Trouble at the White Picket Fence House

[Red Right Hand] ST rules!

1. As you all already know, this will be a particularly high risk scene. So if you are uncomfortable with the idea of potential character death or have any problems with my approach, feel free to cut out. It won't hurt my feelings.

2. That said, feel free to ask me questions in both IM and chat.

3. Try to keep posts to 10 minutes or less and inits to 2 or less, please. So things move along quickly.

4. Well, have fun. And apology in advance if your character dies.

[Emily Littleton] [Emily: Awareness as they approach Chantry.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [again]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5 (Success x 1 at target 4)

[Alexander Turnquist] [extending]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3 (Success x 1 at target 5) [WP]

[Alexander Turnquist] [dumdeedooo]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 7 (Success x 1 at target 5)

[Alexander Turnquist] [done]

[Emily Littleton] [Corr 1: Absolute placement. Base dif 4; practiced -1. dif 3.]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 6, 10 (Success x 2 at target 3)
to Red Right Hand

[Red Right Hand] It's an oddly happy day in Chicago, all things considered. The sky is clear, no clouds in sight, and the sun shines down on the streets of the city where criminal gangs and drug dealers roam free in the less pleasant (slowly, all) neighborhoods of the city. To most everyone, it's just that. Another day of living.

Short of the unnerving knowledge of what happens in the city in the dark, of the people who currently run free, it's mostly the same for the Awakened of the city as well. No reason for it not to be. Until as the afternoon slowly wears on, and it happens. They've known it was coming for a while now, maybe even made preparations for it. Action plans, decided the escape routes and entry points. Everything with the expectation that it'll happen some day, and a hopefulness that it doesn't.

All of their best laid plans, Wards, Bans, arcane defenses, are to no avail though. It happens instantly, there's no slow and careful nature to it like an Unweaving, no subtly to it as though it's been gradually coming over weeks. Ashley can feel it, Israel can feel it, Solomon can feel it, everyone who's protected the Chantry before and in recent days feels it. Their Effects, the magic they've Weaved into the place are suddenly disappearing. They're being, with no better words for it, being annihilated.

A creeping sensation there to the magic that does it, a taint in the air if they scry and for those nearby. It's a horrible thing that goes against the very roots of Reality and the Consensus, that makes them gag momentarily at the overpowering and vile sensation. Qlippothic magic to those who recognize it. Not that it makes it any better, the knowing.

Meanwhile, those who keep a vigil on the place in the aftermath will see it. Two vans are speeding down the street where that particular house is. They aren't taking it slow, aren't slowly edging in, they're on a mission and know there's no time to waste.

One of them skids to a halt in front of the house, the side door slid open nearly instantly as a trio of men break into a run up the porch and trying to undo any locks on the door. Attempting to make their way in. The driver too gets out but doesn't rush, simply takes a few steps and gets on the porch.

The other, it stops a house down from it. Out of it coming four more men, long black coats each and arms out of sight, hidden under the coats. Around their neck hang badges, Chicago PD. This time too, they don't rush inside. Don't seem to bother. Instead, they take positions around the street, a silently watch over the area.

[Emily Littleton] It's a moderately less awful-hot day, and campus is teeming with renewed student life. Emily has weathered her orientation and come up fatigued and frustrated with co-eds (it's possible she's just not over the club mishap from earlier in the week), so she calls Alex and invites him along with her to the House. He's considering joining the cabal, after all, which means she can rope him into things like checking the message board and protecting her from Basil's temper.

They're a couple blocks away when the van goes skidding around the corner, makes a bee line for the white picket fence house. Emily's shoulder tense and her eyes narrow. This is not the first time trouble has found her here, or brought her here. She had just begun thinking of it as something other than the house of bloodshed, gore, and ill portents.

When they get to the corner, Emily stops. She waits there, looking up at the street sign as if they were lost, and reaching out with her Awareness. There's a slick, sickening feeling. She can place it immediately.

"Nephandi."

They'd been talking about Bar-be-que and how awesome Riley is (of course Riley is awesome), and she goes and drops that bombshell. Emily takes a couple steps back, putting the shrubbery on the corner between her and the line of sight of the CPD on the lawn.

"I hope you're carrying."

Her resonance flares, calls up the unrelenting grace (reverence) as she pushes to define herself clearly in space, to pin point the things and people around her with alarming certainty. She hasn't worked much magic around the other Apprentice, but her resonance is stronger than his.

At the same time she pulls out her phone, punches out a quick message to the Administrative (I hate that title) Dean.

Trouble at the House. Alex and I are near. Need help, now.

[Alexander Turnquist] Alex pauses when Emily says that word. He knows that word, he's looked that word in the eyes and blown its brains out all over a basement wall. He knows how close he came to dying that night and knows that more than a bit of 'chance' was involved. And it wasn't the controlled entropic kind either.

He ducks low and pulls emily back away from that shrubbery to hide them both behind the wooden fence of a nearby house. She asks if he's packing but he's already drawing weapons. He looks her over, she doesn't look like the kind to have a shotgun in her girl-purse. Unfortunate. Still, theres the .45 and the .44 magnum. He doesn't need both.

"You ever fire a weapon before?" He asks Emily while he pulls the .45 from its holster at his waist. He pops the clip out, checks it before reloading it and cocking the weapon. He hands it to her along with a spare clip. He carries two types of ammo these days, though he has to carry less of each. Before he would carry four .45 clips along his lower back, now he has strange cylinders etched into the straps of his chest holster, hidden beneath his jacket. Quick reloaders for his recently acquired revolver.

The magnum is then removed, its obscenely large. He checks the chambers and then peaks around the edge of the fence.

"Who'd you text? Can you text Riley please, tell her not to come near the chantry."

[Dancing Dragon] It was a rare afternoon off from practice and work, and Daiyu had called to invite Ashley to lunch with her. They'd eaten at a little sandwich shop on the Mile before hopping onto Daiyu's bike and driving to the chantry. Now that she was allowed access to the library there, the Akashic was curious to see what it had to offer.

They were a couple of blocks away when Ashley felt it. The bans she'd placed on the chantry came crashing down like a pane of broken glass. Daiyu swung off to the side of the road as the pair of them prepared for for what could only be an imminent conflict. Ashley worked her effects, and the Akashic did likewise. It was a frustrating delay, but necessary.

Their approach to the chantry-house would be careful, aided by the overhead vision of Daiyu's falcon. They skirted the view of the men parked outside the house, hiding behind the wall of a nearby building. Before making her attack, however, there was one last effect to cast (and this one would not be terribly subtle.) Daiyu focused her attention, amplifying the strength of her own movement, until it seemed as if she practically shimmered with every slight twitch. Looking at Ashley, then, she whispered, "I'm going."

And then she did, running first for the policemen waiting outside.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley's in a pretty good mood, all told. Her good moods, in the past, have often been a portent: it means something horrible is about to happen.

She notices it immediately when something begins to chew away at her bans, erode them. That feeling of wrongness that accompanies, that turns her stomach and brings the taste of metal to the surface of her tongue, isn't something that it takes her very long to place. Daiyu can feel the Hermetic's muscles tense against her back.

Her throat works, and after she's found her voice, she leans over and roars into Daiyu's ear over the engine. "Nephandi are at the chantry! Bringing my wards down."

The motorcycle can't move fast enough. Ashley's being whipped into a fury the longer it takes, the longer she has to imagine tainted beings there in the chantry leaving their black fingerprints all over everything, her house, her node. Hers. Emily's text gets an acknowledgment, an on my way. Somehow she's able to focus enough to find her necklace and Will up barriers, Will her body to blur in the minds of enemies, Willing protection.

Angry as she is, the Akashic still gets a squeeze as they round the corner, which, given Ashley's position behind her on the motorcycle, is easy to accomplish. "Be careful."

Then they're at the house, and she's leaping off, sprinting after Daiyu toward the policemen.

[Dancing Dragon] [Dex+Stealth]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] You ever fire a weapon before?

Emily gives him a very flat look and holds a hand out to receive the firearm. It's a fair question, and a year ago would have gotten a very different look and answer. Today, it's a flat look, a patient and suffering look.

"Yes." There's a beat, and her mouth purses a bit. "Don't ask the follow up," she tells him. It's not a request. There's a hardness to her expression that suggests he doesn't want to know if Riley's friend and cabalmate has killed. (Which probably means she has.)

"Ashley." Emily looks down at her phone. "She's on her way."

With regards to calling Riley, she says: "I'm not going to tell her not to come. That will draw her in. Tell her you and I are catching a movie near campus. Then you'll know where she is, and she'll be pissed that she can't find us. But she won't be here."

Riley didn't know enough correspondence to locate them. Not just yet. Emily would take the heat for the lie later.

Meanwhile, the cavalry's approaching from another vector.

[Red Right Hand] [Cop +1: Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 6, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [stealth]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 5, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] As she sprints forward, there's a Word that comes from her mouth.

It doesn't sound like the sort of sound a human throat should be able to make. It is: Chaos, it is Terror, it is Awe, it is Bow, it is all of these and it is spoken in the tongue of angels.

It is almost deafening.

The sound rushes toward the enemies in front of them like a pair of widening jaws to close around their Wills and crush them, and, at the very least, it should shake them deeply. At worst it may cause them to scatter.

[Forces 2 to amplify, Mind 3. -1 for focus: Enochian, -2 for applicable resonance Entropic: Hungry.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 5 (Success x 1 at target 3) [WP]

[Dancing Dragon] [+7]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Emily Littleton] [+6]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Ashley McGowen] [+5]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3

[Alexander Turnquist] [+6]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Red Right Hand] Neph +1: +5
Neph +2: +5
Cop +1 - 3: +4
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 5, 7, 10, 10

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2: 14
Cop +3: 14
Daiyu: 12
Neph +2: 10
Alex: 11
Cop +1: 11
Neph +1: 9
Ashley: 8
Emily: 7

[Red Right Hand] Fixed list:
Cop +2: 14
Cop +3: 14
Daiyu: 12
Alex: 11
Cop +1: 11
Neph +2: 10
Neph +1: 9
Ashley: 8
Emily: 7

[Emily Littleton] [Declare: Hang back this round. Take stock of positions!]

[Ashley McGowen] [Chaining the Nephandi together with Corr 3 so what magic hits one hits the other. Will require 4 successes total.]

[Red Right Hand] Neph +1: [Destroying the light around the street; will require 3 suxx]
Neph +2: [Aiding +1's rote]
Cop +1: Shooting Alex with a handgun

[Alexander Turnquist] [1a
1b
1c - all bangs on cop +1]

[Dancing Dragon] [Per+Aware]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Declare:

1: Kick Cop 2
2: Punch Cop 3
3: Punch Cop 2
4: Kick Cop 3 (pulling damage at Incap if it gets that far - for all attacks)]

[Dancing Dragon] [Redeclare!

1: Kick Cop 2
2: Punch Cop 2
3: Close distance to Cop 3
4: Kick Cop 3]

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2: Shooting Ashley with handgun
Cop +3: Shooting Daiyu with shotgun

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2: Firing away!
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] [...Damage?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 7, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Forces soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Cop +1: This is what you get for charging!
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] [Oh wow, near miss]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 4, 4, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] (That was +3)*

[Dancing Dragon] [Dex+Do - kicking cop 2 (-1 diff cause Do does that)]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Punching Cop 2 - Dex+Do]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 8 (Success x 1 at target 5)

[Dancing Dragon] [Str]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Action 3, closing distance to Cop 3 - Dex+Do to Kick]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+1+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1a -3 (split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Alexander Turnquist] [dmg +3]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1b -4 split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 1, 7, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1c -5 split WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 5, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Alexander Turnquist] [dmg +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] [Destroying light, Q. Forces 2, hellishly vulgar; diff 8 (-1 focus, -1 rote); 3 suxx necessary]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] (That was Neph 2)

This is +1: [Same effect]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Corr 3, Chain. -1 for focus, -1 for practiced rote. Spending WP.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 4) [WP]

[Emily Littleton] [Redeclare: Shoot Nephandi 1. Black out (dif 8) canceled by active Corr rote (back to dif 6). +1 for changing action (dif7). +WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Emily Littleton] [Damage: base 5 + 2suxx (pretend I clicked the WP box on that roll, like I'd meant to!)]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] [Emily: Shoot Neph 1 again. Hopefully do damage this time. +WP because botches hit friendlies.]

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2 (2L): 14
Cop +3 (3L): 14
Daiyu (6L): 12
Alex: 11
Cop +1: Incap
Neph +2: 10
Neph +1: 9
Ashley: 8
Emily: 7

[Ashley McGowen] [Nomming Nephandis' brains. Mind 2 to do psychic damage, adding Prime to do Lethal. Will share damage due to chain.]

[Red Right Hand] Inner Nephandi ('cause I forgot): Scurrying to Node [6 suxx needed, total]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 4, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Declare:

1: Kick Cop 3
2: Punch Cop 3
3: Close distance to Cop 2
4: Kick Cop 2
(Once again, will pull damage at incap)]

[Red Right Hand] Neph +1: [Destroying the heat around Emily, suxx needed: 1 for effect, 1 for target, extra for damage]
Neph +2: Helping again

[Alexander Turnquist] [1a Light of Darkness (forces 1)]

[Red Right Hand] Cop +3: Shoot Daiyu again
Cop +2: Shoot Ashley again

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2: Oof, my eyes!
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 8)

[Red Right Hand] [...Holy hell]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Forces soak]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 2, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Cop +3: Please don't hit?
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 (Failure at target 8)

[Dancing Dragon] [Dex+Do - Kicking Cop 3 - +2diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7 (Failure at target 8)

[Dancing Dragon] [Punching Cop 3 - Dex+Do +2diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7) Re-rolls: 1

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+3]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 4, 4, 4, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Closing to Cop 2 - Dex+Do +2diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 8) Re-rolls: 1

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+1+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 3, 6, 6, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Neph +2: [Q. Forces 2, super vulgar, diff 8 (-1 rote, -1 focus); suxx needed: 1 for effect, 1 for target (Emily), extra for damage)]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 4 (Failure at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Neph +1: Same
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 3 (Botch x 1 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] ['dox!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 4, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] [Soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Changing action to nom cop 3's brain instead. Mind 2, bashing. Diff 5, +1 for changing action, -1 for practiced rote, -1 for focus. Adding WP, I'm pissed.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 4, 6, 9 (Success x 3 at target 4) [WP]

[Emily Littleton] [Shoot Nephi 1: dif 8 for darkness, canceled by active rote (back to dif 6) +WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 7 (Failure at target 6) [WP]

[Red Right Hand] Scurrying! 2 of 6 down
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 6, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2 (2L): 14
Cop +3: Incap
Daiyu (6L): 12
Alex: 11
Cop +1: Incap
Neph +2: 10
Neph +1 (1B): 9
Ashley (3L): 8
Emily: 7

[Emily Littleton] [Declare: ... shoot neph 1. And maybe connect. Third time's a charm! +WP. (Blame the failures on the darkness)]

[Red Right Hand] Guys down stairs: [initial preparations on the Node, Q. Prime 2 and other nastiness, vulgar, diff 6 (-1 focus)]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 4, 8 (Success x 2 at target 5) [WP]

[Red Right Hand] Second guy downstairs
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 9 (Failure at target 5)

[Red Right Hand] Third guy
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 10 (Success x 2 at target 5) [WP]

[Red Right Hand] (Cop +2: 3L*)

[Red Right Hand] [Catherine: FUCK YOU! Quint lash]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] [Reroll, 'cause wtf]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Late declare: mind nomming the two nephandi.]

[Red Right Hand] Neph 1 and 2, same thing last turn, switching to biggest danger (Ashley)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1a
1b
1c - all bangs on neph 1 changing to neph 2 if neph 1 goes down]

[Dancing Dragon] [Declare:

1: Punch Cop 2
2: Punch Cop 2
3: Punch Cop 2
4: Please tell me he's incap by now - close distance to chantry]

[Red Right Hand] Cop +2: SHE'S PUNCHING ME! Shoot Daiyu

[Red Right Hand] Cop: Bam, bam -1 penalties, point-blank rules
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 2, 9 (Failure at target 4)

[Dancing Dragon] [Dex+Do +2diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 5, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7) Re-rolls: 1

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+3]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1a -3 (split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 5, 6, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Alexander Turnquist] [dmg +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1b -4]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Alexander Turnquist] [dmg+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 7, 10 (Failure at target 6)

[Alexander Turnquist] [1c -5 HAIL KAHSEENO](WP)
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 4, 5 (Success x 1 at target 6) [WP]

[Alexander Turnquist] [dmg]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [Changing 2nd action to closing distance with neph 1

Changing 3rd action to punching neph 1 +1 diff +2diff from effect]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 8) Re-rolls: 1

[Dancing Dragon] [Str+1]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 5, 5, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Red Right Hand] Neph 2: [Destroy heat around Daiyu, Q. Forces 2, diff 8 (-1 rote, -1 focus); suxx needed 2 for effect/targeting, extra for dam]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Dancing Dragon] [Changing 4th action to punching neph 1 again +3diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Red Right Hand] Neph 1: Keeping on
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Dancing Dragon] [Ack, that was diff 8 - 1 success]

[Dancing Dragon] [Str]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 3, 5, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Dancing Dragon] [...seriously, my brain must have melted. That was a punch, not a kick. re-rolling correct dice]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 1, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Mind 2, chained effect, bashing. Diff 5, -1 for focus, -1 for practiced rote. Adding WP.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7 (Success x 4 at target 3) [WP]

[Ashley McGowen] Seconds. That's all it is.

Sprays of blood and flaring resonance and encompassing hunger, punches, the sounds of gunshots. Usually, Ashley revels in this, in a way: that primal part of her takes over. She does now, even with Emily in danger, even with the way the shotgun pellets shred Daiyu to pieces almost before things have begun at all.

Seconds.

And in seconds the Akashic hits the ground, and the Nephandi who stole the heat from the air around her, sucked it out of her body, are lying prone too. Ashley stops, and she looks, and she hopes. She intends to go into the chantry to make sure that Catherine is all right. She swore a vow. But first, first.

When she starts over toward Daiyu, she already knows. And when she drops to her knees next to Daiyu, she already knows.

[Dancing Dragon] Any Vajrapani knows this - there is always death, waiting. It isn't a distant fear, but an ever-present reality. Li Daiyu had seen nearly every one of her friends and loved-ones fall in battle. One of them she had killed herself (and she had never forgiven herself for that.) Because of this, every day was a blessing. Every moment of peace treasured. And when the end of this life inevitably came for her, she was not surprised. And she was not afraid.

The shotgun blast had nearly killed her in an instant. It left a great gaping hole in her chest, and blood dripped and pooled, splattering those near her as she fought. And fight she did - despite her injuries. She never lost focus, and never hesitated. (She never had. She never would.) That the rest of her companions would live was all that she ever asked for.

But there was only so much harm that one body could withstand, and eventually, an effect cast from one of the nephandi robbed her of the last bit of strength she had remaining. No longer a blur of movement, she suddenly stopped... and fell. Cold. The world was distant. Blood seeped from her chest. Her eyes fluttered. The world was black. A breath - ragged.

And then, Ashley. She couldn't see her, but she could feel. And she reached up and touched the Adept's cheek, very softly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. And then, even more quietly... "Ni you wo de xin. I will remember you, always."

And then the last breath disappeared from her lungs, and her hand fell.

But it was not the end. Only another beginning.

[Ashley McGowen] They just had lunch together, and they were supposed to go and look at the library. Ashley'd thought about telling her about Catherine, suggesting that she go down to speak with the node. That's the way this afternoon was supposed to go.

She has an answer that she wants to give, but there isn't time. Daiyu's hand falls. Ashley bows her head.

She doesn't collapse in sobs there on the ground. She doesn't fall over the body. She doesn't walk off and sit on the curb and stare emptily at the sky. Maybe she wants to do all of those things.

Ashley is an Adept of the Order of Hermes, and conflict hones a Will to perfection. She stands up. And, clear-eyed (for now) she steps around the body and walks up to the doors of the chantry. She swore she'd protect the node.

[Emily Littleton] There are moments that Emily will replay, over and over again, for a lifetime. Moments like this. Moments like the flicker of balefire as it closed on her skin. Moments like the scream of a boy child who was pressed beneath the heavy body of his assailant (his mother). These are the things that shape and press and force her Awakened life into the role she will play, later, when she is done being just an understudy on this stage.

This is the first Traditionalist she has seen fall in battle. For a moment, Emily doesn't believe she's gone. She waits for Daiyu to pick herself back up, put her insides back together like Ashton did. Gasp for air once more after the slip-slide of honey smooths over her lips. But there is no flicker-rebirth of life, and there is no charm to save her, and there is nothing the Apprentice can do. Nothing but lower the (useless) firearm she carries to her side -- still ready (ever ready) -- and approach with wariness and respect.

She glances to Alex as she moves, but keeps her attention on Ashley. If she were smarter about all of this, perhaps Emily would think to watch the door. Or look down the street for another van, another wave to the assault. Just now she is numb, and the numbness stills her tongue and deadens her thoughts. It is stock-silent in her head, behind the thin thrum of tightly-controlled panic, and the slackness in Daiyu's frame and features is at once horrifying and abstractly fascinating.

Ashley steps toward the Chantry, but Emily stays with Daiyu. She will not leave her alone; and she will not load this body into someone's jeep like a thing. Like a vessel broken and profane once more.

She looks to see if Alex is following the Dean in.

[Alexander Turnquist] The gun in Alex's hand doesn't go limp, it doesn't fall weakly to the ground in shock. His strength and focus doesn't abandon him with the fall of Daiyu, or Li as she allowed him to call her. He's quick to reload, flicking shells out onto the ground from his revolver and sliding new ones in. He'll worry about collecting them up afterwards. He keeps the gun trained on the head of the nearest Nephandus while he makes his way closer to Daiyu and Ashley.

He steps over the writing and bloodied forms of cops, strewn around like play things. Finally he's there, just in time to watch the life go out of the Akashic. They had their differences the two of them, but it is perhaps he who understands most here. He doesn't weep for her, the wheel has turned as it does for everyone, this life was no more important than any life before it and the multitude of lives that will come after it.

Alex waits a moment with Daiyu when Ashley steps away. He looks down upon her lifeless corpse. Perhaps they would have argued about him calling her this, perhaps she would have disagreed that they are brothers in philosophy and religion. But their beliefs entwine so much and when it comes to this, when it comes to death. They are one and the same. He says as much to her, though he knows she is gone already.

"Go with peace Chela" And he follows after Emily and Ashley.

[Red Right Hand] The house is quiet as Ashley steps inside. It's dark and empty. The lights aren't on, and besides herself, there is no one present inside it. Not, at least, on the ground floor. It gives that strange sense of a normal home. Just a lifeless home in the suburbs. The kind of thing that makes you double-guess and wonder what are you really protecting, especially on a day like this when the risks become ever so clear.

But at the same time, she feels it. That energy, the vibrant sensation. Devotion. The kind of sensation that strikes true in dark days like this. It doesn't feel dim, doesn't feel weak, doesn't feel tainted. In fact, the very opposite. It's stronger than most of them have probably ever felt it. It soaks through the house today as though a sign of something.

If and when she slowly ventures down to the Node, the sensation becomes almost overpowering. The aftertaste and Resonance of Quintessence mark everything in the surrounding. As though extreme amounts had been unleashed. And the Nephandi lay, not victories and not in the process of a ritual. But dead. Barely recognizable human corpses, ashes almost.

Almost unrecognizable, and covered again in that sensation of Devotion. As though they'd been lashed out at, blasted with the pure Essence of it. Catherine had stood her ground.