Jade Hood and Stone Fist Issue #4 Imperilled in India!

"There!" hissed Jade Hood, and he pointed to a high walled compound where a single (of two) gate was opened and the three men slipped inside, only for the gate to be closed behind!

Moving to the other side of the street, the pair looked upon a grand building and noted the flags of the Indian embassy. Wincing - their last encounter at the cultists home which had a similar setup had resulted in a severe beating for Stone Fist - they knew their options were limited.

"Hold on," Stone Fist said to his partner as he grabbed him and ran and leapt over the wall after the fleeing men.

"We will just assume that they are crooks and not working for the Indian Government," he said, pulling his hood out and putting it on. "Don't need to broadcast our identities here."

"Hold on," Stone Fist said to his partner as he grabbed him and ran and leapt over the wall after the fleeing men.

"We will just assume that they are crooks and not working for the Indian Government," he said, pulling his hood out and putting it on. "Don't need to broadcast our identities here."

Jade Fist nodded, also pulling his makeshift hood up, so as to better disguise his appearance, before starting forward, mindful for traps, dogs and guards.

OOC: Looks like we go forward :-)

Sj

ooc: India is still part of the British Empire at this time. Do they actually have their own embassy? I'm not clear on the empire's colonies and their political status in the 1930s. Thought they got their independence after WW2.

OOC That's a good point. For the purposes of our world we'll say yes, it has it's own embassy, but that it is run by... ah, well you'll see Also, apologies. This is the first time I've had chance to turn my laptop on and post something for days

Stone Fists' amazing leg muscles propelled the pair over the wall without pause!

The building and grounds were immaculately tended, but offered cover for the fleeing men - not enough to see the way they went though!

The crime fighters ran through the gardens, around trees and over flower beds and round the grand house, where they heard music playing.

Pausing, they popped heads around the corner to see something of a garden party going on! The well to do and even better connected were laughing politely, partaking of drinks and snacks being carried by ... people who looked similar to the assassins, save they were dressed in serving uniforms!

Jade Hood and Stone Fist looked about, trying to spot the fleeing assassins...

OOC Perception check 2,7 (9) + Int 4/Will 5 and Sharp Eye. Success. Stone Fist (roll 1,3) misses this...

Jade Hood sees an important looking white man in a tuxedo entertaining several well dressed business types and catches the fellow having his attention attracted by a man in a dark red suit and a turban. The fellow leans in, and the white man looks surprised, then angry. He puts the smile back on his face and makes his excuses before following the man in the turban and red suit.

The last of the three assassins is seen heading into the stairwell leading down into the kitchen. To get there Jade Hood and Stone Fist can circumvent the garden and the guests of the party, or throw caution to the wind and dash through the throng with their masks on...

OOC There are no obvious guards as such - they are posted at the main gates. There are plenty of servants with trays of food and drinks. The guests are mostly white, British for the most part though some may be American or even European, possibly German. There is no war on at the moment. Jade Hood and Stone Fist stand around 30 feet from the nearest of the party guests and the orchestra playing away, in the shadows, and haven't been seen. The building is a 3 storey large mansion with dozens of rooms.

Just out of curiosity, is it possible to leap over the garden party? On the assumption people do not tend to look up at parties.

"I can leap us over these folks, most of whom won't see us but some will," Stone Fist tells his buddy. "We would be up and over very fast instead of spending time working our way around."

OOC Just one more 12 hour shift for me to grind through before xmas - despite being the holiday season I'll actually be able to update more than I have been doing, except you guys will doubtless be doing more festive things than logging on here Still, will check in, and many thanks for your patience as usual.

No action/response from jade Hood so I *assume* he's ok with the scoop up and jump over the garden party and nearer the back of the grand house.

Does anyone see the pair as they leap...Roll 5,1 Failure to spot the pair...

Amazing, improbably, Stone Fist and Jade Hood soared through the air, looking down at the crowd of guests in the garden... who ignored the pair leaping through the darkness above their heads!

The pair landed successfully, safely and unnoticed near to the stairwell leading into the cellar of the grand house. Jade Hood glanced back - the music played, the guests were none the wiser, and the alarm had not been raised...

Almost disbelieving, the pair moved to the stairs and immediately ducked back as waiters streamed from the doorway, up the stairs and towards the party with more trays of food and drinks.

The brief glimpse the pair had gotten through the open door were of a busy kitchen full of steam and plenty of bustling bodies preparing food.

OOC Perception check... Jade Hood... Roll 3,3 (double!) plus 8,10 total 24. Success. No need to check for Stone Fist but the roll was 1,8, probably a failure.

From where they'd ducked in the shadow of a tree the pair looked into the kitchen. It was Jade Hood who noticed the last of the three men they had been following disappearing into what appeared to be a heavy door in one of the walls of the kitchen. Judging by the cold vapour that billowed out, it was a meat locker of some kind?

There were a number of issues the pair had to contend with.

If they went into the kitchen they would be seen (for sure) and the alarm raised!

Many of the servants looked to be wearing the same clothes as the would be assassins. Were some of them, perhaps even all of them, trained assassins like those who'd attacked the heroes? Would they end up fighting an army of assassins?

What was the connection with the Englishman who'd gone into the house? Was he behind the scheme to get the formula to unlock the powers of the body and the mind, which had affected Stone Fist, and possibly Jade Hood in some way?

Just then the clink of glasses alerted the pair and the heroes turned to see two waiters returning with trays of empty glasses and coming towards the kitchen entrance. They wouldn't see the heroes but could the pair take them down quickly and quietly enough to use their clothes to pass themselves off as waiters?

Admin wrote:Just then the clink of glasses alerted the pair and the heroes turned to see two waiters returning with trays of empty glasses and coming towards the kitchen entrance. They wouldn't see the heroes but could the pair take them down quickly and quietly enough to use their clothes to pass themselves off as waiters?

OOC: Somehow I managed to miss this reply, so sorry for delay. Mind you Dave also hasn't responded so I might not have been the only one.

Jade Hood looked about for the means to take the men silently. But quickly realised that even if they could take them without the contents of the tray spilling and giving away their attack, they'd be without masks and surely an Oriental and American would stand out?

Looking up the stairs, Jade Hood whispered to his friend, "Let us see if we cannot find another way in, if all else fails, perhaps we can set fire to part of the house, cause enough commotion and make use of it to cover our tracks or even see what spills out of the ants nest when its kicked?

OOC: Assuming Dave is ok with this, I'll suggest we either get in by means of the fire escape door, up the stairs or down into the cellar, whatever seems the least line of resistance. Although going up means more ways down, the same cannot necessarily be said for the cellar. Or if the fire door proves too much, maybe skip up onto the roof to find a way down from their. Assume sufficient use of Hero points to accomplish tasks if need be.


Sj

ooc: Diddn't reply yet because I failed the perception check and don't see the men.

Stone Fist looks up and wonders if he could leap to the roof. "I lost sight of them," he tells Jade Hood, "so you lead from here."

ooc: yeah, whatever works to get us around over or under these other guys.

Jade Hood saw an opportunity to move to the side of the stairs and climb up, via a drainpipe up the side of the building...

OOC Which reminds me, for some reason I missed off Acrobatics off the character sheet, so will have to sort that out - it's one of Jade Hoods core attributes/abilities... d'oh. Anyway, no matter. Roll 9,8 (17) Success.

Stone Fist watched where he was going, looked up, then leapt...

When Jade Hood got to the roof, he saw Stone Fist looking down on the party from his perch and knew his friend had leapt up with a single mighty bound!

The pair moved around the edge of the sloped roof and glanced down every now and again. Most of the upper floor lights were out, and it was a simple matter to drop onto a veranda and enter what looked to be an unoccupied bedroom. Out into the hallway, the polished wood floors were expensively crafted and made little noise, which helped. The sounds of the party became more muted.

The corridor opened out into a large square area with a landing running round it, and stairs leading to lower floors, of marble and like everything else, very expensive. The place was well lit, and the pair had to hang back as servants occasionally walked around the floor below with sheets and the like, preparing the guest rooms. It was going to be tricky getting down to the cellars through the house, but the pair attempting it were versatile and not easily thwarted!

Just then as they started to creep down the stairs, a distance voice, deep but spoken as if in hushed tones, caught the ears of the pair...

"...in place? Good. After all this time, who'd have thought it? Now we just need to sort out these bloody murderous cultists and we'll have our hands on TRUE power. Let the governments of the world mess about with Chancellor Hitler all they like, and watch whilst he builds his war machine. Their eyes will be on the wrong place. It is WE who shall inherit the..."

The voice trails away. Jade Hood and Stone Fist were on the floor above, and the man/men speaking must have walked closely by underneath them on the level below. There were servants bustling about as the pair looked with a quick glance, and the voice who had spoken must have gone into one of three rooms on that floor, now with all doors closed.

OOC You're on the top floor, the second floor (below you) has servants walking about with arms loaded with sheets and the like. The first floor below that seems quiet, and the ground floor is where the party is taking place, with party goers in and out of the main reception hall some forty feet below where you are.

Admin wrote:Jade Hood
OOC You're on the top floor, the second floor (below you) has servants walking about with arms loaded with sheets and the like. The first floor below that seems quiet, and the ground floor is where the party is taking place, with party goers in and out of the main reception hall some forty feet below where you are.

OOC: Hmm this provides quiet a challenge, ok here are my suggestions David,

1. We cause a distraction on the ground floor, have something from the top floor thrown so that it causes something expensive below to smash, preferably when someone is passing by. That might bring the servants from the level below rushing to the scene.

2. We wait watch their movements and try and synchronize our movement to the floor below with theirs. Seeing which rooms they go into and where they don't so we can head for that one.

3. We take the direct approach and take them out before anyone notices, or before they can raise the alarm. We could add to this the observation mentioned in 2 to make sure we take best advantage of their movements.

4. The final option is to set something up on this floor, a fire, but that might be costly to life and limb, but it would create the chaos that would also permit us to move freely about the place. If we make the fire something controllable, but not obviously so we limit the chances of its spreading but not of its being a distraction.

Anyway there are multiple options here, just not sure which one to take and you might have a few further ideas to consider as well.



Sj

hmm ... not sure what to do either since we have a lot of choices here. Would grabbing somebody and questioning them help us or slow us down?

DavidMcMahon wrote:hmm ... not sure what to do either since we have a lot of choices here. Would grabbing somebody and questioning them help us or slow us down?

OOC: Possible depends on how much we'd find out verses discovery anyway! It does seem as if we've got a bit of a problem with no obvious solution and given our last attempted break into to an embassy went so bad and we get out backsides handed to us, I can see us being even more cautious this time. I think we observe and see what we can find out. We have a saying down here, "Measure twice, cut once..."

Since its unlikely we'll speak before the end of the year, Happy New Year Dave and all, trust it goes better for you than the end of this one has done.

Sj

so let's do a combination of option one and two, observe their movement, then drop something to pull them away for a brief moment in order to get inside.

DavidMcMahon wrote:so let's do a combination of option one and two, observe their movement, then drop something to pull them away for a brief moment in order to get inside.

OOC: Agreed

Sj

A glance around revealed a large potted plant, a hefty handful for most men, and nigh on weightless for the capable pair who eyed it and the use of it as a distraction...

Jade Hood hung over the bannister, watching and listening, then dropped his arm.

Stone Fist slammed the pot into the wood floor, causing an almighty CRASH!

It took but a moment for servants to come out, look at one another and start the recriminations, before another look round revealed the crash had come from upstairs.

They started up the stairs , around half a dozen or so.

They missed the two figures dropping down to the floor below as they raced up. One swung himself up and over the bannister acrobatically and landing lightly, the other simply climbing over and dropping down, the jump to him no worse than hopping off a stair!

They heard the commotion above as the group hurried to clean the mess up, still puzzled as to the cause of the breakage.

Several corridors ran off the landing, and there were a number of doors off those. The adventurers could barge in, checking each room and abandon any pretence of stealth, or listen at the doors but know their time was short - the alarm would be raised as soon as any servant saw them poking about!

OOC Two corridors off the landing, three doors set in the walls of each, no clue as to where the corridors lead. Probably deeper into the mansion, guest rooms and the like.

"You saw more than I did," Stone Fist says to Jade Hood, "which way do you suggest?"


ooc: Remind me to get better hearing when it comes time to get new powers.

The voice trails away. Jade Hood and Stone Fist were on the floor above, and the man/men speaking must have walked closely by underneath them on the level below.

OOC Paul given the above information and our relative location given the sound of the voices below, can I work out where the most likely place for them to have disappeared is going to have been? That is the area I want to suggest that we search. I'll get Stone Fist to use his superior sight to spot anything whilst I try to listen in and use my senses as best I can to find what I can. Please feel free to assume I will be using hero points to make the best call in the situation as given.

Sj

OOC Perception Check for Jade Hood... Roll 3,6, Stone Fist 3,9. Both fail (Stone Fist because he is less perceptive than JH so needed a high roll, JH needed a higher roll)

Taking their best guess, the heroes narrowed their choice down to one of two doors opposite each other some 10m down the corridor having passed several other doors.

There was no one else around so that left a door on the left... or one on the right.

Listening at either gave no clue.

Jade Hood shivered, suggesting that strange sense of impending danger was suggesting something was dangerous about one of the doors, but he couldn't tell which one (OOC Roll 6,1... failed). He was sure that not all was as it seemed, however.

Sounds from the landing - the scurrying of feet down the stairs, and the scraping of soil from the floors and picking up of broken pot - suggested there would be people coming down the corridor soon. The corridor the heroes were stood on continued deeper into the house, but the sounds of voices, and closing of doors suggested that the mysterious owners of the voices had gone into one of these doors. But which? They had only moments to decide, or get out of the way before they were discovered!

Sounds from the landing - the scurrying of feet down the stairs, and the scraping of soil from the floors and picking up of broken pot - suggested there would be people coming down the corridor soon. The corridor the heroes were stood on continued deeper into the house, but the sounds of voices, and closing of doors suggested that the mysterious owners of the voices had gone into one of these doors. But which? They had only moments to decide, or get out of the way before they were discovered!

"Open both," Stone Fist whispered/mouthed to Jade Hood?

actions: Let Jade Hood decide. Stone Fist will open his door and go through if that's what Jade Hood decides or follow him into which room he picks.

DavidMcMahon wrote:
"Open both," Stone Fist whispered/mouthed to Jade Hood?

actions: Let Jade Hood decide. Stone Fist will open his door and go through if that's what Jade Hood decides or follow him into which room he picks.

OOC: With those fails in mind, I did ask in my prior post for Hero points to be taken into consideration - have we run out of them or something?

However I'm happy to open both doors, but one at a time just to be on the safe side. If one is booby trapped I want us both to be ready.

Sj

OOC I hear ya on the hero point thing - I just need some clue as to how many you actually want to spend (doing this for your benefit - things are easy at the moment - wait until you face the... ah, telling ). Jade Hood has 30, Stone Fist has 32. When rolls are critical (in other words the character or their friend is about to come to harm or miss something vital) I'll just chuck some hero points into the mix for you, usually 2.

In fact, tell ya what - whenever anyone states 'I'll use Hero Points' from now on I will spend enough (usually 2) to get you to the 'next column' on the Action table, which in game terms usually means you need to roll 2 less to succeed. *Generally* for every 2HP spent you reduce the target number by 2, but at the more powerful character levels (in the teens) that doesn't quite work out.

So, sorry about that, I was trying to save your HP for critical stuff, but understand that it might have looked like I was ignoring you

NEW HOUSE RULE FOR THIS GAME: When you want to use HERO POINTS, just say so and I will add 2HP to your ACTING value. If you specify how many HP you want to add, and to which value (Acting - as in 'to hit' or a task check, Effect - as in 'to damage' or how much effort you put in, Opposing - as in 'to dodge' or oppose another characters influence on you, Resistance - as in 'to reduce damage' or resist influence of another character) I will apply those instead.

Stone Fist shrugs, and opens the door...

Inside the corridor stretches on... and on... and on... ever into darkness! He turns to Jade Hood, only to see he is stood balanced in a doorway with yawning blackness behind him, like a void of some kind! What in the world...? He turns back, and sees a dim light - no, twin points of light, growing brighter, and seemingly coming towards him, though still some way away...

A voice, oriental sounding, speaks out "If you wish to see your friends - the blundering doctor and the noisy woman - again, you must face your fears... follow the lights!"

With that the twin points of light stop, and start to recede down the corridor! Just then there is a roaring sound behind Stone Fist, and he looks round to see tentacles, like those of an octopus, save that the suckers are instead snakes mouths, reaching for him from the blackness of the void!

=========

Jade Hood coughed, and covered his mouth...

The corridor had immediately been filled with strange sweet smelling green smoke, billowing out from the doorway which Stone Fist had opened! His friend stood there, and looked over his shoulder, oblivious to the smoke, but seemingly unseeing him!

With his mouth covered, Jade Hood made to pull his friend back from the lip of the doorway - beyond that the corridor was pitch black, and it was impossible to see where it went...

Footsteps suggested people were coming this way, and would round the corner in moments to see it full of green smoke and the pair of them stood there!

OOC Blame David M for the current predicament. He wanted a 'Yellow Peril' style adversary (I need to do some reading up on that, it's been decades since I saw a 'Dr Fu Manchu' style film) so that's what you'll get - sorta

OOC Blame David M for the current predicament. He wanted a 'Yellow Peril' style adversary (I need to do some reading up on that, it's been decades since I saw a 'Dr Fu Manchu' style film) so that's what you'll get - sorta


http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulpfiction/genres/Weird-Menace.php

This is a good place for a run down for those types of stories.


And if I am reading this right, Stone Fist sees Jade Hood as some kind of tentacle monster about to attack him? Can we say "Fight!"

DavidMcMahon wrote:And if I am reading this right, Stone Fist sees Jade Hood as some kind of tentacle monster about to attack him? Can we say "Fight!"

"Quick my friend, into the room" Jade Hood said, in a strong whisper, as he tried to move toward the entrance, reckoning on the fact if the gas was billowing out, going in might well prove a means to get past it. Besides the gas would surely effect those in the corridor further aiding them in their attempt to try and locate the speakers.

OOC: Ok I am not pushing Stone Fist in, I'm mindful of the way the gas might have effected him, so I am just going to act non aggressively to get him into the room, as best I can.

Sj