Exalted: Skyscraper Shards

[aetherialDawn]

This is the IC thread for the formerly alternating-weeks Skype game Skyscraper Shards. There will also be a reference thread made in the OOC chat for dice rolls that shouldn't be in the IC, character sheet links, and the like.

---------

1200 West Fifth Street is a large but old apartment building taking up most of a block; the brick and concrete and plaster of an earlier time. It has been kept in good repair, but nothing more - the building is old, and while it is sturdy it lacks the shining aesthetics of the parts of the city where entertainment and technology industries have taken root and flourished.
Curtains and blinds block the view into most every window, giving the building a closed-off look, and down the street a parking garage provides convenience but spreads a faint scent of gasoline, concrete, and metal.

All four of you are nearby after an hour's brisk walk from the old church, and it's time to finalize and enact your plans. The front doors are open and lead to a lobby on this side, with elevators that aren't restricted to residents - the only locks here will be on the doors of each unit. Nissa didn't have the exact room number of her mysterious, possibly ghost-ridden 'target' for this, but prophecy and suspicion seem to have started aligning for you to finally find James and return him to the Hellions safely. And, of course, to do a favor for Nissa along the way.

[Fortuna]

Nedra murmurs to the others, "Wait here about twenty minutes. I'm going to do a quick scout and be back." Then she slips into the building, not caring too much if anyone sees the front door open - it's an old building, and a self-opening door isn't that scary anyway. Using stairs rather than elevators - elevators go 'ding' - she makes a sweep of the building, keeping her eyes but more importantly her nose open. Nissa's file described a strong smell of saffron about the man she's after - with any luck, his room will smell the same.

Perception + Awareness + 1-die stunt to pick up the unusual smell [roll0]

Willpower • • • • • • • • • •
Pool: 9/10 (+1)

Essence • • •
Personal 7/16 (5 committed)
Peripheral 23/37 (10 committed)

[The_Snark]

Lanni:

is a pigeon. Check it out, other pigeons, she's strutting along a windowsill, doing that silly head-bob thing. Like you do when you're a pigeon. Pigeon pigeon pigeon. Nothing to see here.

... five minutes and still no shouting or gunfire from inside. That's... good. She guesses.

... Bored now.

[aetherialDawn]

A few of the doors in the building smell strongly enough to be noteworthy - generally unpleasant smells, but Room 320, down near the end of a hall on the third floor, smells of saffron strongly enough that Nedra's keen attention catches it with ease. There are other mingled scents - some take-out food and simple cooking, primarily, but also a hint of garlic and saffron covering up very faint blood and salt. A brief listen doesn't give any sounds away - if there's anyone inside right now, they're quiet or asleep and seemingly haven't noticed anything amiss.

[Fortuna]

Nedra slips outside. "Found him. There's a room reeking of saffron. Someone wave down Lanni so we can come at it from both sides; I'll pick the lock, she can snoop about the windows, and you lot come inside for backup."

[aetherialDawn]

The room in question is breached easily enough - Nedra's lockpicks swiftly convince the door that its key is an unnecessary luxury, and carefully opening the door reveals an ill-lit but perfectly normal living room in dreary shades of brown and cream, with a trio of backpacks indicating that there is more than one occupant here today.

Of more importance is the pale, lank-haired man shoving a dark-haired youth aside in the other room who fumbles for a gun and opens his mouth to shout a warning - only to narrow his eyes as it turns out no-one is at the door. He says, "Be ready." to the others in the room and holds his gun behind his back where it can't be immediately seen.
The sliver of that other room that is visible includes a bed - where a duct-tape bound James has ended up, grunting and trying to attract attention - as well as fractions of sleeping bags, circles of blood bounded on both sides by circles of salt, hands - and pistols - from at least two other men, and a solid-looking, skull-faced ghost with knives all over its body - including not a few jammed into old wounds.

The man who was clearly visible takes his friends and closes the interior door behind them (leaving the ghost behind with James - for now) as all three gunmen approach their mysteriously-opened front door.

The three gunmen each have, roughly, the same combat abilities - Firearms 3 (Against Terrified Targets +1), followed by Dodge, Martial Arts, Melee/Archery/Thrown.
The ghost has Thrown 4 (Against Wounded Targets +3), followed by Dodge/Melee, Martial Arts/Archery/Firearms.

[Fortuna]

Nedra ghosts through the door and around behind the men, trusting the saffron to mask the scent of not having got around to a shower today.. With guns in play there's no chance of doing this quietly, so the thing to do is make the first noise on her terms. She sets her fingers to her lips and lets out a single piercing whistle, foot already driving forward in an arc to the back of the leader's knees.

Taking motes for a two-die stunt (because I mentioned the saffron >.>). Rolling Join Battle!

[roll0] EDIT: 4 successes.

Assuming I go first...

rolling a flurry of two kick attacks on the apparent leader. +3 Aim dice from Falcon's Strike Advantage, +1 dice from stunt.
[roll1] EDIT: 6 successes
[roll2] plus some number of these for bonus attack successes [roll3] EDIT: 1 damage plus possibly some from bonus.
[roll4] EDIT: 8 successes.
[roll5] plus some number of these for bonus attack successes [roll6] EDIT: 1 damage plus possibly some from bonus.

Willpower • • • • • • • • • •
Pool: 9/10

Essence • • •
Personal 5/16 (5 committed) (-2)
Peripheral 21/37 (10 committed) (-2) (caste mark showing)

[aetherialDawn]

None of the gunmen react swiftly enough to prevent their leader's knees giving way with a sickening crack, the man himself dropping his gun and screaming before the pain draws him to unconsciousness. The other two are still bringing their guns to bear, reactions slowed further by their own terror.

More threateningly, there's a piercing shriek of "BLOOD!" from the other room, as knives start tearing through the flimsy interior door with inhuman strength. In moments, the crazed ghost is charging through the last remnants, knives dripping with some unholy mix of shadowy oil and its own dark blood.

The lead gunman is down with bashing; the other two are uninjured. They have one success, and so will act on tick 3. The ghost got five successes, but also couldn't have actually had a reason to roll Join Battle before your actions, so it acted on tick 1 with a flurry of three attacks to tear down the door. (Doorknobs, apparently, are beyond it. On the other hand, even if it was a somewhat flimsy door, it tore it down in a single flurry.)

Tick 2: [Empty]
Tick 3: Lanni, Gunman 2, Gunman 3
Tick 4: Crazed War Spectre Thing
Tick 5: Nedra

[The_Snark]

A whistle pierces the air, somehow managing to keep a measure of sharpness even through the insulating layers of glass and brick. Lanni recognizes the signal instantly; this body isn't built for lightning-quick action, but she's more than ready. Finally! She turns and launches herself upwards at the window, and in the fraction of a second between her claws leaving the sill and her round pigeon head hitting the glass she changes. Feathers turn silver and bloom outwards, like some bizarre mercury flower.

She hasn't finished changing by the time she strikes the pane, but she's already nearly as heavy as a human, and with tougher skin to boot. The window explodes inwards, showering the room in glass and quicksilver. Lanni lands on her feet, her skin a sallow blue-grey, her fingers tipped with scaly talons. She takes in the situation at a glance: two men up and armed, one down, one shrieking skull-faced thing full of knives at the door. Well then. She lunges towards the ghost with a peculiar - almost liquid - sort of grace, claws reaching for its face.

Lanni is using Flash-Flicker Flesh Phase to shapeshift reflexively as she rolls Join Battle. New set of mutations is: Deadly (claws deal lethal damage), Tough (+3 soak).

Then flurrying two actions: break window, attack ghost!

The attack is enhanced with Monstrous Force Technique, Shell-Crushing Trauma Tap, and let's say 4m of Dexterity Excellency. [roll0]
Stunt: [roll1]

Base damage is 5L, with threshold successes doubled from Monstrous Force Technique.
Base: [roll2]
Threshold: [roll3]

Shell-Crushing Trauma Tap reduces the ghost's armored soak by 5 and ignores Hardness. Monstrous Force Technique inflicts 5 yards of knockback after everything else.

Dodge DV: 5
Parry DV: 8

Current DV penalty: -2

Soak: 11B/11L/6A (4B/6L/6A from armor)
Hardness: 2B/2L/2A

Health
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-X [ ]
Dying [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Essence: 2
Personal: 22/22
Peripheral: 20/37 (8 committed)

Willpower: 9/10

[aetherialDawn]

The monstrous ghost is utterly unprepared for the bloom of quicksilver and violence that explodes through the window, its skull-like face cracking under the assault of claws and force and leaking the same unholy mix that drips from its daggers, which burns and squirms against Lanni's fingers. Before more than a few strings of the horrible stuff can cling, however, the ghost is thrown aside by the sudden surge of force, slamming into the wall furthest from James and unleashing a brief cloud of plaster dust.

Two lethal levels of damage and 5 yards of knockback. As it wasn't specified, I had the ghost get moved as far away from the civilian-slash-rescue-target as possible.

However, Lanni has also taken one lethal level of damage from the ghost's weird blood/oil/shadow mix. And it is still clinging to you (probably not a positive thing?)

As the same time, the two gunmen not collapsed on the floor are finally getting their acts together - firing wildly at whatever invisible enemy took down their leader until an entirely new problem in the form of a Lunar crashes in through the window.

Both gunmen are firing somewhat wildly at where Nedra would have been; since Nedra is invisible their aim suffers a -2 external penalty.

Remember that you are suffering a DV penalty from your prior flurry (I nearly forgot for the ghost, myself, before correcting.)

Gunman One: 6d10 (Dex 3+Firearms 3+Accuracy 0+Stunt 0)
[roll0], minus two successes for firing on an invisible target.
If he hits... 6d6 base [roll1] and threshold dice [roll2]
Gunman Two: 6d10 (Dex 3+Firearms 3+Accuracy 0+Stunt 0)
[roll3], minus two successes for firing on an invisible target.
If he hits... 6d6 base [roll4] and threshold dice [roll5]

As if roused from its momentary surprise by the gunshots, the ghost gives a wordless, banshee-like screech and pries itself from the impact mark it has left in the plaster of the wall. It flings both of its knives at Lanni with wild, powerful throws that trail more of its squirming blood than there ought to be. When the knives strick - flesh or plaster - two more knives fall from its many wounds into its newly freed hands and it starts to rush back into close combat.

The ghost is making two thrown attacks; it's reflexively re-armed itself afterwards.

The ghost is spending power to make its attacks do more damage.
Attack One: 8d10 (Dex 4+Thrown 4+Accuracy 0+Stunt 1-Flurry 1)
[roll6]
If that hits, Damage 11L+Threshold Successes (Str 6+Damage 2L+Excellency 3)
[roll7] and threshold dice [roll8]
Attack Two: 7d10 (Dex 4+Thrown 4+Accuracy 0+Stunt 1-Flurry 2) (Onslaught Penalty to your DV: -1)
[roll9]
If that hits, Damage 11L+Threshold Successes (Str 6+Damage 2L+Excellency 3)
[roll10] and threshold dice [roll11]

Tick 5: Nedra
Tick 6: [Empty]
Tick 7: [Empty]
Tick 8: Lanni, Sarah, Gunman 1, Gunman 2
Tick 9: Rage-Filled Violent Ghost

[The_Snark]

Lanni hisses as the ghost's ichor burns her fingers, flicking the offending hand violently sideways in an effort to shake off the offending liquid. (No dice, the bloody stuff clings.) The pain is not quite enough to distract her from the ghost's recovery: as the first knife flies towards her she swipes, doing her best to bat it into the floor. That leaves her dangerously exposed to the second - but she reverses direction with disconcerting speed, knocking this one wall-ward.

Stunting a defense! Both are enhanced by Blow For Blow, which cancels DV penalties. If hit, Lanni will activate Hard-Earned Silver Callus to boost soak.

Dodge DV: 5
Parry DV: 8

Current DV penalty: -2

Soak: 11B/11L/6A (4B/6L/6A from armor)
Hardness: 2B/2L/2A

Health
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-X [ ]
Dying [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Essence: 2
Personal: 16/22
Peripheral: 20/37 (8 committed)

Willpower: 9/10

[Fortuna]

Throwing a drink in someone's eyes is a cliche - usually not worth the effort in a fair fight. Nedra is happily not in the unenviable position of a fair fight, and has ample time to grab a glass of beer from a side table and scatter its contents across the gunmen in a wide arc. That makes sure they're looking away when she steps neatly between them, driving her knee smartly into one man's hip and her foot powerfully into the other's shin.

Two-attack flurry, both kicks using Fierce Blows, directed one at each gunman. Total accuracy is 5 (MA) + 5 (Dex) + 2 (stunt) - 2/3 (multiple action), with a -1 external penalty from the Called Shot. Using the Fateful Martial Arts Excellency for two motes on each attack, coming up mote-neutral.

Attack one
[roll0]
Target number 5, -1 success, total ten successes.
If I hit, I do 8B + threshold damage, rolled below.
Base: [roll1] and Threshold [roll2]

Attack two
[roll3]
Target number 5, -1 success, total six successes.
If I hit, I do 8B + threshold damage, rolled below.
Base: [roll4] and Threshold [roll5]

No net change to motes or willpower.

[aetherialDawn]

Lanni's swift reactions bat the knives aside like child's play; old instincts whisper to keep this intruder to Creation out, and however dangerous the ghost is, she is a Moon-Champion. If anything, her forceful parries drive the knives deeper into the floor and wall than the ghost would have.

Meanwhile, the sudden movement of an object on the counter draws the attention of the gunmen at the worst moment, their momentary blindness in the face of Nedra's tricks and ruthless attacks turning into painful unconsciousness, pain bringing them down hard on the floor. All three of the humans have been brought down in seconds by their invisible foe - now, only the ghost is left to threaten anyone, though it seems to know only rage without fear.

Yeah, DVs of 9 just utterly trash the ghost's attacks for Lanni.

As for Nedra's attacks:
Gunman 1: 5 bashing damage taken (rolled over to 1 lethal, 3 bashing - incapacitated with bashing.)
Gunman 2: 4 bashing damage taken (incapacitated with bashing.)

Tick 8: Lanni, Sarah
Tick 9: Ghost Which Has Lots of Knives
Tick 10: Nedra

[The_Snark]

"Of course you have burning acid for blood, ass. Fine have it your way." Lanni's left hand twitches, and is abruptly holding a gun. There've already been shots fired, a few more won't hurt... or at least, it'll probably hurt less than getting more evil ghost blood on her.

She aims and fires in a single fluid motion, two shots ringing out in such quick succession that only an inhuman ear could tell two shots were fired. Silver light traces her hand as she moves, and the curtains flutter as if caught in a gust of wind.

Using Sleight of Shape to draw Lanni's gun out of Elsewhere reflexively (swapped for a tacky ring she wears for just this purpose).

This is not a flurry, just double-tapping as a stunt. Lanni is dumping 6m of Excellency into this, plus Monstrous Force Technique again, plus channeling Valor.
[roll0]
Stunt: [roll1]

Damage is 6L base, plus double threshold successes; the ghost's armored soak (if any) is still dinged by 5.
[roll2]
Forgot threshold successes, see here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20882137&postcount=5)

Also 5 yards of knockback; Lanni is going to send the ghost straight up in the vague hope of leaving it prone when it falls back down.

Dodge DV: 5
Parry DV: 8

Current DV penalty: -1

Soak: 11B/11L/6A (4B/6L/6A from armor)
Hardness: 2B/2L/2A

Health
-0 [X]
-1 [ ][ ][ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
-X [ ]
Dying [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Essence: 2
Personal: 8/22
Peripheral: 20/37 (8 committed)

Willpower: 8/10

[Lix Lorn]

While she was in place, watching from below the now-broken window, Lina was not exactly... vigilant today. You see, the dictates of a university life are quite demanding - nearly as demanding as those of a street gang. And the demands of a street gang are almost as time-consuming as those of an exalted vigilante.

And so, as Michaelina was discovering, burning the candle at three ends (Note to self; three ended candle? discuss.) was too much for even exalted stamina.

A sharp whistle woke her from unexpected slumber, and before she'd finished opening her eyes she was moving. The window broke above her, and she ducked under a windowsill to avoid a few shards of glass, and then grabbed it at a run, jumping onto the adjacent sill, turning in place and leaping again; grabbing the second floor window and heaving herself up to roll into the now very-loud room.

Three men. Unconscious, that's good.
One... thing. Ghost-spectre-monster? Distinctly not unconscious. That's bad.

She didn't bother getting up before she attacked, but continued the roll until it became another upwards jump, bringing her suddenly-golden hand into the very injured ghost's chin with a resounding Crack.

The athletics bits are just fluff. Have this happen whenever makes sense for the JB roll, I guess?
[roll0] Wits 3 Awareness 3
[roll1] From left to right, potential stunt

Attack. Using Fists of Iron and 3m of excellency.
[roll2]
[roll3] From left to right, potential stunt

If a hit
[roll4] Lethal.
[roll5] From left to right, bonuses from high attack successes.

Or, if someone else takes it out before she gets there, ignore everything from her thoughts on the ghost onwards and I'll edit it.

Personal: 12/16 (0 Committed)
Peripheral: 33/33 (0 Committed)

Peripheral this scene: 0m

[Lady Serpentine]

Just as Lina's fist connects with the ghost, Sarah charges into the room. Three down (probably to Nedra, if she's still here - hard to tell when she's invisible), and - there. A monstrosity straight out of a horror movie. With her primary target (for many reasons, though not the least is that it is in fact her only target at the moment, unless she wanted to attack a friend of hers) identified, the Herald doesn't even bother slowing down; instead, she simply drops to the ground and lets herself slide along the floor, snatching up the pair of knives that the ghost threw as she does.

Moments later, she slides directly between Lina's legs, knives held out in front of her so that they should - if all goes according to plan, which is staggeringly unlikely - be slammed into the ghost's knees by simple momentum. Though of course, even if she manages to place them properly and hits with a reasonable amount of force, how deeply they'll bite into the plaster and if there's anything sturdier behind it for them to lodge in is anyone's guess.

[aetherialDawn]

Struck into the wall and only just starting to properly get back onto its feet, the blood-dripping ghost suddenly faces twice as many foes. Lanni's bullets streak quicksilver-perfect into its already-broken skull, sending fragments of ichor-slick bone flying as Lina's fist joins the bullets, a flash of silver-gold sending the the ghost hurtling into the ceiling with a bone-cracking smash... preceded by the horrible tearing of its rag-clag legs, Sarah's subtler knives working in harmony with the rest of her Circle to tear the undead man-horror apart.

The ghost lands on its hands and knees, neck broken at an unnatural angle that would kill most men, half of its head badly pulped to the point that it would kill any man, great ichorous strips of flesh clinging poorly to its thighs where they were once, if not whole - for the ghost was wounded to start - at least a full part of it. A brief silence descends for barely a second, broken only be the steady dripping of the foul fluid the ghost has for blood and the faint creaking of the floor as it rises, ignoring its wounds with unnatural vitality.

Lanni did 7L, Lina did 3L, Sarah did 2L. Combined with Lanni's prior 2L, the ghost is still standing despite 14L of damage, and showing no signs of wound penalties that it was not before. (Given that the ghost's 'natural' state appears to include knife wounds with knives included, that last bit shouldn't really surprise any of you. Although the ghost does have a lot of health levels, and apparently at least one more.)

Short version: 14L dealt since battle start, ghost shows no signs of being impeded by pain or wounds.

Lina takes 1L from evil oil-shadow-blood-ichor-acid-squirming stuff, and it starts trying to squirm deeper into her wounds.

As this horror-movie creation finishes rising, it screams again, a wordless roar of mingled rage, pain, hate, and lunges, arms wide, to try whatever it takes to get its knives into Lina - blood rising sluggishly around it like dozens of tiny hooks and trying to dig into her skin, pry it off and flay her enough to reach her own blood and corrupt it. It simply ignores the inevitable thrashing and attacks, seemingly having narrowed its perception yet further - from a fighting, blood-crazed rage to a truly mindless one.
Seemingly galvanized by its scream and focus, the blood already squirming and hissing acridly on Lanni and Lina's hands tries to dig further in, spreading like some agonizing mix of poison, acid, and leech. All around the room, the floor hisses where its blood has fallen - unlike the Exalted, helpless against whatever destruction this thing is spreading by its blood.

A flurry of three actions - rising from prone, and two attacks against Lina. For each attack that hits, she takes a -1 external penalty on her Stamina+Resistance against the ghost's 'poison' blood (it's more of a hostile rapid-acting acidic infection, really...)

Speaking of said 'poison' blood, it is also reflexively activating a power to use the blood that Lanni and Lina have on them to 'attack' them - use the poison rules for this. It is attempting to deal one level of lethal damage, Toxicity 2, penalty -0 (currently). The roll against this is Stamina+Resistance; failure means one level of lethal, 2 successes means it does one die of lethal, 4 successes means one die of bashing, 6 successes means it does nothing.

Attack 1: Melee 3+Dex 4+Acc 2+Excellency 3-Flurry 4 (Onslaught 0)
[roll0] Onslaught 0
If that hit's here's some damage and threshold: (remember to take off dice for soak)
Base damage: Str 6+Weapon 1[roll1] and threshold, take as many as you need before starting to peel off soak... [roll2]
Attack 2: Melee 3+Dex 4+Acc 2+Excellency 3-Flurry 5 (Onslaught 1) plus one autosux from willpower
[roll3] +1 autosux, Onslaught 1
If that hit's here's some damage and threshold: (remember to take off dice for soak)
Base damage: Str 6+Weapon 1[roll4] and threshold, take as many as you need before starting to peel off soak... [roll5]


Tick 10: Nedra
Tick 13: Sarah, Lanni, Lina
Tick 14: Ghost With Poorly-Thought-Out Mechanics

[Fortuna]

Nedra moves smoothly to block the ghost's last line of escape, eyeing the room for a suitable weapon - she has no desire to get spectral acid-blood on her hands if she can help it. Or not more than metaphorically, anyway. She considers the curtains a moment, then the knives on the ground - but then Sarah takes those and stabs them straight back into the ghost.

Straight back into the ghost - and Nedra dons a predatory grin at that, because of course there are more weapons than she has time to count right within arm's reach. She reaches out, plucking one cleanly from the flesh, then hesitates before she takes the second. This one she twists, gouging a chunk of plasm from the target's shoulder - she could swear it touches bone before she finally withdraws it, tracing down its back and taking free a long strip of corpse-skin. Even as the ghost spins to face her the first knife is in motion, touching its neck for a moment before flicking up to slice open its jaw instead. She cuts back and forth across its face twice more, sending more ichor raining down into its eyes before she sinks both knives into its chest, one about where she thinks the heart should be and one targeting whatever might remain of its liver. She steps back, satisfied with a job well done, and nudges the front door closed as an afterthought, the click of the latch incongruous and strangely final after the screams and gunshots.

Drawing two knives from the ghost's flesh and making a flurry of five attacks between the two of them. Since knives are a form weapon for Third-Eyed Raptor I'm using Martial Arts to attack, and my speciality of "Against a lone opponent" applies, so my base dice pool is 13 + 2 (stunt) - 6 (multiple action). Total 9 - 1 per successive action, so my attacks range from 8 dice down to 4. Fortunately the ghost is surrounded so I'm rolling against DV 0. Five lethal plus threshold successes on each attack (3 strength +2L knife).

First attack
[roll0]
Damage
[roll1] plus however many are needed of [roll2]
Second attack
[roll3]
Damage
[roll4] plus however many are needed of [roll5]
Third attack
[roll6]
Damage
[roll7] plus however many are needed of [roll8]
Fourth attack
[roll9]
Damage
[roll10] plus however many are needed of [roll11]
Fifth attack
[roll12]
Damage
[roll13] plus however many are needed of [roll14]

Willpower • • • • • • • • • •
Pool: 9/10

Essence • • •
Personal 9/16 (5 committed) (+4)
Peripheral 21/37 (10 committed) (caste mark showing)

[aetherialDawn]

The ghost's turn is slow, too slow - it can barely seem to draw itself away from its brief mono-focus on Lina, even to meet the dancing knives that threaten it. Wounds spread across it before it can protect itself, and its attempts to back away are solidly blocked by Lina and Sarah, rendering it helpless for just the crucial half-second Nedra needs.

Careful bladework keeps the ichor away from any exposed skin until the final strikes - Nedra's blade into the heart unexpectedly starts dissolving in a last outrush of corruption. The blood does not come out in heartbeats like any living thing, but a single seemingly-desperate mass that eats away at Nedra's hand, even as the ghost that caused the infection is falling down and swiftly unraveling into a dark, oily ash.

Nedra does a total of 5L... but also botches! Despite using a weapon, she receives a dose of corruptive ichor and, thus, takes 1L. The ghost isn't around to trigger any more sudden extra intervals of damage, don't worry. (Though, it wouldn't hurt to work on getting the stuff gone.)

The ghost, meanwhile, is dead and re-dead. Its heart never beat in the first place, but it's no longer animate, unless you count the ichor trying to make your blood unpleasantly acidic.

Three gunmen are unconscious on the floor - a few drops of ichor eat at their clothing - and the ghost's unanimate corpus is likely to dissolve in an hour or less. The only thing left to do - hopefully - is to free James and get him home with a minimum of further trauma. (And, perhaps, loot anything useful and call the police as concerned vigilantes.)

[Lix Lorn]

Lina takes a breath, watching the creature vigilantly to make sure it doesn't rise for a third time. After a few moments, she tries to rub the ichor from her hands.
"Well, that could have gone worse." she says, amused, looking around - and seeing James. Predictably, she's off like a shot to go and unbind him, speaking to him soothingly as she does.

PDV is 6, I can parry lethal this action, so both attacks miss me. Have taken one lethal level, but currently no penalties...

Spend 4m on resistance excellency for a roll of 8d10.
[roll0]

[The_Snark]

"... It bleeds acid," Lanni says belatedly, as the others stand over their kill. (She stomps on the little voice that protests mine! Nobody likes a whiner.) "Woulda warned you if you were slower." She glances about the room. "I'll go see if it washes off, yeah?"

She doesn't wait for an answer before doing just that; she can feel the stuff oozing into her bloodstream, slow without the ghost screaming bloody murder but still struggling. Fortunately, she's a Lunar, and her blood fights back.

Resisting poison, buying 2 successes via 2nd Stamina Excellency (4m):
[roll0]

If fewer than 6 sux, damage: [roll1]

[Fortuna]

Nedra hisses softly at the acidic sting on her fingers, resisting the urge to suck on the wound. She nods to Lanni before realizing she's invisible, then shrugs and heads to the mini-kitchen to rinse it off her hands. Then she takes the beer glass and a spoon from the kitchen, and sets about carefully setting aside some of the ghost's remains for the police to find before it dissolves into the carpet.

[aetherialDawn]

[With Lina]

James is bound primarily with duct tape and little else; thankfully, Lina's deft hands strip it away with as little pain as possible in the circumstances, leaving his skin temporarily striped but not, thankfully, stripped. The younger kid is crying a little, mostly, it seems, out of relief - Lina, in his mind, is the guarantee that everything is okay now, even with the screaming and gunshots and more.

Once the duct tape over his mouth comes away, James takes a few gasping breaths, babbling a mixture of, "Thank you! Thank you thankyou thankyou..." and nothing completely intelligible; once his hands are unbound he's clinging tightly to Lina. Slowly, he calms down enough to stand (admittedly, he doesn't let go, so it's more clinging from a vertical position.)

[With Everyone Else]

The water in the sink starts a bit fitfully - nothing sinister, just poor plumbing - and washes away bits of the shadowy acid. The stinging is reduced noticeably, but not enough to fool anyone - there's still enough of it to prove an annoyance, at least, though now that the ghostly source of the stuff is dead it doesn't seem to be too terrible.

The ghost's remains dissolve even in the jar - not to nothing, thankfully, but it seems to be leaving an ever-finer pile of ashy dust, prone to blowing away. Sealed, though, the jar should be enough for a skilled thaumaturge to realize that there was a ghost, and that's enough for the police to get quite heavily involved.

[In the Hall]

Sarah's keen ears catch the creak of a door outside - her magic (and Nedra's) are agreed that this is no threat of attack, but it might be best to make a quick decision about how to explain this scene to the neighbors... Or, at least, to escape before anyone sees anything important.

[The_Snark]

Lanni examines her hands and decides that's the best she's going to get. Feels like some of the stuff made it into her blood, but oh well. She'll just have to deal with it.

She emerges from the bathroom, flicking her hands to get the water off, and takes a quick glance around the room. Everyone's still there, the kid's stopped crying, good. "Right, we ready to leave? Bet someone's called the cops by now." She looks down, nudges one of the unconscious gunmen with a toe. "Or do we wanna do something about these guys first?"