Special Pre-Psyker Introduction Session

Session Start: Thu Jul 12 18:34:38 2012
Session Ident: #eternalwar
 03[18:34] * Now talking in #eternalwar
 03[19:16] * CelestialDoggie (CelestialD@A910E429.CFF3C546.96B4FF0C.IP) has joined #eternalwar
 03[19:16] * Mir (chatzilla@sux-1E936B52.dhcp.embarqhsd.net) has joined #eternalwar
 03[19:24] * Mir is now known as Nyx
 03[19:24] * CelestialDoggie is now known as Plex
 01[19:36] <Staffen> Two months ago Inquisitor Kith ordered the two of you to commence an investigation into a most peculiar affair: three cardinals were found mutilated in their assorted dioceses across the Sector. Two cult affiliations, four proxy-organizations, two attempts on your lives and dozens of interrogations later, your search lead the two of you two Malfi.
 01[19:41] <Staffen> Malfi - Scintilla's dark twin, and a hotbed for darker activities. Your mission here is to arrest the Baron Fandon Valgoth to close up this case. He is a courtier of Her Eminence the Matriarch, and therefore predictably very well-protected.
 01[19:41] <Staffen> Kith was pleased to hear of your successful tracking, and arranged for docking and shuttle to a specific port in the Administratum-world's capital spire.
 01[19:44] <Staffen> When you arrive and the lander's passenger door slides open, two figures are present to meet you: one is a hulking brick of muscle with an enormous axe strapped to his back, while the other is a slim man in the carapace of an Arbitrator. Kith mentioned in her astropathic relay she had positioned agents to assist you, and both these men appear to have been expecting you.
 01[19:47] <Staffen> "Hail, friends!" the large man calls over the lander's slowing thrusters. His rolling accent is so thick it is noticeable over just a couple syllables.
 06[19:47] * Nyx makes up for a short stature, and spins into talking distance with a flourish and bow
[19:48] <Nyx> "Hail, hail, we're on Malfi.  Is it raining outside then?"
 01[19:54] <Staffen> "It is," the Arbiter says. "The port is polite enough to hand out overwear to guard against the acid-rain. Other than that, the people leave something... something wanting for courtesies."
 06[19:59] * Nyx looks about
[19:59] <Nyx> "What can we expect of Malfians?  Nearly no better than mud-turtles, by their reputation."
 06[20:00] * Nyx looks back
[20:00] <Nyx> "Plex, are you ready?"
[20:00] <Plex> "Never more so." She had exited behind Nyx, allowing her to take the fore for the moment.
 01[20:01] <Staffen> The Arbiter takes his helmet off its mag-lock and holds it under his arm. "Introductions are in order, but let's get some place private first. The walls have eyes and the ceiling has ears."
[20:02] <Plex> "A splendid idea."
 06[20:04] * Nyx kicks the floor tile impatiently
 01[20:04] <Staffen> "Sedan out front," the axe-man says, and looks to Nyx. "There is Munsk-Mead in the back, if you're interested, lad."
[20:05] <Nyx> "I'm certain that would be preferable.  Take us away, if you will."
 06[20:05] * Nyx mock holds out wrists to the Arbiter as if for manacles and goose-steps to the sedan
 06[20:06] * Plex shakes her head. "Ignore him," she says. "Flair for the dramatic, and all that."
 01[20:06] <Staffen> "Be polite," the Arbiter says to his partner as he puts his helmet on. He throws a cape over his clothes and tosses cloaks to the two of you. "There's a woman here as well."
[20:07] <Nyx> "Mud-turtle, or someone of worth or someone to court, that our love shall be sung of?"
 01[20:24] <Staffen> The men lead you outside, where sure enough a wheeled vehicle is waiting. The Arbitrator politely opens a side-door for the two of you as though he were a servant.
 06[20:24] * Nyx pats him on the head as if in thanks before entering, and eases inside
 06[20:32] * Plex inclines her head before following Nyx inside.
 01[20:37] <Staffen> The Arbitrator closes the side-door and enters the through the driver's door. The axe-man is in the back with the two of you.
 01[20:37] <Staffen> He opens up an icebox built into the lining of the door, and pulls out a brown glass bottle. "Mead, anyone?"
 06[20:38] * Nyx takes off the tall top hat, and begins to absentmindedly fiddle with an embroidered crest on its top
[20:38] <Nyx> "Well then shall we introduce the cast of this act?"
 06[20:38] * Plex raises a hand. "Please."
 01[20:38] <Staffen> "Jarvis," the Arbiter says half-absentmindedly as he starts the car up.
 01[20:40] <Staffen> "I am Korvar of Clan Var," the axe-man declares, passing a bottle to Plex. "My services are as an assassin in honor of Him in the Sky."
 06[20:40] * Nyx makes the sign of the Aquilia, obscuring the gasmask's faceplate for a moment
[20:41] <Nyx> "'Joy and glory be to the King of Souls.'"
 01[20:43] <Staffen> "So..." Jarvis makes a turn. "I've already removed the bugs in this rental-car. All nine of them. Word is Baron Valgoth is in his estate at the moment. I think he might be worried someone's on him, or the Matriarch has started to shun him. I don't know."
 06[20:44] * Plex raises an eyebrow. "Is the estate public, or sequestered away?"
 01[20:45] <Staffen> "On Malfi," Jarvis says, "all estates are sequestered away. Anyone you meet on the street could easily be an hitman, or a Bloodsworn. We're no different. I've heard incidents where they'll dress in Arbites uniforms to get entry to places."
 01[20:46] <Staffen> "To wear the mark of His Justice without concern," Korvar grumbles. "Dark things. Dark people. They should be cleansed for these insults."
[20:49] <Plex> "Perhaps that will be the next task," Plex muses.
 01[20:50] <Staffen> "Too much to do here," Jarvis dryly comments. "Before you were finished you'd have killed everyone on this planet. Nobles, priests, functionaries of the Administratum - nobody's clean here, and we only have so many bullets."
[20:50] <Nyx> "Just a moment."
 06[20:50] * Nyx straightens out, seemingly serious for an instant
 01[20:51] <Staffen> Jarvis stops the car at a signal-light. "Hm?"
[20:51] <Nyx> "If the bugs are gone, I hope there are sufficient decoys placed.  It does no good for an eavesdropping character to pretend that 'silence' is adequate when spying."
[20:51] <Nyx> "In plainer terms, it is suspicious.  Is there a false trail for him to listen to in the mean time?"
 01[20:53] <Staffen> "No," Jarvis says, "but the owner is smart enough to know that he should be grateful an Arbitrator asking for transport didn't knock his fucking teeth out for giving him a bugged vehicle. He's not intelligent enough to look at badge-codes, though. My number says I'm supposed to be on Quaddis."
 06[20:55] * Nyx tosses him a coin over the seat and slumps back in seeming-relaxation
[20:55] <Nyx> "I'm a damned witch. Consider that a lucky gift."
[20:55] <Plex> "A legitimate ruse, I'm sure," Plex says to Jarvis.
 01[20:58] <Staffen> The Arbiter catches the coin. "Nah, Quaddis is my home. Been living out of Xicarph Precinct-12 since I was a teenager. We'll be upon the boarding that Kith set up in a minute. A decent place. That's hard to find on a planet where every noble's got their heads too far up their ass to notice there are offworlders."
 06[21:02] * Nyx stays silent for once
 06[21:02] * Plex shrugs. "There are some. Few and far between, maybe, but they exist."
 01[21:04] <Staffen> The car pulls up to a tall building built into the inner wall of the spire. It is a whitewashed, squared structure that is desperately trying to stand out amongst the other buildings within the city.
 01[21:07] <Staffen> The arbitrator parks the car beneath an overhang, and opens the passenger door for you, dangling a ring with a key on it in one hand. "Suite-key, if anyone wants it. Business-suite, since this is Arbites work and all."
 06[21:08] * Nyx recovers and gives a petulant and overdone sigh
 06[21:08] * Plex takes the key ring. "For which suite?"
[21:08] <Nyx> "Such will have to do.  All for the Holy Throne, His servants do give their pains."
 01[21:10] <Staffen> "It's on the key's base. I'll bring the car around and-" he pauses upon looking down at the coin in his hand. "Meet you... there..."
 01[21:11] <Staffen> He laps his lips, and then gets back in. Korvar has exited and is standing ready. "Do you need me to carry your things, you two? Or can you handle that?"
 06[21:12] * Nyx checks something small on a the right augmetic arm's wrist, pulling a small thread
[21:13] <Nyx> "I'm quite good.  I'm quite ready, even.  Spare yourself the effort, the nobles shall do their solumn duty to our Crown."
[21:13] <Plex> "The offer is appreciated, but unnecessary. We've managed so far, after all."
 06[21:13] * Nyx opens the trunk
 01[21:17] <Staffen> Fifteen minutes later, you are set up in the suite amidst hololithic display-tables, largely empty gun-racks and stacks of reference manuals. "Business" is apparently a local euphamism.
 01[21:18] <Staffen> Korvar is reclining on a sofa when Jarvis quietly enters.
[21:20] <Plex> "Welcome to our mighty castle." There might have been a trace of sarcasm.
 01[21:20] <Staffen> "And a wonderful castle it is, Mamzel." The Arbtrator puts up his raincloak. "So, Kor and I have already done a little bit of looking around because Kith mentioned you two would need the wetwork done beforehand. There's an opening tomorrow for us to break into the Valgoth spire during one of their weekly supply restocks."
[21:21] <Nyx> "Break in?  How crude.  We two are nobility.  We enter fashionably."
 06[21:22] * Nyx pulls out a silvery string from his right wrist, playing Grox's Pen with it
[21:22] <Nyx> "Any other particulars in stage action?"
 01[21:23] <Staffen> "I'm a noble too." Jarvis shrugs. "But that only makes them more hostile on Malfi. You don't go into another family's spire as a guest and come out. So we're going in hot. I read one of you was a Templar?"
 06[21:24] * Nyx gurgles something, slumping down on the sofa, as if suddenly annoyed and raises a hand
[21:24] <Nyx> "I have seen the polar Temple on Scintilla, and the only good thing was the polar ice-cod."
 01[21:26] <Staffen> "Charming. But I imagine this'd be where you shine, milord. Which means milady and I," he nods to Plex, "will need to be doing the interrogation afterwards. Kith messaged that she wanted confirmation on whether Valgoth is working for a higher power or not."
[21:26] <Nyx> "Well, I have been asking for naught else for an hour within my head, and here we come to it, as Lord General Vaythis at Haxburg once did."
[21:27] <Nyx> "It is high time then.  I am tolerably well acquainted with my sword.  What else then?"
 01[21:30] <Staffen> "Valgoth has greased a few palms to have his main guard be a tight group from the Blood Guild," Jarvis explains. "Everyone else in his house is going to be running around with swords and whatever other garbage due to gun-restriction laws for noble spires here, but the Bloodsworn would be the most concern."
[21:33] <Nyx> "Oh Throne. Bloodsworn on Malfi.  ...Well, I do occasionally fancy a challenge."
 01[21:40] <Staffen> "I fought one." Korvar shrugs. "Not so tough. Maybe a dozen at once, but not one or two."
[21:41] <Plex> "With the Emperor's blessing, we may not need to deal with a dozen at once..."
 01[21:41] <Staffen> Jarvis is quiet for a moment, before he steps down into the middle of the anteroom. "Grab some sleep, or some dinner. We've got a couple meal-packs in the kitchen."
[21:42] <Nyx> "Carnal joy."
 06[21:42] * Nyx gets up and meanders, deflated, to the kitchen
 06[21:45] * Plex follows. "You complain, but I distinctly recall you saying..." The rest of it is lost as her voice drops to a whisper.
[21:46] <Nyx> "Oooh, an Astartes Bar!"
 01[21:52] <Staffen> Dinner goes by quietly, and then the lot of you are off to bed. The suite has more bedrooms than you altogether have arms, and was clearly intended for large numbers of occupants.

(MEANWHILE, IN A QUICK MID-SESSION WITH NYX…)

 01[21:57] <Staffen> There is a knock at your door a few hours into the night.
 06[21:58] * Nyx mumbles, breaking the peaceful reverie that beats back the mental demons, and goes to answer it
 06[21:58] * Nyx walks up to the door and stares out the peephole
 01[21:59] <Staffen> Jarvis is at the door, looking nervous.
 06[22:00] * Nyx opens the door, standing behind it silently  upon opening
[22:00] <Nyx> (I was about to use Chameleon, but that's both not, 1, AGENT enough, and 2, my character will actually use as few psychic powers as possible.)
 01[22:00] <Staffen> The Arbiter holds out your Heretic's Wake deckbox.
 01[22:01] <Staffen> "You know how to play?" he asks, and quickly holds out a second box in his other hand.
[22:01] <Nyx> "...Going through my personal effects is hardly noble, Master Jarvis.  And...yes, I suppose I shall tell you, a Throne Agent of His Holy and Flawless Majesty, the truth of the matter.  I do indeed know how to play."
 06[22:02] * Nyx picks up the box nonchalantly
[22:02] <Nyx> "Cannot sleep, or have some questions to ask the deck?  Most of we, damned warp-eyed mutants, may say sooths, as it were.  Or do you prefer a good game instead, for your pleasure, my lord?"
 01[22:03] <Staffen> He nods. "A habit from my Precinct days. I just wanted to play and talk. I guess you and I've got a lot of talking to do."
 06[22:04] * Nyx drops the bottom of the box and tips the deck over and out
[22:04] <Nyx> "Then, shall we 'ride the wake'?"
[22:04] <Nyx> (Is it time to d-d-d-duel?  On motorcycles?)
 01[22:05] <Staffen> He nods, and sits down across from you. He unstraps his silver case and gently puts out the cards. "The message didn't say anything about you being from Quaddis."
[22:06] <Nyx> "I...have distanced myself from...home.  I do miss it, but...  Things...happen.  Oh cracks in the Throne, I do believe I must mulligan."
 06[22:06] * Nyx shuffles absentmindedly
 06[22:06] * Nyx points once towards her forehead
 01[22:06] <Staffen> (You're wearing your mask and everything still, yeah?)
[22:07] <Nyx> "I was born during the last Festival.  It...well, as the damn thing did, it gave my Warp-eye."
[22:07] <Nyx> (Yes.)
[22:07] <Nyx> (Probably the coat's off, at least.)
 01[22:07] <Staffen> (Probably too dark to see anything definitive silhouette.)
[22:09] <Nyx> "Damn thing let me live a relatively normal life until my 20th.  You're lucky then, to have been born outside of the Grand Conjuction.  Hell, it's a wonder my mother wasn't murdered in childbirth with the Astronomican blinded."
[22:09] <Nyx> (Nyx has dropped flamboyancy and most flippancy while the card game plays, and since Jarvis is a Quaddisian)
 06[22:09] * Nyx pulls out a flask, and offers it to Jarvis
 01[22:09] <Staffen> "Damn," he says, accepting the drink. He proceeds to make an array of his cards. It is unprofessionally-set when you finally reveal your hands, and you effortlessly win the first round. "Quaddis wasn't my birthplace, truth be told. I'm from some world way out in the Halo Stars. I remember Space Marines, Sisters and other shit."
[22:10] <Nyx> "The Halo Stars... Then how did you come then to the great and hidden noble playground of Calaxis?  I am told it's hell simply to pay docking fees."
 01[22:11] <Staffen> He sets about his next hand. "I'm not sure about that, honestly. Some ancestor of mine did some great big heroic thing or other, important enough that my mum's family name took precedence over my father's. All my parents' courtiers were fawning over me and my siblings. "
 01[22:12] <Staffen> When you show your arrays this time, it is a draw - the both of you have somehow managed to show cards that altogether cancel one-another out. Jarvis coughs.
 06[22:12] * Nyx fumbles the inter-lacing shuffle with clumsy augmetic thumbs, and the cards fly everywhere on the table
 01[22:12] <Staffen> (Or that.)
[22:12] <Nyx> (Or both.)
[22:13] <Nyx> "Hereditary holding, at least?  Then you dodge the bulk of the off-worlder tourists?  Ugh, the worst from Malfi."
[22:14] <Nyx> "...I do apologize profusely, Master Jarvis.  I have no properly introduced myself, though no doubt you've read my dossier."
 06[22:14] * Nyx stands and bows
 01[22:14] <Staffen> The Arbiter plucks one of your cards from the bunches of his shirt, and hands it to you. "Bits and pieces. It doesn't tell much."
[22:14] <Nyx> "Marquis Shadows, the Eternal Show, Apartment 2, Floor 3."
[22:15] <Nyx> "Should you wish for tickets to the Mask of Carmina, and shall we still live, give me a message.  My holding is but a mere 12 rooms in four suites in a mouldering and crumbling faux-apartment, but it is still within the Eternal Show.
 01[22:16] <Staffen> "Impressive," he says. "I can't really boast any title like that. My line... shit, I don't know anymore. I guess my mother was an Arbiter, and her father was an Arbiter, and his father was an Arbitrator too. Someone back there got be high up or something. We're just the Emperor's Judges, but I'm not much of a judge myself."
 01[22:18] <Staffen> Your next array successfully trumps his - somehow. Talking has apparently distracted the two of you catastrophically.
[22:18] <Nyx> (OH GOD SO THAT WAS YOUR PURPOSE)
 01[22:18] <Staffen> (HIS NAME IS JARVIS HOW DID YOU NOT NOTICE)
[22:19] <Nyx> (because i made the mistake of trusting)
 01[22:19] <Staffen> He blows air, hard. "See? I can't even win a crappy game like this. I even got into playing it like an idiot. This was a textbook example when I was learning from the Book."
[22:19] <Nyx> "I myself learned the game itself as by-blow.  I use the cards for the Imperial Tarot."
[22:20] <Nyx> "Oddly enough, the cards serve their purpose.  Their 'advice' tells me the exact things /not/ to do."
 06[22:20] * Nyx leans back, one arm reclining on the chair back
 01[22:21] <Staffen> He laughs, softly. "Maybe I was a fuck-up or something. Maybe that's why my parents shipped me across from the outer rim to some dead-end job here in Calixis. Someone in my family tombs must be rolling in their grave at the mention of me."
 01[22:22] <Staffen> (broody moody brood-brood)
[22:22] <Nyx> "You're of noble blood, and heir to a fief of Quaddis.  You at least have some claim, and of course, your family allowance.  Besides..."
[22:22] <Nyx> "Take it from me.  Disappointment is better than...being invisible."
[22:23] <Nyx> (family wise, in context)
 01[22:24] <Staffen> "Sometimes I think it'd be better if I had been invisible. I've screwed up hard in the course of things. I think I must've pissed the Emperor off when I was born, because he didn't seem to give me any guardian angel." He puts his cards away. "You won this one, Master Nyx. Thanks for playing, and sorry for going through your stuff."
[22:24] <Nyx> "...Shall we play again, or shall we share in this magnificent vintage of Golden Tokay?"
 06[22:25] * Nyx waves it off
[22:26] <Nyx> "I...I must admit, I am thankful.  I am /severed/ from my home, my Arcadia, as Orthaz was in his autobiography play.  To meet your esteemed self, I am grateful, for some link back to Quaddis."
[22:26] <Nyx> "And I don't offer my wine to just anyone.  Have more, should you wish.  I've diluted an infinitesimal amount of Sandstone within, for that added kick."
 01[22:27] <Staffen> "I don't need anymore drink." He holds up a hand. "Last time I drank more than a swig or two was with my girlfriend, and that went in a bad direction. Get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day, and this is one link you don't want."

 01[22:27] <Staffen> The next morning, Korvar appears to be the first one up, as it is he who goes around and begins banging on your doors.
 06[22:28] * Nyx gets off the floor, cringing as if cold from having fallen asleep
 01[22:29] <Staffen> Jarvis comes out, fastening his breastplate. "Big day, big day. Lots of shooting. Got to meet my beating quota."
 06[22:31] * Nyx shivers, and shakes it out upon standing
[22:31] <Nyx> "I need something to take the edge off.  Let's smash something heretical, nice and good.  ...Urgh."
 01[22:32] <Staffen> "My axe," Korvar says, heaving his weapon, "it thirsts for the blood of His enemies."
[22:36] <Plex> "It'll have its chance, I'm sure."
 06[22:37] * Nyx loads some substances into a set of injectors
 01[22:37] <Staffen> "Pretty straightforward today," Jarvis says, scratching at his stubble. "I hit the gas and we crash through the spire's cargo docks. We go up from there."
[22:37] <Nyx> "By the Throne, my dears, I believe we're ready."
 01[22:39] <Staffen> "Not a very complicated plan," Korvar says. "I prefer them that way. You need to make your plans more like that."
[22:40] <Nyx> "Things will go ploin-shaped soon enough.  They always do."
 01[22:40] <Staffen> The Arbitrator locks on his helmet. "You two want to eat now or after? Seems Kor and I are ready to go."
[22:41] <Nyx> "I don't eat much.  My noble corpus works as the Throne intended."
[22:41] <Plex> "If you'll excuse me, then," Plex says, making a quick break to the kitchen.
 01[22:43] <Staffen> Korvar laughs.
[22:44] <Nyx> "I'll attempt to have breakfast then...
 06[22:44] * Nyx looks over one of the prepared injectors
 06[22:44] * Plex returns after a few minutes. "Ready to be about it."
 06[22:44] * Nyx shoves in the injector into a neck-port
[22:45] <Nyx> "Aaaaaaaaaaand I've had breakfast.  Let's be off, while it still is flowing."
 01[22:47] <Staffen> The four of you leave, then. Jarvis brings the sedan out front, and soon after you are along.
 01[22:50] <Staffen> An hour later, Jarvis brings the car to a stop at a pair of gates. A mass-mover rolls up from the other end of the street, and the gates open for it.
 01[22:50] <Staffen> Jarvis, however, floors it, and with a lashing turn sends your car through the gateway before the guards can close it in time.
 01[22:51] <Staffen> The Arbitrator crosses the dockyard, forcing workers to jump aside, dropping crates of cargo for the car to run over.
 01[22:53] <Staffen> Jarvis makes a sharp turn as he enters the spire's loading port. The sedan screeches to a stop and everyone within is on the edge of nausea from the driver's stunts.
[22:54] <Nyx> "Cracks and shards, you're a master driver, m'lord.  Any more turns and I'd vomit.  Your skill has stopped me a moment just before, allowing me taste bile, yet not spill it.  You have my thanks."
 03[22:54] * Retrieving #eternalwar modes...
 03[22:54] * Staffen changes topic to 'KORVAR, Jarvis, Plex, Nyx, Unfortunate Dock-Victim #1 '
 01[22:56] <Staffen> Korvar is the first out of the sedan, throwing a glimmering knife from his bandolier while his mainhand tears his axe out of its straps.
Session Close: Thu Jul 12 22:58:12 2012

Session Start: Thu Jul 12 22:58:12 2012
Session Ident: #eternalwar
 02[22:58] * Disconnected
 02[22:58] * Attempting to rejoin channel #eternalwar
 03[22:58] * Rejoined channel #eternalwar
 03[22:58] * Topic is 'KORVAR, Jarvis, Plex, Nyx, Unfortunate Dock-Victim #1 '
 03[22:58] * Set by Staffen on Thu Jul 12 22:53:31
 01[22:58] <Staffen_> The lone dock-worker drops dead with a knife embedded to the hilt between his ribs. Blood pumps from the wound while two additional workers come running through a door not far from you.
 02[23:00] * Staffen (Staffen@sux-CC212174.sub-75-249-12.myvzw.com) Quit (Ping timeout )
 01[23:01] <Staffen_> Jarvis comes out of the car pumping his shotgun. He fires off a spray at the worker that takes off a leg and pelts his chest.
 06[23:07] * Plex draws a well-filigreed pistol from the simple holster at her hip and fires in one smooth motion, catching the last worker in the lower torso, spinning him to the ground.
 01[23:08] <Staffen_> The auto-hinge on the door starts to slowly close.
 01[23:08] <Staffen_> "Nyx!" Jarvis barks. "The door!"
 06[23:10] * Nyx holds out a hand, targeting the auto-hinge
[23:10] <Nyx> "Drive!"
 06[23:11] * Nyx holds the auto-hinge lever back
 01[23:12] <Staffen_> The door holds. You can hear the metal groan before the auto-systems decide to simply idle in an open-position.
 06[23:12] * Nyx holds the auto-hinge lever back with telekinetic will
[23:12] <Nyx> "Not particularly desirable to hold this as it is, unless you like demons, my dears.  Drive, if you would?"
 06[23:14] * Nyx runs through the door, cancelling with relish the mental warpgate necessary to operate the hinge
 01[23:14] <Staffen_> Korvar follows through. Jarvis motions to Plex to go through.
 06[23:15] * Nyx draws a sword and pistol
[23:15] <Nyx> "Fun times, fun times.  May we live in them."
 06[23:15] * Plex nods, following Korvar, pistol ready.
 01[23:15] <Staffen_> Jarvis closes in behind.
 01[23:16] <Staffen_> As you enter into the dim hall beyond, two menials come running, screaming and bawling, stumbling as they go. They don't seem to be too interested in your group.
[23:17] <Nyx> "Party has started without our fabulous personages?  How rude."
 01[23:17] <Staffen_> "That's not good. I don't think the Malfians are too prone to scaring their workers off."
 01[23:17] <Staffen_> ... says Jarvis.
[23:18] <Nyx> "From what I remember, they're fond of beating them.  However, those two did seem rather in lack of bruises enough to warrant running away..."
 06[23:18] * Nyx looks to Plex and the others
[23:18] <Nyx> "Shall we continue, my dear friends?"
 01[23:19] <Staffen_> "We've killing to do," Korvar says, hefting his axe.
[23:19] <Plex> "Onward, then."
 06[23:20] * Nyx mumbles a few words, before drawing a symbol in the air with the tip of her force sword and walks through it
[23:20] <Nyx> "I am ready."
 01[23:22] <Staffen_> "Let's get a move on, then," Jarvis says.
 01[23:27] <Staffen_> Jarvis lets Nyx take point to look out for cameras and the like, but still guides you all along. He takes you along an upward path, intent on arriving at the Valgoths' apartments.
[23:27] <Nyx> ++Is our intelligence correct, and he shall reside in the correct place at this time?++
 01[23:28] <Staffen_> ++He should,++ Jarvis said. ++I'm not liking the looks of this, though...++
 01[23:29] <Staffen_> A few flights up, and Jarvis speaks again. ++Here, this is it. Open the door, Nyx.++
 06[23:31] * Nyx holds the doorknob, then flings it back to open it
 01[23:35] <Staffen_> Nyx opens the door to the sight of several smears which may have once been corpses. Bodily pieces litter the hallway.
[23:36] <Nyx> "...Mission update: there had indeed been a party, which was rudely begun our arrival, I might add.  As well, it had been quite...quite the, ah, hard party."
 06[23:36] * Nyx looks back to Jarvis and Plex
 01[23:37] <Staffen_> Jarvis groans. "I can smell that from here. That's putrid."
[23:37] <Nyx> "Any ideas on what caused this mess?  The Help will be absolutely horrified."
 01[23:38] <Staffen_> "I smell... ozone and burnt hair?" Jarvis helpfully suggests.
[23:39] <Nyx> "...An electrified monster made of hair, set on fire?"
 06[23:40] * Nyx makes a sudden gagging sound and spasms as if to hold back bile
[23:41] <Nyx> "Urgh...let's get out of this charnel house."
[23:42] <Nyx> "Plex...can you feel it?  This...this is /wrong/, and I hate the warp-touch at the back of my head like anything..."
 06[23:43] * Plex frowns fiercely. "I sense nothing. Not even you."
 01[23:43] <Staffen_> "We need to find what happened to Baron Valgoth," Jarvis insists. "I don't know what did anything in that hall, but we need to hurry before it gets the target."
[23:44] <Nyx> "Big hole in the Warpstuff.  Let's move.  Something wrong is afoot, and I wager a shard of the Throne we won't like it."
 01[23:44] <Staffen_> "This doesn't sound like a smart idea, I know, but I think we need to split up," Jarvis says. "You three stay together. I'll watch these halls for anyone trying to escape."
 01[23:44] <Staffen_> Korvar laughs. "Trying to avoid the action, Jarvis? That's not like you."
[23:44] <Nyx> "That's how it goes in horror picts.  Then you die alone."
 01[23:45] <Staffen_> Jarvis shoulders his shotgun. "I'll be fine. Get going."
[23:46] <Plex> "Stay in contact."
[23:46] <Nyx> "May your exit from our stage not be this Act, my friend.  Remember that coin."
 06[23:46] * Nyx looks to Korvar and Plex
[23:46] <Nyx> "We should hurry.  I don't like this one whit."
 01[23:50] <Staffen_> Plex leads the search for the Baron, and makes an observation: the blood-trail is leading to increasingly elaborate parts of the apartment floors.
 01[23:51] <Staffen_> Eventually, your investigation leads you to a pair of tall wooden doors deeply-set into an enormous frame.
Session Close: Thu Jul 12 23:53:40 2012

Session Start: Thu Jul 12 23:53:40 2012
Session Ident: #eternalwar
 02[23:53] * Disconnected
 02[23:53] * Attempting to rejoin channel #eternalwar
 03[23:53] * Rejoined channel #eternalwar
 03[23:53] * Topic is 'KORVAR, Jarvis, Plex, Nyx, Unfortunate Dock-Victim #1 '
 03[23:53] * Set by Staffen on Thu Jul 12 22:53:31
 06[23:54] * Nyx prepares to open the doors
[23:54] <Nyx> ++On your marks, my friends.++
 01[23:54] <Staffen> The doors bear carvings depicting some sort of apocalypse scene. Dozens of naked figures flail or try to shield themselves from an evil figure descending from the top.
[23:55] <Plex> "I don't like the looks of this," Plex mumbles, touching the Aquila figure again.
 06[23:59] * Nyx grabs he ornate handles, and throws one side open, sword in the other hand
Session Time: Fri Jul 13 00:00:00 2012
 01[00:00] <Staffen> The hall is lined with entrails as though someone has decorated it carefully. At the far end of the hall is a short fat man slumped into a tall chair.
 01[00:01] <Staffen> "That him?" Korvar asks - a little loudly.
[00:01] <Nyx> "...My garotte certainly won't work all that well on that sort of neck."
 01[00:01] <Staffen> The head then rolls off the body and falls to the floor with a sickening squelch.
[00:02] <Nyx> "...Oh, job's already done."
 01[00:02] <Staffen> A small, disc-shaped object with a switch on it drops from above. It is not making any sound, but its presence seems to cancel out the noise around you.
 01[00:03] <Staffen> Above, quite suddenly, you hear something like the growl of a low engine idling.
 01[00:04] <Staffen> "Te... sunt... debitos," comes a deep, grumbling voice above you.
[00:05] <Nyx> "...Well, that's cheery."
 06[00:05] * Nyx looks up
 06[00:05] * Plex follows suit.
 01[00:08] <Staffen> Perched on the overhanging gargoyle-head above you is a tall figure in a black beetle-like suit of armor. Its face is deathly-pale, and where a jaw would be is instead a metal prosthetic with razor-pointed teeth. From its back sprouts two sharply-arched turbofan-intakes, the source of the idling.
 01[00:09] <Staffen> It opens and closes its false jaw, revealing a breathing-tube to you. "Hello there, Throne Agents."
 03[00:11] * Retrieving #eternalwar modes...
 03[00:12] * Staffen changes topic to 'Nyx, Plex, Torturer, KORVAR '
 01[00:13] <Staffen> Korvar begins to scream out:
 01[00:13] <Staffen> "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"
 06[00:16] * Nyx looks up to the menacing figure, then whispers a muttered phrase, then both augmetic arms slumping down limply, both hands grasped in lifeless death-grips around their weapons
 01[00:18] <Staffen> The figure's gives a surprised look, and then his legs give out and he tumbles to the floor before you. He seems to try to push himself up, but beneath the vast weight of his gear he is unable to press up.
 01[00:19] <Staffen> A faint breeze blows through the room.
 06[00:24] * Plex touches the Aquila again, reaching into the thing's mind to try and erase her presence...but is rudely kicked back out. Deciding that discretion is the better part of survival, she flees for the doorway.
 01[00:25] <Staffen> Korvar draws his axe and immediately begins wailing on the monster. "Get out of here! Get back to Jarvis and run! I'll keep him down!"
[00:28] <Nyx> "My dear, we are nobility.  We go where we /like./"
 06[00:29] * Nyx directs her palm at the fallen man, suppressing agonized machine spirits, as her augmetic limbs fail again
[00:32] <Nyx> "Plex, he's hurt Master Jarvis.  Badly, I suppose.  May you turn around and show this commoner what-for?"
[00:33] <Nyx> "The general sentence for striking a noble is losing an arm.  Injuring one?  Death.  Killing one?  Worse than damnation."
 06[00:37] * Plex hears Nyx's request. Oddly calming, it is. So she turns, concentrates, aims, and fires at something that looks important.
 01[00:38] <Staffen> You all hear something like an angry growl boiling up from the base of your spines.
[00:39] <Nyx> "Shards in the Throne, I think he's doing something."
[00:39] <Plex> "I hadn't noticed..."
 06[00:42] * Nyx buckles over midway in pain
 01[00:43] <Staffen> Korvar continues to hit against the monster, but seems to do nothing.
[00:44] <Nyx> "Korvar, let's run!  I'll try what I can, but run!"
 01[00:45] <Staffen> "You two are quite the heroes!" Korvar shouts. "May the Emperor bless us!"
 06[00:47] * Nyx forces psychic might through her skull, going too far and manifesting a wild psychic whirlwind
 06[00:48] * Nyx then breaks back, and begins to withdraw
 06[00:51] * Plex is momentarily overcome by the disturbance, breaks, and runs. "Nyx! Get the hell out of there!"
 01[00:52] <Staffen> You hear a sharp hiss, and the monster's entire body quivers.
 01[00:54] <Staffen> The monster twists with an impossible swiftness, and begins to swing its oversized gauntlet at Korvar. The feral-worlder steps aside it. Electricity dance between the thing's fingers and Korvar's axe. The feral is smacked as the beast brings the claw back.
 01[00:54] <Staffen> The blow completely disintegrate's the feral worlder's face, arm, chest... his legs are sent tumbling through the doorway by the attack.
[00:55] <Nyx> "...I'll have your skull someday, for this."
 06[00:55] * Nyx turns and runs after Plex
 01[00:55] <Staffen> The monster roars with an incredible rage.
 01[00:57] <Staffen> As you two flee, the monster leaps through the doorway, completely smashing one of the doors into splinters as it careens through. It leaps at the legs and mindlessly begins tearing into them, before snapping its head in the direction you are fleeing.
 06[00:59] * Nyx grits back hate at the advancing traitor and barely resists the urge to meet it again, suppressing the ichorous hate by screaming psykana devotions
 01[01:01] <Staffen> You eventually come on the hallway to the stairwell.
 01[01:03] <Staffen> Sure enough, Jarvis is present, slouched by the doorway. His arm is off and the region of his shoulder looks as if it's been hit by a cannon ball.
 01[01:04] <Staffen> He wheezes, somehow alive. "Nyx, Plex... I'm -- I'm fine. Help me up."
 01[01:04] <Staffen> He pushes, and his left leg bends the wrong way entirely. He winces.
 01[01:05] <Staffen> You hear an all-too-familiar howl.
 06[01:05] * Nyx picks him up by one arm and puts it over her shoulders
 01[01:06] <Staffen> The Arbiter groans from the effort. "The doors... they loop around. This place is a fucking labyrinth. I... I was out for a bit. Should've warned you..."
[01:06] <Nyx> "We nobles have to stick together against the commoners, don't we?  We can't let the common man strike us and hope to get away with it, and then start doing such things as making profits from the labors of their own brow, can we?"
 06[01:06] * Plex looks back nervously before back to Jarvis. "Close your eyes...and pray for our souls."
[01:07] <Nyx> "Shush, nothing of it.  It's a badly designed hellhole.  Also, Korvar is dead.  Were he alive, and I had Fons Honoris, I'd knight him.  For now, we must bid this Act our leave."
 06[01:08] * Nyx begins to hobble along with Jarvis and Plex
 01[01:08] <Staffen> "Dammit," Jarvis wheezes. "Damn it all, this wasn't... this wasn't supposed to happen..."
[01:08] <Plex> "But happen it did. Time for recriminations later!"
[01:08] <Nyx> "As all good plans do, they go ploin-shaped, and not nearly as delicious."
 01[01:10] <Staffen> "Where are you?!" echoes the voice of your pursuer from the distance.
[01:10] <Nyx> "Let's take our leave before the vaudeville and crook pull us off stage."'
 06[01:10] * Nyx hisses
 06[01:10] * Plex runs ahead, if only to make sure they wouldn't run headlong back into the monstrosity.
 01[01:13] <Staffen> Sure enough, as you descend the stairwell you hear a crash from above, followed by a feral roar.
[01:13] <Plex> "Must go faster must go faster..."
 01[01:14] <Staffen> You are at the loading dock level when you see the warped form of the door come tumbling down the stairwell.
[01:15] <Nyx> "Where is he?!  We have to go!"
[01:16] <Plex> "Then stop looking and keep going!"
[01:17] <Nyx> "'The storm continues! Foul spirits abound upon us, and we are martyrs-to-be!'"
 06[01:17] * Nyx pulls along Jarvis by his good arm
 01[01:17] <Staffen> "Get me in the car seat," Jarvis insists, "my foot seems fine. I can drive with one hand."
[01:19] <Plex> "As you say," Plex agrees.
 06[01:19] * Nyx helps Jarvis in, then sudden swats the back of her neck
 06[01:20] * Plex stands ramrod straight for a moment or two before shivering violently. "Time to leave!"
 06[01:22] * Nyx loads into the backseat, watching the rear in paranoia
 06[01:22] * Plex slips into the front. "Go, Jarvis!"
 01[01:24] <Staffen> Jarvis manages to start the sedan, and pushes it into a spit towards the exit. In the mirrors you can see the monster smashing through the auto-door.
 01[01:25] <Staffen> Jarvis spins the wheel hard, drifting, to the side to orient towards the gate. "It's shut!" he exclaims.
 06[01:29] * Nyx unleashes a wave of pent-up hatred on the gate, agonized by Korvar's unavenged death
 06[01:29] * Plex stares in slack-jawed wonder, the monster almost forgotten, as the gate simply...ceases to exist in part.
[01:30] <Plex> "Go go go!"
 06[01:30] * Nyx half-lifts her gas-mask up, wiping a furiously bleeding nose from psychic overwork
 01[01:31] <Staffen> Indeed, all that remains of the gate is a twisted band of metal on each of the hinges. Jarvis slams his foot into the pedal, and haphazardly turns the corner. Behind you, the monstrosity seems to be trying to jump, or something similar, but is apparently failing.
 01[01:33] <Staffen> As you drive away, you hear one final howl from your assailant. It is distant, but all sound around you seems to dissipate save for the sound of the beast's roar.