Re: The Aswadim, Hope and Despair IC Thread 5

[Adley]

// depending what the difficulty was - ( 3, 8, 3, 4 ) 9, 8, 3

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

You see a small explosion of red inside of the car and then the Nephandus in there sort of slump against the door, you do not know if he is dead, somehow you do not think so, but he is pretty out of it and appear to be unconscious and he is bleeding profusely from a grisly wound in his head. At least the threat that Nephandus posed is over, he might recover with healing or at least survive with medical attention but for now he is out...unfortunately his magick is not and while the wounded mage is no longer casting anything you still feel that wrongness in the air, as if whatever rote he was working is still active.

You notice as you are keeping an eye on the place you do not want to look that is Adjan that the Euthanatos have managed to sneak up on the powerful Nephandus your Master is struggling with, there is a flash of metal as he try to bury one of his daggers in the man's back but the Nephandus hiss and make a slight gesture with his hand and the death mage fly across the street, landing hard. You hear Adjan cry out, the fall did not kill him but he was hurt. The moment of lost concentration for the Nephandus though allowed your mentor to take control of the rote he was casting and for a moment it seams he would win but then the Fallen do something, rip the rote apart perhaps, you do not know for the two of them backed away from one another and tried again, your mentor commanding fire to rain down on the Nephandus and the bald man defending himself and dispelling the rote at the last moment, replying with shadow tendrils that shot towards your Mentor only to be absorbed into a bright flash of light from the old Master's hands. If it had not been a life or death situation with the fate of at least the city if not more on the line then watching the two old magi let loose against one another might have been a fascinating thing to watch.

It was Francesca Mandis calling out to Ingmar Rush to watch out that alerted you that there was something wrong, then you feel something, something off and then space was ripped open as a portal manifested, allowing six more Nephandi to storm into the dark street. Antonio swore on a few of the languages he knew and shouted.
"Incoming!"
The he added.
"I think I know what the trap was..."
The scribe was probably right, the trap was not the Tass...well it still could be, but at least one of the traps was a strike team of Fallen who was ready to teleport in once the two who was transporting their supplies called for them or made some other signal, it was a simple plan, but a damned effective one and who knew how many more could come through that portal than the four men and two women who now stormed onto the street.
"Adley try to distract the Fallen Master so Jeffry can take him down. I will attack the portal, try to dispel it before more of the marry gang have a chance to come dropping by."
Antonio shouted and he wrote something down on his note pad with all the haste he could.

Across the street Francesca opened fire on one of the new arrivals and one of the male Nephandi, a pale haired man that looked to be in his thirties with a tentacle coming out of his left eye socket screamed as he got a bullet in the other and hit the ground as a sack of potatoes, one of his friends though tuned his own weapon upon Mandis and Rush and fired off three bullets in quick succession, all three of them hitting the Euthanatos woman and she went down in a spray of blood. Rush was unharmed as of yet though and you see that he want to join the fray he was always a hot head, but he choose instead to drag Mandis further behind the station wagon to protect her some and see what he can do for her.

[Tane Karyak]

Tane opened the door and nodded Hello mister Narim. Are you too busy?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Tane opened the door and nodded Hello mister Narim. Are you too busy?

"Well there are always thing to do right now that the Chantry are in a crisis Mr Karyak but I am sure I can spare a few moments, do come in and tell me what is on your mind."
The Virtual Adept said kindly, he massaged the sides of his head as if he had a headache.

[Adley]

Everything happened at once.

He could not say he was surprised it was a trap, he wasn't - but a portal with a score of more Nephandi to ambush them was –extremely- unwelcome. Adley kept moving without even sparing a breath to curse. He wanted to try to get himself in position to cover the two healers and get a shot on the magus his pater was still dueling. But then Adjan struck at the Nephandi master, a dark shadow solidifying into a knife towards the back. He thought the strike would surely hit the man but it didn't, he brushed the Euthanatos off like a fly and went right back to dueling. He heard Adjan cry out across the street as he hit the pavement.

Antonio called out his intent and then he heard the staccato ring of more gunfire and Mandis went down. -Rush had her, he told himself, hold out just a little while– but he felt the urge to protect everyone there, to protect them. But the best defense was an offense...He concentrated on filling the voids the magus was making with something else, his words...

"Aiwi-vanyå ashtem!," he said repeated, this time with the Nephandi Master in focus as he fired upon him.

// Improved targeting again: (C1F1); Arete: 2,7; Firearms roll: 4,7,6,7,8,3

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

You should have hit the Nephandus, you should have, you see the bullet just hang in the air for a moment just an inch from his chest, it should have hit and should have killed him or at least crippled him but no...the bullet just hung there for a moment then it hit the ground, bouncing harmlessly, the Nephandi Master had obviously come prepared.

Adjan where he had been thrown where clearly not out, but he was hurt, The Euthanatos sat up and fired at the newcomers and did seam to hit one of the women in the shoulder and she screamed. The death mage then tried to get to his feet but something was wrong with him hips and as he tried he just cried out again and fell back to the pavement.

Antonio finished was he was scribbling on just as you see two more people, a dark skinned man and a Asian woman try to make it through, but the portal, though you can not really see it, just it's effect, collapses. The Asian woman toss herself out into the street but the man vanishes like if he had never been, was he safely back where the group of Nephandi came from and just did not get through or was he lost somewhere between places? It was impossible to know. Antonio nodded to himself as his rote destroyed the portal but then the Nephandi got their eyes open for the scribe, two of them, a tall red haired main and a girl who was hardly older than your students that looked like the woman in Hannah's picture attacked your fellow Hermetic, the man flinging a bolt of lightening at the Hermetic, something Antonio managed to absorb...with his note book of all thing, he probably had prepared glyphs for such protection before the fight started, the girl who could be June however decided to go the mundane rote and she fired her gun at Antonio, the bullet going through his note book and the hand holding it up and then through his shoulder before it smashed into the building behind him. Antonio screamed in pain and sank down to his knees as half of his right hand was thorn of by the bullet. Another of the Nephandi, a somewhat round man in his 40's fired at you, but missed, though you feel the bullet swishing by your head, if it had been only a inch closer...

[Adley]

This was uglier by the second. If one couldn't hit the man directly...change what was around the man. He drew his wand with his free hand and inscribed the pentacle of Earth. "Muto terram...grave terre...!!"

// F2: Effect: gravity swell (spontaneous) - he's trying to shift the gravity below the Nephandi, to hamper his movement or immobilize him
Quint: 2; WP: 1
Arete: 0,3 (+1WP)

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

You work your rote and the Nephandus gasps as gravity increase it's force beneath his feet, pulling him to the ground. Probably the powerful mage would normally have swatted away your simple rote as easily as he had done Adjan's physical attack, but not while fighting with Jeffry Morgan, the two of them so evenly matched that for the most part all you saw where the two men staring at one another though if you looked at them with magickal sight you would see the battle of titans as one of them made a rote and the other countered it before it could be willed into existence and this went back and forth...until you added a variable to the equation and as he Nephandus lost his footing, so did he loose his concentration...and then his life as his finally failed to unweave your mentor's attacks and first his head and then the rest of his body burst into white hot flame and the man burned to ash in a second.

Jeffry gave you just a hint of a nod before he shouted.
"Cove the healers!"
Then unseen hands grabbed onto th gun that June was aiming at Antonio to finish the job she had started and ripped it from her fingers, then another unseen force impacted with the side of her head with enough force to knock her out, before the old mage turned his attention to the chubby Nephandus who had just taken a shot at you.

You feel a hint of Paradox rush over you for the vulgar changing of reality, but it is not so bad, worse though you see the Asian Nephandi woman who had just come through the portal on her towards where Ingmar Rush where trying to help Francesca, and the question was if he could fend her of on his own as well as trying to heal his comrade.

[Adley]

The Nephandi Master burst into flames - one down but there were six, or was it -seven- more now. Adjan was still on the ground, Antonio....just managed to live. June knocked down. One more down. But Rush and Mandis were in trouble, needed protection...she needed to be stopped next. He moved to try to cut her off, put himself between them. At least get her attention away from them. Wand still out, he made a similar motion for the Earth pentagram but circling the opposite way. "Muto terram, lubrica terram!"

// F2: Arete: 2,9 (+1 WP) Effect: Reduced friction - trying to slip or trip the woman so she can't take a shot at their healers

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

The Nephandi woman did loose her footing, but she was surprisingly nimble and she did not fall, she just stumbled, her attention however was now on you.
"My my a Hermetic."
She muttered and fully turned to face you, the gun the Nephandus was holding was a bit of a custom job you notice, with wheels, and switches along the top and the handle. The woman flip twp of the switches and point the weapon in your direction and you feel your own weapon getting extremely hot, in not long it will sear your flesh. The Nephandi woman lifted her hand and begun fiddling with the gages and switches grafted on her weapon again, and what she was doing clearly would not have a good outcome for you.
"Shall we find out what you look like cooked, I so enjoy canned food...but I guess you have heard that joke already."
The Nephandus said and one of the other swore at her as he fired at your mentor only to have the bullets burn up in the air.
"Damn it Kade, kill him don't toy with him!"

[Adley]

He didn't thank the Nephandus for giving him the Name of his foe but he did -hear- him name of his target. Nor did he thank her for playing with him, while she set her technomantic weapon on him. That didn't even enter his mind, which had become almost blank of everything else but the fighting except for a sense of heat and fire, the battle consuming nearly every bit of his Will and stretching his abilities. He dropped the magazine from the gun and ditching it away before it exploded on himself or his allies, then circled a pentagram again, intoning "I-A-O!" drawing up Quintessence and through his Words. The wand pierced through the center towards her as if jabbing her from afar, directing a bolt of Primal energy at her. "Perdo Kade!"

// Prime 2, Holy Stroke: Arete, 4, 8; 1 Quint (tass)
*I got this mechanic screwed up - it's straight arete to hit, like a fireball

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Your mentor always told you that you should never, ever toy with your enemies, one should do what one needed to do, with as much force as was needed to do it, not more not less, Kade however had not learned that lesson though if she survived this fight she might. Your bolt of primal force hit her and she grunted loudly and hit the ground, dropping her modified gun in the process, it was clear your rote hurt her but how wounded she was was hard to say, but she was on the ground.

Behind your the battle was raging, but it was hard to keep track of it all, someone took a shot at your mentor and hit the hold mage in the shoulder and the arm, but Jeffry Morgan was to amped up on adrenaline it hardly slowed him down as he cast a bolt of fire after another Nephandus, a bolt that would have incinerated the man if he had hit, but the Fallen was lucky and managed to jump to the side. Antonio despite his wounds where doing something, you hear him intoning something in Enocian while writing in his ruined notebook whit his own blood since he had a problem holding a pen with his wounded hand, a red haired Nephandus called out something in that language theirs and a tendril of shadow, no not shadow, this was darker than that, a tendril of pure darkness shot out towards the wounded scribe, but a flash of bright light pushed into aside. You heard Ingmar Rush muttering in German as he worked, at least the Verbena was good as concentrating since he managed to keep at his healing work with all that was going on. The street was absolute chaos, chanting in several languages, shots being fired, screams, grunts and the sounds the rotes themselves made, it was a horrible crescendo of sound, and then a voice could be hear, clear and sharp.
"Stop...just all of you stop before someone hit the Tass..."

You had focused on Kade, on taking her down, in the corner of your eye though you notice that the place on the pavement where the unconscious body June had been laying, there where now nothing. That was always a risk when knocking someone over the head, sometimes it could do more damage then intended, and sometimes someone got better rather quickly...well that was one more Nephandus in the fray, though the woman did not fire her gun or manifest something, she called for everyone to stop.
"We will take the car, and leave our fallen and your side will step down, or this one dies."
The Nephandi woman said, her one good dark eye was on you and you have just enough time to wonder what the hell the woman was talking about, with her age it was doubtful she was more than a Disciple, how did she get to give orders, and she just stood there to, a piece of yarn in her hands, pulled into a shape between her thin fingers, must the children's game. Then you notice it, a tiny point of something sharp pressing against the back of your head...

Jeffry stopped a ball of fire already formed in his hand, he looked like a Flambeau of old right now, blood running down his left arm, soot and dirt on his face, his dark hair had escaped it's usual ponytail and fell like a mess to his shoulders and his features cast in shadows from the ball of fire in his hand, this was the very image mentioning your House name conjured in people's minds, but this old Master mage stopped and turned his eyes to June.
"Let him go woman or I will make your last renaming moments on earth feel like the pit of hell itself."
The mage said in a low growl that reminded everyone that knew him not to get on Jeffry Morgan's bad sine.
"Ah yes not so easy to continue fighting when it is not that your comrade is at risk in the fight, but rather that his death is guaranteed."
June said and smiled, she looked unafraid in the face of the angry Forces Master.
"If you kill me my magick holding back the bullet will vanish and he will die, if you knock my out again my magick holding back the bullet will vanish and he will die, you get my drift old man, it is a reason I am not holding a gun to your friend's head, then you could take me out, right now I have a dead-man's switch here, so let us negotiate shall we."
The Nephandus said, and you realized what the little sharp point at the back of your head was, a bullet on it's way into your brain, somehow held back by whatever this woman was doing with a string of red yarn.

Around you the crescendo from before ceased for a moment allowing you to take stock, all your allies save Ingmar Rush was wounded, Francesca Mandis was worst of, but everyone else was hurt as well, none of the Traditionalists seamed to be dead yet though, Mandis had not moved since she went down but since Rush was still working on her, chances was she was still breathing. The Nephandi though had suffered heave losses, only three of them, including June was still standing, which was probably why the girl was resorting to desperate measures.
"Now here are my demands and...oh for Pete's sake Jack, Marlow stop now we have lost to many if we are going to complete the mission we have to actually be smart!"
June said and glared at her two companions who obviously had not felt like stop trying to kill the Traditionalists, one of them who stood over Antonio hissed.
"You do not outrank me bitch and when next your mentor over your body to the general population of the Labyrinth you will be sorry for ordering me around, however fine, fine let us show how your plan works out."
The Nephandus said and growled. June gave her companion a dark look before she returned her attention to you.
"Now here are my demands, I get to take the two idiots here who are still alive, take that car and go, and you get pretty boy here back with a head attached."
Jeffry Morgan sigh he close his hand to end the rote manifesting the fireball but his words are firm when he say.
"No...I can not let you take the car, I am willing to negotiate for you and your companions here though and will be willing to give you a head start if you stand down now and release the one you are threatening, we have taken the lives of five Nephandi today I do not consider it a great loss if three go free for now. Withdraw from the battle and none of mine are in any condition to pursue you."
Your mentor's voice was firm, you who knew him well could hear the fear there, the fear that June would simply release the rote that kept the bullet frozen an kill you on the spot, but he did not let that fear show.

(OOC: I think you have the right mechanic, if you could just look up the damage it would do for me since well I have computer problems, again. That is the reason for my short, pretty bad posts yesterday, sorry about that. But first my new computer's battery gave out, a production error so the store took it back, they had repaired my old one though so I thought jay that money saved...until that actually split open again, so yesterday I had to quickly borrow my husband's computer to post now and again, and now I am using a borrowed computer one my my father in law's spare ones until we can work out with the store what we are going to do. Anyway I do not have my Mage books on this computer...computers really hate me it seams.)

[Adley]

Adley was about to follow up on Kade to make sure she stayed down, moving his hand inside his jacket to draw his club when he heard June's voice. His eyes widened to thin blue rings as he suddenly became aware of the bullet, felt its presence, a prickling all along his spine, so close that every heaving breath he took he could feel the hairs on his head bristle. There was a bullet -inside- his shield, held by nothing more Will and a bit of string. The sweat on his body turned rapidly cold as he stood, one hand was partway under his coat, the other still holding his wand, breath turning the cold night air to steam.

The intensity of the moment brought a rush of sensations to him, where everyone was, what was happening...the very real fact that he could die at any second. There was not a way he could think of to take the bullet from behind him out of the equation. If he could have pushed the hanging bullet away like the Master had Adjan's attack before she dropped her catscradle of death, he might have tried. There was no way to make it disappear, to break the spell was to release it, no time. But he went through all of his options anyway, everything that he could think of, to see where he might intervene.

Yes, the distance between him and death was not even as much as a gun to his head with the bullet in the chamber, it made him feel as if the room in his car with the Enforcer pointed at him feel like miles with untold degrees of freedom to act. This was much closer to him than he would ever be able to dodge or finish a working. But death was preferable than if they were captured, this way his avatar and that of his allies would be spared the caul. And it was better than if his pater traded his life and the Labyrinth succeeded. But he would not. Jeffry Morgan would not negotiate with them for the car and he did not expect him to do so, to let him become his weakness. He had done what he could, what was expected and needed. He did not want to die but he was ready to, if that's what it took to stop them and protect his allies, friends and father. Though he was closer to death than he ever had been, Adley did not feel paralyzed as he had before. The fear of dying in front of his own father's eyes was present but was mitigated by other more vibrant emotions that burned fiercer than fear.

He had been lucky in the worst situations, had managed to live and keep sanity when he probably should not have. He had persevered, like a Flambeau should. And he was grateful for those people in his life and for his avatar (if I die, he thought to his avatar, when you come back try to find Beatrice..save her if there is still a way...), for his pater and his friends and what he'd been able to learn. If he had no other Words for them then his last ones better be pretty damn good. Because he hadn't given up yet. If he was going to leave this world with a bullet in his brain it was going to be his choice, not hers. He was not going to go out silently, fearing for his life.

"You should take his terms; refusal means that he will make good on his Words from earlier. Then we will both be dead - as will be these ones of yours - simple math will wash it out. But I have some of my own Words for you to consider, something to remember me by before we go. Is there anything or anyone in this world that you cherish? That loves you in return? That makes you laugh or comforts you?"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

You can see the sweat on your mentor's forehead but as much as he loved you like a son, and probably would have traded his life for yours, he was not willing to risk the lives of everyone in the city...or more to save you, the Nephandi had to be stopped and they would not get that car and that could be seen in his dark eyes as he looked at you, it was just a brief glance before he turned his eyes back to June, he to was probably trying to figure some way out of the bind, while your eyes met though you saw pride in them, it was his way to let you know that he was proud of having been your teacher, though he had not given up trying to save you either.

You notice a slight acknowledgment from your Avatar, it did not speak, it seldom did, but you felt his emotions, regret and yet determination, it would have felt behind a head host many times and probably would do so again many times after you where gone before he reached Ascension, but for now it did not want you to die. You felt that, while it did not speak, it would try to seek out Beatrice or her next incarnation and do what he could.

Your allies eyes where on you, earlier the street had been a cacophony of noise, now there was a dead silence in the air, none of the Traditionalists dared breathe.
"You assume coming home without the delivery will result in a more pleasant fate than your rage old man."
June said as she looked at your mentor and Jeffry glared back at her.
"That is between you and your superiors, I am telling you what I am willing to do and not. I am willing to care for our wounded while you take your companions and leave, and that is a good deal you know I can kill you, I am not willing to let you have that car, however if you kill that man any charity I might find in my heart for you will be gone, and you will not like the result."

June hesitated, she knew that as soon as you died, her life was over, or worse she would be taken out and taken captive, on the other hand she did have her mission. The young Nephandus glance at you when you speak.
"That is a strange question."
She begun in a sharp, apprehensive tone of voice but then her words softened a bit.
"Yes there is one such person, that I care for deeply and that care for me, why do you ask Traditionalist?"
June asked as her fingers sifted slightly in her string patter and you feel the bullet move, this was a complicated rote she was maintaining, it was probably not easy to do.

[Adley]

He felt the glance at him from his mentor, saw the pride and though there weren't going to be Words, he knew he was loved, that he would be remembered and that he'd made his mentor proud today. Somehow the combined effect dismissed some of the power of the fear another notch, even as he heard his pater speak again, repeat that June was not going to get her way no matter if she killed him. Likewise if he was going to go down in front of his allies, he didn't want it to be something that drained their morale further, not when they were all injured.

"That is a strange question." She begun in a sharp, apprehensive tone of voice but then her words softened a bit. "Yes there is one such person, that I care for deeply and that care for me, why do you ask Traditionalist?" June asked as her fingers sifted slightly in her string patter and you feel the bullet move, this was a complicated rote she was maintaining, it was probably not easy to do.

He did not want to give away what he knew about Hannah of course, put her at risk (assuming she was not part of the ruse). But he did know who she was talking about, just as he knew her Name was June. Part of it, anyway. Nor would he give away all the information they'd gathered about their plan. But he would say something and not just to gain time, though every second he was alive now was another triumph. He wanted her to think about this. The last thing that she thought about if they were going down. Carefully, he said, "What do you imagine this person would think of what you are going to do? Not just here but with whatever is in that car..."

He felt the shift of the bullet drag slightly and the muscles of his face tightened, brows drawing together momentarily as another shock of adrenaline hit him. No, proximity, though the bullet could possibly not be closer without starting to embed itself, was less issue than time and his lack of subtlety with his ars. Move his wand, intone a spell and his Echoes would give him away. Though he could write them on the tablet of his heart, he would still need to speak them. And the vibrational energy and space the Words took made less of a critical element than the time it took for them to be called forth and resonate.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

June hesitated and for a moment she just looked at the young Hermetic, then finally after nearly a minute of silence the Nephandus spoke.
"She would not want me to kill a man, when it will accomplish nothing..."
June regarded you for a while then she turned to Jeffry.
"I release this man and me and mine and free to go?"
The old Hermetic nodded.
"Yes, I am not happy about it but yes."
He said calmly. June nodded then she spoke to the renaming Nephandi, not using the names of anyone, just in case their names being called earlier had been forgotten in the chaos.
"Begin walking I will give you a head start just in case the Traditionalists do not keep their words and then follow."
The man who had threatened the young Nephandus earlier hissed at her.
"You would give up an advantage to save our lives, I will enjoy watching Larson punish you, I bet you will wish you died here."
June showed now outward emotion but you notice the bullet move again as her emotions disturbed her concentration.
"I am fully aware of that now go...or do you want to stay here and be captured or killed?"
The energist hissed and her companions stopped arguing and started moving, Kade getting to her feet and giving you a glare before she picked up her oddly modified gun and limped away. June waited for about a minute to give her companions a head start then she said to you.
"Move your head to the side."
There was anger in June's voice but her anger was not directed at you. Once you move out f the way she moved her fingers out of the loops of her yarn and the bullet just swoosh past you and hit a building across the street, sending bits of wall flying everywhere.
"There...now we will see if our boss here is good for his word."
June said as she put away her yarn and looked at Jeffry.

Your mentor breathe a sigh of relief and gave you a look full of emotion before he got control over his expression then he turned his attention to June.
"I gave my words Nephandus, leave."
June looked almost a bit surprised.
"Really? I thought I could save the others but that you would go back on your word when there is just me left..."
Jeffry sigh.
"I keep my word woman."
He said, it was clear he was feeling a mix of anger and relief and also his two gunshot wounds was starting to affect him but he did not want to show weakness while the Nephandi woman was still here. June nodded she gave you another look then she turned and begun to walk away.

[Adley]

It was a long minute where Adley considered if he should try to interfere further or let what he'd said sink in and stand. But as June regarded him quietly, it sifted down until his mind was completely empty again, as it had been when he was fighting. He was equally as surprised when June did not kill him anyway, but told him to turn his head, which he did, his body feeling as if it had been locked in place. While he was not sure he was worth the three Nephandi that were spared, not for any sense of lack of worth but one would never know what they might do tomorrow, they had accomplished removing the tass cache from the equation. If they got back, Mandis might live and they could recover having taken out more of them than vice versa. And he was alive...and the Nephandi man's words to June sank in at a different angle. They would ruthlessly punish June for sparing him and releasing the tass, they did not value her...but she cared about them anyway. Cared that they would live, even if they did not. Or at least cared about Hannah...

He would not make an oathbreaker out of his father's Words. He did not attack anyone, it did not surprise him in the slightest that he kept his word. Instead he stayed wary of some other attack, as if he was ready for just about anything to befall them, still defensive as if the threat was still at the back of his head, ready to bite.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

June begun to walk away she seamed surprised she was not attacked or that no one attempted to stop her, in many ways that sort of gave her pause, the Traditionalists had spoken far more respectfully to her than her own kind did and perhaps the small part of her that remembered how she had been before she entered the Caul responded to this for she stopped half way down the street and looked back for a moment, then she continued walking away.

Once the Nephandi woman was gone around a corner Jeffry walked over to you and hugged you, the old mage seldom displayed affection publicly and usually at most you got a pat on the shoulder, but for one moment he held you, just thankful he had not lost another apprentice then he muttered.
"Well we have things to do before the Union show up or the Nephandi call for back up. Please check on the wounded for me while I check the Nephandi's car."
The old mage said and he released you from the hug and begun to limp over to the car carrying the tass, you can see he is not well though the old Hermetic was bleeding pretty badly and now that adrenaline no longer drone him his wounded arm just hung limply at his side.

Rush stood from where he had been working on Francesca, you notice that he have carved deep runes into his forearms as he walks over to Antonio, moving with purpose though it was clear that the fight and tension had affected him.
"I have stabilized Francesca but I lack the skill to heal her, I need Amadeus' help, if she lives long enough to get to him."
The Verbena said, you remember that Francesca Mandis was a member of the same Cabal as Rush so he was probably quite upset at how badly hurt she was, he did not show it though as he knelt beside Antonio and begun to carve fresh runes into his own arms.

Adjan you see was sitting, but with great difficulty and the Euthanatos was not able to stand, he did not look like if he was going to die any time soon though, but it was clear that he was in a great deal of pain, you suspect from how he was leaning over on one side and one leg seamed to just be completely limp that either his tight bone or right hip was broken. If the Technocracy found your group now, only you and Rush would be able to really fight, perhaps Jeffry as well, you needed to get off the street.
"It is odd...that Nephandi woman, she almost looked like if she did not care if she got killed or captured...I have seen that look before, often in the eyes of the victims of the men and women I send onward in the Cycle."
The Euthanatos muttered as he again tried to get to his feet but only managed to cry out in pan as he fell back down on the ground again.
"Damn it!"
He exclaimed.
"Listen it is my right leg that is hurt, if you help me up then I should be able to stay up on the other one and I might even be of some use."
Adjan suggested.
"Oh and Adley, are you alright?"

[Adley]

By the time that June looked back, Adley was staring back, possibly a bit too intently to not show that he knew how close he had just come to death and it was starting to accumulate. Then she turned the corner and he took a breath, swallowing thickly and realising he was feeling a touch dizzy. His hands had started to shake but he put away his tools and searched for his gun until he saw his mentor coming towards him. He had always been uncomfortable with being touched by most people, at least before now. But when he was hugged all he wanted to do was feel for a moment what that was like. Often enough he did not let himself have that kind of moment, he denied it but after that, he couldn't. He accepted it without any thought other than gratitude. Then he put his hands on his mentor's arms and said, "I'm alive. But we need to go. Now." It sounded like an echo from earlier, but instead of the harried, flightly haste in his tone there was just flat determination to see the last of this thing through despite it all.

"Well we have things to do before the Union show up or the Nephandi call for back up. Please check on the wounded for me while I check the Nephandi's car."

He nodded, glad for the direction, something clear to do. What he found was that everyone was injured and Mandis might still die, hovering on the edge of death without more healing. "Is it safe to move her to the car by myself?" he asked Rush. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin all of his healing by pulling something.

"Listen it is my right leg that is hurt, if you help me up then I should be able to stay up on the other one and I might even be of some use." Adjan suggested. "Oh and Adley, are you alright?"

He nodded to Adjan and walked over to him, leaning down to prop him up under the elbow and help him to stand. When he was asked if he was alright, he looked at him wide-eyed. Physically...he was fine, beyond reason. But what had just happened...but no, he would persevere. They needed him still. It was not over yet. He forced himself to make a reply, the injured man being concerned for him despite his own pain not lost on him. "I am alive and uninjured. I have nothing to complain over but that you are all not in the same condition. I'll be feeling better when we all make it home and get the care you need...We need to get out of here before a clean up crew comes. Maybe you can help protect everyone in the car, keep an eye out while we get Mandis and Antonio over...?"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Then he put his hands on his mentor's arms and said, "I'm alive. But we need to go. Now." It sounded like an echo from earlier, but instead of the harried, flightly haste in his tone there was just flat determination to see the last of this thing through despite it all.

Jeffry Morgan nodded, he knew, they could not stay here, with the amount of noise they had made, and all that magick used it was no doubt the Technocracy had picked up something going on and would be checking it out sooner or later, and the Nephandi that had been let go, they would surly call for help, so eventually this place would be swarming with mages from an enemy faction, and that would not be good for any of you right now.

He nodded, glad for the direction, something clear to do. What he found was that everyone was injured and Mandis might still die, hovering on the edge of death without more healing. "Is it safe to move her to the car by myself?" he asked Rush. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin all of his healing by pulling something.

"It depend on what you mean by safe, she was hit in the heart, the liver and her hip, she should be dead ut we share life now. It is safer to get her to the car and get back home to someone who can actually properly heal her, than for her to be here when we will surly get more company or until either I am to tired to maintain her Life patterns with my own or Paradox over what I am doing take me out and she then dies as well..."
The Verbena grumbled as he worked.
"So yes, get her to the car."

He nodded to Adjan and walked over to him, leaning down to prop him up under the elbow and help him to stand.

Adjan grit his teeth and gasps in pain as he was helped to his feet, you notice as he stand on one leg that his other was just hanging there, limp and useless.
"Thank you."
The Euthanatos muttered.

When he was asked if he was alright, he looked at him wide-eyed. Physically...he was fine, beyond reason. But what had just happened...but no, he would persevere. They needed him still. It was not over yet. He forced himself to make a reply, the injured man being concerned for him despite his own pain not lost on him. "I am alive and uninjured. I have nothing to complain over but that you are all not in the same condition. I'll be feeling better when we all make it home and get the care you need...We need to get out of here before a clean up crew comes. Maybe you can help protect everyone in the car, keep an eye out while we get Mandis and Antonio over...?"

Adjan nodded, he more than anyone here knew what it was like to stare death in the eye, after all he had been killed by his own mentor when he was initiated, that was the Euthanatos Gauntlet, to die and then find your way back to your body, bringing the lessons of death with you, far from all apprentices made it, or so they said.
"I can do that."
Adjan said and pulled out his gun, he was not very mobile but he could keep a look out while you get the wounded loaded into the cars and got ready to leave.

Over at the Nephandi's car your mentor is clearly done checking for traps as good as he can and he opens the trunk to see what the Fallen was hauling then this three hundred years old hardened warrior bends over the side of the car and vomits before quickly closing the lid again.
"Fuck!"
He expressed in English ad then a string of other curses in Latin.
"Ok people we need to take this...this Tass out of here now and get to safety and then I need to consult with the Preaco."
The old mage said nothing more but you knew this was serious. Preaco was a Hermetic title but the other Traditions still accepted it, the title was given to the Deacon Primus of the most powerful Chantry in the area and it's meaning was similar to leader or mayer, the Preaco resided over Tribunals together with the judges of that city, and it was his job to handle things when an affair affected more than one Chantry. In this case the Preaco of both Boston and the surrounding smaller towns and cities was Peter Giuseppe Alim Hermes bani Ex Miscellanea Ex Jerbiton, the Deacon Primus of Lux Itineris, and whatever your mentor had seen in the trunk of that car, the good Master Alim was about to get a headache.

[Adley]

"It depend on what you mean by safe...The Verbena grumbled as he worked. "So yes, get her to the car."

"Understood." Perhaps that  had been a stupid comment...but he had rather meant that moving her alone would be safer...still at least he knew where she'd been hit. And that Rush was at risk as well...

He helped Adjan up and got him stable and then went back to help Mandis to the car. He moved her as best way he thought he could, under the circumstances, to not aggravate her wounds. When he heard the Chief swear, he glanced over at the car and frowned. It was very, very bad...which was saying something, considering how it had turned out.

For a moment, he thought of Hannah and her snail-nodes. Living tass makers, excreting slime-tass. The thoughts that followed those were horrifying enough to make him furiously hope that he was wrong, turn his guts (but whatever it -was- could not be any better, probably worse than what his imagination could think)... look back at Mandis and force himself to concentrate on exactly what he was doing. Antonio was next, and then Adjan...get everyone to the cars and get them inside...get them back to the chantry...

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

"Understood." Perhaps that had been a stupid comment...but he had rather meant that moving her alone would be safer...still at least he knew where she'd been hit. And that Rush was at risk as well...

Well it was not uncommon for Ingmar Rush to reply to a question in a rather grumpy tone of voice, he had never been Mr Sunshine to start with and right now with a member of his Cabal close to death his personality was not exactly any sweeter. The Verbena just gave you a glance before he continued treating Antonio.

He helped Adjan up and got him stable and then went back to help Mandis to the car. He moved her as best way he thought he could, under the circumstances, to not aggravate her wounds. When he heard the Chief swear, he glanced over at the car and frowned. It was very, very bad...which was saying something, considering how it had turned out.

Francesca Mandis barely breathed, she was covered in blood and pale, she was unconscious and limp as a broken doll when you lifted her, the woman's Gothic Lolita outfit and round face with corkscrew curls hair enhanced that impression that she was a broken porcelain doll. You got the woman to the station wagon, which she was right by so you did not have to carry her far, and got her into one of the seats and Francesca neither woke up nor did she seam any worse, she should be dead with those wounds, perhaps at a state o the art hospital they could do something but generally she should be dead, Ingmar's magick was everything that kept her alive now.

Rush stood from where he had been treating Antonio.
"I have stopped the bleeding in your hand and healed your shoulder, but with your hand I want to leave that to Amadeus, I can heal it but in the safety of a Chantry and with his greater skill, he can probably make it good as new, while I might fail and that and leave your hand crippled."
The Verbena explained but he did not take the time to hear the Scribe thank him before he hurried towards the Chief. You see the healer is tired now, both maintaining Mandis life and the rest of the healing work, and that in addition to the massive his of Paradox he had taken earlier in the day, he was at his limit.
"Let me look at your shoulder Master Morgan."
Rush said but the Chief shook his head.
"There is no time we need to get out of here."
Your mentor said.
"I am not dying, so everyone who can wait, have to wait...now Rush you drive my car...Adley take the station wagon, go back to Steelhaven. I will be going to Lux Itineris to help with this...this abomination the Nephandi was hauling. I will call later for someone to pick me up once I have spoken with their Deacon Primus."
The old Hermetic barked and then he looked at Ingmar.
"Your healing work would be a waste if we are still here when the Union comes to clean up, now help me get the dead Nephandus out of the car so I can burn the bodies and let us get out of here."

[Adley]

He did not know Francesca well - but it did not matter. Seeing her that way was awful to behold but she was alive and there was still a chance to save her.

"I have stopped the bleeding in your hand and healed your shoulder, but with your hand I want to leave that to Amadeus, I can heal it but in the safety of a Chantry and with his greater skill, he can probably make it good as new, while I might fail and that and leave your hand crippled."

"Antonio, do you need help to one of the cars?" he asked him as he saw Ingmar move away from him.

"I am not dying, so everyone who can wait, have to wait...now Rush you drive my car...Adley take the station wagon, go back to Steelhaven. I will be going to Lux Itineris to help with this...this abomination the Nephandi was hauling. I will call later for someone to pick me up once I have spoken with their Deacon Primus."

He heard his name and looked back at his mentor, nodding to him. "Yes sir. If it is possible and worth the risk, please let us know you have safely arrived there."

The feeling that whatever was in the trunk was bound to be horrific intensified fourfold. But the...tass could be traced and the Nephandi were on their way back, they both knew it. His pater had to hurry to the Lux Iternis if he was going to make it - he had not forgotten that there was still a Master of the Ars missing and they had just been ambushed once - but he did not question him. It had to be done. And he had to help get everyone out of here. As Ingmar was nearing exhaustion and was busy keeping his strength for two people, he offered to help move the Nephandi that he shot in the car instead of him.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

"Antonio, do you need help to one of the cars?" he asked him as he saw Ingmar move away from him.

The Scribe nodded, he was clearly in a great deal of pain, half of his right hand was just gone, the man was breathing very evenly to try to control the pain, but it was still all he could do to get to his feet and walk towards the your mentor's car.
"No I can manage."
The Scribe muttered weakly as he fumbled with the door and got into the back seat.

He heard his name and looked back at his mentor, nodding to him. "Yes sir. If it is possible and worth the risk, please let us know you have safely arrived there."

"I will do so mea filius."
Jeffry Morgan said and gave you a slight smile.

As Ingmar was nearing exhaustion and was busy keeping his strength for two people, he offered to help move the Nephandi that he shot in the car instead of him.

The Verbena hesitated then he nodded.
"Fine I will get Terach to the car while you do so."
He said and went over to Adjan and offered to be the support the wounded death mage needed to limp over to the Chief's car and get in, though he did give a cry of pain when he sat down, Adjan still kept watch out the door of the car for any threats to the group.

You get the Nephandus you shot out of the passenger seat of the car you touch something squishy as you touch his arm and realize it is a collection of eyes, you can even feel the eyelashes poking at your hand. There is no time to search the dead Nephandi, you see that your mentor have already started burning the other corpses, white hot flames burning them to nothingness that drifted away on the night breeze, then he waited until you was done with the man you had killed before he burned his body as well. You can see that Jeffry's hand gestures who are usually so elegant and quick go slower now as the wound in one shoulder hamper him movement and the man hiss in pain by the time he was done with the rotes.
"Oh great Paradox as well, but then I guess none of us avoided getting some tonight."
The old mage muttered before he placed his hand over the broken glass of the front window of the car which had a suspiciously bullet hole in it and muttered more in Latin this time calling for the power of Earth itself and slowly the glass repaired itself.
"I do not want to be stopped by the police."
The old mage muttered in a tired tone of voice.
"Get the others home Adley and keep them safe until they are back at the Chantry...hurry go."

[Adley]

"No I can manage." The Scribe muttered weakly as he fumbled with the door and got into the back seat.

Adley nodded to him; he was concerned but there was too much to attend to for now to comment on it and they needed to make haste.

"I will do so mea filius." Jeffry Morgan said and gave you a slight smile.

With a small frown, he added in Greek, "If you have a spiritual favor to use, perhaps it might be time...someone to watch your back while you travel." He made no other comment though and his expression shut down further not inviting explanation on his words. He knew dealing with the tass had to be done (whatever its horrifying form was) and his mentor would do what he thought was best in the situation. That traveling alone was dangerous and all the more so with a stash of tass. It was his way of saying he would go with him if he could have, that he did not like the idea of him being alone. The situation might not have been like Cardamon's....he had no choice here, he had to get the others home, Mandis needed help immediately. And his mentor had to deal with...whatever was in that trunk.

You get the Nephandus you shot out of the passenger seat of the car you touch something squishy as you touch his arm and realize it is a collection of eyes, you can even feel the eyelashes poking at your hand. There is no time to search the dead Nephandi, you see that your mentor have already started burning the other corpses...

He fought off disgust as his hand grabbed at something gelatinous and hairy with a grimace and pulled the corpse out, dragging it over to the pile. He'd shot this man, he realised, with the sudden awareness that came with dealing with dead bodies. If only he'd shot him a bit sooner...but there was no time for those thoughts. They had to take care of what had happened. Not what could have or might have.

The old mage muttered before he placed his hand over the broken glass of the front window of the car which had a suspiciously bullet hole in it and muttered more in Latin this time calling for the power of Earth itself and slowly the glass repaired itself. "I do not want to be stopped by the police." The old mage muttered in a tired tone of voice. "Get the others home Adley and keep them safe until they are back at the Chantry...hurry go."

He frowned at the bullet hole in the window as it was mended. It hadn't occurred to him at the time but it was taken care of now. "Yes, father. Safe travel." He put a quick hand on his arm and then hurried back to the station wagon scanning the area for anything left behind. Then got into the driver's seat. He held onto the last bit of his willpower and turned the car on, ready to go back home, driving as fast as he thought he could get away with to not draw attention and by the best route he knew.

[Sponsored content]