Log: Giant Spiders in a Doorway! Bugs on the Ground!
Fri Aug 22 10:54:38 2008
--[ Malachi ]--------------------------------------------------[ idle 4m ]----
A rangy man of dark brown skin worn by the weather. Curly black hair cropped short frames his narrow face. Sharp green eyes remain wary and cold, whatever the expression on his face. Simple diamond studs glitter in his ears.
He dresses in sturdy leather and linen, a sea captain's outfit for storms rather than show. The black tricorn hat has been trimmed in green, and shadows his eyes. His concession to city fashion is a dark green cloak lined with black, held at his shoulders with simple metal clasps. A plain saber rests in a sheath at his side.
-------------------------------------------------[ male pbg trouble-ok/4 ]----
--[ Petrus ]--------------------------------------------------[ idle 14s ]----
A few inches shy of six feet and slim, Petrus has harsh features and olive skin, dark eyes, dark hair, trimmed short. He wears a neat, Van Dyck, accentuating his piercing, unnaturally steady gaze and the slight downward twist to his lips.
He's wearing a dark outfit, light chain under a jacket, bracers in all the usual places. It's light as far as armor goes, and stylish. He wears two short blades, slightly curved, on opposite hips, and a knife.
Shadows seem to cling to Petrus, in subtle defiance of normal rules of light and occlusion, giving him something of a cold, unsettling air.
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Perhaps you are about to pass the mouth of an alley, or round the corner, or about to go into a house. Whatever the scenario, you find yourself confronting a giant black spider with blue and red markings on its belly. (Think Shelob, i.e., horse-sized.) The spider is busy webbing up a doorway, apparently nonsensically, but when it spots you, it attacks. It is aggressive, resilient, strong, and equipped with fangs that drip a vicious, burning poison. (Those without Tough or its equivalent will need treatment to recover if bitten.) It will not pursue those who run away, though.
--[ Damsel's Rest ]-----------------------------------------[ Amber City ]----
Centuries ago, this was a relatively pleasant part of the city,
devoted to industry and trade for the working classes, and noted for
its breweries. Canal Street runs straight through this ward, and
although the road itself is in poor repair, the buildings along it are
supported by pride. Some fluke of geography often blankets the ward in
rolling fog off the sea on chill nights, causing the glow of the
lamp-globes to diffuse eerily. But it is on the side-streets that the
true common profession of the ward becomes apparent, in the red
lanterns displayed in front windows, the condition of each building
and its signage an indication of the social class served therein.
Laughter and liquor alike spill out into the narrow streets, masking
the misery of poverty that lurks beneath.
On one of the streets in better repair is the tired-looking marble
facade of the Mandrake Charity Hospital. To the south lies Fishcutter
Square, and the fishy odors disguised with many a perfumed
handkerchief. A makeshift barricade to the west does little to cut off
the stench that assaults the nose as one nears the Dredge. To the east
lies the Great Lift, and the harbor district.
Beatrice, Malachi, and Petrus are here.
-------------------------------------------------------[ Exits: S E W SE ]----
Malachi stops near Petrus, one hand resting on his saber as he looks over a shadowed alley near the hospital. He shrugs briefly. "The usual, aside from the invasion. You?"
Petrus says toward Malachi, "Troubled. These bugs." Petrus looks back out over the city. "And... apparently... 'Gate Fishers'." Petrus looks back toward Malachi. "Heard of them?"
Petrus is out in front of the Hospital, wearing a pack, some armor, gloves, climbing gear, and a sour expression.
Malachi nods to Petrus. "Not in detail. A Karm problem?"
Beatrice can be seen moving around on rooftops in the all-but-abandoned area. She spies the two men, and makes her way in their direction, alighting nearby, careful to take her rope and grappling hook down with her.
Petrus shrugs at Malachi. "If you call it a problem. The implications of the thing are staggering." Petrus loosk out over the city. "I just spoke with someone in the charity hospital. Apparently the couple's daughter got seperated from them, during the battle near to hear yesterday. I've been considering hunting her down in the city, on the assumption she fled back to her home."
Malachi flicks a glance over towards Beatrice, and nods in return to her greeting. "Might've," he says to Petrus. "Place is near here?"
Beatrice says, "My pardons... but if you're about to make your way out into the surrounding area, I've just been up scouting. Perhaps I can help?"
Petrus shrugs at Malachi. "Far edge of fishcutter square, actually. There's two significant bug flows to avoid on the way, at least according to my previous excurions." He looks toward Beatrice, considers. "Lady... Beatrice... of Solaris, I believe," he ventures. "Could be." He looks to Malachi. "How do you feel about playing a hero for a bit?"
Petrus toward Beatrice, pleasantly then, Good day to you, madam."
Malachi says dryly, "Could try on the title for an afternoon."
Beatrice nods her head respectfully to Petrus as he names her. "You are a lord of Montevalno, I recall. And Captain Malachi, of course -- I recall from Ennisport."
Petrus explains to Beatrice, "A noble from Montevalno. Close enough, though." Petrus adds, "Some couple in the hospital lost their daughter during the confusion around that spider-battle that happened near here yesterday. We're considering, I think, rescuing her on the asumption she fled back to her home."
Beatrice nods her head, and explains, gesturing back the way she came, "The bug flow that was east-to-west a block down has shifted a bit southerly; we should still be able to avoid them as long as they haven't shifted to the house you're trying to reach."
Malachi follows the explanations quietly, with a look back towards the direction Beatrice indicates.
Petrus nods, smiling at Beatrice. "Makes things a bit easier. It's a pity I haven't had any luck with my whiskey firewalls, in terms of crossing untroubled."
Beatrice lifts her brows at 'whiskey firewalls'. "If you know the house, Lord... Petrus?" She's clearly not sure she has the name right after so much time, "Please, lead on."
Petrus says to Beatrice, "I know roughly where it is." Petrus states the address. "That is, it's near fishcutter square, the far side, and I've a description of the place, but I doubt I've laid eyes on it before." Petrus shrugs, then starts off toward Fishcutter square.
Beatrice nods her head, murmuring, "More bugs in that direct area... I suppose we'll see." She falls in. She keeps her two-by-four at the ready, her sword sheathed, and the hook and rope are at her belt as well, ready to get tossed if needed.
Malachi notes Beatrice's choice of weapon as he follows the other two, taking up the rear guard without comment.
Petrus adds toward Beatrice, "Just Petrus, by the by, madam. Only the head of the Pitello family accepts noble titles, by family tradition." Back toward Malachi, he says, "Heard a rumor there's been gates opened in the lower city, and maybe that's where this all has come from."
Beatrice perhaps notices the noting! She taps the board and notes, "Better for sweeping and flattening the bugs."
Beatrice nods to Petrus's correction, explaining, "I'm told there were thousands of gates opened that let the bugs through. The gates are now closed... and the bugs themselves are not yet breeding, but are attempting to build a giant hive out in the water. MHQ has plans to demolish it."
Malachi nods to Beatrice, with a tap of one boot on the cobblestones as he walks to indicate his own best weapon for flattening. "All the gates closed?"
Petrus raises an eyebrow at Beatrice. "Thousands of gates have been closed?" he asks.
Beatrice clarifies, "This is what I've been told, but it was at least second-hand."
Malachi says in a neutral voice, "Fast work," and scans the mouth of an alley as they pass.
Petrus considers this. "Karm can't possibly have enough agents to have closed all of thousands of gates and not missed some. They've either missed some - simple probability - the rumor's wrong, or they've a way to shut down all the gates in a vast region." Petrus says, "And I'll believe that when there aren't gates opening up in the lower city."
Petrus is somewhat distracted in his thoughts. He's barely even watching where he's going.
Beatrice says, "Or they were let through and the gates closed behind them by the same agency. Again -- the rumor may be inaccurate in detail."
Beatrice is on the other hand wary... not tense, but nearly so. She murmurs, "Bugs," They are swarming one of the houses on the side of the street.
Malachi is keeping enough watch for two, and turns to watch the bugs as they move past the house. "Rumors say closed, or sealed?"
Petrus looks a bit more alert. "Coming up on a flow?" he asks, looking toward Beatrice.
Beatrice admits, "I am part Karm but I admit I am not clear what the distinction is."
Beatrice nods tensely to Petrus, "To the south, though. We should be able to get past this one, but the address is somewhere on this street and it's hard to know which other houses they've gotten into..."
Petrus shrugs at the others. "I'm not clear either. Gates are an academic interest to me, not a practical one." Considering Beatrice's words, he says, "Well, let's find the house, then. It's supposed to have a wrought iron bit of grating on the front somewhere, shaped like a lyre."
Beatrice lifts her brows at the description. Then considers, "I saw that house," she nods, "Down this corner."
Malachi has changed his place in the small group to between the other two and the houses across the street, and otherwise keeps up with the occasional glance towards the skies and the ground.
Petrus follows Beatrice's lead. "Crap," he says as they're moving along. "I've forgotten the girl's name."
Malachi glances to Petrus. "Remember the family name?"
Beatrice frowns, "I didn't hear anything when I was on the roofs but I wasn't that near..." She leads them around the corner so the house is now in view, with something dark moving in its doorway.
Petrus muses distractedly, "Sounded a bit like 'Sibel'."
The house has shutters, and they are all shut, and have boards nailed into them; looks like the family was trying to keep bugs out before they gave up and made a run for it.
Petrus observes, "Well, there's that lyre. That's got to be the place. I'm amazed anyone dared to remain in the lower city any time at all, after the bugs showed."
Malachi moves forward to take a closer look at the doorway, if from a still cautious distance.
Beatrice goes with Malachi, but as they near, it becomes obvious that what was half-hidden by the lyre on the gate and in the shadows of the doorway is the *leg* of a spider. It comes out of the doorway completely.... and the light catches the webbing just so. It is building a web that touches the gate, the door, and the top of the house, for the spider itself is the size of a horse.
Petrus whistles siltently. "Huge," he mouths, then looks toward Beatrice.
Malachi draws his saber slowly enough that it makes no sound, and looks to Beatrice as well as the resident expert on these creatures.
Beatrice murmurs, "My prince has seen them this size. We had some at the lift yesterday, but not this big. They have softer underbellies... but you don't want to get that close unprotected."
Petrus doesn't look very expertish, when it comes to giant spiders the size of horses.
The spider has a few things in cocoons -- most of them the size of the bugs infesting the city. One is larger; the size of a small human.
Petrus considers the tools he has available. He's got... a itty bitty knife, and those shortish blades of his. He draws one of each, looks toward Beatrice for further advice.
Anyone want to pose in the bugs? I don't want to grab all the 'noticing things' poses.
Squish. Whether it's pheromones, or something else, shortly after Petrus steps on a stray bug, there's a slow by audible rise of low chittering noises in the area. It's only a bit at first, but all around, the insects are begging to come out of the woodwork.
Beatrice tenses, still. She was about to put her board down, but now she doesn't dare. "I suggest," she says low and steadily, "We try to cut the girl down and get her up on the roof before these bugs make the whole area impossible.... I can grapple us onto the roof but it looks like she," she nods at the web-building spider, "Might follow us..."
Petrus considers this. He says softly, "I'd rather not have us get into a contest with a spider as to who's a faster climber. We'll have to disable or distract it first, would be my guess."
Malachi shifts his feet among the growing number of bugs, his eyes on the spider. "Might be able to keep her distracted," he says, with no suggested time limit on how long he expects that to last.
Beatrice says, "We're going to have to kill it. One way or another. And be careful... from what I've seen, they spit."
Malachi gives Beatrice a look. Apparently this just keeps getting better. He shifts the saber in his grip, and begins moving slowly away from the human-sized cocoon, watching the spider and his footing among the insects as he goes.
Petrus circles, a bit, given them the option of rushing the thing from slightly different angles. Which might or might not be a good idea.
Beatrice murmurs, "Once you have her off to the side, I'll try to grapple the girl out of there." She loosens the grappling hook and readies it, with the rope.
Beatrice waits until Malachi is moving to start with the grappling hooks. It seems the plan is to take down a few key strands of the web. Wind, wind.... toss. She hooks one, but glances over to see how distracted the spider is before pulling it down.
Petrus backs Malachi up, when he makes his move to distract, carefully trying to ignore the bugs that have already found his boots.
Malachi moves away from the spider, and then reaches into his coat to withdraw a small throwing knife. He snaps that off to clatter against the spider's carapace--distraction, not injury--and begins sliding back faster with his saber up for defense the moment he's caught the creature's attention.
Beatrice is now sure the spider's distracted, so pulls on the strand of the web, pulling it down just enough. She's doing a stomp-dance with her boots to deal with the buts trying to run up over her. STOMP STOMP. She's just managing to avoid getting entangled in the sticky stuff as she slices this thread with a graceful arc of her sword, then onto the next.... choosen strategically to lower the child-shaped cocoon where she can get at it.
Petrus waits a few moments after Malachi's move, when Beatrice makes hers, then mimics Malachi's technique, throwing his knife. Petrus does aim to injure, but the toss misses anything vital and scrapes off the hard carapace. The spider chitters in annoyance, pausing for a bare moment.
Malachi watches the spider, and then begins sliding towards it, one deliberate step after another. His saber drops slightly in front of him; it's as near a "Come and get" gesture as the spider is going to get.
Beatrice is moving more rapidly now, especially as the bugs are moving all around. She's smart enough to drop some web-strand on them which gets a few of them hopelessly tangled... but not enough. She has the cocoon now, and is slicing it free....
Petrus uses his spare hand to look for something else to throw. A teakettle's better than nothing...
Beatrice and the others are in front of a house with a lyre on its gate; she's just finished cutting a child-sized cocoon out of a giant spider's web, but there is also the GIANT SPIDER -- the size of a horse -- to contend with.
Robin comes toward the three along a rooftop, at a slow jog rather than a dead run; there's a very slight limp evident in his pace. He is once again well-armored -- fortunately.
Petrus and Malachi are currently engaging the thing, intent mostly on distraction.
The spider is getting angry, its fangs beared. It now proves that size is no impediment to speed, skittering forward quickly to try to snap at her attackers.
Beatrice grapples the roof with her ropes. She's created a sling-hold for the cocooned child and about to try to climb up and take the girl with her when she spies someone up high. "ROBIN!" she shouts. "Help me get this girl up to safety." It just looks like a cocoon, not a girl -- but it is girl-shaped.
Petrus does some fancy throwing of things and slashing at eyes and mouth and joints while backing out quickly toward the door and trying not to get spat on or skewered. It looks a bit frantic.
Malachi steps into the spider's attack, with a sidelong glance over to Petrus to see how the other man is doing. His saber narrowly deflects a lunge from one of the legs, and follows through by slicing through the lowest joint of that leg to leave the enormous arachnid slightly less balanced. He moves slowly in following Petrus' retreat, concentrating on little more than fending off the creature's attacks.
"What -- " Robin's taken a /little/ by surprise by this tableau, but, fortunately, not for wrong. "Gladly, my lady!" he calls down, seizing hold of the ropes from where they're in place at the edge of the roof. "All secure?" Once he's convinced that all is, indeed, secure, he winces expectantly and hauls upward on them to pull the little bundle up to (temporary) safety.
Petrus muses morbidly, "Times like this, I wish I carried a crossbow." And retreats back out the door, taking up position by its left side and drawing his other blade.
The spider thus far manages to stay mostly intact, but also has not managed to land any bites on either man. Then Malachi slices at its low joint and it gets ANGRY. A little unbalanced... but angry... and it's noticed that Beatrice is removing the dinner it's set aside for herself. Furious, it starts to skuttle down its web....
Beatrice is frantically trying to fend off bugs. "Raise her up!" she shouts at Robin. "She's secure!"
Malachi says evenly to Petrus, "Useful weapon." There may be some regret in that comment to not having his own with him, given the sudden necessity to follow the spider rather than snipe from afar. He takes another throwing knife from his coat, and offers it over to Petrus before moving in for a fresh attack at the spider's legs while it's now distracted in the opposite direction.
Robin hauls up on the rope with all his not inconsiderable strength -- moderated by the need to ensure that the cocooned child doesn't slam into the wall on the way up. In short order he's got the little bundle in his arms, and sets her down atop the roof in a spot that appears secure for at least the next few minutes before drawing his sword and measuring the drop to the ground.
Petrus moves to circle for the rear of the spider, slashing hard at its supporting legs if it gives him the opportunity. He manages to crack the exoskeleton after, after a few swings, but the chitin back there appears to be rather thick.
Beatrice is slamming buts with her board, HARD, so has to raise the board up right quickly to stop from getting chomped by GIANT SPIDER as it gets closer to her. She is flat-out being swarmed, as the bugs have found their way around the loose web-tangles, and her features are set with focus (though her eyes glitter a bit) as she tries to leap back without getting web-tangled herself. It means her side is exposed while she's reaching to draw her sword, and it's then she gets sliced in the ribs by the spider's hard forearms -- right where the protection of her mail leggings ends and the gambeson is cut to ribbons.
Malachi circles out towards Petrus, watching for bugs across the exit route along the streets. He slashes at another spider leg to give it reason to pull back from its attention to those on the roof.
Robin grits his teeth, crouches down as low as he can manage off the roof's edge, and drops to the ground. He is not quite able to suppress a cry of pain when he hits the ground, but he /is/ able to stay on his feet. Sword and shield are brought back to the ready in a moment, and he limps toward the spider, jabbing at it repeatedly.
Petrus manages to strike cracked limb again, his blade sinking into deep enough that it's clear some harm has been done to the leg, at least. Then a limb comes flailing out of no-where, hitting Petrus upside the head and sending him sprawling a few feet away, trying to scramble back to his feet.
Beatrice has her sword out now. She's clearly in a lot of pain, and a little white from it, but gets a good CUT in the spider, which both stops it from snapping at her again and starts to slice it open a bit. She won't have finished it yet.... but she may not be in the fight a lot longer. A stumble back and she has the presence of mind to stomp bugs on the way.
A whisper is sent to Benedict: Wounded.... going to be at hospital soon... not too bad. More spiders.
Malachi retreats into a defensive crouch, offering his free hand to Petrus while he keeps up a hastier defense against the wounded spider.
Petrus takes the hand, shakes his head in a vague attempt to clear it, and jumps back into the fray, less coordinated than before.
Robin's more cautious, this time, than the last time he encountered spiders. He keeps the shield up and lets its forelimbs bang off that, counterattacking only when it's safe. He starts to edge around toward Beatrice, though, as he sees her retreat. "Good day, my lords!" he calls across to the others, as if this is some sort of day in the park.
Malachi nods politely to Robin, while narrowly fending off a spider limb with his saber and another half step of retreat.
Petrus skitters vaguely leftward while trying to fight the spider. He's clearly still dizzy. And bleeding from a gash above his ear, it seems.
The spider is now down three legs and doing a rather bad job of getting around, even on its own web. If only there were not so many bugs swarming everywhere! They will start getitng up people's legs (and eating through non-metal clothes) in just a moment if the people in question don't get out of the way. "Robin," Beatrice shouts, "You have my hook! Grapple it upside down so we can finish the deuced thing!" She's finding purchase up on the gate, and trying to slice at the spider from there, with some luck.
And Robin is nothing if not obliging. He pauses a beat -- long enough to return his sword to its over-the-shoulder scabbard -- and then is whirling the hook in a tight arc. Timing the creature's speed and reactions, as, it's not clear, he has been from the start. Waiting for the right opening to -- throw! And then he's got both hands on the rope and leans back, straining to pull a horse-sized spider off its balance. Which, with the smaller number of legs, is probably easier than it sounds.
Malachi offers a helpful kick to one of the spider's remaining limbs, and then backs up further with a sudden sharp awareness for the bugs on the ground that are beginning to swarm about his own feet.
Beatrice is clinging to the gate with one arm.... which means her sword-arm cannot hold her side. She's bleeding a little more aggressively now, as the gate swings and she takes a strong SLICE at the spider's underbelly.
Petrus shakes his head, trying to return to his senses. He catches sight of the solid slice from Beatrice, and the generally dubious position the spider is in, then goes a bit green in the face. "Good gods, they're out in masses!" he calls, referring to the bugs which have been steadily pouring out of everywhere during this fight. "It's flee now or be overrun! Do we have the girl?"
Robin, encased in metal as he is, is somewhat less immediately prone to attack by the bugs -- but all that means is that they can swarm over him more easily. He hauls one the rope as hard as he can for as long as the spider continues to struggle. Teeth clenched, he can barely choke out an answer to Petrus' question: "Aye! On the roof!"
Malachi pulls himself up from the ground along the walls of the house, forgoing attack on the dangling and slashed spider in exchange for keeping some semblance of balance on the way up.
You feel a gentle pressure in your mind. Someone is trying to reach you via your Trump.
RPG: Use '+trump/ok' to answer the call, '+trump/reject' to ignore the call, or '+trump/page' to request that your caller page to negotiate.
Beatrice is still clinging to the fence, but it puts her out of the reach of the bugs.
You accept the Trump contact from Benedict.
Petrus makes to climb for safety, seeing as how the battle appears to be - quite possibly - won, and the bugs may prove rather dangerous soon. Given his dizzy state his ascent attempt is not particularly graceful.
The image of Benedict looks like he is trying bravely not to be worried. "Where are you?"
Malachi finds a place against a boarded-up shutter where he can plant his feet, and offers Petrus help up and away from the bugs.
To the image of Benedict, Beatrice is bleeding at her side, and clinging to the side of a gate. There are bugs carpeting the ground around her, but they haven't found a way up on the wrought-iron fence yet. She has a sword in the arm that is not clinging to the gate, but it doesn't seem to be in use at present.
To the image of Benedict, Beatrice murmurs to the air, "Soon... I said I'd be there soon..." To those near her, "Robin, I may need a rope to get up with the rest of you."
Beatrice murmurs to the air, "Soon... I said I'd be there soon..." To those near her, "Robin, I may need a rope to get up with the rest of you."
Robin, with the spider still twitching, yanks the grappling hook free of its flesh and only then takes a moment to frantically wipe some of the swarming bugs off of him. He tosses the hook up to the roof -- careful to avoid the spot where he left the child -- and makes haste to try to pull himself upward. Fortunately, most of the bugs clinging to the white armor drop off once he's off the ground. "A moment, my lady!" he answers.
The image of Benedict looks even more worried as the background comes into focus. "Come through?" he suggests.
To the image of Benedict, Beatrice nods her head, then shouts, "Nevermind... someone has heard my whisper and I shall be leaving via trump. Don't forget..." she's a bit jagged, p robably due to the wound, "To cut the girl's wrapping open..."
Beatrice nods her head, then shouts, "Nevermind... someone has heard my whisper and I shall be leaving via trump. Don't forget..." she's a bit jagged, p robably due to the wound, "To cut the girl's wrapping open..."
RPG: Benedict offers to pull you through. Use '!accept' to go.
The bugs are happily distracted right now as there is SPIDER for dinner. They swarm over its soft underbelly and ichor, to find dinner.
Petrus accepts the help from Malachi, grunting some sort of thanks. When finally in a safer position, he kneels down for a bit, collecting himself.
Beatrice gratefully reaches to the invisible hand...