Severnaya: Seeking a Thrill
Severnaya stood atop the single story dwelling, staring down at the four guards in the street with Karina behind them. She was furious that Karina would sick guards on her for petty looting. Her tolerance for her newfound group was becoming increasingly thin after Hawke's antics, and now this. That bounty on the White Leopard was looking increasingly lucrative. Perhaps she would need to visit with Kaliph herself; perhaps she was working on the wrong side of this struggle after all. (OOC: This is her altered emotions/personality talking, she would realize on a clear brain that while Karina rescued her, Kaliph would have left her for dead and moved on.)
"Ma'am, we will not arrest you and leave you alone if you just return the money," the guard yelled.
She took a few steps toward the peak of the roof, causing the guards to take a few steps closer to the house. "FINE!" she yelled back, reaching inside her cloak. She tipped the bag of money she just stole upside down as she removed it, allowing most of its contents to empty into her pocket. She left a few coins in for weight so she could throw it the bag. She was not backing down on this one. "Catch!" she called out, tossing the bag to the right about 10 feet from where the guards were standing.
She activated Graceful Crane Stance, not wanting to make an unfortunate spill off the icy roof at this time. As the guards attention was diverted by the thrown bag, she reached the peak of the roof and waved goodbye to the guards as she began a controlled slide down the back side of the house. She gripped the edge of the roof as she came down, swinging around and smashing the window on the back side of the house with her feet to make it appear as if she went inside.
She quickly proceeded to move away from the backside of the house, toward the neighboring house behind it, looking for either a door or window to enter (using Lock Opening Touch) or a good place to hide. If I can get these guys to split up and search, I can get some revenge...
Kirkland 16:32, 21 August 2008 (EDT)
Strygwulf Fox was the commander of Ferem Haraku's Second Falcon Tent, one of the groups stationed in Covenant at the time. He stood, with three of his comrades, confronting the perpetrator of a petty theft. Obviously, this was not the evening's premiere event, and Fox had little desire to handle this brand of nonsense on such an inauspicious evening. With a glance over his shoulder, he dispatched his orders.
"Lembek, Lorig - You two fetch that bag of money, return it to its owner, and then assist Captain Haraku in controlling the damage done by the attack. Edgar, come with me." Fox pointed behind his back as he spoke, trying to keep an eye on Severnaya as she made her escape. Ordinarily, he would have let a pickpocket go on a night like this, but something didn't sit right; it seemed to Fox that the escalating number of robberies and vandalism synced up too well with the recent string of attacks by whatever horror had been unleashed from the mines. This was, however, much better evidence for the existence of such a creature - he would have to speak to Frost, a local hunter he'd been talking to who seemed to have some knowledge of the creature, or at least enough experience with esoteric game to be of use. That was for the morning, though. Though he still didn't intend to chase her to the ends of Creation (there were plenty of other things to do at this point), he figured he'd bring her in if she was an easy catch.
Severnaya, her frame lightened to the weight of a feather and her limbs guided by strands of invisible Essence, landed with impossible grace after smashing the home's back window. She knew she didn't have long, and wanted to move any conflict that did occur into a scenario she controlled, not the other way around. Not wanting to leave obvious evidence of the direction of her departure, she leapt quickly toward the house behind this one, covering almost the entire distance with that low jump, leaving no footprints in the freshly fallen snow. Luckily, she found herself just to the left of a rear door. It was locked, but Severnaya's newfound powers had made such obstacles mere trivialities. She couldn't help a wicked smile from gracing her parched lips as she held her palm inches from the door handle and channeled a few motes of Essence through the rusted iron. The tumblers in the lock became her slaves, leaping to attention in just the right position as the lock slid open on its own. She quietly pushed the door open and shut it swiftly. She found herself in a small, one-room home. Though it was poorly lit, it appeared to belong to a miner - there was a pickaxe hung shoddily from the wall, and few other amenities. The citizen was home, sleeping in a small bed in the southwest corner of the house, but he snored heavily - the evening preceding this sort of rest had to have been one full of debauchery for the night's events not to have woken him already.
Fox directed his lieutenant, Edgar, around the left side of the building, while he dashed around the right. They met up in back of the house, hoping to catch Severnaya as she descended the roof. The echo of shattering glass told Fox they were a second too late. Edgar was drawn immediately to the window, peering inside through its remnants, but Fox was experienced enough to expect the ruse - no thief worth her salt would go into a surrounded house. Fox, after seeing the shattered window, turned quickly, eyeing the house behind this one. It appeared undisturbed, but as of late, Fox's trust in appearances had diminished considerably.
Severnaya quickly analyzed her options. She looked at the snoring miner, a disgusting creature in his slumber. He may be a problem. But he wasn't the immediate problem. She casually walked over to the wall where the pickaxe was hanging and picked it up off its stand. She looked back at the back window and caught a glance of the two guards looking at this particular house. She quickly moved out of the window's line of sight.
She moved toward the front of the house, opposite the door she entered through, grabbing a thick blanket from a table on her way over. First she checked the front door to ensure that it was locked. She took a seat on a crude wooden stool. It creaked softly as she sat, causing the miner to turn in his sleep. Her eyes widened a bit, fearing he had woken, but alas he remained sound asleep. She wrapped the blanket around herself, such that if someone were to enter or the miner were to wake, she could not immediately be distinguished as person.The pickaxe rested at the stool's side, her grip on it tight as she listened carefully for the approaching guards.
She heard the lock on the back door clink; the guard was checking to see if it was unlocked. She would not be bested by the guards this time. She would get her fix, her thirst for a thrill, her revenge. Closing her eyes and concentrating on the essence around her, she was ready to channel three motes of essence as the door opened, using Striking Cobra Technique to boost her initiative as she prepared to hurl the pickaxe at the unfortunate guard who was about to open that door... hoping the momentum of the heavy axe would kill the first guard and even knockback the second, if he chose to stand behind the first.
(I would also like to use a Willpower point for a free success on the attack. Dex 3, Thrown 2. Striking Cobra Technique adds my martial arts score (3) in automatic successes to the join battle roll (Wits 5 Awareness 2).)
Kirkland 02:21, 9 September 2008 (EDT)
This story was resumed in a tabletop session.
Kirkland 13:33, 19 September 2008 (EDT)