Re: Turn 2 Thread

[The GM]

Vex is staggering, bleeding, grinning maniacally. He stinks of burned flesh.
 
Ari stares at his wounds with morbid fascination. “Are you... are you alright? Need a hand?"
 
"I am amazing," he declares through the mind-link.
 
Ari is sweaty with athletic perspiration. She is clearly just coming down off the drug, her muscles losing the unnatural tension.
 
“You should have seen them!" Vex continues.
 
"What happened?” Ari asks, “I couldn't see."
 
The response is a jumble of half-formed thoughts, impressions of men running and "one of them grew horns" and terror and shooting and "thought I was a whole army of daemons". Ari's thoughts back are confused, but impressed.
 
"Nice,” she says, “Niiiiice. Thanks for drawing them off - gave them the proper runaround. No way those guns are working again."
 
Vex gives the mental equivalent of laughter - crazy and exultant - then exhaustion. "I am riddled with holes."
 
"..."
 
From her distant position, Laval expresses concern. "Come back here, let me treat you. Both of you, if you need it Ari."
 
Ari's response comes back: it is, mentally, a high mocking laugh - the arrogance of youth. "Ha! Fuckers couldn't touch me, I'm that fast. We're heading back now."
 
"One hell of a drug," Vex observes.
 
"Gracious is good, isn't he? I can't really wait to get a chance to do that again. It felt like anything was possible - those walls were... wow." Ari is buzzing with uncharacteristic happiness and pride.
 
Vex matches her glee with a toothy, if exhausted grin. At first he tries to walk alone, but the effort is clearly difficult for him and eventually he asks Ari for a hand as they walk away from the cathedral. Ari responds and helps him out.
 
Laval meets them partway. She catches their enthusiasm and grins to see them, but tuts over Vex's injuries. Ari nods at Laval, her normal habitual sullenness resuming - whatever friendliness she now feels for Vex, forged in battle, it doesn't seem to quite extend to Laval yet.
 
"I took on a whole platoon." Vex justifies. Laval lays hands upon him, and, as she murmurs, the burn wounds begin to heal over to hardened scabs. Satisfied, Laval gets out a medi-kit and starts applying salve.
 
"He did! It was..." Ari shakes her head. "We made a good team."
 
"I'm glad," Laval notes, still working on healing her friend.
 
"I guess you were listening in? I don't understand how, really; never used to believe in magic... Priests always preach of miracles, but I've never seen one, you know? I guess I have now." Ari's expression turns angry.
 
Laval nods. "Miracles come from the Warp, not the Emperor. I can't let the two of you speak silently without being a part of that link."
 
"Why do they keep these gods from us?" Ari demands. "Why... there's such power here; it's like a power I always knew but never had words for."
 
Laval sighs, then smiles. Vex answers for her. "They're scared of losing their power over us, that's all."
 
Fuckers! So what's next? I almost went down into the Makuu and burnt it down myself, but... well, the drug was wearing off."
 
"Don't think rockrete burns anyway,” Vex observes, “Gonna poison 'em next though."
 
"Ha! Alright, sounds good."
 
The three make their way back to Imani, victorious and happy.

[The GM]

The three make their way back to the village. Gracious is still cooking, but the three are happy for a rest. It has been a long trek, and Ari and Vex have had an active night. Resting for the night, Laval leaves a sleeping Vex to find Gracious in the morning. He seems to just have finished whatever it is he was doing, looking exhausted but elated.
 
"..." he hazily sways from side to side, "And... yes... good morning! STEN! Coffee!"
 
"Good morning, Gracious!" Laval smiles.
 
"It is, rather, isn't it? Sleep well?"
 
Sten stumbles about, pouring water into a stained bowl, suspended over a fire. "Ok, ok," he yawns sleepily.
 
"Yes,” Laval replies, “If not for quite enough hours. More than you, by the look of it."
 
"Yeah... I think I got a couple of hours in the middle there."
 
"So. Uh. Has Ari been to see you yet?"
 
"...or did I dream tha - no, probably, not... oh?... no she hasn't... is she... did they... what happened?"
 
“Reconnaissance my arse. Those two are incurable." She grins.
 
“… You're grinning. That's - it's a nice grin - that's a good thing?"
 
"If we can trust Ari's expertise, the autocannons are dead."
 
"HA! Yes!" Gracious punches the air with his right... hand? The air moves oddly.
 
So much for caution." Laval laughs.
 
"Yeah, I'm not sure those two are the cautious types; I honestly didn't expect... I mean, I said "do the thing if you can", but I didn't..."
 
"They're both fine, the lunatics. Taking on an entire fortress cathedral between the two of them!"
 
Gracious mulls this over for a few seconds. "... it occurs to me that we may have an imminent problem."
 
"Yes."
 
"Laval! Gracious!" The pair turn to see Faruha running over to them.
 
"...I will confess I didn't... I am sure I impressed on Ari the need for stealth over... Hey! Faruha! What's up?"
 
Laval looks round, concerned. "What is it?"
 
"Skauti," Faruha gasps for air, "She was bringing a lost goat back to the village..." She catches her breath. "She says that she saw soldiers. Around twenty, she says. They are on their way here!"
 
Laval exhales. "Is there anyone who won't survive inspection?"
 
"Vex," Gracious notes.
 
"Well, yes, and me. Anyone else?" Laval demands.
 
"I... I'll probably be fine," Gracious thinks. "Kibwe. Sten, probably."
 
"I don't think there are others to worry for," Faruha notes, "Though we will have to prepare, and they may ask why our preacher is dead. And I fear that they will suspect wychcraft when they see the golden baobab tree."
 
Gracious has a look on his face, as if cogs are whirring very fast. "Plague. They know there is sickness here, or there was."
 
Laval nods. "Are you any good with make-up?" She turns to Faruha. "Faruha, I don't know the lay of the land. Is there a way we can get the most suspicious out of here before they get here?"
 
"They are some distance away," Faruha tells them, "Others could simply run, get past the hillcrests and out of sight?"
 
"Running's an option then...” Laval remarks, “But then we wouldn't be here to defend if it goes wrong."
 
“And so many are dead," Faruha observes, "They will notice how few of us there are. Though," she adds, thinking quickly, "It might make them believe that the plague has claimed the sick, and then passed."
 
"And in its own way,” Gracious notes, “That's not even a lie."
 
"The tree is still a problem,” Laval insists. The group looks in the direction of the old baobab tree. Once a withered husk, it now stands tall and proud, its bark silvery and golden, delicious-looking fruits hanging low. Though its presence is unusual, what is downright suspicious is that no one has picked from it. And yet, if any of the soldiers do, they will unleash the plague of Imani threefold, and Nurgle will have his terrible revenge.
 
Laval cusses briefly.
 
"Calm,” Gracious suggests, “Calm. I think we need to give them every reason to not approach the village too closely. It's that, or flee entirely..."
 
"You're right. But what's to keep them wanting to just burn it from a distance?"
 
"Why would they burn Imani?" Faruha demands. "What have you done?"
 
"No, no," Laval corrects, "I was thinking we could put them off with fear of catching plague, but then they might want to burn us..."
 
"It's true,” Gracious concurs, “Fundamentally they will be looking for the people that... well, did whatever Vex and Ari did."
 
"But they have no reason to suspect Imani," Laval assures Faruha.
 
“I see," Faruha nods. "Do you know why they are coming? They normally send far fewer for the tithe."
 
"Vex and Ari struck against their defences,” Laval tells her, “Eliminated the guns. They are likely searching everywhere for the saboteurs."
 
"They will search our houses and beat us," Faruha responds, becoming increasingly fearful, "They must be sending men to all the villages."
 
Laval swears again. "Damn their recklessness! We can't just let this happen."
 
"We won't let that happen. We won't let you down." Gracious reaches out and places a hand on Faruha's shoulder. She calms slightly, smiling at Gracious.
 
"Laval,” Gracious continues, “I... I'm sorry that... I didn't think they'd; what did Vex do? Did he... are they looking for wyches?"
 
She nods. "They will be."
 
"If they are seeking traitors, then they will not take ignorance at face value," Faruha warns them. "They will suspect us, and try to extract confessions. Last time they came, after Sadaka, they took three people away."
 
"Gods above,” Gracious curses.
 
Laval clenches her fists. "Twenty. And if we kill those, more..."
 
"... and they will burn Imani to the ground," Faruha worries.
 
"Then we must lie,” Laval declares, “Must feed them some nonsense that will make them think they do not need to come back..."
 
Gracious smiles. "I can try, at least."
 
"Three problems:" Laval ticks off on her fingers, "The tree, the mutants, the wych hunt."
 
"An idea occurs," Gracious muses. "Sadaka didn't burn. Why? Because Kind Peter's warband were obviously not part of the populace."
 
"But they still took people..."
 
"If we can differentiate clearly between villagers and occupiers..."
 
"Both of you are right," Faruha notes. She thinks hard. "They didn't burn Sadaka because they saw the difference between occupiers and occupied. But they took people because the village had been occupied." She pauses. "What if these soldiers are attacked, but not by occupying forces? What if they are attacked by their culprits, who do not come from Imani at all?"
 
"Do we have time to get around to another side before they get here?" Laval asks.
 
Faruha nods. "I think so." She winces. "But there are so many of them."
 
Laval grimaces. "Vex is flush with victory and wyrdling power. He will not flinch from taking them on - the fool."
 
"I fear that he will die," Faruha says.
 
"So do I,” Laval notes. She cocks her head as if listening, betraying a second, silent conversation in her own mind.
 
"I could give him another dose of the drug,” Gracious notes, “I think that should toughen him at least?" He pauses. "All we need do is draw them away... we don't need... The paint could help..."
 
"... how?"
 
"If we put some down - I can make it explode," Gracious admits. "There's a secondary compound - it's inert otherwise. Just in case, you know?"
 
Laval frowns. “… Sure.”
 
"We must act swiftly," Faruha warns them.
 
"I believe in being prepared. I think we can make the ground beneath their feet turn into fire... Vex and you can draw them off, Ari can run from them..."
 
Laval nods, breathes deep. "We can do this."
 
"The gods don't make the good work easy!" Gracious exclaims.
 
"But they make it possible."
 
"Yes."
 
The group spring into action. Ari will take the paint and stealthily lather it in the path of the enemy, trying to avoid notice. She will then disengage and regroup with Vex, who will make it seem as though they are coming from Sadaka. When the enemy comes, the ambush will be sprung. Having secured the attention of the Makuu forces, Ari and Vex will flee towards Sadaka. Elsewhere, Laval will coordinate with them with the power of her mind. Gracious’ role, meanwhile, is to dose Ari and Vex up with his magical wonder drug. What could go wrong?

[The GM]

Raised swiftly from her slumbers, the plan is explained to Ari and Vex. They nod confidently, one with youthful arrogance, the other with zealous hatred.
 
Wreathed in primitive camouflage and her reflexes working overdrive on Gracious’ powerful drug, Ari activates her father’s stummer. It is a long time since it has had use, and the sound of her bounding strides are swallowed entirely. She ghosts towards the marching soldiers. A lesser woman might be terrified of such odds, but Ari is long jaded to the cruelties that can be inflicted by the Grand Makuu. She dives to the ground, wriggling forwards into position, barely evading the enemy’s searching eyes. Her camouflage melding with the Swaadi wilds, she spreads the paint with her hands, making a note to wash them before handling the match of a lho. Rolling back, she regroups with Vex’s position fifty metres away on the crest of a hill. He grins at her when she arrives, and they wait for the hated Ecclesiastical forces to march into their trap.
 
Vex is quickest off the mark, his senses supernaturally boosted by the satrophine coursing through his veins. Ecstatically calling upon Tzeentch, he directs a bolt of change into the massed squads. It strikes a man and the effects are horrendous. His body seems to explode in a messy mutation of tentacles, eyes and goo, and what is left on the floor is a mewling, pitiful spawn. Grinning, Ari aims at the paint and pulls the trigger, laughing as it ignites and catches more than a few soldiers in white-hot flames.
 
A lesser enemy would turn and flee at such a horrifying assault. But these are the fanatical Swaad soldiers of the Grand Makuu, and they hold their ground. Someone barks an order to fire, and then the sky is a tapestry of lasfire death.
 
Vex is fixed by half a dozen whipcracks, his boosted physique shrugging off many as his armour is burned and scorched. But they are too many, and Vex moves too slowly to avoid the onslaught. He screams as his leg immolates in a terrifying display of power, the flames reaching upwards to consume him completely. He tumbles from his position down the hill.
 
To his side, Ari ducks and weaves, desperately trying to avoid her comrade’s fate. She is as fast as a shadow, but there are simply too many and she is struck by a number of bolts, scouring her flesh. The pain is dulled by the drug, but it is nonetheless agony and Ari screams. She is unused to such pain – the pain that is a promise of war, and Vex falling beside her only compounds her shock. But she reacts quickly. Spinning a boltpistol from its holster, she blows apart a soldier as she begins to sprint away, over the crest of the hill and out of sight. The soldiers give pursuit, but she keeps running, running like she has never ran before. By the time the soldiers reach the top of the hill, she is out of the effective range of their lasguns, sprinting towards the doomed village of Sadaka. The soldiers give pursuit, sparing Imani for now.
 
[Ari has suffered 13 Wounds and so is at 1 Wound. She also has 3 levels of Fatigue.]

[wren]

Ari will run as quickly as possible towards Sadaka, with the intent of losing the soliders. Once she reaches Sadaka, her intention is to lay low there for a little bit, recovering as much as possible before doubling back (and covering her tracks as best she is able), with the intention of making her way back to Imani in time - but it will really depend on what the soliders do next.

She doesn't actively try and close the psyker link with Laval.

[The GM]

She continues to run towards Sadaka, but must slow down a little if she is not to collapse from exhaustion. Nonetheless, she moves faster than her pursuers, and stays in their sight as they continue to give pursuit. The boost of satrophine starts to fade as she continues, and, in her fatigued state, she is powerless to resist its cravings.

[Ari is now Addicted to Satrophine.]

She has been jogging for almost two hours, having lost Laval from her mind, when she sees them. Coming from the doomed village of Sadaka is another two squads of Imperial Guard. It seems that they sent forces to all of the villages. Hissing, she throws herself down to the floor, wincing at the pain from her burns. She is completely in the open, but she spotted them first and she has a chance of getting around them. Crawling to the west, she endures a tense half an hour as she slowly but surely evades their searching. They haven't seen her, but they pick up on the tracks of her running, and know that she is nearby. Limping into the village of Sadaka, Ari desperately looks for a place to hide, taking care to tread lightly. She picks a small barn, placing herself in the rafters and hoping to wait out the enemy. The Imperial Guard come back after a while, and a few of them search the barn, but they do not find her. She hides there, trapped by the soldiers, for a few hours.

It is only when she feels secure that she realises something strange. The entirety of Sadaka was completely deserted. She didn't see a single soul, and yet there were no corpses littering the ground. Something feels intuitively wrong about the village, and Ari doesn't like it.

She peeks from the rafters to see what the soldiers are doing. Her heart sinks. They have torches, and they seem to be burning all the huts in Sadaka. A preacher - a young, spotty-looking man - has come, and seems to be doing some kind of ecstatic, religious ritual. It is only a matter of time before they make their way up to the barn. What does she do?

[wren]

She attempts to jump from a window - a non-obvious one, requiring skill to land, because they mayn't be expecting that. She'll try to make her way to a building that is already burning - assuming they won't be looking that way - and try to look around for a safe exit, and walk slowly away.

What's happening back at Imani?

[The GM]

There are few large buildings in Sadaka, but there is something that used to be a drinking den, and it is already ablaze. Ari chooses it as her target and gauges the distance from the rafters to the outside. It's about eight metres, but she's jumped from higher. She lands like a cat, safely and quietly, and makes her way towards the flames. Helpfully, the preacher is rather loud, and the business of setting the village alight makes for a convenient distraction. 

"GET OUT, YOU DAEMONS," he shrieks in a high-pitch, "GET OOOOOOOUT!" He screams incoherently, before thrusting forwards with his hands as if personally banishing some spirit. 

Ari slips into the burning drinking den and makes for the back exit. It is perilous in here - the liqueurs caught fast - and as she moves forward, the building begins to collapse entirely. She spins and dodges, somersaulting over falling rafters and sliding under fiery rubble. She makes it outside. Though she's inhaled a lot of smoke, she's alive, and free to get out of the village and back towards Imani. 

[Ari takes 1 level of Fatigue (but she has recovered from her previous Fatigue).]

Elsewhere, the village of Imani is restless and fearful. Laval, having muttered something about Vex being hurt, has left with Faruha to go to the ambush point, leaving Gracious waiting to see what will happen. After a while, they bring Vex back, horribly burned and missing a leg. However, he seems alive, which is a victory of sorts.

[wren]

Can Gracious prepare anything for Vex's pain/for the burns? (It occurs that possibly obscura is the appropriate thing, but maybe there's something better?)

How long does it take Ari to return to Imani?

[The GM]

Looking over the unconscious body of Vex, it occurs to Gracious that the patient is in good hands with Laval. However, when he wakes he will indeed be in pain, and obscura confers excellent pain relief. 

Ari finally returns to Imani by the evening, exhausted, quite badly injured, and ready for a drink. She slumps into the village, telling Gracious that Sadaka seems to have taken the blame - especially given everyone there has mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

[wren]

Gracious sits Ari down, gives her a stiff drink, and offers her a dose of obscura (ideally the non-Best stuff) to dull the pain while he fetches Laval.

I'd like you to make a WP check for Ari as to whether or not she takes the obscura - I'd like it to be outside my hands.

Meanwhile, Gracious will go to Laval and explain that Ari needs help too.

[The GM]

Ari, perhaps to Gracious' disappointment, doesn't even hesitate to take the obscura. It helps dull her pain, and leaves her in a dazed happiness, the edge completely off. 

[I think you have 1 dose of obscura remaining.]

[wren]

Excepting the Best-crafted doses?

[The GM]

[Correct. I've updated your profile to give you full details of what you have.]

[wren]

[Thank you.]

[The GM]

Laval refuses Gracious' offer of obscura, not without some anger. She is in a foul mood, but nonetheless applies some salve to Ari's wounds, helping to ease the young woman's pain.

[Ari has been healed for 7 Wounds, and is now Lightly Injured.]

[wren]

Gracious will leave a note for Laval, but won't interrupt her again as she cares for Vex.

"Laval,
I'm actually sorry about all this. Hope he mends in time, one way or another. You've got me and Ari for what you want to do now. Deal's a deal.

Did Ari tell you about Sadaka?

- G"

[The GM]

Yes, Laval tells Gracious, She did.

A moment later, another message. Thank you.


[This is great stuff and it's a pleasure to read. However, if you'd like to try something else this turn (and it really is optional if you're happy ballgowning!), check out the post on Glorifying Acts in the Mechanics forum.]

[wren]

Ari will go off and see what her erstwhile gang are up to, while still quite high on the obscura herself. They, of course, haven't received another dose of Obscura since the last one a couple days ago.

[wren]

Gracious, meanwhile, will go and see how the goats are getting on - he might bring a little of his own personal rations to feed them. For him, this is a moment of quiet communion - he can feel moments like this getting less and less as he falls into the embrace of the Dark Prince and the Endless Sound And Fury that is service to Slaanesh - which he welcomes... but these are little moments of mourning his dying humanity.

[The GM]

When Ari stalks back to her old friends, she finds them sullen and distant. It has become clear to them that Ari is the new 'chosen one', and, having learned to put themselves at the centre of the universe, they have become jealous and aloof. Yet they are not simply bitchy, but in a state of agitation and distress. Malnourished addicts shiver and twitch, murmuring dark prayers to things unknown. The more healthy cultists dance from foot to foot, filled with a nervous, violent energy that sends them into fit of desperate hysterics. Though they are high, they are not high on what they crave, and things are getting increasingly ugly.

Kibwa comes forward and squares up to Ari. He is noticeably unwell, sweat pouring from his face, and he has taken to cutting himself for brief rushes of hormones. There is a smell of excrement and fornication about him, a powerful concoction that the nose cannot ignore. He steps forward, gesturing to Ari with a long knife.

"She deigns us with her presence," he hisses, squaring up to her. He is ignored by all but two, lazily fornicating cultists, who give half-hearted grunts before getting back to their business. "What do you fucking want, eh?"

Elsewhere, Gracious makes his way to feed the goats. They bleat happily, and, recognising a friend, come to nibble at his rations and fingertips. They don't smell particularly nice, and their coats are matted with dirt, but Gracious is pleased by their attention. He quietly observes how much better they are looking - a couple are even pregnant: a promise of Imani's future. 

Unbidden, his eyes pass from the goats and to the silver baobab tree on the hill. Before, it was a decaying stump, and Gracious was not there to see it reborn. Its golden fruits beckon him, glinting dangerously in the sunset: a promise of Imani's doom.

[I'm heading to bed, but if you want to do an Interaction with Eleanor, feel free to go ahead without me. Just put it on Skype with me in the convo so I can type it up.]

[wren]

Ari responds with a snort.

"This is what it's come to, eh? Gods, you're all pathetic. I can't believe I used to think you were cool, Kibwa, that you were someone to follow."

Her voice comes out in a slightly slurred tone, the obscura still clouding her judgement.

"Listen. You want what Gracious has, right, you want his fucking drugs? I know the feeling, god - gods - I want it too. Difference is, I understand that I've got to earn it. I'm going to tell you how to earn it, how to impress him. You interested? Or will you just sit shitting and fucking in the mud?"

---

Meanwhile...

[The GM]

The listless cultists look up to listen to what Ari has to say, or, more accurately, what will happen as she squares off to their erstwhile leader. Kibwa spits on the ground, enraged by the offer.

"I don't need some takataka's advice," he hisses, "I was his first, little panya. He chose me. Have you forgotten?"

He suddenly lunges, trying to hold a knife to Ari's throat. With a gracious half-cartwheel, she spins out of the way, and he overreaches, tripping and stumbling to the ground. Enraged, he swings again, but even on obscura, Ari is much too fast. She darts about him, and together they play the dance of the Acrobat and the Fool. Ari's mind is tripping hugely, and colours run and meld together, sweat rising from Kibwa's forehead and forming giant snakes that lunge and snap at her with hisses and yelps. Figures burst from the walls and join the dance, ghostly, smiling things dressed like the paa beast, replete furs and face-paint that form strange symbols of the occult. The audience are transformed to baying goats, their hands becoming hooves and horns sprouting from their scalps.

When Kibwa falls, they stop dancing and press around her. He has fallen, but he's trying to save face, and his humiliation is not yet complete. Looking back at the audience, Ari sees rows of interested, dazed human faces, waiting to see what she will do.

[wren]

Ari points to one of the crowd - Hasnaa, a girl about as young as her. They were - are? - relatively close; and both have had to rebuff the unwanted advanced of Kibwe before now.

"Hasnaa. This one is useless, now. Come. Let me show you what to do."

Assuming Hasnaa steps forward, Ari will draw a knife.

"First, you'll cut off his balls. I'll hold him down. Let him bleed a little, until he's almost dead. It won't take long. Then, the knife, into his heart. If you do this, and it's good, I'll tell Gracious, and he'll be pleased."

She offers the knife to Hasnaa.

[The GM]

Kibwa's eyes widen as Hasnaa takes the knife with a tentative hand. "Hasnaa... babe..." he pleads. His pupils are dilated wildly by herbs and fear. He attempts to scramble to his feet, but his knees give way from the exhaustion, the intoxication and the panic. He hits the ground. A couple of the others laugh pitilessly, but Hasnaa is still considering. She looks at Ari with her small, darting eyes, a slight, drunken grin on the side of her face. Ari can see how desperately she wants to kill, how desperately she wants to give in.

"Please... Hasnaa..." Kibwa continues, his lower lip quivering as sweat gathers about his chin, snot around his nose. In response to a few shouts of encouragement from the crowd, Hasnaa steps away from Ari with the knife, looks down at Kibwa. She advances.

"Stop..." Kibwa begs, as she steps closer. Ari moves forward and trivially holds him down. "Stop... STOP, YOU FUCKING WHORE!"

A wide smile spreads on Hasnaa from ear to ear. "I was hoping you'd saying something like that," she purrs. She steps closer, and the agony begins. Humiliated, castrated and murdered, the corpse of Kibwa stains the ground, a mess of blood, sweat and filth. The enormity of what she has done suddenly strikes Hasnaa, and she gives out a strange sound halfway between a whimper and a giggle. She staggers backwards into the screaming, laughing crowds. Energised, they jump up and dance, their bare feet pounding the ground and sending plumes of dust into the air. They dance and kiss and fuck, and in the depravity and death, a new taboo is broken. The cult has tasted blood, and they, unlike Kibwa, made no deal with the people of Imani.

[wren]

[I don't understand the 'deal' thing?]

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