Thread #251771

Chicago looks at the others, "Any final business here?"

Thomas, finally snapping back into reality after spacing out extremely hard, possibly takes notice of the deceased bear friend if his body didnt leave because this is a dream world. He has nothing to add about business here because he is still confused.

"More than anything else I've been ready to leave a long time now."

Chicago's wings expand quickly and it wraps its wings around the entire party, becoming a sort of dome around them. A moment later, its wings have returned to normal, and the team finds themselves at the foot of the stairs they found themselves on what feels like many months ago. After an inordinate amount of walking, they see light up ahead and exit from a cave into the waking world.

Outside the cave is a tent with a fire going. It looks to be around 10pm at night. Sicily sits by the campfire, roasting a marshmallow. She unenthusiastically waves to the team upon seeing them.

"How long have we been gone...were awa-
How long has it been since we last spoke?"

Thomas waves back.
Thomas looks if there are any spare skewers and/or marshmallows available.

Sicily notices Thomas is looking for a marshmallow and prepares to throw hers into his mouth.

"You've been in there all afternoon and evening," she replies to Felicity.

Thomas is going to sense danger
#d6 (4)

Despite knowing that Sicily is a person with very good aim, Thomas can't help but shake the feeling that she has something bad planned for him.

Thomas readies himself for the impending trouble and assumes a mouth catching stance

"I guess that's about right. Or something. This isn't where we, uh, fell asleep though. Where are we?"

#d6 (1)
Sicily attempts to fling the marshmallow at Thomas but it flies straight into the ground only a foot from her. She pretends like it didn't happen.

"You're outside a fuckin' cave in the middle of nowhere!" Sicily says with a laugh as she puts another marshmallow on her skewer. "We're a couple miles from the Arapaho encampment."

Thomas remembers that he doesn't even like marshmallows and decides this was for the best.

VV looks puzzled.
"Why did we agree to all of that, anyway? Wasn't there something about invisible monsters?"

"Oh right yeah people died"

"That's right. Chicagoan said he...she...it? That it would help us with the thing that was going around sucking people dry. It's also something under the command of Singing Bear, so I figure we'll get a chance to see him again if we go after it."

"Strikes-the-Blood told me to come wait for y'all to give you the map to Singing Bear. We've got horses whenever you want to go. Might wanna rest up first?"

"Rest is a good idea. I'm quite tired."

"Right out of some kind of dream into others." I stretch my arms. "Hopefully this sleep is actual rest though."

"How do we know we aren't sleeping right now?"

Thomas checks the general camp area for a place to rest and upon presumably finding a reasonable spot does so.

Sicily lies down in her sleeping bag. Although there are several other sleeping bags in the tent, she doesn't mention it to the team.

did thomas find that on his sleeping area inspection

you can spend 1 evidence collection to find the sleeping bags

Thomas spends an evidence collection to find sleeping bag yes

thomas gets a sleeping bag
everyone sleeps
and for once, nothing happens to them in their sleep

Sicily wakes up with the sun and makes sure everyone else wakes up as well.
She allows everyone to refill on ammo and has an axe lying around.

She heads off and pops back around the camp with three horses - one she's riding, and two she's leading with lassos.
Where she obtained these skills so suddenly is a mystery.

Thomas ponders on the idea of their being two horses, as well as trying to remember if he even has the riding capability to manage one if there were a third.

there are in fact three horses

That idea occurs to Thomas and feels good that he didn't say that out loud as he may have been laughed at by his fellow party members.

"So, riding a horse. Do you, uh, just climb on and--okay listen here there aren't really many horses in Chicago. What do I do here."

"I believe you just sort of hop on and don't kick or anything because then they go real fast and that'd be bad for us newbies. I'm sure VV would be set though."

"You squeeze the midsection of the horse to make it go. You pull the reins and say 'whoa' to make it stop. You try not to fall off."

Thomas begins hugging one of ge horses
"Like this?"

Sicily shakes her head, "Why don't you just ride with one of us?"

Thomas begins chuckling too hard to keep up the act.

Afterwards , however, he turns to Sicily and says "That might be a good idea, depending on which between us two proves least capable."

I get up on one of the horses, balancing unsteadily.
Offering a hand down to Thomas, I ask "so who would you rather ride with, myself or Miss Vane?"

Thomas is going to make a riding check to see if he should be the paired one.
#d6 (5)
Apparently not.

>>251903
"Gosh, boss, you can't just ask that question out of nowhere like that."
After a moment, he continues "But probably you boss."
And takes the ha-
"Too late VV I decided without you ha!"

VV hops on the vacant horse.

And points at Thomas. "He is not riding with me."

"All right, Sicily, we're all set. Let's see that map."

Sicily starts riding. "Just follow me!"
The team rides for what seems like hours until they reach their destination - a small grouping of huts near a cave. The team dismounts their horses a bit far from the location and sneaks in under cover of the brush.

The encampment seems completely empty, though voices can be heard from the cave.

Staying in the brush, I get closer to the cave, trying to hone in on the voices.

You can spend a point of oral history to try to recognize the voices.

(All right, I'll spend one.)

Felicity recognizes the voices of Archie and Singing Bear. They seem to be arguing about something, but what that is is something Felicity can't quite make out.

I make my way back towards the other three. "It's Archibald and Singing Bear in the cave, at least. Sounded like an argument, at the least."

Thomas visibly perks up at the mention of Archie's namez
name.

Chicago appears on Felicity's shoulder, visible and audible to all but Sicily.
"I suspect that this invisible beast will strike as soon as Singing Bear realizes were're here so we need to be ready for that."

"What do we know about the spooky invisible thing aside from it being invisible and bloodthirsty?"

VV is looking through her pack and notices that she still has the tommoy gun.
"Does anyone have any bullets?"

"Jesu-" I mutter sharply, flinching.

"So taking care of Singing Bear quickly is important. His bloodsucking monster will show up fast, and I don't want to be stuck with both of them on our tail."

"In order to stop the invisible beast, we'll need to kill it or destroy the tome with which is // it was summoned. Only you and I, Felicity, will be able to see the beast, however. You may want to take that into account when coming up with a plan. It's safe to assume there are a few people in there with him, too."

Sicily looks very confused.

Thomas raises his hand. "Covering it in some sort of substance or soot won't help make it visible to us since it's magic right?"
Thomas looks over at Sicily
"Oh we got spirit animals while we were gone it's pretty neat."

"I believe you were able to see its outline after it fed when you saw it last, so covering it in something might work, although you might have to fill it from the inside, if it was blood that made it visible last time."

Sicily nods to Thomas hesitantly.

"Hmm, feeding it something doesn't sound very viable but that's at least information we can keep in mind. Unless it really likes the taste of..."
Thomas begins thinking intensely.
While doing so he begins rummaging in his bag.

"So do we just want to storm the entrance to this cave? What other options do you all figure we might have?"

"If we don't move soon we might have trouble or Archie may be in trouble, but the same applies to any side approaches since they'd take longer. A frontal assault is more likely to draw that beast or at least bear's ire, but we will likely have to deal with them anyway at some point.

I stick a thumb towards the huts. "We could burn all of those down as a distraction or something.

Sicily watches, only seeing/hearing half of what's going on.

Thomas shrugs "Works for me if you think it might work."
"Do you have anything in particular in mind for setting it aflame? We'd prefer to not be detected doing it or it'll be uh... moot"

"They will be on alert if we set things on fire."

"Good point. Just straight in, then?"

Thomas has organized his bag.
"Might as well. Boss, maybe you should lead the charge? What with the thing only you can see?"

"Could we set a time delay explosive? And then utilize the moment of panic?"

Thomas stares at his remaining explosive vials and ponders how he could make it timed.

"So... blow up a building, attack the cave, what do you giys think? If we could get archie out first cave in plan seems pretty strong."

"Yeah, that might work. Keep something on hand that might be able to cave the, uh, cave in, for once we get our hands on Hamlin."

"If we get in there fast, in the meanwhile, we might be able to get in and grab Hamlin before anything bad happens."
"Sound good?"

Thimas gives a nod of apporval and grips a vial in his bag in preparation for THE BIG PLAY.

"Let's give it a try, then."

Thomas begins jogging in place

I move back towards the mouth of the cave, moving along the rock face to the edge of the cave's entrance.

"So boss distraction idea stilll valid? This tiny one can pop one of those buildings over there"

"Yeah, do it. If we can get anyone we can out of that cave, the better it is for us."

Thomas sets up one of the buildings to blow up with the tiny explosive by means of a sciency sort of fuse that will go off ideally when convenient for Boss' plan of charging.

the explosion goes off, leveling the building
"What was that?!" a voice from inside the cave shouts. "Go check it out!"
Three people start walking towards the exit/entrance of the cave.

"Wait for them to leave, then go in," I whisper to the other three.
Stay hidden in the meanwhile.

They exit the cave and approach the destroyed building. "What happened here?"
They talk amongst themselves while looking around for any signs of enemies.

"Okay, go, go" I turn around the corner and head into the cave.

Thomas goes!

VV sneaks into the cave along with everyone else.

As they move through the cave, they find themselves face-to-face or well, felicity finds herself face-to-face with a large, reddish, jelly-like blob with no eyes or face, lacking even a head - its maw comprised of many tentacular trunks which wriggle endlessly as the suckers at the end of each trunk opens and closes, desperate for their next meal.
Thomas and VV see little but the outline of something moving around.

felicity should roll for stability

(#d6 (1))

I open my mouth, but nothing but a dry crackle comes out. A madly shaking finger points towards where the creature should be.

A childlike giggle can be heard through the cave, though due to the acoustics of the cave, it's hard to tell where it's coming from.

VV squints her eyes.
"Is that thing what we're looking for? I can almost see it."

Thomas notes Boss' distress and
uh
becomes distressed?

"Blowing it up at this distance and positioning sounds like a bad idea so maybe you're up VV?"
Thomas pauses.
"Assuming you can hit it and we dont go deaf from gunfire."

It slowly shambles closer towards Felicity, its myriad tentacles writhing in her her direction, the small suckers shrinking and dilating in anticipation of their next feast.

I shake the terror off, taking several hasty steps back, re-adjusting my eyes to the point of space just above it.
"Chi-Chicagoan, I don't suppose bullets can harm that...thing, can they?"

The bird called Chicago crooks its head. "Certainly, though perhaps much less than they would a human."

I edge towards the side of the cave where its blobbish mass doesn't block the path. "We don't really have time to deal with something like that."
I turn back to the other three and gesture in a circle towards the creature. "It's on that side of the cave. Stick to this side and run as fast as you can!"

"Let's dash by!"

Without another moment I start running.

Thomas sticks the HECK to the side and tries to move and follow Boss' path, which is bound to be the most accurate

It tracks the direction of the party and slowly shambles after them with its childlike giggle, maw tentacles writhing all the while.

The group runs until they find a wide opening up ahead with a large, almost comical cage containing Samuel and Archie, and Singing Bear sitting on a bench. They're speaking in Arapaho.

"They seem to be getting along pretty well" VV whispers.

I eye the three spirit animals. "I don't suppose any of you know the language they're speaking."

"Aw man has old pete been holding out on me? Give me the deets my friend."

The wolf shakes its head to indicate that it does not know.

"That's fair. Don't worry I wasnt doubting you."

"Well then, do we go in and shoot down Singing Bear, or give him a chance to speak for himself? He -was- somewhat sociable in the dream, until he lost interest and tried killing us."

"He can't exactly call upon lightning in here. Maybe we should try having another chat assuming our invisible pal is slow".

"We should definitely just shoot him. He is a dangerous person."

"These are both fair options."

Archie seems to have noticed the team. He keeps glancing towards them.

Catching his eye, I point a finger towards Singing Bear, and then draw a line in the air across my neck.

Thomas waves lightly

VV points at SB and runs her finger across her neck in the throat slitting gesture kind of way.

"Yes, please do!" shouts Archie, before realizing what he's done. "Oh, darn."

SB turns to the team. "Who are you?"

Thomas chuckles since vv and boss made the same gesture

"Oh fuck."

I draw my handgun and point it at Singing Bear.

>>252199
"Employees of the man you've got locked up."
I take one shot straight at Singing Bear.
(Firearms #d6 (2) + 2)

VV sighs and dashes toward the cage to bash it open with her axe.

The bullet flies off the mark and into the cave wall as VV manages to open the cage.
Archie and Samuel run past the group, putting the group between them and SB.
SB looks very upset, "Did you come just to save this old fart?"

"Well we'd also like your book."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you would."

"And maybe kill you. or something?"

He raises his hand towards the group.
As he does, Samuel's voice calls out in pain.
Archie shouts in surprise as Samuel is lifted off the ground by something visible only to Felicity.

I look behind me to see what's holding up Samuel.

Surprise! It's the invisible beast.
It looks ready to feed on Samuel.

Thomas nervously checks his handgun that he's had for a while for ammunition.

VV brings her axe down at SB's outstretched hand.
#d6 (1) weapons roll

VV completely misses her mark.
Thomas' handgun is fully loaded.

"Boss what do I try to kill here? Invisiwhat or stupid bad dude with book?"
Thomas checks the size of this room to determine how bad an idea explosives are here.

"Try and get a hit off on Signing Bear. I'll see if I can get Samuel free."
I turn around completely and fire off a shot at the arm? that's holding Samuel hostage.
(Firearms #d6 (6))

"I'll do my best."
Thomas takes aim at out unbearable bear of an opponent and fires
#d6 (5)

Felicity's shot rings out loudly, echoing through the cave. It is joined by the giggle of the beast as it drops Samuel and a shout from Singing Bear.
#d6 (1)
#d6 (1)
Thomas' bullet flies straight into SB's leg, bringing him down to his knee.
SB screams in pain and levels his hand towards the team.

#2d6 (5, 6 = 11)

everyone roll a d6

ok
#d6 (2)

#d6 (1)

#d6 (1)

Lightning erupts from SB's hand, striking the party and dealing 5 damage to each of them. Luckily for Archie, the group served as a shield for him.
Samuel lies on the ground, having been dropped by the beast.

"This is a shocking turn of events" Thomas says as he becomes charcoal.

I snarl in pain at the electric current racing through my body, before wheeling back around and pointing my handgun at Singing Bear, taking another shot.
(Firearms #d6 (6) + 1)

Singing Bear is struck again and drops his tome as he falls to the ground, clutching his wounds.
"This can't be happening," he says under his breath.

Meanwhile, the beast once again strikes, this time grabbing Archie, who shouts: "Yes, friends, perhaps a little help here!"

Thomas books it towards the book.
And, if there's no immediate impediment, picks it up.

VV takes this opportunity to empty the whole magazine in her tommy gun into SB.
#d6 (6) weapons roll

Thomas takes care to not get DECIMATED by that onslaught

SB's corpse is hardly even recognizable after VV is done taking out her pent up aggression on it.

Thomas tried to focus solely on the book and not the pulpy remains of a dead man
#d6 (2)

#d6 (1) stability

I turn around -again- sizing up how firmly the monster has a grip on Archibald.

It is holding Archie quite tightly. It seems much more desperate than it did when it grabbed Samuel. Its writhing tentacles move along Archie's neck as they get ready to dig in.

VV sighs and brings her axe down on the tome, right in the middle of it.

Thomas stares in horror as VV brings an axe down on something that he is holding

The axe damages the tome but does not appear to eliminate the beast.

"This book is surprisingly well made." VV raises her axe to swing once again.

Archie, though bound by the beast, shouts "Do not destroy the book! Please!"

Thomas points at Archie.

Thomas is also going to try and take a moment to -well huh he can't see it

"Then you better give us some better idea on how to keep you alive, fast!"

Its writhing tentacles reach down and wrap themselves around Samuel's throat as he lie on the ground.

Thomas sighs.
"Kill the book I guess."

VV shrugs and brings her axe down on the book again. With a little more muscle this time!
#d6+1 (1 + 1 = 2) athletics

The book takes a little more damage, but not much.
Chicago appears, perched on the cage, "You must burn it to get rid of it!"

The beast begins draining blood from Samuel.
Its tentacles continue to writhe around on Archie's neck, seeming to search for the ideal place to draw blood.

"Why didnt you say that sooner?!"
Thomas pours a mysterious liquid on the book that suddenly combusts.

As the book burns away, the beast too fades away, dropping Archie and releasing Samuel, who continues to bleed.
Archie stands on /// sits on all fours, staring at the aches of the book, dejectedly.

"I didn't want to but we didn't have much of an option left" Thomas puts a hand on Archie's shoulder. "There are still more out there right?"

"Each one is unique," Archie says as he stands up.
Samuel continues to bleed.
"Oh dear. Samuel is not doing well."

Staggering as I take a step forward, I motion Miss Vane towards Samuel.
"I know you don't like the man but him first. See if you can do something about him."
And then I collapse down into a sitting position on the cave floor.

Thomas tries to take his mind off the fact that he can never read that book now.

VV looks at him. "He looks fine to me."

The team hears gunshots from outside the cave.

#d6+2 (3 + 2 = 5) VV reluctantly patches Samuel up.

"VV please, could you-thank you"

VV manages to get Samuel's bleeding to stop. He appears to have lost quite a bit of blood but perhaps he will survive.

I get up again, still a little unsteady.
"I'm not sure if those gunshots are a positive addition or a bigger problem." I look at Archibald. "You wouldn't happen to have anyone else who might've been coming to rescue you, would you."

#d6 (4) VV also patches herself up a little bit.

VV regains 4 HP

Archie shakes his head.
"I did not expect anyone to come and rescue me."

"Well then, damn you, old man, you're welcome." I take a deep breath and start moving towards the cave's entrance. "We're only sitting ducks here in the cave. Let's go see what's out there."

Thomas dusts the soot off his labcoat from the lightning

Archie supports Samuel with his shoulder as the group leaves the cave to find the three men which were lured out of the cave dead on the ground.
Sicily is going through their pockets, looting the corpses.

"Well that works in our favor"

"You the one that shot them, Sicily?"

Sicily nods, as she takes the wallet out of a body's jacket and checks it for cash.

[to be continued]

also reminder for myself that we'll transition back to the mansion next time