It's Aliiiiiive! [IC]

[Eldan]

You are in an almost cryptlike vault of tall pillars and gothic arches, badly illuminated by oil lanterns. There is equipment stuffed everywhere: bottles and beakers in complicated, bubbling arrangements, stacks of tiny brass gears and watchmaker's tools, blackboards filled with chalk diagrams and magic circles, leather-bound tomes heaped on the floor, even a forge and a hundred other arcane objects you barely recognize. Strangely enough, though you can not remember your names, the names of objects and their uses return quickly enough to you, as do your skills. It is just your own lives thet remain a blank.
There is much excitement around you. Except for the four of you, there are just three people in the room. From their talks, in turns hurriedly whispered and shouted, you make out that the older man is a Professor Farrow, the other his students, referred to as Blankship and Higgins. They have been running up and down the room for the better part of two hours now, prodding you with numerous tools, asking you to move your fingers in sequence, twitch your toes, even answer questions as you find your voices. And writing, always writing, stacks of notes. For the most part, though enormously excited, they seem quite detached from you, seemlingly uncaring about how you feel about this entire thing.

Soon, you begin to feel stronger, more sure of yourself and make the first careful steps through the room. Looking at yourselves and each other, you soon notice that each of you is different and your bodies are built from a patchwork of different parts. Some of your limbs are polished golden brass, delicately carved with flower patterns and curlicues, through which you can see your insides, intricate whirring gears and dark red liquid in glass tubes, tiny pumps, pistons and ratchets, almost too small to sea. Other limbs are crude, black, cast iron, scrimshaw or carved wood. Only your faces are the same. Neutral masks of porcelain with only slits for mouths and a suggestion of a nose. Your eyes, however, are crystal spheres, each pair glowing in different colours behind an arrangement of focusing lenses.

There are more bodies than just yours in the room, a good dozen, arranged on slabs. Some seem finished, though lifeless, others are half-disassembled, opened torsos with tools still stuck in them or long tubes connecting them to alchemical arrangements. None of them seem even the slightest bit alive.

Just when the fog on your minds seems to clear a bit and you find your balance on your feet, perhaps make ready to ask some questions of your own, there is a chime from Farrow's pocket. Frowning, he pulls a silver pocket watch from a pocket, then curses loudly: "Oh tides and traitors. Council meeting in ten minutes. They will want to know how my research is going. Where's my wig!"
THere is even more hurrying in the room as the professor jams a powdered wig on his head, shrugs into a knee-long coat of black velvet, grabs a walking stick and hurries out, followed
by Blankship carrying a stack of notes, leaving you alone with just Higgins, a pale, weasel-faced man of perhaps twenty in an ill-fitting white shirt.

[Qwertystop]

One voice rumbles from behind a mask.
"What are we for?"

[Bad Wolf]

Another turned to look at the one that just spoke.

"The old one seems to be studying us.'

It moved to examine the bodies on the slabs. Some looked like itself from what it could see, but why were they not alive?

[Qwertystop]

"So we are here only to have been made?"

[Bad Wolf]

"Possibly. Maybe the old one will have further answers for us when he returns." It started fiddling with the bodies on the slabs, trying to make them move.

[Comissar]

A third lowers its head, its mask betraying nothing of the thoughts passing behind the face plate. Raising an arm for examination, it twists the hand and slowly clenches and unclenches its fist. It looks between the other three, listening to what they have to say. Apparently they had no answers. Turning bodily to face Higgins, it asked "You were helping the others. Why are we here?"

[razorback]

The last one to move, a bit slowly at first, pivots its head around as it listens to the others speak.
"Why the reference to traitors?" it asks and knows its voice isn't his own.
He walks up to some of the other bodies, leaning in to examine them for a few moments before turning back to the others. "Is this where we came from???" A brief whirring can be heard as he turns his head, scanning his surrounding.
Looking as the big one speaks, and realizing his own size in relationship, he follows up with "Yes... why are we here?"

[Eldan]

Higgins backs a few away,nervously glancing around.
"Uhm. Yes. Ah. I didn't think you'd be asking questions. Of course you're asking questions. Yes. Uh. The professor, he... didn't say, really. It's medical research. We're bringing back the dead. He has sponsors. Yes. They are paying a lot for this."
He wipes his hands off on his trousers.
"Anyway. I didn't think you'd be working, yet. We were only supposed to awaken you in a week or so..."

[razorback]

"Are you saying that we are all recently deceased and have been brought back from the dead? I'm sure the professor has all of his paperwork in order." Omikron says as everyone can literally hear the gears whirring. "If you could elaborate further it would be helpful in my whatever role the professor has chosen for me." he finishes as he attempts a smile.

Attempt a diplomacy check
[roll0]

[Qwertystop]

Ah. I suppose there is still progress to make, then. I don't recall being dead. Or alive, before this. And if that's just a failing memory, I still expect whoever I was didn't have all this... tinkerwork.

[Comissar]

"Dead..?"

The glow of the colours in the crystal eyes dims as it thinks. Did I die..? Why don't I remember...

It remembered how to fight, strategies, forms, how to strike. But nothing about itself. Not one thing. The glow returned, it examined itself again. Patchwork. Like a ragdoll sewn together from many parts. Still looking at itself it muttered "How much of me... Is me..?"

[Eldan]

Higgins gets a bit into gear, now. He talks faster.

"Oh yes. I expect you would be dead. Uhm. As I said. I think the professor said that the original plan was that we would try to summon specific souls into these bodies. But then we noticed that for some reason, just having the bodies finished and the resonators in place meant that they would start to attract random spirits. Some started twitching while we were still working on them. Usually for a few minutes at a time.
But then the professor thought we might as well put a few whole bodies together from leftover parts and see if we could bind any spirits for longer. For, uhm, experimentation."

[Qwertystop]

The first pauses to think. "Ah. A whim, then? Well, it seems to have worked. I would hope you had some plan for what to do with who you brought back?"

[razorback]

"I remember nothing of my life..." Omikron states blankly before continuing "Which is unusual as I can remember how to speak." Gears whir as he moves his head back and forth.
"What kind of experimentation?" he asks in a monotone voice.


Sense Motive on our new friend
[roll0]

[Comissar]

"I would hope you had some plan for what to do with who you brought back?"

"What kind of experimentation?"

Glancing between the two other stitched together beings, and the assistant, it tilted its mask. "Why speak of staying? Is there some reason you wish to?"

[Qwertystop]

"I have no reason to stay, and I have no reason to leave. Also, I don't think that anyone clever enough to animate us - leaving aside whether or not we are raised dead - would be fool enough to leave things such that we could leave, if he wanted us to stay."

[Bad Wolf]

"They may have underestimated our abilities. I say we leave."

[Eldan]

"What? No! Please! You can't just... leave!"
Higgins is wringing his hands now.
"I mean, I don't want to threaten you, haha. I'm sure we can be very civilized about this. And I'd lose my job. Please don't."
As he stops talking, there is a booming knock from one end of the room, where a narrow stone staircase leads up to a heavy wooden door, bolted shut.
"Open up!", someone calls. "Inspection!"
Higgins pales even more and begins to sweat.
"Oh d_ _ n. D_ _ n, d_ _ n, d _ _ n. Tides and traitors, not that too..."

[Qwertystop]

"As I said, I have no real reason to leave... And some to stay, now I think of it. We are experimental, after all... I think I would rather be here if these bodies prove unreliable."

"What's wrong with inspections?"

It moves towards the door.

[Comissar]

The eyes dim slightly as it looks at the one apparently willing to continue to be experimented on. Its attention turns to the door, interested to see what Higgins was so nervous about.

[razorback]

Omikron, seeing the actions unfold before him, moves back to his original spot and keeps completely still.

[Bad Wolf]

Following Omikron's lead, Sigma returned to his original spot and stood completely still.

[Qwertystop]

Alpha opens the door.

[Eldan]

Two burly men stand outside, in breastplates and helmets and wielding heavy cudgels. Between them is an thin, elderly woman in a black robe and white collar, holding a notebook and a quill. She looks at Alpha without much surprise.
"Interesting."
Without more comment, she steps past him, onto the staircase.
"Mr. Higgins. This laboratory is accused of practising necromancy. How do you plead?"
Higgins looks as if he might faint.
"No, that... that isn't it! We just..."
"Innocent. Hm."
The woman makes a checkmark on her notebook.
"Mr. Bloodworth, Mr. Blackburn, search this room."

[Bad Wolf]

Remembering an ability of his, Sigma waited for one of the armed men to come within reach.

Readied action: When one of the guards comes within five feet of him, attack with his Charnel touch ability.
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Hypothetical crit confirm: [roll2]
Hypothetical crit damage: [roll3]

[Qwertystop]

"Necromancy? Does this refer to myself, then? Correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe that this refers to works involving corpses, renewed life thereof... and I cannot recall having been animate at all prior to several minutes ago, nor does it seem to me that any of what I am composed of is from any living creature."

[Bad Wolf]

Upon hearing his fellow experiment speak, he realized his plan. It was a wise one. He decided to stay his hand for now, and see how it all played out. No longer having a readied action.

[razorback]

<This is going to go downhill very quickly unless we do something.> Omikron thinks to itself.
"As the other has stated, I have not witnessed any necromancy on these premises. Mr. Higgins has been most forthcoming with information." he says as pleasantly as he can.


I added 'not' into the line. Shouldn't be typing at 5:30 in the AM at times.

[Comissar]

Watching the inspection take place, it looked in confusion at the other three. Why were they acting so loyally toward the scientist? There was nothing they owed him, yet they were actively attempting to disguise their own nature. It shook its head slowly, the logic was bizarre.

[Eldan]

While Bloodworth and Blackburn are moving through the room, for now mostly lazily pushing piles of books and papers back and forth and looking under them, the woman seems quite taken aback, her eyebrows shooting up.

"They can talk?! Higgins, how! That's..."
She composes herself again, slowly poking her quill on her notebook over and over again and very blatantly turns your back to you to speak to Higgins alone.
"Well, if it isn't necromancy, I don't see how it could be done. Creating new life would of course be heresy, but no one has ever managed that anyway. What are they? A new type of cogitators?
Anyway, we shall search these premises. If there are no corpses or any arcane contraband, I'm sure there won't be a problem."

[Qwertystop]

So, necromancy is banned, actual life is technically banned but in practice considered impossible, and so we are machines. Good enough.

"Do you require assistance in searching?"

[razorback]

"Agreed. If any assistance from this unit is required, please do not hesitate to request such assistance."

[Eldan]

The woman waves her hand dismissively. "Nono. None of that. We're doing this by the book and proper."
It takes a few minutes, but finally Bloodworth gives a shout after pushing a cabinet away from the wall. "Inquisitor! You want to see this!"

In a small hollow in the wall, where a few bricks have been broken out, lies a small pile of gemstones, purest black, with only a hint of bands of blue and red, each the size of a walnut and perfectly polished.

"Onyx. Alright, that's evidence enough. Necromancy. Tsk. Higgins, Higgins. You should have been a priest, like your father wanted. Lord Grenville will not be happy."
She turns round to her two henchmen.
"Right. We're taking Higgins in. Bag all the papers and, hm, yes, smash the machines."

Before you can really react, Blackburn, a grin on his scarred face, lashes out with his heavy cudgel, striking at Omega.

There is, however, not the sound of splintering ivory and broken gears one might expect. Instead, there is a short flash of light and the cudgel simply seems to glance off the arm harmlessly, as if it had struck the walls of a castle instead of a construction of carved wood and thing metal sheets.

[Comissar]

Omega's eyes flash brighter as the attack swings in at it. The ricochet of the cudgel was unexpected. It seemed this body was sturdy. If it could smile, it would.

With some amusement in its voice, Omega commented "Please, allow me to be of assistance."

Dropping into a combat stance, Omega raised its fists. Lashing out with its right, it tried to return the favour Blackburn had shown it.


Using 'Stone Bones', giving DR5/Adamantine if I hit. Also Power Attacking (taking just -1) in the hopes of a high roll :smalltongue:

To Hit Roll (Including -1 from Power Attack) - [roll0]

Crit. Confirm (If appropriate) - [roll1]

Damage - [roll2]

Crit. Bonus Damage (if appropriate) - [roll3] (If you want to just double up normal damage rather than roll additional, let me know and I'll avoid rolling crit. bonus damage here on in)

[razorback]

"What a disappointing course of action." is all that Omikron can manage as he rushes towards the door and bars exit, blade sliding out of his forearm as he looks down in what can only be called surprise on his automaton face.
Looking back up with a... smile, he says "Very nice, Mr. Higgins."

[Bad Wolf]

Now, this was finally getting interesting. Sigma moved towards the Inquisitor, reaching out with a hand that was pulsing with negative energy.

"Sorry, this won't take long."

Move Action towards the Inquisitor, and then Charnel Touch attack.

Attack Roll:[roll0]
Hypothetical Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage Roll: [roll2]
Hypothetical crit damage: [roll3]

[Qwertystop]

Alpha speaks dryly and almost casually:

"I thought you intended to follow procedure? The proper procedure to deactivate devices of unknown ability is unlikely to be 'wanton smashing'."

It moves half a step as though to intervene, reaching forwards... and a greenish blob flies out towards Blackburn.

"Oh, would you look at that. I'm leaking."

Acidic Splatter:
Touch attack roll: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] acid.

[Eldan]

Though the acid misses him, Blackburn still staggers back and screams as the fist hits him in the chest and throws him back a step. Bloodworth spins around, his own cudgel striking out, but his, like Blackburns, simply seems to glance off Omega's chassis.

The inquisitor, however, merely frowns and steps back a bit, then puts a hand in her robe and pulls forth an amulet on a silver chain, a small glass vial containing a piece of bone.

"Ut ab omni infernalium spirituum potestate, laqueo, and deceptione nequitia, omnis fallaciae, libera nos, dominates. exorcizamus you omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio, Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis and congregatio secta diabolica!"

Her voice is is no longer that of a small old woman, but thunderous and reverberating in the cryptlike stone room. The amulet glows in a golden, almost blinding light and then... nothing else happens.

Higgins, meanwhile, has thrown himself under a lab table.

[Comissar]

Omega chuckled to itself as a second blow bounced harmlessly off of it. The training it remembered was useful after all. Letting go of its caution, Omega lunged quickly forward to strike Blackburn a second time. Before Bloodworth had a chance to react to this, it spun on its heel and launched another punch at the man, hoping to catch them both in rapid succession.

I'm assuming Blackburn took a 5ft. step away? I'd have expected an attack from him too, otherwise. On that assumption, using Punishing Stance to take a -2 on AC to add D6 damage. Not using Power Attack this time.

To Hit -

Damage - [Roll]1D8+3+1D6

Crit. Confirm (if appropriate) - [roll1]

Crit. Bonus Damage (if appropriate, I'm unsure if the D6 from Punishing Stance would be included so I'll roll it as a separate part) - [roll2] + [roll3]


If Blackburn didn't take a 5 ft. step back and is still in reach, Omega will instead use Steel Wind to allow an attack at each of them (and I'll edit his IC actions accordingly)

Rolls for Steel Wind if relevant;

To hit against Blackburn - [roll4]

Damage against Blackburn - [roll5]

Crit. Confirm against Blackburn (if appropriate) - [roll6]

Crit. Bonus Damage against Blackburn (if appropriate) - [roll7]

To hit against Bloodworth - [roll8]

Damage against Bloodworth - [roll9]

Crit. Confirm against Bloodworth (if appropriate) - [roll10]

Crit. Bonus Damage against Bloodworth (if appropriate) - [roll11]

[Qwertystop]

"I did tell you we aren't undead, didn't I? I feel fairly sure that I did."

"This is all self-defense, you know."

He flicks a hand at the two attacking Omega, and fire happens.
Fiery Burst: if possible, aimed to hit Bloodworth and Blackburn without hitting Omega. If not possible, just hitting Bloodworth
Fire damage, reflex for half, second roll is for Blackburn if I can get both:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[razorback]

Situation seems to be deteriorating quickly.



"Ma'am, if you would refrain from doing that again, it would be appreciated."
Omikron states as he moves towards the inquisitor.


Omikron
AC = 13 ; Current = 13
HP = 8 ; Current = 13

Move Action
Move next to inquisitor

Standard Action
REady an action to attack the inquisitor if she tries to cast another spell.
[roll0]

Damage
[roll1]

Notes ~

[Eldan]

There is a crunch as Blackburn's head flies back. He topples to the ground motionless, clearly not breathing anymore. Bloodworth is a bit more nimble, evading the second punch, only to be set on fire by a small explosion. Screaming, he begins tearing at his smoldering clothes, only to then begin wildly flail about himself with his cudgel, hitting nothing but a few bottes.

The inquisitor, however, is far from defeated. She almost casually dives under Omikron's arm and steps around him, her hand vanishing in her robe once more.
"Fire. Yes.", she murmurs, more to herself, then pulls out a small bottle of something viscous and black and hurls it to the table where Higgins is hiding. As the bottle shatters, burning oil splatters the table, the walls around it and, from teh screams, Higgins himself. A stack of books on the table begins burning with a golden-yellow flame, which quickly begins to spread across the scattered papers.

[Bad Wolf]

Sigma lowered his arm and watched the flames consume everything.

"...I think, this may be a good time to retreat. Should we attempt to extract Higgins?"

[Comissar]

Omega spares a moment to glance over at Sigma, "Why? Is he important?"

It turned its attention back to Bloodworth, darting forward Omega swung recklessly at the injured man, attempting to take him out of the fight as completely as it had Blackburn.

This time Omega will be using Punishing Stance to get the extra +D6 damage.

To hit - [roll0]

Damage - [roll1] + [roll2]

Crit. Confirm (if appropriate) - [roll3]

Crit. Bonus Damage (if appropriate) - [roll4] + [roll5]

[Qwertystop]

Alpha replies: "He knows how we work better than we do, and we are brand new. What if someone breaks?"

It moves towards Higgins to retrieve him, but backs off if the fire proves unavoidable.

"On the other hand, burning myself to fail to save him won't help very much."

[Eldan]

Higgins is quickly thrown over Alpha's shoulder and dragged away from the fire which is now spreading over almost half the laboratory. Somewhere, there is a loud bang, followed by a rain of glass shards as some alchemical container explodes.

As Bloodworth is dropped, the inquisitor clicks her tongue in annoyance at the now rather unfavourable odds of one to four. She waves her hand, three fingers spread out, in a quick circle and a golden glowing barrier springs up into existence around her.

"You realize that you will not escape justice. Before morning, you will have the Republican Guard, the Grail Seekers and the Pure searching for you. The inquisition will turn over every rock from here to the wall, if we have to."

[razorback]

"For acting in self-defense? Seems a bit heavy handed, don't you think?"


Omikron moves into an adjacent position but doesn't attack.
He's holding out for some flanking.

[Qwertystop]

"Don't bother. You heard her before... creating life is both heretical and 'impossible'. Either we're machines//property//false and thus she can destroy us in arresting Higgins, or we're a work of heresy and thus can be killed as a moral act."

[Eldan]

"It's not self-defence. You are not alive, you are machines. You are tools, of Higgins there and his Professor and you killed two people. Like a pistol would, or a sword."
She walks backwards, slowly, eyes on the group, towards the staircase.

"I suppose it would be too much to expectfor that your entire nest of sin will burn down here, of course. But I will pray to the Lord that it will be so."

If Omikron wishes to make an attack of opportunity, he will have to roll a will save, first.

[Qwertystop]

"As I said. And in that case... hm. So we are instruments of his resisting arrest, then?"

It appears to pause, to contemplate.

"So, if we are tools, is there the possibility that we could be repossessed instead of destroyed? We can be useful. I, for example, am capable of collating a wide array of knowledge, as well as learning and casting a quantity of arcane spells limited only by the time available to do so in. I believe I would be quite useful to the right researcher. I would much rather not engage in a violent escape if our safety could be assured by other means."

[roll0]

[Svata]

Suddenly Sigma swivels its head from side to side, saying "What? Where am I? Why is everything on fire, and who are the dead guys? Also, reposessed? Destroyed? Instruments? Whatever happened to Cogito Ergo Sum? We may be different from you, but that doesn't make us not people. I beseech you, let us go, or at least do not kill us."

[razorback]

As Omikron notices Sigma change and yell out, he says in a sarcastic tone. "That does not bode well. "

[Svata]

Sigma simply shrugs, saying, "Probably not."