It's well past the summer solstice and so the nights are getting longer, but in Denver they aren't getting any cooler. When night falls the heat clings to the pavement, seems to hover in the trees. And speaking of trees...
There is a park. Washington Park is a good long stretch of green with a number of trees and a couple of wannabe lakes. The rec center is closed, the tennis courts are dark. The park is empty.
Or at least, it appears to be.
[aight, hit me with your best Percept roll! Alert diff +2, PU base diff!]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Per+PU]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8) ( success x 1 )
Avery Chase[perception (insightful) + primal urge]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 3, 6, 6, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1
Éva Illésházyperception (3) + primal urge (3)
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Avery and Eva can hear the sound of summer cicadas...a lot of them. The dry rattle sound is coming from within the park, of course, from the trees. The sound is unnatural only because they both know that while Colorado does have the insects from time to time, this is wrong somehow. The sound is too loud or coming from too many insects.
Éva IllésházyFriday nights should be family nights but a day in the courtroom and an early morning (4:45 a.m.) flight to the east coast mean that she is spending the night in town. Ellie is away at camp, anyway, and the boys have their grandmother and their bedtime and their routine. They'd be asleep before she made it home tonight, and asleep still by the time she had to climb out of bed. So: the condo in the city and an evening spent not sipping cognac in a small upscale bar but: outside, running until the beating of her heart drowns out everything else in her mind.
The park is not entirely silent, then. From somewhere the drumbeat of her footsteps on the jogging path.
Despite the heat, she wears a loose jacket over her running gear.
She is a Shadow Lord.
She is never unarmed.
--
It isn't even that she hears the dry rattling sound, precisely. That's not it at all. It is that she senses it, somehow and somewhere beneath her skin. The blood of the wolves in her, even if she does not and never will change, the way they do.
Tongue against the roof of her mouth, a dry and sharpened awareness about her in the gloaming. Her footsteps slow but do not yet settle into a walk. That deliberate pacing of someone moving at half-pace, cooling down maybe, but still intent on movement.
Attention fixed warily on the trees.
Éva IllésházyPer + Alertness
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
Avery ChaseThese days, Avery is not wearing her usual dedicated yoga gear to patrol: black pants, white tank, black jacket, sneakers, hair in a ponytail. That is to say, she is wearing entirely different yoga gear, made up of grey capris and a sleeveless but not-quite-tank-top sports top of purple and gray and a bit of hot-pink piping. Her hair is still in a ponytail and her feet are still in sneakers and that ugly scar she does not like to think about is hidden so she does not face daily questions about its origin or stares that ask without speaking.
Avery is in a boundlessly good mood, it seems, and a bit sweaty from jogging around Wash Park in the earlier hours of the evening when the sun was still high, not quite searing towards the horizon. She's chatty: did Javed know that Calden's border collie had puppies? And did Javed know that she's adopting a pair of them, because with Scent of Man dogs seem to adore her and Patches is such a sweet animal and did Javed know that Calden got a condo in the city did he know that Avery sort of maybe bought it and had her family's new business -- that would be Chase Custom Homes, which existed beforehand but was purchased recently -- renovate it to Calden's style and DID JAVED KNOW that her brother is starting to look at colleges ALREADY she can't beLIEVE it.
Well, to be fair, that was all in the first half hour or so of the patrol. She's stopped jogging and she has gotten quieter as they've neared the park, walking with her packmate. After they've rounded a few paths she hesitates, frowning, turning to Javed. "Goodness, those cicadas are loud this year. Normally if they're going to be loud they're loud all summer, but this is the first I've heard them quite like this." Her frown doesn't abate. She has a prickling feeling up the back of her neck; she has an unsettledness about her.
Avery Chase[perception + pu]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1
Avery Chase[that was alertness, not primal urge.]
Javed Anubis-SightJaved is...Javed. The months since he has been out and about haven't changed him much. He wears the same jacket, the same complete outfit. His demeanor is still largely impassive, calm but alert. He is the quiet shadow moving alongside Avery's brightness.
He listened to what she says, taking it all in. He didn't know about Calden's border collie, nor the adoption, nor any of the rest of it. It may look to others as if he is uninterested and just letting the Silver Fang talk at his side, but Avery and anyone else who might know him well would recognize such is not the case. He is listening, and he has interest in what she has to say. He offers a word here and there but is otherwise quiet, with no news of his own. But that's just the way it is and his own isolation does not preclude him from showing interest in hers.
When she hesitates, so does he. The two eyes (one useless) narrow, and he looks around. "Yes," he intones quietly in his gravelly baritone. "There is something not right here. They likely recognize it."
His eyes (eye) passes over the vicinity, trying to get a sign of what that might be.
[Per+Alert, +1 diff)
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~[noticing things]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 5, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~They each circle around or through the park in their own way and for their own reasons. Packmates sharing in protecting their city, a kinswoman keeping up her health and feeling the movement of her limbs one more time before she flies across the country.
They all notice it to one degree or another. Something is wrong with the trees. Javed, with only one good eye, notices only that the trees of the trunks appear misshapen. They seem thicker than they should be.
Eva catches movement, knows that there is something there. On the trees. A trunk not far from her appears to shift so subtly that were she not already on the alert she would have missed it entirely.
It's Avery who sees what it is.
What they are.
Pressed against the trunks of the trees, almost perfectly camoflauged. The shape of insectoid wings. Something moving, creating that dry-rattle sound. And each of them nearly as large as a Crinos Garou. They most certainly are not cicadas.
Suddenly the park goes completely, eerily quiet. The trees still, the very air ceases to shift through their leaves.
Then, one by one by one by one, they move. Wings flexing, spindly legs bending as they press closer to the trunks before they launch themselves several feet into the air. Where they turn, and they approach the kinswoman.
[you have one round to react and then inits! get your prep rolls in now, folks!]
Avery ChaseEvery time they speak -- and let's be honest, it's infrequent: Avery is Master of Challenges, Avery stays involved in her family's businesses, Avery has a boyfriend who lives up in the middle of goddamn nowhere, and Javed is a Silent Strider and they would not have ever entered into the bond of pack if they weren't both aware that theirs would not be a relationship of daily, constant contact -- Avery encourages Javed to use the retreat near Roxborough. Take Ruby there. Rest there. Eat there. Train there. She tells him that the space set aside for her -- an 'office' of sorts -- in Cold Crescent should be territory he considers his own as well as hers, that he can go there for privacy whenever he likes.
Sometimes they go weeks, even turns of the moon, only seeing one another at the monthly moot. And every time, Avery is as happy to see him as ever, as eager to fill him in on what's been going on in her life, as effervescent about her encouragements to tell her everything. They are very different. And Javed takes in stride, perhaps more than most, the times when Avery does not want to talk, does not want to see or be seen, does not want to interact.
They both pause on the trail, listening. Looking around. Avery's back is tensed; she forcibly relaxes it, rounds her shoulders down, takes in a deeper breath. She sees Eva across the way and her eyes sharpen as they run over the tree trunks. And then, just in case something is watching and that something can think like a predator, she lifts a happy and unconcerned arm and waves. "Hello, Eva!" she calls, while she reaches out and touches Javed's arm, squeezing his forearm tightly as she waves happily at the Shadow Lord.
"There are insectoids the size of warforms against the tree trunks," she whispers to him. "They're --"
The park goes dark. The insects lift and head towards Eva. Avery just about has a coronary. She drops to all fours in a moment, beginning the shift to another form: larger, heavier, covered with silvery-white fur and equipped with vicious fangs.
[slow-shifting to Hispo
-1 WP for Resist Pain
-1 G for Luna's Armor. Stamina + Survival]
Dice: 8 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~[mine?]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )
Éva IllésházyA low breath channeled out through pursed lips. The Shadow Lord catches a glimpse of the Garou in her peripheral vision: aware of their presence. Their movement. The familiar flag of Avery's brilliance against the background. This is frame around which she focuses on the trees.
--
She takes her eyes off the movement of the trees long enough to mark the exit routes. Those that offer cover other than the suspect trees. Those free of obstruction, the dubious safety of open ground. When Éva glances back - the creatures are already moving. She curses softly beneath her breath, in a language that is less than half-remembered, and then only from childhood. Dark gaze locked onto the creatures lifting from the trees -
Hello Eva!
- reaching back for her weapon with her right hand even as she lifts the left to wave back. Allowing the supple thread of her own smile - rather more quiet than Avery's - to spread across her mouth.
[Draw weapon. If there's time she'll shoot.]
Éva Illésházy(Manipulation + Subterfuge: my smile is totally convincing.)
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 5, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1
Javed Anubis-SightThe Strider has in fact been making some use of the retreat. Not as much as others might in his situation; he does tend to remain in the city, moving from location to location, or staying at the Cold Crescent. But he does utilize the property, and perhaps more than might be expected. Chalk it up to his Strider nature that he simply cannot rest in one place constantly, and he would even be hard pressed to disagree with that. But it's not so simple as that for him, not just a matter of a tribal curse. He seems aloof and mercurial in his movements to some perhaps, but there is a system. Much like any patrol they might do, he has his own pattern in place and it suits him well for his needs.
The Iranian's head turns, following Avery's attention to the Shadow Lord kinfolk. Ms. Illeshazy. There is not a smile that plays over his lips, no happy wave, but he is content to see the woman and he offers her a nod before he takes listen to Avery and nods. It is not known information, but he had noted the trunks and that allows him to know why they seem wrong.
He doesn't respond because before Avery gets her words out the creatures are moving. With a low growl that quickly rises even before he begins his transformation, he's on the move. The Silver Fang chooses Hispo, but for Javed it is his birth form. It is his most natural form of movement and it allows him to dip to the ground, scraping his claws over stones and gravel to sharpen them to a supernaturally fine point as he takes off running to try and intercept before they get to the kinfolk.
[-1 Rage for Razor Claws, shifting to Crinos]]
Avery Chase[INIT +9]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (10) ( success x 1 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Init +17]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~[1-5: +8]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )
Éva Illésházy+7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~[round one: FIGHT!]
Javed 23
Avery 19
Bug 1 18
Eva 16
Bug 2 12
Bug 3 11
Bug 4 9
Bug 5 9
Declares:
Bug 5: 1a: reroute to Javed, 1b: Stab!, 1c: Stab!
Bug 4: 1a: reroute to Javed, 1b: Dodge!, 1c: Grab!
Bug 3: 1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Stab!, 1c: Stab!
Bug 2: 1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Stab!, 1c: Stab!
Éva IllésházyEva: [1. Head-shot on bug + WP.]
~cheep~Bug 1: 1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Dodge!, 1c: Grab!
Avery Chase[Reflexive: -1 WP for Lambent Flame. Silvery light for 30m. +1 diff to hit Avery in close-range.
1a. Oh, you're too far away to hit me right away? Spending a turn screaming vengeance and justice from my righteous maw. -1 R, Eagles Beak.]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[1a: CHARGE
1b: Claw Bug #5
R1: Claw Bug #4]]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Rawr rawr. Dex+Brawl, -3 for split, diff 5 for Razor Claws]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN5 (1, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage +2 (Razor Claws) +1 (Claw Attack) +1 (Succ))]]
Dice: 11 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 9 )
~cheep~Bug 5: Soak???
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~[1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Nothing to Dodge!, 1c: Grab! str+brawl -3]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[strength + brawl to resist that silliness!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Éva IllésházyEva: Headshot, bug 2. Difficulty +2 (called shot), Spending WP.
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 6 ) [WP]
Avery Chase[holding roll for next round unless that bug gets ganked.]
Éva IllésházyDamage 4 + 5 successes + 3 headshot.
Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )
~cheep~[bug 2: Soak???]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (5, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~Bug 2: 1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Stab?!, dex+brawl -4, diff -2 (immobilized target), +3 (reasons)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 4, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~[dam: str+1 (stabby legs) +1]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~[re-roll attack, -1 die because damage, holy crap woman get your head in the game!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 4, 9) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~[dam for realz!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[soak +4]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~[1c: same, -1 for split]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 8) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~[damage]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 9, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[*cracks neck*]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~Bug 3: 1a: reroute to Avery, 1b: Stab! -4 for split, +1 diff (the moon is too bright but i loves it soooo @_@), -2 (immobilized target)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN5 (2, 6, 6, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~[damage: +1+3]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 7 )
~cheep~Bug 3: 1c: Stab!
Dice: 4 d10 TN5 (2, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~[damage!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9, 9, 9, 9) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~Bug 4: 1a: reroute to Javed, 1b: Nothing to Dodge!, 1c: Grab!: -5 (split)
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 8) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~Bug 5: Not enough dice to move, Rage round!
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Strength+Brawl]]
Dice: 11 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~Round 2: FIGHT
Javed 23 OK
Avery 19 OK
Bug 1 18 OK
Eva 16 OK
Bug 2 12 (2L, blinded&disoriented)
Bug 3 11 OK
Bug 4 9 OK
Bug 5 9 (6A)
Declares:
Bug 5: Stab!
Bug 4: 1a: Dodge!, 1c: Grab again!
Bug 3: 1a: Stab!, 1b: Stab!
Bug 2: 1a: Stab!, 1b: Stab!
~cheep~[Bug 5 is stabbing Javed, 4 is dodging and grabbing Javed, 3 and 2 are on Avery again because I accidentally deleted their targets]
Éva IllésházyEva: 1. Headshot, Bug 3.
~cheep~Bug 1: 1a/b: Stab/Stab Avery!
Avery Chase[1a. GET OFFA ME - strength + brawl
1b. Eat Bug 1
R1. Om nom nom on Bug 1, switching to Bug 3 if it goes down, Bug 2 if 3 is down.]
Javed Anubis-Sight1a: Claw Bug 4
1b: Claw Bug 4
R: Claw Bug 5
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Dex Brawl: Politely and manually aerate Bug 4's intestines. Diff 5, -2 for split]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~Bug 4: RUDE??? dodging, dex -2 (split)
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 6) ( success x 1 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage +2 (Razor Claws) +1 (Claw) +2 (successes)]]
Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~Soak???
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Dex+Brawl -3 for split, diff 5]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN5 (2, 3, 7, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage +2 (Razor Claws) +1 (Claw) +3 (successes)]]
Dice: 13 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 10 )
~cheep~The Garou and the kinswoman attack, and so far as they can tell the insects are ordinary, yet greatly oversized insects. Eva shoots the one and a portion of its bulbous, faceted eyes tears away to land in the grass. Javed attacks and he can feel solid flesh-like substance dragging against his claws every time.
Every time except the last. His claws slice through the thorax of one of the insects and suddenly there is a short, but bright burst of light as the insect shatters into a million glittering, glowing pieces before it disappears altogether.
Avery Chase[1a. Remember this roll?
Avery Chase @ 8:00PM
[strength + brawl to resist that silliness!]
Roll: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )]
Avery Chase[you know what, delete that.]
Avery Chase[1a. strength + brawl to throw the bug off her back. -2 for splits.]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 9, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
Avery Chase[1b. nomming the bug. dex + brawl -3 for splits.]
Dice: 5 d10 TN5 (1, 2, 2, 5, 7) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[damage. strength + 1 + hispo + hispo bite + 2 (eagle's beak) + suxx -1]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~Bug 1: Soak???
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Bug 1: Stab Avery! -2 for split, -1 for ow
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 6, 7, 7) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~[damage!: +1+2]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 7 )
~cheep~Bug 1: 1b: -3 -1
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~[damage!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
Éva IllésházyEva: Headshot, bug 2 (the uninjured and not-blind bug attacking Avery). +2 dif
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Éva IllésházyDamage! 4 + 2 + 3 (last ruling for headshot!)
Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 7 )
~cheep~Bug 2: Uh...maybe?
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~[Bug 2: incapped!]
~cheep~Bug 3: 1a: Stab Avery! -2 for split
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~[dam!]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Bug 3: 1b: Again! -3
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~[dam!]
Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[noooo]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 8 )
~cheep~Bug 5: Ennh! Stab? -5 for ow
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~dam?
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 6, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Soak]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 7, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Claw]]
Dice: 9 d10 TN5 (3, 3, 5, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 7 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage]]
Dice: 16 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 9 )
~cheep~Bug 5: glitter-splosion fade to nothing
Avery Chase[r1 - bug 1!]
Dice: 8 d10 TN5 (1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 ) Re-rolls: 1
Avery Chase[damage!]
Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Bug 1: soak??
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[stamina]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~Round three: FIGHT!
Javed: 23 OK
Avery: 19 (1L???????? OK)
Bug 1: 18 (3A)
Eva: 16 OK
Bug 2: 12 (incapped)
Bug 3: 11 OK
Declares!
Bug 3: Someone keeps shooting my friends?? 1a: Relocate to Eva, 1b: Stab!, 1c: Stab! (ahahahaha ahhaha hahahahaha)
Bug 2: Twitch on the ground
Éva IllésházyEva: Headshot on bug 3!
~cheep~Bug 1: 1a/b/c: Stab Avery!
Avery Chase[1a.
1b.
R1. -- all bites. Starting with Bug 3, then 1, then 2 in that order.]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[1a: Claw Bug 3
1b: Claw Bug 3
1c: Claw Bug 1
R: Claw Bug 1]]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Claw #2, -3 dice for split, diff 5]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN5 (3, 5, 7, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 5 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage]]
Dice: 14 d10 TN5 (1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Bug 3: Soak???
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Attack! -4 dice, diff 5]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN5 (2, 4, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage]]
Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 7, 8) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~Bug 3: Soak???
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Attack #1, -5 dice]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN5 (8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) [WP]
Javed Anubis-Sight[[Damage]]
Dice: 14 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~Bug 3: NOOOO I WANT TO LIIIIIIIIIIIIVE
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )
Avery Chase[1a. - 2]
Dice: 6 d10 TN5 (3, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1
Avery Chase[damage part A BECAUSE MATH.]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Avery Chase[damage part B]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~[soak???? vs. 7]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
~cheep~Bug 3: glittersplodes and fades away
~cheep~[Scratch that! Bug 3 is still up but barely, gonna decide all of it's move is going to be trying to get to Eva
Bug 1 is slightly better off.]
Avery Chase[1b. - 3, bug #3]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )
Avery Chase[that was diff 5. does not alter suxx
damage!]
Dice: 11 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 7, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )
~cheep~Bug 3: NOW it glittersplodes and fades away
~cheep~Bug 1: 1a: Stab Avery! -3, -2
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~dam!
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chasesoak!
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) ( success x 5 )
~cheep~1b: -1 ENGH! STABBING YOUUUU
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
~cheep~dam!
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Avery Chase[soak!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )
Éva IllésházyShoot Bug 1.
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 5, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Éva Illésházy
Damage! 4 + 3
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )
~cheep~1c: NO GUTS NO GLORY ONE LAST SHOT
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (4, 5) ( fail )
~cheep~And now the soak!
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )
~cheep~There is a moment where Avery and Eva and even Javed pretend that Everything is Cool. They are just three people walking the paths at night, not tasty morsels or potential threats or whatever it is these insects with their insect-brains consider the trio.
If they were the kinds of creatures to be swayed by such things, then they would be completely fooled by Avery's wave and Eva's returned smile. But when has a mosquito ever been swayed from the blood of humans because of a charming smile?
These are not mosquitos. They do not have the long curling snout of a mosquito, so they are not going to stab the Garou and the kinfolk in hopes of turning them into living slurpee cups. They have large pincers for grabbing and holding. They have rather elongated forelegs that taper into sharp, sharp points. They wave these limbs idly as they going winging toward the kinfolk, but.
It is Avery's moon in the sky tonight. Luna's face is cut nearly perfectly in half, and she shines her blessed light down on her daughter so that Avery seems to glow in the darkness. The light moves on her nearly shadowless, pure white fur. Then her fur is no longer nearly shadowless, and she is no longer seeming to be anything. She is glowing, and she is dire-formed, and she is going to give them a piece of her mind.
It is a combination of that light that she emits, that grows all the brighter when she activates her Lambent Flame, and her snarling, snapping growls that draws the attention of the insects away from the kinswoman. They hover for just a moment, wavering. But the allure of a more grounded moon-glow is too strong to resist. The change direction and...
It happens in a flurry of motion, wings, claws, teeth, and gunshots. With one rake of his claw, Javed nearly knocks one of the insects from the sky. It waves, but it remains airborne as its brother clamps its pincers around the werewolf's neck and shoulders.
Those that cluster around the Silver Fang have a hard time. They know on some beastial level that at the heart of that glow is not the gentle moon that guides them, but they still can't bring themselves to strike it. One manages only a slight hold on her. Their waving legs glance away from Avery's glowing fur as she continues to snarl, the fury she learned from Eagle sharpening her already so-sharp teeth. The better to rend them with.
A shot rings out (or is it silenced?) into the night. Never forget the kinfolk present. Never forget that she is a granddaughter of Thunder. Éva Illésházy may not be able to shift like a Garou, but that does not mean she is without her own weapons. Unholstering her weapon, the cool, calm, collected lawyer levels her gun at one of the insects, aiming for its head. She does not manage to kill it, but what she does do is interesting. The bullet tears away a piece of its eye and it...wavers. It...weaves and wobbles and when it tries to strike at Avery again it misses her. Swinging back the other way, it tries again and merely ruffles her fur.
All any of them do is ruffle her fur. The Fostern Philodox is unflappable and unstoppable. She breaks the hold on her easily then whips to the side to catch the insect that held her in her jaws and snap. Javed breaks free of his captor, as well, and destroys one of the insects which hovers by him. There is that bursting glow, but ah, no time to ponder. No time to investigate. One insect being obliterated does not stop or even slow the assault of the others.
Despite their size and resilience, they are still insects. They are very fast, but against Garou? They are not so strong. Eva and the Garou are tireless, relentless. Once, barely, one of the insects manages a scrape through Avery's fur, drawing little more than what amounts to a scratch. It's not enough to slow her down, it's barely deep enough to be noticed, and within seconds is healed away completely.
The insects, if they have much of an intelligence at all, must be realizing that this attack is futile. These are no mere humans in need of punishing for some nameless crime against the Wyld. They are Garou, and they defend the people of this city from all threats. Even strange ones like these overlarge insects. They don't realize, though. They are spirits of the Wyld's wrath, all they know to do is attack, attack, attack.
And soon enough all they can do is explode and disappear. One after the other after the other, the Garou obliterate the insects with the help of Eva Illeshazy.
And then there are two. Javed rakes his claws through one. Avery neatly snips the last. There is a final burst of light as the spirits' hybrid corporeal forms are ripped apart and they find themselves released back into the Wyld. Then the air is still and quiet.
Until it's not. When the cicadas begin their chirping - real cicadas with their real and low rattle - it is a dull murmur. Background ambience for a warm and gentle summer evening.
Avery ChaseAt first, there is a swell of pride and pleasure when the bug-things turn away from Eva and flock towards her. Avery is not afraid. Avery swore an oath -- her word is her vow -- that she would be more careful. She hasn't, in her excitement to share with Javed tales of puppies and real estate, gotten around to mentioning the minotaur-like thing that gored gaping wounds into her torso and very. nearly. killed her. This time, she put on her armor before marching into battle, even though it cost her precious time later as she sharpened her fangs for vengeance.
Gunfire isn't often heard in or around Wash Park. It's not that sort of neighborhood, but the blackness that descended and the tendency for all parks in America to turn into seedy places after dark gave them some isolation. Some people driving by may have thought they saw a flash of white, of moonglow, in the dark, but then they put their eyes back on the road. Some people wondered if they were just hearing kids setting off leftover fireworks in the most inappropriate place this side of a hospital children's ward.
At one point, one of them stabs her, and Avery barely feels it. Barely notices it. The wound is gone in an eyeblink, and she snarls, tearing things apart.
They do not focus, and she notices this. They're all over the place, the three of them. She keeps waiting for --
only she's not waiting, because things are grabbing at her, turning towards Eva, stabbing at her and her packmate, and there's no time to analyze or wait for anything. She just fights. They all fight. They finish it. Avery and Javed walk to the last two twitching remains and tear and smash and destroy. Nothing twitches, anymore.
Avery hops back up. Sneakers, yoga year, her hair pulled from a ponytail and hanging straight down. She may curl it sometimes, but naturally it falls like this. Every time she shifts, it comes back to this. She beams at Eva.
"Eva!" she says. "How are you? It's been ages. Are you all right? None of them got to you, did they?" and she's walking over, to check. Something animal in her wants to paw and stroke and nuzzle and make sure Eva is unharmed, but even coming right out of battle, Avery doesn't think that would be appropriate with Ms. Illeshazy. Her brow furrows a bit in concern.
Éva IllésházyEverything is done in a matter of heartbeats. The aftermath leaves her - yes, diminished somehow. Tired in a way that she had not been when she was running the paths at night. She can feel the snapping urge of her spine to curve inward: so slightly. The stance not one of defeat but afterburn of adrenaline.
She stands straight though. Slides on the safety and reaches back and reholsters the weapon. Which is not, unfortunately, silenced. Too much bulk to be carried while running in the park. Too much uncertainty.
A brief, hard breath out. The weapon at the small of her back, she shakes out the tails of her athletic jacket - which is dark, of course, excepting several narrow bands of reflective fabric framing the structure of the back.
"That was strange, but I'm fine," the briefest smile for Avery. Casual and perhaps a bit crisp and small and therefore quite possibly geniune though in truth one never knows. "Thank you. You as well, I think." A lilting glance upward at Javed, if he has approached. The faintest nod of recognition. Greeting, "Hello."
Silence then, a moment, the cant of her dark head as she listens to the first hint of sirens.
"Someone may have reported the gunfire, so we haven't much time. I don't know if the bullets disappeared with the - creatures, or fell - but if you could help me look just to be sure - "
Javed Anubis-SightJaved is a creature of courtesy and formality. It is his way, partially because it is easier to handle formal wording when you learned English academically before you learned it conversationally. Partially because as a metis, he knew it was his place to defer. And partially (mostly) to keep the bristling, roaring, rending fury underneath his skin where it can roll and twist, but not surface unless he needs it too. When he needs it to, he drops those pretenses of humanity, of cultured civilization. He becomes a destroyer and he does so without reservation or holding back in any way.
But that's not entirely true, you see. Even then, his honor and his morality holds sway. (Except of course in frenzy, but those are times he strives to avoid.) This is how he remembers to protect the kinfolk, or his packmate, or his allies when he needs to. It's why he remembers to attack the insect flying toward Eva and the one at Avery instead of just unleashing bloody clawed death at the one or the other.
And then it's finished, and he stands there, the beast on two legs with his claws still flexing and his body tensed, a low rumbling growl pushing up. A moment passes, and he's melted back to his Homid form. Avery asks how Eva is, and Javed simply says with a polite nod,
"Ms. Illeshazy."
When she asks for help in locating the bullets, the Strider nods. "Of course." And without further comment he moves to go do just that. This one tries to keep a bit of distance from kinfolk, at least when the battle has just ended. It's for the best, really.
Avery ChaseIt's so unfair. That after all that, Avery is so energetic, so untouched, just as bouncy as she was the beginning of the night. It's like nothing happened at all. She doesn't look tired. Her eyes are still bright. She's ready to go for a run.
It's really stupidly unfair.
"Of course," she says, and digs her phone out of the handy pocket built into the small of her back on her tank. Good for running. She turns on the LED flashlight, beaming happily. She's helping!
"Those were disgusting," she mentions, of the bugs, as she starts hunting in the grass for any bullets.
[perception + alertness!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
Avery Chase[And then Avery found all the bullets ever and everyone went for ice cream THE END.]
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