[GURPS 4e, IC] The Dying of the Light — Infection [Archive]

Inglenook

2012-10-09, 08:51 PM

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/adventures/01/logo.png

Chapter 1:
INFECTION

---

Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name.

And then the nightmares will begin.

— Johnny Truant, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

1

Friday, June 08, 2012. 12:17 AM.

Captain Morten Rendahl was not having a good day. Or a good week. Or a good year, for that matter.

He sat in one of the pilot chairs of the cruise ship Calypso Queen, a heavy tumbler of scotch in one hand and his captain's hat in the other. The displays of the control console in front of him glowed and blinked, but Morten ignored them, instead staring out into the darkness through the slanted windows of the bridge. His fingers traced the embroidery on his hat almost tenderly.

It would not be his hat for very much longer.

I hate this ship, Morten thought, as he'd thought so many times before. All his misfortune, all that had happened the last few days, it all seemed to come back to the Queen in one way or another—the damnable Queen whose fate was so closely tied to his own. He had once found it bleakly humorous that, as the captain, his career was going to "go down with the ship". But it wasn't so funny now.

The Calypso Queen was by far the oldest cruise ship in the fleet, not to mention the shabbiest. Renovation was not an option, and at this point the only repairs allowed to be made were those that would keep the ship floating until April of next year—when it was scheduled to be decommissioned and scrapped.

The Queen's wiring and electronics were over twenty years old and poorly maintained, so the occasional hiccup was expected. Morten hadn't been surprised when the satellite system for communicating with the mainland had failed two days into the seven-day cruise; it had happened before and would certainly happen again before April. There was no internet or cell service, sure, but as long as they had the GPS and the VHF radio, the cruise could continue as planned.

That was before people started getting sick, though.

It had begun with a passenger, an elderly man from New York. Less than a day into the cruise he had snapped, attacking his wife and several other passengers and crew before being restrained by security. The old man was screaming and snapping like an animal. And less than fifteen minutes later he was dead—a massive heart attack. Dr. Bruckner speculated that the man had had an undiagnosed brain tumor that had caused the sudden aggression, but Dr. Holm was less certain. In any case, the shaken wife had gone ashore in Nassau to return her husband's body to the States, and it seemed that the cruise would return to normal. And for a while, it had.

But over the next few days, several hundred passengers and crew also fell ill. The night that the ship was ported in the Cayman Islands, three people suffered seizures and died, and several others had … well, they'd gone mad. Just like the old man.

The sick were hospitalized in George Town, and many others left the ship after hearing from the Caymanians about what was going on back home: reports of rioting in the major cities, possible terrorist attacks. Something big was happening, something horrible, although no one was sure exactly what it was.

With a skeleton crew and only a few hundred passengers remaining aboard, The Calypso Queen had set sail immediately for Miami. As they passed Cancún, the VHF had picked up a single message from the Mexican port authority played on repeat: "¡Peligro! Cuarentena—No entre en esta zona sin autorización."

Morten downed the rest of his scotch and grimaced. The world was going to hell and he was sitting here worrying about being unemployed in a few months? Typical. You deserve this, he told himself bitterly. You deserve every single thing—

A noise from behind him cut his thoughts short. Morten, quite drunk by now, rose unsteadily to his feet and turned to see what it was.

The door to the hallway had been pushed open. In the doorway stood a person outlined from behind by the bright lights of the hall, their features hidden in shadow.

"Stig? Stig, is that you?" Morten slurred in Norwegian, recognizing the silhouette of his first mate. The figure lurched forward, revealing itself.

Stig Claussen had been a lean, handsome man in his late thirties, but all traces of his former good looks were now gone. He was nearly unrecognizable. The skin of his neck and face was swollen horribly with great purple bruises, and the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, covering his scleras with a film of red. His face was fixed in an expression so pure, so unexpected on the normally sheepish Stig, that it caught Morten's breath in his throat and froze him where he stood.

Rage. Perfect, undiluted rage.

Stig screamed—a mad, unearthly sound—and leapt at Morten, teeth bared and fingers outstretched like claws. It happened too fast for Morten to think, to even breathe, and his body reacted on pure instinct: he threw the heavy tumbler in his hand as hard as he could at Stig's face.

There was a snapping sound as Stig's nose broke. The glass shattered, shards embedding themselves in his face. Stig flew backward, still screaming, but Morten was already moving. Past the helm, past Stig's writhing form, and into the hall, not stopping until he made it to the metal bulkhead door that led to the cabin area of Deck 10. He slammed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it, collapsing to the floor. His drunkenness was gone, doused in the sudden flood of adrenaline and surreality that washed over him. And as Morten listened to the thing that had once been his friend shrieking from behind the door, he did the only thing he could think of:

He put his face in his hands and wept.

Inglenook

2012-10-09, 10:17 PM

ESE

You're exhausted. With the ship running off a skeleton crew, you've been been forced to work double shifts. Your double shift was supposed to end at midnight (almost twenty minutes ago), but Hank Ewing, the engineer who is supposed to be taking over for you, has yet to show up to relieve you.

You're in the main engine room in the bowels of the ship (#15 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/ship.png)). The massive engine takes up most of the room, while a gangway (which you're standing on) hugs the walls. It's extremely loud in here. A ladder leads up to the ceiling, which comes out near the stage of the auditorium on Deck 05.

Up the stairs to your right is an elevator which connects with Deck 05 all the way up to the Viking Crown Lounge, the highest point on the ship (#14 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/ship.png)). Your cabin is 6523, although you're not supposed to leave until Hank arrives.

Past the elevator is the locker room, a few offices, several maintenance corridors, some more elevators and ways into the ship proper, and things like the boiler room, pump and sewage room, etc. Your coworker and roommate Lurch is back there somewhere—he's an odd fella, but nice enough.

1
JOHN

Your room is 3508, located on Deck 03. You're sitting at your room's tiny desk methodically assembling your sniper rifle. The captain said that the ship will arrive in Miami sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon, so tonight has to be the night. If you time it right, you can make your kill and be off the ship in the morning before anyone realizes that your mark is dead.

If your mark is still on the ship, that is—a lot of people got off at Cayman Islands.

There are still a lot of sick people on board, and you can hear the occasional screaming in the distance. Whatever bug they've got, it seems to be causing them a great deal of pain.

Outside your room and down the corridor to your right is the main staircase and elevators. There's a map of your floor by the elevators. Further down, you remember, is the Centrum, which is like the main hub of the ship.

1
MAXWELL

This conference has been a disaster so far. Cruise ships aren't your cup of tea in the first place, and this particular ship is far tackier and more unsanitary than normal. You have to wonder why the board of directors chose this ship of all ships. Perhaps the fact that the CEO is a notorious skinflint has something to do with it?

But yes, a disaster. First the internet and phones go, then over half the crew gets sick, including several of the conference attendees. Earlier today you heard a maître d' whispering to a server that several people had died last night. If this is the case, the cruise line might be the target of some heavy lawsuits in the very near future.

More troubling, though, are the rumors you heard from the islanders in George Town—news of riots and violence in the U.S.

Your room is 1040, but right now you're on Deck 07, which is almost completely deserted as far as you can tell. Near the bow are some cabins. Near midship are some conference rooms, the main staircase, the elevators and the Centrum. There's a map of the Deck near the elevators. Near the stern is the Bolero Lounge, more elevators and stairs, and the balcony level of the Sound of Music Lounge and Auditorium.

Right now you're sitting in the Bolero Lounge. It's large square room, raised slightly from the rest of the deck, and one of the less ugly bars on the ship (certainly less hideous than the nautical-themed Schooner Bar). There are only two people aside from yourself in the entire bar.

The bartender is a pretty but serious young woman who is wearing her dark blonde hair in a tight chignon. Her name tag says "Rebecca".

Seated at the bar is a woman of indeterminate age, with dark hair that looks as if it's recently been dyed purple at the tips, probably in the ship's beauty salon. Her face looks drawn and haggard, with too-protuberant eyes and a puckered mouth. She is very clearly drunk, and occasionally tries to talk to Rebecca, although she doesn't make much sense.

1
SARAH

This is something akin to torture. The Calypso Queen has had a lot of "issues" over the last few years—things like norovirus outbreaks and unhygienic food preparation. Your assignment was to document whether there was any improvement, and if not, to write an exposé on the matter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world appears to have gone mad. A journalist's dream and you're stuck on this crummy ship.

Your cabin is 2507, but at the moment you're on Deck 11, enjoying the sea breeze. It's been a hot day, and though it's still pretty humid, the temperature is much more tolerable. A lot of the sick people left the ship already, and from what you can tell, the deck is mostly abandoned. You can hear the whirr of a hot tub and the occasional small splash, and from above, you can hear the sound of a guitar.

From what you can recall, at the bow of this deck are two restaurants: Jade Steakhouse/Sushi and The Windjammer Cafe. Closer to where you're standing at midship are the main stairs and elevators, some bathrooms, the swimming pools and pool bars. Near the stern are more stairs and elevators, a basketball court, and a teen area with an under-18 club and an arcade.

1
TAL

Your mini-vacation has turned out to be not so relaxing after all. Not only because of the horrible state of the ship, but also because of what you saw on the news in the Cayman Islands: a fuzzy video showing people running through the streets, swarming over other people who were trying to get away. The Los Angeles skyline was quite recognizable in the background.

Your cabin is 6094, but right now you're on Deck 12. The sea air is invigorating and helps clear some of the dark thoughts from your mind. You've lugged your guitar Marie up there and are sitting underneath the Viking Crown Lounge (#14 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/ship.png)) playing it.

From bow to stern, you seem to remember the deck having the following: the upper levels of the Jade Restaurant and Windjammer Cafe, stairs that lead up to the ships "wing" or "spoiler", the main staircase and elevators (with a map of the deck nearby), a jogging track that encircles the deck, the Viking Crown Lounge elevators and stairs, and a rock-climbing wall.

A heavyset black man in his late forties or early fifties is lounging in a deck chair a little bit down the deck, reading a book. He appears to be the only person on the entire deck aside from yourself.

He doesn't seem to appreciate your guitar-playing. After shooting you several irritated stares, he sighs noisily, slams his book, and begins to walk past you in the direction of the main stairs.

Drynwyn

2012-10-10, 09:30 AM

After assembling his rifle, John hides it in his room. After making sure his bulletproof vest is on and concealed under his suit jacket -you can never be too careful- he'll head to the map of the ship. He needs to make sure that he has a good spot to kill his target, one of the businessmen on board for a conference.
Not our player who's in board for that event, but aside from that, whichever member the GM finds appropriate. I'm assuming John would know where his target is by now.

Asherion

2012-10-10, 10:10 AM

Maxwell swirls his drink around disinterestedly, checking his phone for an internet signal again - nothing yet. Damn this boat. I'm not an idiot, he thinks, but I can't understand how the phone signals and the ship's net signals are all out at once. I wish I could get hold of Dixon, he could tell me what's what, probably knows more than any techie they have on this bloody boat... but then that'd take a phone, wouldn't it.

He sighs and looks up at the bartender, pausing to glance at her nametag. "So... Rebecca." he arcs an eyebrow at her "Do they tell you anything that happens around here? I've been hearing about people dying, and a whole lot of them are sick, everywhere you look, it seems like. What's going on?"

Stegyre

2012-10-10, 12:51 PM

Tal looks after the departing reader. Wow, buddy! he thinks, I did not realize this was your deck.

He remembers the grainy tv scenes in the Caymans. LA. In chaos. I wanted to leave all of that behind. Don't think about them, nor about her. Damn this cruise! So much for not spending my time feeling sorry for myself. It's probably a good thing I haven't had 'net access this whole time. At least I've gotten up on deck more than I otherwise might.

. . . and I still have my health. It is creepy, how many people have fallen sick, and the attacks.

Maybe when he's done practising, he'll put Marie back in his cabin and go to the Cafe for a sandwich. Or maybe not: Could it be the food? Heaven help us if it is.

At a loss for what else to do right now, he fingers a G and begins plucking. G to Am to G to Bm to C to G, and starts singing, softly,

Suzanne takes you down
to her place near the river
you can hear the boats go by
you can spend the night beside her
And you know she’s half crazy

. . . .

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you think that you can trust her
For you've touched her perfect body
With your mind . . . .
Linky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otJY2HvW3Bw), because, hey! Leonard Cohen. :smallwink:

xen0phile

2012-10-10, 12:53 PM

Ese checks his watch yet again, swears to himself. He is feeling a craving for a smoke, a shower, a meal, a nightcap, and some sleep (all in that order). Deciding that he will radio Hank, Lurch, or anyone else with a walkie-talkie to see when relief will come, he removes his ear muffs, hangs them around his neck, then begins to ascend the ladder to the auditorium above (since down here, it would be difficult for his voice to be heard over the engine noise).

Inglenook

2012-10-10, 02:07 PM

ESE

You climb the ladder. About thirty feet up it leads to a small hatch in the ceiling. The sign on the hatch reads "MAINTENANCE TUNNEL: SOUND OF MUSIC LOUNGE. DO NOT USE FROM 7 AM–11 PM." You recall that the maintenance tunnel is only to be used at night, because otherwise the loud noise of the engine might disturb any shows or speakers onstage.

It's within the acceptable hours, but technically you aren't supposed to leave the engine room whatsoever. If Hank shows up while you're in the tunnel, you'll be in pretty big trouble. The choice is yours.

From this angle you can see Lurch through the soundproof window of one of the offices. It's hard to read his mood because his face is always so expressionless, but he appears to be flipping through the engineers' work schedule.

1
JOHN

As you walk down the corridor toward the main stairs and elevators, you reflect back on what you've learned about your target over the last few days of watching his activity aboard the ship.

Harmon Schultz. 64. CEO for a well-known banking company. A kind-looking, grandfatherly man, who seemed in good health for the first few days, but you later noticed him leaning heavily on a cane. He leaves his room (1510 on Deck 10) each morning at 7:45 on the dot, always accompanied by one of the other board members, a gaunt, ugly man named Speck. The meetings run off and on until 4 PM, at which point Schultz usually retires back to his cabin. Once or twice you've seen him eat dinner at the captain's table, and he occasionally leaves to wander the upper decks late at night. But otherwise he keeps to himself. You haven't seen him since the Cayman Islands, and there's the distinct possibility that he might have left the ship already.

You arrive at the map of Deck 03 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck03.gif). Aside from the cabins and the bottom floor of the Centrum, there's not much here. There's a small art gallery just down the way, and at the stern is Vincent's Dining Room. The ship's restaurant manager shut it down yesterday for unexplained reasons, so it should be empty.

1
MAXWELL

Rebecca's eyes flicker for a fraction of a second before affecting a look of rehearsed disinterest. "I don't know about any of that," she says flatly, polishing a glass. "People are sick, but no one has died. It's just a stomach bug."

"Bullshirrrrrt," the drunk woman sitting nearby blurts out. Rebecca frowns but says nothing, grabbing a rag and heading across the room to wipe down tables. "I saw irrt," the drunk continues. "And they didn't jurrst die; they were kirrlled."

1
TAL

With the departure of the reader, you're alone on the uppermost deck. You can hear muffled music from the Viking Crown Lounge above, and looking over the railing to the deck below, you can see someone in the hot tub and a young woman with a cane standing alone, staring out at the ocean.

xen0phile

2012-10-10, 02:40 PM

Noticing Lurch, Ese decides to ask him what's up. Ese climbs back down the ladder, re-dons the earmuffs, then begins to walk toward the office.

Inglenook

2012-10-10, 04:05 PM

ESE

Lurch looks up from the schedule as you enter the office, flooding it with the din of the engine. Shutting the door behind you reduces the noise to a pleasant hum.

Standing at over six-and-a-half feet tall with mournful, hooded eyes, it's easy to see how Terry Hrabowski obtained his nickname. He's been your assigned roommate aboard the ship ever since you began working there, and though he's a little odd and quiet, he's given you no reason to complain. He never plays loud music, never drinks, never brings women in.

"Where are Maggie and Hank?" he asks, tossing you the schedule. Hellos aren't really Lurch's thing. "They were supposed to be in for us twenty minutes ago. I tried to get Maggie by radio," he holds up his walkie-talkie, "but she didn't answer. Have you tried Hank?"

Drynwyn

2012-10-10, 04:41 PM

Hmm. Let's review my options. Possibility one: Target has disembarked before planned point. I report that the hit became impossible. Irritating, and I don't get payed, but it happens to the best of us. Possibility 2:He's alive and in his cabin. 3; he's wandering, 4, he's sick.

I bet one of the other meeting attendees would know...
On this plan, John will leave to search the decks for someone else who's been at the meeting. This "speck" fellow, or anyone dressed for a meeting.

Inglenook

2012-10-10, 05:13 PM

Which decks would you like to search, Drynwyn, and which way would you like to take to get there?

Using this (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/ship.png) map:

1 - Medical Facility
2–12 - Accessible decks; 2 through 10 are the only decks with cabins
13 - Open-air officers' deck, not open to passengers
14 - Viking Crown Lounge
15 - Engine Room

Green = stairwells. Yellow = elevators.

On the left side of the map (sternward) is the secondary staircase and elevators. Midship is the Centrum, a five-story open area that cuts through decks 3 to 7. The elevator here is glass. On the right side of the map (bowward) is the main staircase and elevators.

Asherion

2012-10-10, 05:18 PM

"Hmm." Maxwell says, eyeing the bartender speculatively. "Are you sure you've not heard anything else? Can't hurt to shoot the breeze about rumors, can it? I'm just curious, is all."

Fast Talk (14): [roll0]

Thus far, he appears to have heard the drunk and chosen to disregard her. He swallows down his drink and turns off and pockets the somewhat useless phone.

Stegyre

2012-10-10, 05:41 PM

TAL

With the departure of the reader, you're alone on the uppermost deck. You can hear muffled music from the Viking Crown Lounge above, and looking over the railing to the deck below, you can see someone in the hot tub and a young woman with a cane standing alone, staring out at the ocean.
Perception check to see if he notices the cane is white: [roll0]
OOC: Mm, depending upon how obvious it is and how well lit, that may or may not succeed. I'll assume he does not notice it.
Caressing the curve of her body one last time, Tal puts Marie back in her case and fastens the latches.

Since she's not looking at him and there is no one else to make note of it, he takes another look at the woman on the deck below. Not that anything would ever come of it, but I like how she improves the scenery.

Then he heads forward to the central elevators to ride down to his cabin on deck six and stow the guitar. Six flights of stairs are too many carrying a guitar case. It would look funny. I'll take the stairs back up. If nothing else is going on, I can walk around the deck and at least enjoy the breeze, looking up, and the stars.

As he heads forward, he murmurs another song under his breath,
A long, long time ago,
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile . . . .

xen0phile

2012-10-10, 05:55 PM

Removing the ear muffs again to properly converse with Lurch, Ese lets out a frustrated sigh upon hearing Lurch's query. "Oh man, I was gunna ask the same. No idea." Ese offers an exacerbated shrug. "Let me try to call for Hank." He sets the schedule back on the desk, turns his back to Lurch (so that there will be less feedback from using two walkie-talkies in the same room), pulls out his radio, depresses the PTT button, "Hank? ¡Oye, Hank! Are you there, bro?"

Inglenook

2012-10-10, 07:18 PM

ESE

Nothing but static. Lurch frowns. "So what gives? Neither of them was sick. You don't think they're … ? You know." Looking sheepish, he makes a crude gesture using both of his hands.

You're in the small, cramped office of the chief engineer Lukas Haas. Several filing cabinets stuffed with maintenance records line the walls. On the desk is a battered desktop computer, a blotter calendar, some photos, and an old-fashioned Bakelite telephone connected to the intra-ship telephone system.

1
MAXWELL

Rebecca looks around uncertainly, dropping her rag to the table. "You promise you won't say anything, right? I need this job, and I don't want to get fired for …" She sees the look on your face and decides to continue.

"Okay, so I'm not sure how true it is," she says, keeping her voice low so the drunk woman doesn't hear, "but I heard that a few of the sick people have died so far. Seizures, bleeding out, that sort of thing. My roommate said she heard that one of the doctors thinks it might be a strain of ebola. The weird thing is, some of the other sick people just went crazy—like "hurting people" crazy. They said that a woman got torn apart in the Deck 05 bathrooms last night. A few of the crazies are supposed to be locked up in the brig, and a lot more are restrained in the med facility?"

She gives a nervous laugh. "It's crazy, isn't it? Like something out of a zombie movie."

1
TAL

Yeah, you didn't notice the white cane.
As you step into the elevator, you make note of the Deck 12 map (http://i.imgur.com/ZuYAN.gif).

As you exit on Deck 06, and spot the Deck 06 (http://i.imgur.com/GtnxV.gif) map. And your room is right beside the elevators, which is very convenient.

Shortly past your room is a sheet of unbroken translucent plastic stretching from floor to ceiling. Over half the deck has been cordoned off for "renovation", although it doesn't look to you like anyone has worked on it in quite a while. Beyond the plastic is darkness, mitigated only slightly by the light of the Centrum from the other side of the ship.

The deck is otherwise quiet.

Asherion

2012-10-10, 07:42 PM

Maxwell nods. "Of course I won't say anything. And listen, I'm sure we're going to be just fine, here. The captain knows what he's doing." he says, with a false reassuring voice. "I'm going to head up for a smoke and some fresh air. Thanks for the chat." he says with a smile.

Maxwell stands, sliding his glass and a tip onto the bar, and strolls out of the room (assuming no further contact by the others).

If uninterrupted, he will continue up the nearest elevator or stairs to the top deck (unless there's a better place nearby that he'd already know, with a sky view and such).

xen0phile

2012-10-10, 10:20 PM

Ese stiffles a chuckle at Lurch's suggestion. "Ay, qué conchudos. Puesss... did you try to call her cabin?" Ese asks, motioning to the old phone on the desk.

Stegyre

2012-10-11, 12:22 AM

Shortly past your room is a sheet of unbroken translucent plastic stretching from floor to ceiling. Over half the deck has been cordoned off for "renovation", although it doesn't look to you like anyone has worked on it in quite a while. Beyond the plastic is darkness, mitigated only slightly by the light of the Centrum from the other side of the ship.

The deck is otherwise quiet.
Tal nudges the plastic sheeting with the end of the guitar case. Or maybe I explore the dark, creepy area of the deck that has been sheeted off just down from my cabin and am never seen again, he thinks. Wasn't there a Dr. Who episode like this? Loads of Cybermen hiding in the "under renovation" section of a building?

He opens the cabin door and puts the guitar away. "Marie, if anything happens to me, remember that I always loved you most. I want you to have everything -- except the hiking stick and the iPhone."

He grabs the hiking stick, just in case, And because hiking sticks are cool, and because hiking sticks are cool. iPhone in hand, . . . he hears a noise in the hallway outside his cabin.

Drynwyn

2012-10-11, 04:15 PM

John decides to start by searching the deck he is on. May as well. He'll start by checking the centrum, then the any open-air portions of the deck.

Inglenook

2012-10-11, 07:12 PM

ESE

Lurch punches in the number to Maggie's room. No answer. "What's Hank's cabin number? 2082?" he asks, dialing. No answer. One-by-one he tries the numbers of each of the other engineers: Luke, Dattatraya, Bob, Sue, Zhao. No answer.

Out of options, Lurch looks at the list of emergency numbers printed on the side of the phone, and calls the ships' bridge.

No answer.

"This … isn't normal," Lurch says at last, staring at you with unreadable eyes. "What do you think we should do?"

1
JOHN

It's pretty unlikely that one of the bankers at the meeting would still be wandering about in business attire, given that the meetings end at 4 in the afternoon and it's past midnight now. But aside from visiting Schultz's cabin and seeing if he's in there, it's the best shot you have at the moment.

You make your way to the Centrum (http://cruiseweb.com/royal-caribbean-photos/monarch-of-the-seas/Centrum.jpg): an open lobby in the center of the ship that cuts through several decks. It's almost mall-like, with some of the decks having small shops that ring the lobby.

Deck 03 is the bottom floor of the Centrum. There are a few people sitting on benches and walking up the stairs—far fewer people than normal, you note—but no one is dressed especially dapperly.

There's not much else on this deck aside from the adjoining Art Gallery (a rectangular room which anyone may wander through at any time) and Vincent's Dining Room further toward the stern. You can see a "Temporarily Closed" placard in the doorway.

The nearest open-air deck is Deck 07, which is has a walkway encircling the ship. The larger open-air decks are 11 and 12.

1
MAXWELL

You leave the bar and make your way to the secondary elevators near the stern, making note of the Deck 07 map (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck07.gif).

There's a door in the wall near the elevators, and you suddenly realize that you won't need to go to the top deck after all! Deck 07 has an open-air walkway circling the ship.

You step through the door and out onto the deck. The ocean and sky are dark, but the ship is brightly lit and you have no problem seeing.

You are on the starboard side of the ship on the walkway of Deck 07, close to the stern. No one else appears to be here.

You remember from your mandatory orientation shortly after boarding the ship that this is where the lifeboats launch from. In fact, the lifeboats hang directly over your head, blocking the sky somewhat, although if you move toward the stern a little bit (or go all the way to the bow), you'll have a clear view.

1
TAL

As you are in your cabin putting away Marie and grabbing your walking stick, you hear a strange rustling and tearing sound coming from somewhere outside your cabin door.

The door closed behind you and locked automatically. There is a peephole in the door.

You might wanna edit out the latter half of your post about going into the dark area. Things may be happening soon. :c x

Stegyre

2012-10-11, 07:25 PM

TAL

As you are in your cabin putting away Marie and grabbing your walking stick, you hear a strange rustling and tearing sound coming from somewhere outside your cabin door.

The door closed behind you and locked automatically. There is a peephole in the door.
Workers? Maybe, they could have them work late so as not to disturb the passengers.

He pauses to think that through: No. The cabins would be occupied at night and empty during the day, so it would make sense for them to work during the day so as not to disturb people trying to sleep.

And I looked: there was no light down that way. "Workers" wouldn't be working in the dark.

Maybe someone else thought they'd explore, but if so, they sure aren't trying to be discrete about it.

This is creepy.

Holding the stick tightly in hand, Tal puts his eye up to the peephole to see what he can see.

Inglenook

2012-10-11, 07:42 PM

TAL

From the narrow view of your peephole, you see nothing but the opposite wall of the corridor and the cheap runner on the floor.

Suddenly, in the distance, you hear what sounds like a furious roar followed by a child's scream. From outside your door and to the right, you hear the thump of feet, which fades quickly as whoever it is sprints in the direction of the roar and scream.

Asherion

2012-10-11, 08:14 PM

Maxwell paces down the deck slowly, towards the stern, until the sky is clear above him, scanning the deck and any other area of the visible ship as he walks for any nearby people in sight or hearing.

When past the lifeboats, etc, he leans against the rail, retrieves a cigarette and his lighter, and lights his cigarette up.

If needed for looking about the ship and noticing things:
Per(10): [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-11, 08:44 PM

MAXWELL

You glance around as you pace the deck, creeped out somewhat by the stillness. Aside from the breaking of the sea against the ship and the steady thrum of the engine, there is no sound.

As you reach the stern and light up a cigarette, you catch the briefest whiff of … something. Strangely, it reminds you of the times right after college when you opened up your bank branch: the smell of pennies.

There are two small staircases near the stern on Deck 07 that lead to the emergency exits of the Sound of Music Lounge balcony level. Sniffing at the air, you peer around the corner of the staircase nearest you.

A man lies on his back near the ship's railing in a large pool of blood.

Asherion

2012-10-11, 08:58 PM

Maxwell puts away the lighter hurriedly, and begins to move towards the man, wondering if he is dead, or in need of medical help. Then he pauses, falters in his forward movement, and recalls the bartender's words:

"but I heard that a few of the sick people have died so far. Seizures, bleeding out, that sort of thing. My roommate said she heard that one of the doctors thinks it might be a strain of ebola.

Maxwell hesitates. Ah... man. He takes a drag on the cigarette as he turns and rushes towards the stairwell, Where would be the nearest place to get crew help that Maxwell would be aware of? Or would he know?, calling out "Help, anyone around here, there's a man hurt over here!"

Inglenook

2012-10-11, 09:42 PM

MAXWELL

There doesn't appear to be anyone within hearing distance. And with the engine and propeller being almost directly below you, the noise drowns out your calls quite a bit.

Normally you would report any injury to the nearest crew member and they would contact the medical facility, but you haven't seen any staff since talking to Rebecca in the bar.

If you continue up the stairs, you'll enter the upper balcony (Deck 07) of the Sound of Music Lounge through the emergency exit.

The man does not appear to be moving that you can tell from this distance. You notice a few splatters of blood past the man that appear to go around the stern toward the port side of the ship.

Holy cow, I'm dumb. The dice roller on this forum throws me for a loop. :smallsigh:

Asherion

2012-10-11, 10:07 PM

Looking up the staircase, and still listening for passerby, Maxwell will begin to jog up the starboard side of the ship, on this observation deck, looking for people, and occasionally calling out for help.

Damn. I know there's a sickness going around, but... where is everyone? Maxwell begins to worry, now, in earnest, and as he passes the lifeboats again, wonders where exactly the ship is located, and what's going to happen if it really is ebola, or something as bad. A lot of those diseases are hardly controllable, and it's certainly not my choice of ways to go...

xen0phile

2012-10-11, 11:08 PM

Ese's initial look of amusement at the suggestion of intra-crew fraternization turns to puzzlement, then fear. "Pues. J****... I'm, pues... I'm worried now. Okay. I'm going to go topside, run to the bridge, but I...", he lets out an anxious sigh and begins unconsciously grinding the beads of his rosary with his left hand, "I think you should prepare that we might evacuate the ship. Osea the bridge not answering the phone, I'm worried something bad is happening. I have the radio, so I can update you."

The route he plans to take to the bridge is to first climb the ladder into the auditorium, head to the elevator, go up to deck 12, walk across the deck to the bridge.

Stegyre

2012-10-12, 12:39 AM

TAL
Suddenly, in the distance, you hear what sounds like a furious roar followed by a child's scream. From outside your door and to the right, you hear the thump of feet, which fades quickly as whoever it is sprints in the direction of the roar and scream.
OOC: This is creepy enough that it may warrant a Combat Paralysis check: the "right" thing to do, in Tal's mind, is to go to the aid of a child in danger, but with what he just heard outside the cabin door and other goings on, on the ship and elsewhere. He may freeze up. I'll make the roll and let that guide his actions:
HT check Combat Paralysis: [roll0]

He passes. Time to do something rash and unwise.
Stick firmly in hand, Tal throws open the cabin door and races in the direction of the screaming.

Inglenook

2012-10-12, 12:48 PM

ESE, MAXWELL & TAL

— short downtime until John gets caught up to your approximate time —

Drynwyn

2012-10-12, 02:54 PM

John will head up the centrum to the deck his target's cabin is on.

Inglenook

2012-10-12, 03:16 PM

JOHN

The Centrum only goes up to Deck 07. As you take the stairs up through the levels of the Centrum, you pass by Deck 06. Everything around the lobby here is dark, and has been sectioned off with clearish plastic sheeting. A sign nearby says "This portion of the deck closed for renovation. To reach the cabins, please use the main staircase or elevators." There is a hole in the sheeting here, and through it you can make out faint light coming from the cabin area on the far side of the renovation area. You can hear what sounds like a pounding and yelling, but it's likely someone partying or something who's sick; either way, you have a mission to finish.

You continue up to the top floor of the Centrum (Deck 07), where you take the nearest elevator the rest of the way up.

Deck 10 is unnervingly quiet. You glance at the map of Deck 10 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck10.gif) near the elevator.

Schultz's room is 1510, down the corridor to your left and just around the corner out of view. And right beside his room is the ship's bridge.

Drynwyn

2012-10-12, 03:40 PM

The ship's bridge is probably manned- best not to be spotted this near the target. John will carefully sneak by.
stealth: [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-12, 04:02 PM

JOHN

Thankfully you should be able to get to Schultz's room without passing in front of the door to the bridge. Still, it can't hurt to be quiet. As you creep down the corridor, you hear the sound of someone crying ahead, and a muffled screaming/thumping. You round the corner.

A man sits slumped with his back against the door of the bridge, his face buried in his hands. The screaming is coming from behind the door, and it vibrates noticeably as someone on the other side throws themselves against it. The crying man doesn't appear to have noticed you.

Suddenly, from down the short corridor to your left, a voice speaks out: "We've been expecting you, Mr. Smith."

The ugly man named Speck stands in front of the door to 1510 about ten feet away, the pistol in his hand aimed at your head. He looks to be in his mid-sixties, gaunt and totally bald, with large ears and cold eyes the color of dishwater. Not taking his eyes away from you, he unlocks the door to 1510 with his free hand and pushes it open. "Mr. Schultz would like to have a word with you."

Drynwyn

2012-10-12, 04:50 PM

If I get out of this alive, my employer and I are going to have words. I wasn't immediately shot, so either a) He can't prove what he knows and doesn't want to risk a murder charge or b) He needs/wants me alive for some reason. I might be able to weasel out of this if it's a, but if I try and talk my way out and it's b, then I'll probably end up shot... Hopefully he doesn't know about my bulletproof vest. John will walk into Mr. Schultz's room.

Inglenook

2012-10-12, 05:58 PM

ESE

The bridge is actually on Deck 10, strangely enough, right beside the high-class cabins. The elevator near the office you're in will take you directly to the Deck 10 without having to muck about on ladders and in auditoriums and the like. Normally the elevators don't go down into the engine room, but you can call them down with your engineering keycard (conveniently placed in your inventory just now!). Let me know if you'd rather take the elevator instead.
1
MAXWELL

You run up the length of the starboard side, shouting for help. The entirety of the deck in front of you is deserted.

You're almost to the door that leads inside right beside the Bolero Lounge when someone rounds the curve of the bow ahead of you, running in your direction. You feel a wave of relief as you see the white uniform and cap of a crewman, but the feeling is suddenly doused as you notice the way he's running toward you at a full sprint. And as he draws closer you can hear the strange noise he's making—a hoarse scream, almost a roar.

The man is about 100 yards away and closing in quickly.

1
TAL

You rush down the corridors, noticing out of the corner of your eye that the plastic sheeting—moments ago smooth and whole—has been ripped open; someone must have torn through it mere moments ago while you were putting up Marie. You following the sound of sprinting footsteps/yelling as best you can (though the sprinter appears to be rather faster than you). The roaring and child's screaming isn't alone now—the panicked shouts of a man and woman have joined in. You turn the corner and gawk at the scene in front of you.

The door to cabin 6554 hangs awkwardly on its hinges, barely held in place, and from behind it a girl screams "Daddy! Mom!" The door to 6556 is thrown open, and a woman in a robe stands near the doorway, screaming and staring at the scene on the floor.

On the ground in front of 6554, a tall, grey-haired man is wrestling fiercely with a fat man wearing nothing but boxers. The fat man roars and thrashes, his face purple. The grey-haired man yells, "Danielle, get the kids and run!"

The woman in the robe doesn't see the danger approaching from behind. The sprinting person you were following is a trim woman in her late 40s wearing a business suit—she's lost her shoes somewhere along the way. She rushes toward the conflict and looks as if she's preparing to launch herself at the robed woman.

You are about ten yards away from the scene, and the woman in the business suit is about five.

Time for that Combat Paralysis roll!

HT 11, Combat Paralysis: [roll0]

You may take action.

Stegyre

2012-10-12, 06:37 PM

Tal's options aren't good for helping out. He's probably too far away to stop the business women from reaching the family, but maybe he can distract her, then tackle her.

HEY! he shouts, trying to distract the woman in the business suit, as he continues to run as fast as he can.

As soon as he is within range, he will swing his hiking stick at her as hard as he can, trying to hit her body or legs to knock her over or at least off course. That should hurt, but not be life threatening.

He will make an all-out-attack, committed (+4) to hit. With no skill levels and a DX-5 default, he's going to need it.
To hit: [roll0]
Damage (assuming a hit): [roll1] cr

xen0phile

2012-10-12, 08:09 PM

Asherion

2012-10-12, 10:10 PM

If the man looks threatening - he sounds and is acting threatening, (recalling that some of the diseased have been supposedly acting crazy) Maxwell will recoil, stepping into the Lounge and, if there is a door to it, snapping it shut. If no door, he will retreat into the room (and perhaps glance about for any possible weapon items, if the guy really looks threatening).

Additionally, he will look about to see who else is still in this room and, if anyone is still here, say "there's a crewman running this way, but I think he's one of the sick, he's... roaring at me"

Perception for noticing anything more about the guy, or if needed, the room I'm stepping back into?
Perception (10): [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-14, 12:23 AM

ESE

"Evacuate the ship?" Lurch blinks, running his fingers through his hair. "Man. Okay, I'm going to stay here and keep trying to get ahold of someone. Radio in and let me know what's going on."

Using your keycard, you call down the secondary elevator and ride it up to Deck 10. The deck is eerily quiet as you make your way toward the bridge at the bow of the ship.

You turn the corner and gasp slightly. A man sits in front of you, leaning with his back against the door to the bridge. Something thumps against the other side of the door … and then it screams.

The man looks up at you, and you suddenly realize that it's Captain Rendahl. He blinks at you with red-rimmed, tear-filled eyes. "There was a man here just a second ago …" he says, pointing vaguely to his right. He sounds somewhat drunk and quite frightened.

1
JOHN

Speck ushers you into 1510. It's one of the nicest cabins aboard the ship, large and well-furnished, with a small balcony. On the sofa sits Harmon Schultz, a cup of coffee in one hand and a pistol in the other. He smiles at you warmly.

"Search him, Richard, if you would," he instructs Speck. Speck tucks his gun in the back of his waistband and begins to clumsily frisk you.

I had you wearing a Tactical Vest rather than a Ballistics Vest, whoops. Fixed that now.

Holdout (10-3): [roll0]
Speck gives you a rough pat-down, but he seems to only be searching for weapons—he doesn't appear to notice the ballistic vest hidden under your clothing.

As Speck frisks you, Schultz points his gun in your direction. "I was wondering when you might get here. Waiting until the night before we arrive home, hm? By the time anyone notices I'm dead, you're off the ship and halfway back to New York. That's smart—I like it."

He motions to the half-full coffee pot sitting on a table nearby. "Would you care for some coffee?"

You can try to pull something, or you can hear what Schultz has to say.

1
MAXWELL

You stare nervously as the crewman sprints closer—close enough to see that his face is contorted in an expression of almost inhuman anger. Something isn't right here.

Adrenaline flooding your system, you drop your cigarette and rush to the nearby door, throwing yourself through it and slamming it shut just in time. The crewman skids to a stop on the other side of door and begins to beat against it, screaming. His face is clearly visible through the circular window of the door, and you notice that it's covered in broken blood vessels, as though he's been beat up.

You hear a noise behind you. Rebecca has come out of the Bolero Lounge, drawn by the sounds. Her eyes are wide. "Why doesn't he use the door handle?" she whispers.

"I think he's one of the sick," you explain.

She licks her lips nervously. "The door won't hold for long. I'm going to go call security." And with that she runs back into the Lounge.

1
SARAH

You've been standing on Deck 12 for several minutes now, and nothing has really changed aside from the person who was playing the guitar leaving. That is, until now.

Over the side of the boat—surely several decks below—you hear the faint sound of a man crying out for assistance. And moments later: an unearthly, roaring scream.

1
STEVE

Everything is dark. As if from far away, you hear a voice: "Wake up! Wake up!" The voice is strongly accented and unfamiliar, easy to ignore; you begin to drift off once again.

The harsh slap across your face snaps you back to reality. You're staring up into the face of one of the cruise ship maids: a skinny, plain-faced Hispanic woman in her mid-thirties with short, flyaway hair. Her eyes are dark and intense. "Sorry for hitting you," she says, her eyes softening for a moment, "but you have to wake up." She looks around nervously, and it's then that you notice the banging sound and the roaring.

You remember now. Normally you worked out of the paramedics' station in the medical facility on Deck 01, stabilizing any seriously ill or injured patients before bringing them down to the ship's doctors. But with the sudden outbreak of sickness, the entire medical facility was packed full of patients and you were forced to relocate to one of the conference rooms on Deck 07.

You and the other paramedic, Stan, had been quietly tending to sick patients in their rooms all night. With the med facility full, there was little you could do but gauge their symptoms and offer pain relievers.

Then a maid had radioed in, slightly frantic; she claimed she had knocked on a cabin door and someone inside suddenly began screaming and throwing themselves at the door from the other side. You called security, remembering what had happened with the old man on the first day of the cruise—biting and clawing at everyone around him—but no one answered. With no other options and the maid telling you to hurry, you went down to Deck 02 and opened the door to the cabin.

You were prepared to deal with a deranged and possibly violent passenger … but dear God, you weren't prepared for how fast he moved.

The passenger leapt out of the room and attacked. In less than a second, Stan was lying on the ground gurgling, his throat torn out. You tried to beat the passenger off him but it was too late. And then the maid was there tugging at your hand, pulling you down the hall. And then the passenger gave chase.

The maid had pulled you through a doorway and slammed the door just before the passenger reached it. She pulled at a heavy metal rack standing beside the door … and then darkness. And now you're here.

You sit up groggily, rubbing the swollen lump on top of your head. "Sorry," the maid says. "When I pulled over the rack to put against the door, this rolled off the top shelf and hit your head." She holds up an industrial-sized container of carpet cleaner.

You are in a largish supply closet close to the bow on Deck 02. There are many shelves and racks full of linens, pillows, toiletries, spare electrical parts, etc. The only door leading in or out of the room rattles on its hinges as the passenger who killed Stan throws his weight against it from the other side. The metal rack braces it somewhat, but the door looks like it won't hold up against such an onslaught for long.

1
TAL

You shout at the suit-wearing woman while running, trying to distract her, but she is too intently focused on her target. At the sound of your voice, the robed lady—Danielle, the man called her—turns. Her eyes widen as she sees the suited woman rushing at her, and she dodges nimbly out of the way.

The grey-haired man has pinned the roaring fat man to the floor, and lands a solid punch across his cheek. The fat man snaps at the grey-haired man's hand, but otherwise can do nothing but thrash around helplessly. The grey-haired man punches him again.

The suited woman lunges at Danielle once more, trying to claw at her, but again Danielle manages to jump out of the way.

You're there now. You swing your walking stick as hard as you can at the suited woman's head, but you swing goes wide and hits the wall instead. The suit woman turns, realizing that you're there, and roars.

dekova

2012-10-14, 02:12 AM

Staggering to his feet, Steve nearly crashes into the rack as he tries to steady himself. Blinking his eyes as his vision clears, he scans the room to assess the situation.

Then he starts to tear through the supplies on the shelves.

"Call security if you still have your radio. If this guy breaks in you let me deal with him and you just run as fast as you can."

Steve stops his frantic search for just a moment and looks the maid in the eye. "You understand me Ma'am? You run."

Steve's looking for pipe, hammer, flashlight, etc. to use as a weapon. You had to stick Steve in the pillow closet, eh?

Asherion

2012-10-14, 08:02 AM

Maxwell hurries after Rebecca, talking as they go. "What else have you heard, you have to know something. Is this curable? Is there a way to... calm him down? Make him stop? If not, we need to get away from here. Or barricade the door, or find something to defend ourselves with. The guy's obviously completely insane, and it looks like he's been fighting already."

Maxwell glances around nervously. "How long do security usually take? Hell, will security even come? If the staff are roaming sick, are there any security?"

Realization washes over his face as he continues this line of thought.

"... how do we even know there's anyone still driving the ship?"

Drynwyn

2012-10-14, 09:24 AM

No thank you. Caffeine leaves me jittery
If he knows what I'm up to, he's quite competent. That means that since he didn't shoot me right away, he probably has something he needs me for. Let's hear what that is.

xen0phile

2012-10-14, 09:48 AM

"Captain! What... What's happening on the bridge? Who's in control of the ship?"

Inglenook

2012-10-14, 05:21 PM

ESE

Captain Rendahl sniffs and rises shakily to his feet. "The autopilot is on, so unless we run across something in the water we should be okay until we have to dock. But the bridge is … inaccessible." The pounding on the door behind him continues unabated.

He stares at you now as if noticing you for the first time. "Your uniform—You work in engineering?" he asks. "Things are out of control. We need to find Dr. Bruckner and Dr. Holm. We may have to evacuate the ship."

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/mortenrendahl.png

If you allow him to, Morten Rendahl will join your party.
1
JOHN

Speck finishes his search and readies his gun once again. "He's clean."

Schultz smiles. "Please, have a seat, Mr. Smith." With his gun barrel pressing into your back, Speck guides you into an overstuffed armchair. Schultz pours a cup of coffee for you before refilling his own cup and sitting back down on the sofa. "You should drink it anyway; I imagine we have a long night ahead of us," he sighs.

The room as silent as Schultz sips his coffee. It's several long moments before he speaks.

"You were sent here to kill me, I assume? I've been wondering for several days how you'd go about it. Gun? Knife? Smothering me in my sleep? You don't strike me as the poisoning type … but yes, I could definitely imagine you with a gun. I normally take my morning coffee on the balcony, but I've been forced inside for the last several days in fear that you'd put a bullet through my head.

"Now I'm not doubting your ability as an assassin, Mr. Smith, but I must say that you're an awful shadower. I noticed you following me on the second day. It was fairly easy to have you followed back to your room and to get your name from the passenger roster. Please tell that's your real name! With a name as unassuming as 'John Smith' you almost have to grow up to be a criminal." He chuckles.

"I also assume you're from the New York area. I don't suppose a hitman cares why he's been sent to kill someone, but without going into a lot of boring detail: I made several very prominent New York Mafia families very angry. And the fact that I scheduled my bank's business meetings aboard this particular ship as a cover to meet with a particular group of people probably enraged them further. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to kill me."

Schultz stands, going over to a nearby desk and bringing back a laptop. It's attached to a wire that trails out of the room onto the balcony. You can see what looks like a small satellite dish mounted to the balcony railing. "I'm certainly not paying ten dollars an hour to use the substandard Internet on these cruise ships," Schultz explains, "and more to the point, I don't trust their security of the connection." He clicks around on his laptop for a moment before looking at you. "You may wonder why I'm telling you all this, Mr. Smith, but given our situation I believe full disclosure is in order. That's why I want to show you this." He turns the laptop to face you.

The website shows one of those streaming webcams that are sometimes set up in the busy areas of major cities—in this case, Times Square in Manhattan. Smoke and the wailing of sirens fills the air. The pavement is slick with blood and gore. Hundreds and hundreds of people mill across the screen, their faces bruised and their eyes red. There is the sound of shattering glass and a scream, and a body suddenly falls from above and thumps heavily to the ground. The red-eyed people roar and leap upon it like animals.

"That's what happens to the people who get sick, Mr. Smith. They die or they turn into that. It's happening on this ship. And it's happening everywhere." Schultz clicks several of the other webcams—Trafalgar Square, Tiananmen Square, Piazza Navona, all the same. He closes the laptop.

"As you can see, there is a very strong likelihood that the people who hired you to kill me are already dead. You're obviously an intelligent man, and if the Mafia hired you then you must be capable at what you do. And that's why I'd like to cut a deal with you.

"The security I had with me … well, they fell ill." His eyes flicker in the direction of the cabin's bedroom. "So I would like to hire you to be my security detail. If you can ensure my safe passage to where I want to go, you'll be handsomely rewarded. Money will likely be worthless if things on the mainland are as bad as they seem, but there are other ways I can pay you: supplies, weapons, a safe haven. Whatever you want, Mr. Smith, it will be yours. And if you discover that your previous employers are still alive, by some miracle, by all means feel free to kill me then.

"I realize, of course, that this is a lot to take in at once." He sounds unusually sympathetic for a man who's pointing a gun at you. "Before you consider my offer, do you have any questions? Comments? Complaints?" Schultz smiles and leans back, taking a drink of his coffee and peering at you over the edge of the cup.

1
MAXWELL

"I told you everything I know already. How am I supposed to know whether 'insane ****head-itis' is curable?" Rebecca snaps as you follow her into the lounge. Suddenly she cries out, "Hey, you can't be back there!"

The drunk lady from earlier stands behind the bar, a bottle of vodka in her hand. She smashes it against the countertop, splashing the bar with alcohol and shard of glass, and waves the broken bottle agitatedly. "I'm norrt gorring torr lerrt therrm gerrt me lirrke they gorrt Don." She weaves drunkenly past you toward the entrance to the lounge, staring at the sick crewman on the other side of the door.

Rebecca looks as if she wants to complain further, but instead she picks up the phone behind the bar and dials a number. She holds it to her ear for almost thirty seconds before putting it back down with a trembling hand. "Security isn't answering," she says.

1
STEVE

"I—I think I dropped the radio in the hall," the maid says.

You dig through the shelves, but it all seems to be cleaning supplies, spare bedclothes and bathroom stuff. The closest thing to a weapon you can find is a broken alarm clock. There is a fire extinguisher on the wall, though.

"Wait!" the maid cries. "There's another way out of here. Está aquí—" She runs to the back of the room, past the rows of shelves, and you hear the sliding of a metal grate. "It's the freight elevator!" she calls out. "It goes from the laundry room below Deck 01 all the way up to Deck 10!"

A large crack appears in the door, and it buckles inward.

Asherion

2012-10-14, 05:56 PM

Maxwell looks around exasperatedly. "All right, fine. Listen... we need to get out of here. Head maybe to a higher deck, the security office... do you know where that is, and are you two coming with me? We should stick together." he turns to Rebecca again, "And is there anything we can use for a weapon around here, in case we get attacked by one of these nutjobs?"

Maxwell eyes the door carefully now as he speaks, studying the crazy attacker (if there's a window in the door).

Fast Talk(14): [roll0] if needed to persuade them to come with me

Inglenook

2012-10-14, 06:46 PM

MAXWELL

Rebecca looks uncertain, but the cracking sound of the door seems to make up her mind. She rummages around behind the bar, handing you a long, awl-like ice pick and taking a serrated fruit knife for herself.

"The security office is on Deck 01 beside the med facility; we have to take the main stairwell or elevators to get there. And the officers and stuff are probably on the upper decks. It's your call," she says.

The drunk woman wobbles over, clutching her broken bottle tightly. "Irr'm corrming too. My narrme's Brerrnda Pellerrgrino," she says by way of introduction. And then she vomits all over the floor.

The ice pick will be added to your equipment.

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/brendapellegrino.png http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/rebeccaunderwood.png

If you allow them to, Brenda Pellegrino and Rebecca Underwood will join your party.

Asherion

2012-10-14, 06:57 PM

Maxwell accepts the ice pick, and then turns to Rebecca. "All right, let's head down to the security office first. "

If the stairwell is enclosed, then Maxwell will prefer it for being less entrapped, while still not exposed to any more of the crazies (if they're all as nuts as this guy). If stairs are more open, Maxwell will indicate the elevator.

Maxwell will accept both into the party, despite reservations against the drunk. And will accept the pick.

"Let's head out the port side quiet as we can so that we don't attract that guy's attention" Maxwell says.

xen0phile

2012-10-14, 07:16 PM

"Yes, engine room. With Lurch, osea Terry Hru-Harbowski. We could not call any of the other engineers. We tried calling the bridge. Nothing. So I come up here. A moment, please." Ese takes out the walkie-talkie, depresses the PTT button. "Lurch! I'm with the Captain, outside of bridge. The bridge is, ehh, is inaccessible. I'm going with the Captain to find the doctors, but things, este, things are bad enough we might need to evacuate."

Drynwyn

2012-10-14, 09:14 PM

I accept. It seems unlikely that I'd get paid for killing you.

First and foremost, we'll want to pick up my rifle from my quarters on deck 3. It could be useful, and I'm more than a little attached to it. In the meantime, unless you have another weapon available, it might be best if Richard and I took the guns, though if you want to remain armed, I would understand.
After that, we have 3 options that seems truly viable. If we manage to kill or quarantine those who are infected, then we could remain on the ship almost indefinitely. Alternatively, if we located someone who knows how to drive the ship, we could take it to somewhere free of infection, if such a place exists. While elimination or quarantine makes that easier, it is not a necessity.

If you don't think we could handle the infected, then we could locate a lifeboat. We'd want to raid other lifeboats for supplies, to ensure that we survive until we reach land. It's your choice, Mr. Schmaltz, unless you have another plan.

Stegyre

2012-10-14, 09:36 PM

Hiking sticks may be cool, but Tal is realizing that he has no skill for fighting with one. "Get us something to tie them up with," he shouts, without taking his eyes of business-suit woman.

Then dropping his stick, he throws himself at b-sw and tries to grapple her in a bear hug.
Another all-out-attack, committed (+4) against basic DX: [roll0]

dekova

2012-10-14, 09:41 PM

"Get the elevator, we need to get to security!"

Steve starts retreating towards the back of the room. As he passes each set of shelves he gives it a big heave to pull it over, hoping the tangle of metal and supplies will slow their crazed attacker. Passing the fire extinguisher, he pulls it from the wall.

If they manage to get in the elevator:

They're pressing button for level 1.
Steve's standing towards the front (in front of the maid) holding the fire extinguisher as a weapon.

Inglenook

2012-10-14, 11:07 PM

ESE

Lurch's voice crackles over the walkie-talkie: "Is there anything I should do? Wait, hold on one second—"

1
JOHN

Schultz claps his hands and grins. "Excellent! A pragmatist like myself. And a sniper rifle, is it? Good thing I didn't sit out on the balcony after all. Yes, go get it from your room. Richard will join you. Go get Mr. Smith a pistol from the bedroom, Richard, so that he can defend himself properly on the way down."

Speck pales noticeably, his mouth tightening, but says nothing. He opens the bedroom door and you see three corpses lying on the bed—Schultz's former security. Their faces are hideously contorted, and each of them sports a round bullet hole in the center of their forehead. Speck pulls a pistol out of one of the corpse's shoulder holster and returns to the main room, handing it to you.

Schultz stands and shakes your hand. "My life is in your hands, Mr. Smith. But I trust you. After you get your gun we will need to leave the ship; I imagine things will begin to escalate rather quickly, given the number of sick passengers still aboard. Once we get ashore we can begin the task of getting me to where I need to go. I'm going to stay here and pack a few things."

He hands you a walkie-talkie. "Be back as soon as you can, Mr. Smith."

The pistol will be added to your equipment.

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/richardspeck.png

If you allow him to, Richard Speck will join your party.
1
MAXWELL

Your group leaves via the port side of the bar so that the madman doesn't see you. The stairs between decks are large and open, so you opt for the elevators instead. The ride down is unpleasant, since Brenda stinks of vomit and alcohol.

— short downtime until everyone's at the same speed —
1
STEVE

The elevator goes down to the laundry room, which is in the "engine room" area of the ship. But from there you can make it up to Deck 01. Is that what you'd like to do?
1
TAL

"I don't have any rope!" Danielle yells, but runs into her cabin anyway. The grey-haired man remains on top of the fat man, pummeling away.

You and the suited woman square off. She snarls and prepares to lunge, but you strike first, rushing at her and successfully pinning her in a bear-hug against the wall.

With your faces almost touching, the woman opens her jaws wide and snaps at your face—but you lean away from her jaws just in time.

Inglenook

2012-10-14, 11:51 PM

STEVE

You grab the fire extinguisher from the wall and begin knocking over shelves in order to slow the man who is breaking his way in. His arm sticks through the hole he's made in the door and claws at the air.

"It's here!" the maid yells as the freight elevator locks in place with a clang! You both quickly enter it and she presses the button for the laundry room. The last thing you see as the elevator sinks below the floor level is the man's entire upper body wedged through the hole in the door.

The laundry room is a grubby, rectangular room with high ceilings. Pipes stick out from the walls, connected to the massive washing, drying and pressing machines that fill the room. No laundry has been done since the ship left the Cayman Islands, and piles of dirty linens and towels litter the floor. A few, you notice, are covered in what looks like blood.

The maid is trembling somewhat as she steps over the piles. "The main elevator would take us to right outside the security office," she says, "but I think you have to have a card to call it down to this level. There should be a hatch or something that leads up there, though."

You exit the laundry room and step into a long, pipe-filled corridor. To your right you can hear an echoing voice and the squeal of a walkie-talkie: "Is there anything I should do? Wait, hold on one second—" There is a moment of silence before the voice calls out tentatively, "Hello? Is someone out there?"

dekova

2012-10-15, 12:05 AM

Steve sets down the fire extinguisher with a clang and guides the maid down the hall at a brisk pace.

"It's Steve, Stevio Bovio, ship paramedic. Do you have a radio? We've got an emergency and need security."

xen0phile

2012-10-15, 12:06 AM

While Ese waits for Lurch to come back, he turns to Rendahl. Absent-mindely fingering his necklace, he gestures to the bridge door, "Hey. Are we safe here? Maybe we should start walking to the hospital? Also, like, is there more danger? Should I tell Terry to, ehhh, check that no one messes with the engines?"

Stegyre

2012-10-15, 10:22 AM

"Get some socks to stick in their mouths, so they can't bite. Tear some sheets, get belts or suspenders -- anything we can tie them up with. Little girl: get us some pillow cases to put over their heads. If they can't see, they'll have a harder time fighting."

Tal will try to knock out b-s w's legs to force her to the ground - on her stomach, if he can manage it - and will try to pin her there. Assuming he gets the supplies, he will tie her hands behind her back, tie her legs, gag and blindfold her.
I am AFB, but I believe that is at least two more rolls: one to take down and one to pin. He will do everything as AOA committed, figuring that his best defense is a very strong offense:
Takedown [roll0]
Pin-if-takedown-succeeds [roll1]

Edit: looks like the takedown should succeed. He will keep trying to pin until that succeeds, too.

Inglenook

2012-10-15, 01:24 PM

ESE

Captain Rendahl nods, wiping his eyes and staring at the door with a strange expression. "Good idea. And can I see that radio?" You hand it to him, and as you walk toward the main elevators he begins switching the frequency and calling various stations on the ship, to no avail. As he flips the knob back to its original position, Lurch's voice crackles out: "—ome people down here who need to get up to the security office; they say it's an emergency. I'm going to take them up there, if that's cool?"

The captain depresses the speak button. "Terry, is it? This is Captain Rendahl. Get everyone down there up to Deck 01 as quickly as you can. It's an emergency. Over." He hands the walkie-talkie back to you and says, "Let's hurry."

The elevator will take you to Deck 01 outside the security office and medical facility, unless you'd like to do something else. There will be a small downtime as everyone gets caught up to the same speed.
1
STEVE

As you and the maid make your way down the corridor, an extremely tall, lanky man with a serious face pokes his head out of a doorway ahead of you. He looks slightly rattled. "Whew, okay. Sorry, I was getting kind of jumpy down here by myself. Paramedic, you said?" He hands you the his walkie-talkie, and you try to radio the security station. No answer.

The man shakes his head. "It won't do any good. I've tried calling and radioing everyone, but no one's picking up. What's going on up there? My roommate radioed and said that he's with the captain, and that we might have to abandon ship. They're going to the med center right now—"

"The medical center?" the maid interrupts. "That's right beside the security office. Can you get us up there? We need a card key to call the elevator from down here, or to open the maintenance hatch."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so, since it's an emergency." He takes back his walkie-talkie and depresses the speak button. "Ese, there are some people down here who need to get up to the security office; they say it's an emergency. I'm going to take them up there, if that's cool?"

A familiar male voice answers back: "Terry, is it? This is Captain Rendahl. Get everyone down there up to Deck 01 as quickly as you can. It's an emergency. Over."

The tall man blinks. "I guess I'm coming with you guys, then. I'm Lur—I mean Terry," he says as three of you make your way back down the corridor.

"Yolanda," the maid says simply.

You reach the elevators and Terry swipes his key card in the slot beside the doors. It dings as the elevator is called down. There is a ladder leading up to a hatch set in the ceiling right beside the elevator.

The elevator will take you to Deck 01 outside the security office and medical facility, unless you'd like to do something else. There will be a small downtime as everyone gets caught up to the same speed.

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/lurchhrabowski.png http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/yolandalopez.png

If you allow them to, Terry "Lurch" Hrabowski and Yolanda Lopez will join your party.
1
TAL

You hear Danielle tearing apart 6556 in search of things to tie the attackers up with. Behind the broken door to 6554, the young girl continues to cry, "Mom, Dad, what's going on?!"

The grey-haired man lands two more solid blows against the fat man. The fat man's face is a mess of blood. He should have passed out by now—but he continues to thrash.

Using your momentum, you easily bear the suited woman to the floor. She snaps again at your neck but misses, and you take the opportunity to try to pin her down. She resists strongly for several seconds, nearly bucking you off, but you finally manage to hold her down.

You missed the first pin roll, but I did several others for you in the seconds afterward: 12, 13, and finally 8. All the woman's attacks missed due to being grappled and on the floor.
The grey-haired man yells as the fat man throws him off. He scrambles backward but the fat man lashes out, grazing his exposed legs and leaving shallow cuts.

You've been in combat for eight seconds. Danielle is still in the cabin, and you've got the suited woman pinned to the floor. The grey-haired man is shocked for the next turn and lying prone. The fat man is free and on his stomach, preparing to crawl toward the grey-haired man.

Stegyre

2012-10-15, 01:59 PM

You missed the first pin roll, but I did several others for you in the seconds afterward: 12, 13, and finally 8. All the woman's attacks missed due to being grappled and on the floor.
Yeah, that's the "defense" I was counting on: give her enough minuses so she will probably miss me: a lot easier than trying to dodge or block her.:smallsmile:

The grey-haired man yells as the fat man throws him off. He scrambles backward but the fat man lashes out, grazing his exposed legs and leaving shallow cuts."Oh, crap! DANIELLE!" he yells out.

Pummeling them isn't working. Something to tie them with isn't fast enough. I don't know what to do! He will try to slip his forearm across b-s w's throat and choke her into unconsciousness. Just 'til she collapses. I don't want to kill anyone. The grey-haired man is on his own for now, Tal cannot afford to leave his own fight, but he tries to keep his eye on the fat man, for his own protection.
Still AFB. Here are a couple of rolls for a chokehold. Discard the second if unnecessary. As per practice, make additional ones if necessary. :smallsmile:
chokehold, 1st try [roll0] 2nd try [roll1].

Well, at least the second one should make it? He will just try to choke her into unconsciousness. @$#*! that's going to take a while . . . .

EDIT: "Little girl! Go into your mother's cabin and hide in the bathroom!"

Inglenook

2012-10-15, 02:22 PM

To do a choke hold you have to be behind someone (i.e. the woman is on her stomach and you're on top of her), and you have to use Judo or Wrestling (neither of which you have, so your skill level would default. You could plain-old choke her, though, if you grapple her neck. Rules for it are on pg. 370. You only have one free hand, though.

xen0phile

2012-10-15, 02:53 PM

As they are approaching the elevator, Ese realizes he has not given Rendahl his name. "I'm Ese, by the way."

Stegyre

2012-10-15, 03:39 PM

Asherion

2012-10-15, 05:13 PM

Maxwell looks with disgust at the drunk as the elevator descends, and waits for the thing to stop, and open.

"You mentioned Rob, was it? You know someone who's had this disease?" he directs this comment her direction.

/waiting for catchup just wanted him to ask that before I forgot

Inglenook

2012-10-15, 07:38 PM

ESE

Captain Rendahl gives you a quick handshake. "Morten."

1
MAXWELL

"Don," Brenda corrects you. Her eyes are glazed over, and you suddenly realize that she's close to tears. With her stomach emptied, her voice is much less slurred.

"We were in the casino. Last night. I went to the bathroom and one of those things was there. Some woman dead on the floor. I ran, but it was so fast. Don heard me screaming and he saved me, but … I couldn't save him."

She refuses to look at you. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

1
TAL

The little girl yells from the other side of the door: "I can't get out, the door's broke!"

You grab at the woman's throat, but she's thrashing so hard that it's difficult to do so. You finally manage to get your free hand around her windpipe and begin to squeeze.

You failed the first two attempts (it's your ST+4-5 vs. her ST unmodified). I rolled twice more for you, though, and you succeed on your fourth attempt (a roll of 8).
The grey-haired man puts all his force into a kick aimed at the face of the fat man who's crawling toward him. You hear an audible crack as the front of his face crunches inwards; he collapses to the floor and doesn't move.

Danielle runs out of 6556 with three leather belts. "Pete, help me!" she screams at the grey-haired man. He's shaken, but he crawls over and helps you pin the suited woman down. As you and Pete tie one of the belts around the woman's arms and another around her legs, Danielle tries to use the final belt to gag the woman. The woman stares up at her with hate-filled eyes and expels an impressive torrent of pink vomit directly into Danielle's face.

Danielle gags, falling backward and scrambling into 6556, where you hear her throw up—and then the sound of the sink and scrubbing.

You finish gagging the woman with the belt; she's entirely secured now and wriggles like a worm across the carpet. You let go of her.

With both attackers subdued, Pete stands and throws his weight against the door to 6554; it bursts inward, and a girl no older than 9 or 10 rushes out and into his arms. "Dad, what happened?! Do we have to abandon ship?! I got ready just like I—" She catches sight of the crumpled fat man and squirming woman and is struck speechless.

Danielle emerges from 6556 still gagging, her face and hair wet from where she washed off the vomit. She roughly embraces her husband and daughter.

Pete stares at the fat man's motionless form. "I—I think I killed him." But Danielle has noticed something else.

"Emma, where's your brother?" she asks the little girl, a note of panic in her voice.

Emma looks at the ground. "I'm sorry, Mom! He said he'd be back in just a little bit and he told me not to say anything and—"

"Emma. Where. Is. He."

"He said we was going up to the arcade."

Danielle rounds on Pete, her eyes flashing. "We have to go get him now. I want off this boat, Pete. I don't care if we have to get helicoptered out or if I have to carry you all on my back and swim to shore, I'm not staying on this boat for the rest of the night!"

She turns to you, shaking. "Thank you, Mr. …?"

Stegyre

2012-10-15, 09:19 PM

"Tal. Tal Faulkner. And no, none of us are going anywhere just yet ma'am. Whatever these folks have," waving at the two bodies, "It seems to be highly contagious, and if any one of us gets infected, we may be as good as dead.

"First, your husband and I are going to lock these two up in the bathroom of that cabin, he motions toward 6554. "Then we are going to wash every cut, scrape, bite mark, vomit -- anything -- on any one of the four of us with soap and hot water. Start tearing some sheets into strips to use as bandages . . . and for more ties, in case we need them.

"I give you my word, once we've done all that, I will go find your son, wherever he is."
Diplomacy roll, if needed: [roll0]
First aid rolls, as needed, for
Pete: [roll1]
Danielle: [roll2]
Emma: [roll3]
Self: [roll4]

If any of those should be secret, feel free to re-roll them, and we'll treat these as how well Tal thinks he did.

He asks if they have any rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer and will use them as sterilizer while treating them. All this assumes, of course, that he successfully persuades them to stay.

I just remembered he has the Luck feat. As necessary, he will use his Luck rerolls to avoid infection. He's hoping that he's lucky in that regard. :smallwink:

Edit: Crikey! It's hard doing first aid on yourself, I guess. Still, I am assuming that good first aid will just give a bonus against infection, while the really important roll is the infection roll, so still saving Luck for the infections roll.

Drynwyn

2012-10-15, 09:50 PM

John will take Richard with him to go collect his rifle. He will follow the route he took before, as it is hopefully still zombie-free (mostly) but at a moderate jog, watching and listening closely for infected, peering around corners, etc.

Inglenook

2012-10-16, 07:29 PM

I've got a big programming assignment to finish tonight, but I'll try to update before I go to bed. Sorry about the slight delay!

Inglenook

2012-10-17, 03:20 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

Your elevators arrive at Deck 01 at almost the exact same time, with Maxwell's arriving maybe a second or two earlier. They open with a ding, revealing the horrifying tableau before you.

You are in a smallish room that serves as an antechamber for the security office and a waiting room for the medical facility. To the left is the door to the security office: it is covered in blood. It's been pushed open from the inside, and you can more blood on the floor, trailing behind the security desk inside.

To the right of the security office is the medical facility. There is a row of chairs here, and several have been knocked over.

Two people are trapped inside the medical facility, both of them wearing doctor's smocks. Through the window where the receptionist would sit, you can see a man with receding grey hair, a mustache and glasses with his back against a door, trying desperately to keep it closed. It vibrates as though it's being beaten at by many hands. On the far side of the door leading into the medical center is a blonde woman, pressing up against the plexiglass of the door with her hands to brace it. "Help us!" she screams.

You can see why she's bracing the door: in the room with you, pounding at the medical facility door, are two of the infected. One is a woman in a sundress, the other a man wearing the black shirt and pants of a security officer. Ese, you notice a pistol and taser in the belt of the security officer.

The two turn at the sound of the ding! and the door opening. As they spot you, they both lunge forward. The security officer leaps into the elevator with Ese and Morten, lunging at Morten's neck. The woman in the sundress lunges into the elevator with Maxwell and the women, clawing at Maxwell's face. Her swing goes wide, though, and her hand slams into the wall. You hear the crunch of breaking fingers.

I drew a really ugly picture because I'm horrible at describing scenes. Hopefully this (http://i.imgur.com/MfPGC.png) helps. The black people-blobs there are supposed to be the infected.

The infected got first attack because of their higher average Basic Speed. Maxwell's elevator has been called down; the doors will close in about 4 seconds, and anyone still in the elevator will be carried down to the Engine Room.
1
JOHN

You and Speck quietly leave Schultz's room. As you make your way back down the corridor, you notice that the man who was sitting in front of the door to the bridge is now gone … although the thumping and yelling behind the door continues.

Both of the main elevators are in use when you get to them, but after calling one and waiting for a bit, it arrives and takes you down to Deck 07.

"Why are we going this way?" Speck hisses. "We should just take the elevator down to your—"

He's cut off as you turn the corner. The top floor of the Centrum is directly ahead of you, its staircase and glass elevator going down all the way to Deck 03. Just past it is the Bolero Lounge. A starboard-side door to the open-air deck outside bursts suddenly off its hinges, and a man lurches in.

It appears to have once been one of the crewmen, but you instantly recognize it as one of the things that were in Time Square—the bruised face is a dead giveaway.

The thing spots you and screams, running at you. You are currently separated by the Centrum, and the man is 40 yards away. You and Speck have the option to attack first, if you chose to fight it.

1
STEVE

The digital display of the elevator reads "01". It should be down any moment now. If there's anything you'd like to do before it arrives, now would be the time to do so.

Sorry, I got behind. :smallredface: You'll be able to act very shortly.
1
TAL

"You think these people were sick, like the ones who got off the ship?" Pete asks.

"Pete, we don't have time for this!" Danielle cries. "Adam's alone and there could be more—"

Pete put a hand on her shoulder. "If this guy—uh, Tal—is right, we need to make sure we didn't get exposed to whatever they have. It'll only take a minute. Go see if we have some iodine or something in the cabin or something, okay?"

Pete helps you drag the two bodies into the bathroom of 6554. The fat man definitely doesn't appear to be breathing, but the woman glares at you with mad eyes as you close the door on her and return to 6556. Danielle holds out a bottle of hand sanitizer as you enter. "This is all we have. There's no first aid kit or anything in here."

While Danielle thoroughly scrubs her face and hair and Emma washes her hands (although she didn't come in contact with either of the attackers), you douse Pete's legs in hand sanitizer and help him wrap his wounds with torn bedsheets. He winces at the burning but says nothing. Lastly, you all slather your hands and arms in sanitizer.

From next door, the suited woman locked in the bathroom suddenly lets out a loud, almost wolf-like cry. You hear several other voices roar in the distance, as if responding to her.

Emma's eyes go wide. "What are they doing?!"

"Pete, we have to leave now. More of those things are coming," Danielel snaps. She turns to you. "Will you help us? We have to find my son. Emma, you said Adam was going to the arcade on Deck 11, right? I don't know what's happening on this ship, but we need to leave."

You size them up. Danielle is a short, black-haired woman with full lips and an eagle-like nose. She looks like she might be of Italian ancestry. She's wearing a set of ridiculous Snoopy pajamas that are at odds with her proud and stubborn face.

Pete is a tall, lean man with a narrow face and watchful eyes. He and his wife both look to be in their early forties, and his hair (once brown) is almost completely grey. He's wearing nothing but a grey T-shirt and boxers.

Emma is perhaps 9 or 10, with long brown hair. The shape of her face is like her mother's, but otherwise she takes after Pete. She's wearing a winter hat and coat over her pajamas—strange clothing for a Caribbean cruise.

You may take the mostly-empty bottle of hand sanitizer if you wish. The roars in the distance seem to be growing closer.

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/daniellecarver.png http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/emmacarver.png http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/npcs/petecarver.png

If you allow them to, Danielle, Emma and Pete Carver will join your party.

Stegyre

2012-10-17, 03:45 PM

Tal debates in his head. I'd be faster going alone, and they'd be safer in their cabin with the door locked and barricaded. As long as they were quite, I don't think "the infected" would know they were there. These crazies don't seem all that rational and probably have no way of knowing which cabins are still occupied.

On the other hand, the boy -- Adam -- will be more willing to go with his family than a complete stranger, and my chances are probably better with their help.

"Okay. Let's go," he says, picking up his hiking stick. Grab the bed sheet to take with us."

He smiles to Emma, "We're having an adventure. You may see some scary things, but we're going to get through this alright. Don't be scared."

Tal tears a strip from the bed sheet to tie over his mouth, like a face mask. "I don't know how this infection is being transmitted. Better safe than sorry," he explains, with a look in his eye suggesting that they do the same.

He will listen to see if he can tell which direction the noise of other infected is coming from.
Perception [roll0]
Assuming he doesn't hear anything too close coming from that direction, he will head stern-ward toward the central stairs and elevators. If he does hear something approaching from that way, he will take one of the cross-wise hallways to the starboard side and try to reach the same route.
If he ends up back on the starboard side of the ship, he'll try to make a quick stop in his cabin to grab his daypack, iPad, jacket and hat. I wish I'd thought to bring a first aid kit on this trip.

Whether they try to take the stairs or an elevator to Deck 11 is going to depend on where the elevators are and where they hear any infected.

Inglenook

2012-10-17, 04:09 PM

TAL

Emma looks uncertain but smiles in spite of herself.

Pete nods as you tie the bed sheet around your face. "Good idea." He rips off a few strips, handing one to Danielle and helping his daughter put hers on before affixing his own.

You stick your head out the door and listen intently. The screaming has stopped, and you can't hear anything at the moment … except for the grunting and thrashing of the woman in the bathroom of 6554. It seems to be clear.

You grab your walking stick and motion for the family to follow you down the hall, and you make it to the elevators without incident. Your room is only twenty-five feet away, and you hear nothing coming. You can stop by your room and gather some things if you'd like to do so.

Technically you're in the center of the ship, not the starboard side, so I wanted to make sure. For reference, the map of Deck 06 (http://i.imgur.com/FU5B6.gif).

Stegyre

2012-10-17, 04:31 PM

Technically you're in the center of the ship, not the starboard side, so I wanted to make sure. For reference, the map of Deck 06 (http://i.imgur.com/FU5B6.gif).
If I'm reading the map right, and "up" is the bow, my deck is on the starboard side. I meant that, if we'd had reason to take one of those cross-wise hallways (such as the one running between cabins 6573 and 6565), we'd then be on the starboard side and very close to my cabin by the time we reached the elevators.
Tal whispers to Pete, "You call the elevator. I want to grab some things from my cabin," pointing in the direction of 6094. "I won't be long."
As stated, he will grab his jacket, ipad, day pack, and hat from the cabin. If the elevator still hasn't arrived, he'll also try to grab a change of clothes.

He will stuff as much as he can - including the hat - into the pack. That's probably not the best thing for the hat, but he doesn't want it getting knocked off, and he knows he'll want the sun protection if they ever abandon ship.

He will wear the jacket, notwithstanding the warmth. Armor, he thinks to himself, such as it is.

xen0phile

2012-10-17, 04:54 PM

Shocked by the bloody tableau, he lets out the start of a curse, "¡Asu madre ch-" but is cut off as the deranged man charges in, attacking Morten. This loquisimo is on Morten so damn quick, but still Ese reacts as switfly as he can, lunging at the guard, trying to break him away from the captain.

All-Out Attack: Determined. Grappling Attack. Base DX of 11 + 4 for Determined = 15

edit: trying that dice roller again:
[roll]3d6

xen0phile

2012-10-17, 05:00 PM

trying the dice roll, again. To-hit for grappling attack:
[roll0]

Stegyre

2012-10-17, 05:14 PM

All-Out Attack: Determined. Grappling Attack. Base DX of 11 + 4 for Determined = 15
[roll0]

edit: trying that dice roller again:
[roll0]

Probably unnecessary, pedantic observation: one cannot "preview" die rolls nor "edit" them into an existing post.

Inglenook

2012-10-17, 05:39 PM

ESE

Morten gasps and steps backward, causing the security officer's attack to fall inches short. You take the opportunity and rush at the man, knocking him against the wall of the elevator and pinning his arms to his sides.

Your elevator has been called up; the doors will close in about 5 seconds, and anyone still in the elevator will be carried up to Deck 06.
1
TAL

You leave the Pete, Danielle and Emma at the elevators, listening intently for the ding! that means it's arrived. Entering your cabin, you rush over to your dresser and throw as much as you can into your pack. You go back out to the elevator.

The display above the elevator showing the deck it's currently at reads "01". It should be up in a few moments.

— short downtime —

xen0phile

2012-10-17, 06:31 PM

[B]"Grab the gun!"[B] he shouts as he continues to grapple with the guard. He attempts to to slam his knee into the guard's groin.

Knee Strike (core book, page 404), targeting groin. Brawling skill of 11, -1 for Knee Stike. I assume I am grappling from front, so no location target penalty--if I am actually grappling on his side, I should get a -3 for targeting the groin.

tl;dr, roll versus 10 if we are facing each other, versus 7 otherwise:
[roll0]

Asherion

2012-10-17, 06:58 PM

Maxwell takes in the scene with a flash, noting those in trouble, and that there's another elevator here, although he probably cannot see its contents, he notices one of the infected moving that way.

Panicked as the second attacks him, he yells "Rebecca, help!" and then swings the ice pick instinctively at the woman.

Maxwell has no intention, necessarily, of killing this woman, but he's aware that she's crazed, sick, and obviously not responding to pain (re: the broken sounding fingers) and is willing to do whatever necessary to put her down, subdue her, or stop her from harming him (and the others).

Ice Pick [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-17, 09:39 PM

ESE

The man tries to tear at your neck with his teeth, but only catches the collar of your jumpsuit. You respond with a solid knee to his groin.

Damage: [roll0]
Morten grabs at the gun on the man's holster with trembling hands, and just barely succeeds at pulling it free before the man thrashes again, almost causing you to lose your grip.

You attacked from the front, yep. Also, I just realized I've been doing grapples wrong, my bad—you only have ahold of the torso unless you specifically go for the arms. It hasn't affected anything thus far, though.

The door will close in 4 seconds.
1
MAXWELL

Your instinctual jab with the ice pick misses. Out of the corner of your eye you see that Rebecca is frozen in place with fear, her knife clutched to her chest and her eyes wide.

But then Brenda is there, crying and screaming: "Don!" With all her might she thrusts the jagged end of her broken bottle into the woman's face. The woman's cheek tears to shreds, spraying blood over all of you. But the woman hardly seems to notice; she punches Brenda in the throat with incredible force. Brenda staggers backward, clutching her windpipe.

Brenda is doubly shocked. Rebecca is in the throes of Combat Paralysis.

The door will close in 3 seconds.

Asherion

2012-10-17, 10:31 PM

Maxwell is stunned, both by Brenda's actions, and by the tenacity of this infected person, and is beginning to question what exactly these people have. I'm not a disease expert, but **** if this is just ebola. This really is like a zombie movie.

He yells at Brenda and Rebecca - "Get out of the elevator, it's a death trap with this thing!"

Maxwell will attempt to step out of the elevator. Unsure what he has to do to get by the infected, re: positioning. If he can step out of the elevator, he will attempt to keep the zombie IN the elevator. If he has to fight past or go around or etc, he will do that. If any checks need made, or if it's possible or needed for him to strike again, you can roll it if you'd like. His goal is to get them out, and leave the zombie inside. Perhaps in the back of his mind he knows the elevator is going to where other people are... but all he's worried about is his own survival at the moment, and perhaps that of those people around him.

Note: If the others are incapable of getting out of the elevator quickly enough, he will hold it as long as his life does not seem jeopardized. If the thing is still attacking him, he will do what he can to save himself with no regard for the others

Inglenook

2012-10-17, 11:29 PM

Since the infected woman is busy punching Brenda, you should be able to move past her without being harmed. And it's possible to attack as well, in order to knock her further toward the back of the elevator and give the girls more time. So you could either "Move and Attack" (which would mean you'd only make a successful hit on a 3 or 4, eek) or "All-Out Attack", which (depending on which type you use) is much more likely to hit but would also mean you can't defend if she manages to attack you her next turn.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 07:43 AM

Move and Attack, then: [roll0]

xen0phile

2012-10-18, 11:40 AM

Ese offers a quick, silent prayer to Mary. He goes for another knee to the groin, but he is quite worried his opponent no longer responds to such pain in the manner of a human.

roll versus 10 (Brawling - 1) for knee strike:
[roll0]

Crushing damage to the groin of a human male normally inflicts twice the shock effect, but I assume the zombie virus makes an NPC immune to shock

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 12:11 PM

ESE

You strike at the man's groin again, but he squirms and your strike barely grazes his thigh instead. Out of the corner of your eye you see Morten step back out of the elevator and click the safety of the pistol off, readying it.

The man seems mostly unfazed by the knee to the groin, yep.

You are inside the elevator grappling the guard. Morten is outside the doors to the elevator. The doors will close in 3 seconds.
1
MAXWELL

As the woman attacks Brenda, you slip past and attempt to swing at her from the behind. Unfortunately, she steps forward during her attack, meaning you jab at the air where she was just standing.

Rebecca remains frozen and bug-eyed.

Brenda lashes out again with her broken bottle, catching the woman in the stomach this time. The woman should have fallen by now, but it's almost as if she feels no pain; she slashes Brenda across the face with her well-manicured fingernails.

You are outside of the elevator, facing the woman's back. The woman, Brenda and Rebecca are still inside the elevator.

The doors will close in 2 seconds.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 12:38 PM

Maxwell looks around to take in any further details of the situation, then attempts once more to hit the woman with the pick, this time to the back of the head.

Perception: [roll0]
Attack: [roll1]

He then yells, especially at Rebecca, who is not engaged with the monster "LADIES! Get off the elevator!"

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 01:03 PM

MAXWELL

In front of the elevator to your right, you see a tall, balding, grey-haired man. He's preparing to raise the pistol in his hands at something inside the elevator. Behind you, the blonde doctor appears to be fumbling with the lock to the medical facility door.

Your attack misses again. However, your cry seems to bring Rebecca back to reality. Screaming, she edges past the sundress woman and out of the elevator.

Brenda's having none of it, though; she's entirely focused on taking this woman down. She jabs again with the broken bottle and slashes open the woman's bicep. She looks like she might have hit an artery, but the woman keeps coming. Brenda narrowly dodges her attack.

Brenda and the woman are still in the elevator. The doors will close in 1 second.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 01:14 PM

Maxwell will make one last futile effort to strike the infected, then will step clear of the elevator doors and allow them to close. "Brenda! Now!"

Attack: [roll0]
Fast Talk (or Diplo?): [roll1] if it will help Brenda

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 01:38 PM

MAXWELL

Your attack misses.

Brenda hears your cry and realizes what's about to happen. She shoves past the sundress woman and leaps off the elevator, the doors closing behind her.

The sundress woman is out of the way for now. Brenda is somewhat injured, but you and Rebecca are fine. Slight downtime until Ese's battle is finished.
1
STEVE

The elevator dings as it arrives. "About time," Yolanda says quietly. The doors open.

The inside of the elevator is drenched in blood. Standing within is a woman in a yellow sundress: blood spurts from her arm and stomach, and her right cheek is torn to shreds. Before you can even react, she leaps at Lurch and claws violently at his chest.

The lady had the higher average Basic Speed, so she gets first strike. You may act now.

dekova

2012-10-18, 02:15 PM

"Watch out!"

Seeing the blood, Steve can think of only one thing. Contagion.

He hesitates for a split second, then lunges at the bloodied woman to restrain her.

Steve's making a determined, all out attack (+4 to hit, up to 1/2 move), attempting a standard torso grapple.

He's going to grapple from rear or side if he's got the option.

Unmodified Wrestling skill is 13
[roll0]

xen0phile

2012-10-18, 02:22 PM

Ese won't make any attacks, but rather just try to hold the guy as still as possible so Morten can get a clear shot, and not accidentally hit Ese.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 02:32 PM

STEVE

Lurch steps backward, clutching his chest. "What the hell?!"

"She's one of those things!" Yolanda yells. You grab the woman from the side, wrapping your arms around her torso to keep her from moving. As you do so, Yolanda delivers a swift kick to the woman's leg with her shiny black shoes.

The woman tries to claw at you with her free hands, and you feel sudden pain as her nails dig into your inner thigh.

dekova

2012-10-18, 02:47 PM

In as a commanding voice as he can muster, Steve yells at the woman. "Stop fighting me! I'm trying to help you!"

Shifting his weight, he tries to power the woman to the ground.

Trying for a typical takedown.
Grappling skill is 13
Strength is 12 for purposes of grappling checks.
[roll0]

This is the first time Steve's gotten more than a glimpse of one of these 'things'. I'll let you handle the medical or intelligence rolls to start cluing him in that he may be dealing with something other than fever induced aggression.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 02:49 PM

ESE

The security guard roars and struggles in your arms. If only you can keep him still for a couple more seconds …

Morten raises the pistol with both hands, aims, and fires.

The security guard's head explodes, spraying brains all over you and the elevator. Your ears ring painfully.

Post-Combat Shakes (CR 12): [roll0]

You are in the elevator clutching the body of the dead security guard. The doors will close in 1 second.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 03:11 PM

STEVE

You try power the woman to the ground, but she's incredibly strong; you can feel her muscles twitching and trembling under her skin. She thrashes so violently that you lose your grip and are sent tumbling to the ground.

Yolanda and Lurch strike at the woman's back, but the she hardly seems to notice. Standing over you, she lifts her leg high and stomps down upon your stomach … but you roll expertly out of the way.

You've only heard of behavior (and the ability to shrug off pain) like this with people who have taken drugs like PCP. It becomes more and more apparent to you that this isn't a normal sickness.

The lady rolled a critical success to buck you off, but you then rolled a critical success to dodge her attack. :smallsmile:

You are prone on the floor, if that factors into what you do next.

dekova

2012-10-18, 03:33 PM

Impossible.

Wide-eyed and stunned by the woman's strength and aggression, Steve scrambles to get his feet back under him.

Taking a change posture action to move to kneeling position.
Kneeling will give him -2 to defense, best defense will still be dodge of 9.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 03:59 PM

STEVE

While you begin standing, Lurch and Yolanda continue their onslaught.

The woman turns to Yolanda, who is the closest of the two because of her short arms, and slams into her. Yolanda is thrown hard into the wall of the corridor, and she falls to the floor.

dekova

2012-10-18, 07:34 PM

Extremely scared and unsure of what to think, Steve does what comes instinctively. Regaining his feet, Steve launches himself at the crazed woman.

Okay, book say that you can go from kneeling to standing as a step with another maneuver, does that mean Steve can use all out attack?

If not, no worries. If so, he's going for a determined all-out attack (+4 to hit), boxing skill = 13, Effective str of 12 for dmg.
[roll0]

Steve's going to try to maneuver so that he and Lurch are on opposite sides of the crazy lady.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 08:34 PM

STEVE

Yep! You can do half your Basic Move during an All-Out Attack, and since a step is less than half your Basic Move, it should be okay.
Getting your feet, you throw yourself at the women, punching her hard in the side.

That does it. The woman gurgles as something inside her seems to rupture, and she coughs up a mouthful of blood before falling to the ground motionless.

xen0phile

2012-10-18, 08:44 PM

Horrified and disgusted, Ese drops the body, along with a string of profanity. Noticing the door beginning to slide close, he obstructs it with his foot, leaps out, and starts to brush away, from his face, bits of brain matter using his sleeve. Thinking of security guard's other crazed companion, the woman in the dress, he shouts, "Where's the other one?!" his voice raised several decibels more than necessary due to adrenaline and his injured hearing.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 08:54 PM

I know I was pausing, but it seems appropriate to respond?

Maxwell turns, heart racing, to the two next to him. "We got out of the elevator, after it attacked Brenda, here, and someone called it downstairs." he shrugs, "Someone else's problem now, but... there's definitely something wrong with these people..."

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 09:22 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

ESE:

The elevator door closes behind you, heading up.

A man's voice answers you and you jump, realizing for the first time that there are others in the room aside from you and Morten. A man and two women stand in front of the other elevator, all three of them spattered with blood. The man carries what looks like a giant awl. The younger woman has a pretty but serious face and looks incredibly ill; the serrated knife in her hand is clutched close to her chest. The other woman is a haggard, bug-eyed lady who face is covered in bleeding scratches. She massages her throat and winces.

You realize that if the woman in the sundress was sent down via the elevator, there's only one place she could have gone: the engine room. And Lurch and some others were on their way up to meet you …

As if on cue, Lurch's voice crackles through your walkie-talkie: "Ese, you need to get down here like, uh, now. I don't think it's safe up there with all the sick people."

---

MAXWELL:

Brenda coughs and rubs her neck where the woman punched her. When she speaks, her voice is creaky and hoarse: "The security office doesn't look too secure."

She points at the door, thrown open and smeared with gore. What you can see of the inside from where you're standing doesn't look promising either.

---

BOTH:

Captain Morten Rendahl (Maxwell recognizes him from the introductory meeting/dinner on the first night of the cruise) moves quickly to the door of the medical facility. The blonde doctor has been fumbling with the lock for a few moments; apparently the sick people beating on the door jammed it slightly.

"Anna, skynd deg!" Morten shouts to the woman. With a click the door comes unlocked and the woman throws it open, gasping. The name tag on her smock reads "DR. HOLM".

The other doctor is still inside the medical facility, pushing against a door that rattles and groans and threatens to burst inward. His glasses have fallen down his nose and his face is red, frantic.

"Roger!" Dr. Holm screams, "Come on!"

"I can't, they'll break through!" the other doctor, Roger, shouts back.

Ese and Maxwell, you may combine your parties if you'd like.

You are all standing inside the lobby except for Roger, who is inside the medical facility. The door to the medical facility is in the wall in front of you to your right, and the door to the security office is to its left.

Behind you are the elevators, and in between the elevators is the main staircase, which leads upward. Ese, you know that there's a hatch to the engine room maintenance tunnel that's located just to the right of the elevators. It will open only with your keycard.

The door that Roger is bracing shut looks as if it will break open at literally any moment.
1
TAL

The elevator finally arrives and opens with a ding. You and the family step back, horrified by what you see inside. Emma screams and clutches her father.

Inside the elevator a man lies crumpled to the floor. He's wearing a black uniform, but his most noticeable feature is that his head appears to have been blown off at point-blank range.

On his belt you spot what looks like a taser.

Suddenly you hear a roaring from very close by—two people, it sounds like, possibly the ones that responded to the woman in the business suit a couple of minutes ago. The pitter-patter of feet is quickly approaching, and it sounds like they might be coming from the dark renovation area behind the plastic sheeting, which is only thirty feet away.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 09:35 PM

Maxwell would like to hurry into the security office and yell "Anyone know if they keep any weapons in here? We need to get whatever we can and get out of here. Can anyone help them hold that door for a moment?"

Maxwell is fine with grouping if they are - the more, the merrier

As he goes, he also yells to Brenda "Are you all right, there?"

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 09:48 PM

MAXWELL

"I've been better," Brenda croaks as you run past.

You rush into the security office. The floor is slick with blood. There's a desk here and some filing cabinets, but the door that seems to lead into the office proper is locked with a card-key mechanism.

Captain Rendahl skids in. "There are weapons but you need the card to get in." He fumbles at his belt and looks suddenly furious with himself. "Fy faen! I left it on the bridge!"

Screaming comes from the lobby behind you. "They're almost through! Come on, there's no time!" Rebecca yells. No one appears to be willing to risk helping the doctor hold the door shut.

Unless Ese decides to.
"Roger!" Dr. Holm continues to yell. You hear the sound of shattering wood.

Asherion

2012-10-18, 09:50 PM

Maxwell swears in frustration. "All right, let's get out of here." He looks to the Captain, and to Ese, who appear to be some kind of staff. "Do either of you know where we can go? I think we'd better get somewhere safe, somewhere with guns, or get the hell off of this ship."

dekova

2012-10-18, 09:52 PM

Steve stands over the crazy woman for a moment to see if she's really stopped moving, then he turns his attention to Yolanda and Lurch.

"You guys okay?" he asks, checking Yolanda and then Lurch for injuries.

As he's checking Lurch, he quietly adds "if this is what's happening to the sick, well... there were lots of sick folks up in medical. Get on the radio quick and warn the others."

Steve takes a long look up and down the hallway before bending to check the condition of the crazed woman, being cautious in-case she regains consciousness.

Steve's checking the hallway to make sure they're alone and half-hoping that there's a "In Case of Fire" cabinet with a nice hefty fire axe in it. Or a valve wrench for closing valves in an emergency... etc.

If you need to do some rolls:
First Aid 13
Perception 12

The fire extinguisher just seems too unwieldy to use as a weapon.

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 10:17 PM

MAXWELL

Slight delay until xen0phile posts.
1
STEVE

"I'll be fine," Yolanda says, sitting on the floor clutching her side.

Lurch nods. "Me too, I think."

Yolanda looks slightly embarrassed as she lifts up the top of her black-and-white maid uniform so you can see her side. It's already beginning to bruise, and though she's going to be sore as hell for a while, you don't think anything's broken.

The scratches across Lurch's chest are shallow thanks to his engineer's uniform keeping her nails from biting too deep; he doesn't appear to be bleeding much anymore. At your instruction he radios his roommate: "Ese, you need to get down here like, uh, now. I don't think it's safe up there with all the sick people."

Your own scratches on your inner thigh look pretty minor too. But as with the others, there's not much you could do anyway without a first aid kit or something.

You run up and down the corridor, but it's really only a maintenance tunnel. Pipes line the walls, but no tools or weapons to speak of. One end of the tunnel stops just past the elevator and ladder, the other stretches back toward the laundry room and the room Lurch was in when you first came down here. Past that, it turns a slight corner and goes further back toward the stern.

Checking on the woman in the sundress, you realize that your caution is needless. Whether you caused it or just accelerated something that was already happening, it's quite clear that the woman is dead. No pulse, no breath.

Stegyre

2012-10-18, 11:12 PM

The elevator finally arrives and opens with a ding. You and the family step back, horrified by what you see inside. Emma screams and clutches her father.

Inside the elevator a man lies crumpled to the floor. He's wearing a black uniform, but his most noticeable feature is that his head appears to have been blown off at point-blank range.

On his belt you spot what looks like a taser.

Suddenly you hear a roaring from very close by—two people, it sounds like, possibly the ones that responded to the woman in the business suit a couple of minutes ago. The pitter-patter of feet is quickly approaching, and it sounds like they might be coming from the dark renovation area behind the plastic sheeting, which is only thirty feet away.
OOC: Thanks a lot for mucking up the elevator, guys! :smallwink:
Tal ushers the family quickly into the elevator. "Too late to change our minds, now. I don't think we can outrun these people." He steps carefully around the body, trying to avoid it and the blood. He will push the 11 and the "close door" button and wait for the doors to close before bending down to look at the taser.

Tearing off another piece of the bed sheet, he uses it to pull the taser out and wipe it off. "Either of you know how to use one of these?" he asks the two adults.
If neither expresses any skill, he will hand it to Danielle. "Me neither. Let's hope it's as simple as point and pull the trigger."

xen0phile

2012-10-18, 11:20 PM

Will Ese's keycard work for the security room? If so, he will shout, "I can get to the weapons, just help me hold that door," and then run to brace the door.

If not, he will point out the hatch, "we can get to the engine through here", swipe his card, open the hatch, then radio Lurch, "Lurch, we're coming down; you did get that crazy lady in the dress, right?"

Inglenook

2012-10-18, 11:28 PM

TAL

The elevator reeks of blood.

Both of them shake their heads when you ask if they know how to use it, but Danielle accepts it with a grimace.

The ride up to Deck 11 is mostly silent. Pete shuffles awkwardly. "Thanks again for helping us back there," he says. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."

Danielle chimes in. "I don't suppose we ever introduced ourselves properly either. I'm Danielle Carver, and this is my husband Pete and my daughter Emma."

Emma waves at you.

Deck 11 is quiet as you arrive. The map (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck11.gif) is posted beside the elevator door. You saw part of this deck earlier from above while you were on Deck 12.

You are at the main port-side elevator on Deck 11, near the bow. Directly in front of you is the main starboard-side elevator. To your left is the main staircase leading up to Deck 12 and down to Deck 10. To your right is a doorway that leads out into the the pool area.

The arcade, where Emma claims her brother is, is located near the stern.

Stegyre

2012-10-19, 12:03 AM

Tal and the Carvers will head straight back (stern-ward) toward the video arcade, through the pool area. "You take the lead," Tal whispers to Paul, "Since you know your son and he knows you. I will bring up the rear. All of you, keep as quiet as you can. I think the infected are attracted to noise."

He listens at the door to the pool area before opening it.
Perception [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 12:19 AM

ESE & MAXWELL

ESE:

Your key card works only on engineering areas, sadly. Oh, and did you want to merge your group and Max's?
You open the hatch with your card and radio Lurch, but it turns out not to be necessary; his voice echoes up through the hole in the floor: "Oh, hey. Yeah, we met her."

You look down through the hatch and see Lurch standing almost directly under you, along with two others: a small, skinny woman in a maid's uniform and a tough-looking young man in the white shirt and blue pants of a paramedic.

---

MAXWELL:

"I … I think we may have to leave the ship," Morten says, staring horrified at the cracking door that Roger's pushing against. "But for now we need to get somewhere safe."

---

BOTH:

Rebecca moves past Ese and climbs quickly into the open hatch and down the ladder to the maintenance tunnel.

Everyone else is backing away from the medical facility, their eyes focused on Roger who is bracing the door inside; tears stream down the man's face and his glasses fall to the floor.

"Please, Roger! You still have time!" Dr. Holm yells. "We have the hatch open; we can make it down there!"

"Go on, Anna!" Roger yells. A twitching hand breaks through the door behind him and clutches at his shoulder; he cries out in pain. "Shut the front door! It'll buy you a few seconds!"

Brenda immediately rushes forward and slams the door that connects the lobby and the medical facility. It's not locked and it's made of plexiglass, but it might hold for long enough.

Morten grabs Dr. Holm's shoulder and pulls her in the direction of the hatch. "We have to go, Anna. Now."

The door behind Roger shatters, and the things on the other side burst through. Dozens of them—passengers in pajamas and formal clothes, crewmen with their white uniforms stained red, a muscular man with his entire torso wrapped in bandages, children and old people, fat and skinny. But they all have one thing in common: on their faces are identical looks of fury. Roger has no chance; they fall on him in an instant and his dying screams ring throughout the lobby.

There must be fifty or more infected people spilling into the medical facility. Several of them begin slamming against the door to the lobby, and the plexiglass starts to crack.

Rebecca is in the maintenance tunnel with Steve, Lurch and Yolanda. Ese, Maxwell, Morten, Anna and Brenda are still in the lobby. You may have only seconds until the infected break through the plexiglass and are in the lobby with you.

xen0phile

2012-10-19, 12:30 AM

Quick! Before they come through! he shouts, holding the hatch open.

Yes, we'll join parties.
Ese will remain at the hatch entrance for now. If everyone makes it through, he will obviously come through himself and close it. If the infected get too close, he might decide to close it prematurely.

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 12:31 AM

TAL

Stealth Checks:

Tal: [roll0]
Pete: [roll1]
Danielle: [roll2]
Emma: [roll3]
Through the door you hear nothing but the splashing of waves, the gurgle of the hot tub, and the low thrumming of the engine.

Pete takes point, leading the group across the still deck. You notice that the attractive woman you saw earlier from Deck 12 is now gone.

Pete comes to a sudden stop. "Danielle, cover Emma's eyes," he chokes out. As you continue walking, you see what stopped him. An elderly woman floats face down in the bubbling hot tub, the water stained red. Perhaps ten feet away an elderly man is sprawled out across the deck in a pool of blood. You hurry past.

You move to the starboard side of the ship and enter "The Living Room" without incident. It's a lounge-ish area with lots of squishy chairs, tables and a juice bar. No one is there.

"Adam!" Danielle hisses. She runs into the next room, the Video Arcade. Pete and Emma trail closely behind.

You begin to follow … but you hear a noise. It seems like it came from behind the door to your left; the sign on it reads "FUEL: Teen Disco!" It appears to be an 18-and-under dance club, but you can hear no music playing. Just that sound, almost inaudible: a wet smacking noise and a low moan.

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 12:48 AM

ESE & MAXWELL

If Ese's going to go in last, then Maxwell just needs to decide his own place in line. If you're going by who's closest to the ladder, the climbing-down order would be: Anna, Morten, Maxwell, Brenda, Ese.

It will take each person about 4 seconds to climb down enough for the next person to go, and the plexiglass will break very soon.

Stegyre

2012-10-19, 12:56 AM

Tal curses himself - quietly - as he trips over one of the deck chairs.

You begin to follow … but you hear a noise. It seems like it came from behind the door to your left; the sign on it reads "FUEL: Teen Disco!" It appears to be an 18-and-under dance club, but you can hear no music playing. Just that sound, almost inaudible: a wet smacking noise and a low moan.
Could be someone in need of help; could be some real trouble, he thinks, as he looks at the door to the disco. Now is not the time to find out which. Adam sounds too young to be interested in a disco. We'll check it out once the family's together. The last thing we need is for me to unleash some more crazies on us while we're still trying to find the boy.

He backs over to the arcade door. He'll take just a quick look inside to make sure the Carvers haven't found trouble and then keep watch out the doorway for anyone approaching.
Another perception check, just in case: [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 01:15 AM

TAL

The arcade is about the same size as the Living Room, full of the beeping and pewpew!ing of arcade games and pinball machines. A GameCube plugged into a large-screen TV sits in the corner, surrounded by bean bag chairs. The TV is on, showing a paused game of Super Smash Bros.—human players Fox and Mr. Game & Watch vs. computers Samus and Donkey Kong.

Emma and Pete are looking behind some of the larger arcade games as if Adam might be hiding behind them.

Danielle looks frantic. "He's not here!"

Asherion

2012-10-19, 06:13 AM

maxwell will follow down the ladder, as quickly as possible without pushing someone else out of the way

xen0phile

2012-10-19, 11:23 AM

Horrified, Ese begins to realize there is probably not enough time for everyone to clear the hatch. He grabs his wrench as a makeshift club, should he need to defend himself. "Dios te salve María, llena eres de gracia," he quietly prays.

once Anna gets to the hatch, he will yell at everyone else, "No time! Go up the stairs!" while motioning to the staircase between the elevators

Stegyre

2012-10-19, 04:51 PM

Danielle looks frantic. "He's not here!"
"Keep calm. If he was chased by any of the infected or saw an attack, he is probably hiding. Keep looking and call to him -- quietly. If he's really not in here, we'll try some of the other places.
Tal will stay at his post, keeping watch and let the Carvers do the looking. He will glance around from his position at the door for two things: (a) to locate an emergency exit or back way out, and (b) to identify heavy furniture they could use to barricade the door, if necessary.

If the boy really isn't there: "I think I heard something in the disco. Let's check there next." He will ask Danielle and Emma to keep watch from the door this time, while he and Pete enter first.

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 10:36 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

Anna makes it safely down the ladder, with Morten close behind. Suddenly the plexiglass in the door to the medical facility shatters, and three of the infected patients fall through the hole in the door and into the lobby, with the others right behind.

Ese, Maxwell and Brenda are the only ones remaining in the lobby. The first infected to come through the door are 10 yards away, although they've fallen through the door and will take a couple seconds to stand. Any others that try to go through the hole in the door will be slowed somewhat by the ones blocking the way.

There might be time for one person to jump down through the hatch, although it's about a twelve-to-fifteen foot fall to a hard metal floor, and you may strike Morten and Anna on the way down.

To your right are the two main elevators (neither of which are currently called this floor) and the main staircase. The open door to the security office is across the lobby, about fifteen yards away—and you'd have to cross the attacking infected to get to it.
1
TAL

There's an emergency exit in the video arcade that—if you remember correctly—leads to the area near the secondary elevators/stairs and the staircase up to the Viking Crown Lounge. There are a great number of heavy games in the arcade and furniture (couches, tables, etc.) in the Living Room that could be used to barricade a door if need be.

The Carvers continue to look around, but Adam is nowhere to be found.

You tell Pete about the sound you heard through the door to the disco. Danielle and Emma stand watch at the door while you and him check it out.

You both listen at the door, confirming the sound is still there: the quiet, wet noise, a soft moan, a sharp intake of breath. After a few moments of quiet deliberation, you throw open the door while Pete leaps inside, his fists raised. You rush in after him.

The disco is a large room with a dance floor in the middle and couches and tables along the outside wall. The main lights are off, but someone has turned on the disco ball, giving you enough light to see the source of the noise.

A teenage boy and girl are entwined on one of the couches, both of their shirts off, making out. As you burst into the room, the girl jumps up and screams, "What the ****?!", quickly grabbing her shirt and covering herself.

Pete groans and turns away. "Get your clothes on, both of you. Now."

Adam is about sixteen, with his mother's black hair, dark brown eyes and pointed chin, and his father's lips and nose. Even in the dim light you can see that he's blushing furiously as he quickly pulls on his shirt and grabs his headphones from the ground nearby, putting them around his neck. "Dad, I was—"

"Oh, I know exactly what you were doing," says a voice from the doorway. Danielle is there, her face like thunder. She marches into the disco, seizes he son forcibly by the elbow, and drags him into the Living Room. Her voice fades as they walk off, but you have no trouble hearing the opening salvo of her tongue-lashing: "You have no idea how much trouble you're in. My God, Adam, with what's happened we were so worried. Do you realize what could have happened? If you ever make me worry like that again …"

The teenage girl has put her shirt back on. She's quite pretty, with coppery red hair, big blue eyes and a splash of freckles across her noise. There's something about the prideful way she carries herself, though, that's somewhat off-putting; she doesn't look at all embarrassed, but rather indignant.

Pete massages his temple. "So what do we do now?"

xen0phile

2012-10-19, 10:57 PM

No time! Up the stairs! Ese shouts while closing the hatch.

I assume the hatch locks automatically. I assume it also has a pneumatic system for opening and closing, so once Ese nudges it just enough, it will close on its own. Anyway, once it is closed or closing, Ese will immediately begin to sprint up the stairs.

Inglenook

2012-10-19, 11:12 PM

ESE

Yep! I'll have to wait for Maxwell to get back, since what he does might effect whether they chase you.
1
STEVE

"Lurch, we're coming down; you did get that crazy lady in the dress, right?" the walkie-talkie crackles.

The hatch above opens and a Hispanic man peeks down through it. Lurch smiles awkwardly in spite of the stinging of his scraped chest, and waves up at the hatch. "Oh, hey. Yeah, we met her."

The man's face disappears from view, and moments later a shaking blonde woman rushes through the hatch and down the ladder. From above comes the sound of cracking and screaming, followed by two more people coming down: a blonde woman in a doctor's smock and a man in an officer's uniform, who you immediately recognize as Captain Rendahl. The hatch above suddenly slams shut.

"Ese!" Lurch yells, bewildered.

Captain Rendahl runs a hand through his sweaty hair. "It's no good; they've swarmed Deck 01. My God, Anna, how many were in there?!"

The blonde doctor is distraught, but the act of recollection seems to calm her. "We had sixty-three sick patients," she says in a quiet, accented voice.

"And now they're loose on the ship," says the trembling blonde woman who was the first person down the ladder. Her name tag reads "REBECCA".

Using the hatch doesn't seem to be an option, although the elevator still works. Or you could head back along the maintenance tunnel toward the laundry room/engine room area. If what the three newcomers say is true, a very large number of infected people were just set free into the ship. From the main staircase they can go almost anywhere.

If you allow them to, Dr. Anna Holm, Morten Rendahl and Rebecca Underwood will join your party.

dekova

2012-10-20, 12:01 AM

"Captain, Sir... we've got to get a warning out over the intercom. Tell people to stay in their cabins until help arrives."

Steve pauses and studies the captain's face for a moment.

"Help is on the way, isn't it sir?"

Inglenook

2012-10-20, 12:48 AM

STEVE

Captain Rendahl looks more tired than you've ever seen him. "With the satellite systems down there's no way to call for help from the mainland. We could try the VHF radio; it has a range of 60 miles, so if there's anything in that radius, they'll hear us. We have to get to the bridge to use it, though."

He begins walking quickly down the corridor toward engineering, calling back over his shoulder: "I'm going to make an announcement over the intercom to tell everyone to stay put. We need to leave this deck soon if we want to beat those things up to the bridge on Deck 10."

dekova

2012-10-20, 01:03 AM

"Yes sir."

Then turning to the others, "It's probably best if we stick together, but you can at least lock yourselves in engineering if you don't want to go topside with us."

He starts to follow after the captain as he addresses Lurch. "Please tell me you've got some really big wrenches in there."

Stegyre

2012-10-20, 02:38 PM

Tal supresses a smile. "Why don't you watch the door, so we don't have any bad surprises," he says to Paul.

Turning to the girl, he quizzes her on who she is and what she knows.
(Leaving time for her responses)
"Hi. What's your name? . . . . Where is your family - what cabin and are they there or somewhere else right now? . . . . Do you know about the infection going around the ship? . . . .
"It looks like some of the infected people are going crazy and roaming the ship, attacking people. We even passed a couple of dead bodies just to get here to you. Come with us, and let's go find your family. Okay?"

Inglenook

2012-10-20, 03:32 PM

STEVE

The group follows behind the captain, passing the laundry room and what appears to be a locker room, the room Lurch was in earlier when you first took the laundry elevator down.

As you continue down the corridor, the roar of the ship's engine grows steadily louder. When you come to a metal door, Lurch stops you all. "You guys shouldn't go past this point without ear muffs," he says, pulling his own pair off his belt and putting them on. "Wait here. I'll try to find some stuff to defend ourselves."

He opens the metal door and you are blasted by the din from inside. Lurch and Morten step inside and close the door behind them while you and the others wait there. Perhaps a minute later, the captain's voice rings out through the tunnel via the ship's intercom.

"This is Captain Rendahl speaking. The following is not a drill. A large number of sick passengers have grown violent and are running loose in the ship.

"If you are on one of the lower decks, lock your cabin door and lock yourself in your bathroom. Barricade both doors if possible—Faen, everything's bolted down, isn't it? Turn off the lights and remain silent. Find something to defend yourself with, if you can.

"If you are on one of the upper decks, immediately seek the nearest secure area and barricade yourself in as best you can following the procedure I just described.

"Any crew that are able to do so, immediately proceed to Deck 07 and ready the lifeboats. Passengers, if the emergency alarm is sounded, do not report to your emergency muster stations, but instead proceed directly to the lifeboat loading area on Deck 07.

"I'll report further information as the situation develops." He pauses, and almost as an afterthought adds, "Thank you for your cooperation."

The metal door opens and Lurch and Morten reenter the maintenance tunnel. Lurch's arms strain with the load he's carrying. "It's nothing fancy, but I raided one of the tool sets."

Lurch has brought several wrenches and a two-foot long section of heavy pipe. There are enough for each of you.

If you choose to follow the captain, he will be making his way back up to the bridge as quickly as he can (going back down the maintenance tunnel and taking the main elevator to Deck 10).
1
TAL

The red-haired girl appraises you coolly. "I'm Jamie, and my parents both stayed in the Caymans—they were both sick. And I'm not giving you my cabin number, creepo! What the hell." Her expression grows slightly softer and more worried at the mention of the dead bodies. "Wait, for real? Like … crazy sick people killed them?"

If you allow her to, Jamie Stewart will join your party.
The captain's voice suddenly echoes over the intercom, delivering news that you were already aware of (see Steve's post above).

Stegyre

2012-10-20, 04:15 PM

Tal rolls his eyes. "If there's no one else to collect, I don't care what cabin you were in. Just stay close to us.

"You and Adam might both want to make yourselves face masks like we have. I have no idea how this infection is being transmitted, but we should all try to protect ourselves as best we can."

Both her parents got sick. She could be incubating the infection. She could be a carrier. Maybe she's even immune, although if both her parents got sick, that probably means that any immunity is not genetic.

He makes note of the Captain's announcement.

If the crew is getting life boats ready, perhaps the best thing to do right now is sit tight, and we can pool our knowledge as to what we know.

"Let's move back to the arcade. I think it was a little more defensible than here, and I think the emergency exit opens near the other stairwell, in case we need to run for the life boats."

Once they are settled back in the arcade, Tal will put Paul on watch. Remembering the Captain's broadcasted aside about bolted-down furniture. He first checks to see which of those heavy items in the arcade could actually be moved in the event they needed to barricade the door.

Inglenook

2012-10-20, 04:34 PM

TAL

Jamie looks as if she wants to argue, but she bites her tongue and follows you into the arcade. You pass Pete, who has closed the door between the Living Room and the outside deck and is trying to barricade it with some furniture. The chairs are mobile but all the tables and couches are bolted to the floor, ostensibly so they don't get knocked around if the sea is rough.

The other Carvers are in the arcade sitting on the beanbag chairs beside the TV. Adam, to whom the news of the violence is new, is as white as a ghost. "So wait, they attacked you guys downstairs?"

"It was really scary," Emma tells him, waving her hands dramatically. She pauses for a moment, then adds, "One of them was in his underwear."

"Honey, why don't you take off that coat and hat? You have to be burning up," Danielle tells her daughter, but Emma shakes her head furiously and clutches the coat to her body.

Jamie sits down next to Adam and the two of them look at each other awkwardly. Danielle's mouth tightens and she shoots the girl a frosty stare.

You attempt to move some of the arcade games and such around, but they're all bolted to the floor. Probably for good reason, since if they fell on someone they'd probably crush them.

dekova

2012-10-20, 04:43 PM

Steve thanks Lurch for the makeshift weapon, appreciating its heft in his hand.

"I'm going with you captain, I want to make sure you can reach the radio, see if we can get some help."

As they reach the elevator, Steve speaks again, looking a bit uncomfortable. "But I'm not sure we can evacuate, Sir. This disease... I mean, the ship may need to be quarantined?"

That last comes out sounding more like a question than a statement. Steve just shrugs and looks down at his blood smeared clothing.

I figure since he grappled the bloody crazy lady, he's looking pretty messy right about now.

And... Steve will encourage the others to come along to the bridge (safety in numbers).

Stegyre

2012-10-20, 05:27 PM

"Honey, why don't you take off that coat and hat? You have to be burning up," Danielle tells her daughter, but Emma shakes her head furiously and clutches the coat to her body.
Tal cannot help but note how strange Emma's action is. Perhaps we should get at this in a more roundabout way.

"I'd like us to compare notes about what we know about this illness. What we know could save our lives.

"I haven't seen all that much yet, but what I have seen:

"It looks like when the illness really takes hold, a person becomes extremely violent and even goes looking for a fight: that woman I followed to your cabin was sprinting. I couldn't keep up with her.

"That's something to keep in mind, too: these people are fast; we probably cannot outrun them. We'll need to outthink them.

"Thinking, on the other hand: they don't seem to be 'thinking' at all. It's like they are mindless.

"They seem to respond to noise: we heard some more approaching. If we do need to run, we should maybe try to create a diversion -- some noise in another direction.

"We saw two of them on deck 6, and while they were trying to attack us. I didn't see them trying to attack each other at all. That strikes me as really strange: they don't seem to think, yet it's like they know who is infected and only try to attack people who aren't infected. If we knew how they did that, we might know whether we could disguise ourselves as infected and be safe from them.

"That man who was attacking you guys," he nods to the Carvers, "Tell us how that started."

Asherion

2012-10-20, 08:03 PM

Maxwell will follow Ese for now

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 02:59 AM

ESE & MAXWELL

You two and Brenda all sprint up the main staircase, trying to put as much distance between you and those things before they can get disentangled from the medical center door. It takes you only a few seconds to reach Deck 02, but Brenda is already three yards behind; it's clear that she's a bit slower than either of you.

You are on the main staircase at the landing of Deck 02. From here you can continue to sprint upward or you can exit onto Deck 02.

Since you said you were following Ese, Corrino, I assumed you decided to sprint too. You have been sprinting for 4 seconds thus far.
1
TAL

"There's nothing to tell, really," Danielle says. "Emma and Adam were staying in the room next to ours, and they went to bed—" she shoots a glare at Adam, "—or at least Emma went to bed—at around eleven. And after that, well …" she glances at Pete.

"We had a small argument," Pete says flatly. "But we weren't loud or anything; we didn't want the kids to hear. And a minute later that guy started throwing himself against our door. I guess the noise woke Emma up and scared her and she started screaming. And then all of a sudden the guy was beating on her door, not ours. Had damn near torn it off its hinges by the time I made it outside and tackled him.

"So you think it's the noise that attracts them?" Danielle asks. "That makes as much sense as anything else that's happened tonight, I guess."

xen0phile

2012-10-22, 10:20 AM

Ese will continue to sprint up to Deck 3.

He remembers there was no answer when he tried calling the engineer's room on this deck, so he fears there might be infected on Deck 2.

Stegyre

2012-10-22, 12:19 PM

"We had a small argument." The words are sickeningly familiar to Tal, as he remembers his time in L.A., then pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind.

"So you think it's the noise that attracts them?" Danielle asks. "That makes as much sense as anything else that's happened tonight, I guess."
"Well, I think they're attracted to people -- uninfected people. I'll bet if they can see or hear someone, they will chase after it.

"Come to think of it, the others we heard on deck 6 seemed to be attracted by the bellowing of that infected woman, so I guess any human-sounding noise is something they might chase after.

"Bottom line: We want to keep quiet and stay of sight of anything that looks sick. Let's all remember that."

Tal stops, as a thought strikes him. Attracted to human noise -- the ship's intercom -- some place we could enclose them all -- It may be worth trying.

"I have an idea that may help, but we're going to need to reach the captain or at least some crewmen who can work the equipment and know the layout of the ship.

"The captain sent crewmembers to Deck 7 to ready the lifeboats. That's probably my best bet for finding someone.

"What do the rest of you want to do? I think it is safest to remain right here rather than follow me, and one person is probably quieter than a several." He mentally winces as he remembers how "quiet" he was making his way across the deck. "On the other hand, if anyone chooses to abandon ship, we'll be right there at the lifeboats.

"That said, I don't think abandoning ship would be a very good idea unless someone knows where they're going and what's going to be there --"

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 03:34 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

You all sprint up the stairs to Deck 03. Brenda is a full five yards behind you now, almost a full stair's length. From below, you can hear the clatter of feet on the faux-marble stairs; the sick people have made it into the main stairwell and are approximately 24 yards behind you.

You are on the main staircase at the landing of Deck 03. Ahead of you, you can see the Photo & Art Gallery, and through its glass doors on the far side you can see the lights of the Centrum. From here you can continue to sprint upward or you can exit onto Deck 03.

I'm assuming Maxwell is still following Ese. If not, Corrino, lemme know and I'll change it. You have been sprinting for 8 seconds. Once it hits 15 you begin running the risk of losing FP. If you have a particular deck you know you want to exit onto, let me know and I can just have you run all the way up without pausing on each one.
1
TAL

Pete shakes his head. "We appreciate all your help, but I don't think any of us should be going out there right now. The captain specifically said not to go out onto the decks. If those things are running around …"

Danielle puts her arm around Emma and rubs her shoulder fretfully. It looks like if you want to do this, you'll have to go it alone. Until …

"I'll go," Jamie says, standing.

"Honey, I don't think that's very smart," Pete says. "It's really dangerous out there. You heard the captain. There are people dead—"

"Hey, and you're not my dad," Jamie retorts; Pete falls silent. "If they're getting the lifeboats ready, I want on one." Jamie turns to you. "Ready when you are."

If you decide to leave, Jamie will go with you but the Carvers will stay behind.

Stegyre

2012-10-22, 04:18 PM

Tal nods to the Carvers. "Good. I think you should stay. I've always been good at stating the obvious, so I'll just say keep a watch and keep quiet. If trouble starts to come through the front door, make a run through the back and down the stairs to Deck 7 would be my thought.

"But do what seems best at the time.

"If I get into trouble, I'll send Jamie back up here to you. I will be sure to draw off any of the infected, so she doesn't lead them back to you."

He considers Jamie. She's not coming along for my sake. She's also not all that attached to the boy if she's willing to leave him like this. Self-preservation, I think: she's looking out for herself as best she can think to. His thoughts turn inward again. Is that what I was doing when I fled to Chicago? She at least has the excuse of being a teenager.

Before he and Jamie leave, Tal takes Danielle aside. "Maybe Emma is just self-conscious to be in her pajamas with strangers around and it's nothing, but once we're gone, I think you should check under her coat, just to make sure she's alright. I'm concerned if she has any signs of an injury or infection, it could mean trouble. Be careful, and best of luck to you and your family."

He and Jamie will exit through the Living Room and try to get into the secondary stairwell just bow-ward of them, rather than moving all the way forward to the main stairwell.

Turning to Jamie as they start out: "The chivalrous thing for me to say would be I don't want you to carry any weapon, because if we get in trouble you should just run. That said, I suggest you find something solid you can hit with, if you need to."

They will head down the stairs to Deck 7, assuming no incidents along the way. Once reaching Deck 7, Tal will peak carefully out of the stairwell to see if he spots anyone working on the life boats and not obviously infected.
Stealth roll for Tal [roll0] for Jamie [roll1]

EDIT: Oh, crap! What a clumsy ox.

xen0phile

2012-10-22, 05:26 PM

Ese will exit onto deck 3 and try to hit the nearest "down" elevator button as quick as he can.

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 09:48 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

For brevity I'm assuming you want to use the key card to go down to the engine room area. Correct me if otherwise.
Ese and Maxwell leave the stairwell, immediately turning right, and Ese slams his hand against the down button of the elevator. The machinery behind the door thrums as the elevator begins to rise. A moment later and Brenda is there, wheezing.

From the stairwell echo screams and a cacophony of hurried footsteps.

"Won't this thing hurry up?!" Brenda screams, wiping her eyes from where the cuts on her face have bled into them. The doors open and the three of you immediately leap into the elevator. There's an agonizing pause as you listen to the sound of the infected steadily approaching, but just as the first of them turns the corner into view, the doors slide closed.

You stand there for a minute, panting and listening to the sound of the things beating on the other side of the door. You've selected no floor to go down to. Ese prepares to swipe his key card to take everyone down to the engine room area, but Brenda stops his hand. "Wait, can you hear that?"

Over the sound of the roaring on the other side of the door, you can all make out a man's voice which sounds like it's coming from over the ship's intercom. Immediately the banging on the door stops and the screaming and the roaring move away, allowing you to hear the last few words of the announcement: "—Thank you for your cooperation."

"Swipe your card," Brenda says to Ese, "before one of them comes back and accidentally hits the button." But before Ese can do so, the elevator begins to descend on its own. There is the possibility that one of the monsters on Decks 01 or 02 has hit the button (in which case you'll all be very very dead), but thankfully you pass these decks and realize that someone has called the elevator from the engine room.

The doors open.

See the next post.
1
TAL

Upon your suggestion to check Emma for signs of infection, Danielle lets out a harsh little laugh, looking both amused and frustrated.

"She's fine, don't worry. Adam thought it would be funny to show Emma Titanic a few days before the cruise, and now she's terrified of crashing and freezing to death. We tried to explain to her that we're in the middle of the Caribbean, but she's kept that coat and hat beside her bed the entire trip, just in case we have to abandon ship." She look at her children and shakes her head ruefully before turning back to you. "Good luck out there."

As you prepare to leave and suggest that Jamie find a weapon, she snorts. "I'm a sixteen-year-old girl; how hard do you think I'd be able to hit something?" She darts behind the juice bar in the Living Room and returns, smiling slightly, with a serrated fruit knife instead.

You leave the deck via the secondary staircase. As you make your way down, you accidentally drop your walking stick; the clangor echoes down the stairwell … but nothing appears to have heard. Jamie rolls her eyes, and together you continue down.

As you pass through Decks 10 through 8, you can hear strange noises: muffled screams and thumping, as if people trapped within closed doors are trying desperately to free themselves. Occasionally there's a closer, louder scream and a scurrying of footsteps, but you see nothing and the stairwell remains empty.

You exit onto Deck 07. There is screaming here, louder and closer than before. You peek around the corner of the stairwell.

You are on the starboard-side, secondary stairwell of Deck 07 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck07.gif), looking around the corner toward the bow. Ahead you can see the Bolero Lounge, and beside it, a busted-in door that leads to the outside deck. A corpse lies beside the door in a pool of blood, its head blown off. You can't see anything happening out on the deck, but the screams that are coming through the door are very loud.

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 09:58 PM

ESE, MAXWELL & STEVE

STEVE:

You are indeed quite covered in the crazy woman's blood.
"He's right, Morten," Dr. Holm says as the group walks quickly down the maintenance tunnel toward the main elevator. She appears to have calmed down considerably, and her voice is crisp and level. You never interacted with her much aside from bringing patients to her, but you always got the impression that she was a smart cookie. "With something like this, we definitely need to keep it contained."

"Like Cancún?" the captain snaps. You've reached the elevator, and he jabs the UP button sharply. "Listen, if the government wants to quarantine us, that's fine. But until they get here, my responsibility is keeping the people on this ship safe."

The elevator doors ding open and, to your surprise, three people are already inside: the Hispanic man who stuck his head through the hatch earlier; a handsome, dark-haired man with an expensive haircut; and a dumpy-looking woman with four parallel scratches running across her face. Several of the others in the group are pleasantly surprised to see them.

---

ESE & MAXWELL:

You are in the maintenance tunnel that connects to the engine room, on the sub-deck below Deck 01. Anna, Morten, Lurch, and Rebecca are all here, along with two others that neither of you recognize: a fit-looking young man with short brown hair and a serious face, and a skinny Hispanic woman in a maid's uniform.

---

Everyone's together! :smallbiggrin: Er, except Tal.

If everyone's okay with merging, the new group will be: Ese, Maxwell, Steve, Anna, Brenda, Morten, Lurch, Rebecca and Yolanda. Do a meetup roleplay if you'd like (Ese and Max: assume someone explains the plan to get to the bridge). If everyone's okay with it, I'll have everyone proceed directly to Deck 10.

xen0phile

2012-10-22, 10:26 PM

After happily revealing to his compatriots that he still is, in fact, alive, Ese's initial inclination is to find some way to remove more of the various bits of the security guard's grey matter from his person. However, as the urgency of the plan to reach the bridge is conveyed, he decides he will defer further hygiene measures until later. Then, he remembers that Morten mentioned he didn't have his card.

I assume our engineering cards won't open the bridge, right? If so, he will ask, "But, Captain, how will we get into the bridge? Osea you forgot your keycard."

Also, yes, I'm okay with merging our groups.

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 10:35 PM

ESE

Morten nods. "I left my skeleton key card on the bridge, but all the officers' cabins are right beside the bridge, and they all have such key cards. If we can break into one of their cabins, they might have left their card behind."

His eyes suddenly narrow. "Maybe my first mate's cabin. I don't think he … I don't think he had his card on him the last time I saw him."

Stegyre

2012-10-22, 11:36 PM

Ahead you can see the Bolero Lounge, and beside it, a busted-in door that leads to the outside deck. A corpse lies beside the door in a pool of blood, its head blown off. You can't see anything happening out on the deck, but the screams that are coming through the door are very loud.
"You might not be getting a lifeboat any time soon," Tal whispers to Jamie. "You stay here. Hold the door for me. If I come running back, it means I'm being chased. Don't wait for me: you run up, as quietly as you can and make your way back to the arcade. If I am being chased, I will run down and try to draw them after me. Got it?"

Before going on, Tal takes his hiking stick and finds a way to wedge it between the handrail and the wall a few steps downward and about six inches off the floor. I'll jump it, and hopefully it will trip anything chasing me and cause a big pile up. And if I'm not carrying it, maybe I can be a little quiet, for a change?

He will move to the door to the deck as quietly as he can and try to peak around the edge to see what's happening on deck.
Stealth roll, surely the third time is a charm: [roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-22, 11:46 PM

Peeking will also call for an Observation roll. Would you like to make it, or shall I? :smalltongue:

Stegyre

2012-10-22, 11:54 PM

Peeking will also call for an Observation roll. Would you like to make it, or shall I? :smalltongue:
As I'm around for a few more minutes: Observation [roll0]

This would be a very bad time to be spotted and then fail the combat paralysis roll.

Knock on wood. :smallwink:

Inglenook

2012-10-23, 01:03 AM

TAL

You wedge your walking stick near the top of the stairs, and creep (successfully!) over to the door, peering around the shattered frame.

It appears that perhaps a dozen crewman did answer the captain's call—evidenced by the number of twitching bodies and limbs that litter the deck. The wood is awash in blood.

The fight isn't entirely over, however. Two crewmen are standing back-to-back, one armed with a fire axe, the other with what looks like a small metal flagpole.

Circling them are four of the infected: a young girl in a bathing suit, a naked young man, a middle-aged woman with her hair in curlers, and a tall, thin man in his thirties wearing a chef's toque.

The chef continues to circle the crewmen, his hands behind his back as if he's thoughtfully considering the situation. The other three, however, lunge as one.

The crewman with the flagpole catches the young girl in the stomach, lifts her bodily with the pole, and throws her screaming over the railing into the sea below. The crewman with the fire axe beheads the young man, but before he can turn, the woman with the curlers leaps on him and tears out his throat; he falls with a gurgle. The last remaining crewman takes advantage of the curler woman's position on the ground and drives the point of the flagpole through her eye.

It's down to the man with the flagpole and the chef. The crewman lashes out with the flagpole, but the chef easily sidesteps and brings his hands out from behind his back … revealing an incredibly long chef's knife clutched in his fist. Before the crewman can correct his swing, the chef drives the knife through the crewman's throat.

The infected chef is the only person remaining on the starboard side of the exterior deck. With nothing left to kill, he simply kneels and stabs the flagpole-carrying crewman over-and-over.

Despite the horror that you just witnessed, you notice that the crewman appear to have partially succeeded in the task that the captain set for them; a few of the lifeboats, which were suspended by davits directly above the deck, have been at least partially lowered.

dekova

2012-10-23, 02:33 AM

Steve, holding his foot against the elevator door to make sure it isn't going to close, introduces himself to the rest of the group.

His eyes suddenly narrow. "Maybe my first mate's cabin. I don't think he … I don't think he had his card on him the last time I saw him."

"I think it's a great idea we all stick together—" Steve says without sarcasm "—and I'd love to beat those sick guys upstairs if we can."

Stegyre

2012-10-23, 08:57 AM

Tal will try to creep back -- quietly -- to the stairs and Jamie.
Stealth [roll0]
EDIT: additional comments added after the good stealth roll. Hooray!
They aren't so mindless after all. This is bad.

Once he makes it back to Jamie, he motions her up the stairs, closes the door as quietly as possible, retrieves his stick and starts up after her.

"We aren't going that way," he tells her. "Homicidal chef with a big knife.

"The next place to look will be the bridge. I think it's on Deck 10."

Asherion

2012-10-23, 05:44 PM

Sorry for the delay, trying to get caught up on work/school/GitP. Maxwell approves the merge and is ok with the plan, and will resume posting in character hereforth, I couldn't figure out where exactly in time we were for me to post now.

Inglenook

2012-10-23, 05:46 PM

It's fine! Hopefully the time jumps and downtimes are done for now. I swear, it was almost as bad as Lost for a bit. :smallsigh:

Inglenook

2012-10-23, 08:31 PM

ESE, MAXWELL & STEVE

After explaining the plan to the newcomers, Morten steps inside the elevator (which Steve has been holding open with his foot). "Who's coming with me?" he asks. Ese, Maxwell, Steve, Anna, Lurch and Brenda immediately join him. After a moment's consideration, Yolanda steps in as well. "Safety in numbers," she shrugs.

Rebecca stands outside the elevator, still clutching her knife. Her face is pale and drawn. "I can't go back up there. I can't." There are tears in the corners of her eyes, but she almost seems more angry than frightened. "I'm not even supposed to be here! If I'd stayed in med school like I wanted, I wouldn't be stuck on this ****ing ship making ****ing martinis!"

There's a beat as no one is quite sure what to make of her outburst, but Lurch finally speaks up. "Uh, you should stay down here then. Go back down the tunnel, through that door and find Lukas Haas's office. Lock yourself in. We can come back for you later? And uh, take these." He tosses her his earmuffs.

Rebecca's eyes flicker over each of you briefly, and then she's gone, racing away from you down the maintenance tunnel. The doors close. Ese swipes his key card and the elevator begins its ascent.

Rebecca has left the party.
Deck 10 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck10.gif) is not as quiet as it was twenty minutes ago. As the group exits the elevators, you can hear the screaming and commotion coming from the nearby stairwell. It sounds as if the mass of infected people has gotten distracted on the other decks along the way, but eventually some of them will find their way up.

There are other noises on the deck too—the sound of thumping against doors and muffled shouts, although you can't place their direction.

"The bridge is down the corridor to the right. The door is steel," Morten whispers. "Stig's room is 1532 if we want to break in and try to find his key card."

The group is standing in front of the starboard-side main elevator, near the bow. Directly in front of you is the port-side elevator. Down both hallways to your left and right, the corridor continues for a while before turning a corner and disappearing.

1
TAL

Leaving behind the bloodshed on Deck 07, you and Jamie creep silently up the stairs to Deck 10.

To your right is the secondary elevator. Ahead of you is Adventure Ocean, the ship's child day care/play area; colorful fish adorn the walls outside it. The map near the elevator doors reveals that through the Adventure Ocean area is a small outside deck with stairs going from Decks 09–11.

The bridge is located at the other end of the ship, past a bunch of cabins.

Stegyre

2012-10-23, 11:24 PM

Tal and Jamie hurry around the elevator bay to head toward the bridge at the bow.

Inglenook

2012-10-23, 11:34 PM

TAL

As you walk down the corridor, you hear beating on the walls and doors and the occasional frustrated scream. It sounds like maybe some of the sick people were in their rooms when they went mad, and now they don't realize how to get out.

You turn the corner and freeze. Ahead of you, stepping out of the elevator, is a fairly large group of people, some of them clearly wielding weapons. None of them, however, appear to have the rage-filled, bruised faces of the ill … at least that you can see.

1
ESE, MAXWELL & STEVE

Maxwell, you suddenly spot something down the hall to your left. Anna follows your gaze and gasps slightly.

Two people have rounded the corner: a man in a leather jacket and, following behind him, a red-haired girl.

xen0phile

2012-10-24, 12:12 AM

As they exit the elevator, Ese is thinking about the actual process of breaking into the room, and realizes he doesn't have any particularly useful tools for opening doors (aside from just attempting to kick it down). Responding to Morten's suggestion of breaking into Stig's room, he offers, quietly but annoyed, ¡C*****! Anyone have good tools? A drill, crowbar, saw, small knife?

He is about to briefly explain his history with this stuff but is interrupted by Anna's gasp.

dekova

2012-10-24, 08:06 AM

Steve eyes the stairwell, hearing the screaming echoing up from below.

It may be nice to have a working steel door in a couple minutes, we should probably...

With Anna's gasp, Steve raises his wrench and looks around.

Stegyre

2012-10-24, 09:06 AM

Using his arm to keep Jamie back, in case they need to run, Tal says a cautious, "Hello? We're looking for the captain or some crew members."

dekova

2012-10-25, 01:18 AM

Using his arm to keep Jamie back, in case they need to run, Tal says a cautious, "Hello? We're looking for the captain or some crew members."

Steve relaxes just a bit and, with exaggerated motions, signals the man to "be quiet" and then to "come here".

So, I'm taking a liberty with Steve here. GM didn't say Steve sees the pair, but since Tal spoke, I think it's a safe bet. I'll "rewind" if that's not the case.

Also, I think the gestures for be quiet and come here are pretty universal, but here's a gesture roll for Steve just in case you're wanting him to make one. (Skill is 10)
[roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 01:28 AM

That's fine; anyone in the group can call him over. And yeah, "come here!" should be simple enough that it's not necessary for the roll. :smalltongue:

Stegyre

2012-10-25, 09:41 AM

Tal and Jamie approach the group, quietly. Once they are near enough to speak without raising their voices, Tal asks, "Is one of you the captain? We've just come from Deck 7. The crewmen trying to ready the lifeboats have been killed, as far as I could see."

Briefly, he fills the new group in on the family of four, the Carvers, holed up in the Arcade on Deck 10, and how he and Jamie have been using the secondary stairway to get up and down: "The infected don't seem to be using it."

"Can any of you tell us what's going on?"

dekova

2012-10-25, 11:04 AM

As the pair approaches, Steve looks around anxiously and says quietly. "Captain, I say we go for Stig's room. It'll be quieter to break in to and it might be nice to have the bridge door working when the infected reach this floor."

Tal: "Can any of you tell us what's going on?"

Uncomfortable with giving the captain further direction, Steve will pull Tal close and quietly fill him in on the infected heading up the stairwell, the plan to try the secondary radio and the infected crewmember in the bridge.

Hopefully, the captain has made a decision and Steve is filling Tal in as they're moving ninja-like towards either the bridge or Stig's room.

Can I get a description of the main stairwell? I'm envisioning a metal, utility stairwell with stairs about three feet wide, having metal doors on each level that open inward (doors open into stairwell). Kind of like this (http://www.historic-hotels-lodges.com/alabama/redmont-hotel/photos/redmont-fire-escape.jpg). How close am I?

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 11:46 AM

TAL

The grey-haired man with the gun blanches visibly as you tell him about the fate of the crewmen on Deck 07. At last he says in a shaky voice, "Yes, I'm the captain."

1
The group crosses to the port side of the ship, and heads up the corridor to Stig's room, 1532. Morten pauses and looks around at everyone. "Should I shoot the lock, do you think?"

@dekova: the main staircases are actually more like this (http://www.lumuc.com/sapphireprincess/Stairs-81sml.JPG) or this (http://steve.maraspin.net/photo/gallery/travel/europe/2012-greece-in-september-cruise/day-03-at-sea/_screen/08-grandeur-of-the-seas-stairs.jpg)—wide and open with no doors, although there are fire doors that block the stairwell off in the event a fire is detected. The secondary staircase is the same, but only half as wide and split in two.

dekova

2012-10-25, 12:00 PM

"Let me see if we can get it open a little quieter."

Steve backs away from the door a step and motions for the others to give him a little room. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he lunges forward with a kick.

So... I'm no firefighter and I don't know a thing about breaching doors. Steve, however, has this handy skill called "forced entry" at skill 12.
I'm guessing if there's ever a time to make a forced entry roll, it's here.
[roll0]

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 12:04 PM

Kick: [roll0] cr
Steve's kick connects with a thump, causing the door to rattle and groan slightly.

dekova

2012-10-25, 12:22 PM

Does Steve have any sense for how long this may take? Is it usually a "3-4 kick" thing or a "5-6 minute" thing?

And... I just realized you said that doors close off the stairwells in the event of a fire! Tell me more about that and what Steve knows about how to get around once the fire alarm has been activated. Is there a fireman's key for the elevators in the bridge?

Professional Skill: Firefighter 11 if that makes a difference.

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 01:01 PM

The cabin doors (http://idighardware.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/18r-Stateroom-Door.jpg) are about one-and-a-half inches thick, so just kicking at it is going to take a goodly while.

And this calls for an IQ roll! :smallbiggrin:
[roll0]
Remembering your basic crewman's training, you recall that there are fire doors at the end of each corridor (http://idighardware.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/25r-Cross-Corridor-Fire-Door.jpg) on the ship, as well as roll-down fire doors that can seal the stairs off (http://theflaggagency.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Painting-the-Princess-Cruises-logo-on-a-Fire-Door.jpg) on any given deck.

The doors shut automatically if smoke is detected in that corridor/stair entrance area, and an alert is sent to the bridge. The doors can be "reset" by the bridge once the danger has passed.

All fire doors can be opened manually by pulling down on the handle, to keep from trapping passengers inside. The corridor doors are pushed or pulled open (although they're quite heavy) and the stair fire doors have to be grabbed at the bottom and pushed back up into the ceiling. Once opened, the doors quickly shut themselves again to prevent the fire from escaping.

xen0phile

2012-10-25, 03:01 PM

Ese curses to himself. This will take too long. We need tools. I'm going back down. I know where to get axe or crowbar. Lurch, I have my radio. Call me if things... turn bad.

dekova

2012-10-25, 03:04 PM

Steve looks at the door and shakes his head grimly.

"That's not going to work, sorry guys."

We should just set off the fire detector and seal the stairway, but Steve can't do it. People would hear the alarm, leave their cabins, and get swarmed by the infected.

Man... playing the boyscout is rough.

Stegyre

2012-10-25, 03:11 PM

After watching the crewman give the door a few so-far-ineffectual kicks, Tal turns to the captain (assuming that he would be the person in charge): "Can we use the intercom system from here? And is it possible to turn it on and off in different areas of the ship? The sick people seem to respond to the sound of others. I thought we might be able to use the intercom to lure them -- or most of them -- into an area where we can secure them.

"We'll all be a lot better off if we have them in one place and we have the run of the ship than the other way around.

"It's just a thought I had. Can we do it, and is there someplace that would make a good trap?"

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 04:05 PM

ESE

Lurch nods.

Breaking away from the others, you take the main elevator back down to the sub-level beneath the medical facility, heading through the maintenance tunnel and the metal door into the din of the engine room. You pass by Lukas's office, and through the window you can see Rebecca sitting at his desk inside, frantically trying to call someone on the phone.

You step over to the damage control locker and open it up. Inside are a number of tools for emergency management and ship repair. Ese took out all the wrenches to give to the others for self-defense, but there's still quite a bit left:

- large fire hose with numerous nozzles
- 2 fire axes
- 2 flash suits
- 2 OBA rebreathers
- 2 hard hats
- 2 fire extinguishers
- 2 battle lanterns
- bilge pump
- casualty control manual
- repair manual
- crow bar
- small, portable welding kit
- small wooden mallet
- fiberglass patches
- cable
- flashlight
- rubber gaskets
- hand saw
- toolbox
- canvas bag
- first aid kit
- bolt cutters
- compressed air
- toilet plunger

1
EVERYONE ELSE

Morten shakes his head at Tal's question. "We can use the intercom from the bridge or any of the major ship stations, but we'd have to get into them first. The individual areas can make local intercom announcements, but … that would mean that someone would have to stay behind to draw those people there.

"Although, if we can get into the bridge, maybe we could cut some of the wiring so that only some areas would broadcast if we used the intercom from the bridge. Uh, 'Lurch', you and Ese have electrical experience, yes?"

"Yep."

"Okay, we might need your help in a bit. I don't know where we could try to trap those people, though. The brig in the security office was the most secure place on the ship. Everywhere else has doors that would eventually break under the weight of so many people."

"Plus there's nowhere big enough to put them all," Anna adds, frowning. There were sixty-three of them in the medical, and dozens more confined to their cabins. The Sound of Music Lounge is the biggest enclosed space on the ship, but there's no way you could keep them all in with so many doors."

@dekova: There's no actual alarm aside from the one on the bridge, just the closed door and a flashing light to warn people not to go inside. It's assumed that crew will arrive within a minute to evacuate the area and put out the fire. Plus if sirens went off every time some bozo lit a cigarette when they weren't supposed to, no one would get any sleep. :smalltongue:

Stegyre

2012-10-25, 05:02 PM

Please see my post in the OOC thread, seeking clarification about the SoM Lounge -- not to be confused with the S&M Lounge, where something completely different happens.:smalleek:
"The Sound of Music Lounge? What if we chained the doors closed? We could do most of them before we tried to lure them in. The riskiest parts would be luring them in and chaining the final door once we had most of them inside -- assuming that we have locks and chains."

Tal feels discouraged. Maybe it wasn't such a great plan, after all, but . . .

"Look, we can't just lock ourselves up somewhere and hope someone else takes care of things for us. We're going to need food, water, control of the ship! We have innocent, terrified people all over this ship with very little between themselves and what you tell me are over five-dozen homicidal maniacs." -- He remembers the Chef, with his long knife, and the Carvers, hiding on Deck 10 -- "THEY . . . WILL . . . DIE . . . if we don't do something, and soon!

"If nothing else, maybe we can at least go to one of the intercom stations and broadcasting messages to distract and mislead. Some of the infected seem rational enough to actually follow the messages -- at least, enough of them were on Deck 7 to overwhelm the crew. They will probably lead the more mindless ones. We can broadcast a message sufficiently crazy that anyone not infected and hiding would never respond to, but the crazies might. Get me access to where you broadcast from before, and I can see what I can stir up."

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 06:23 PM

"I agree, we do need to do something," Morten says. "We could try to lure them into the Lounge, but there are over a dozen doors there. I don't know how we could secure all of them, especially if they they throw all their weight against them like they did in the med center—they'll just tear the doors off their hinges.

"As for earlier, I used the phone in the head engineer's office to make the shipwide announcement," Morten says, "and it has a local intercom that broadcasts through all the rooms and maintenance areas down there."

His eyes suddenly light up. "We could try to trap them down there into the engine room—all the hatches are steel, they can't use the elevators without a card, and there are no stairs! But first we need to get into the bridge."

"Uh, guys?" Jamie says from behind you. Everyone turns, and you all notice that the screaming and footsteps coming from the main stairwell down the corridor has grown somewhat louder. It sounds as if the sick people are starting to get closer to Deck 10.

dekova

2012-10-25, 06:42 PM

"Quick! Anyone have a lighter and a cigarette? I'll see if I can get the fire door to drop. It may hold them off for awhile."

The above statement assumes that I understood you correctly in that:

There is a fire door that will drop on this deck of the main stairway.
Steve knows that a shipwide fire alarm isn't going to get set off.

Oh... and Lurch had access to fire axes and he gave me a wrench? That guy takes people waaaay too literally. I guess i shouldn't complain, he could have given me the toilet plunger.

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 06:47 PM

That's correct, although the fire system reacts more to smoke than heat—a ciggy'd work better than a lighter.

Asherion

2012-10-25, 07:14 PM

Maxwell looks at the unfolding idiocy around him (without expressing that to his companions) and sighs.

"I have a lighter, and cigarettes. Are you sure we wouldn't be better off just getting the hell off of this boat?" he says.

I've only been skimming, as it's been freakishly busy around here. If there are better weapons than the ice pick presented, Maxwell will definitely ask for one. If there are handguns in the hands of untrained, he will also attempt to reason one into his control. And if they decide to try the lighter plan, he will allow his lighter to be used as long as it is promptly returned, or he is personally using it.

Maxwell removes said items from his pocket and lights up a smoke, pausing a moment to look at the captain (as if perhaps he'd take offense) then assumes that it really doesn't matter anymore and lights one up. "I haven't been able to properly smoke a cigarette since all this happened, much as I've tried... zombies... Jesus."

dekova

2012-10-25, 07:37 PM

Maxwell: "Are you sure we wouldn't be better off just getting the hell off of this boat?"

"Sir, there are other passengers." Steve replies, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"May I please have those?" He gestures to the lighter and cigarette.

xen0phile

2012-10-25, 07:43 PM

Ese grabs the canvas bag, and tosses his wrench plus the crow bar and first aid kit into the bag. He slings the bag over his neck, carrying it like a courier bag. He grabs one of the fire axes, wielding it.

I'll wait a bit before posting more--remember my character has a radio and access to an intercom (since he is now down in engineering)--in case you want him to try something with the intercom.

Asherion

2012-10-25, 09:15 PM

Maxwell shrugs again and hands over the lighter and some cigarettes. "Let's hope this works, yeah?"

Inglenook

2012-10-25, 09:54 PM

MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

"Gimme that, blondie," Brenda sighs, handing her blood-covered broken bottle to Anna and yanking the wrench from her hand. "I'll worry about the intercom once we're safe on the bridge." She begins beating on the doorknob/lock mechanism as hard as she can with the wrench, pausing between strikes to speak.

"Those. Things. Are. Coming. And. I. Don't. Want. To. Be. In. The. Hall. When. They. Get. Here."

From around the corner (close to the bridge), you all suddenly hear the sound of a door opening and closing. Brenda freezes mid-strike, eyes wide.

dekova

2012-10-25, 09:58 PM

Steve nods a quick thank you to Maxwell as he grabs the items with his left hand.

"Infected don't open doors, see who that is." Steve whispers.

With that, he turns and sprints down the hallway towards the main staircase.

So the plan (if you can call it that) is to light the cigarette and blow smoke at the detector.
If that fails, Steve will rip off his shirt, wrap it over the wrench and light it on fire (the shirt, not the wrench :smallbiggrin:). THAT should set off the detector. (pen light and other gear are in pants pockets)

If, while Steve is busy doing this stuff, a single infected comes up the staircase, he'll try to kick it back down (all out attack & hopefully big bonus for having the high ground).
If, while Steve is busy doing this stuff, more than one infected comes up the staircase, Steve will insure he's got their attention and then sprint up the staircase to draw them away.

Stegyre

2012-10-25, 11:26 PM

"I have a lighter, and cigarettes. Are you sure we wouldn't be better off just getting the hell off of this boat?" he says.
Tal gives the man a grim smile. "Mister, maybe you didn't hear me, but we just came from Deck 7, where the lifeboats are, and where the crewmen getting them ready were slaughtered. Some of the boats are maybe part-way ready -- I don't know about such things -- but you're a braver man than I am if you want to go down there any time soon."

I'll wait a bit before posting more--remember my character has a radio and access to an intercom (since he is now down in engineering)--in case you want him to try something with the intercom.

I'm pretty sure that Tal has no IC knowledge of Ese, his location, or radio. I think Ese left before Tal arrived, and I don't recall anyone mentioning such a minor-seeming detail.

From around the corner (close to the bridge), you all suddenly hear the sound of a door opening and closing. Brenda freezes mid-strike, eyes wide.
"I'll go see who it is," says Tal. To Jamie, "I suggest you stay here with the others." Without waiting further, he heads up the hall and around the corner.

xen0phile

2012-10-25, 11:38 PM

Anyway, Ese will hurry back to the elevator with the stuff. He'd like to see that Rebecca's okay, but he's more concerned about getting upstairs at the moment.

Inglenook

2012-10-26, 12:44 AM

ESE

You hurry back into the elevator with the sack, slowed slightly by its weight. As the elevator ascends through the ship, you can hear roars and screams through the doors at each level. You arrive at Deck 10 and, as you step out of the elevator, you see Steve to your right, standing in front of the stairwell (from which the screaming has grown much louder) and waving a lit cigarette in the air.

1
MAXWELL

Do you have any name in mind for your/Schultz's/Speck's banking company?
1
STEVE

You're of only average height, so you hope this works. You light the cigarette and stand in front of the stairwell, raising it as high in the air as you can and waving it in front of the small sensor above the doorway.

There's a space of about thirty seconds in which you're not sure it will work. Ese exits the elevator beside you, carrying a sack and looking confused as to what the hell you're doing. Then, the light above the doorway begins to flash an angry red, and a 2/3-inch thick solid metal gate descends from the ceiling, sealing off the stairwell entirely. No one is using the main staircase to get to or from Deck 10 anytime soon.

1
TAL

You turn the corner … and from a short corridor immediately to your left, three men also turn the corner, two of them with guns raised and pointed directly at your face.

Two of them are quite older: one grandfatherly, carrying nothing; the other bald, dour and ugly, wielding a pistol. The third is a young man with a buzzed head and dark, inscrutable eyes; he carries a long rifle with a scope mounted to the top.

dekova

2012-10-26, 03:00 AM

After taking a moment to evaluate the sturdiness of the fire door, Steve turns to Ese.

"An axe! Perfect, come on."

He starts jogging back to the group.

Stegyre

2012-10-26, 08:55 AM

Tal raises his hands slowly (including the one carrying the hiking stick) to show he means no harm.

"Ordinarily, seeing men armed like that would mean trouble, but under the circumstances, you just look well prepared. Do you have a plan? Would you like to know ours?"

Inglenook

2012-10-26, 12:20 PM

STEVE

You turn the corner and make it back to the others without incident.

1
TAL

The grandfatherly man in the back smiles warmly—jarring, given the circumstances—and makes a motion for his companions to lower their weapons. "It's alright, this gentleman doesn't appear to be one of the sick ones." They comply.

"We do in fact have a plan, Mr … ?" He waits for you to supply your name before continuing. "But we'd be more than happy to hear yours as well. Oh, and where are my manners?! My name is Harmon Schultz, and these are my associates: Richard—" He motions to the sour-faced old man, then the young one with the shaved head. "—and Mr. Smith."

If you'll allow them to, Harmon Schultz, John Smith and Richard Speck will join the party.

xen0phile

2012-10-26, 01:19 PM

Ese hurries after Steve.

Holding an axe, not expecting people with guns around the corner. Hope he isn't mistaken for an infected! :smalleek:

Inglenook

2012-10-26, 01:39 PM

ESE

Nah, you're good; Tal and the newcomers are right beside the door to the bridge, out of the line of sight to Stig's cabin.
You rejoin the others without incident as well.

Brenda is still frozen, listening for any sounds of warning from Tal, who disappeared around the corner toward the bridge several moments ago to check the source of the noise. From what everyone can hear, it sounds like he might be talking to someone.

"Hey, creepo!" Jamie calls after him impatiently. "What did you find?"

dekova

2012-10-26, 01:46 PM

Steve lets the others deal with whatever's going on around the corner and focuses once again on the door.

"Ese, I can breach the door with that axe. Can I see it?"

xen0phile

2012-10-26, 01:57 PM

Ese drops the bag next to Brenda. "Miss, there's a first aid kit in the bag," alluding to her scratches. "What is that guy, este, Tal doing?"

to Steve:
"Sure. Crowbar in here, too." He hands over the axe, then grabs the crowbar from the bag.

dekova

2012-10-26, 02:17 PM

"Thanks."

Steve hefts the axe in his hands, looks to make sure he's got a bit of space to both sides and takes a monstrous swing at the door.

Okay, let's see if I can figure out how to use this forced entry skill.

Using All-Out Attack (Strong) for +2 dmg plus Telegraphic Attack for +4 to-hit.

To Hit = 16

Forced entry skill is 12
-1 penalty for only have str 11 (2h axe requires str 12)
+1 forced entry bonus for using fireman's axe
+4 bonus from Telegraphic attack

Damage = 1d+7

Base Swing dmg is 1d+1
2h Axe is SW+3
All out attack (strong) is +2
"Fine" quality cutting weapons are +1 (at TL7+, all weapons considered fine quality)

THAT'S more like it.

I'll leave it to you to determine if Steve thinks he should attack the door or the lock (firefighter skill roll? IQ roll?). If it's the door, he uses the axe end. If it's the lock, he'll reverse the axe and use the spike end (and would lose 1pt of damage since he's not using "fine" cutting edge).

Assume he whacks at it 5 times unless there's something that happens in game to stop him. (just to avoid posting 5 times that he swings).

Stegyre

2012-10-27, 12:49 PM

Alright, alright! I'm back, already. :smallwink:
I'd thought with historiasdeosos away we'd be slightly slower-paced.
"Faulkner, Tal Faulkner," he tells the men. "Right now, we're trying to get one of the crew cards to get access to the bridge. If need be, that will give us a very secure door to hide behind. It will also give us access to the intercom.

"I thought we might use the intercom system to lure the infected some place we can secure them. The captain says the engine room may have secure doors. I think someone was going to trip the fire alarm on this deck, so the stairwell doors will close. That should give us some breathing room here."

Tal invites the three men to accompany him back around the corner to meet the others. Just so no one is alarmed, he calls out before rounding the corner, "I've found some more friends, well-armed friends."

Inglenook

2012-10-29, 06:46 PM

ESE

Brenda sits on the cheap carpet, roots through the bag to find the first aid kit and begins inexpertly wrapping the bandages around her head.

"Here," Anna says, kneeling beside the haggard woman and helping tend to her wounds.

You hand the axe off to Steve and take the crowbar from the bag, appreciating its solid weight.

1
STEVE

Hm, technically we're not using Telegraphic Attack, since it's from Martial Arts and we're only using Basic Set. But since you know what it is and factored your attack around having that +4, I'll allow it this time. After the adventure I'm going to try to get everyone's feedback on (among other things) what combat rules everyone wants to use for the rest of the game.

Professional Skill [Firefighter] (SL11): [roll0]
Forced Entry (ESL16): [roll1] — damage if it hits: [roll2] - 1 for door DR
Forced Entry (ESL16): [roll3] — damage if it hits: [roll4] - 1 for door DR
Forced Entry (ESL16): [roll5] — damage if it hits: [roll6] - 1 for door DR
Forced Entry (ESL16): [roll7] — damage if it hits: [roll8] - 1 for door DR
Forced Entry (ESL16): [roll9] — damage if it hits: [roll10] - 1 for door DR
Throwing all your weight into your blows, you strike at the wooden door with your axe. It takes only three blows for you to knock a hole in it big enough for a person to fit through.

1
TAL

Schultz, Speck and Smith follow you around the corner, just as Steve begins hammering at the cabin door with the fire axe. Anna is kneeling to apply antiseptic to Brenda's cuts, and Morten, Ese and Yolanda hover anxiously to the side. Everyone glances up at the new arrivals, and Morten does a double-take. "Mr. Schultz?"

"Hello, Captain!" Schultz says over the pounding of the axe.

1
MAXWELL

Behind Tal are three men, two of whom you recognize: your fellow board members Harmon Schultz and Richard Speck. Schultz spots you among the group, his eyes widening in an expression of pleasant surprise. "And hello, Maxwell!" he says. "Fancy meeting you here."

dekova

2012-10-29, 11:30 PM

Satisfied with his work, Steve lowers the axe. Staying slightly further than arms reach from the door, he peers through the hole into the cabin until he's fairly satisfied no infected are within.

Then, as quickly as possible, he reaches through the hole and works the handle from the inside to open the door.

Reaching in to work the handle with the left hand.

Steve will search the cabin unless asked to remain outside.
Perception 12
Observation 11 (though observation probably doesn't fit here)

Figure you should make the perception rolls since I shouldn't know if I missed something. :smallsmile:

xen0phile

2012-10-29, 11:42 PM

Ese slings the bag with the wrench (but now sans first aid kit) back over his shoulder, and steps toward Steve and the door, preparing to follow him through and search the room.

Stegyre

2012-10-30, 09:53 AM

Tal heads sternward for the secondary stairwell. "I want to make sure that was sealed off, too, and I should try to bring the Carvers up to this deck, now."
Barring anything else, that is exactly what he will do: head to the secondary stairwell; make sure the fire doors closed it off as well; slip through the doors (making sure they close behind him) and going up to Deck 11 and the Arcade to let the Carvers know he has met up with the Captain and several others on Deck 10; they believe that deck has been sealed off from infected in other parts of the ship; and it is probably the safest place to be, for the time being.

If anyone volunteers to come with him, they are welcome, although he believes no more than two or three, at most, should make the trip.

If necessary: stealth [roll0] diplomacy to convince the Carvers [roll1]

Inglenook

2012-10-30, 10:00 AM

Only the main stairwell is sealed off, not the secondary one. And all elevators are still functional. Does that affect what you want to do?

Stegyre

2012-10-30, 10:50 AM

Only the main stairwell is sealed off, not the secondary one. And all elevators are still functional. Does that affect what you want to do?
Yes!
Seeing that the rear stairwells and elevators were not sealed off, Tal runs back to the main group: "We still need to trigger the fire alarm on the rear stairwell: it looks wide open, and this deck is not secure."
Tal will accompany whoever has the lighter and cigarette and wants to come. Alternatively, if someone just offers him the necessary items, he will take them and go, proceeding with his original plan, except that he will first seal the stairwell before heading down.

xen0phile

2012-10-30, 02:26 PM

Ese would likely be searching the cabin by the time Tal got back from that stairwell, so he might not hear him.

dekova

2012-10-30, 11:31 PM

Steve still has the lighter and one unlit cigarette. He probably dropped/put out the lit cigarette back by the main staircase.

The following assumes that Steve can hear what Tal said. If he can't, I'll retract.

Steve stops for a second, thinking, then says: "I've got the lighter, and I'll go with you."

Turning to Ese: "Can I get your keycard? We'll get Rebecca too."

Inglenook

2012-10-31, 01:06 PM

ESE & STEVE

Steve reaches through the hole, unlocking the door and pulling it open. He and Ese enter the room, followed closely by Morten.

"Spread out and search for Stig's key ring," the captain whispers. "It should have all his cards on it."

The room is brightly lit and quite a bit larger than the cabins on the lower decks, with ample room for a queen-sized bed, sofa, table and chairs, and a private balcony. The only sign that something is off is the television; the glass is broken as if someone threw something through it. The occasional spark flies out of the jagged hole in the screen, and it's amazing that it hasn't caught the rug on fire.

The three of you begin quickly rifling through drawers, and after only a couple of minutes you hear Morten let out a sigh of relief. "Got it," he says, reaching into a bedside table drawer and pulling out a bundle of perhaps fifteen small key cards.

See Tal's section for the rest of Steve's action.
1
TAL

Running back to the group, you explain to Anna, Brenda and Lurch that the secondary staircase needs to be closed as well. At that moment, Morten, Ese and Steve exit the first mate's cabin, having overheard you. "I've got the lighter, and I'll go with you." Steve says, pulling out Maxwell's Zippo once again. Steve turns to Ese. "Can I get your keycard? We'll get Rebecca too."

"Here, take mine," Lurch shrugs, handing Steve his card.

Tal and Steve run down the corridor, pausing only to pick up the half-burned cigarette from the floor near the main staircase. From behind the lowered fire door you can hear pounding and muffled roaring; it appears the infected passengers found Deck 10 after all, perhaps drawn by the sound of Steve's axe?

Reaching the secondary staircases near the stern, both men listen closely: it sounds as there might be infected in both of the stairwells, but numerous decks down. Steve is slightly taller, so he quickly repeats the procedure of holding aloft the lit cigarette to set off the alarms; the fire doors lower over each of the staircases.

Tal and Steve lift one of the heavy doors and creep under, making sure it closes behind them, and make their way up the short flight of stairs to Deck 11.

You are on Deck 11 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck11.gif), on the port-side secondary staircase near the stern. Directly in front of you is an emergency exit door, which Tal recalls leads directly into the Arcade (although there's no way to enter it from this side).

Just to the left of the emergency exit is a staircase that leads up to the Viking Crown Lounge. The entrance to the Living Room is just to your left, around the corner.

Suddenly, you hear screaming echoing down the staircase to the Viking Crown Lounge—not the frenzied screaming of the infected passengers, but the frightened scream of someone in trouble.

Stegyre

2012-10-31, 01:28 PM

With a quick glance at Steve, Tal then turns and bounds up the stairs to the Viking Lounge.
Cannot yell out. Don't want to draw any of the infected up the staircase any faster than they're already coming. Deal with this, then get the Carvers.

dekova

2012-10-31, 01:29 PM

The noise spurs Steve to action. Abandoning thoughts of stealth, he sprints up the staircase towards the screaming.

While moving, he's trying to figure out (by sound) if it's a man, woman, child, multiple people, etc.. that's making the noise.

Inglenook

2012-10-31, 02:14 PM

STEVE & TAL

As you both sprint up the winding flights of stairs, Steve tries to place the screaming—gender, age, number—but the echoing of the stairwell makes it impossible to discern much except the fact that whoever is screaming is terrified and in trouble.

You reach the top of the stairs. Ahead of you is a frosted glass double-door, the latch broken in (although the glass is only slightly cracked). Above the door is a neon sign: VIKING CROWN LOUNGE. The screaming comes from within, and you enter.

The Viking Crown Lounge (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/vcl1.jpg) is a large, open, disc-shaped room raised above the rest of the ship like a glittery-white flying saucer. Inside (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/vcl2.jpg), the Lounge is enclosed by floor-to-ceiling windows, providing a 360° view of the upper decks and the ocean. Ringing the Lounge are dozens of tables and chairs for dining during the day.

In the center of the room is a large, circular platform, raised about fifteen feet above the dining area, accessible by two sets of stairs and a ramp that winds around the back. This is the nightclub dance floor, and lights here flicker rhythmically off the glittery ceiling even though there's no music to be heard.

On the dance floor platform are two people, both of whom Tal recognizes: the beautiful young woman with the cane who he saw standing on Deck 10, and the heavyset black man who had been reading on Deck 11 before Tal started playing his guitar. The two appear to have been hiding here, but they were apparently discovered. Neither of them is armed, except for the woman's cane.

Sprinting up the staircase toward them is one of the infected people: a female crewman.

Stegyre

2012-10-31, 02:26 PM

Oh, well, if it's Mr.-I-don't-care-for-your-music, I'll just be heading back down to Deck 11 and people who appreciate me . . . .

JUST KIDDING!
Figuring that he and Steve are far enough from the stairwell that any extra noise they make won't make a difference with the noise already coming from the lounge, Tal shouts out and waves his stick to try to get the infected's attention while continuing to run: "Hey! Hey! Over here!"
Lacking any more effective tactic, Tal will close at maximum speed and try another AoA committed grapple. Attack, when it comes to it: [roll0]

Note: If Steve -- or anyone else -- gets to her first with a grapple, Tal will focus upon grappling her hands/arms. His goal is to immobilize her ability to fight back.

dekova

2012-10-31, 02:51 PM

Weaving between the tables, Steve continues his sprint. His eyes dart to the various tabletops hoping to find something he can throw at the woman to get her attention.

So.. Not slowing down, but if there's something that is within grabbing range as he weaves between the tables (a plate, vase, etc.), he grabs it and throws it. No damage is expected, he's just trying to get her attention.

Throw skill is 9

ETA:
If they get to melee range and woman still facing/attacking someone else, it's an all-out-attack: (determined) with the 2h-fireaxe. If Steve is now her target, it's a more reserved standard attack.

Asherion

2012-10-31, 09:08 PM

Maxwell nods in response to Schultz and Speck's approach "Hello, indeed... the circumstances, are unfortunate though, yeah?"
He watches Steve and Tal run off again, and glances around at (whichever others are around) and shrugs.

"All right. We have they keycards. What now?"

Sorry, I've been away and/or busy again, I'll try to hop back into the groove. Also I'll post on our other game tonight or tomorrow :D

xen0phile

2012-10-31, 10:04 PM

After Morten finds the keys, Ese takes a moment to unplug the TV, then another moment to glance around the room to see if there is anything useful to grab.

Maxwell's question bring his attention away from continuing to loot the room. He climbs through the door and glances at the three new arrivals. The pistols don't get to him too much, he had occasionally smuggled similar-sized packages into ships himself. It's that guy's big rifle that surprises him. But, where he normally would feel fear at the sight of such a weapon on-ship, he now feels a modicum of relief.

"Pues... we have the key. We can go into bridge... if we want." Stating the obvious, but alluding to the fact that they would have to deal with the source of the pounding that has been coming from behind the door.

Inglenook

2012-10-31, 11:53 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

Ese unplugs the television before rejoining the group outside. As Steve and Tal run off, Maxwell asks, "All right. We have they keycards. What now?"

"Pues... we have the key. We can go into bridge... if we want."

Morten's expression darkens, but he nods. "Follow me." Lurch is right behind him. Anna helps Brenda (whose face is orange with iodine) to her feet, while Speck and John both look at Schultz for approval. He gives them an approving nod, and together everyone heads the short distance down the corridor to the bow, turning the corner.

Morten suddenly stops dead, causing everyone behind him to stumble. Looking past him, the two of you see what caused him to halt:

Ahead of you and to your left is the door to the bridge. Past the door is the starboard corridor that runs parallel to the hallway you were just in. And standing at the junction ahead of you is a woman.

Her short, silk nightgown—once white—is completely covered in blood, as are her hands and face. It's impossible to tell her hair color because of the blood, and it clings wetly to her face and throat. She simply stands there, unmoving, with wide and unblinking eyes; it seems as if she's not so much looking at you as looking past you.

I hate trying to describe corridors and junctions and whatnot in relation to one another, so here's a minimap!

http://i.imgur.com/cIJFQ.gif

The group is standing more or less exactly where Tal and Harmon/Speck/John met, at the red arrow; the red line shows where you came down the corridor toward the bow. The purple line is the bridge door, and the green dot is the bloody woman.

And it's no problem, Corrino. I've been pretty busy myself, so I apologize to everyone if my updating has been somewhat slower than usual the last few days.
1
STEVE & TAL

Steve's Throwing (which I have at SL11 on your char sheet? -1 for situational disadvantage): [roll0]
Steve's Two-Handed Axe Attack (ESL14): [roll1]
Hit Location: [roll2]
Damage on a Hit: [roll3]
You both chase after the woman, yelling, but she appears to not even notice you. Even when Steve grabs a heavy plate off a nearby table and lobs it at her, striking her in the back, she continues with single-minded focus up the stairs, chasing after the black man and the red-haired woman with the cane. The two run toward the ramp at the back of the dance floor, the man clutching the woman's arm and pulling her along roughly.

Steve catches up with the infected female crewman halfway across the dance floor. His axe swings in a wide arc, severing her left arm and scraping against her ribcage. The arm falls to the floor twitching, and the woman shrieks and turns to face you—you certainly have her attention now.

And then Tal is there. He throws himself at the woman, trying to pin her arms to her sides … but of course, one of the arms is no longer there. Still, he manages to hold her right arm down. The woman snaps violently at him but misses.

Tal has grappled the now-one-armed woman, and she's bleeding all over him. The black man and the red-haired woman are fleeing down the ramp on the far side of the dance floor.

Also, I'm trying very hard to fight the urge to make an "unarmed combat" joke. :smallfrown:

dekova

2012-11-01, 08:41 AM

Steve hefts the axe for another swing but hesitates, unsure, as the two grapple in front of him.

"Step away!"

So I read the rules on B392 about striking into a close combat, yikes!

Steve is holding his attack, waiting for Tal to disengage from close combat (take a step back or to the side). Once that happens, AoA-Determined with the 2h-axe.

to hit: 15

skill: 11
aoa-determined: +4

damage: 1d+5

swing: 1d+1
axe: swing+3
fine weapon quality: +1

Stegyre

2012-11-01, 09:18 AM

Yep. Blood all over me, I bet. I hope my Luck has recharged so I can use it against another possible infection roll.

I'm not sure if I'm also due for a combat paralysis roll. Under the circumstances (i.e., what has already happened), I would assume that Tal was not sufficiently "threatened" until now. If he's paralyzed, he's not going to be able to think to let go and get out of Steve's way. FUN TIMES!

Combat Paralysis: [roll0]

I'll edit in action after we know the result.
EDIT: Tal glances back at Steve, with a bloody axe held over his head. "Aiiiiee!," he yells as he jumps aside, not entirely certain how many maniacs he's dealing with.
Tal will back away from the two combatants, moving to position himself between them and the stairway to the dance floor.

xen0phile

2012-11-01, 11:51 AM

Ese steps in front of Brenda and Anna, both to protect them if the bloody woman attacks and to protect them from the visual trauma of the sight. He tightens his grip on the crowbar, should he need to use it, but doesn't raise it or otherwise try to appear threatening. Mostly Ese is uncertain how to react.

He will pause for a few moments, both to observe what the bloody woman does, and to wait for what the other members of his party do.

Inglenook

2012-11-02, 10:54 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

The bloody woman simply stands there, looking at/past the group. Out of the corner of his eye, Maxwell sees the man named John raise the long barrel of his rifle, aiming it at her head.

"Wait!" Anna hisses, pushing his gun barrel aside and moving forward to the front of the group. "Ma'am, are you okay?" she asks the woman softly. You suddenly notice that the woman is shuddering ever so slightly, as if a small electric current is running beneath her skin. Tears spill down the woman's cheeks, washing clean paths through the blood, and her eyes seem to focus on the group for the first time.

"Dead," she whispers, and collapses forward.

As Anna and Lurch rush forward to help her, Ese realizes that noise he heard earlier when he found Morten—the banging from behind the door to the bridge—is gone.

1
STEVE & TAL

Whoops, I totally forgot about the Combat Paralysis!
Tal tries to jump backward away from the woman as Steve prepares to swing his axe, but he's slightly too slow; the woman reaches out with only remaining hand and clutches Tal's right hand, her fingernails digging in deep.

Tal's HT Roll to Avoid Knockdown and Stunning: [roll0]
Tal cries out in pain and drops his walking stick as the woman's nails tear great chunks of skin and flesh from his hand.

Steve's Axe Attack (ESL15): [roll1]
Damage if Hit: [roll2]

I forgot about the +1 for modern melee weapons too, my bad! I don't think it's affected anything so far, though, and I'll make sure to remember it from this point on.
Steve swings his axe, cutting deep into the woman's ribcage … yet she continues to stand.

Steve has already gone for this round, so it's Tal's turn before the woman acts. Tal's right hand is crippled (due to a very lucky attack on the woman's part, and a very unlucky Dodge for Tal). And he's Shocked, meaning a -4 to IQ- and DX-based skills this turn. :smallfrown:

The woman's attack did 4 damage, meaning Tal is at 6/10 HP.

Stegyre

2012-11-02, 11:36 PM

Whoops, I totally forgot about the Combat Paralysis!
But I didn't, and assuming my roll counted, I passed. :smallwink:
"OWWW! Dammit!" Tal yells, and without hardly thinking, lashes out with his other fist, a roundhouse swing!
AoA, committed, shock notwithstanding. (Defense never works anyway. 'Never should have let go.

The -4 from shock and the +4 from AoA should cancel out, giving him a 9: [roll0]
Damage (swing) should he be so lucky: [roll1]

EDIT: WHEEEEE! Surprising everyone, he connects solidly with her jaw . . . or something. :smallbiggrin:

Inglenook

2012-11-02, 11:47 PM

STEVE & TAL

Yep, counted your CP roll. You never specified Tal's handedness … so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here that he's left-handed, and you don't suffer the -4 penalty for using your off-hand.

Your punching damage is 1d-3, though? So you do 1 damage rather than 4. :smallfrown:
Tal punches the woman hard, but she's unfazed. She snaps at your hand as you hit her, but misses.

Stegyre

2012-11-02, 11:59 PM

Actually, Tal is (was?) right-handed: there is no -4 for off-hand strikes using karate skill -- I just confirmed that much from the Lite rules.

Where is the additional -3 for unarmed damage stated? Not that I'm doubting it, but I'm new enough to actually playing GURPS (as opposed to endlessly reading rulebooks and dreaming) that I was not aware of it.
Recovering more of his senses, Tal unleashes a thrust kick.
AoA, committed, I think that's +4 for AoA and -2 for kick: [roll0]
Damage, with whatever is the applicable modifier for a kick: [roll1]

EDIT: His reign of awesum continues! That should be another hit (11 or less), and max damage - whatever the max is.

dekova

2012-11-03, 12:00 AM

Steve calls out a useless warning as the crazed woman ignores her wounds: "Tal!"

Desperate to stop her attacks, Steve takes another swing.

to hit: 15

skill: 11
aoa-determined: +4

damage: 1d+5

swing: 1d+1
axe: swing+3
fine weapon quality: +1

To Hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Inglenook

2012-11-03, 12:22 AM

STEVE & TAL

Whoops, I totally didn't realize that there's no offhand penalty for Karate; that's pretty cool, actually.

And Karate uses "punch" as the weapon (pg. 271 in the Basic Set), which does thr-1 cr damage. If you know Karate at DX level or more, though, it starts adding extra damage. At least I think that's how it works—I've never used any martial arts skills myself in GURPS, so if anyone knows otherwise, let me know. :smalleek:

And your kick does thr cr damage (same page), so 4 damage. :smallsmile:
Tal strikes a vicious kick at the woman's left leg, causing her to stagger, while Steve strikes simultaneously at her right. The axe cuts off the woman's right leg and she falls to the ground, still writhing and trying (but failing) to claw at your ankles.

dekova

2012-11-03, 12:44 AM

"Oh, God."

The horror of what he's about to do showing clearly in his wide eyes, Steve takes another swing, hoping it will be the last.

aoa-determined. if necessary, taking a step back so she can't reach out and take off a toe or two (shouldn't be an issue with the range of the axe).

To hit 15: [roll0]
Dmg 1d6+5: [roll1]

Inglenook

2012-11-03, 01:02 AM

STEVE & TAL

And the last it is. As the female crewman looks up and screams, Steve plants the axe directly in the center of her forehead. She gurgles and stops moving.

The black man and red-haired woman made it down the ramp while you were battling, and have stopped by the broken-in leading to the stairwell. The black man is looking up at both of you with an strange combination of revulsion and gratitude, and the red-haired woman … well, she strangely doesn't seem to be looking at anything at all.

"She's dead," the red-haired woman says faintly. It's not a question.

Stegyre

2012-11-03, 09:55 AM

The horror of the situation begins to sink in for Tal and he shudders. Grabbing a nearby tablecloth to wrap around his right hand, he says to Steve, "We need to get these folks back to Deck 10, where they'll be safer, and get the Carvers, too. We'll have to attend to this,", he waves his swathed right hand, "later."

With his left hand, he picks up his fallen hiking stick and hands it to the man. "Use it if you need to.

"Let's get moving." He heads to the downward stairs, back to Deck 11.
Tal wants to get everyone back to the relative safety of Deck 10 as quickly as possible, before the infected make it any farther up the secondary stairwell. Then he will worry about first aid.

As with past requests, he will use his Luck rerolls - to the extent any are available - on any infection rolls.

dekova

2012-11-03, 11:05 AM

Standing over the dead woman, Steve takes a deep, shuddering breath as he tries to come to grips with the situation. He looks down at the axe embedded in the woman's head and half-hears Tal talking: "..and get the Carvers, too. We'll have to attend...". Steve tugs on the axe handle, dislodging the axe from the woman's skull with a thick, wet, sucking sound.

And that, at last, is too much for him. He lurches to the railing of the dance-floor and vomits.

When he regains some semblance of composure, Steve numbly follows Tal's lead. He doesn't think to ask if they're headed for the Carvers or back to the 10th floor.

I know that this technically doesn't trigger Steve's guilt complex, but the man just put an axe in a lady's head. His **** isn't exactly together at the moment.

xen0phile

2012-11-03, 03:50 PM

As Anna and Lurch go to help the woman, Ese also advances forward. He'd like to help tend to the collapsed woman, but at the moment he is somewhat worried that one (or more) of the infected is active nearby, and the party could be ambushed.

He will, in this order:
1. glance down that port-side hallway adjacent to the bridge
2. make sure the bridge door is still secure
3. look down the starboard-side hallways (both the one leading forward to the Royal Suite, and the longer one running toward the stern), at that intersection where the woman just collapsed

A "trying to not get ambushed" check, vesus Peception of 11:
/roll 3d6

xen0phile

2012-11-03, 03:51 PM

Derp. Trying that roll with proper formatting.

versus 11 perception
3d6

xen0phile

2012-11-03, 03:54 PM

Blargh. i b smert wun dey

again:
[roll0]

Inglenook

2012-11-03, 08:14 PM

ESE

As the others are attending to the bloody woman, you quickly check all the adjacent corridors to make sure that nothing is approaching. The only thing that looks out of the ordinary is the corridor to the left of where the woman was standing: a trail of blood drops on the carpet leads back to the open door of the royal suite.

The bridge door is still secure, and you can hear nothing behind it.

Asherion

2012-11-03, 10:43 PM

Maxwell steps over by the others and the woman. "What the hell..."

Dependent on others' actions, he will either look her over himself - looking for open wounds, bite marks, trauma - anything to suggest where the blood is from, if she's hurt or dying, and if she might have been exposed in some way to the contagion via blood contact - or, if others are already expecting, since Maxwell certainly isn't qualified, he will stand near Ese and also keep an eye out.

Also, when he meets up with the fire guy again, he will ask for his lighter back :D

Inglenook

2012-11-03, 10:59 PM

ESE & MAXWELL

Maxwell kneels down beside the woman, looking to see if she's been attacked or is physically injured in any way. "I don't think she's hurt," Anna says, looking up at him with sharp, worried eyes. "At least not that I can see. This blood—or at least the majority of it—isn't hers. There's too much of it."

Maxwell can't see any noticeable wounds either, just lots and lots of blood.

Standing off to the side, Harmon clears his throat politely. "Perhaps we should get inside the bridge? Not to disparage the quality of your ship's fire doors, Captain, but the more metal between us and the things in the stairwell, the happier I'll be."

Morten nods. "Anyone with a gun—Mr. Speck and Mr, uh, Smith?—beside me. Everyone else, stay alert."

Unless either of you would like to do anything else beforehand, Morten's going to open the door to the bridge and try to lead the group inside, if he can.

xen0phile

2012-11-04, 11:52 AM

Ese will keep an eye out on those two starboard-side corridors; focusing on the one leading the the Royal Suite, but also glancing down the other one. He thinks that, if the infected man is still active on the bridge, it would be better for the people with guns to take care of him. So, Ese's most valuable use at this time is as a lookout.

Also, does Anna or Brenda still have the first aid kit? Or was it just left laying on the floor?

Asherion

2012-11-04, 05:59 PM

Maxwell stands, keeping an eye on the bridge door. "Just everyone stay alert; we've got possible infected in the bridge, as well as from any other direction, if the fire doors don't hold, and we need to keep a careful eye on her" he gestures to the woman on the ground, "Who knows if she's infected or not; she didn't quite act like it..."

Maxwell has nothing further to do before the bridge is opened

Inglenook

2012-11-05, 01:11 AM

ESE & MAXWELL

Anna has the first aid kit still.
From down the corridor, Ese can hear the pounding growing louder. It sounds as if more of those things are in the closed-off stairwells wanting in. He glances constantly between the main starboard corridor and the corridor leading to the open door of the royal suite, but sees nothing of note.

Maxwell keeps close behind the three men with guns, brandishing his pick in case whatever's inside slips past.

"Here we go," Morten whispers, and slides his card through the reader beside the door. There's a small chirp and a click as the door unlocks, and the captain pushes it open.

The man who rushes through the door out of the darkness is like something from a nightmare; his fists are raw and bloody from beating on the inside of the bridge door, and shards of broken glass are embedded in his face and one of his eye sockets. He roars as he lunges toward the person nearest him—Morten.

Before anyone else can even react, a deafening boom echoes down the corridor and the infected man is suddenly thrown backwards, back inside the bridge. As his body hits the floor, everyone clustered around the doorway can see that the man's head has been (relatively) cleanly blown away.

"Excellent shot, Mr. Smith," Schultz whispers, a smile in his voice. The corridor is filled with the smell of cordite.

John takes point, stepping into the dark bridge and over the infected man's corpse. There's a brief, tense silence before he calls back out: "It's clear."

As Harmon, Speck, Brenda and Jamie enter the bridge, Maxwell notices that Morten has sunk to the floor, his face pale. Anna quickly steps over, kneeling beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder while quietly speaking to him in Norwegian. Maxwell feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see the tiny Hispanic maid—Yolanda—offering him a pistol.

"The captain dropped it," she explains, placing it in Maxwell's hand, "and I don't know how to use it."

Maxwell and Yolanda follow the others inside the bridge, with Ese and Lurch dragging the unconscious bloody woman close behind.

---

Crappy map time again, everyone! :smallsigh: The green lines are doors, and the blue line is a large plate-glass wall.
The bridge (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/bridge.png) is a low-ceilinged room, narrow as you first enter, then widening into a large lobby area (#1), which is designed for passengers who want to see how the cruise ship operates.

Looking through the wall of plate glass in front of you, you can see the main control area (#2): a long, arc-shaped room with the pilot seats and control panels in the center.

Connecting the lobby and the main control area is a small, brightly-lit hallway (#3). Normally the hallway is locked and only able to be opened with an officer's key card, but both doors are at the moment thrown open.

Past the outward-slanting windows of the main control area is the officers' deck (#4), an open-air platform that wraps all the way around the front area of the bridge.

Captain Rendahl's office is through the main control area to the right (#5).

1
STEVE & TAL

As the four of you rush down the stairs, Tal suddenly realizes that he can't move or feel his right hand whatsoever—perhaps a blessing, giving its mangled state. Whether it's nerve damage or something else entirely, whatever that infected woman did, it must have been serious.

The group pauses to listen near the bottom of the stairs. Tal can hear nothing, but the red-haired woman apparently does. "There are some of them down there, I think," she whispers. She has a cultured English accent. "But they're still a good distance away. They … they might have heard us screaming." Her cheeks redden.

You all exit down onto Deck 11 and immediately round the corner. Tal throws open the door to the Living Room—

Dodge: [roll0]
—and narrowly avoids being brained by Pete, who was keeping guard near the door.

"Tal! Holy ****! Sorry!" he cries, dropping the broken table leg he was holding. Danielle and the two kids rush into the room at the noise, eyes widening as they see Tal's arms and chest covered in the infected woman's blood, and the tablecloth wrapped around his hand that's soaked in his own blood.

"Your hand …" Adam gulps, growing pale.

Tal and Steve quickly explain the situation to the Carvers, stressing that they're very short on time. In a matter of moments everyone is rushing together down the secondary stairwell, which is now full of echoing screams from below.

Steve lifts the fire door blocking the way, allowing everyone to pass under it before stepping through himself; it lowers again behind him.

When you finally arrive at the door to the bridge, you see that the others have already managed to get it open. Morten is sitting in the corridor directly outside it, with Anna kneeling next to him and murmuring something to him in a soothing voice.

Pete and Danielle usher their kids inside. Before either of you can follow them, the red-haired woman lays her hands simultaneously on both Steve and Tal's forearms. Up close, it's quite clear that she's blind—her hazel eyes stare blankly ahead, unseeing.

"Thank you for saving us earlier," she says, and then turns to address the black man. "And thank you for leading me. I'm Sarah."

"Owen," the black man says, his voice almost bored-sounding. He glances at Tal, his eyes flickering momentarily to the injured hand. There's a small note of smug satisfaction in his voice when he says, "Doesn't look like you'll be playing guitar for a while, huh?"

Equipment-wise, the only change is that Maxwell now has Morten's gun.

Steve, Tal, Anna, Morten, Owen and Sarah are in the corridor directly outside the bridge, while everyone else is inside.

If everyone accepts it, the group now consists of:
- Ese
- Maxwell
- Steve
- Tal
- Anna
- Lurch
- Morten
- Yolanda
- Brenda
- Jamie
- John
- Owen
- Sarah
- Harmon
- Speck
- Adam
- Danielle
- Emma
- Pete
- the unconscious bloody woman

dekova

2012-11-05, 01:47 AM

Owen: "Doesn't look like you'll be playing guitar for a while, huh?"

Steve turns to Owen at that last and says plainly: "Sir, he just traded his hand for your life, a decent man would be more grateful."

Steve holds Owens gaze for a moment then turns to the Captain. "We still need to get Rebecca, Sir. Can we call her from here?"

Inglenook

2012-11-05, 01:52 AM

STEVE

Owen's stares at you coldly, leaving to join the others inside the bridge.

At your question, Morten looks up at you, his eyes red and his face drawn. "Yes, the intercom system is in the main control panel, and there's also a line in my office. You can broadcast to anywhere in the ship."

dekova

2012-11-05, 09:00 AM

"Terry, can you please give Rebecca a call and make sure she's not freaking out? I want to help Dr. Holm look everyone over, starting with Mr. Faulkner."

Steve ushers the others into the bridge, locks the door and then heads for the damage control locker to grab the other first-aid kit.

"Captain, Sir... it may be worth trying the satellite link one more time before the backup radio. Whoever you talk to, have them send the army AND the CDC."

A couple book-keeping items that I don't want to clutter the IC dialog with.

Steve returns the lighter and one unlit (and hopefully unbroken, unbloody) cigarette.
Steve is getting the other first-aid kit from the damage control locker in the bridge.
Steve is a bit paranoid and will be keeping the axe near him at all times. Leaning it against something and in arm's reach while he's looking everyone over.
The door to the bridge is assumed to be closed and locked now.
The "looking people over" that he and the good doctor are doing will include a thorough washing off of blood and cleaning of wounds if there's a sink with soap on the bridge (captain's bathroom maybe?).
The looking people over that he's doing will also include checking for fever, dilated eyes, crazy heart rate... stuff he's thinking could be an indication of infection.
The above statement that Steve made regarding the radio assumes he still doesn't know that the world is in the crapper.

Stegyre

2012-11-05, 10:35 AM

Tal holds his injured hand out for the doctor's cleaning and treatment. "It's numb," he tells her. "I don't know if that's from shock or from infection. I guess we need to assume I may be infected and keep an eye on me, in case I start 'acting out.' I'll keep you posted on what I'm feeling. It may be useful. I wonder how well the infected can think, and if they can recover."

He lies down in the hallway, with his arm elevated to reduce bloodflow to the area. Unless, of course, Dr. Anna advises otherwise.
"So, Sarah, tell me about yourself. Maybe you can use that excellent hearing of your to help the good doctor - monitor me - for any changes."

xen0phile

2012-11-05, 11:58 AM

Ese starts to unconsciously finger the rosary again, a combination of nervousness and nicotine craving. "Hey. I heard some of those things behind the firedoor. Lurch, tell the lady I am going to meet her in the engine room. I want to make sure she is safe coming here."

Ese places his bag and crowbar on the floor of the lobby. To Steve he asks, "Could I use that axe? Pues, more damage than that," motioning to his crowbar.

dekova

2012-11-05, 12:27 PM

Ese: "Could I use that axe?"

"Sure, I'll grab another one from the locker. But if you're going to get Rebecca, I'm going to come with you."

Steve then addresses Dr. Holm. "That is if you can spare me Ma'am."

Sheesh. Steve can't keep himself behind a locked door for more than five minutes it seems.

I really don't want to take off again just yet, but if Ese's going, Steve's going.

And if they're going, from the locker he'll grab another axe and then the flash suit jackets, gloves, pants and hardhats if he thinks they might afford him and Ese some protection (i.e. DR of 1 or more).

If he can find a one-handed axe or a hammer (equivalent to small mace) in the toolbox, he'll take that over the two-handed axe.

xen0phile

2012-11-05, 12:42 PM

Ese realizes it might be good to arm Rebecca once they reach her; he grabs the wrench out of the bag. (I assume there is some convenient way for him to store the wrench on his person; either some sort of loop on the jumpsuit itself that is tough enough to carry tools; or a belt--if not, he'll just carry the bag).

Also, yes, I am fine with all of us combining into one big party

Stegyre

2012-11-05, 05:41 PM

"Call us when you get there," Tal asks them. "I will talk with the captain about how to work the intercom and how we might lure the infected down where they can be secured."

He moves over to Captain Morten to see how the man is doing. "Captain, can you show me how to work the intercom system and how to turn different sections 'on' or 'off'? We'll be better off once we give those people some place else they'd rather go."

dekova

2012-11-05, 07:18 PM

Steve nods. "Yeah... and probably a good idea if we take a radio with."

xen0phile

2012-11-05, 08:38 PM

"Don't worry, I have a radio," motioning to his walkie-talkie. Overhearing Tal's comment to Morten, Ese offers, "Ehh, I think you need to work on the electronics. Osea the intercom is for the entire ship. I think I can get some tools when I go down to engineering. Lurch and I can do that: have the intercom just talk to one area."

Inglenook

2012-11-05, 10:33 PM

"Come on, Morten," Anna says, not unkindly. "We need to get inside."

Morten nods and stands shakily to his feet. As Steve, Tal, Anna and Sarah enter the bridge, Morten follows and shuts the door behind him.

Just going to do the rest of this on a post-by-post basis.
1
STEVE

Terry runs off to the captain's office to call Rebecca in the engine room.

Before helping Anna you speak to Morten, who has resumed his position of sitting off to the side in the lobby, away from everybody else.

"The satellite radio is dead," he says, waving his hand tiredly, "We don't have the right components on the ship to fix the antenna. And anyway, someone would have to climb up to the very top of the ship to do so. I should try the VHF, though. Hopefully there's someone within range …" He stands and walks off toward the main control area.

1
TAL

You're the first person Dr. Holm looks over. Assessing the damage with her piercing grey-green eyes, she carefully cleans your shredded hand. "No pain at all?" she asks, wrapping it in gauze and bandages. "There might be some nerve damage; it's hard to tell at the moment. I make no promises, but you might have full use of your hand again, eventually … if it's properly treated. For the time being, keep it elevated and don't even try to use it."

As you mention the possibility of "infection", the matter-of-fact tone never leaves her voice. "From what I've seen, you wouldn't begin exhibiting symptoms until a few days have passed. So you won't need 'supervision' for a while. And as for recovery, I'm sorry to say that none of the patients I treated in the clinic showed any real improvement. It was the same for each of them: fever, irritability, tachycardia, gingival bleeding … and then it was like they went mad. Or they died." Her eyes flicker to yours briefly. "We had to strap them down, you know. I … I still don't know how they broke loose. It happened so fast."

As Anna leaves you to inspect the others, Sarah comes and sits beside you. She laughs at the suggestion that she could monitor you. "I may have good hearing, but it's not as if I can monitor your heartbeat from across the room.

"And I'm a journalist. I was supposed to be writing an article on norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships—" She shakes her head. "—but I think norovirus is the last thing on the world's mind right now."

She tilts her head slightly. "And what about you? And you never told me your name, Mr … ?"

1
ESE

Lurch gives you a thumbs-up and picks up the phone.

Returning to the lobby, you take the fire axe from Steve.

1
STEVE

"That's fine," Anna nods, gently probing Yolanda's bruised side with her fingers. "I'm almost done looking over everyone anyway."

You open the locker, located right outside the captain's office. Ese has his own hard hat, but you grab one for yourself, then grab the flash suits and gloves; they'll afford you a modicum of protection, maybe. They also come with large hoods that cover your face/head/neck, but wearing the hood will significantly restrict your vision, hearing and speech. It's up to you whether or not you take them.

There's a small wooden mallet, but it's so dinky that it's probably not useable as a serious weapon. You'll have to settle for the fire axe.

1
TAL

After talking with Sarah and checking in with Ese and Steve, you make your way over to the captain at the controls.

Ese overhears you asking Morten about the intercom, and Morten nods.

"I misspoke earlier," he says. "You can selectively call to anywhere on the ship via the phones. And you can broadcast through the ship's intercom. But the intercom broadcasts are universal; the only way to broadcast to only certain intercoms in certain areas of the ship is to fiddle with the wiring up here—" He points down at the controls. "—and disable all the others."

1
No one appears to be exhibiting any over symptoms of illness as far as Steve and Anna can tell. Lurch is the only one left to be checked, but he's busy calling the engine room.

Steve, do you want to leave the first aid kit here or take it with you?

dekova

2012-11-05, 10:41 PM

Leaving the first-aid kit in the bridge.
The hood of the flash suit is too bulky, but Steve will wear the coat, pants and gloves of the suit with the hardhat provided it's less than 20 pounds altogether (trying to stay unencumbered). If it's too heavy, he'll just wear the gloves, coat and hardhat, skipping the pants.

Inglenook

2012-11-05, 10:45 PM

You should be good; the gloves are .5 lbs. and the rest of the suit is 4 lbs.

Character sheets should all be updated with current equipment now, I think.

dekova

2012-11-05, 11:17 PM

Steve quickly makes what small preparations he can. Then, with the new fire axe in hand, he steps back to the bridge door and listens intently for any sounds coming from the hallway.

Stepping back from the door a bit, Steve readies his axe and motions for Ese to open the door.

Hearing 12
Gesture 10 (if needed)
Stealth 11

Steve's assuming that Rager's are behind each and every door/corner/plant/etc.
Default defense is dodge with a retreat (9+3).

xen0phile

2012-11-06, 12:27 AM

Ese quickly opens the bridge door, then jumps back a bit and readies his axe.

Assuming there aren't any infected right behind the door, Ese will poke his head out the hatch, peer left and right, then take point as they begin to go to the elevator (unless Steve tries to take point, in which case he will defer).

He will go down the starboard hallway toward the elevator, first taking another quick glance toward the Royal Suite to make sure nothing else is happening there.

He will also turn down the volume slightly on his radio (assuming it has volume controls).

He will move at a brisk walk, trying to combine stealthiness and situation awareness with quickness.

versus Stealth of 12 to move quietly: [roll0]

versus Perception of 11 to hear if anything is going on in passing rooms/whether the infected have gotten out of the fire door: [roll1]

Stegyre

2012-11-06, 12:39 AM

"You can call me Tal," he tells the nice young woman.

"I misspoke earlier," he says. "You can selectively call to anywhere on the ship via the phones. And you can broadcast through the ship's intercom. But the intercom broadcasts are universal; the only way to broadcast to only certain intercoms in certain areas of the ship is to fiddle with the wiring up here—" He points down at the controls. "—and disable all the others."
Holding his injured hand up as he talks with the captain, I feel like Dr. Strangelove. All I need is the black leather glove.

"Well, I'm not going to give up that easily, captain. So the default is to broadcast ship-wide, but we can disconnect wires up here so that we broadcast to just where we choose? Assuming someone knows which wires to pull, how much fine-tuning can we do? Get a single deck? Get just a portion of a deck? What? It will be a lot safer if we can lure the infected that way rather than having to run around with a bullhorn.

"Do we have a bullhorn around here? Or even an airhorn? Something to make a lot of noise and bring -- 'people' -- running?

"I want to talk with you about what we have to move people around. Then we can talk about where we want to move them to. We have some people headed down to the engine room, and if we need anything done down there, it would be best to have a plan when they get there, so they don't have to make the trip twice."

Asherion

2012-11-07, 08:52 AM

Annddd I'm behind again. I promise I'll get better once I get free of this pesky math class, as if wife, kids, and full time job and school aren't enough... I don't even need this for my job... blegh.

Maxwell checks on the type of pistol / the magazine and chamber so that he's aware of what he's holding, and how many rounds he has. He nods his thanks to the maid, and depending on what the others were doing he will either leave with Ese, since they've been together, or stay with the bankers and the others here and keep an eye out for now.

I haven't caught up yet, work started. I'll read back through today, just letting you know the things I might have done to get me caught up

Inglenook

2012-11-07, 05:40 PM

MAXWELL

It's cool!

IQ-based Guns (Pistol) check: [roll0]
You easily identify the pistol as a S&W Model 4006, which uses a .40 pistol cartridge. There are 11 bullets remaining in the clip.

1
TAL

Morten rubs his cheek thoughtfully. "I'm not very familiar with how the wiring works, but if I had to venture a guess: Up here you could probably only fine-tune it to the deck level, but if you went down to that deck itself, you could find where it branches and fine-tune it to specific intercoms. We can ask Lurch once he gets done in my office.

"And there are bullhorns on Deck 07 that are used for lifeboat drills, but none up here."

1
ESE & STEVE

Steve listens at the bulkhead door but hears nothing out of the ordinary (relatively speaking). Nodding, Ese pulls it open and the two step outside, closing it behind them.

The hallway is filled with the sounds of infected passengers trapped in their cabins, seemingly thrown into a frenzy by the sound of the other infected people locked out in the stairwell. The door to 1032 rattles violently as you pass.

Ese peers around the corner: the royal suite hasn't changed. He lowers the volume on his radio slightly, and you both continue down the starboard hallway heading toward the stern.

Lurch's voice issues suddenly from the walkie-talkie. "Uh, you guys probably want to get back here. There might be a snag in the whole 'engine room' plan. I just got—"

All of a sudden, his voice is drowned out by a series of sounds from down the corridor, sounds that cause your heart to drop to the pit of your stomach:

There is a metallic scraping that you both recognize as the sound of the stairwell fire door opening or closing, followed by what sounds almost like a roar of triumph, and a sudden stampede of approaching feet.

You are both standing outside the door to cabin 1036 on Deck 10 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/deck10.gif). 70 yards ahead of you is the right turn that leads to the main stairwell/elevators, which is where the sounds you just heard are coming from.

Ese's Fright Check: [roll1]
Steve's Fright Check: [roll2]