Black Palm, Closed Fist IC

[FreakyCheeseMan]

This is your last night at home. You've already taken one trip into the forrest taking your families and most of your supplies to a camp you hope is well enough hidden. Making two trips is risky, to be sure, but you were each able to find excuses why you weren't seen in the community during the four-day round trip, and with winter coming you'll need all the supplies you can get.

If the people of Cold Hearth will miss you when you're gone, they're not showing it now. The days you spent treking through the forrest felt far longer than they were, and the sullen stares you're treated to on your return seem more hostile and alien than you remember. There are rumors of an off-worlder working for the Ogtherians in Silt Hill, stirring up resentment again the Black Palm while singing the praises of the Ogetherians; worse, he seems to be persuading more than a few people towards his way of thinking.

Hopefully, though, you'll soon be leaving all of that behind. As dawn nears you wake assemble the last of your supplies in silence - but through that silence you hear the sounds of clanking armor outside, and a harsh, foreign voice demanding to know the location of the Varish residence.

[Vhaidara]

Varish snarls, and nearly shifts, but restrain himself. Not yet. He had to get back to his sisters. They were developing their skills well enough, but they weren't ready to be on their own. Not yet.

[TheDragonmaster]

They have come for us. It is all over.

Julia freezes for a brief moment before regaining her posture. She ventures whispering a brief warning, vaguely directed toward Varish but clearly more intended to signal that she too is aware of the disturbance than to ensure the others are.

"There are people outside looking for you, and for us too I fear."

As the urgency of the situation they are in dawns on her more clearly, her pulse quickens, and the sudden agitation comes through in her voice, though still hushed to a whisper.

"What do we do?"

What can we possibly do?

How far away does the voice seem to be coming from? From just outside the door (but strangely devoid of an accompanying knock), or does it rather seem to be directed at someone outside, perhaps closer to another house? How does the immediate area look topographically? Most significantly, what other buildings lay nearby? How is the house built? Floorplan? Any potential exists apart from the front door?

For further record, Julia has the Third Eye, Throat, and Heart psychic energy centers awakened (and will likely keep to those three until she gains the ability to access more simultaneously, unless some unforeseen need arises).

[FreakyCheeseMan]

How far away does the voice seem to be coming from? From just outside the door (but strangely devoid of an accompanying knock), or does it rather seem to be directed at someone outside, perhaps closer to another house?

It sounds like it's coming from down the street - he's presumably asking some early riser where the Varish residence is, as he's not that familiar with the town himself.


How does the immediate area look topographically? Most significantly, what other buildings lay nearby? How is the house built? Floorplan? Any potential exists apart from the front door?

The building itself has a back door, but it's usually only opened during particularly hot sumemrs, when the air flow is needed. This close to winter, there's furniture and firewood piled up against it. Apart from that, the building has a large kitchen/family area, with three bedrooms branching off from it. There's also an open loft for storage with a ladder leading to it, and a trapdoor into a cramped basement storage area. (Crawling room only.)

Go ahead and make knowledge:local and listen checks about the voice, if you want to try to place it.

[Vhaidara]

Varish positions himself behind the door.
If he comes in, I tear his head off. If he doesn't, we wait for him to leave, and then we go to our families.

['Neath the Moon]

Siegfried, with Varish's reaction, decides to get into a position with a decent bit of room to move. He flexes his hands, with the soft, sharp CRACK of knuckles that haven't moved much in several hours. He tosses his half-finished knitting to the side.

[tonberryking]

Wahn has been sitting cross legged on the floor next to a bedroll, within which are her meager possessions... except for her twin rods tucked into her belt. Those the doberman woman's keeping ready.

"You really oughta calm down, for starters..." she instructs to Julia, "Though honestly, we should just slip out the back door right now, and ghost through the stre--" she clicks her tongue in annoyance when Siegfried goes outside. Wahn kicks up before before he's fully out the door.

"Well, make the best of this. Julia, Varish, get your things, and get an eye out on the street. I'm gonna make sure this place isn't being surrounded..."


Unless I am going to look retroactively silly here and there is no damn backdoor or window or anything suitable for sneaking out, Wahn's going to use anything aside from the front door to exit the house and check to see if there's a clear path away:

[roll0] [roll1] Spot/Listen

[roll2] Kn. Local check for a pathway that attracts the least attention to get us the hell out.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Unless I am going to look retroactively silly here and there is no damn backdoor or window or anything suitable for sneaking out, Wahn's going to use anything aside from the front door to exit the house and check to see if there's a clear path away:

[roll0] [roll1] Spot/Listen

[roll2] Kn. Local check for a pathway that attracts the least attention to get us the hell out.


You're inside, so there's not much to see, but you're certain you've heard the voice before - thick Ogtherian accent, past that you can't place it.

"Attracting Attention" is kind of a trade off. There's move cover is you skirt along town and stick the buildings/gardens, but there's also more locals who might shot at you/attract attention/try to win favour with the Ogtherians by announcing your presence.