[IC] [Risus] -ish: Tales of the Old Continent

[Chas Kramer]

Your first sensations, as you struggle to recover balance and full consciousness, are the ringing in your ears, and the intense scent of orange, invading your nostrils.
A quick exam with the tip of your tongue seems to confirm it: it is, in fact, orange pulp, all over your mouth and nose.
"Cazzo! Quello era un pompelmo!!" someone cheerfully shouts, in a language you know. His voice arrives muffled to you; plus, his statement is incorrect. It is no grapefruit, as he mistakenly believes, that splat on your face strongly enough to stun you.
You are about to correct him, but the pain in your nose and jaw somehow pulls you back you to a more urgent matter: recalling where you are, what you are doing there, and how could you possibly have been knocked-out by a slightly oversized orange in your face.

You recall and, luckily for you, you do it just before it's too late. So you duck, barely in time to dodge a new volley of oranges, flying towards you at insane speed. Two...three...four wet thumps, as the fruits splat on the concrete of Ferruccio Nazionale square, and paint it a new color.
You clean your face from the pulp, but the intense smell of the fruits doesn't go away. How could it... "The Battle" is reaching its climax, and the citric aroma is all over the air. The chariot from which you were "shot", the one with the grey standards and the coat-of-arms of the "Cavalieri di San Bernardo", has now moved forward. The team on it keeps throwing oranges towards the mass of people below, shooting with well-trained continuity and deadly accuracy. The people on foot, all wearing the traditional blue-red shirt of the "Asso di Picche" clan, cluster around the passing chariot and respond in kind, furiously throwing back the same ammunition. Four magnificent, richly-decorated stallions pull the chariot, their fax lucid and black as the night, and their calm seraphic. Not a single fruit hits them, despite the raging battle. Everybody simply aims for each other's face, with a greater enjoyment than it would be sane...

The man who shouted before has already collected some intact fruits in a box. With a smile, he kindly makes them available also for you, in case you want to take your revenge on the next chariot, which is approaching.
Someone could say that this whole thing is a huge waste of food and, indeed, this complaint has been raised more than once. Mostly, the locals would answer with a shrug to it, because...you know, after all...it's tradition. Such a statement, in Italy, is conclusive for many debates, and sufficient to justify whatever local habit, no matter how old and weird.
You even recall hearing, from the locals, some contradictory theories on how all of this started...but now it is probably not the best moment to ask yourself questions.

You are in Ivrea, northern Italy. It is Carnival, and the Battle of the Oranges is infuriating all around you. The second chariot shows the green and white banners of the "Tiranni di Sant' Ulderico" . It will be in range in a few moments...

Ok, guys, chose among you who is the lucky one who got shot, and play along. First come first served. For what matters, it is also safe to assume that you all had the same... near-fun experience.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca face feels sticky, as the juice drips and starts to dry. She tried to dodge left but there was people and her movement was stopped midway.

She first passes the hand over the mess, then laughs wholehearted, as she expels a few choice foul words. This was fun. The adrenalin, the extasy of the crowd, jeering, laughing and fighting. A hum that makes everything loud.

This wasn’t her first year. She used the Carnival university break to come to Ivrea and partake this festival. Was something she loved and was a contrast to the boring work she was stuck now. Her body seemed to itch while she was teaching “Greek city states and birth of democracy”. It was a boring subject and especially tried to hide the real things. The blood, the wars, the knife and cloak agenda…

She goes to the man sporting the fruits and says loud, so her voice carries over the crowd and says “Thank you. I'll make the next ones will pay.” She smiled and knew it must be an awful sight, filled with orange pieces.

As the next chariot comes, she points her two bombs to strike at it.

She uses her "tomb raider" cliche to accuratly (I hope) strike the next chariot throwers.
[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

The chariot seems to host more or less six people, who seem even more coordinated than the previous ones.
Half of the people on board pick up oranges from the boxes and make them available for the shooters, who receive them and turn back to throw, in a single fluid movement. It's an endless "pick-give-pick-give" and "turn-shoot-turn-shoot". At the very least, six oranges per seconds are thrown from above to the raging crowd below.

The central one of the three shooters is now in direct line of sight. You see him through the orange cloud and he sees you, cute, and without a face mask for protection... He shoots at YOU, without mercy...some people just want to watch the world burn...


Professional Orange Thrower(3)
[roll0]

You annihilated him :D. You emptied his dice pool, you get to decide what happens next
Oh, for the future...the way I see it you can always roll at least one die, for whatever task...then you ADD your cliche to it. I like the idea that there is nothing impossible, just very unlikely.
This time I rolled for the guy like you did

[Darkstorm]

Francesca rolls and swerves as a few oranges come her way, rolling slightly and with an effect. She ducks then and in the same swift movement lets her oranges go. Before the fiery fruits of revenge even hit, she knew she had it.

She smiles, winks at the man holding the orange box and says something like “I told you so.” But the sound is snuffed by the crowd. The crowd goes wild, jeering and laughing as the man at the chariot loses his balance and falls into his companions disrupting the well-coordinated strike force.

She laughs hard and smiles. She watches amazed as the others around her use the opportunity and the lost balance of all the charioteers to smite them. Dozens of oranges fly in unison, making the six men hide as best as possible behind their arms and hands.

The crowd has won this one as the chariot, bit by bit moves away, giving way to another chariot.

Several people in the crowd clap Francesca on the shoulder and exchange a few words. For a moment she thinks on the heroes and soldiers of old, and how they must have felt after a battle. A sort of bond forming, of camaraderie.

She laughs again, as she thinks "We've shared orange juice! We are brothers now!"

[werehounding]

Cassidy observed the scene from a relatively-safe-from-oranges distance, a bit further back in the crowd. He had a small notepad with him as he watched the festivities and the people, and he occasionally scribbled a few notes in it - he never could get over the habit of taking a notebook for fieldnotes with him wherever he went. He saw a younger woman get hit in the face and winced. I hope she's alright, he began to think, but she quickly recovered and nailed the orange-throwers in the chariot. He pocketed his notebook and decided to approach the young woman and introduce himself - she seemed knowledgeable about things here, certainly more than he was. He walked up to her, and tapped her gently on the shoulder.
"That was quite a fight, aye? You nailed those chariot boys like it was nothin'." He said, looking at the defeated chariot as they inched away. His Italian, despite his fluency, still belied hints of an Irish accent.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca breaths hard as if to regain her breath, then smiles at the foreigner "It was more luck than anything."

She then winks and smiles, trying to sow confusion between lucky and skill. She then searches her pockets and uses the time to pick a tissue and clean her face a bit better.

"Here for the festival? You don't really seem to want to smash oranges on people faces." she asks, her voice taking a different note. More direct and inquisitive, as if trying to pick a secret out of you.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander looked at the people in chariot getting in troubles and laughed. He had very contagious laughter and loud too, so people around him laughed too, which in turn did make him laugh only louder. Kind of perpetual motion machine, when one thinks about that.

It was good to laugh with others. Years of mental illness and unemployment were very hard to overcome, so he cherished every happy moment he got. He did not had too many of them, to be honest.

He moved slowly forward to the lady who had set the stroke – for he was holding his laugh-waving belly – and showed her thumbs up, expressing his gratitude.

- You. Good. I. Envy. - he had studied some Italian phrasebooks before the flight, but it was obvious he would be unable to hold a conversation.

[Darkstorm]

The rays hits her in the eyes as she twirls to the newcomer. The sun was still high and it wasn't too cold today. It was a beautiful day.

Francesca smiles at the newcomer and just adds "Fortuna". Stops and adds in a somewhat accented english "Luck. And doing this sometimes before."

She then asks the same question as she did to the other foreigner "Here for the festival?"

[Kaworu]

- Ah, English, nice – said Alex – As to me being here, I’m on vacation. The festival was one of the reasons, but me and my family wanted to see all the old buildings and museums (you seem to have a lot of them in Italy). Oh, and the local cuisine, it’s good too.

[werehounding]

"Nah, I think of myself more as an observer, really, in these sorts of occasions." Before he could say more, he noticed Aleksander. He gave the man a wave. Upon hearing his stilted Italian, Casidy called out in English, "Aye, I'll guess you're not from 'round these parts. Where you visitin' from, if you don't mind me askin'?"

[Darkstorm]

"Sure it is" Francesca replies "the best cuisine in the world."

She then laughs and looks back at the emotional crowd and the fights with the chariot trying to follow the action.

[Chas Kramer]

You see the guy who gave you the oranges before running towards you. He walks funny, a little hen-like. Then you understand why....he still hilds oranges in some big pocket of his shirt, and he doesn't want to drop them.

"That was great" he shouts, cheerfully. You now realize that his shirt, showing the same half blue half red pattern as all the others, and the ace of spades symbol in the center, also has some richer decorations and symbols.
"That single throw allowed us to score higher than the "panhers" . We are gonna win, this year "
He is talking to Francesca, and then notices her companions.
He switches to English , introduces himself as Sandro, and explains the whole thing.

Apparently, the charioteers are divided in knightly orders, and the foot soldiers in clans. The clans compete on who shoots best (there is some semi official comittee deciding that...you wonder how they make it).

As he finishes the explanation, people around him start to cheer, call his name, and scream "capitano! capitano! ".
So he says:"ok, I'll go shoot one more round. Join me if you like. If you don't, stay around, I'd like to offer you something at the end"

He runs to the heat of the battle, rallying his soldiers with his battlecry,

[Darkstorm]

Francesca smiles and says to the two foreigners in english "Come, let's finish this conversation later! Be like an Italian and live the joys of the festival first hand! Capitano asked us.".

Stoping and looking back she adds "Just don't get hit in the face like I did. It hurts!". With that she marches into the crowd, next to Sandro, feeling the warmth and the excitment of the crowd.

[Kaworu]

- I'm Polish... - was all Alex was able to say before the capitano approached them. Then, he was listening to him and thinking. He was not sportactive and it was hard for him to a be a good contestant in this festival... on other hand, wasn't it all meant to be primirily about fun and only then about winning?

- I guess I could participate... - he admitted slowly, still unsure if it was a good idea.

[werehounding]

"Ah - well, I don't usually participate in the festivities, but I may as well." He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt and follows after Francesca, gesturing to Alex. "Come along with us - when in Rome, aye?"

[Chas Kramer]

The battle is now less intense then before, yet more chaotic, if possible.

Whereas you would see before a beehive of colored shirts (all with the same patterns) clustering around the chariots passing by, now you see instead bunches of less organized people. Many of them are tourists. Some of them are local but they are dressed differently: some men in what looks like a Napoleonic army uniform, and some girl in an old fashioned outfit, like in the 1700s.
There are others, younger, still with a light in their eyes, of those that never have had to argue with an idiotic manager at work. That light, their goatees, their enthusiasm just scream "university student". There are plenty, cloaked in some medieval-looking colorful mantle. For sure, they are the from the Goliardia groups.
Everybody is dirty in orange

The floor now is really slippery, and the smell of long-smashed oranges starts to be quite overwhelming. However, nothing has changed from the perspective team in the charioteers. The men in the team, masked, coordinated and merciless keep throwing, as if they had unlocked some real-life "infinite ammo cheat".


Ok, you have 3 rolls, from the orange throwers from a chariot. You can choose to group up, and add up your rolls together in a single group, and then apply the risiko system collectively.
If you don't, you can also tackle the three confrontations independently.

Orange Thrower A - Dice pool: Basic 1 + Orange Thrower (2)
[roll0]

Orange Thrower B - Dice pool: Basic 1 + Professional Orange Thrower (3)
[roll1]

Orange Thrower C - Dice pool: Basic 1 + Orange Thrower (2)
[roll2]

After this last battle we'll proceed with the story, don't worry :smallbiggrin:

[Darkstorm]

The giddyness of the fight becomes overwhelming as Francesca footing slides and she picks a few oranges to throw.

The smell brings back memories of childhood but as the chariot approaches she snaps out of the reverie.

She looks to her companions and nods - time to play.



Rolls
[roll0]

[werehounding]

Cassidy holds the orange in his hand and turns to Alex and Francesca before he throws. "Just to warn you two - I'm a professor, not exactly a sports man. Don't be too surprised if I miss terribly."
He tries to aim a throw, and throws the orange. The closest thing he'd done to this was throwing a few bricks through windows when he was a rowdy graduate student.
I'll use his Former Petty-Criminal Lowlife Cliche, with one die. I think it might be better to pool our dice - let me know if this is the correct way. I'll roll 2d6 for throwing and we can pool it.
EDIT: I accidentally rolled 3d6 earlier, thinking one dice for each person we're throwing at. I rerolled in the OOC thread with 2d6 and got a 7; sorry about the confusion.

[Kaworu]

- No problem - Alex answered - I'm also not a sportman... - he admitted.

He picked one orange - the smallest he could find, he did not wanted to throw big oranges at people... plus it was easier to throw - and used that as a projectile to try and attack the first orange thrower.

He will probably fail miserably, but hey, it's about fun, not winning... right?


[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

So, the charioteers group collectively rolls:
[5][6][3][6][6][4][1][6][4][6]

You, guys collectively rolled
[2][5][5][3][5][4][6][1]

No one protects the others by "sacrificing themselves", so we simply compare the dice results.
Basically, you loose all dice confrontation, except one, because a 6 ties with an enemy six. You for sure take damage, but your dice pool is not entirely depleted, meaning that the gruop is not defeated, and the enemy does not have free choice on what to do to all of you.


You haste towards the chariot passing by, you don't even take time to look at its standards...you just aim and throw. Maybe you arrive at the wrong time, maybe the battle is more chaotic than before, but it doesn't work right to you. Only one orange from dr. Kassidy strikes true, but it splats without harm somewhere on the head protection of one of the "Knights".
Undisturbed by any of your actions, the throwers on top shoot on the crowd as usual, without any particular slowdown. Aleksandr is hit, somewhere on the left part of the torso, whereas Francesca, much to her surprise, is hit from behind. "Friendly fire" from some clumsy peasant ("Scusa! Scusa!").
All and all, not so great. You are lucky in the sense that the charioteers don't concentrate directly on you.... They have much more to worry about the men, rallied by the Captain, who are shooting as if their life depended on it.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca looks sideways at the man that had hited her. at least now her head was throabing from both ends, front and back. Well as the proverb went "We cant go to war and expect only to give and not take any in return".


She expects that the two foreigners enjoy the taste of the festival and experience the adrenalin of fighting and throwing.

After the chariot passes she touche sthe foreigners shoulders, nodds to the Capitano and returns to a place slightly out of the crowd and waits for him there, and for the request he had.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander allowed himself getting lost in the orange battle. He was loosing, of course, but still, it was a pleasant experience, even though he got juice in his hair and had dirty t-shirt. It was good to have some fun once in a while.

Then, he looked after the lady who had thrown the orange so skillfully at their opponents. He started to feel a kind of kinship with her, even if that was a subtle feeling. He should at least say goodbye to her. She deserved this much.

[Chas Kramer]

As the last of the chariots basses by, people start to disperse, talk loud and be very unorganized. The most wary ones engage in mini skirmishes among them, most find some room and air to check their wounds (not really a metaphor... you definitely see some bruises and some noses bleeding). The Capitano manages to find you in the chaos.

"Well done, well done", he says to all of you. He checks his phone: "Yup, turns out that we scored more than the other clans. This year victory is ours. I hope you will allow me to thank you for your services. I know a patisserie... rest assured, you will not regret it".

He then gives Francesca a small card, with the details of a cafeteria. If he has any interest towards Francesca specifically, he tries his best to not make it obvious.
In fact, he invites all of you. He hopes you will join him in two hours. He gives you indications to reach it (apparently, it lays in some alleyway close to the Cathedral), and then leaves, to attend his "Clan" duties.

It is now the early afternoon, of a pleasantly sunny winter day. Dry and cold, but nothing a good coat can't handle.
You will have the time to cleanup and go for the rendez-vous, if you so choose.

[Kaworu]

- Excuse me, lady...? - Aleksander asked gently, yet insecurely Francesca - Do you think I should come to? I feel like I have been a... liability?

[Darkstorm]

Francesca thanks the capitano and answers Aleksander "Of course! You know who are always remembered and honored in a war? Not the heroes. Not the survivors! It's the ones that fall, and give their lifes for the cause, country or ideal." she smiles again now with a wicked edge "So let's be hapy and let capitano honor us, for being hit in this war."

[Kaworu]

Aleksander nodded thankfully, a little bit reassured - Thank you. I think I am gonna go to my hotel room and take a shower. I have the orange juice all over me. It's sticky. Ewwwww! - was all he said.

[werehounding]

"I'll come along. Don't want to be rude." He looks down at his clothes, stained with orange juice, and tries to wipe the juice from his glasses with little success. "But - I got orange juice in my hair, clothes, and glasses. I think I'd better take a shower, too - try and rinse this out of my hair before it dries and I've got to go through a two-hour song and dance to get it out." He glances at the address again, and writes it down in his fieldnotes journal - mercficully spared by the orange juice. "Well, I'll see you two - and that capitano fella - in an hour, then. Don't get hit by any stray oranges."

[Darkstorm]

"Yes. Let's do that. Meet you there." Francesca says as she smiles a bit. These were becoming an interesting vacations.

[Chas Kramer]

The business card that you received is a simple coarse paper beige ticket, with very minimal decorations.
The information is written inside a simple green frame, and says:

Pasticceria Chivasso
di Giuseppe Ponta & fam.
Caffetteria, Dolci Tipici, Catering.

Vicolo alla Cattedrale 7, 10015, Ivrea (TO)



Later on, while you walk to the place, you'll notice that the adorable chaos has not diminished, but...distributed itself.
As the day gets darker, people are still somehow full of energy, and work tirelessly on building stuff... It looks like they are building something like "stakes" to set on fire at a later point. They look like they are NOT supposed to "host" a person, luckily.

Anyway, you arrive at your own time, and all meet outside the cafe'. It is getting more chilly, but still not a cloud in the sky. Venus starts to be distinguishable in the sky, as a faint white dot.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander appeared in from of the meeting place, washed up and wearing a warm winter jacket. He looked somehow more comfortable now, while being outside of a crowd. Not totally comfortable, just... a bit more.

He nodded to his companions, but stayed a little bit off, unsure if he should approach them more openly. He seemed anxious, although wanted to hide this fact from the world.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca makes her Big smile and welcomes all. She keeps talking around with people she didn't really knew about the festival and the weather.

Now, after a bath, she looked like a proper beautiful young fit scholar, in form fitting, if not revealing and daily clothes.

She motions Aleksander closer and starts a conversation as they wait for the others and Capitano.

[Chas Kramer]

The Capitano arrives (with a canonical Italian delay) and invites you in.

The inside of the cafeteria is that kind of cute that would make your girlfriend squeal. It is pretty small, and offers no more than five small round tables, each one of which is meant to accommodate three people, maybe four, if they don't have big plates. Everything is decorated in liberty/art-nouveau style, from the upholstery to the top of the tables and chairs themselves. Flower motives, color and vintage equipment (like scales and coffee machines) everywhere. The place indeed looks old, and "royal", but authentic, and not just wearing a "vintage" gimmick. You would expect this place to smell like an old closet and tobacco, but no...you smell chocolate and hazelnuts, with such intensity to make your head spin.

The people inside seem to have been selected exactly to confirm the "old-but-friendly" appearance of this place. One table is occupied by three energetic elderly men. They are discussing heatedly in their snappy and funny local dialect, something between Italian and French. You recognize the names of some political formation, but can't understand much more. They are responsible of 90% of the noise in the place.
As a contrast to that, the waiters and bakers (that you see at work in the lab behind a glass) are very formal, silent, professional, and elegantly dressed. They nod and smile in the direction of Capitano, as he enters with you, and after that immediately concentrate on their tasks. One of them has just brought a cup of hot chocolate to an elderly lady sitting alone. Other than you and the men, she is the only other customer. She tries and sip the chocolate and retreats as she feels it too hot. While she waits for it to cool a bit, she resumes the activity she was into before the waiter came: knitting.
She has a red yarn and is knitting what seems like a scarf....you can't tell, it's at the beginning. She looks completely self absorbed.

Capitano points you to a free table, then grabs an extra chair from another one to sit with you.

[Kaworu]

- Good day to you, Capitano – Alex greeted the man gently – Please, forgive me, I know only a couple of words in Italiano and almost no grammar. Is English good with you? - he asked.

- Also, the game was fun, with the oranges, I mean. But… I do not want to jump to conclusions, but I get the feeling you wanna talk about something else?

[Darkstorm]

"This a great place." says Francesca as she looks around.

"Fits the area. And I've never been here before. It's really nice and it smells great!"

She looks at the old lady and smiles and as Italian as possible asks if she recomends the hot chocolate.

[Chas Kramer]

The lady does not seem to even notice Francesca is talking to her. She does not seem rude or anything, but she acts as if nobody asked her anything.

Capitano answer that question for her.
"Yes, well actually the chocolate here is delicious. See those thingies here?" he points at a small bowl, at the center of every table, containing some light-brown, rounded tiny cookies. They look like Amaretto-type cookies, but way smaller "By themelves they are good but nothing special. If you add a handful of them to a cup of hot chocolate, the taste skyrockets. It's just divine".
He picks one and throws it into his mouth, then he continues, talkng to Alex directly.
"Well, I have no special business to talk about...only, since this year we won the contest of the best shooters, I just wanted to cheer a bit with some of the main actors of this success". He smiles and winks.
"It's something that I like to do, sometimes. You know, I participated to the carnival since I can remember, and I have been a captain in the clan for many years... but it gets repetitive overtime. Right now, for example, they are all working for the preparation of the ending ceremony...they know what to do, even wthout my supervision. I prefer to spend some quality time, in peace and quiet, having something sweet in good company...." he sighs "...I don't get to do this very often anymore" You see some sort of shade quickly passing through the normally cheerful eyes of the guy. Something like an intrusive thought, or a hard return to reality. But it's just a moment: whatever that thought was, he casts it away. "Alright, let me go and chose my daily sin" He stands up and walks towards a showcase, where several types of pastry are exposed.

A moment after he stands up, the red yarn falls from the hands of the knitting lady, rolls towards your direction, and stops next to where you are all sitting.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca finds it odd the woman doesn't answer. Not Italian at all.

But older people sometimes have their quirks.

She smiles and nods to the love Capitano has for the festival and the secret places of his city. She could relate with some of it.
Being from Florence she knew the joy of knowing the little places apart from the more touristic places.

The local secrets.

As the yarn rolls next to her she picks it up and and goes to the table of the old woman and gives it to her "You lost this."

[Kaworu]

- Maybe she's deaf? She an elderly woman, after all. Perhaps you should try some gestures? - asked Alex, still sitting in his place.

He was thinking about Capitano. It was nice that he wanted just to talk about their victory, but actually, it was not a victory of Aleksander, so he felt a lil bit... inappropriate? Like he cheated on an exam and got the best grade?

It was, of course, not an exact analogy, but who said that feelings were going to make sense? They rarely did, in his own experience.

[Chas Kramer]

The lady inhales as if she suddenly woke up from a dream, although her eyes were open. She looks at Francesca giving the yarn back to her.
Her expression is of utmost surprise...for a long moment she stares at the young woman, literally scanning her from head to feet. Then her expression changes into something else...a smirk... an "aaaaw sweetheart" expression, as for a grandma taking care of a child who fell on the bike. Still, she doesn't utter a single word...at least until she notices Francesca's company.

As soon as she sees that the girl is not alone, but she is part of a trio, she is baffled, stupefied...scared even. She points her finger at Francesca, then at Alex and Cassidy, back and forth, trying to articulate a question. "b..b...but....h...how... you.... this...this has never....." is all she can say.
Finally, she sighs and relaxes.

"No, child, you must keep it" she starts. Her voice is now quiet and she sounds like a younger person. You now realize it is difficult to define her actual age. She is wrinkly, small, hunched, dressed and combed like an elderly lady. Yet, her eyes are lively and her mind sharp. If you had to guess, you would say something between 65 and 100 years old.
"You have to, you really have to keep it. And keep it safe!!!" She closes your own hands around the yarn, her touch is warm.
"You ALL have to keep it. The fact that it's THREE of you is so strange... strange calls for more strange. and after all some burdens need joint effort to be carried. Perhaps is was meant to be so."
She cuts with a pair of small scissors the red thread of the yarn, that was still attached to her unfinished scarf, and she finally stands up.

One last sip from her chocolate cup, and she approaches your table.
"Keep it! Follow it!" she whispers....and she surprisingly repeats the same sentence in Polish and Irish.

In that very moment Capitano comes back at the table, with a small tray containing several small pastries. He heard nothing of the conversation.
"Sandro, they are coming for you. You need to bail" She says calmly, just before leaving the cafeteria.
Capitano's face turns pale. "Ma porca putt..." He fires a long volley of deadly insults and swearwords. At the end of it, he leaps towards the patisserie lab, and quickly whispers a couple of words to the elegantly dressed waiter, who is polishing a cup. The waiter simply nods, in the direction of a back door. He hastes through it. He is gone. The waiter keeps polishing, as if nothing happened

[Kaworu]

Aleksander blinked, like, a lot. He was so confused. Was the lady crazy? She didn't seems so, but her words were so strange and did not made sense... some kind of dementia, maybe? Or, hm, religious upbringing?

She was so hard to read. And where did she learn Polish? and Irish, seemingly?

Alex looked at his companions, trying to make some sense of all this situation. Maybe they did understand? Was this some kind of a local custom?

So many questions, so little answers.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca was taken aback by the woman. Not her crazy words. Not even the way she seemed to know several languages.

It was her look. She had an ageless feel that made Francesca skin cawl. She wasn't the best judge of age but... Never had happened to feel so confused.

She breaks out of her inner thoughts about her capability to judge age, and her body starts to react without her knowing. She goes midway to store the yarn in her pocket but then stops and looks at it.

What was she doing?

"What do you mean?" She asks at the old lady as Sandro arrives. Her question lost as the gentle Capitano storms out of the café.

Even more Dumbfounded she looks at her companions and the lady and asks "What happened?"

[Chas Kramer]

As you sit on the table, baffled, with an untouched tray of pastries and a red yarn (which looks absolutely ordinary, maybe a bit old), you take a look at your surroundings.
Not much has really changed, from before, and nothing at all in the attitude of the waiters. Only the three men don't talk loud anymore: their heads closer they mumble and whisper to each other, clearly trying to figure out what caused the guy to run away in such a haste.

Their answer comes right in from the main door. Two more men enter, both tall and athletic, with hair cut short and clean-shaven. The younger one, in his thirties, is chewing some gum without much elegance. The older one is probably around 45, well preserved, and wears some manly, good quality perfume. They wear normal, civilian clothes, but their attitude and outfit just screams "cop".
The older of the two says a quick "Buongiorno" when they enter, then goes straight to the waiter and shows a badge.
One of the three men may have taken a peek, because he whispers to the others: "DIGOS...".
The waiter is unimpressed. You cannot overhear the questions, but you can easily imagine who are they asking about. You cannot help admiring the poker face of the waiter. He answers all the questions with mono-syllabic words and shrugs. It is obvious that, if he knew anything, they would have to torture him to get the truth out.

The younger of the two cops has been looking at you all the time, though. He comes at your table with decision: "Your documents!" he orders.

[Kaworu]

Alex looked all around in puzzlement. First the crazy (?) lady, then Capitano escapes, then cops? What was it about? Was Capitano a criminal and on the run from police? Does that mean that they had problems with the law?

He was feeling insecure, a bit, but mostly lost. There were so many missing pieces that he could not comprehend what was happening.

- Of course - he said to the younger policeman, grabbing his Polish ID card from his wallet - I also have my passport, but have left it in my hotel room. I presume it won't be necessary? - he asked. Both Poland and Italy were in Schengen, but his passport was much more detailed, with biometric data on a chip and other stuff. Plus as an alien he felt the need to show his passport, even if it was only his feeling.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca gives her Italian citizen card (carta di identità elettronica) and asks the policeman using her Italian charms "So what's happening? Who are you searching for?"


Then she picks the red yarn and puts it on her pocket and choses one of the pastries and eats it. "Want one?" she asks the police officer.


She'll try using her Italian Blood perk for trying to apease and get some info on the cop.

[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

@Alex

"Mmmh, from the Poland? Why you are here? what you do with Alessandro Conenna" His English is very basic. He is obviously trying to subdue you psychologically, but he is not very good at it. Plus, your passport is perfectly valid: in this sense you have nothing to fear. Your association with the Capitano however, might have put you in trouble. It is obvious that this is the aspect the cop is interested in.


Ok, so you got [5],[4],[1] = 10

Let's see how the guy reacts

Rookie bad cop (2)
[roll0]

Ok, you win two and you lose one.
The total is 10 for both. It's a tie, but in this case player wins.
Since you get the higher total (so to say) you get to chose how to continue this conflict. If you continue, you will roll only 2 dice (cause you lost one) and the cop will roll only one (cause he lost two). You can chose to disengage if you want.


"I am the one making questions here, miss Bardi !" he starts, with the grumpiest facial expression he can pull off. However he is a rookie. He cannot help staring for a moment at the delicious sweet being offered to him by the cute girl. Accordingly, he cannot prevent his gaze to indulge for a moment on her cleavage and her smile.
"Not when I am in service, thanks". He gulps. "What is your business with Alessandro Conenna? And where has he gone to?" He is inquisitive again, and for sure he has his metaphorical lie detector turned on. His question is addressed to all of you

[Kaworu]

- Capitano, you mean? - Alex just wanted to clarify - Well, you see, we had this famous orange-throwing party today and we have won, so we had a little, hm... after party, you might say? And then there was this, um... - he stopped for a moment, thinking how to call the lady - interesting old lady - he was not lying... not openly, at least - who apparently speak Polish and Irish in addiction to Italian. She, um, excused herself and not long after the Capitano also ran away. I thought that maybe he recognized the lady or something she had said, for you see... - another pause - she was not very... clear? I mean, I still have to understand what she was talking about, but maybe this was some kind of local custom? So anyways, the Capitano just went off and not long after you came too... when I think of it now, this could be related? - it was an open question.

- Anyways, this was something not very easy to understand at the moment and it is getting more clear now? I assume that Capitano had some kind of... disagreement with the local police? This could explain why he had run away, but still, I do not know how the lady was related? Was this just a coincidence? - another open question.

[roll0]

[Darkstorm]

"Alessandro? If you mean Capitano, We just met him at the festival. But please eat one or it will spoil" she says getting excited and curious "Why are you searching for him? Is he a wanted man?".


Let's keep rolling [roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

You rolled:
(2d6)[4][4](8)

Cop rolls:
[roll0]


You lose one and you tie the other.

The cop is somehow confused about what you say. He doesn't see the connection with the lady, and arches an eyebrow as you speak about her. In the end, he shakes his head, somehow convinced that you are confused as well.
His attitude towards you is quite neutral, but at least, he doesn't think you are a criminal. He doesn't trust you either.



You rolled:
(2d6)[5][3](8)

Cop rolls:
[roll1]

You beat him.


Convinced by Alex's speech that you must not be criminals, and somehow won over by Francesca's charms, the cop ends up revealing a bit more than he actually should "Well yes... why would the DIGOS* look for him, if he wasn't a dangerous terrorist. I don't know why you were hanging around with him, but you shoul..."
Esposito! Report ! The other cop, the older one, has been looking at the situation from the background. The moment that the younger cop hears his surname called by his superior, he IMMEDIATELY (like...in a hundredth second ) becomes serious and rigid. He goes towards the older cop, and whispers something. As he speaks, the older one does not move his gaze away from you. He doesn't even blink. He is perfectly relaxed and at ease, not tense, just attentive. He he answers to the younger cop loud, so you can hear "If I had one Euro for every time that I heard 'They looked nice and not involved' , and then turned out to be criminals, I would be a billionaire. I wish I was, so I wouldn't have to spend so much time tracking down filthy terrorists and kick their sorry asses into jail, after teaching them a couple of things about respect." Even as he threatens, he is calm, as if he was talking about the weather.

"I don't know what your business is with Conenna, and why you call him Capitano (the captain), but I can imagine, and I will find out. Now, you have two choices. We will have a chat in private, 30 minutes from now, after we finish one thing that we need to do. We will meet on the staircase at the entrance of the cathedral, make it friendly and informal. After all, you are not under arrest or anything. We just value any information you may have. Or, if you choose, I can make it by the book, invite you at the police station as "people informed on the facts", do everything formal and unpleasant "

It's the anti-terrorism division of Italian police. They operate a lot undercover and are known to be particularly tough

[Kaworu]

While hearing about Capitano being a dangerous terrorist, Alex closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Didn’t help him much, looking at his shaking hands, but it was obvious he was trying to act tough.

“OMG, OMG, OMG! I have aligned myself with a dangerous terrorist! There’s no way out of that, I am going to jail! For the God’s sake! I just wanted a nice winter vacation in Italy and to throw some oranges! I do not want a life sentence! What to do, what to do…” was his thinking.

He just nodded, listening to the older cop. Half an hour and informal meeting. Great, just what he needs.

- D-don’t you know a local pharmacy? And s-some shop where I c-could but some w-water? – he asked his companion, his voice shaking a little.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca steels her eyes and her mood changes like quicksilver. In Italian she says to the older cop "If you think you can intimidate me you're mistaken. I am Francesca Bardi. I am an University professor." but quickly she adds "But if that man is a Terrorist and a danger to Italy I want to know more about what he did."

Turning to Aleksander she says "Don't worry. We're in a UE country. We have our rigths!"

[Kaworu]

- Still, a p-pill for nerves w-would be nice - was all Alex had to say in that matter.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca smiles before eating a bit of the cake "So it's a deal. First a pharmacy, then the Church."

She collects the red yarn and examines it. "This is one of those days." she adds as if it was normal.


Normal yarn?

[Chas Kramer]

Oh, yes, miss Bardi, you have your rights. Everybody has their rights. The right to be safe, among others. It is my job to make sure that those rights are respected. He speaks a decent English. The other cop, Esposito, does not look like he's understanding much of what his superior is saying. He just stares at you with renewed suspicion.
Anyway, no one of you has anything to fear. As I said...just an informal talk, we want to know what you know. We'll see you there

A quick "Arrivederci", and they are out

[...]

The yarn looks kind of ordinary.
It is regular spun thread, wrapped up in a spherical shape. It is of a beautiful scarlet red, and feels like wool. It is not held together by any type of wrap or band.
It looks quite old...it has lost nothing of its color, but you can see that in some point the wool is a bit fuzzy.
You feel strangely attracted by it, as if it felt...important. Maybe it's the color, or the softness, or the peculiar situation in which you got it... probably that. You might as well being projecting the whole experience into it, and see more in this yarn than it really is. You cannot really tell. It just fees special, in some way.

[Darkstorm]

As the police get out Francesca stores the red thread and says to herself "For luck"

Turning to Aleksander she says "So let's finish eating, and go to the pharmacy."

She takes a small bite of the cake and starts talking with the employee "Does this happens a lot over here?" loud enough so the other groups (oldman) can participate on the talk if they want.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander was just sipping his hot tea, which was helping him to get a little bit more secure. He was not participating in the talks for now but was listening. He should probably start heading to the pharmacy, but it would be a waste not to finish his drink.

[Chas Kramer]

The younger waiter answers with a set of hand gestures, that roughly translate to "I've never anything like this". The older one shrugs very much like he did with the two policemen, and adds: "Bah... we had a visit from the Guardia di Finanza, occasionally. Normal checks. Policemen or Carabinieri on patrol, sure... never had a visit by the DIGOS, but I guess they are doing their job, going around and asking questions."

"Yes but, come on, all of that action..." one of the sitting men comments, the one with scarce white hair and white mustache, speaking dialect.
Another shrug from the waiter.

"That guy knew that they were coming, and he had something to hide for sure" says the one with the sideburns and the "coppola" hat, stating the obvious. Unlike the others, he speaks Italian with a southern accent. By the way, who is that guy? is he the cousin of... ?

"No, no, he is the nephew of Gianni's " "Angelica's son? " "No, no Gianni who married Gina, Erminia's sister" "Aah, no, cause I thought he was someone with the relatives in Val Moglia" "no... no...maybe....but still he is the cousin of..."
***confused mumbling***

[Kaworu]

Alex drank his last drop of hot chocolate – very tasty, he had to add - and went to pay for that. Seeing the way the discussion turned, he supposed it was best to leave the old men to their “who is related to who” talking. He had to buy some herbal pills for nerves and meet with the policeman, so he had no time to waste. He nodded gently when he was paying, and then waved to everyone, before leaving the place.

[Chas Kramer]

As you open the door to get out of the cafe, a gust of wind almost pushes you back inside, and brings a sprinkle of snow to your face.
The cold air that enters is felt by everybody inside, and met with surprise.

You get out of the place, and notice that the weather has changed, rapidly. No clear sky anymore: it looks like a snowstorm is beginning. Snowfall coupled with wind is uncommon but not impossible, in this period of the year and place...what is strange is how fast it changed. At least, these are the comments you overhear from the people inside the cafeteria.

You leave the place and head towards the pharmacy, just as the generic "climate change" and "back-in-my-days" comments begin.

[...]

The pharmacy is just two blocks away, easily found. There is a quite attractive young woman behind the counter...petite, green eyed. Her slightly curly dark hair are cut shoulder length. She greets you politely.

[Kaworu]

Alex moved forward, against the icy weather outside. It was surprising – a snowstorm, so suddenly, in Italy? Seemingly the global warming was much, much worse that he had thought. As always, politicians will talk about money – just like the Polish ones who did not want to decarbonise the country (as the only ones in Europe, let him underline) – till it will be too late and all lands will turn into a permanent desert.

He sighted, walking towards pharmacy with grim thoughts of a planet-wide extinction.

- Boungiorno, Signora. Parla inglese? - he said to the nice lady in a pharmacy. It was the maximum of his knowledge of the Italian language. Then, in English, he proceeded to explain which exact mental illnesses he had and what kind of drugs his psychiatrist has prescribed him. He doubted that a simple herbal pills would have any kind of reaction with other substances he was consuming, but one could never be too cautious – especially while being ill.

[Chas Kramer]

"Buongiorno! Yes, I do, how can I help you?" She answers in English.

She listens carefully as you explain your problem. Then she stands in silence for a second, probably thinking about drug interactions. She then proposes you two things.
One, are some pills with some herbal content and mild anti-depressive action. Two, she gets a jar from over a counter, and extracts some mixture of leaves from it. Compared to the aseptic atmosphere of the pharmacy, and the other counters full of standard pharmaceutical products, the content of the jar seems a bit shamanic.
The young lady seems however more passionate about those herbs than she was for the standard pill. She advises you to use a small pinch of those to make a tea and drink it in the evening, for good-quality sleep. She puts the herbs in a paper bag. They smell both good and horrible... like herbal fresh and unwashed feet.

A gust of wind slams the door. "Wow! Could you kindly close that please?... What happens with the weather today? God..".

[Kaworu]

Alex eagerly went to the door and closed them – after all the lady could get a cold and he would not like that, wouldn’t he?

When he returned, he proceeded with explanation:

- You see, lady, there’s an issue. I was drinking a hot chocolate with some guy and the “BAM!” he escapes from the restaurant and “BAM!” in the next second anti-terrorist police appears and ask about him. It turns out I have been associated – even if only slightly – with a dangerous criminal and now the police is upon me. So you see, I kinda need something that I can get right now. Hm… - he went silent for a moment, thinking – maybe I will take one box of those pills so I can take them now and one portion of this herb? So I could drink it at night? What do you think? Are there any kind of undesirable interactions between those two?

[Darkstorm]

Francesca smiles and holds before laughting as Aleksander tries to explain the situation to the flaggergasted employee.

She waits patiently giving the foreigner time to process things. Her mind drifting slightly to all that's happening today.

[Chas Kramer]

The pharmacist looks helplessly at Alex... she quite cannot make sense of the first part... but she can make sense of the drug interactions.
"Uh...no, those medicament don't interact. You can take one pill now, but don't assume more than the specified dose...can I trust you with that? You seem a bit, mh, overexcited. "

after a while, she finishes processing part what you just said: "Police, you said? Are you chased?" She arches an eyebrow

[Kaworu]

- Of course, of course - said Alex - I never take too many pills, it could be dangerous. Do not worry, I'm responsible - he smiled slightly.

- As to the chased part, hm... I am not sure? We are about to hold an informal meeting and we will see? I mean, maaaaaaybe - he elongated the word, stressing how he was uncertain - I am not in trouble yet, but on the radar, so to speak? You know, in a way, it is even more stressing, because I am in a void right now and my fate is uncertain. But... I am afraid? I mean, my psychiatrist used to say that I worry too much and, hm... always expect the worst? I dunno if that's true... but she's an expert, so maybe I should listen to her?

[Chas Kramer]

The pharmacist is now convinced that you may have some mild paranoid delusions. She probably just can't make sense of the idea of someone like you being chased by the police.
No pity, nor boredom can be read on her face. She looks friendly as usual, and you can tell she is searching for words.
"I understand...I have been in some kind of void myself, sometimes. Luckily, I got help, by someone and in such a way that I would never have expected. Nobody bets out of the void alone..." She sighs.
"So get help wherever you may find it. Every tiny bit counts. A friend, some herbs for good sleep, your psychologist... It's like climbing a rock. Every single tiny niche in which you can stick a finger, every single protruding stone to rest your leg, everything counts. And you often find those footholds where you least expect them, so you gotta also learn to recognize them... Heh...I am speaking too much, as usual. Sorry for poring unrequested advice on you."

The snowfall is intensifying outside.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca turns to Aleksander and says smiling "Come on loverboy, or else we might have trouble with all the snow. We should meet that lovely old man."

She pulls her cloak tight around her shoulders and adds "I think the weather flipped."

[Kaworu]

Alex paid for both the pills and herbs and waved the pharmacist goodbye when leaving the pharmacy.

- It's global warming, I am telling you - he answered his companion - You now have a true nordic winter in Italy, and in Poland, much more north and not so close to warm Mediterranean Sea - or any warm sea, telling the truth - we have not a single flake of snow.

"We are all gonna die" was what he wanted to add - for he was afraid of both consequences of global warming and inactivity of the political elite - but decided not to, for fear of being overly dramatic.

[Chas Kramer]

Outside, the snowfall has reached its climax. Snowflakes are falling, tiny and dense, turning the world into black-and-white. The wind doesn't help improving your vision: it blows from the north, in frequent and strong bursts, pushing snow towards your eyes if you turn your face against it. You know for a fact that, in this region, snow is frequent in winter but quite unlikely to come with the wind.
Snowstorms do happen in rare cases, and this is one of them.

You walk through the alleyway and the narrow streets that from the cafe lead to the cathedral, protecting your head with your forearm. Through your impaired, black-and-white vision you see the shades of several people around you, all busy with something. Most of them are cursing, complaining about the weather, and trying to save from the fury of the elements the structures they had prepared for the end of the carnival. Pieces of decorations are flying around, twirling in a crazy dance, and some shades of people try to snatch them before they do hurt or damage.

You somehow reach the cathedral quickly enough, even though it feels like it took longer.
Around the church the atmosphere feels quieter. The snowfall is still dense, but the wind seems less fierce. Maybe the tall building shields it somehow. Also, there are no people around, except one person. You see from afar the tall, sturdy figure of a man, standing at the top of the staircase. Waiting.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca runs when she cans from protected place to protected place trying to escape the brunt of the snow. She prefered warmth... But she had to tell that the fresh, pure white forms falling were beautiful. As if the sky was falling in feathers.

As she gets near and sees the policeman she ponders what kind of guy would wait outside, when it was freezing...

She moves near and waves hello "Shallw e go to a covered place?"

[Kaworu]

Alex stood beside Francesca, shivering slightly in the cold. He presumed that the policeman would not like to go into the church - after all it would be a weird place for talking about criminals - but maybe some nice cafe? Or restaurant? Or anything, basically?

He waited for the response for his companion's question. He did not feel like talking, and was a little bit scared of the big guy, but honestly he hoped they would go somewhere warm and comfy...

[Chas Kramer]

As you approach the policemen, you are surprised in not seeing him greet you, wave in response, or move at all. He looks as if the cold weather actually froze him in place.
You get closer, so that his shade in the blizzard becomes an actual person. He is indeed the older of the two policemen that you met before (no sign of the other one, by the way), and he is practically a statue. He stands at the top of the staircase, completely still, like a wax sculpture. You don't see him in the eyes because his head is turned to his right, as if he was looking in that direction. His hand is pointing the same way, indicating what he saw. His posture is tilted slightly backwards.

Instinctively, you also cast your gaze for a moment in the same direction he is pointing to. You detect another shade in the snow, smaller and woman-like, making a step towards you...

[Kaworu]

Aleksander moved closer to the policeman, kind of careful. What the man looked like was kinda... strange? And the closer he got, the more weird it all looked.

- Ym... Mister? Remember me? - he had asked, waving a hand at the man.

Then he looked in the direction the policeman indicated, and saw a woman-like figure in the snow. Was she important, if she had stolen the attention of the guy? Or was it just a coincidence? His head moved, to the policeman, the lady, and the policeman back, as if expecting some kind of explanation from either of them.

[Chas Kramer]

The figure in the snow approaches. Not much: just a little bit so that you can distinguish some of her features in the mist.
You don't like what you see.

She looks like a woman, average to low height, wavy brown hair, free in the wind. She wears what look like rags from the distance, or very old clothes, and has a dark purple shawl over her shoulders. Her arms are naked, but she doesn't seem to feel the cold at all.

She looks back at you and smirks. That's when you see her face for the first time. That's what terrifies you, beyond what words can tell.

Her age is indefinite. She looks young and old, smooth and wrinkly, normal and alien at the same time. Imagine the face of the most beautiful young woman after she cried all her tears, with swollen eyes, twisted mouth and the makeup all melted. Well, this face looks like she has been crying for 1000 years and stopped just now.
But you see no tears on her face, only resentment. Not a steaming hot rage, but a grim malevolence, as cold as the weather surrounding you.
She slowly raises one of her naked arms and points at the cop behind you.

You look back at the cop, still paralyzed. His eyes are wide open and completely white, without an iris or pupil, and seem to weakly glow with a cold white light. The same eyes that the woman in the snow has.
Her smile widens...



I will call for a roll here, to resist the fear of this...thing

Roll with whatever cliche' you see fit (1 basic die plus cliche' dice , as always).
Roll independently against this array: [5, 4, 3] = 12.
Keep rolling until either the array or your dice pool is emptied

If you win, you still will be in control of your panic.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca freezes for a moment. Not because of the cold, or the snapping snow. No.

The being was supernatural for sure. It was impossible and she has always believe on the truth behind myths... But she couldn't explain this sight. That hurt her more than any cold... Those eyes... Those eyes didn't have place in any living being.
They were statuesque, they were wells of darkness. they were the source of the cold around her, inside her soul.

She tries to snap out of this stupor...


Using my tomb Raider Cliché

[roll0]

[Kaworu]

Alex looked at the woman. She was fear. She was danger. She was myth made flesh.

Regular person would be really scared and maybe even frozen in place, but not him. He was far more knowledgeable than a regular person would be when it came to the unexplained. and intuitively knew what to do.

Run or become like the policeman.

So not thinking much, he got a hold of Francesca's hand - both to boost his courage and to help her - and started running in the opposite direction.


Okay, so I got 6, 5, 4, 3 (counting from the bigger to the smaller) against 5, 4, 3, so that's a full win, I guess?

[Chas Kramer]

@ Kaworu
You are correct, you scored a full win.

@ Darkstorm
You got two ties and a loss. You can keep rolling, against the same array [5, 4, 3] , but you have one die less in your pool, cause you lost one.

Alex is helping, therefore you can roll dice at an ADVANTAGE (meaning that from the next roll, all ties count as wins for you)



Although it would be impossible to completely shake off the fear that grips him, Alex has at least the presence of mind to turn that fear into something useful.
He ends up also helping Francesca who, although still not overwhelmed by fear, is still kind of in a stupor.
She is able to passively follow Alex, though, a bit slowly

[Darkstorm]

Not even the darkness and all she went through when searching relics in forgotten tombs helped her now. There was a wheigh in her soul. Heavy...


[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

This time you won 2 and tied one (also won because of advantage). So, win.


Francesca manages at last to recover from that paralyzing stupor.
Although shaken by what they witnessed, you are both somehow in control of your actions.

As you were running away, you have actually not covered that much of a distance. You have descended in a haste the short staircase of the church, made slippery by a thin layer of snow, and left the main entrance straight at your back. After that, wind in your face, and your legs still soft with the shock, you have reached a point no further away than 15, 20 meters from the church, at a beginning of a street that departs from the church square.

No sound behind you and around, just the wind and your breath.

[Kaworu]

- C-come, we n-need to keep moving - the voice of Alex was still shaking, so was the hand in which he was holding the palm of Francesca, but now that they were getting away - and he could focus on running, not on this... thing... - he fell kind of more secure, even if only a little bit - Goodness, w-what was that? is that s-still following us? - he asked his companion.

[Chas Kramer]

As a matter of fact, "that" is not following you at all.
As you quickly glance back at the church area, you spot nothing unnatural. Whatever that thing was, it seems to have faded back in the shadow.

The "paralyzed" cop seems to have fallen on the ground now. However, there is another figure, crouching next to him, who probably came out of the church. He is holding the cop's head in his hands, and looks desperate. He is crying for help.

You are not so far away to not recognize him. He is agent Esposito, the other, younger cop. He is not so far away to not recognize you... He sees you, escaping hand in hand.
You can safely assume that he immediately jumps to all the wrong conclusions.
"HEY YOU!!!!". He is on his feet, heading towards you; His hand goes inside his jacket.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander acted immediatelly. He was still afraid of the monster, of course, but the gun was much more... concrete danger.

- Don't shoot! - he shouted, holding his both hands up, as to underline he is defenceless - We did nothing to him. - this was true too. But how to explain to a cop that "Ring lady" was there just moments ago? He would not believe that!

(But this is fine, Alex would not believe too if he did not see her with his very eyes. However, Alex was not armed, which did make him a better unbeliever than Esposito...)

[Darkstorm]

Francesca moves towards the cop with her open arms.

"We just came here to meet him" she says.


Using Italian blood to try to calm him
[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

I'll match Francesca's roll with an equal number of dice

[roll0]

It is 2 lost an one tie... you don't calm him



Agent Esposito is simply out of his mind. It's his mentor and most likely his hero that is laying, knocked out, at the entrance of the church. Words cannot calm him down.
Honestly, it's only his training that is preventing him to shoot you where you are.

He rushes towards you, intimates you to lay on your knees, and put your hands behind your head. He yells as he does that, so that some people in the buildings around the square start poking their nose out of the window.


You can comply with the ongoing arrest, or choose not to do so at your own risk. You may try to calm him down, but you need to try invent something "clever" to achieve that.

[Kaworu]

Aleksander did as he was asked. He went on his knees and put his hand behind his head – what else he could do?

He was shaking, of course. All the effort he put to maintain his mental health in the past half hour went straight to hell. He was being arrested, he saw a ghost (?) or something – something that threatened him, let us underline.

Great, just great.

He looked up at the fallen policeman. Was he okay? Did he need medical attention? Was he dead? He was worried for him – both because the bigger his problems, the more mess he himself was in, and also because he felt basic human empathy towards him.

[Darkstorm]

Francesca does the same. She goes down and says "Easy, easy!"

Fine job you did now... What have you put yourself into? she thinks.

[Chas Kramer]

The cop puts handcuffs on both of you, a little more roughly than it would be legit. He is then about to take a radio out and call for reinforcements, when he notices some movement at the entrance of the church. His curiosity has the best over his training.
He intimates you to move, towards the church with him.

As you move forward, you notice that the older cop, the one who passed out, is now sitting, and slowly recovering. A priest (as you can tell from the robes) has just gotten out of the church, found him, and probably giving support. Agent Esposito pushes you forward, quickly, eager to see, and intimates you to stop, at some point, where he can still have a look at you.

You are close enough to the scene to notice that the priest is asking basic question to the cop, and trying to see if he hit the head, or something. The cop is on the floor, with his back laying against the door of the church, awake but kind of catatonic. Esposito quickly examines the body of his colleague again, looking for wounds, bruises or any sign of a fight. He find none.

He comes back at you, grabs Alex by the lapel and shakes "What have you done to him!?!?!"

[Kaworu]

- N-nothing - aswered Alex. He was still shaken, but a little lie has sprout in his mind - We found him like that and I s-started panicking, cause I haven't k-knew what to d-do. So Francesca took a h-hold of my hand and went with m-me. To get some paramedic. Or something. It was fast, we acted on instinct. We think h-he might had hit his head. Cause of the s-snow. Slippery, you know. - it was a lie, of course, but the man seemed to be on edge of violence. Plus, who would have believed about some kind of "Ring-lady"? This lie was something that was plausible and at the time proved the innocence of Francesca and Aleksander. So in a way, it was perfect. And if the monster would return - pretty possible - he wished to be out of the cuffs.

[Darkstorm]

Farncesca says in a soothing voice "Easy, easy there!"

While she was so she tries to record if she have ever heard of anything that could be like what she saw.
Myths, stories, tales, folk - all the ludicrous now becoming reality.


Using Bookworm
[roll0]

[Chas Kramer]

Your story makes some kind of sense to him. No signs of violence on his colleague. Also, he doubts that any of you two could possibly take him on.
He lets go of his grip on Alex, with one last jerk, but does not un-cuff you. As he looks around in search for answers, he notices that some people are now looking at the scene from the open windows.

He approaches one and asks to the lady inside what happened.
"I don't know..." she said "...uuh...I don't think they have done anything... see... that man was on the church...there...and he looked like he was waiting. And I thought... why doesn't he go INSIDE, with this weather?? Right, dear I said that? " She says to someone behind her. A grunt comes as an answer, together with the sounds of a football match from the television. "Right, and then these two came, and I was like... ooh, so he was waiting for THEM. My husband always says that I should not peek on other people activities. Right dear? you say that. " Another grunt "... but it's not my fault we have a house with a window on the square. Anyways, these two came, reached for the other man, they waited...I don't know... five seconds, ten seconds, and then they ran away. And I was like: why do they run away? maybe they look for help? Right dear? I said that " A barely perceptible third grunt comes from inside, and the volume of the match commentary rises a bit "...And then you came. That's it....Why do you arrest them? ... well, it's none of my business...my husband always says that I poke my nose too much and I talk even more, right dear? Anyway I don't think those two are..." a louder, longer groan comes from inside this time "Oh come on ! I cannot talk one minute, and you immediately protest, just like when ma calls..." the two keep bickering inside


Unsatisfied, Esposito goes back to his colleague, who is recovering by the minute.

You are still cuffed, and have the time to think.

@Francesca
Your studies in history were "orthodox", but have for sure exposed you to less "academic" tales, and elements of folklore. And since you have a moment to think lucidly now, you can effectively recall something.
You still have little clue of what you saw, but a couple elements stick to your mind.
For example, you recall that often, in folklore, unholy beings are somehow repelled by the presence of Faith. The thing that you saw was treading in proximity of the church, probably consecrated ground, without much of an issue. Also, some remote bell rings in your mind, when thinking about what happened before that...the old lady giving a yarn to you, and her strange warnings

[Kaworu]

- Is he okay? - asked Aleksander, nodding at the older policeman. He was still cuffed and that was not a pleasant sensation, but the health of the man had taken the biggest priority now. Also, with so many people around, he doubted that the scary lady would reappear - at least, in horror movies monsters always attacked the lonely people. And, if the older policeman would regain his senses, he would say that Alex and Francesca were innocent.

[Chas Kramer]

Nobody answers your question.

The older policeman is now well "enough" to answer his partner's question. You cannot hear what he says exactly, but you see agent Esposito pointing at you and asking.
The older policeman shakes his head. You can overhear "no, it was not them....it was...it was.... I think I passed out for a moment..." he says, unconvincingly.

After a short discussion with the older policemen, Esposito comes to you and frees you both from the handcuffs, without a word. His face is darker than ever, and nothing would give him more pleasure than dragging you two mischievous ones to the station. for some old-fashioned interrogation..cause you are OBVIOUSLY up to no good, despite all appearances.
"Stay here. Inspector D'Amico still wants to question you, as soon as he is better".

The scene is a bit static now. Inspector D'amico (the older cop) is trying slowly to stand up, helped by the priest who came out of the church. Esposito is looking away, and breathing heavily, trying to calm himself. the lady from the window is still peeking. Everyone and everything is silent, and the weather is getting better, as rapidly as it got worse.
You are not restrained anymore.

[Kaworu]

- Hm... excuse me? - Alex went closer to inspector D'Amico, more than little wary - Do you wanna... some water, maybe? I have a bottle. I am afraid I started drinking from that, but I was just wondering...? - he asked, not unkindly.

[Chas Kramer]

Inspector D'Amico politely refuses your offer, and tries instead, to the best of his effort, to stand up straight.
As soon as he manages, helped by the priest, he tries to shake off the remainders of his...experience...and proceed with the questioning.

Now, it is obvious that he wants to talk about Conenna (Capitano) again, and find out the details on how you met him, and what do you know of his activity... the point is: he looks afraid to ask.
His questions are elusive, as if he wanted to talk about him, but didn't want to let anybody know that he does,and he holds the priest's arm as he speaks.

Moreover, there is another question, concealed whithin him, but revealed by the nervous twisting of his hands and his gaze darting left and right. He may talk about criminal activity, but what he is really asking, without having the courage to phrase it, is: did you see THAT? Was THAT real?


The scene is now you, inspector D'Amico and the priest, and agent Esposito a little further away. It seems more of a conversation than a true interrogation, given the fact that the person who is supposed to question you is shocked.

The "right" questions interaction will get you at least some answers

[Kaworu]

-Well… - Alex wanted to clarify the situation with Capitano before he could move to more pressing topics – We do not know really Capitano that well. In fact, it was our first meeting and I do not think I even caught his name. Maybe he is a criminal, I do not know. We were literally just throwing oranges and having some hot drinks. I am afraid I cannot help you much with that – his tone of voice was really apologetic.

- Also… - now that the Capitano business was taken care of, he could speak more freely – I am afraid I was not totally honest with your younger colleague. We did not rush for help. We… we were scared. Maybe it was just an illusion (hallucination?) but we have seen something. Like a lady. Just a lot more terrible. She… oh, sorry – his voice got a little bit hysterical here – but what should I have said? “We saw a monster, he attacked you, we wanted to run for our lives”? Goodness! Who would believe that?! I dunno, maybe we are just mental and should have spend the rest of our lives behind closed doors? I do not know, I am lost, maybe seriously, there’s some kind of scientific explanation for all that – he seemed doubtful - But what I know is: there was this woman. She looked like if she was taken from nightmares. You lost consciousness and we were so, so afraid that we are next. That’s all I can tell. Please, do not ask for more, I already feel like an idiot. – Aleksander finished somehow awkwardly.

[Chas Kramer]

You see the inspector going pale as you speak, re-living in his mind the experience. The implication of your words is obvious: it means you saw THAT too. Now, whatever that encounter was, it cannot simply be dismissed as a nightmare, hallucination, or anything rationally explainable.

"That's... that's impossible..." denial, at first obviously... and then, all of a sudden, some kind of relief. If it's true that the event cannot be denied anymore, because you saw it, it is also true that you are now in this together.
"You see... I never quite believed in this type of things, I never needed it. In my career I have seen how men are perfectly able to harm each other without any intervention from above or below... they are already "demonic" in themselves. A gun, a knife, yes, I fear those, and the hand that wields them, even more...no need to believe and fear the things from beyond..."
"So believe me when I say this... I don't fear what I saw because it is a monster... I fear it because I don't understand it... and YOU WILL help me make sense of this."

He now stands tall. His calm determination is somehow coming back...he has a purpose now.
"You know... SHE... the thing we saw...she is protecting him... your Capitano, as you call him, was around, here...we were chasing him. Esposito was checking some movement that he saw nearby, while..SHE attacked me. And she warned me, she told me to leave him be..."

"Would you like to make an educated guess on what she told me, as you arrived?..."

[Kaworu]

Aleksander was nodding quietly, listening to the older cop. It was nice seeing the change in him, even if they still weren't sure what the lady was or what was her purpose - at least Alex was not, because seemingly she had exchanged a few words with the inspector.

- Hm... I really have no experience with monsters, especially the talking kind... maybe something about Capitano? Or... about us? - he asked - Actually, there was a crazy old lady who had given us some wool. She had spoken some weird words. Then the monster appeared not long after. Maybe... she had some kind of prophecy for us? Related to the master? I mean, I do not know. But if her words were, hm... "something deep under" then the monster could talk about us to, isn't it? Or maybe the lady was really crazy? - he was still unsure as to what role - if any - the elderly lady had in all of this.

[Chas Kramer]

"As you approached, I heard a voice in my mind, full of resentment. I felt that anger like an icy knife being twisted into my belly, as the voice said "they will not protect you forever" ...
So, miss Bardi, mr Bryza, let's summarize the facts. We see you hanging around with known anarcho-eco-terrorist Alessandro Conenna. As we are tracking him, something that reason cannot explain shows up to PROTECT him, and there you are again. Whatever that thing was, knows about YOU and for some reason your presence is enough a good reason for her to release her grip on me. Finally, you come to me again, and you blabber about prophecies, crazy ladies, artifacts and whatever. I will believe in coincidence when I will see one"

It is interesting for you to see how, even in from of the un-explainable, D'Amico still acts like a cop

"You, "Capitano" Conenna, and whatever that infernal thing was, are somehow connected. I don't understand why that is, and I can't make sense of any of this. But I am a practical guy enough, to see I am not equipped for this mission... YOU are. YOU will meet Conenna again, investigate what he is up to, and will report to me.

Questions ?"

I have quit on the BOLD, I found it a bit disturbing to read a bunch of text in that format. sorry for the change.

[Kaworu]

- Ym… - was all that Alex said. It was very “intelligent”, no doubt, but what the cop was saying was too, in a way.

- Wait, wait, wait! – he shouted, kinda energetic – W-what do you mean? Is that even legal? Helping you fight terrorist, this I can do, even though it is dangerous on its own. But fightning a nightmare lady for you? Noooooo way! – he said, overreacting (which he himself did not realize, of course) – We know nothing of this monster, we are no warriors, it’s you who had fight training and weapon by your belt. In fact, I went here only for holidays. This is not my country, not my problem and clearly not my responsibility. Sorry, but that’s the truth. It’s YOU who is paid by Italy to fight criminals, not me. And since it’s neither mine nor your duty to deal with monsters, I kindly advise you to just stop. Heroism in nice in books, movies and stuff, but it is of very little consolation to be honored after some time when you are getting killed by something inhuman.

- Plus – he raised a finger, his final argument – the Polish embassy would be really, really furious if something bad would happen to me. And let’s be honest, the monster will kill me. Of course, diplomats do not believe in monsters, but if they would got information from me that you are gonna put me in some fishy business – and later I would end dead – the political backlash would be the end of both you and your little friend over there. You have some family members to feed, I presume?

- And yes, I know my rights. If you are gonna arrest me for my insolence – let’ us be realistic, you probably will – I will contact the embassy. And there is no way for you to stop me from that. The law is the law.

[Chas Kramer]

D'Amico silently makes a "stop there" hand gesture towards Esposito, who saw/heard you get excited from far away.

"Ah, Mr Bryza...you fail to see the big picture here, allow me to explain. It is a rock-paper-scissors scenario"
Seeing your perplexed expression, he explains, calmly
"You said law is law, and no one is above the law...except..., you know...I kind of am. After years in my job I have gained somehow...hm...some special authority. I can't and will not harm you, obviously, but (given who you have been associated with) I have the power to make your permanence really miserable. And when I am done with that, I can tap on more resources...friends, powerful people that owe me favors...or tribute. Without harming you directly, I can still make your live such a living hell, that you'd sooner run into the arms of that demon"

"But... at the same time, I am powerless. My weapons, my training, you say? Against a thing like the one we saw, I can shove them both deep...you know where. If I simply did my job, I could do nothing to stop that. I would be dead or worse, and that thing on the loose.... and here comes the juicy part: THAT THING is at the very least worried about YOU. She was inside my head..." he covers his eyes with his hands, remembering the fear and the pain. "she was inside here, so I felt what she felt. I saw you through her eyes, and she felt surprise, anger, frustration. That thing is worried about you, for some reason."

"So you see?" he concludes " a nice triangle, rock-paper-scissors. But this is not the reason you will help me. You see, Mr Bryza, Miss Bardi, I am not asking you to get criminals on my behalf. I am asking you to help me get some information on what that guy is up to. He is a suspect, alright, but I had NO IDEA how much evil he was up to. That guy is associated with ...forces...things, I don't know, stuff I don't understand, but that cannot be allowed to roam free. That thing attacked here, in plain sight, during the day. Will she attack again? Will there be more? Will they be worse things? Are we all in danger? Now that the...thing... knows about you, do you think she will just leave you be, if she becomes more powerful?
We NEED to know what he is doing, before it's too late, and you are the only ones that can get this information. With all my resources, I am powerless.

Come on, you even discussed a prophecy... and miss Bardi, I understood that chasing mystery was kind of your bread-and-butter, not too long ago...
"

[Kaworu]

Aleksander closed his eyes, listening to the cop (he found it’s easier to focus on the exact wording that way). When D’Amico finished, he still kept them closed, seemingly thinking. He has moved his head to one side, then the second one. He has reached his hand, his finder straight, moving it sideways too. Finally, he had come to the conclusion.

- Okay, I think I could be of some help – he had said, opening his eyes – I can gather some information on Capitano. Only because he is dangerous, in more than one way, it seems. And this is where it ends – gathering information. Even if that monster is afraid of me, this is not my stuff to fight it, okay? If – and it is a keyword – if we will find a way to exorcise this thing, then I will try. If not, then the monster is not my problem. I am gathering information and that’s it. This I can do.

- However – he continued – there are things that you need to do for me. Money for my effort is the most obvious thing. I also wanna weapons – both traditional and in a form of pepper spray – in order to protect myself should something bad happen. And one of this fancy, small cameras some cops are always wearing. I wanna everything I am doing to be recorder. And I wanna this record later. With no censorship. This is something of a unique case and paranormal investigators should have all the necessary material to study it later.

- But yes, if you will comply, I think we have a deal – he finished, looking the cop in the eyes. This all seemed to him like an equal exchange and he believed both sides would be satisfied, if they would accept the conditions of the offer.

[Chas Kramer]

Inspector D'Amico arches an eyebrow as you finish. He is a man accustomed to be "in control" and didn't expect you to bite back.
In the end, he smiles, he can tell himself satisfied by the deal.

"Ah, now we are speaking the same language, so to say... Alright, we don't "always wear fancy cameras", but we might find some useful ways to "bug" you...
As for your payment, well of course you will be compensated for your effort. Nobody ever expected you to do this for free. We can't make it official, for obvious reasons, but rest assured, you will be highly rewarded for your effort. We will find a way to do it clean...-ish."
As he speaks, you wonder how many times he has done this type of bargains with powerful people. It is now pretty obvious to you, that although he is a cop of the anti-terrorist division, his resume must be full of...gray spots.

"Now, as for the weapon... no you will NOT wield any lethal one. I don't know how much of a danger you would be to others and to yourself with those. Plus, you can't be found wearing anything illegal. You will carry less lethal weapons and self-protection tools, as allowed by local law... ok, maybe they will carry some extra "kick"... but nothing that screams "illegal", and that can easily be tracked down...well, to us, the DIGOS. Oh and by the way, I will make sure that the authority will not put their spotlight on you, but should you ever be questioned, I am confident that you cam come up with reasonable explanations, and not...like... panic and speak my name.
You know how we say here... one hand washes the other, and both wash the face.
"
You could swear his Italian accent intensified, as he was saying those words

That said, he gives you an appointment, to meet him the day after, early morning, in Vicolo Borgetti (a quite isolated alleyway, close to the river), where he will pass to you materials and information. He recommends you to be careful and try not to be seen.

It is evening now, the snowstorm is calming down, and you have time to ask questions around, if you so choose.

[Kaworu]

Alex just shook the hand of officer D’Amico. It was a compromise and he felt like he had lost some of his points, but so did the cop, so it was good and just in his opinion.

He was still afraid, of course, of both the monster and the “eco-terrorist”, like Capitano was called by the policeman, but with the assistance of the police, the possibility of catching something unnatural on cam (and giving the record to other paranormal researchers) and the promise of getting paid, it seemed alright to him.

In fact, the talking with the cop went much, much better than he had expected. He did not feel anxious at all (at least now, the time will tell if he will be shaken later) and it seemed to him than the fear of some things is much, much worse than the things in themselves. An important lesson, but of course when your very brain is not working properly, it is hard to see such things. And he was sure he will forget about that too, soon enough.

But for now, he was satisfied. And that’s what counts.

[Chas Kramer]

The snowstorm has now faded off completely, and you can see the stars again peeking out of the dissipating veil of cloud. The small square of the church is now quiet. The cops have gone, the priest is silently scooping away the veil of snow from the staircase of the church.
You hear music and the sounds of the carnival just a little far away.

Apparently, the party is starting again with renewed passion. Whereas oranges were flying just few hours before, now snowballs took their place, and the kids don't waste the occasion to start snowball skirmishes here and there.
THe adults, still dreessed with the various uniforms, work to complete the coreography and the stands.
Some of the stakes that they were prepared are soaked wet now, but the men managed to keep some of them dry, so that they kindle effectively.

You walk through the streets, where the burning stakes and the people cheering arund them remind with undeniable clarity the pagan origins of all of this. In Piazza di Città (the City square), a woman dressed like a miller throws flowers from her charriot to the cheering mob below, while the biggest stake shines in the night and gleam sinisterly on the pale facade of the houses.

A couple men in high uniform, on horseback, make their way through the crazy mob, and ride towards the Old Bridge, followed by many. They are accompanied by a slow, funeral-like march, played by the pipers, as they cross the bridge, and after that Maretta square, and Arduino street, until Ottinetti square. The funeral march and the burning pykes may be a game for this people, but are terribly ominous to you, after your experience, and you can't help a cold shiver to run through your spine.

Finally, the riders stop, and call for silence. They shout their final salute, in the local dialect. "Arvëdse a giòbia a 'n bòt", to which the mob replies with wild screams and the same salute back. The carnival is over, and everybody will go home lighthearted, and/or with pain in their arms... not you. A light heart is a luxury you cannot afford, after your experience. But you have the time to rethink about what happened and treasure it somehow. Tomorrow's meeting with Inspector D'Amico will find you prepared...


If you want to interact with the environment, feel free.
You can report to OOC for XP gain.

[Chas Kramer]

The morning comes, with a fresh wind from the north, that seems determined to lift away the weight on your soul.
Your dream were restless and confused, difficult to remember.
You feared that the "thing" would come to torment your dreams, but it did not.
You hoped that answers and clarity would come with the morning, and they did not.

You can only recall a confused dream of a cat playing with a red yarn, but in places of the house that you didn't want to...like too close to the wood-burning oven where the bread was baking. So you were reading the cat's instructions on an old book, but you could not make sense the gibberish in it. Also, the house wasn't your own.

Anyhow: early morning now. It's early dawn, still pretty dark, and Inspector D'Amico did not strike you as a person that comes late to an appointment.

[Kaworu]

Alexander got woken up by an alarm clock in his phone. He set it half an hour before he actually went out of his bed – he needed the time to lay in a warm bed and shake the dizziness of a night sleep off. He always did so.

When he finally left bed, he moved to the bathroom – he needed to pee – and then to the kitchen. He forced into himself one slice of bread with yellow cheese and some apple juice (he always found it hard to eat a lot in the morning). When he finished his sandwich, he swallowed his morning pills for mental disorders with the rest of the juice.

Then, he went to brush his teeth and dress up.

When he finally left his flat, around half an hour after he left his bed, it was still dark. He had his smartphone with Google Maps, so he could not get lost, but the fear of loosing his direction was actually much, much smaller than the fear of what he was supposed to do now. He agreed to help inspector D’Amico because it was the proper thing to do – and besides, he was scared – but now he started to doubt if this was the right choice.

Was is too late to say “stop”?

Yet, the prospect of doing something for the paranormal community (them fancy cameras!) was refreshing. And if he really was the only one who could stop the monster, didn’t he had a moral duty to do so? Who else could make it happen, if not he?

Full of both hope and anxiety, he finally found the police station. After taking a deep breath, he went in.