Quartier Ouvrier, Port-a-Lucine; March 11th, 770, 8:37 PM
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DocBeard wrote:"Priest." Tomas looks over at Cyrus, "Can you heal?" He steps forward, and turns to look at the wounded policewoman. "Are people still inside of the building? If not, maybe we can stop it before it spreads through the district."
"It was a trap set for us," the woman dully stated. "We didn't find anyone else. Captain Cedolin stayed behind as long as he could to double check. If there was anyone still alive when we left, they aren't now."
"Stop it?
Stop it?" the mad gendarme captain snapped. "I wouldn't
waste the manpower! Let the Quartier Ouvrier
burn to the ground, maybe then the nobles will finally be
satisfied! Let the entire
city BURN!"
"Blessed saints-" the burned man managed to croak out, in between coughing like he'd inhaled a bucket of tar. He lifted hopeless eyes to look up at the other gendarme captain. "Don't tell- this
madness- gotten you too-?"
The Tessier Gallery, Quartier Savant, Port-a-Lucine; March 11th, 770, 8:37 PM
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Contrary to his sister's fears, Richard was not running directly to the gunshots, instead taking a small detour by way of the main hall. This did not prove as comforting as one might have hoped.
The main hall was a scene of barely contained chaos as Lia and the rest of the group arrived. The gathered aristocracy and Gallery staff were in a full panic once more, though this time they had more cause. People yelled and shouted to one another, even as women in their massive bustles clogged the double-doors leading outside. Others huddled at the center of the gallery, cringing every time another bullet crashed through the gallery. The remainder, wounded by the broken glass or else near-trampled by their fellows, wandered in a daze.
Outside, there was the sound of battle. Several of the windows were broken, from both flying bricks and rifle shots, and people screamed in raw fury outside the gallery. Even as you watched, another one of the windows shattered as a stray bullet hit, the nobleman watching it barely managing to avoid a face-full of glass. Meanwhile, smoke poured from the rear galleries, black and acrid-smelling, the chemicals in the paint contributing to its noxious presence.
"Ah, Lia, what a pleasant surprise." Marcos Vedarrak appeared, a small oasis of calm, rationality, and sarcasm. He was bleeding from a small wound on the scalp, staining his iron hair a deep red, but he didn't seem to be much bothered by it. Lieutenant Jaeger was nowhere to be seen. "I understand that as representative of a foreign power, I'm not legally entitled to shout commands and maintain order. Under the circumstances, I hope you'll forgive me."
"What, what is going
on?" Richard asked, pitching his voice to be heard above the din.
"A gang of thugs apparently collided with a nobleman's militia right outside the gallery. Things are getting violent outside." Vedarrak waved towards the chaos outside. "And as you may have noticed, the Gallery is on fire. Apparently the only water pump in the building, unless one wishes to wander outside, is in the kitchens, which is somewhere behind the flames."
Vedarrak paused for a moment here, rubbing his forehead in frustration. When his hand came away, it was sticky with blood. The Falkovnian regarded it for a moment then turned back to the rest of you.
"Lia, get these nobles
out of here before the whole Gallery burns down." Vedarrak said it softly, but it was unmistakeably an order. "Try a back door, the battle is only at the front. I'll hold the militia and gangs off to give you time, but if we don't evacuate soon, it'll be a slaughter."
Vedarrak gave a curt nod, and then, with a thunderclap of inrushing air, disappeared to somewhere ahead of the jammed doorway.
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Mr. Agale wrote:"Christophe," Agale says evenly, "consider the situation and your wounds. Withdraw yourself and try to cut him off from behind. I shall engage him from the fore." With that, he purposely strides through the flames, completely disregarding their danger. He gives his assailant a disdainful look, as though he were inspecting an unruly pet. "Really sir. You are outnumbered and surrounded, besides, your gun has just jammed." Once again, the lawyer's words took on strange undertones. They seemed to seethe around the room as though alive.
As Agale emerged from the smoke, he finally got his first good look at his assailant. He was a middle-aged man dressed in the smock of a kitchen-worker, with sandy-blond hair and freckles dusting his face. He gripped an old pistol so tightly that his knuckles were white. For a moment, he just stared at the unburned Agale like a man seeing a ghost, but if he meant to say something, he lost his chance.
Christophe Renier burst through the flames, shouldering Agale aside as he charged. Of the amiable, good-natured young man you'd met earlier, little was left. Christophe's clothing was on fire, his hair smouldered, and he was bleeding freely from the side of his face. But more than that, there was fury in his eyes, a bottomless anger at the fact that this
man had dared hurt his family.
Christophe balled his left hand into a fist, long fingers curling together, and punched the kitchen worker in the jaw. The crack of broken bone was clearly audible, and the man staggered back, raising his pistol and firing at point-blank range into the Renier. The bullet tore through Christophe's upper arm, but it was arguable whether he noticed.
Bertram, Bertriz, and MR are off the map and safe.
Christophe totally ignores Agale and charges the sniper. He takes 25 fire damage from crossing all those squares, and is now bloodied. He hits with a 24 and deals 29 damage. He takes 5 fire & poison damage and makes his save.
The sniper panics, shifts back a square, and shoots Christophe in the gut, dealing 13 damage.
Fire squares deal 5 fire damage for each square moved through. People who start their turn in a fire-square take Ongoing 5 Fire and Poison damage (save ends).
Squares on Fire are also Lightly Obscured, meaning a -2 to ranged or melee (but not Burst or Blast) attack rolls that go through them.
Agale = 40/40 HP, Ongoing 5 Fire and Poison damage (save ends), Cover (-2 to ranged and melee attack rolls against)
Christophe = 25/76 HP, Bloodied
Sniper = 33/62 HP
AC 19, F 18/R 19/W 17; Cover (-2 to ranged and melee attack rolls against)
