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Old 07-19-2017, 10:13 PM   #183
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

Heartsick at the carnage, but unwilling to break their word (even when given to monsters), the group trudged back to camp, packed up everything, and reached the mouth of the dry wash that led to the cliff-dwelling base-camp by the end of the day. There, they told DoñaEva that the carriage would stand out too much on the other side, and probably couldn’t make it through the narrow cave on the far side, anyway, which meant they couldn’t take it through when the portal opened, the next day.

The vampire said she understood, and asked the group to tow it down to the box canyon at the portal entrance, on this side. The group did so, and she and Sebastiàn emerged and began to mount the stone steps Izzy and Heck and constructed, that led to the walled outer shelf in front of the cave.

Eva stopped at the top, and without a word, the two Apaches and Carlos immediately went inside and began to clean the place. The group left them to it, and returned to their base camp.

The next evening, the group packed up their gear in the four buggies, stashed everything they planned to leave, and made their way down to the box canyon. A.J. drove his light buggy in the front, followed by Randy at the wheel of the second vehicle (with Jimmy a passenger), then Henrietta (with Stephen riding shotgun) and Aurelia (with Claudia).

As A.J. edged down the steep, sandy slope into the box canyon, he saw DoñaEva, flanked by Sebastiàn, at the near-end of the walled shelf, with the three bloodslaves standing at the far side. Each of them had their attention riveted in the direction of the portal. Alarmed, A.J. held up his fist to stop the other three vehicles, and then edged his buggy up a bit so he could assess the situation.

Once he’d moved forward about five yards, he could see clearly into the box canyon, and noted that a well-dressed, older Spanish gentleman stood alone on the sand, confronting DoñaEva. He immediately surmised this had to be Don Maximo, and warned the rest of the group.

In response, Randy pulled up next to him, while Aurelia decided to flank around to the left and Henrietta drove toward DoñaEva. The archaeologist pulled up below the shelf, popped the hatch in the bulletproof glass at the top of the buggy’s roll-cage, and asked DoñaEva what she planned to do. As she did so, Stephen took careful aim with his assault rifle, through the glass at the Spanish sorcerer.

A.J. readied his crossbow in case things went sideways, and popped the hatch because his weapon couldn’t fire through the glass. In the next buggy, Randy watched Don Maximo intently, as Jimmy drew the Colt Python .357 magnum he’d purchased during his time in the modern world.

Don Maximo heard Henrietta’s words and, despite her sex, decided she must be the group’s spokesperson because she had addressed DoñaEva in Spanish. The sorcerer said the American mages had treated him dishonorably by slipping into his city without so much as a greeting or a by-your-leave, created all sorts of problems for him with the local authorities, and then had suborned one of his sworn clients. As such, he demanded satisfaction from them, or he would punish them for their rudeness.

While he’d spoken, A.J. and Jimmy had slipped on some night-vision goggles, and taken a quick look around. They noted no less than six riflemen arrayed around the top of the box canyon. A.J. rose up through the hatch and took aim at one, and Jimmy did the same from his buggy.

DoñaEva made no response to Henrietta, and the archaeologist realized the vampire had no intention of taking sides until she saw how the inevitable fight would go. Frustrated, she told Don Maximo to clear out, as they had no intention of acceding to his demands, and he was blocking their way.
Don Maximo spat on the ground, drew a two-foot rod of polished wood from beneath his coat, and made a circular motion in front of him with his left hand, palm out. Heavy slugs from the riflemen slammed into the canopies of the buggies driven by A.J. and Henrietta, starring the bullet-proof glass. Aurelia dropped her buggy into gear and made for the cave entrance, A.J. shot a rifleman with his crossbow, and Jimmy opened up on another with his .357, but missed because of the range.

Henrietta popped off a few rounds at Don Maximo, but even though she thought one should have hit, the sorcerer escaped harm and she realized he’d probably cast a spell to cause the bullets to veer away. Seeing this, Randy popped the clutch, slammed the accelerator to the floor, and his buggy sprayed sand and gravel as it accelerated straight at Don Maximo.

Nonplussed, the sorcerer paused in amazement for a second, but then pointed the rod at the oncoming buggy – just as Stephen’s carefully aimed shot blew the top half of the magical instrument to splinters (critical hit). The bottom half went spinning away in the direction of the portal entrance at the far side of the box canyon.

With a whoop, Randy bore down on Don Maximo, only to see him blink out of existence as the buggy roared through the space where he had been. A surprised Randy immediately noticed the Spaniard reappear about nine yards to the left and begin to run for the shards of the rod.

Without missing a beat. Randy braked and skidded left, to give chase, as Henrietta shouted for him to not block shots from her and Stephen. Aurelia, meanwhile, raced toward the cave entrance so as to try to get ahead of Don Maximo.

As the riflemen struggled to reload their weapons, Jimmy continued to blast away at them and A.J. dropped back down into the buggy to re-cock his crossbow. Over in Aurelia’s buggy, Claudia pulled out her bolo, with the vague notion of smacking Don Maximo with it if he got close.

Over in Henrietta’s buggy, Stephen remembered what he’d learned about the “miss me” spell, found a panel of glass that hadn’t been damaged by incoming fire, and peered through the scope. He and Henrietta both tapped out three shots each, and the fleeing sorcerer flopped to the ground in mid-stride.

At that moment, DoñaEva smiled, spoke in Spanish, and Sebastiàn, Carlos, Heck and Izzy leapt to the top of the canyon walls. The riflemen began to die.

Aurelia’s buggy ground to a halt next to Don Maximo’s prone form, and she and Claudia jumped out to check his vitals. Relieved to find him still alive, although badly wounded and unconscious, the two women surmised his healing spells had likely saved and stabilized him. So, they stripped him down, removing any jewelry and bangles.

Once they got his shirt off, they saw several temporary tattoos on his chest, and Aurelia went after them with a dish-scrubbing pad as Claudia rummaged through the back of the buggy and came up with some duct tape.

Within 30 minutes, or so, they’d trussed up the Spanish sorcerer thoroughly, and deposited him in the back of their buggy. Meanwhile, the sated blood-slaves (plus Sebastiàn) had returned and retrieved several heavy trunks from the carriage. The group lashed the luggage to trailers, bid adieu to Heck and Izzy (leaving them to clean up the mess), and began to putter their way through the portal passage toward Beatrice, waiting on the other side.

The group stopped short of the portal area, proper, as A.J. turned off his gasoline engine, disconnected the battery, and stowed it in a lead box. He hooked the winch cable to the back of one of the buggies in front, and the group rolled slowly forward.

As the mists rose around them, they heard delighted voice say something in Korean, and glistening white tentacles looped out of the gloom... headed toward DoñaEva.

A.J. immediately grabbed for some bags of salt, as the rest of the group readied for a fight, but then Henrietta heard Sebastiàn shout, in Spanish, “What betrayal is this?!”

The party had not warned Doña Eva about the rape spirit, which now sought to possess the powerful, beautiful and seductive vampire.

With that, the session came to an end.

##

Funny Quotes

Aurelia (growing excited, as Henrietta reads through the news stories in La Gaceta de Sante Fe, about possible American saboteurs): Know what our cover’s gonna be, when we steal a dirigible?
Stephen: Hope you’ve got good forgery.
[b}Aurelia[/b]: Yep, I do!

A.J.: We’re deep in enemy territory, and we don’t want the Spanish and the vampires after us.
(Jimmy opens his duster to reveal he has carved some wooden stakes, and is wearing a large silver cross.)
Henrietta: He’s got the wooden stuff, so he’s coming with us!
(A.J. drops his forehead to the table.)

Aurelia (just before the group politely knocks on the door of the vampire lair): Why don’t I trust this?
Dave C. (OOC): Because this is the worst idea in the history of the world, ever?

Aurelia: I don’t think it’s a good idea to **** on her generosity.
Henrietta: I just heard the word, “wine.”
Dave C.: Because accepting gifts from vampires is the best idea, ever.

(Doña Eva declares that the vampires cannot cross the running water, and expect the party to Do Something.)
Jimmy: Aww.
Henrietta: No help from Jimmy, on the right…

Jimmy (carefully tracking what happened to the Utes in the ambush): Chupacabra. In heels. And Mrs. Chupacabra….
Stephen: It’s the whole Chupacabra family!
Aurelia: That’s not so far from the truth….

Stephen: In case of an emergency, your seat can be used as a flotation device!

A.J. (sees Aurelia drive like mad toward the portal entrance): She panicked.
Henrietta: I think she did.
Aurelia: I don’t panic!

##
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"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.
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