oxford ♔ crawling out of my own skin

[valdrin]

WHO || Marty, Matthew, Nels, Miles, Val'drin, Mr. Broggon
WHAT || The Knights investigate a mysterious package sent to a shop owner
WHERE || Sword & Sorcery, in Oxford, England
WHEN || Wed April 16th, about 8pm
HOW || Actionspam

Sword & Sorcery:  Old Books for a New Age is located in a strip mall in a relatively nice part of the city of Oxford.  A scattering of other cars fill parts of the parking lot, with most of the vehicles congregated to the side nearest the Teriyaki Rok'n'Wok, a rock and roll themed teriyaki restaurant.  The bookstore sits farther down the line of shops, in the more deserted section of the strip mall.  Val'drin raises an eyebrow at the Rok'n'Wok, slipping one hand into his pocket as he surveys the others.  

"Everyone's at least armed, I do hope."  

Comments

[valdrin]

[ actually bambi recognizes THOSE EXACT TENTACLES, because the leaflike ends are very distinct. they belong to an otyugh - a grotesque scavenger that usually lurks in sewers, dumps, and anywhere else proliferated with garbage, subsisting on carrion, offal, and society's other waste. they also love fresh meat.

they look like a 6 foot diamter bloated ovoid covered with rocklike skin. a vinelike stalk about two feet long protrudes from the top of their disgusting body and bears two eyes. its mouth is little more than a wide gash filled with razor sharp teeth that splits the center of its body. it shuffles around on three thick sturdy legs, and has two long tentacles that sprout from its side.

she would know that they can see in the dark, and their bite is diseased. basically, they are horrible, and probably not something they ever want to tangle with.

broggon hisses in pain, biting his teeth together as miles jams his arm back in.

"Must you??" he asks, and val'drin looks over at him, pulling his gun and fixing it on the box. ] Tell me you have kind of spell to seal it up. [ broggon winces in pain. "Well, yes, but--" he breathes heavily, holding up a finger, "I might need a moment."

except right after he says that, the creature slaps against the inside of the box with one of its tentacles for a nat 20 attack (42 dmg), shattering it apart so that they can all see its beautiful face before bambi even gets to describe it.

... at least you were right, bambi???? ]

... I'm not so certain we have a moment. [ matt told me to rolls nels' attacks for him, so he got a 19 and a 8, the first attack slicing into it just as it emerges (4 dmg) ]

[theworstmagician]

Holy crap!

[And with a manly yelp, Marty's previous reservations about fire? Gone, pretty much as soon as the tentacle monster breaks free from the box. Because wow, that thing is freaky, and he's just going to put his magical skills to use and try to set the damn thing on fire (Burning Hands) and hope for the best. It's weird; he's never really tried to set a living thing on fire before; it's always just been a parlor trick he used to liven things up whenever he was showing off with magic. But, you know what? He's not going to feel the slightest bit bad as he aims the flames right at the creature's face.

He just hopes he won't burn down the building or something. That would... probably just make this situation worse. Probably.]

[cuivre]

Yeah, dude, your moment has passed. Unless you'd rather be plant food.

[He steps in front of Boggins, though, putting his body between the creature at him. Operation Meat Shield, in progress.]

[zwy_il]

Should've stayed in your damned cage, beast!

[Nels lashes out with both blades. Hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible, he's going to expend all two of his Inspiration points for his 'Cunning Insight' ability, adding +4 to each attack roll.]

[Attack One: Nat 20, with a 24 to confirm! (2+3)* 2 = 10 Damage)]

[Attack Two: 25. 5+3 = 8 Damage)]

[I love how I blew his whole resource pool for the +4's, and didn't even need them. :l ]

[theshameofcain]

It's an otyugh! [AND BAMBI IS BACKING HER SHIT UP RIGHT NOW, suddenly really angry SHE ASSAULTED HER BOOK WITH THAT THING'S BODY.] They're basically shit monsters, and if you don't want to get fifty flavors of Hepatitis, you better kill it fast. And don't let it bite you. I mean that should go without saying, but I don't know about some of you people.

[valdrin]

Yes, let's avoid that, shall we? [ val'drin takes careful aim and fires (atk 18, thank god for precise shot, 9 dmg). the onslaught of fire and blades and bullets is... enough to fell the beast, who lets out a single horrible blubbery roar, and then burbles over into a gross heap.

/init ]

[theshameofcain]

Wow.

[Long pause.]

Didn't... really mean that fast, but awesome. Great.

[She whirls on Boggins.] Why the hell would someone mail you a carrion-eating shit creature? Putting a black mamba in your toilet would have probably been cleaner.

[theworstmagician]

[Wow. Marty wasn't really expecting it to go down that fast, and he looks at his hands with a mixture of awe and confusion. Did he actually do something right for once? That's... new.]

Okay, so I'm not going anywhere near that. [Just so we're clear.] Seriously, is there a clean-up crew for this kind of thing?

[valdrin]

[ broggon nods as he tries to gain his composure. "There is, indeed. I can assure you, I never ordered such a beast, even if I knew where to procure one from. Just don't have too many requests for such things here at the store. Something strange is going on." he fishes a key-ring out of his pocket, flips through a number of oddly shaped keys, and settles on one that is large, made of brass, and seems to glow very slightly. "Shadow is a tide, washing fantastical creatures onto the shore of our world," he explains, a serious look upon his normally cheerful face. "Some of these creatures are dangerous only because they are confused by the sights and sounds of this world. Others are truly malevolent." he sighs heavily, obviously more shaken by the creature's attack than he wants to let on. "It appears that someone connected to Shadow has learned of me and seeks to harm or even kill me so that I can't continue my work." he hands bambi the softly glowing key. "This key opens the trap door over there," he says, pointing to a spot on the floor. "I received one other crate from this mysterious PTC, whoever or whatever it is, which is why I called you here. It arrived days ago, and I had one of my clerks place it in the storeroom under the shop. As I told Wynn, when I last checked on the crate, something had broken out of it. I need to make a few calls - I have some connections that can come clean up this mess, but it will take a little time to contact them and get them over here. Who knows what mischief might occur in the meantime." he waves at the backroom beside the cafe. "There are some items back there, that might be of use to them before you investigate." ]

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi takes the key in her free hand and turns it over, blinking.]

Let's hope the other one's not a disease-ridden sewer monster. Euch. [She sticks her tongue out.]

And they say pursuit of knowledge is such a nice, safe alternative to fighting the good fight. [She shoots Broggon a sympathetic look and moves over to the trap door to stand in front of it, looking down.]

Do I need to be the one to point out that I've seen a ton of horror movies that start like this? Luckily I'm a virgin. My survival rate is way higher than the rest of you. [SUCH A CHARMER. Now that the trap door has been investigated, she'll head over to the room he indicated to ~prepare herself~]

[valdrin]

[ the door leads to a small office crammed with file cabinets, a desk, a computer, and cartons of books. a table near the back contains the items:

a ruger service six revolver, loaded
12 extra bullets for the revolver
one knife
one baseball bat
one metal baton
one suit of leather armor
one chainmail shirt
two flashlights
three road flares
and fifty feet of rope.

val'drin follows her into the doorway, looking over the spread with an eyebrow raised. ]

Well, that's certainly ... comforting.

[cuivre]

Oh goody.

[So whatever broke out is probably ugly. Maybe worse than the thing they just killed, if that was possible.]

Dibs on the chainmail.

[...He's done enough taking one for the team on these missions, okay.]

[theshameofcain]

Baseball bat's mine! [She puts her book down (finally) in a safe location and grabs for the bat. AW YEAH.]

[valdrin]

[ the chainmail shirt provides a +2 defense bonus since he's not proficient. he gets a -5 to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, and Tumble while wearing it, and his speed becomes a 20 instead of 30.

the baseball bat does 1d6 dmg and crits x2

val'drin, in the meantime, simply picks up a flashlight and hefts it in his hand. he'll stick to his standard issue gun, thanks. ]

[cuivre]

Man, the stuff is heavier than it looks, isn't it.

[Not exactly complaining as he puts it on, just...making commentary.]

[valdrin]

[ as broggon busies himself on the phone in the back of the shop, val'drin moves to the trapdoor indicated and pulls it open. ] Not even locked. [ he glances back broggon's way, then shrugs, shining the light down into the basement storeroom. it hosts concrete walls and floor, and boxes and crates seem to be stacked neatly around the chamber. val'drin doesn't look keen to be first down, however. ]

[zwy_il]

[Nels frowns at the guns. What tasteless weapons.]

Rope is always useful. [He grabs it up, and puts it in his bag.]

[Then he stalks over to the trap door, weapons still in hand, nods at Val'drin, and hops down in.]

[valdrin]

[ val'drin climbs down because fuck that hopping around shit, he's dressed in a nice suit. it's immediately noticeable that one crate, made of wood, has been busted open. in addition, the door on the far wall has been shattered. anyone checking out either needs to make a search check for that thing. ]

[zwy_il]

I'll check this door...

[Nels gets a Search check of 24]

[valdrin]

[ nels finds the door was broken open from this side, and the hallway beyond is framed in a thick, weblike material. the corridor seems carved from the stone foundation of the building, irregular and cavernlike. the webbing covers the walls and ceiling, and the floor in various patches. ]

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi follows down on the rope, ducking her baseball bat underneath her chin. She investigates the crate with a search check of 13.]

[zwy_il]

Wonderful. [Nels tugs some of the web free, and holds it up for the others to see.] Webs. How very nostalgic.

[valdrin]

[ val'drin sure doesn't look any happier about it. the drow are on edge, y'all.

bambi finds a shipping label that marks PTC as the origin of the crate. sticky webbing fills the inside of the shattered box. three egglike balls of web sit within, each one cracked open and empty. ]

Remind you of home?

[theshameofcain]

[oh ew. gritting her teeth, bambi tenderly pokes at the busted egg sacs with the end of her bat.]

I think we might be fucked, guys. [(wisdom 20 total). Her knowledge: arcane lore roll was an 11.)]

[cuivre]

Gee, just what we all wanted to hear.

[As he finally joins them. Putting on chainmail is hard I guess (or I'm just slow).]

Wanna elaborate?