(Down in a Hole) Bottom of the Barrel

[James Calloway]

I guess I'll open, since I'm now the guy at the bottom of the ladder that isn't dead...

James' light shines down, and he winces as Jose hits the ground. He says loud enough for his team to hear a pronouncement of the deadliest sort.

"Dillon: Jose is down." It wasn't loud. But it was to the point. His voice sounded shocked and a little sad. Clan Gangrel had lost its reckless martial artist, at least, for a while. God damnit, Jose, I told you to stop...

He led the way down the ladder carefully toward the bottom... and looked around when he was able to see more than just the shaft, shining the light about to see what could be seen. There was something down here, and the Taifa wished to know what it was, aside from the bloody wreckage that was Jose Matias. He had to be careful.

Heading on down, he stepped foot on terra firma, trying to avoid the mess that was Jose Matias.

  PER fail for looking about the room once he's at the bottom

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-13 17:32:45		James Calloway rolls 5 to Perception (10 Again)		7, 2, 2, 1, 1		failure

[Swift]

Dr. Swift cautiously descends the ladder in a bid to avoid Jose's fate. When he touches down he peers around the area now illuminated by Jim's flashlight. He whispers to Jim, despite the fact that they've already made plenty of noise with Jose falling and people talking at the top of the shaft. "Where the Hell are we? We have to be dozens of yards beneath the surface by now."

  perception 3 suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-14 00:02:58		Dr. Swift rolls 6 to perception (10 Again)		2, 9, 1, 9, 9, 7		3 successes

[Dillon Connery]

There's a faint squeak from the metal rails as Dillon Connery nonchalantly slides part of the distance, feet braced on the sides of the ladder rather than stepping on the rungs. He didn't want to land on anyone's head, though, so he stops several yards from the bottom and plants his feet.

Grimacing at Jim's proclamation, he pauses to shake his head. "There's a surprise. Do either of you see the roadrunner that Wile E Coyote was after, down there?"

Maybe it sounds callous of the Gangrel Priscus, but that was a stupid thing to do. He isn't sure how much more of this he can take from his Clan. Why can't we have, like, ten Tracy Burns? Burns... Burnses... es. Whatever.

Not a harem, or anything. Just, you know. Cool.

[wibblywobbly]

After Dillon had slid down the Ladder Charles soon follows after him. When Charles gets to the bottom, he brushes himself off again, it didn't really help, the clothing was already a mess at this point, it just made him feel a little better about the whole "being in a God damn sewer" situation.

He looks at the broken mass that once was a kindred with relative disinterest, He would have commented that the stunt Jose had just pulled did not help dispel the old stereotype about Clan Gangrel. However, considering Charles is surrounded by Gangrel at the moment, he held his tongue.

He then looks around trying to see if he can spot whatever had excited the Latino so much that it drove him to attempt such a mad stunt.

  PER 1 sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-15 08:45:46		Charles Black rolls 5 to perception (10 Again)		3, 7, 9, 3, 6		1 success

[Emma French]

Emma follows Dillon down the ladder, she briefly pauses deciding whether to try closing the hatch above them. Deciding against it in case they needed to make a quick retreat she slowly climbs down the ladder into the dark. Emma was on the last rung when a bright light comes on, momentarily stunner her into stillness. Beast begins to roar deep within her, which will it be fight or flight? "Fuck." Emma whispers.

  2sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-15 12:41:14		Emma French rolls 6 to Pred Taint plus 1		7, 8, 4, 9, 6, 5		2 successes

[Swift]

Dr. Swift glances back down at the broken body of Jose at the Priscus' words. "Wily Coyote: suuuper genius." He mutters it very quietly under his breath and then sighs. This is exactly the sort of thing that we're trying to fight. Good job, Genius. "No, sir, I don't have the faintest idea why he felt he needed to be down here so quickly as to do away with such conveniences as ladders."

Then the floodlights turn on and a rather angry sounding voice demands attention. Inside the beast starts screaming about interlopers and easy back ovens. Swift wants to bear his fangs and claws and tear the threat to pieces. He wants to flee screaming back up the ladder and into the night. Instead, he doesn't flinch. He doesn't blink. He simply turns to face the sound and shields his eyes from the floodlight.

"Who's there?" He demands. If it's asking questions it can answer them.

  5suxx to avoid predator's taint

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-15 21:20:33		Dr. Swift rolls 8 to Resolve + Composure vs. Predators Taint (+1) (10 Again)		8, 10, 9, 5, 10, 10, 2, 4, 5, 6, 1		5 successes

[James Calloway]

  PT+1 2 sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-15 15:49:33		james Calloway rolls 10 to PT+1 + WP (10 Again)		3, 3, 8, 5, 3, 10, 4, 4, 4, 7, 1		2 successes

Two words burned in the back of James' mind as he grappled with the urge to charge forward into the light and attack in a flurry of claws and violence. Two words, remembered from a shadowy meeting with an idiot Gangrel, his new best friend, a leggy Regent and a pancake on the floor next to him. Arnold Culler. Yes, he knew this Beast, this monsterous presence that had whipped forth its monumental shaft at the meeting. But he was too composed, his Beast checked by the cracking of a whip and the exercise of force of personality.

James shields his eyes and decides that it is best to let Dillon handle this. "It's Lord Arnold Culler..." he muttered to Swift. No doubt Dillon would hear the quiet whisper as well. If the Deputy was the Priscus and the ranking member of their little party, then he could handle the politicking with the freaky monster Beast that lurked beneath the Domain of Sacramento in his Necropolis. Jim didn't know what arrangement Asa Clarke had with the Haunt. Perhaps their presence was a wildly illegal thing, in violation of some treaty.

Or perhaps everything would be just fine.

But the way this Haunt activated spotlights in some sort of trap, he suspected the former was more likely than the latter. He wasn't about to be the guy that got them all killed by waiving the right to remain silent... or the vampiric equivalent. Jim at least had a moment to see what Dillon could come up with.

[Dillon Connery]

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-05-16 01:30:07		Dillon Connery rolls 9 to resist frenzy (Resolve + Composure +1 (10 Again, WillPower)		1, 4, 6, 5, 10, 5, 3, 2, 4, 6		1 success

Dillon, who only continued down to the ground to avoid having Charles and Emma sitting on his shoulders*, is fairly perturbed when the lights blast on and he is questioned like some common trespasser. Cerberus strains at the leashes, snorting sulfurous vapor to the far corners of the Gangrel's mind, threatening the larger Beast with an angry defiance that clouded his vision nearly as much as the spotlight.

Neither Dillon or his Beast likes being surprised, or threatened with an ambush. And the difficult night that he went through the last time he had a light shoved in his face nearly pushes him over the edge. Only through monumental effort does he maintain control, but it is so tempting just to let go. A deep rumble escapes, sounding for all the world as though it originates in the gateway to hell that exists in Dillon's dead stomach.

That is a fantastic method of earning a face full of claws...

"Lord Culler." He pushes the growl out of his voice. Most of it. "I am Deputy Reeve Dillon Connery, and we are not here to intrude upon your territory. I am investigating a possible poacher situation from Howe Park, and a few of the others with me are pursuing a matter for Regent Roxie Hart.

"Both trails have led us here. Any chance you could..." A twitch of a smile, "shed some light on the situation?"

*

I clearly never narrated Dillon to the ground. In the future, please read another characters' actions before you "follow" them.