(Blackhats) Bushwacking

[InvertedMonkey]

The ogress makes a 'tch' sound, and shakes her head at Rick's mention of flames. "Fire extinguisher. Knew I forgot to pack something," she says quietly to herself, then shrugs. The damn things are heavy anyway, and she's already carrying quite a lot. In any case, it seems that Rick at least has found a reason to linger, so she remains in place, watchful of the gate. Her question had been genuine, not motivated by impatience. When Rick's done with... whatever he's doing, they can make their way. She nods along with Green's summary of events, "Sounds about right." If they want more clues, beyond whatever Rick is gathering, they'll probably have to find them on the other side.

[Lesingnon]

"Sounds like they must've been burning wet wood. I can hear several sets of footsteps, sounds like more than two, not sure how many total. Person in charge was a woman, and Klark's the one that made the grab. Big guy, but sounds like he got a bit of a nasty surprised once he reached his target."

"They gagged her, then dragged her out. Something was squealing in pain afterwards. My guess is Klark sounds kinda like an animal when he's hurt, that or they had some sort of Hedge beast with them, sounds like duct tape was used for a bandage. And that was after they dragged he woman out, so at least some of this blood is almost certainly the assailants'." So apparently he'd been correct in his guess...he always liked it when that happened.

Eyes that he'd hardly realized had fallen half closed as he listened to the past snapped back open. "So we probably won't have a blood trail to follow in the Hedge." Which might be a blessing in disguise, you never knew what that kind of thing could grab the attention of there. "But we can listen for the name Klark and keep an eye out for any duct tape bandaging, though they'd have had time to replace it with something a bit better by now I suppose."

"Anyone else have anything they want me to try to listen for before we move on?"

[Swami M]

"They may have been using the tape to bind her as well..."

Alex tries to think of anything missing from the description of the events in the room.

"Hmm... the doors. Any sounds from the front door as the bad guys showed up and then entered? Like an engine? If they drove here, did they leave a car in the lot? Or did they have a driver? Is that person or anyone else still watching the motel? And the Other door... were there any sounds coming from the other side of the gate as they went through?"

[Cayce]

Remember, you don't have to post in order. In fact, holding to a posting order can slow down a thread! Because, per the 48 hour rule, you can post twice as fast as the slowest poster, and should thus be able to post at least once per day. Obviously, pausing for people can be a good idea sometimes, but you shouldn't feel restrained by another person's slower posting rate.

[InvertedMonkey]

Her brows knit, "I don't think they drove here," she answers Alex, "I think they opened the Hedge Gate into the room, and left the same way. That would be awfully accurate tracking, to open a Gate from the Hedge less than ten meters from your target." Her eyes flick to the Autumn Elemental, "Good info to have though, thanks Rick. Do we have more to do here?" She pauses, looking around at her four companions, letting several breaths go by before she goes on, "Alright, let's get a move on." With that, she hefts her baggage and strides towards the gate.

Unless anyone tells her to wait, Ramona's going through the Hedge Gate.

[Malcolm Green]

Green is moving again, following after Ramona with ponderous tread. His greatcoat is on and he walks forward confidently, fighting to get his gloves back on. Before he enters the Hedge proper, he pauses to stamp his foot once, twice, thrice. Glamour is released and his body is fortified by its own elemental nature.

Smiling a rare smile of satisfaction, the giant ducks through the opening.

[Lesingnon]

"They didn't unroll the duct tape until after she'd already been dragged out of here. So they restrained her some other way." Which made sense, there were better ways of binding someone. Especially in an environment with as many sharp edges as there were to find in the Hedge. The question about cars and such...well, Ramona took care of answering that. And she hadn't even needed to listen into the past for it. Just a bit of common sense.

And Ramona raised another good point as well, "Hmm...you can't really track a person in the mortal world while in the Hedge. So they must have observed her on this side to figure out where she was staying, then just opened a door into the room. But they must be pretty familiar with the area to know which opening would get them a gate here. Could be that this is a base of operations of sorts, which would explain why she ran afoul of them." And meant that they'd have to be even more careful.

And as he spoke his hands moved with swift, purposeful, movements. The lighter and remaining incense was stowed. A leather shoulder harness came out in its place, with his well-worn colt .45 in the holster. That was fastened into place, and the buck knife was transferred to the shoulder as well. A much quicker draw when he didn't have to worry about panicking anyone out in the mortal world.

"And nope, nothing left to do here." His fingers pressed against the contacts of the nine-volt in his pocket as he called upon another contract, and an instant later he was armored in crackling arcs of electricity. They'd help slow down about any attack coming his way, and could certainly make whoever attacked him regret it.

He's stepping forward even as that armor crackles into being, too, crossing over into the Hedge.

[Swami M]

When Alex visualized the events in the room he couldn't help filling in the details with images from countless crime movies. He'd imagined the thugs storming through the door and bum rushing their victim... but, as the old video game had warned, he wasn't thinking with portals.

"Yeah, that makes sense. But they still had to have someone on This Side to track their target."

He concentrates a moment more, and his skin toughens further. Then he follows the others through the gate.

[Cayce]

There was still ash floating through the air when the gate was opened, and grey motes began to spiral out, landing upon the colthing and skin of the Lost as they stepped through. A pathway had been burned through the hedge, a trail of scorched earth that winded off into the jungle of tangled branches and the cruel, cruel edges of thorns sharper than speartips. Yet what was most shocking about the sight of that winding path of desolation was that embers still burned amidst the shifting ashes and upon the ends of blackened thorns. The heat of flame still lingered on the path, yet despite this there were still tracks. Drag marks and footprints.

No matter how hard it might have been for the kidnappers to track Boucher, there would be no such trouble for the rescuers...

[InvertedMonkey]

"... Definitely shoulda brought the fire extinguisher," Ramona mutters to herself, the scent of smoke both familiar and alien as the Hedge smolders. With no ambush springing upon them and no obvious, immediate danger in sight, Ramona pauses to gear up. The others had donned their equipment in the motel room, but Ramona would really prefer not to be spotted pulling the rifle out of it's bag in someone else's hotel room. The bastard sword goes on a scabbard at her belt, and all the rest of her gear into holster and harness where it'll be easy to grab. Even the extra bags are folded and tucked away. She's still carrying quite a bit, but she looks far more ready for action now.

She starts moving. Slowly, waiting for everyone to come through the hedge, but getting a start, and spreading out a little. Bunching up would make them a good target. It's clear from the way she's behaving, Ramona is on alert. Not worried, not concerned, just being aware of what's around her. Including under her feet. It seems unlikely that whoever left this trail also left a booby trap behind them, but they might've. Or they might have dropped another clue. None the less, rifle at the ready, steps forward, following the track.

  Perception: 3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-08-23 00:18:27		Ramona Bohannon rolls 5 to Perception (Blackhats) (10 Again)		9, 9, 10, 2, 2, 3		3 successes