rome ♔ watch your worlds fade to black

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ three in the morning - homestuck

WHO || Alanna, Kate, Bo, Rose [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a strange series of fires
WHERE || Rome, Italy
WHEN || Jan 15th, evening, almost 6pm [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The Knights arrive at the scene of the fire several hours after the fact.  It's clearly gutted the building, located in a commercial district of Rome.  Only one fire truck remains, along with several police cruisers and a van marked 'Arson Investigation Unit' in Italian.  The police team seems hard at work combing over the scene.

A small sign in Italian hangs half-legible over the door.  Though the fire is out, the building still smolders, even as water drips from the blackened timbers and stone.  

Comments

[behindcloseddoors]

He asked who's there. [ a listen check of 15+ can hear footsteps heading further to the right along the plant floor. they can make spot checks to try to make out more in the darkness. ]

[trebond]

[ alanna doesn't hear shit, what are any of y'all talking about (listen 11) but maybe her 16 spot will do some good as she takes a single step forward, squinting against the darkness. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the faintest light from streetlamps outside makes its way through the windows, just enough for alanna to get a better lay of the land. a wide array of machines and tanks line the floor, most machines at least 30' by 30' , and all of them connected by a series of huge pipes up above that adjoin to massive chemical tanks, which are over 60' in diameter. about 20 feet above the plant floor lies a metal catwalk that runs in an H formation. metal stairs about 30 feet from the entrance lead up to the left side of the H. straight ahead, about a hundred feet away, are the outlines of two out of the three largest of the chemical tanks. her view to the right (where those noises are coming from) is obscured by five of those massive machines in a row. ]

[succubestie]

[Bo's listen check is exactly 15, so she hears those footsteps, and motions in that direction, whispering.]

Movement, that way.

[As for seeing...she has darkvision, so...she'll just head toward those machines, trying to stay out of sight while still looking for the source of the noise (move silently nat 20, 26 total).]

[trebond]

[ move silently 23 has alanna following after bo. ]

Can't see anything past these bloody machines.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ bo sees exactly where that movement is coming from - behind a forklift parked on the floor about 200 feet away.

as they start advancing across towards him, antonio takes a few steps after them (move silently... 5), and moretti is alerted to the noise. a shot rings out in their direction, that hits a stray machine, and the man shouts something else in italian. he sounds fucking terrified.

time for wisdom checks, also. ]

[littledhampir]

[Here's the thing about Rose. She's the kind of person who brings a stake to a gunfight and though she might carry one with her like she's supposed to, instinct will always kick in. Which is why Rose reaches for her stake rather than her gun and moves at full speed in the direction she thinks the shots are coming from (Listen 19)]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ as rose races towards the forklift, moretti sticks his head out from behind the forklift, eyes wide and panicked. he takes aim with the desert eagle in his hands and fires, managing to strike rose in the shoulder with a heavy blow (atk 23, dmg 26).

meanwhile, kate is the only one to notice... that the entire plant seems to be getting... warmer?

weird. i'm sure that won't be anything that comes up later. ]

[trebond]

[ RUNNING AFTER ROSE. ]

Rose!

[ Alanna is instinctively assuming the worst of gunfire because it's still not wholly familiar to her, nbd. Movin' on up 120 ft rn. ]

[killmypatience]

[Oh that's not good at all. Especially considering that they're in the middle of a chemical plant. But Kate is focusing more on the gunfire at the moment, and brings the gun up but doesn't fire right away, just moving forward to try and get the best shot.

Shit, this is not good at all.

She turns back to Antonio, pointing towards the forklift with her gun.]

If this is your guy, get him to stand down. We need to get out of here or get him to stop the fire.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio yells something in italian, but moretti's response is equally frantic. he shakes his head and says: ] He says to get out of here, that it 'won't get him'. That it... will burn us all.

[succubestie]

Well at least tell him to put the damn gun away!?

[Because seriously he just shot her friend/teammate which is so not cool. She'd go after Rose, too, but shit is getting real apparently, so she'll just drawn her long hunting knife from the holster at her hip.]

I don't exactly like how he makes 'it' sound like something alive, either.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio moves just a few paces beyond bo, so that they're both hanging back a bit. he shouts something else in italian, but more frantic yelling cuts him off, and he looks back to bo, shaking his head. ] The man has lost his mind.

[littledhampir]

[As the gunshot makes her stagger, Rose makes a quiet note to herself about spending some extra time at the shooting range when they got home but despite the damage she takes, it's not enough to slow her down completely.

Running towards the crazy man with the weapon doesn't seem like the greatest idea right now though, what with her already getting shot once so she does a quick scan of the area (Spot Check 25).

If she happens to see the fire extinguisher, she'll be making a beeline for that, if not, its straight to Moretti that she'll be going.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ rose spots the extinguisher and has time to grab it off the wall. meanwhile moretti plans to introduce alanna to the concept of gunfire very rapidly. crash course. his shot gets nowhere near her though (atk 12), because he's clearly too busy FREAKING OUT in italian, frantically yelling now as the room gets hot enough for everyone else to start noticing... ]

[trebond]

[ alanna will slow to move her full 30 ft closer, but then take an action to cast a spell on moretti. she rests a hand on the forklift to use one of its screws for the iron cost in the spell, and holds a hand out toward moretti to cast hold person. ]

I can only hold him for a short while. [ 3 rounds, as it happens. ] You'll need to knock him out before he destroys this plant with all of us inside. [ she shouts it over her shoulder at the others. ]

[killmypatience]

[Bo and Rose are closer than she is to Moretti at this point, and the room is only getting hotter, gun still up, she sees the fire extinguisher in Rose's hands and turns to the rest of the room, trying to spot the source of the heat if nothing else.

Maybe there's a fire they can extinguish (spot 21).]

Bring the fire extinguisher! We need to find the source before it gets any bigger. I'll cover you.

[A glance back to Moretti.]

Where was he supposed to start the fire?

[succubestie]

[Beat the crap out of the guy that shot Rose and is blabbering like an idiot while trying to get them all killed?

She can get behind that.

Bo beings to full out sprint toward him and behind Rose, though I don't think she'll reach him til next round.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio shrugs at kate. ] I don't tell him where to start it. It's his job to burn down the building. He does it his own way.

[ no sooner are the words out of his mouth than a sudden fiery explosion rocks the back wall of the plant, exploding the entire wall inward. what emerges through the hole resembles a human being that has been burned to a blackened husk. its glowing-red eyes glitter with hatred and malice, and as it moves, it gives off a shimmering, intense heat, igniting everything it touches.

moretti lets out a horrified anguished cry, as antonio turns to see it, eyebrows climbing to his hair as he curses in italian in horror of his own ]

[littledhampir]

[With the fire extinguisher now in hand (and you know, Rose bleeding from a bullet to her shoulder) all she can do is stare for a long moment at the blackened husk of a thing, suddenly not so sure that her 'weapon' of choice was going to be much help but with Kate saying she'd cover her, Rose moves towards the creature at full speed.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ rose runs towards the creature, while moretti lets out a panicked moan, dropping the gun, which clatters to the ground. his hand fumbles to pick up something he'd set on the forklift and he... accidentally hits the button. that is apparently wired to all the explosives he's set up. because all around the plant floor, explosions rock the building, and fires spring up... including not twenty feet from alanna and kate. and also directly beside rose, the hot flames licking out towards her. not to mention the creature she's running towards? absolutely radiates heat. basically the building feels like being inside a giant furnace now. ]

[trebond]

[ alanna lets out a yell and takes a five-foot step away from the flames. she shoots a look towards moretti, wanting nothing more than to shout for everyone to get to an exit, but they're here to stop this, and she can't imagine how if not through him.

for now, she draws her sword, and does what she can to quell the fire nearest her by casting create water to dump six gallons of water over it. ]

Stop him! Let Bo help Rose, we need Moretti. [ she shouts it to kate. hopefully the water spell will at least make the path to moretti slightly less treacherous or sth. alanna needs her move action for drawing her weapon regardless. ]

[killmypatience]

[Kate nods before starting to move forward, darting across the room to where she last saw Moretti. Her gun is up, just in case, but they need him alive more than anything else.

And hopefully not setting up anymore bombs.]

[succubestie]

[Sending the two more reckless members of this group after the giant fire monster seems like the obvious choice. They're so going to get themselves killed in a fiery explosions, aren't they?

Bo is also coming after the thing with a hunting knife, just saying. She chases after Rose, closing the distance between her and the creature.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ yeah with no one left back there to keep him from doing so, and the building ON FIRE ALL AROUND THEM and a giant fire monster on the other side of the room, dirisio just

turns and books it back out the way they came. sorry ladies.

the charred one floats forward, eerily silent, eyes locked across the warehouse towards where moretti hides. when it finds rose in its path, it strikes out with a flaming hand across the back of her face to knock her aside (nat 20... 14 fire dmg). she must make a reflex save dc 15 or her clothes and hair catch on fire for an additional 2 dmg. ]