WindStruck and Zene's The Haunting IC

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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(Haha no promises! Strength: (d100)[45]

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Luckily it seems to hold, and right as you're looking for something heavy, the clanging stops. Lois nevertheless picks up a pile of lumber and uncerimoniously dumps it on the lid. "I'm not takin' any chances." She says, and spits on the pile. "Though didn't ya' say we had to do somethin' with it? It's certainly got a nasty bite..." She notes as she examines her wound.
----

You could attempt First Aid on Lois' wound if you so wish (possibly tearing your own clothing, if not Lois would offer yet more of her own [it's November in Boston, she'd have a coat in her backpack that could be cut]).

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Izzy shouts over the clanging. "Let's hope so. It's definitely less 'get out' and more 'stay forever' now. At this point it looks like it's either us, or it. Problem is, we still don't know how to kill whatever 'it' is. I mean, my best guess is burning a fish or using this dagger here.... and I have no idea how we could get this dagger to stop trying to kill us long enough to use it. Plus, no fish!"

In response to Lois' comment about the dagger; "Yeah. I think its power has something to do with the fact that it can't be cleaned. If there were a way for us to clean it anyway... like, some ritual cleansing. All the Jewish ones need at least water, and more usually ten adult Jews, a hut on the edge of town, or something equally annoying."

"Oh, your shoulder! Should we, um, wrap it or something? I guess bandages would have been a good thing to bring. And um, maybe some antiseptic..."[/B]

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Lois shrugs and pulls out a coat from her backpack. "Jus' in case a' weather n' whatnot." She then cuts a piece off with her handy switchblade and hands it to Yitzhak. "Don' worry, I'll definitely be headin' ta' tha' hospital after this is all over." She then stares at the garbage can and the silent knife. "Strange... ten people? Well, I doubt it's gettin' out on its own from under there."
She then looks towards the progress you both had made on the boards. "Well... do ya' think we should continue?"

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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First Aid: (d100)[38]

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Izzy ties off the bandage, and looks at the results. "Oy gevalt, that doesn't look any better. Well, let's just get this done as fast as we can." He starts prying at the boards again.

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Lois nods, albeit looking at the pile of lumber every now and again. The clanging is nowhere to be found. You both begin to pry the boards open, however, right as you get the last one you notice... well, you smell it before you see it, but a terribly foul odor emanates from a strange crawl space that you just opened up. Despite, of course, your better judgment, you peek in, "Wadda ya' see Izzy?" Only to bear witness to... rats.


Covering every crevice of this whole, all of them suddenly perk up and look at your body now occupying their area, as they suddenly rush in your direction.

Spoiler: Successful Idea (Intelligence) Roll

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You're reminded of a certain event that occurred not too long ago with rats...

Spoiler: Hard Success

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Perhaps a similar action would be prudent?

----

What do you do?

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: Deirdre McCoy

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Looks like I've got another opportunity for listen, but hard? (1d100)[50]

About how much time has elapsed at the time of this check?

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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(Idea: (d100)[16])
Izzy moves out of the way, hoping the rats are just making a break for it, like the mice earlier. ”Lots of rats, but it looks like they want to vacate.”

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Immediately you move out of the way as instead of launching at your face, they all stream out of the crawlspace. Lois however, looks at them strangely and then turns to look at you. "I think we should head out of here, do you not agree?" She promptly stands up. "We really should be going. This place is quite scary, yes?"

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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”What? No! Like you said, we’re so close...”

Izzy shines his flashlight into the space the rats just vacated.

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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The foul odor emanates from within. The light eventually falls upon what appears to be the exit of the space: an area with a floor of dirt, but it's hard to see anything else. Meanwhile Lois begins to walk towards the stairs "This place is really making me quite fearful. Should we not leave it alone? What if there is a ghost?" In the dim light you barely see her turn around and face you from the bottom of the stairs, the outline of her head turned to the side quizzically.

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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’what if there’s a ghost’? No contractions? Well...that’s clearly not her. An illusion? No, then there’s no reason I wouldn’t hear/see/feel the real Lois, who must surely be reacting to my odd response right now. Nu, a possession, then.

Hmm, I have no way to end the possession that I know of. But tipping off the ghost that I know, serves no purpose. I should play along with the deception. But also, I shouldn’t do what it wants, of course...

Izzy tries to sound natural as he calls from inside the space. “Hmm? Well if you really feel that strongly, yes of course I’ll leave with you. Let’s stick together though. Wait there, I’ll be right over...” Izzy says, as he continues to look through the space; gently kicking through the dust with his feet. He also pulls out the gun from his jacket pocket, just in case.

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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You’d be aware of danger (after noting the possession), so please give me a Dodge roll (you could alternatively give me a Fighting (Brawl) roll, but you’d need to achieve a higher level of success, and you might injure the body, so I’m assuming Dodge).

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Dodge: (d100)[70]

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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As you turn it's then when you hear it once more: CLANG You try and turn towards the sound, but you get stuck in the tiny space. Then you hear the CLANG noise of lumber falling to the floor, and then... it stops. Struggling to turn and get out you just barely manage to escape from your restrained condition only to hear Lois say. "No! You cannot! You must Obey My Master's Wi-!" She then lunges for you, the knife inches from your neck as Lois suddenly stops and shakes her head, "Huh, what's goin' on... why am I holdin'" She then realizes the position she was in. "What the, how'd I?" She slowly scrambles away from you, eyes full of fright at what she appeared to have been about to do. "We gotta... we gotta... grab tha' lid!" She screams frantically.
----

Technically we're back in combat and what happens is:
Lois' posession appeared to wear off.
Lois (70)
Yitzhak (50)
Knife (35)
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Lois scrambles over trying her best to grip the knife with both hands as she fights against it in order to restrain it once more (by preparing to cram it under the garbage can lid).
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It's now your turn. If your goal is to scramble and trap the knife back inside, please give me a Fighting (Brawl) roll for Lois (skill value of 60) with a Bonus Die (for my Fighting Back I got a Success [a 52] so you also need a Success). If you succeed, follow that up with a Hard Strength roll with a value of 120 (so you must get a 60 or below) as for my roll to escape I got a Hard Success (a 32).

Spoiler: Deirdre McCoy

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By your best guess 3-4 minutes have now passed.

Spoiler: Successful Hard Listen Roll

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You hear a muffled "grab tha' lid!" From somewhere below your feet.

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Izzy tries to help trap the knife under the lid.
Lois’ Brawl: (d100)[26]
Bonus die: (d100)[12]
Strength roll if the above succeeds: (d100)[21]

(Edit: whoops, looks like I messed up the bonus die roll—but it looks like it doesn’t matter. Let me know if I should reroll anyway)

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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I would've just taken the 10, making it a 16. Which seems fair for me to count you in, so you've effectively succeeded at Fighting (Brawl).
----

Once more the two of you manage to work together in order to stick the thing back inside, its ornate grip shining in the light of your flashlight. Once all that is over Lois once more replaces the pile of wood and looks visibly shaken in the light of your flashlight. "I... I don' know... what... what happened? Tha' first minute there were the rats, n' then I was almost stabbin' ya... what happened?"

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: Deirdre McCoy

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Deirdre continues to wait with apprehension...

(1d100)[29]

Still failing the hard listen roll, it seems she hears nothing than what she can only guess might be the occasional creak from the home as wind pushed against it, the trees rustling almost masking the silence.

"C'mon Izzy, c'mon..."

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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”I think the ghost possessed you. Do you know how you got it out?” Izzy asks, hurrying back over to the alcove. ”Regardless, let’s not waste any time. I want to know what it’s trying to keep us from finding...”

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Lois shakes her head, "I... I have no idea. It doesn't make any sense." However, she nods and pushes on along with you.
Eventually, the two of you escape the crawlspace and make it out into the earthen room. The first thing that's apparent is that there are bunch of bodies: rodent bodies to be precise.

Spoiler: Successful Combined Spot Hidden and Medicine Roll Where Only One Must Succeed

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You notice with a quick turn of the flashlight that upon the floor the bodies of the rats and mice are strangely pale in color.

Spoiler: If the Medicine Roll Was Successful

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It is quite clear that these rodents have been entirely drained of blood.

The next thing that is apparent is as follows: lying motionless and dead on a pallet in the centre of the room is a drawn, woodenlooking, wizened figure of some six-feet, skinny and naked, with ghastly wide-flaring, saucerlike eyes and a nose like a knife blade. Some sort of chain rests around his neck. He has lost all hair and his shrunken gums make his teeth look very long. From him comes a sharp, sweet, churning scent, like rotten corn.
In addition, just at the edge of your vision you notice what appears to be a table of some kind in the Southwest corner of the room with some papers on it. Lois gags, "Jeez, this guy's rank."

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Spot Hidden/Medicine: (d100)[41]

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Izzy’s eyes widen. He draws his gun, but keeps it pointed at the floor. He starts talking quickly and quietly. ”That corpse isn’t right—it should be more decayed, or at least bitten by the rats. But—“he points at the pale rats—“it’s almost like they’ve been its prey. I think we should stab it. In the stomach, or maybe liver. Or, maybe rib. All three, just to be safe? Argh I wish those verses made more sense! Also that thing around his neck might be something he needs. Also I want to look at those papers but it might be another trick. But regardless we’ve gotta act fast—um, what do you think?”

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Lois' mind is racing at a hundred miles an hour. "I... um... uh..." She then grips her knife and does her best to ready herself. "We stab the th-"

And then it gets up.
----

SANITY ROLLS!

Well, technically Sanity roll (singular), but it seemed dramatic if I said it like that.

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Sanity! (d100)[56]

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Luckily both you and Lois Succeed (Lois by 2%) so you both do lose 1 Sanity, but you still get to keep your first turn as you have steeled yourself against such dangers and focused solely on fight or flight and not the intricacies of unnaturally extending one's life (that's for later! ). We're now in combat. You're holding your gun but you do not have it "Readied" so the combat order progresses as normal (assuming Mr. Corbitt does not have any surprises).
Lois (70)
Yitzhak (50)
Walter Corbitt, Esq. (35)
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Lois' breathing becomes audible as she just barely manages to grip her knife and thrust it towards the general liver area of Walter Corbitt. However, as she stabs it, the knife simply bounces off of the "man's flesh" like she stabbed solid steel Ha h. H ah. H a h. You hear the weakened and frail laughter emit from the decaying body of Water Corbitt, Esq. as it grates upon your ears with every individual syllable.

Spoiler: Successful Know (Education) Roll

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The word Rigor comes to you from the journal. Normally Rigor refers to stiffness... could it be that his flesh is actually as stiff as steel?

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Lois made a Fighting (Brawl) roll and got a Success (a 59), whereas Corbitt fought back, but got a Failure (a 78). I happened to roll where it hit and got a 7-10, which is the abdomen, hence: the stomach (I could've gone with a Penalty Dice to make it for sure hit the abdomen, but Lois wasn't going to push her luck that much). Thus, she dealt 4 damage... and yet... nothing happened.
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Lois looks at you, aghast at the ineffectiveness of her weapon, as Yitzhak... you seize the initiative, your gun-toting hand trembling as the figure turns to you.

Spoiler: Successful Idea (Intelligence) Roll

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You go over of how to end this. All of your research, your investigation, has led up to this moment. Vittorio's ramblings, your own occult research, and the journal itself.

Spoiler: Hard Success

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Vittorio's Message, Your Own Occult Research, The Journal Itself

Spoiler: Extreme Success

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Vittorio's Ramblings, Lois' Translation, Your Initial Occult Research, Your Secondary Occult Research, The Journal Itself

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Something important to note is that if you enter melee and make a melee attack, Corbitt has already Fought Back so he is Outnumbered giving you a Bonus Die and making him unable to Dodge or Fight Back.

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Know: (d100)[51]
Idea: (d100)[86]

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Seeing what he thinks may be an opening, Izzy leaps forward and tries to grab the talisman off Corbitt’s neck.

Fighting (Brawl): (d100)[58]
Bonus: (d100)[65]

As he gets in close, can he make out any details of the pendant?

[zingbobco000]

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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Corbitt whirls around and with inhuman strength, bats Yitzhak's arms away (no injury, just surprise). He h e heee, as, having engaged the both of you in melee, he delights in trying to rip Lois apart with his unnaturally long fingernails. Luckily Lois leaps back from the attack, and is able to get out of reach of his grimy claw-like hands.
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I made an attack against Lois, but luckily I failed (a 51), meanwhile Lois decided to Dodge and also failed (a 77) but fortunately for her it was unimportant.
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Lois is just about to leap forward once more when suddenly, Corbitt turns his gaze over towards you. His eyes glow red and bright and begin to overwhelm you, and something in your mind whispers... Obey thy Master's Will
----

Please give me a Hard Power roll.

Also, remember how I said that Lois --> Yitzhak --> Corbitt would be the normal turn order unless he pulled some tricks from his sleeve. This is one of said tricks.

[Zene]

Spoiler: Izzy

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Power: (d100)[11]