Neil has a horrible image of the logs -- Ekur's is objective, Neil's film noir, and Thais bishoujo anime. William says, "I need to check one previous log to make sure I don't fall into a continuity error... one minute." William makes funny expressions at his connection. This has been acting flaky for days and is doing so now... I may go poof. Thais innocents. It wouldn't be bishoujo anime! Thais . o O ( It would be bishoujo /manga/. Duh. ) William . o O (bisho*nen*?) William says, "Hmm," darkly, at his connection. "No log for me." Jesdyn [to William]: We'll keep you on the straight and narrow. I think we'd just arrested Eli. William says, "Not unless he is currently playing the part of Lamont Cranston, a.k.a. the hero of pulp detective comics and early radio dramas called The Shadow." Jesdyn [to William]: That's no less likely than anything else he's doing. William says, "Far too violent to be a Mercurian. Or an Impudite, to nip that theory in the bud." *Neil* is far too violent to be a Mercurian. Thais mmm, Impudites. William says, "To recap, you've taken Mr. Cranston into custody and are currently following his lead into the depths of a cave system under the Wilderness Sector in Radz. You've passed a sentry or two, winding closer to what presumably is the heart of the assumption battle being set up to take control of the Domain." William says, "Neil is fresh outta fresh, Ekur is two Essence down, and Thais is... 1, IIRC? But everyone is healed up. Randomly, Thais also knows where a certain rat ethereal has gone to ground upstairs a ways." fadethecat [to William]: 1, right. From the Song. William says, "And we'd come up with a catchy title for the arc, but blam' if I remember it. On with the show!" Thais . o O ( Oh boy oh boy oh boy, I may get to meet my favoritest demon /ever/ again! ...okay, so it's also the /only/ demon I've ever met... ) Jesdyn [to William]: Is Bloom still with us? William says, "Yep. Scratched and an Essence down but not bad off." Neil pings Bloom and Thais, looking for commonalities with Lamont. Neil is, in other words, trying to confirm that Lamont's boss is the same person as Thais' special friend, and pinging Bloom just to get a read on how he's feeling about the mission. William says, "The tiny stream you have been following through the cave as it meanders vaguely southward turns off into a branch to the right. The Shadow leaves this now and climbs a small rise into the mouth of another cavern. At the other end is a glow coming from around a bend, figures moving to and fro casting shadows across the wall." William Resonance - succeeded. William Resonance - succeeded. William [to Neil]: Reading Lamont and Thais as a group, you get a third common member of their group with whom both have a complex relationship of attraction and animosity. Ekur . o O ( Yeah, I have that effect on people. ) fadethecat [to StevenE]: *snickers so much* Thais [to William]: Well, /everyone/ loves Wrinth. He's hot like that. William [to Neil]: Reading Lamont and Bloom as a group, you get a sense that their group harbors strong feelings of alienation. Lamont heads across the dry cavern toward the light. "Last chance to lay any plans," he says. Neil murmurs, "Thais? Count Wrinth confirmed." Thais beams. "Oh, /good/." Neil says, "I say we go in and arrest them all, then not die. A very strong Plan B, I think." Lamont murmurs, "Is *that* the bastard's name. It was always 'boss' from me." Thais says, "Wait, what was plan A?" Thais smiles dreamily. "It's so much /fun/ to stab him." Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: Well, last time I had a Plan A you got stabbed a lot, so I thought I'd let you pick. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: Was that OOC or IC? Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: IC, I think. Neil says, "Is there anything we can gain from infiltrating them?" Thais hmms. "I don't really mind the stabbing, but...maybe I should pass on some Essence to one of you who will actually have time to do healing if that's necessary?" Neil says, "We know who they are, we know what they want to do, and they know who are and they know what we want to do." Neil says, "Thank you, yes." Thais passes on seven of her remaining Essence to Neil, leaving one to herself for emergencies. "In that case, I believe plan A involves stabbing the demon next door repeatedly until he surrenders or dies." Bloom says, "Supposing I am in no particular danger of getting attacked myself doing so, I shall hang back and provide healing when I can." Ekur nods. "Sounds like a plan. I'll help stab." Lamont says, "Showtime," and you round the corner. Neil shouts "CIVIS POLICE! Nobody move!"... /after/ he shoots at Wrinth. Being a demon not in Hell is already illegal. William says, "Beyond is a small hall with a flat floor, which has two different exits -- the one you came in, to its northwest, and another to the northeast. It is about sixty feet on a side, flat and dry, so smooth it was probably dreamshaped specially into existence. Electric lamps illuminate sconces every few dozen feet around the walls, no particular source necessary. In the middle of it all, a familiar figure is pointing at a map of Civis on a simple wooden table. There are about ten Ethereals in the room, each wearing various human-seeming icons, receiving instructions or talking. All inhabitants look up at your entrance." William ly looks up, notes Neil's entrance. Yes, that would make them look up. Thais already has her sword drawn, and strides forward towards Wrinth, pinging his honor as she prepares for the stabby portion of this evening's entertainment. William Resonance - succeeded. Ekur glances at everybody (resonance-pinging as he goes) while moving toward Wrinth, sword and shield ready. William [to Thais]: Entirely honorable since your last encounter -- as dedication to the cause of Hell and the Glorious Rebellion Against The Maltheist Tyrant goes. Thais [to William]: Yay! No guilt in the stabbing! William [to Neil]: What's your Guns skill? Neil will ping Wrinth for Discord when he gets a moment... hold on, checking. Jesdyn [to William]: 17. William Guns - succeeded. William rolled 1d6 and got 3. William says, "The crack of Neil's pistol announces your arrival, accompanied by a cry from Wrinth. Shouts of alarm are raised among the troops there and weapons are unlimbered or summoned into existence." Thais [to William]: Can I go blackwing on the way towards Wrinth without becoming unduly distracted? It's sometimes handy to remind ethereals who not to mess with. William [to Thais]: Sure, Dreaming roll (-2). Thais succeeded. Thais doesn't want anyone getting in her way while she's going demon-hunting, and showing off her pretty, pretty black wings seems like one way to remind certain people in the room to step aside. William says, "Wrinth's voice rises above the tumult. 'Allright, beat it, the lot of you! I bought your asses and you're here to build, not fight. Go to your stations. And stay there until you're damn well dragged off in chains, or you'll see how nasty Hell gets when we're gypped on a deal!'" The ethereal troops hesitate. They're eager enough not to fight Thais and the other angels. "But," says one of them, "the Shadow's supposed to be leading this whole mess. Why's he--" Wrinth roars, "I'll take care of it. SCRAM!" Neil [to Neil]: test William [to Neil]: Unless you've got a power I don't recall, Discord isn't obvious to you. Did you pick up the Ofanite attunement? (From Blue GURPS Room) Jesdyn says, "GM license, fine, but that conversation should've been peppered with gunshots." Jesdyn [to William]: No, Malakite -- got 'em reversed. Thais smiles at Wrinth as she approaches. "Thank you," she says. "It's a much better fight with the civilians out of the way." Neil shouts "I SAID, nobody move!" Neil will menace anyone who looks menaceable. William [to Neil]: D'you have Intimidation? William sighs at the lack of character sheets Jesdyn [to William]: No, does it default from Fast-Talk or do you just want IQ (18)? William [to Neil]: Acting? Jesdyn [to William]: That, I've got -- 17. William says, "Defaults to Acting-3, then. Also, it's a group, and it's being contested by Wrinth... one sec..." William Intimidation - succeeded. [Monitor] Brandon has connected at Thu Dec 29 19:43:48 2005 CST William Intimidation_Contest - succeeded. Ekur continues straight for Wrinth. Cut off the demonic command, with the Shadow already caught, it reduces to a mop-up exercise. William says, "The group of ethereals, caught between two relatively powerful individuals, hesitates." Wrinth summons his rapier, and shakes his head. "See, my naive little killerbot? No one's a civilian." William Round 1, fight! Thais and Ekur are in close range of Wrinth; there is a table to your left and his right. Lamont, Bloom, and Neil are back near one exit door, to the northeast; several ethereals are scattered around the room. Thais shrugs, sword swinging up into a ready position. "It's a flexible definition," she says, "but are we really interested in debating semantics right now?" Thais [to William]: Hmm. If I do the two-attack all-out-attack, can the first attack be a feint to give me a chance on the second? Or is feinting too controlled for an AoA? William says, "Order is Neil, Ekur, Wrinth, Thais, and others as they choose to become involved."" William [to Thais]: Yep, first can be a feint. Neil says, "I'm holding my attack until after Wrinth moves, then I'll shoot him before Thais takes her turn." Thais [to William]: *sads at going last* Hmm. Given that I'm not even acting first this round, I'd better stick to a standard attack. William says, "Okay. Ekur?" Ekur AoAs Wrinth with two attacks. skill 20 Ekur rolled 11 and succeeded by 9. skill 20 Ekur rolled 12 and succeeded by 8. Wrinth retreats, with a certain deliberate pace, parrying, and trying to put the corner of the table between you. William Parry - succeeded. William Parry - failed. William [to Ekur]: Your second attack hits. Damage? roll 3d6 On 3d6, you rolled 16. Neil goes OOC and falls over laughing. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: ? Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: I don't think shock penalties /go/ worse than -10. Wrinth's not having a good day. Wrinth blurs out momentarily. When he refocuses, he is staring down with sudden shock at Ekur's sword embedded in his chest. "...SON of a..." Thais mutters, "You couldn't let me get a shot in /first/..." Though without much acrimony. Neil says, "Can I speed my turn back up and shoot him before his action, or am I already stuck?" Neil says, "It's fine if I am." Ekur looks on calmly, with just a hint of satisfaction in his features. William [to Neil]: You were Waiting, you can choose to act whenever you like. At present, however, any additional damage done to Neil goes entirely toward putting shock penalties on his consciousness rolls. William says, "Err. Wrinth, not Neil." Jesdyn [to William]: To me? ): What penalty is he looking at right now? Jesdyn [to William]: And -- sorry to slow the combat down, I just want to make sure I understand what's coming. If he manages to act on his turn, what penalty will he face, if any? William [to Neil]: Wait, my bad, consciousness rolls don't have shock penalties. (They would make such rolls, by definition, pretty darn hard...) William [to Neil]: And shock will kick in next turn, not this. His action this turn is still unpenalized -- a GURPS round is pretty fast. Thais [to Ekur]: Thais needs to buy up her combat skills. Or her speed. Or something. She will be a sad Malakite if she doesn't get to stab him even a little! Jesdyn [to William]: So is there any point to shooting him now? William [to Neil]: Hmm... I can't think of one. Wrinth grabs the handle of the blade embedded in his chest and the lights in the room seem to glow a sulfurous yellow. The sound of 4 Essence being spent chimes through the room. Through clenched teeth, he says, "I... will... NOT... let this end... so soon....!" William Consciousness - succeeded. Neil /shoots him in the head/. William Guns - succeeded. William [to Neil]: Oh, wait. Were you literally shooting for the head? Jesdyn [to William]: Do images even /have/ vitals? No. William says, "Then it's a hit. And you manage mainly to break his concentration -- he started to say something, but doesn't get it out." William says, "...Thais? ^_^" Jesdyn [to William]: I'm not sure I get this -- he's effectively invincible until he fails a roll we can't affect? Thais, looking a touch exasperated by this point, mutters, "I certainly /hope/ not" under her breath and steps in for a precise textbook attack on the demon. William doublechecks what all goes on at 0 Mind Hits... Neil also notes that he feels embarassed about being shaken down by those stupid Hunger spirits; he had no idea Marches attacks went like /this/. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: It's just like physical damage; the lower you take them, the harder it is for them to make the roll to not keel over, and eventually they don't get to roll at all. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: ...so far as I know, anyway. William says, "Nothing much is said about penalties to consciousness rolls, so Jesdyn makes the good point that it's not a great thing to have him essentially invincible until he dies. I'll go for penalties. Jesdyn gives..." William rolled 1d6 and got 1. fadethecat [to William]: Huh. It doesn't work like hit points, where you're at a penalty for every multiple under your...IQ, I guess? fadethecat [to William]: Pay no attention to me; I'm fuzzy on GURPS rules. Just babbling. William says, "...a tap, compared to what he's currently concentrating on. His outline's a bit fuzzy at the moment anyway, the bullet sort of sponges through." Neil [to Thais]: So far, every combat we've had with Wrinth has forced our GM to research heretofore untravelled realms of horrific beatdown to adequately express what we've done to our enemies. I like. Thais [to Neil]: You have a point, there. William [to Thais]: Nope, just goes to 0 and stops. Much faster than Body Hits. Thais [to Neil]: But if Wrinth had keeled over from that first stab, I think Thais might have gotten a bit sniffly. Thais [to William]: In case you missed it, Thais just went for a standard attack. StevenE [to William]: So, you don't just use the p.126 General Damage rules, substituting IQ? William [to Thais]: You may politely attempt to cleanly stab the tottering demon now. Roll it! William [to Ekur]: p. 143 has specific rules for Mind Hits in ethereal combat. Thais succeeded. Thais goes for the stabbing almost apologetically. It's just not the same when she's not even taking any damage in the process... Wrinth rather distractedly attempts to grab Thais' swordarm, his eyes focused on Ekur's blade and his will focused elsewhere. William Unarmed_Karate_Parry - succeeded. StevenE [to William]: Hrmm, yeah. "he will take no further Mind damage". Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Huh. Fear /is/ the mind killer. William [to Thais]: Well, he grabs your blade. roll damage to his hand, for shock purposes. Thais rolled 3d6 and got 10. William says, "Yay." William says, "Next round. Both Ekur's and Thais swords are unready, being held by various parts of Wrinth. Neil?" Neil says, "Holding my action to disrupt any unwanted Songs." Neil says, "From the ethereals, to be specific." William [to Neil]: Check. William says, "Ekur?" Neil says, "The only song Wrinth'll be singing is Taps." StevenE [to William]: Pull my sword out, to ready it. Neil . o O ( We've now entered the third second of this combat. Wrinth's at -27 to his actions this round. ) Thais [to Neil]: Don't shock penalties have a limit? Ekur . o O ( And then, hell, I'll start chopping on him Celestially, as allowed in the Ethereal on EPG p.98-99. Maybe I can carve off a Force whil he's still making IQ rolls. ) Jesdyn [to fadethecat]: I can dream. Neil says, "Ooh, Soul Hits. I shoulda thought of those." William Gimme a minute. Wrinth's a much more trained fighter than I am, I want to see if I can pull off anything clever. Neil can kick Wrinth in the pants /Celestially/; the odds that any of these guys know CelHealing is pretty low. Thais knows CelHealing... Jesdyn [to StevenE]: You oughta autores to see what the watching ethereals do if we start tearing into his prone soul like a pack of rabid dogs. Jesdyn [to StevenE]: I'm so taking Ethereal Charm, by the way. Most of my enemies seem to roll IQ a lot. Putting a hammer on his mental faculties would make him much less aggravating. William reads the GURPS rules on shock penalties, realizes they don't apply to consciousness rolls. Not the normal HT-based kind, at any rate. On the other hand, they apply to IQ-based rolls. Oh, man... *thinks* William says, "For the sake of having a 'climactic fight of the adventure' that takes longer than one blow, I'm ruling that shock penalties don't apply to consciousness rolls. Wrinth is in bad shape, confused and in pain, but rolls consciousness vs. unmodified IQ. This rule is subject to discussion with Beth later. Do I hear any outcry from the people?" Neil says, "You had to do /something/. No challenge." Neil will hope for compensatory XP. fadethecat [to William]: I'm fine with it. I'll admit I kinda like longer fights anyway. Neil says, "Besides, consciousness w/ shock = teh failure." William says, "Yah." You say, "No problem. I certainly didn't expect, after the trouble with the rats, to be taking Wrinth out so quickly." Neil says, "But there has to be SOME way to wail on the helpless." Thais [to Ekur]: Mr. Doom Sword that you are... Neil says, "Some sort of coup de... grace." William says, "Okay. Wrinth, then, busily attempts to stay conscious:" William Consciousness - succeeded. Thais suggests, OOC, the hypothetical of capture-and-interrogation, if useful binding artifacts can be requisitioned from HQ quickly... Neil says, "Shoot him again!" William says, "Thais? Your move. He's still holding on to your sword." William says, "Still at 0 Mind Hits, trying to gather his wits to... do something."" Thais [to William]: ...note to self: acquire some sort of /kicking/ skill. William [to Thais]: DX-2. Neil says, "You mean /IQ/-2." William says, "Or, in the Marches, IQ-2 -- yeah." Neil smirks. Thais takes a half step back to pull her sword out of Wrinth's grasp. William says, "He lets it go, no contest." Thais [to William]: That all I can do this round? William [to Thais]: You can still kick a demon when he's down. Thais [to William]: Wouldn't be very sporting. Thais stands politely at the ready, waiting for Wrinth to regain a bit of composure before attacking again. Wrinth stumbles backward a bit. His eyes focus momentarily, hunting desperately for options. William says, "New round! Any actions, or are we all waiting and watching?" Jesdyn [to William]: I never went, so I'll ping Wrinth. Jesdyn [to William]: That is, before the last round ends. Jesdyn [to William]: In the new round, I'll continue covering the bystanders, counting on Ekur and Thais to keep him down. William [to Neil]: 'k William Resonance - succeeded. William [to Neil]: What were you looking for? He's in a bit bad with his boss seeing as how his last mission got him scarred, but a little Discord isn't a terrible disfigurement in Hell. Jesdyn [to William]: Nothing specific, I just wanted a recent ping on record so I can compare it with these other guys later. Thais [to William]: I'll probably be waiting unless everyone else is still stabby-stabby, partly to see what Wrinth will do. Thais is kinda curious as to how he's going to handle in-a-corner-and-outnumbered. Ekur, in front of Wrinth, does the little mental twist to switch to celestial combat on the Ethereal plane, and tries to punch him for soul damage. Celestial attacks are Will-for-DX; mine's 18. What do I roll? Wrinth's eyes widen, and he grits his teeth. "Mission... before... survival!" He turns and stares at Lamont. William Charm - succeeded. William Shadow_Resist_Contest - failed. Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Apparently, you get rolled over. Thais . o O ( ...well, I do admire his commitment to his cause, even if it's the wrong one. ) William [to Ekur]: Actually, that's fast enough that I'll let the attack break Wrinth's Concentrate maneuver if it works. Roll a punch. Any unarmed combat skill based on Will if you have it, unmodified Will if you don't. skill 18 Ekur rolled 13 and succeeded by 5. William says, "The rest of you see Ekur lose the uniform and specs, and his Elohite appearance become just a bit more convincing, as he lunges toward Wrinth and swings a fist." Wrinth, instinctively turning green and growing a pair of goat horns with a cute twist to them, raises an arm attempting to parry... William Unarmed_Karate_Parry - succeeded. Ekur . o O ( Rats. ) Wrinth says, panting with conflicting efforts, "Shadow! Flee! Survive! Take your rightful place in Civis!" William Consciousness - failed. William says, "...just before a final Helltongue curse (but then, they all sound like that) is ripped from him and he fades like a shadow in a sudden light." Neil moves and takes Lamont's arm -- not a hold, just a grasp. "You've already GOT one." Thais looks at the place where Wrinth faded, and sighs faintly, but reserves certain comments for later. She turns back to look at the rest of the gathered ethereals, not putting away her black wings quite yet, with a thoughtful expression and her sword still out. Lamont shutters his lamp, which had hung redundantly for the few seconds of the fight, and says, "Yes. We all have the place we make for ourselves." He gently takes Neil's hand off his arm and turns toward the door. Neil pings him. Further action depends on the ping. Ekur resonantes Lamont. William Resonance - succeeded. William Resonance - succeeded. William says, "Well, Ekur didn't need it, but..." Neil . o O ( "Rawr, I am Lucifer, and I will pwn your resonance." "Nuh-uh." "Whyever not?" "Not rolling it. Autores CD 4 is good enough for me." "... come on, roll it." "Nope." "That's not fair! I'm the Lightbringer!" "Still not rolling." ) William says, "Both of you can tell, albeit through different lenses, that he's a lot cockier than he was a few seconds ago. Neil can further tell that the Ethereals in the room are waiting for his response..." Ekur reminds himself to get his sword relic-ized in addition to being a talisman, so he can use it for celestial combat, too. William And ARGH, phone call. Bbiafm. Neil can't call it either way. We /did/ just punk a demon. I'm feeling cocky too. We'll have to see what he does. Ekur . o O ( Hmm. Wonder how much a relic antitank rocket launcher costs. That would simplify things . . . . ) Thais . o O ( As soon as I can earn Hunt, I am going to track down this demon and have a /proper/ fight with him. The kind with rules and conversation and candlelight and romantic music and--wait, no, backtrack. ) Jesdyn [to StevenE]: I'm just buying Mad Jack Wheelie as an Ally. Lamont steps into the bend of the cavern and looks back. He raises a gloved hand and waves it casually. William Dreamshaping - succeeded. A curtain of darkness falls over the tunnel. StevenE [to William]: What's the cause of his changed emotion, as per my resonance? William [to Ekur]: External interference. His ambition is, so to speak, "unleashed." William [to Ekur]: And you really ought to have known that before Lamont did his dreamshaping. Neil says, "External interference? But --" William [to Ekur]: That is, I should have mentioned. Neil says, "Darn it." Ekur ah-hahs. Clicks on the helmet-lamp, runs after Lamont, and tries to dreamshape any light-reistant darkness away. "Don't do it, Lamont!" Lamont's voice rings out of the darkness. "You heard the boss -- scatter!" His footsteps echo in the cavern beyond. Neil says, "Lamont! What evil lurks in /your/ heart?" William [to Ekur]: Contested dreamscaping: -3 Ekur rolled 14 and succeeded by 1. Neil Dream-Shapes blazing wings and flares his halo. "I. Said. Don't. Move." William says, "It's slow in parting, but it parts. Lamont is dashing for the other side of the cavern." William [to Neil]: 'nother Intimidation roll. Acting-5 (to account for the size of the group). Neil says, "I'll take whatever penalties to Lucid Dreaming (19) and Intimidation (default from Acting-17) you see fit." William Dreaming - succeeded. Neil says, "Kick two Essence into Acting." William says, "The dreaming is easy..." William Intimidation - succeeded. William says, "And the intimidation works. The lads look at each other for a minute, then put away their weapons and put up their hands." Neil says, "I assume that Dominic's Rite triggered, so I'm at 7 essence still." William [to Neil]: Yeah. Thais [to William]: Sorry for absence, friend came to the door. Ekur keeps chasing the Shadow, ready to Eth-stab him as necessary. William [to Ekur]: You're a ways behind, but the distance is closing. William [to Thais]: No prob, had rouhgly the same delay. Jesdyn [to William]: Holding my thread until Ekur's done. Thais [to William]: Hmm. Given that Neil and Ekur are dealing with Lamont... can I hang around and work on glaring the still-gathered ethereals into submission? Or, um, stab them into submission, as required, though I'd rather avoid that. William [to Thais]: Neil isn't dealing with Lamont, and in fact has the gathered ethereals quite cowed. William says, "For now, at least. There *are* about nine or ten of them." Thais [to William]: Oh. Will...dammit. Can't figure out if it's more tactically sound to follow Ekur or stick with Neil. What would you suggest as more reasonable, given Thais's information at hand? William [to Thais]: Lamont. The rest of the guys are there to support him: recall that the point of the skyscrapers and such was to make Civis into a domain for which the Shadow would be a more suitable Master than Jack Mann. Thais [to William]: Chasing it is, then. Thais pounds along after Ekur in pursuit of Lamont, looking distinctly peeved admist sparkle and black feathers. William [to Ekur]: Do you have any Running skill at all? Or, come to think of it, Climbing? The cave is dim and of uneven footing. Neil instructs the ethereals to sit on the ground and consider themselves in custody, pings them all, and CelToungues for celestial backup at his location, and fades his scene out. William [to Thais]: Likewise, actually. Running and/or Climbing? StevenE [to William]: No and no. Shadowing and stealth, but those aren't exactly germain. Could try dreamshaping-as-he-runs to smooth obstacles . . . Jesdyn [to William]: Can you combine Lucid Dreaming and martial arts, to shape yourself and the environment as you block and strike blows? Jesdyn [to William]: I wouldn't mind spending some points on Jung fu. William [to Jesdyn]: Lucid Dreaming is necessarily a Concentrate ma... ow. Thais [to William]: No, though they've now gone on the list of things to buy once I've gotten Hunt. Ekur . o O ( Shadowing, stealth, intimidation, strategy, tactics, acting, psychology. And knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? An Elohite knows. ) William [to Jesdyn]: You now need to write up this martial art for the list. Jesdyn [to William]: So says Archbeth. I'm tempted to read G:MA to learn how they're handled. William does 7th grade word problems in his head. The angel Ekur can move 2 yards per second faster than The Shadow. The Shadow starts with a 12-yard lead and can move 7 yards per second. How far does The Shadow get before Ekur is atop him? Jesdyn [to William]: 42 yards. William says, "Correct!" Jesdyn [to William]: And those word problems in school would've been awesome. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: So true. William says, "If Ekur and Thais don't trip in the cave. Vision rolls, please: IQ+Alertness(if any)+Vision(if any)-5(dimness penalty)." Thais succeeded. Ekur rolled 12 and succeeded by 1. William [to Ekur]: Dodging stalagmites growing on the ground, and ducking under stalactites clinging to the ceiling, you close the gap by the time the Shadow has crossed the small cavern antechamber and is about to join up with the small stream beyond. What do you do when in range? Neil . o O ( "You won't succeed! There will /always/ be a Mann about town!" ) StevenE [to William]: Slash at him with my sword, all-out. Taking him in would be nice, but stopping him is the priority. William says, "Combat on the run... okay, you're taking a Move and Attack, he's Retreating and Dodging. Roll it." Thais [to William]: Equally stabby. He got a good, decent chance to be Good, and he blew it. (Also, Thais is currently Annoyed, and thus more inclined be stabby anyway.) Thais [to William]: Once I've caught up, anyway. Ekur rolled 15 and succeeded by 5. William Dodge - failed. On 3d6, Ekur rolled 11. William says, "Lamont cries out, tumbling in his tracks. His icon chooses to bleed profusely from a gash down his left side." William says, "Thais?" Ekur says, "Surrender, Lamont. We won't let Wrinth win." Thais pauses, to give the ethereal a chance to respond before committing to an attack. William [to Ekur]: Desire, fear, pain, and supernatural pressure war before you in the shape of a man. Lamont clutches his side and kneels by the water. Neil . o O ( If he waves his hands and escapes under cover of darkness so help me GOD I'm buying the biggest relic flashlight Jean, Gabriel, or Lucifer produce. ) Lamont says... "He... he offered me... a real chance. Mastery of a Domain... you *become* the Domain. Surely that would... stop the Fading..." Lamont looks up at you. "I don't have a chance. I know that. Hell, you took out my keeper with one swing." Ekur say, "The petty servants of Hell didn't win in the stories that gave you birth. They don't win here, either." William says, "The resonance influence fades from his emotional makeup and he shakes his head a little." Lamont winces. "I hate it when he does that. It's always to make me do the really stupid stuff for him. Ow." Ekur says, "Okay, head feeling clearer?" Lamont nods. "You'd know. But I *really* need to get back to my place." He thinks. "Assuming it's still there and not a high-rise by now." Ekur says, "Let's first go back to Neil, see what's happening there. Then we can call up the other angels, start the cleanup on this little operation of Hell's." Thais relaxes quietly, and mentally kicks herself for not realizing Lamont might not be acting entirely under his own will. William says, "And with that, I think we can bring this little dungeon crawl to a close. Now that you know *where* the dreamshapers are, it's possible to mobilize Civis' defense forces to hunt them down. They either stop or are stopped, and over the course of the next few days Jack works Civis back into its original skyline." Thais woo! Triumph reigns yet again! William says, "The matter is the talk of the city for weeks, of course. Analyses of your parts you played are chewed over as well." Ekur hmms. Wonders what happenes to the rat. Thais [to Ekur]: Tracked it down as part of cleanup, I imagine. Seeing how Thais could run straight to it. William says, "After Thais' Song fades, it heals and goes back to scrounging in the dim basement levels of the city. Not that it needs to eat, but rats are supposed to scrounge." Thais says, "...or that." William says, "Unless Thais prefers to track it down and stomp it. It'd be easy." William says, "Come to think of it, what *are* your recommendations for disposition of the minor flunkies involved in all of this?" Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Ninja Turtles. It's about the right time for them -- 1985 or so. Jesdyn [to William]: I don't know what the options are. Beating them to within an inch of Trauma just for being retards is my choice. We are /HEAVEN/. We have a /military presence/ here. We shut their whole operation down with /three guys/. William says, "One vote for flogging, then." Jesdyn [to William]: Something embarassing, aggravating, and -- this time -- non-fatal would be how I'd go. Jesdyn [to William]: Frankly, I'd make them sculpt rustic 1880s San Francisco boulevards. fadethecat [to Jesdyn]: I like that plan. Thais [to Neil]: But don't forget the street lights! Well-lit. Jesdyn [to William]: Yeah, that's my choice. Make them fix the damage at sword-point and then exile anyone Ekur doesn't think is salvageable. Ekur would probably go with something along the lines of those who can be turned into productive citizens, by Angelic intention-detection and guaranteed by Divine Contract, would probably be best rehabilitated with significant community work and probationary citizenship. The rest can be dispersed and left to their chances of re-forming around their anchors, with the warning that if they show up around here again, we'll make /stronger/ efforts to permanently solve the problem. William [to Neil]: So your serious response is not flogging, it's exile. Yes? William [to Ekur]: Most of their anchors are in Civis. Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Yes. I'm not going to kill somebody for what amounts to spirited political manuevering if nobody was killed. Jesdyn [to William]: Err. Yes. William says, "Very well. Matthias takes the recommendations of Blandine's Vassal and the involved representative from Judgment under serious consideration. Exile is in the main the final decision for most, with probation for those who had debts of service bought and used against them." Ekur tends to think that exile alone isn't a great solution -- it rather feels like *handing* them to Beleth as additional forces. Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Like she has to go looking for forces? Killing them and letting them reform is a half-measure. Either exile them or soul-kill them. Jesdyn [to StevenE]: Anything else is just torture for your own satisfaction. William says, "Jack is veeeeery displeased with the idea of keeping The Shadow around on probation, regardless of how strict the terms. It has to be made clear to him that angels don't lightly kill criminals, and attempts at getting rid of a rival looked down upon most crossly, before the public grumbling stops." William says, "In the public eye, Ekur comes off with somewhat enhanced street cred from personally leading the delegation that handled this. Rumor eventually has him offing Wrinth with a Secret Dreams Attunement[tm], despite persistent popularity of the 'single sword-stroke' story." Ekur . o O ( Heh. ) William says, "Judgment's mid-level organization expresses interest in Neil's developing theories of crime and punishment for supernatural beings in Civis, and multiple requests for elaborations of his recommendations are made. This is the rough equivalent of Judgment giving somebody boldface status." Neil . o O ( Err -- "boldface status"? ) William says, "Boldface names. Minor celebrity. 15 minutes. You don't rate groupies, but you're a Person of Interest." William says, "Thais, after reports filter through the hierarchy, finds a neat note in her paperwork one day indicating that her combat experience seems to be progressing handily, and a certain undercurrent has been detected in her regular reports on this demon. Her superiors quite understand her desire not to leave loose ends hanging, and she is formally under consideration for Archangel Laurence's Hunt Attunement." Neil says, "WAH! Way to go!" Thais squee! Arc 4 End William says, "Whee. I had such *strategies* planned for that fight." Thais notes that Thais /does/ want to talk with Ekur and Neil at some point about prisoner-handling methods, because she's not happy with the torture-threatening that's come up in the past, but does acknowledge they're more experienced at how to deal with criminals. fadethecat [to William]: But there was stabby, stabby doom. Neil makes a note, now that he's got some time, to start selling crosswords on the Corporeal again through approved Judgement drops, with a distinct flavor of certain old radio shows mixed in there. Every little bit helps. William says, "Yes. Wrinth was going to play it very conservative, defending like mad and Resonating Lamont and *Bloom* into taking up arms for him. Then he was going to go celestial on his little chickadee and see how she liked it when the stakes were real." William says, "(The Discord you never got to see, by the way, was Angry.)" Thais sniffles sadly. Barely even got to stab him properly! Thais [to William]: Awww. Thais would have been thrilled! fadethecat has deleted all of their local references. Neil says, "Next time it'll be three demons in relic power suits." Ekur actually doesn't have prisoner-handling experience. When a demon or an Ethereal is in the Vale, the answer is "stomp".