(Bad House) House Call

[Star]

Snrrrrrrrrrkkkk

"It's, uh, dust," he clarified, punctuating that lie with some fake coughs. Seriously. No one's laughing. "Listen. I think the dwarf tossing is more of a LA thing, not so much Sac-town?"

Okay, maybe a little. The upshot of all that is they've surely made enough noise to wake anything up.

"You know," he added, starting to walk around and look upward, "There's probably a hatch and attic ladder in here."

Look, crawling in holes is fine for getting into a locked house... but some common hecking sense works wonders, too. Unless these two girls had only lived in apartments and never been in a house? As much fun as it would be to throw some craft at the ceiling, those gosh-darned Guardians frown on that sort of harlequinade.

"All kidding aside? If there's no hatch, you got that beach body guy downstairs if you want someone to help you."

Gonna assume no roll is necessary to do a quick check for:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attic_ladder

Link included in case this is weird US thing and Aussies don't put them in houses.

[Yumyumcrow]

Star does a quick check and finds that there is no attic access in the bedroom*

Kaze fires off a text to Phoenyx in the next room (so near, yet so far).

Anima hurries back down stairs and digs through the kitchen for what he needs. The house is reasonably well stocked in kitchen utensils and tupperware so the Shaman quickly finds what he needs. Returning back up the stairs post haste, he takes a sample of the cocoon and the treacle goop preservative. The cocoon is damp and spongy to his touch, thickly layered in sloppy silk.

He is really glad he doesn't uncover the [s]contents[/i] person of the cocoon while he works.

Morgan attempts to clamber into the attack through one of the holes in the bedroom ceiling. She doesn't make it, instead careering into the wall with an all mighty thud. Debris tumbles to the floor in the bedroom, showering the mages in a fall of splinters and mashed paper.

*That was the kind of thing I was thinking of West . I've only ever seen them in American movies. The UK houses I saw had attic space but never anything as elaborate as I've seen in the movies. The Aussie homes I've seen don't have attics.

For reference, that was what I meant by the attic access point in the landing area

So to clarify: -

Star Phoenyx Morgan are in the back bedroom. This room is sealed off from the landing by the cocoon. There are holes in the bedroom ceiling that lead to the attic.

Anima Kaze are on the landing; so effectively, they are in the next room. The principal access to the attic (the attic stair contraption) is found there and is down so you can climb up into the attic space if you wish...

The cocoon effectively blocks the door to the back bedroom, but you could try and haul it down, I guess... If you wanted to.

There are also holes in the landing ceiling which also go to the attic space.

Apologies if there has been any confusion.

[Kaze]

Kaze listens to Anima and then follows him back down to the kitchen and back, watching his back throughout. He’s seen a horror movie at least once in his life. His phone buzzes during the time Anima is taking a sample. For one awful moment he gasps, thinking Anima is about to taste the gunk or something.

He dutifully looks around after reading Phoenyx’s text,but sees only the obvious in his surroundings.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-02-01 06:51:07		Kaze rolls 6 to perception (Wits 3 +Composure 3) (10 Again)		3, 4, 1, 7, 3, 5		failure

He texts back. My buddy says whatever it was is dead inside. Hey don’t spiders put their food in cocoons with their eggs? There’s a pull down stairs here going up. Nothing else around. You want us to wait here or pull down the mess to clear the door or meet you in the crawl space?

[Star]

"...Aaaaaaand it's not in this bedroom."

Where's an Acanthus when you need one? There's supposed to be three doors, Monty. The angel does a slow circuit around the room, rapping gloved fingers on the wall. It's easy after the first stud is found. Sixteen or twenty-four inches is the usual distance, and either is probably enough for at least two of them to get through. The Maglite is heavy and solid enough to crush a skull -- half-inch drywall doesn't put up much resistance when he starts rhythmically swinging it to make a very dusty door.

"Don't mind me. I just want multiple exits available when we both boost you and the face-huggers come dropping down through the ceiling."

OOC

Failed my Common Sense check, YYC. Dunno why I spaced out on our enviro! My bad. Also, Star is trying to knock out a space in the drywalls (inner, outer) to be able to squeeze between the studs out into the hall/next room/whatever.

[Morgan]

Dusting herself off, muttering profane nonsense under her breath, Morgan started looking around the room for something that she could use to stand on. Of course, while she did that, Backpack Man started taking the maglite to the wall. Making a new doorway, eh? Well, she could help with that. Make the wall weaker, make the flashlight tougher, or...

Fuck.

She was being a total idiot. She didn't need to put her fucking head up through a goddamn hole in the ceiling, she could just look through the ceiling.

Fuck.

So dumb.

Morgan began to chant in high speech, her eyes locked on the ceiling. In her mind's eye, the ceiling began to shimmer, the color bleeding away and leaving the a 4 yard radius of the ceiling as clear as glass.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-02-02 19:59:56		Morgan rolls 4 to Steel Windows (gnos+matter+HS+ExAff-4yards) (10 Again)		7, 4, 7, 10, 5		1 success

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-02-02 20:00:34		Morgan rolls 1 to paradox (backlash) (10 Again)		7		failure

Morgan Casts Steel Windows, no dox, 4 yard radius on ceiling, 1 pot

[Anima]

Anima looks over to Case, "Well, I'm not sure how..."

The Shaman snaps his fingers, "Duh" he whispers to himself.

A whisper in the Ancient language and he's peering across the gauntlet, into the shadow, into his other world. Looking at this otherworldly cocoon and it's surroundings, braced for the terrible images he's sure that are about to be revealed to him...spiders... gross.

  Spell and Perception

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-02-03 10:36:07		Anima rolls 6 to Perception (10 Again)		5, 4, 9, 6, 3, 8		2 successes
2020-02-03 10:35:00		Anima rolls 8 to Peer Across the Gauntlet + HS (10 Again)		10, 6, 3, 9, 1, 6, 7, 4, 8		3 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

Star gets to work with a determination that seems almost at odds with his lithe, laconic, frame. When this Angel decides to move heaven and earth... it simply happens. The low quality internal walls of a cheaply built house simply stand no chance against the sustained assault.

Dust fills the air.

Plasterboard and packing spill.

And the mop headed illusionist appears - POP! - in the landing like a stage magician materialising from a cloud.

Kaze gets lost in the dusty cloud. An irritated nose. A misplaced breath... And the coughing Apostate looses his edge.

Anima probably wishes he had lost his edge too. It is one thing to force one's vision through the Gauntlet when it as solid as ice. It is another when the Gauntlet is laced with sticky, caustic, webs that feel like the cling and stick to one's flesh even if there is no visible sign of their presence.

When Anima glimpses the Shadow Realm, he see's only the vaguest impression of a building. It is the incomplete and inconsistent webbing that give the building shape and form...


While that goes on, Morgan has an epiphany and simply changes the structure of the ceiling above her head. Wood gains a new transparent quality, shimmers slightly as opacity winds back like melting frost...

There is a woman feminine form laying on the floor of the attic, stretched out and carefully peering through one of the holes in the ceiling. Naked. Hairy*. Sickly pale with a jaundiced pallor. Limbs placed at uncomfortable and unnatural angles, hard against the floor. Breathing slow and rhythmically. Even the angle of her neck is wrong.

Fortunately, she it hasn't noticed the change in the floor yet...

In the manner in which insects are 'hairy'. No soft mamallian fur here

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx frowns at the laughter. Yes, there was no attic hatch here - hence looking through the gaps... at least until she and Morgan made enough noise that stealth seemed somewhat pointless. Still, Star seemed to like offering ideas after letting people try things.

Then the dust, and the breaking. Additional escape routes were a good idea, she had to admit. The Arrow tries not to cough, and as the dust clears she follows Morgan's gaze up through the now transparent ceiling.

"Well. I do not see that every day," she adds, croakily.

[Kaze]

Kaze is just checking for a reply text when the wall bursts open, taking him off guard! Before he acts, he hears Phoenyx and relaxes, slightly. "Oh. Okay, that works...." He says. "So... sneaky isn't as much a thing I guess?" He says warily looking around as the dust settles.

[Star]

It's tempting to stick his head through the hole and pull a Jack Nicholson Shining.

Heeeeeere's Starfighter!

Probably would have, too, if not for Morgan. Holy Borg upskirt, Drywall Man. Except... minus the clothes and prosthetics. Definitely a Zero of Ten. Note: no more gross missions. Shoulda taken up any of those 'Inspect The Unknown Magical Doodad' offers instead.

"Well then, now we know, she's got a condition."

Is it curable? And not just a Lady Schick, either.

Is there any resonance to Scrutinize?