Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

[Hafnium]

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

In the blink of an eye, it had all ended.

The Necropolis, long standing seat of the Lich King, had fallen. The brunt of the invasion felt like it had occurred in minutes rather than hours. The aliens had descended from their huge, living crafts and fallen upon a city that was more unprepared than it ever believed itself capable of being. Unlike Badarian culture, the invaders did not differentiate between poor or rich. Noble and commoner alike had been slaughtered, enslaved, or worse following their coming. Selena's friends, both those from her day and night life, had all been treated the same.

For a time, there had been pockets of resistance. A prepared noble here, an act of unexpected heroism there, and even the occasional group of peasants who refused to go down without a fight. That was over now, it had been over since before Selena even managed to escape her own fate. Any substantial force was already broken or had already escaped the city. The aliens patrolled the streets as if they belonged there, fully claiming the city for their own. They raped the survivors in the streets until they were filled to bursting with seed and sure to spawn more of the foul things in mere hours, then repeated the cycle over again until their victims were broken and warped.

It had been less than a week since the nightmare had started. For all she knew, Selena might be the only sane survivor in the city. She was constantly in a state of hiding, well aware of the fate she would be returned to if she was caught. The noblewoman's course through the ruins had taken her in the general direction of one of the gates out of the city, but she was heavily delayed by the omnipresent patrols and had frequently needed to hide in a building. Almost in vision of the gatehouse, she had found herself in that situation yet again.

Dusk was quickly approaching when the stealthy survivor had found herself needing to duck into a small general store in order to avoid a group of the lizardmen. It was a single floor building. The door was to the left, facing the building, of a large display window with shelves behind it and it offered access to a single large room. Beyond that, there were several shelves forming aisles through the room, though everything of value had already been scavenged, leaving only useless knickknacks to be found. The sales counter sat in front of a closed door at the other end of the room.

Fortunately, the display window had been boarded up, likely by some survivors before her, and so she was able to quickly shuffle in through the doorway, the door of which was missing from its hinges, and out of sight undetected before they passed by. She was even able to watch from the edge of the opening as they continued past the building, apparently never suspecting a thing.

Before she left the building to continue her trek, however, she heard a stifled sobbing coming from beyond the door behind the sales counter. In addition, she could hear faint sounds of consolation. It had been the first time she'd heard the noises of other humans in days, and it might have been other survivors. At the same time, it might have been a trick played by the aliens. It was up to Selena to decide how to handle it.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena had spent the entirety of her time spent in the small shop cursing silently to herself so far, and even as the hunter patrol moved past her she continued to do as much, knowing that it would be several minutes before it would actually be safe to move. She'd spent the days since her world's fall and her daring escape from its perpetrators making a meticulous flight across the city, and now that she was within reach of freedom from the nightmare only to be forced to wait... It was maddening. While that descriptor could easily be applied to any part of the last few days, the former noblewoman had largely shut down any of the parts of herself other than those that she needed to survive. Despite her privileged upbringing, she had manged to survive this far where many that were more capable than she had perished.... Or worse, and Selena had no intention of letting that changed.

She'd given the shelves a cursory glance upon entering the building, but had largely kept her attention on the street, where the immediate threats were. The places nearest the outside had largely been looted to their fullest already, that much she had found out all too vividly in the recent past, but as she considered checking behind the counter, Selena heard a soft noise from behind the door at the back of the room. She hadn't heard anything when she'd come in, and it would hardly be the first time that the aliens had set up a trap using the idea of contact with other survivors as bait, but if it wasn't.... She knew that she was hardly in possession of many supplies to trade, and that traveling in a group was deceptively dangerous, but they might have something that she could use. At the very least, the idea of hearing another human voice plucked at the strings of a very dangerous part of her heart.

Her decision made, Selena glanced through the doorway leading outside, checking to see if the street looked like it was clear. If it was, the noblewoman would sling her rifle and carefully draw her rapier, which she had deliberately blackened with an oil that she knew wouldn't damage the metal in order to prevent light from glinting off of it and giving away her presence, and slowly creep across the store until she got behind the counter. She swept her gaze across the place, looking for anything useful out of hand while she slowly slunk up to the door located behind it.

Selena pressed her ear against the door cautiously, listening for further sounds, and then peeked underneath the crack at the bottom of the door, and through the keyhole if there was one. There was no way that she was opening the door if she wasn't sure of what lay behind it, and any further information that she might be able to get would be key in deciding what she would do next.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

-- Selena
- Perception: 5 + 19 = 24.
- Stealth: 7 + 24 = 31.
- Found 10 denarii and may take it.

The streets proved to be clear for the moment, so the understandably cautious woman found her way across the store. She moved slowly and carefully. Speed was often the enemy of stealth, especially in places like the store she had taken refuge in. Any false step would might end with her stepping on some abandoned object or any other omnipresent hazard. She also had to be wary of sections of the wooden floor, shifting her foot away whenever she found a board that squeaked as to avoid sounding as obvious as a circus clown as she moved.

In the end, she made it. The faint sobbing had never stopped as she crept through the otherwise abandoned building and took her new position, even for a moment. There were a few emptied pouches on the shelves beneath the counter which she had taken cover behind and a chest bolted into the floor which appeared to have been hacked through with an axe. Still, a cursory inspection yielded one sack which hadn't been completely emptied, though it only contained ten denarii. She could pocket it if she desired.

Whatever she decided, her next step was to check the door. Listening provided nothing truly useful. The consistent sobs were the most obvious noises coming from the room, though now that she was closer she recognized that they were feminine in nature. There were a few whispers of consolation so hushed that she couldn't make out anything they were saying, these alternated between male and female, with at least three distinct voices that she could make out. There was no keyhole, so she could only look under the door to determine what laid within. Fortunately, the gap was large enough to easily spot six pairs of feet.

Of the six only three had shoes and of those three only one pair wasn't in a state of disrepair. The remaining sets of feet were covered in dirt and soot, all pale but none gray. Four were in a cluster in the far right-hand corner of the room, one of those with shoddy shoes, and the other two were in the far left-hand corner. That proved to be all she could spot or hear from that angle of approach, so Selena was left to make her decision.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Her examination bore fruit, and though coin hardly seemed of value at the time, Selena opted to take it anyway. She'd been collecting money all week, and had amassed a decent amount so far even if she'd not met anyone or anything with which to trade it. The situation with the voices was a much tougher decision to make for the former noblewoman, however, as the desire for human company fought with her forcefully inspired pragmatism. The lack of shoes on some people while others had some, the lack of any slime, and that they were speaking and crying in a back room where no one would logically find them ruled out an alien ambush almost completely, but at the same time, a larger group would be a more tempting target... And one that was much easier to find.

After a moment's pause, her desire to hear a human voice once more caused the lonely woman to throw aside her caution... Mostly. Turning, Selena carefully peaked around the counter and waited, watching the street for signs of movement for several long moments before turning back to the door if all seemed clear. Keeping in a low crouch that offered her full cover from the doors and windows, Selena raised a hand toward the door and paused for a moment, briefly paralyzed by further indecision. She almost turned and left, but then she heard the sobbing against and leaned forward, rapping her dirtied knuckles three times against the door, trying to keep the noise as quiet as she could.

"H... Hello?" she whispered, her voice harsh and low, and Selena realized that it had been the first words that she'd spoken aloud since the invasion had begun. "I'm not one of them... I'm trying to get out of here! Is anyone in there? I heard somebody crying!" She had her rapier at the ready, and her muscles were tensed that she might throw herself aside if the need came up. Though she might extend a degree of trust to these strangers out of need for human contact, Selena was far from the point where she might drop her guard completely.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

-- Selena
- Perception: 11 + 19 = 30.
- Stealth: 13 + 24 = 37.

The room went completely quiet as Selena rapped on the door and whispered her words to the room's occupants. Sobbing, consoling, and conversation all stopped and were replaced with a deafening silence. It hung in the air ominously for several moments, putting the noblewoman on edge even though all evidence pointed to the store not being a trap. But, proof that her line of thinking was correct finally presented itself in the form of barely heard whispers from within.

"I told you that your sobbing would bring them to us," a feminine voice whispered harshly.
"I'm sorry!" Wailed another feminine voice, much louder than the first, and Selena could hear the unseen person choking back sobs.
"Look, it's fine. If it were the aliens they probably would have just busted down the door. Plus, there's no evidence that they even understand our language." The third voice sounded nervous and male in origin.

A few footsteps followed the exchange, and Selena could hear that the woman who had been sobbing had resumed. She could hear a lock click, which must have been an interior lock only as there was no keyhole to allow for such a mechanism to be unlocked, and the door opened a crack. Through that crack she could see a human.

He had short, greasy black hair and a short amount of stubble framing a dirty face. Judging by his clothes, a plain brown tunic and pants, and worn out shoes, he might have been as dirty before the invasion as he was after. He eyed her up and down, before the invasion it might have been a sign that he was measuring his odds but now it was simply a necessary precaution for every survivor who wanted to remain as unturned.

"No offense, but could you show me your hand? Just stick it in through the crack," he finally said once his visual sweep of her had completed, revealing that he had been the third voice, and leaving her with a decision in the process.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena listened, doing little more the fidgeting as she listened to the conversation taking place on the other side of the door. Listening to someone going through the same logic that she had just played through in her head turned out to be surprisingly irritating, but the ex-noble managed to hold out rather than simply bolting as her instincts were currently screaming at her to do. She tensed when the door cracked open, but a firm scowl on her face hid her fright well, at least until his demand that she stick her hand through the crack in the door came through.

At that her eyes widened and she adopted a confused expression, and again she nearly bolted from the place entirely. But then, hesitantly, she nodded and reached her hand forward. Images, scenarios flashed through her head as her fingers reached the crack in the door. A cleaver coming down, or a knife pinning her hand to the wall, or the man simply closing the door on her fingers and breaking them. Despite her trepidation, Selena forced her fears down to the best of her abilities and reached her hand out, allowing the man to examine it even as she realized that she was probably just as filthy as he looked to be, though unlike the stranger peaking at her through the doorway she hadn't been so before the greys had come from the sky.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Despite her trepidation and the activity of her imagination surrounding her concerns, Selena's hand remained unscathed. The man rubbed two fingers down the length of her offered arm and, after apparently deeming what he found satisfactory, opened the door. "Come in, quickly," he whispered. Whether Selena followed his directions was up to her.

From her position outside of the door she could see most of the contents of the room, at least. There were thick wooden shelves along almost every inch of the four walls, most of which had been picked nearly completely clean. A table and a chair sat in one of the few precious wall spaces not occupied by shelves near a doorway that must have led into another room, the table held an ink reservoir and some parchment upon it. Seemingly out of place were six satchels that had been piled haphazardly in one corner of the room.

Due to all the shelves, the space was a bit cramped for the six people who occupied it. In addition to the dirty man who had opened the door, there were two women to one side of the room who were in similar peasant attire comprising of sackcloth dresses and a lack of shoes, both had brown hair. One of the two brunettes was trying to stop the other from sobbing. The rasp of a sword as it slid its way back into its sheath led Selena's attention to a blond man in torn noble's clothing consisting of a blue quilted doublet and breeches, his expression was impenetrable. The remaining two survivors were malnourished teenagers, barely at the age to be considered young men, with black hair and shoddy clothes, both of which had improvised clubs handy and both of which seemed more terrified than intimidating.

Whether or not the noblewoman trusted the situation enough, given the latest influx of information, to enter the room, where the initial peasant would surely close and lock the door behind her, was for her and her alone to say.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena shivered and pulled away slightly at the man's touch, but when he opened the door she slunk into the room while still in a low crouch immediately. Her gaze swept the room quickly and reflexively as she stepped inside, taking in both its occupants and its nonliving contents with the sharp eye for detail that her father had developed in her. The man at the door was unarmed, but two boys stood nearby, seemingly possessed of little more than the clubs in their hands, the shabby clothes on their bodies, and the terrified expressions on their faces. A well dressed man whom Selena marked immediately as a noble, but then mentally corrected herself as an ex-noble wryly, was better armed than the two boys with a blade, likely a well made one given his station, but she couldn't tell at a glance whether or not he actually knew how to use it. The two women in the corner she gave little heed to beyond noting their existence, a reflex of her Badarian upbringing even though she was a woman herself. The room had a number of shelves, likely storage for the store's goods, but they were all but empty now, suggesting that this group had been here for a while.

Noting that, Selena turned to the man that had opened the door, simply assuming that he was their functional leader, and whispered; "How long have you been here? Do you know... What's going on outside the walls? Why haven't you tried to leave the city yet?"

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

"We tried," he replied in a quick whisper. The filthy man, without actually putting his hands on Selena, tried to navigate her into the corner farthest away from the two women as he spoke. No amount of ushering the noblewoman anywhere would grant them any privacy from the rest of the group though. "In the middle of the night we made an organized attempt to sneak out through the gatehouse. The greys were ready for us. It went bad, we lost three." His words were punctuated by the despairing brunette's anguished wails. "We only managed to slip away because one sacrificed himself for our retreat, then we took shelter in this store."

"We shouldn't have wasted any time here. We should have gone out and made a second attempt while they were looking for us in all the wrong places," the blond nobleman haughtily announced. "Instead we wait for weak peasant women."
"Like you're so much better, you noble pig! You nearly pissed yourself at the sight of that savage thing bending Jeremiah in half!" The more vocal brunette called across the room in a raised voice.
"Know your place, wench! I'll have you horsewhipped for insolence when we're back in safety!"
"I'd like to see you try. Just 'cos your daddy was a famed knight doesn't make you any better than pig leavings!"
"Please stop! I don't know about you two but if I'm going to be violently murdered in my own home city, I'd like it not to be the result of another shouting match."

The two fell into a begrudging silence, though they both began to stare daggers at each other. The dirty peasant man offered Selena an apologetic look in the aftermath of their squabbling, though he didn't offer any apology aloud. "So yeah, that's the situation. We've got enough food and water to last a couple days, so we're more likely to be taken by the greys than by hunger or thirst. The way I figure it is that by this point, I don't expect us or any other survivors will make it out of the gatehouse without taking losses, but some might fight their way through. Only other option to escape seems to be to sneak near the walls and find another, safer way out, maybe even one that the greys don't know about yet, but that'll take time. Either one is probably better than waiting to die. Even if we get past that, no idea how many other cities have been attacked or fallen. If they can take this city then chances are..."

"Don't suppose you've got anything you're interested in trading?" He suddenly asked, almost in passing.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena simply nodded to the man who'd opened the door after he'd offered answers to her questions. Though her heart sunk at the thought, the ex-noblewoman hadn't been expecting an easy escape from the doomed city, and their story confirmed that the alines were watching the entrances and exits. What was she to do....

Her contemplations died in the womb as the argument broke out, the other noble's statement causing her gaze to snap to him. She remained silent as the argument unfolded before her, rage boiling in her heart, and it was lucky that the man was driven to silence but the door man's intervention. She'd been about to dart forward and cut the braggart's throat, her body tense as a mixture of fear and reflexive anger directed more at the volume of his voice and the danger that it presented than at his actual words, to which she'd stopped listening after his first sentence. The girl that'd responded to his crass statement was spared her withering glare and threat of impending violence only because she'd been second to speak, however.

The doorman's explanation filtered in one ear and out the other, entering her mind but not really taking hold as she glared dangerously at the nobleman, but his strange question caused her to break from her stupor. Turning to gaze at him, Selena realized that she was still in a low crouch and slowly straightened until she was standing. "Trade? No," she whispered hoarsely, "I haven't bothered to carry any valuables... And I'm almost out of food and water myself. I was only hoping to escape, and..." She trailed off, shivering. She'd been about to admit that she didn't want to be alone anymore, a thought that'd been playing through her head repeatedly over and over in her mind for the last few days.

"...I just want to get out of here," she finished quietly, gazing away from any of the room's other occupants. "If I can't take the gates.... What about the sewers? Those lead out of the city." She'd used the sewers to get around before, but many sections of them had been blocked off. She had thankfully avoided having to get into the fetid water at any point, but some of the smell still no doubt clung to her even though she hadn't had to do it recently.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

The most talkative of the peasants stared at her blankly for a few moments following her suggestion. "Of course," he excitedly whispered as his stare broke with a few blinks. "The sewers! Even if the greys have discovered them, there's a pretty good chance you could elude them in the sewers, what with all the twists and turns. Those things are like a labyrinth. You'd think that the king had them built to store the army's horses, rather than just, you know, offal and filthy water. We could-" As he turned to address his ragtag group, he was cut off by the nobleman. "You surely can't be suggesting that we sulk through the sewer like rats."

"Sure I can," the peasant clarified in a very definitive tone of voice. The blond seemed like he was going to make a retort, and Selena could see from the brunette's expression that the woman was ready to get into an argument with him again, but the peasant continued on before they could do either. "We can make the attempt tonight. They'll probably position themselves at the gatehouse and any other ways out of the city that they've discovered. In the meantime, we'll find an unoccupied sewer grate and slip out of the city. Best chance we've got by this point, I think."

By the end of his plan, there were more than a few 'buts' ready to spill from the lips of everyone present, sans the peasant himself and the sobbing woman, but he smoothly ignored them all in order to speak solely to Selena. "You can come with us, if you'd like. Even if you'd rather make the attempt on your own, you're free to stay here and rest for as long as you'd like."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena allowed the ghost of a smile to settle over her expression as the man seemed to go for her plan immediately. It would be dangerous, but a far less dangerous endeavor than fighting out through the main gates, and - then the ex-noble in the corner interrupted the peasant to whom she spoke, and Selena slowly turned her head and stared at him. Even after the more prudent man to whom she spoke finished addressing him and turned back to her, she stared. The tension caused by the uproar didn't break her gaze either, and when the peasant's offer to let her come with them was delivered the ghost of a smile returned, but her gaze continued to hold on the man in the corner.

"Perhaps I will allow you lot to accompany me," she began, a trace of her former haughtiness entering her tone for a brief moment. "....But that one will be gagged, lest his loud mouth draw attention down on us." The one at whom she directed her comment was fairly clear given the direction her gaze had taken for the last few moments, and Selena offered no clarification on it if some of them somehow didn't notice it.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Spoiler

--Blond Nobleman uses Stunning Blow against the Shabby Peasant
-Attack: 5 + 40 = 45. Hit.
-Damage: 4 + 22 = 26 damage.
-Resistance: 17 + 20 = 37 vs 27 = 12 + 15. Blond wins, shabby guy is stunned.

"Eh? No offense, but we just met and while I'm sure and-" The shabby man started to reply, but before he could finish his sentence was interrupted by the rasp of a sword sliding free of its sheath. The entire group of survivors turned to face the blond, who now stood with his sword out and pointed toward Selena. He was about fifteen feet away from her, which might have been the only thing that stopped him from taking a swing at her if one were to judge by the murderous glare he shot her.

"What are you doing? Put that away- ack!" The shabby man approached the nobleman as he implored the swordsman to stand down, only to get bashed in the side of the face by the noble's balled fist and collapse limply to the ground. The remaining conscious members of the group were silent, save a few choked sobs from the woman who had already spent the entirety of Selena's meeting with the group crying. The two youths with sticks now looked between the noblewoman and the nobleman, apparently not sure which one to join if it came to a fight, and the two women remained in the corner well out of reach of the arrogant blond.

"You dumb wench," the very same man spoke in a deadly whisper. "You think that just because the world has ended, you have the right to insult me? Bad enough that I take orders from some dirt-farmer of a peasant for this long! What would you lead us to? The knitting supplies store? No, I'm invoking my right as a nobleman of Badaria and taking my rightful place as leader of this worthless group of cretins. You need to learn some humility and I can teach it to you well," his voice was cold and cruel. After so many years spent both among the Badarian nobility and those who she had explored the city with, it probably wasn't that hard to puzzle out what lesson plan he intended to use on Selena. In the span of a few moments, the situation had shot well past its boiling point.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena's gaze swiveled immediately towards the familiar sound of a sword leaving its scabbard, and her expression went completely blank as she spotted the noble with blade in hand. Her hand slowly shifted back to her own sword, fingers settling around the handle of her rapier while the belligerent knocked out the man to whom she'd been speaking up until then. She didn't draw it yet, however, and instead faced the foolish noble as she slowly slid back into her readied stance without even thinking of doing so.

In another time and in another place, his threats might have had her slightly shaken, but after what she'd been through already they just sounded so.... Hollow. Selena actually found herself slightly surprised at how easily she took the man's dark words in stride, realizing instantly what he intended to do to her and then simply shrugging it off as if it was nothing. The part of her that would have bent knee to a man like the one before her had already died, and the part that had grown in its place urged her to return his enraged expression with a condescending smile, and she replied; "Well, I think everyone will agree that going to a knitting supply shop IS far preferable to the grave!"

She took a slow step forward, and in one smooth motion she drew her oiled, blackened rapier. "That's exactly where a frightened, witless braggart like you would bring us, you know. So easy for you, to think with the brain between your legs! I wonder how you'll manage after I've cut it off?" she said in a low, deadly whisper no less threatening than his. She didn't expect her intimidation to work on him any better than his had worked on her, and as such she stalked toward him in a low, graceful stance with her rapier held slightly out to her side, ready to mount a defense at any moment.

"You'd best figure it out, because if your pig-sticker isn't in its sheath in about two seconds, I'll be castrating you and cutting your throat to ensure that your screams don't bring in any unwanted attention." Again, every word was spoken in a dark whisper containing just a tiny hint of eagerness, and despite that she was facing a human rather than an alien, Selena felt not even a hint of remorse at the idea of ending the fool's life if he persisted. As such, she readily intended to make good on her promise and cut him to ribbons if he didn't sheath or drop his blade, her first cut aiming for the wrist of his sword arm and, unless he dropped it then, her second would go for his manhood and her third would be aimed at his throat.

Spoiler

Lightning Strikes him if he doesn't drop the sword.

Relevant Stats:
Dodge: 63 if he's armed, 59 otherwise.
Attack: +38
Damage: 2d6 + 19

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

--Selena
-Attacks: Automatic hits 'cos he only has 35 dodge.
-Damage: 3 + 19 - 1 = 21, 5 + 19 - 1 = 23, 10 + 19 - 1 = 28. He's dead.

The swordsman didn't stand down. His glare only became more murderous as Selena insulted him. It was good that she was mentally prepared to fight the man to the end, because that was what it came to. With an enraged scream he brandished his blade and charged her.

His birthright was apparent in his swordsmanship, for he had certainly seen tutelage under a practiced warrior. The nobleman was using a style which relied on graceful, flowing movements and misdirection which was familiar to her due to a few mentions by her own teacher, a style that was practiced mainly in southern Badaria and Anudor with scimitars and curved blades and that had fallen into disuse in both armored combat and dueling due to its ineffectiveness against armor and inferiority to the rapier. He swung horizontally toward her in a motion that was more flourish than attack, but it was merely a feint intended to bring her toward an apparent opening that would result in a back swing taking her entrails out.

With his anger, he had foiled himself by telegraphing his intent as clearly as if he had put his plan into writing, and she was able to step out of the way of his first blow. She was able to land a light cut on his wrist as she danced out of the way of his second swing. He didn't give up. Momentarily forgetting his training from the pain Selana had just caused him and his intense, building hatred for the noblewoman, he took third, wild swing at her. His blade never even came close and had the effect of throwing him off his balance. Selena's training kicked in, and in the blink of an eye she stepped forward and thrust the tip of her rapier into his crotch, piercing through everything in its path. A second later she stepped in further, grabbing his wrist to make sure he couldn't try to return the favor with his fading strength.

A sound erupted from the nobleman's throat which sounded like he was trying to shriek and vomit at the same time. He began to collapse to his knees as Selena drew her rapier back. His grip on his sword weakened and allowed the blade to clatter harmlessly to the ground. To his credit he didn't cry or scream, the blond looked at Selena with contempt in his eyes. He managed to hold his furious gaze on her even as she lifted her bloodied weapon to his neck. Only as she flicked her wrist in order to slit his throat did he clench his eyes shut in fear of his coming end.

When Selena's attention turned to the remaining survivors, she found that the only other two armed ones were further away from her than they had been. The woman in the corner was clenching her eyes shut and holding her hands over them as if to block the sight of what had just happened, and her counterpart was trying harder than ever to get her to stop bawling. The shabby man had begun to stand up and rubbing his cheek where the blond's fist had struck him. Once the most talkative of the group had brought himself upright, he looked toward the body, blood now pooling beneath it, and sighed. "You mind if I take his sword? I don't think he'll need it anymore," he asked of the bloodied woman.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena stared down at the man she'd killed coldly for a moment, scowling silently as she tried and failed to muster some sort of inner turmoil. She'd just killed a man, a human being, and another noble to boot. She thought that she should have felt something.... Remorse. Regret. Sorrow. Anger. The ex-noblewoman felt none of that, however. All that she could muster was a sense of vague irritation that the man had made enough noise that their position might have been given away to any passing aliens. The bumbling peasant's request to take the man's sword didn't even draw a glance from Selena, and she quietly said; "It's all yours. Learn how to use it quickly, the idiot's shouting might have caught some attention."

She turned and looked about, seeing the looks that she was getting from the others and scowling a little bit more. "He would have gotten the lot of you... Of us, killed. He was more harmful than he was useful," Selena said softly, a tone of pleading creeping into her voice, almost as if she was trying to convince herself. "We all need to be quiet for a while, in case his shouting attracted any attention. Is there any way out of this building besides the main exit?"

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Even as the initial shock of what had happened passed, it was easy for the noblewoman to tell that the act hadn't won her any friends. The two club-wielding lads began to look at her nervously. The most talkative of the group had a resigned look as he picked up the sword and weighted it in his hand. The sobbing brunette was a wreck, though thankfully a quiet one, and the other woman suddenly looked very uneasy in Selena's company. None of them were dismayed at the man's loss, that much was true, but none of the remaining five trusted the former noblewoman more than they had for her willingness to kill a man.

"Looked like self defense to me. There's a second way out through there," the talkative peasant replied quietly and motioned his head toward the other doorway. "Not a traditional door, but it'll serve." Though, as they waited in quiet anticipation, nothing came. Barring any other action, several minutes would pass without any evidence that something had heard the struggle. Of course, the group lacking evidence didn't mean that the aliens hadn't noticed and weren't simply grouping up to storm the former store.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena wasn't particularly surprised that she'd not earned any friends by killing the nobleman, but she also didn't particularly care. While she'd hungered for some sort of human contact, now that she had it she found herself sorely disappointed. She wasn't even sure what she'd expected to find from other survivors of the same hell she'd lived over the last few days, but the rational part of her mind that had ruled her up until then berated her for expecting anything else. Crises didn't bring out the best in people after all.... That sort of nonsense was for the stories.

"If we hear anything outside, we all leave quietly out this door and make for the sewers unless it's coming through here. I saw a grate a few blocks away that we could slip down. If we're left alone, we leave when it's dark outside." The noblewoman audibly went over her own plan, but then glanced around at the people that she'd stumbled onto, and added; "You're free to stay or to go, your choice. But that's what I'm doing."

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Spoiler

Selena: HP = 48, PP = 38, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

-Selena
--Stealth: 1 + 24 = 25.
--Perception: 5 + 19 = 24.

-Sword Peasant
--Stealth: 18 + 19 = 37

-Club Peasant A
--Stealth: 17 + 19 = 36

-Calm Brunette
-- Stealth: 16 + 19 = 35

-Shaken Brunette
-- Stealth: 3 + 19 = 22

-Club Peasant B
-- Stealth: 14 + 19 = 33

Nobody vocally agreed with the noblewoman, but at the same time nobody came up with any alternatives nor denied her plan. This meant that the remaining daylight was spent in silence, unless Selena attempted to make it otherwise, beyond the occasional rustle as the remaining five prepared their things. Among the items prepared for their departure, the nobleman's goods were plundered thoroughly and without emotion by the commoners including his boots, his shirt, and everything in his pack.

Night fell agonizingly slowly, even though it had been already near dark when Selena had first entered the store. There was no easy way to determine time inside the building, given how thoroughly it had been boarded up, which meant that the noblewoman had to peek her head out of one of the doors in order to measure how much light was left in the day. Each such check was tense, but nothing came of them. The checks also carried with them the benefit of learning that the alternative way out was a hole that had been smashed into the building, into a room that must have been a bedroom before the invasion, by something huge.

When dark did finally descend over the Necropolis, the other survivors were all plainly anxious to move. Despite that, they still allowed Selena to go first, and though they followed her as a group it was plainly obvious that she wasn't directly a part of that group. As she left the store and moved through the back alleys and stealthier routes to the nearest usable sewer grate she knew of, they stayed a good distance behind her. The link between her and the group was tenuous at best, and the gap was so great that if the aliens fell upon Selena then the group could slip away unmolested and unnoticed. But the same held true in reverse.

Luckily, the alien presence as they moved away from the gate in order to reach that grate shrunk. Most were apparently near the gates, ready to stop any escape attempts by using the walls of the great city, the very ones intended to keep invaders out, as a cage to entrap fleeing survivors with. It was also a short distance, which helped to reduce the danger. But there was one risky maneuver they had to make; they needed to cross a major street in order to get to the secluded alcove that the grate resided in.

Selena was the first across, unsurprisingly, and she made it without issue. The commoners came over one at a time as well, in a formation apparently intended to keep the women relatively protected. The sword-wielding peasant was the second over, and he too made it without issue. One of the boys was across next, and he had no problems. The third of the group to successfully cross was the calmer of the two brunette women. The fourth was the woman who had done nothing but sob since Selena had met her. She started off well enough... until, in the middle of the road, she tripped.

That she tripped wasn't an issue, it was what happened after that proved to be an issue. The brunette didn't immediately get back up and finish the trek, she simply stopped there on her hands and knees. And then, she began to wail. This caused the rest of the group to panic, in their own individual ways, and the brunette who had already crossed began to wave at the wailing woman to hurry over. After a few seconds, the sobbing peasant did begin to collect herself. But that few seconds was much too late, and as she began to walk toward the alcove, Selena spotted movement from one of the various buildings lining the street.

Five of the boneless, tentacled creatures, their bodies about three feet tall and their tentacles nearly thrice as long, began to emerge from one of the burnt out, partially destroyed buildings like parasites from an emptied corpse. They slid out through broken windows and emerged from a doorway which no longer had a door. They crawled onto the street on spindly legs that seemed much too small to support them, and then their focus narrowed in on the source of the noise. They had spotted the brunette.

Nobody but the noblewoman seemed to have noticed the invaders though, who were already making their way toward the noisy woman. The woman herself was practically meandering across the street like a lost little girl, even as her doom approached her, and one of the club wielding boys was on the other side of the street waiting for her to finish her crossing so he could make his own. Luckily, the aliens hadn't seemed to notice any of the rest of the group yet, but at their rate it was only a matter of time.

Of course, if Selena wasn't feeling the urge to be particularly heroic for the noninclusive group, the sewer grate was only a few feet away.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Hope Beneath the Rubble (Tassadar) GMed by Hafnium

Selena paid little heed to the rest of the people in the room with her as she settled down to wait, sitting down and leaning against a wall during the long, uneventful wait for dusk to settle. She rose several times to check outside, wanting to see if night had fallen, and in so doing found that the alternative entrance was a hole smashed into a bedroom wall. She'd seen creatures that dwarfed even the largest men, grey and as faceless as the rest of their numbers among the aliens, and suspected that it had been caused by one of them. When night had finally fallen in full, the other survivors of the disaster that had hit the Necropolis were as eager to move as she was, though they didn't seem to mind when she went first.

The farther they went through the ruined streets, the more obvious it became that she was regarded as an outsider. The ex noblewoman had no idea what the group might have been through together, but she most certainly hadn't been through it with them, and as such she couldn't blame them for treating her as such, particularly given that she'd killed one of their number within a few minutes of finding them. She couldn't say that she minded that, however. While the part of her that had so yearned for human contact was anything but sated, she'd been less than pleased by what interaction she'd had with them so far. Only one of them had even attempted a friendly gesture toward her, and looking back on it she berated herself just a tiny bit for not trying to return that gesture better than she had.

She didn't fall into self-reflection too deeply, however, as the streets weren't much safer at night than they were during the day. Alertness was essential, that much she learned, but as luck would have it their journey wasn't a long one and crossed territory that wasn't heavily patrolled by the invaders. It wasn't until they had to cross one final street, one that was wider than the others they'd passed but had their destination on the other side, that things got complicated.

Selena herself got across without a hitch, and though her tension didn't lessen significantly that came as something of a relief as well. The spokesmen for the peasants came next, followed by one of the young men with clubs, and then the calmer of the two women. Each got across without any trouble. It wasn't until the next woman came across, one of the last, that things turned sour. The ex-noble winced visibly when the woman tripped, but when she started wailing to herself like a frightened child an inconsolable rage came over Selena. The idiot was putting all of them in danger by her stupidity!

She didn't have long to fume before exactly what she'd feared came to pass, the woman's crying having alerted the aliens in the nearby buildings. Tentacle-spawn came pouring out of the buildings nearest them, five in total, and started wandering over on their impossibly thin legs, their destination clear. The sobbing woman's fellow came to rescue her, but by then it was far too late. The aliens would be here before the last of them could get into the gate, and for a moment Selena silently pondered simply going down into the sewers on her own. It would be easy, and it wasn't like she owed these people anything.

"Get that grate open and start getting people down there!" she hissed under her breath as she pushed past the sword-wielding peasant, directing her command at him. As for herself, Selena was putting herself into danger despite her better judgement, for reasons that she herself couldn't even fathom. She'd certainly never done anything of the sort before, and the group as a whole didn't really offer her anything of value, but here she was, putting herself in harms way to cover for them. The noblewoman reminded herself that they carried the brunt of the supplies, and that if she wanted any of them she'd have to ensure that they survived to share, even though she suspected that she'd be able to find food enough for herself once she was outside of the city. As she stepped out into the open, the noblewoman gestured for the last of their number to come across the street, and then moved a short ways out so that she'd have more room.

She'd fought these things before, and these appeared to be the smallest version she'd encountered, making them the least dangerous... Relatively. Their tentacles secreted a poison that she'd become intimately familiar with, and letting them touch her was certain to result in bad things. That said, she'd learned exactly how to combat them; sever the tentacles, then stab the body. A simple strategy, and as she set herself into the readied stance she'd been taught and silently drew her rapier, Selena prepared to do just that. She probably could have shot one of the things before it came within range, but that would cause more noise than she was willing to make over this. In a way, the nature of her enemies were a benefit to her; Selena certainly didn't intend to make any noise, and since they couldn't it was unlikely that they'd alert anything else that might be lurking farther off.

Spoiler

Lightning Strikes for 3 attacks, 8 points of defensive fighting for more Dodge to put her up to 67. Hit the first tentacle monster to come within range.
Rapier (+30) 2d6 + 15
Curse my lack of Defensive Stance! If she doesn't get grabbed or nothing happens that might require a decision, feel free to run this through until they're all dead.