The Manor Is Not Enough - Maid RPG

"Sounds good Tammy." says Junko. "And yeah we should focus on trying to get through this." she listens silently to the others for a while. "Yeah the rules here seem to be pretty...creative. I'm really not sure if you'r out or not there Tammy. I wouldn't put even money on much of anything about this game right now....Hmmm."

F:41 S:0/30

Berenice's already poor view of what was going on disappeared entirely when the pilot light flickered out.

Which was then followed by a very bright light as the flash-bomb she had been carrying was dropped.

"Frak, frak, frak." The albino kept her eyes squeezed shut as she gave herself a few moments to adjust. "You okay over there?"

"You've got your transmission and your live wire, but your circuit's dead." - Media

Athletics = 10. Luck = 4, probably not enough to feel the door.

Luckily the sunglasses served their purpose: Elizabeth was rendered only mostly blind by the explosion of the flashbomb. Still, a magnesium burst at two feet of distance was quite startling, and Elizabeth yelped as she flinched away from the flash—luckily keeping her balance, though she had to reach out to the wall to steady herself. "Damn these dresses," she gasped, not even bothering to think to remain ladylike. "Nearly tripped over the hem. I have no idea how those Venezuelans manage..." Unconsciously she gesticulated with the broken bottle. "So. Keep going or what? Or do you have anything slower-burning—fusee, road flare, thermite, anything?" A brief pause. "...on second thought, not thermite. That'd be a bad idea."

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

After spending a few unfruitful moments of glancing around, Karina turned toward and expectantly looked at Jessie. — "Um... I'm er... not really good at this... can you suggest a move? Please?"

edited 30th Jun '14 12:13:18 PM by dragonfi

Karina: F:18 S:0/20 Evelyn: F:11 S:6/40 "Evelyn is adorably crazy." — compliment by Vampiric One

"Well let's see," Jessie says as she looks over toward Karina to identify her position, then back to the chessboard to mentally mark the vampire's location on the board and gauge where she can go. (Jessie rolls 3 x Cunning 2 = 6 for the attempt.)

Tammy looks around the room, then lifts up her shoeless foot asking, "Anyone see where my shoe went nya?" (Tammy rolls 3 x Luck 2 = 6. She gets her shoe back. Just not how she expects.) Just as she asks, the cat girl feels something hit the top of her head, knocking off her nurse headdress. "All right, who wants a piece of-... Nya?" she blurts out, looking around to see... no one right next to her, but a shoe looking similar to the one she flung off lying at her feet beside the headdress.

TMINE:(T=F:17,S:0/10);(J=F:6,S:4/20)

"Well that's handy." says Junko. "Wish I could find things that easy. Course there's only two things I'm looking for at the moment. Anyhow ready whenever you are Jessie."

F:41 S:0/30

Berenice felt around her garter for something less explosive. Truth be told, it was a bit of a gamble.

She found something long and cylindrical. "Ah, I'm not sure whether I've got a flare or dynamite here..."

Luck roll for fun? Luck: 2*4 = 8

edited 3rd Jul '14 7:08:25 PM by StolenByFaeries

"You've got your transmission and your live wire, but your circuit's dead." - Media

Elizabeth gulped. She would have moved further if she were able to see anything. "Um. Is there any way to test it? Other than the obvious method? Or...well, no, you know what you're doing." I hope. Just in case Elizabeth screwed her eyes shut and tried to crouch down. Just in case.

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

Dark Hallway

As the maids' eyes continued to adapt to gloom Berenice and Elizabeth began to see a bit of gradation in darkness. For instance, that strip of slightly less inky black about ten feet down the hall might be a weak sliver of light leaking under the bottom of a door.

Chess Room

At the moment Jessie couldn't see anything more useful for Karina to do than continue to stall between the white side's turns. Unfortunately, while they were deliberating their options it appeared that their opponent had finally come back from wherever they'd been for the last minute or so; making a sandwich maybe? In any event, one of the black pawns levered itself up off of the floor a few inches, then slid forward two spaces with a sound like it was rolling on castors. The clock ticked back to the white side's turn. Junko's path to the other side is still pretty wide open, but it seems like Tammy will have to take a different piece if she wants to continue to help.

edited 4th Jul '14 1:23:30 AM by alhazred23

H:44F(8/30)S|G:19F(0/10)S

"Well looks like the games back on, we got any clue on our next move?" says Junko. "I think I've got a clear run....What's it look like from your angle Jessie?"

F:41 S:0/30

Dark Hallway

...unfortunately, just as outline of the door started to become visible, night vision ceased to be necessary. Berenice's confusion about whether she was holding a road flare or a stick of dynamite suddenly became academic, since it appeared to be a stick if dynamite duck-taped to a pull-ring road flare for quick ignition. Ingenious- but also, very very unfortunate, since the pull ring had managed to get stuck on one of the spikes on her dress

One moment Elizabeth could see the albino maid attempting to throw it away, and the next she was half-blind, deaf and in pain again. Now, however, she seemed to be lying on her back on top of a large pile of rubble, staring up at a gaping hole in the ceiling. Also, there was light! It was provided by the flickering screen of an old-style arcade cabinet, which seemed to be displaying a computer chess game. Elizabeth could also see the outline of a door. Berenice may or may not have fallen down with her. There also may or may not be a maid buried under the rubble, if her player is still around. The maid in the antiques room definitely heard the explosion on the other side of the door. The maids in the chess room might have heard some muffled rumbling, but it sounds far off.

edited 7th Jul '14 9:44:08 PM by alhazred23

H:44F(8/30)S|G:19F(0/10)S

"Many times, I fall down on the job," Lyudmilla observed drily, wondering why everything was suddenly dark and painful. "I think that this is the first time the job has fallen down on me." She groaned slightly, wondering how long the aches and pains would last, and just how much her employer would yell at her for this. She tried to put a hand to her pounding head, but found it trapped under rubble.

As a matter of fact, she found basically everything trapped under rubble.

It was almost enough to make her feel... stressed.

I am become Death, Destroyer of Miniputts.

That'll leave a mark, Elizabeth thought dazedly. Like holding a firework...oh wait...

Slowly the ringing in her ears receded and her sense of direction returned: she was apparently sprawled very uncomfortably on what used to be flagstones of the passageway, groaning in pain (felt like a hammer hit her everything), and there was some kind of computer screen far up above.

Right, right, what to do what to do... It occurred to her that she was probably still dazed; somehow her sunglasses had come out of it unharmed, but focusing on the mental glyph needed to activate it was too much of an effort. "Any bodies discovered in the manor should be disposed of discreetly, in case of scandal," she said—probably louder than she intended—then giggled. "Lady Deidre Waggon's handbook for maids, heeheehee. An' what better way than telling them to...to shamble off an' bury themselves?"

Well, it seemed like good advice at the time, although Lady Waggon probably wasn't up to date to summoning and reanimation procedures—those were reasonably discreet enough, if one didn't mind the walking undead. Though the world still swam a bit Elizabeth hauled herself upright.

"Yoohoo!" she called, voice echoing through the corridor. "Who's not dead who can hear me? Anyone buried under the rubble?" A pause. "You had better declare yourself before I summon up the possessor spirit an' order your corpse to unbury itself! These rocks are heavy!"

edited 8th Jul '14 2:41:22 PM by SabresEdge

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

Once Berenice's head stopped throbbing, she made a mental note to put some sort of indicator that she could "read" in the dark on all her explosives once this was over.

While her ears were ringing still, she did hear Miami mention bodies and scandal. "If we wanted to avoid scandal, we'd get rid of Gemma." The albino smirked.

The albino sat up in the new light and observed - another demon/spirit/gibbering neenee summoner. She'd fit in just fine.

"You've got your transmission and your live wire, but your circuit's dead." - Media

"Perfect," Jessie says sarcastically as she sees the black pawn moving. "Looks like this guy who's so much into chess is using only the rules that benefit him." Tammy responds by commenting, "Typical with computer-based games nya."

"Anyway," Jessie says, "Miss Junko, it looks like you're free to move closer to the other side of the-..." Being the closest to the door, the ghost hears a faint noise from its other side. "Hm? Did anyone else hear something? Like a faint rumbling sound?"

"Are you sure it wasn't thunder?" Tammy asks as she heads back toward Jessie and the chessboard the ghost is beside. "We did drop in, literally, during the earlier storm nya." Jessie responds by reasoning, "Remember the soundproofing this Manor has? Maybe I should check just outside the door to be sure?"

TMINE:(T=F:17,S:0/10);(J=F:6,S:4/20)

"Huh...yeah I think I heard something there." says Junko. "Might be a good idea to have a look."

F:41 S:0/30

"Oh, so you're still alive," said Elizabeth. She shook her head vigorously to clear it. "Okay, good. Still have to clear this rubble, though..."

That'd be relatively boring work, but at least she could ensure that if there were bodies down there they would help in getting themselves out (and then transferred to a proper grave/sealed barrel of acid/bottom of the river with concrete shoes as was but right), so, that first. Fiddling with her phone, she called up the occult countermeasures kit, pulled out a silvery conductive pencil, and sketched out a diagram following the overlay on her sunglasses—NAND gate, Elder Sign, Elder Sign, unspeakable horror, other unspeakable horror, Yellow Sign—before closing the summoning grid with the geodesic, or "food over here" arrow, pointed towards the rubble pile. A drop of blood to energize, an Enochian chant to go throughout—felt like gargling razor blades but there was only so much you could do with a language designed for shoggoths. "Hear ye, hear ye, I open the gates of starry time, I invoke the Method of Dee, and don't you all bloody swarm through at once 'cos there's only one meal, so the fastest one of you lot gets it—there we go, amen, and collect all the garbage."

In her peripheral senses Elizabeth could see the night hag she summoned—an eel-like thing of shadow—swarm into the rockpile. Now if there were any corpses there, it'd take possession of them; otherwise—well, the Crescent Black entity might try to take bites out of the soul of someone living, but it was pretty unlikely to actually possess them; night hags were pretty low-level entities. Besides, it wasn't likely that there was anyone in there, right...?

Counts as attack using 4 Will at 1d6 = 4x1 = 4, to anyone trapped in the rubble. Hey Rena, I did tell you Lyudmilla should've spoken up...

edited 10th Jul '14 12:43:47 AM by SabresEdge

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

"Um... I think it came from this way." — Karina spoke up, indicating the wall closest to her. — "And.. it sounded more like..." — She quieted down and took on a slightly worried expression.

"Do you think we should help?" — She took a step, only to stop as she realizes that the game is still on.

Decide if it's enough to step out of her square.

Karina: F:18 S:0/20 Evelyn: F:11 S:6/40 "Evelyn is adorably crazy." — compliment by Vampiric One

"I'm not even sure we can help." says Junko. "This day's getting more complicated all the time...to bad we don't get a time out...Or know who to ask for one at least."

F:41 S:0/30

"Am here!" Lyudmilla shouted, trying to get heard. "I am here, and I am ali-"

She paused, as she heard that sounded something eerily similar to a woman summoning occult creatures. After a few more moments of listening, she deduced that this exactly what it was.

"I was hoping to hold this job for a few more weeks," she sighed, "so it would be inconvenient if I died." She took a deep brEath, "I, LYUDMILLA THOMPSON, AM FOR SALE AT A NEGOTIABLE WAGE! PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME!"

I am become Death, Destroyer of Miniputts.

"Oh...ooops!" Elizabeth heard Lyudmilla just as she'd completed the summoning. Hastily she scuffed out one of the glyphs on the summoning grid's periphery, though it was too late to stop the shadowy Feeder from gliding into the rockpile. Luckily it seemed like a rather runty one. "Oh, um, well, there's a soul-eating horror going towards you, although it'll probably prioritize corpses over living targets, and it's a pretty minor soul-eating horror." A pause. "Probably. If it starts biting your soul or anything just give it a mental kick."

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

"I will be giving you a mental kick!" Lyudmilla shouted, thrashing against the rubble, "followed by several in the tuckus, damn you!" She groaned, and made an effort at digging herself out, while fending off the abomination.

A few moments later, she was free of the tubble, and cracking her knuckles, ready to smack a maid.

Not bothering with athletics right now. Used Skill, because holding off an abomination requires finesse, and rolled a 5. 5 x 4=20 (blaze it). Suck it, you Californio dipstick.

EDIT: Hazzy said no skill. Even though one of her former jobs gave her interesig skills. Still, athletics. Suck it, you Belgian.

edited 11th Jul '14 2:29:29 PM by RenaTheArchmage

I am become Death, Destroyer of Miniputts.

"Right, then. I'll check it out. Can you keep an eye on the board and the others for a moment, Miss Tammy?" With that, Jessie heads for the door to the hallway, (Jessie rolls 1 x Will 2 = 2, failing to phase through the door.) only to slam into it instead of phasing through it. "Oww... I'm really starting to believe these things have Anti-Magic wards," she says. I wonder if Miss Gemma does more of her 'summoning' around here than I think, she adds to herself as she opens the door and looks out into the hallway.

(Tammy rolls 4 x Cunning 2 = 8.) Switching glances between the board and the floor layout, as well as recalling what Jessie said earlier, Tammy eventually catches on to the setup. "Junko, it looks like Jessie may have wanted you to move more toward your opposite side of the board nya." The cat girl says as she makes a sideways motion with her hands.

TMINE:(T=F:17,S:0/10);(J=F:6,S:4/20)

"Hmmm....yeah that would make sense." says Junko looking thoughtful. "I'd prefer to wait till she gets back from her look out there but we probably don't have a lot of time."

F:41 S:0/30

"Oh—ow—well, it worked, didn't it?" The pile of rubble looked a bit less imposing now than an angry maid had burst out of it, though Elizabeth would have been happier if that hadn't caused some of the rubble to bounce off her head. "I mean, the Feeder did cause the victim to get up and unbury herself..." She shook her head again; the summoning plus the knocks to the head was still giving her a headache. "By the way, d'you also work here? I'm Elizabeth. That's Berenice over there, she was the one that caused the explosion."

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.