[Spot check 12. At least he's looking more carefully than Des...

Spike steps forward a little.]

Lowly advisors don't have secret lairs as nice as this one, pet. Though I have to say, I'm not impressed. Shouldn't the great and predictable Mind Master have a little more than crocodiles up her sleeves? [He shifts his face, fangs dropping out (intimidation 29).] How about telling us what sort of evil you lot are trying to stir up before I get tetchy?