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| [ARCHIVED] - [Zippo Run] Act I: Battering the gates [Team Street] | |
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| Topic Started: Tuesday, 22. April 2014, 13:36 (2,224 Views) | |
| NPC | Tuesday, 22. April 2014, 13:36 Post #1 |
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The Game Master
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The second team had been inserted successfully, working their way into a position to observe the target building and start their assigned tasks. Their target building was a big ugly block of concrete. Most of the windows had been taped over with newspapers and other pieces of paper, othershad been boarded up completely. The neighboring buildings had about 60 feet distance to this oneand looked exactly the same, save for smaller details like the chain link fence with the company logo that was still in place, clinking while it moved with the occasional gust of wind, the satellte dish on the roof or the big antenna next to it. They could see a man in dark clothes next to the main entrance. He was looking rather bored and tried to not call too much attention to his presence, but the glimming cigarette gave him away pretty easily. There was not much more movement on the perimeter, except for the cameras on top of the building, one per corner, slowly moving over their assigned part of the grounds. They recognized the guard, it was one of the persons Blackman had described to them in greater detail. Although it was not easy to make out, they were able to see a walkie-talkie at his belt when he went for the next smoke and lit it up. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| NPC | Monday, 12. May 2014, 23:25 Post #21 |
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The Game Master
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After everyone had been sufficiently camouflaged and they had made sure that group cohesion ould occur, the four kindred moved out back towards the gate and the human aiting there for them. She looked a bit alarmed as they came to her, but that as quickly ashed over with relief as she was able to get the signature of the person in charge to be off again. She looked over the group, unable to decide if she should hand the clipboard to Gideon or Adael. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Jane Marlow | Thursday, 15. May 2014, 17:04 Post #22 |
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Vampire Damage Control Professional
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Regardless of which Ventrue took the clipboard, Jane would check with Sawyer that the following plan was okay, and assuming it was, unlock the door with the key she took off the guard and start moving the small boxes inside. Since she was the only member of the party who had her own Mask she could move with impunity, with no fear of wandering out of Sawyer's range. So she could move back and forth between the two rooms without having to worry about losing sight of the other member of the group. It also meant she was the first one inside, and could scan with [Heightened Senses] for active cameras, activity, and other threats. |
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| NPC | Thursday, 15. May 2014, 22:20 Post #23 |
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The Game Master
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In the end, Gideon got the honour of getting the clipboard and signing off for the delivery. He did so siftly and briskly and the delivery woman looked at him, then back to the papers and shrugged. She took the clipboard and the pen back, put a cigarette into her mouth and walked a few steps towards the van and got the lighter out. Then she stopped and turned around as if on an afterthought, the lighter in her hand, a spraycan in the other. Her eyes were blankly looking into the direction of the group, empty and unfocused. Then the first spray of flame gushed into the vampires' direction, almost like bright hot fingers reaching for their faces, the arc beginning with Gideon. Jane had made it inside rather easily ith the others outside distracting the delivery person and keeping her busy. As the door closed behind her, she stood in a long corridor. Four doors on its left, five in the right. She kne the first door to the left was the staircase. The corridor was empty and all indows had been boarded up. The cold and bright light made the whole atmosphere look clinicla, not unlike a hospital. She found two cameras. She was standing directly under the first one. The second one at the other end of the floor sloly turned into her direction again. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Jane Marlow | Friday, 16. May 2014, 23:43 Post #24 |
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Vampire Damage Control Professional
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Jane didn't let the door close entirely behind her--she held it slightly open with her foot as she quickly scanned the area. Doors. Cameras. She put her boxes on the ground quickly and spent the time the far camera took to slowly turn to face her listening as hard as she could with her ears turned up high. The virology lab would have freezers, which produced a humming noise that she might be able to pick up. The cryostorage would have FOR SERIOUS freezers, which would produce for serious humming noises. She also listened for voices or movement from any of the surrounding rooms. Signs of more guards, or the security room that these cameras fed. She only did this for as long as she had before the camera returned to her, though. Before she was in its line of sight, she stepped back outside to fetch another box and tell the others what she'd seen and heard. She walked into the delivery woman turning an impromptu flame thrower on Lockwood. She froze at the sight of fire. She was further away from it than everyone else, and it couldn't reach her, but it was still FIRE and so while she wasn't immediately fleeing in terror, she was still momentarily paralyzed with shock and fear of FIRE. |
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| Sawyer | Tuesday, 20. May 2014, 01:18 Post #25 |
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Friendly Neighborhood Vampire
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For a split second, blind panic flooded every crevice of Sawyer's brain as the sudden blast of flame came at them. The mask was the first victim of the flames, before they even touched Gideon- there was no way the Nosferatu could concentrate on maintaining the illusion now. It took every ounce of courage he had to get a hold of himself in the fragment of a second he had to react. His first instinct, stupid, noble man that he was, was to grab the collar of Adael's shirt between his claws and force the Ventrue to the safety of the ground. At least one of them would end up intact that way. His second instinct, to duck to the side himself, came far too late to be effective. Though Gideon took the brunt of the fire, the rest caught Sawyer right along his shoulder, cheekbone, and long, batlike ear. Height and size certainly weren't to his benefit at the moment; they just made him a larger target. And as flames licked at his rotten flesh, sending it curling in smoke and charred leather, melting it to the very bone, he howled. Reeling as the beast screeched and clawed frantically at the corners of his mind, pain sent Sawyer into a fit of inhuman snarls. Still, he managed to drag the younger Ventrue in the direction of the door, shoving him towards the frozen Jane before losing whatever semblance of his dignity remained. The world was bright and hot and it hurt, it hurt so very, very much. His beast sent him slamming into the nearby wall of the building, forcing his shoulder and face against the bricks in an effort to smother the flames. Make it stop, make it STOP! |
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| Gideon Lockwood | Wednesday, 21. May 2014, 01:58 Post #26 |
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Thane of Cawdor
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I signed the clipboard and handed it back with a smile. Not too wide, of course. My faceclaim hadn't left the impression that he was an individual that was beaming with joy and happiness. This would do, hopefully. It looked good and I was almost sure I had played my part well enough. I was wrong. She turned around and that was a bad omen. I tried to shield my face and take a step back, but I wasn't quick enough. The flames came at me and the panic rose from my intestines like I hadn't felt it in a long time. White-hot pain jabbed its daggers directly into my dead nerves as the fire touched my skin, burned my hands and licked over my face. My eyes were closed and I focused on getting away, but it didn't work, it was as if the flames were burning into my skull and I still thought I could see the flames. Pain and terror made my knees give way. I couldn't remember if I screamed. I think I did, but what was the sizzling of the flesh and the smell of the burnt skin and hair in comparison to the cold ground ? I was away from the flames for this moment and that was what I needed to clear my head. The panic ebbed off and I tried to get back to my feet, still hurting, still filled with the terror of the flames, but I would endure, as was the Ventrue way. I still couldn't see, so my other senses would have to guide me. I listened, trying to make sense of the chaos that had ensued around me. |
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| NPC | Wednesday, 21. May 2014, 02:06 Post #27 |
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The Game Master
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OOC Mod Announcement Sawyer was burned, but managed to extinguish most of the flames. Jane came to enough to pull him inside, away from the fire. Saved from burning by Sawyer's quick thinking, Adael scrambled back. He managed to keep his composure enough to pull his wounded clanmate with him. Inside the building, Jane quickly directed them into the stairwell, out of direct sight of the cameras. Because of their frantic entrance, they were briefly caught in the camera's view. It was not immediately clear whether this meant they were noticed. Jane reported that with her heightened sense of hearing, she could make out the hum of a very powerful cooling system downstairs. That would probably be the cryostorage. What are they going to do next? |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Jane Marlow | Wednesday, 21. May 2014, 23:14 Post #28 |
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Vampire Damage Control Professional
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Jane suggested that they take the stairwell down to the cryostorage, since that was their strongest lead, and that they move quickly, since they might have been spotted. When she could do so without being deafened by conversation, she kept a sensitive ear out for sounds of people approaching. Since Gideon was wounded to the point of having trouble walking, and she was the only one here without a physical discipline to help her fight, she suggested that she'd stay back and help Gideon down the stairs while Sawyer and Adael took point. She'd hand Adael her mace if he wanted it. |
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| NPC | Saturday, 24. May 2014, 02:33 Post #29 |
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The Game Master
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Jane did hear people approaching--moving downstairs from another level, towards the front door. Fortunately, they were in some other stairwell, so the group could avoid them. However, they had to take a less direct route to the buzzing hypothetical cryostorage as a result. Halfway there, Gideon Lockwood all but collapsed. Apparently he'd been putting on a brave front and his burns were even more serious than the others had suspected, and he seemed at this point to be mostly dead weight. He'd be a liability if they got into combat. What would they do? |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Jane Marlow | Saturday, 24. May 2014, 17:49 Post #30 |
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Vampire Damage Control Professional
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Jane offered to stay evacuate Gideon while the other two went on--they had a straight shot for what they assumed was they cryostorage, and she'd hopefully be able to use her super-hearing to avoid conflict long enough to get Gideon out. |
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| NPC | Monday, 26. May 2014, 02:11 Post #31 |
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The Game Master
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Adael and Sawyer agree to this arrangement. They continue on to the cryostorage, which they are now so close to that they can hear the humming as well, while Jane accompanies Gideon to the nearest exit she can find on the map. Adael and Sawyer arrive at the source of the humming to find a heavily reinforced, bolted door and another camera. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Gideon Lockwood | Wednesday, 28. May 2014, 01:22 Post #32 |
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Thane of Cawdor
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The chips had fallen where they were supposed to and now it would come down to who would be able to play their hand better. After all, the installation seemed to be better secured than the teams had thought. I could still smell the reek of charred flesh and skin as I willed my blood to my face to do the few repairs it could. It was not much, but I would be able to see again, and it was important. I was carrying the equipment, a blind mule would be useless. And I was willing to call myself many things, but I wasn't useless. Quite the opposite. Although the minion outside had done some damage, it was perhaps a little less than I had led my companions to believe. As I regained my sight, we were near the entrance again. The wench that attacked us nowhere to be seen. Miss Marlow was armored, so she made a good companion for getting out. But it was encumbering her, of course, among other things. She was listening for dangers before moving, as she had done on the way occasionally. I didn't see, but she had been friendly enough to warn me about it. My knees gave way and I slumped against the wall as weakness washed over me. Or so it seemed. Miss Marlow was a very humane kindred, so much was sure and therefore, she came over as soon as the way was clear and tried to help me up. I appreciated that. It made things much easier. I had to admit I had grown somewhat fond of the Malkavian, but she was one of the biggest problems in the equation so she had to go. Quickly, before the others came back. I pulled her close to myself and stabbed at the side of her neck, the silvery blade piercing the skin and sliding into her flesh. I looked at the shocked expression in her eyes as she realized what was happening and what would be happening. She tried to use her communications device to warn the others. Not that it would do her any good, the counter-jammer was already up and running and we were in on their frequencies. I pulled the knife forward, cutting her throat, blood vessels and most importantly, her vocal chords. She wouldn't need those where she was going and she would be weakened and unable to scream for help. I gave her my most brilliant smile as I pushed her against the wall. "That was unexpected, wasn't it ?" Her blood was coating the blade and dripped to the floor. It smelt very appetizing, but I had to tend to some minor annoyances first. She fought back and overcoming her was not easy. I lost the knife to one of her punches, another of her attacks went for what was left of my features. Two of her fingers gouged out one of my eyes and made me recoil as the blinding pain registered and made me stumble back. She was about to press the attack when the sound of silenced gunfire rang out. I had chosen to collapse here for good reason. Miss Marlow had warned me that there was movement close at hand, and so I knew my minions were close at hand. The one at the end of the hall filled her with a goodly number of bullets. As she staggered, I drew my reserve knife and attacked her sinews, where the armor did not cover. It was not much of a hit, more like a passing wound, but that and the gunfire was enough to bring her down and give me the opportunity to get up again. I pulled the stake from its sheath and quickly put my shoe onto her back to keep her on the floor, and my man hastened to assist me. I began cutting off the armour and clothing that covered her back. We wouldn't want those to get entangled with the stake and make more of a mess than we had in the first place. She was still struggling, so I cut into her skin several times. Unnecessary, but yet impossible to avoid in this situation. Finally, I had her back exposed and let my thumb glide over her skin, caressing it only a bit longer than necessary while I counted the ribs. A bit hastily, agreed, but I needed to get this right on the first attempt. Finally, I had found the spot and pressed the tip against and then into her skin. I smiled again. "Farewell, Miss Marlow, almost a pity ! I had expected you of all people to understand what this is all about." I could have said more, tried to win her over to my side, but then, I was no Bond villain. Telling others my plans was a trite cliche and also caused bad luck. I had learned from those who had come before me and wouldn't repeat their mistakes. Besides, she had gone suddenly and queerly still. I feared this might be prelude to some desperate onslaught of madness, as her clan was wont to produce, so I hit the head of the wood with all the strength I could and penetrated her ribcage. When the deed was done, I rose and had a look at my handiwork, before I cleaned my clothes as well as I could and retrieved the equipment I deemed useful. My minion would hide the body until I decided whether diablarizing her was worth the risk. With this taken care of, I needed to see to the other obstacles. |
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| Jane Marlow | Wednesday, 28. May 2014, 01:41 Post #33 |
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Vampire Damage Control Professional
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Jane found herself going from upright, armored and helping her teammate, to on the ground, betrayed, with her throat slit and half a clip full of bullets in her in a very short amount of time. The vest had stopped some of the gunfire, but the shooter had concentrated his fire enough that some of the bullets punched through. They were, however, stopped by the other side of vest and so she had a clump of lead grinding against broken ribs on the right side of her body. Her neck was on fire. Trying to make noise, talk or yell, came out as terrible, gurgling noises. It hurt horribly, but the pain was fading slightly. She seemed to be going into shock, or maybe frenzy. She wasn't sure how that worked now. Lockwood, Blackwood--she had recognized the smile from her visions, and his thug were holding her down. They had leverage and the thug was insanely strong. Vampire blood strong. It was funny that the interaction between vampire blood and a living body made people stronger than actually becoming a vampire did. It was funny the things you thought about when you were very possibly about to die. No. She wasn't about to die. They were cutting into her back, not her neck. She was literally being stabbed in the back. She was about to be staked. That almost frightened her more. That definitely frightened her more. The idea of being completely helpless in the hands of these people, that was worse than the pain. They'd cut the radio. No one knew where she was. No one knew this was happening. She had negligible chance of rescue. It was hard to think over the fear. The only thing that could compete with the overwhelming fear was the smoldering anger rising from deep within her that the man responsible for the deaths of thousands of people was right here, and no one else knew, and he was probably going to get away. This condition of anger and pain addled panic was, paradoxically, a better state of mind than Jane had ever been in before to send a message over the Madness Network, which she managed to do just before being staked. |
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| NPC | Wednesday, 28. May 2014, 01:42 Post #34 |
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The Game Master
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On their way outside, Gideon Lockwood turned on Jane and staked her. At the entrance to the cryostorage, Sawyer was trying to brute force the door open. Both he and Adael heard a brief burst of loud static from their headsets, Jane's garbled voice saying something indecipherable. On trying to reply, they discovered their signal was being blocked and they were cut off from communication with the other teams. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| NPC | Thursday, 29. May 2014, 21:56 Post #35 |
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The Game Master
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Sawyer and Adael continued working on forcing their way through the door. It was taking a while, since neither was amazingly craft-oriented, and Sawyer was the only one with potence. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| NPC | Sunday, 1. June 2014, 22:25 Post #36 |
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The Game Master
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Finally the door yielded and they were able to pry it open. It made some screeching metal-on-metal noises and revealed a thermically insulated room that was lined with long rows of plastic shelves. The shelves were stuffed with a seemingly innumerable amount of labelled bottles and containers, some of which bore warning symbols for toxicity or biohazard. What now ? |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| NPC | Monday, 2. June 2014, 22:37 Post #37 |
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The Game Master
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They checked the basic layout of the room carefully, which was mostly shelves. A small door led to another room which had the generator in it. Checking the labels, they found that most of them were either written in some scientific abbreviations or had some codes or shorthand on it that didn't help the uninitiated to recognize whatever was in the bottles and flasks. Figuring this out might get a tad more complicated. It took some search to find the register on one of the shelves. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| NPC | Wednesday, 4. June 2014, 00:42 Post #38 |
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The Game Master
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Sawyer skimmed through the register and was able to locate the samples that were of interest to them. It took some time and the longer he spent on going through the samples and vats, the more the silence was able to sink in. After a while he noticed that he could only hear the noises he himself was making. As he turned around to check on the room, he noticed that he was alone. What now ? |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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| Renard | Wednesday, 11. June 2014, 16:06 Post #39 |
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Master Chief
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On the other side of the building, the camera that pointed at the entrance noticed the door opening again and was taken out by a piece of metal that was thrown into it. Their small meeting had been a short one. After they had met up, the Seneshal had briefed the others about their objective: Get in, get the others and the samples out. Secondary objective: Make sure the place didn't pose any danger and apprehend or neutralize anyone that wasn't on their team. Easy, right ? This also meant that subtlety was of minor importance at this point. The Nosferatu had decided to form buddy teams in his group, always pairing two together. Still, he was leading the assault group, watching the corridor closely with his rifle only slightly lowered. He assigned group 2 to sweep one side of the corridor while he and his buddy would take the other. (OOC: Pierre (most likely as an NPC), Moshe and Emily are up to follow. Group yourself up as you like) |
![]() Verba docent, exempla trahunt ! | |
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| NPC | Friday, 13. June 2014, 18:08 Post #40 |
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The Game Master
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Just inside the building, before splitting off, the group of four discovered what seemed to be signs of a struggle. Blood on the ground and wall, shreds of black cloth and kevlar, and if the area is carefully examined, a few red hairs. |
| The NPC is not an admin nor does it have one singular user behind it. No PM's may be sent to the NPC and neither can you communicate with the NPC outside of role-play. Please contact Staff if you have any questions or queries. The NPC serves to only bring new information into role-play, members of staff have access to the NPC and will regularly be different people. | |
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2:02 AM Jul 11