So should we all be arguing for a slide based on how much mercy we showed the headsman? Or how we saved lives? Is that how it works?
Unless you are close to getting dragged to hell, I’m not even sure sliding is necessarily a good thing.
Virtuous stats are still a thing you roll with, it’s just not what fuels your superpowers and thus not what you’re going to be most effective with. But you need them for some things. E.g. that open endurance roll to grapple.
They also give you potentially more points to slide over to your sinful stats ;)
As for whether Brad did anything particularly of note? While I could potentially justify trying to argue cowardice or something for others, not so for Brad. @arrendek mostly played things straight up, and acted for others, but was not particularly underhanded or heroic about it.
Thomas mostly tried to rely on his inherent skill in negotiating, albeit supernaturally enhanced. I may be able to make a case, but it would be weak in either end.
Well, you never gain virtuous points, you only slide them from sinful stats. So if the idea is to fuel slides over to sinful stats you might as well not move them to the virtuous side to begin with. That said, when taking hits in combat it is helpful to have some buffer in your tactics so they aren’t going straight to your strategies unless they roll really well.
I don’t think it makes sense to argue for cowardice for anyone. Not everyone physically engaged the Headsman but no one fled the scene or acted purely out of extreme self preservation.
I agree, but that would be the closest I could mark up. This fight was basically the equivalent of us going to the headsman like this
And just trying to scare him off.
Scare him? No no, I held back. If there hadn’t been kids around I would’ve nard-shotted him for sure.
Okay, so no pitches. Demons are once again uninvoked.
All except Alex
Once the scene has been deemed under control, and initial treatment has been performed on everyone for any injuries or shock they may be experiencing, the police begin interviews. Nothing extensive, just touching base and seeing if anyone had any further details to add. Apparently the cameras in the gym were knocked out by the sprinklers activating, so you were not caught on film, and the few murmurs from others about superpowered individuals taking on the Headsman are so confused and contradictory that they’re chalked up to stress. Seems like you’re probably in the clear on this one. But what’s your story when they talk to you?
Alex
Seems like the tunnels are pretty undamaged by the events above, apart from some dust having been shaken loose by the shockwave. You hurry back to your wife anyway, just to be sure she’s okay - or at least as okay as she ever is. What do you tell her? (Whether or not she would be conscious.)
Brad Stevens
Brad’s story is to relate everything that happened honestly… Except he leaves out everything about the players responses. He’ll just say headless looked like he got hurt when I was looking away for a second, maybe some rubble fell on him or something, and then he ran off.
Alex
Alex hurried downstairs and everything looked pretty much like he left it. He looked down at the glass where Sarah lay.
“Who knew there’d be supervillains at a school? Or that I’d be glad you were safe down here. I’d tell you what was going on if I actually understood any of it. No time to sit here and analyze it though. They are probably doing head counts and stuff upstairs. I better get up there and blend in.”
Alex heads back upstairs and tries to stick to areas of the school relatively far from the mess, wiout looking too obvious about it.
Sorry, weekend got the better of me.
Thomas Albertson
Sigh
Listen, it was a mess. They come storming in making all kinds of demands and threats. I did the only thing I knew to do, try and keep the kids safe. Buy time. Make sure that the call went out to the police, and bargain for every minute. I had managed to, in some small ways, succeed. Then things went haywire. I don’t know exactly what, but suddenly there was the explosion. Dead villains, injured others. Someone managed to bluff the injured one away I think, mostly by trying to cause claims of super attacks elsewhere. Really I just wanted attention away from the students so they could escape.
Then he left, and you arrived.
Yeah, some weekends I’m off the grid.
María Romero
María is still shaking as she relates her story to the officer.
His head was like… all messed up. It had like tijeras for a head. Or something. Just like in TV… I thought… I thought they were going to kill us. Then… there was a explosion, and then it all got crazy. I… I don’t know what happened then. I was s-scared… Thank god you are here…
(Will they believe all this? It all sounds crazy, but then again, this is all crazy, isn’t it? I just want to go home…)
María looks at the EMT putting some bandages on her forehead.
Is this going to cost me? Does my insurance- the school insurance… cover this?
And suddenly it comes to her. She has to call Julia. Like, right now. she needs to tell all this crazy shit to somebody that understands her. Hopefully her phone is still ok…
Apologies from this side also.
Jose
Ok, I’ve got to keep Tio Lou to myself. People will think I’m crazy. Those other 4 will know but I think everyone else will be chill.
Jose lets the EMT check him over but walks away when they start wanting to wait off to the side. “I’ve told you I’m fine. It’s not my blood. It’s the dude that got blasted back into the building.” The police get the same brush off, “Yeah, dude is blasted over to near me. He looked really bad off or dead. I didn’t see anything else and just got out.”
He does make a special effort to find the secretary and make sure she is alright as well as calling his parents. Tracking down a piece of the wall of the bus barn can wait until there are fewer people around.
All
Once the interviews are done, the police approach Thomas and inform him that they would like to have the school closed down for the day as they still need to do crime scene investigation and since this has been very traumatic for everyone involved, some time to recuperate would be advisable. As Superintendent he does need to sign off on this.
The rest of you will have had some time to think. You instinctively recognized one another as having invoked demons during the melee in the gym, before anyone had actually used their powers, so you would be able to seek each other out if desired. Aside from that, you could try to think back and figure out what happened to you to get those powers (Cunning Knowledge). And the strange presences in your head might have a bit more to say on the subject now that things have quieted down. Screwtapes, you should only offer this insight if they agree to perform a sin on your behalf. I'll narrate a vision you can provide if the deal is struck.
Was going to do this last night, but Obsidian Portal was down.
Thomas Albertson
I’ve already talked to the one teacher, but standing here in the crowds I get a sense of who else was effected. It didn’t make much sense at the time, but clarity comes with thought. Maria I’ve already talked to, but I want to get everyone.
‘Certainly officer, I agree fully that we need to send everyone home once we can verify everyone is out, and safe. So before I authorize this I want to get every teacher to reconcile their classes with attendance. So if you would help me by spreading this out so we can get everyone home as soon as possible. If you would help Agnes here get the master records while I start gathering teachers I would appreciate it. Also if you could send the security officer Brad my way.’
I will assume that this goes off without a hitch, and takes no more than a few minutes to get records. It will take longer to sort by class, naturally, but in that time I will be making certain contacts.
Thomas makes sure to specifically seek out Brad, and Maria to confirm meeting him after everyone goes. This is easy, as naturally he needs to speak to them anyhow. Getting the student whom his new component helps him locate, Jose, is slightly trickier. However while he is going through the crowds to teachers he is able whisper…
‘My office, one hour. You know what we need to talk about’
As for that Janitor, while teachers are first order, he does also gather other staff. So he will enlist the aid of the police as needed to find him, and convey the message. Once that is all done, and he gets a moment between organizing and the meeting, Thomas tries to figure out what the hell occurred. roll cunning knowledge, 2 cunning, 3 knowledge
Brimstone @arrendek
Nothing to see here yet. Not deleting in case this comes back, but for now Brimstone is enjoying a nap.
[details=Summary]Hehehe, my friend we have much to discuss. Surely you have questions, and I, ever your friend and ally, will answer them.
For a price.
See to help you, we need to take care of some… business. Nothing too serious, but a little deception. A little deviousness.
You need to convince the police that they said something about a ritual, something to grow their power by feeding on the souls of the living. That they attacked each other in order to grow their own powers. That they need to hunt the remaining members of Triskadecaphobia down, and kill them. Then maybe you’ll get your chance to finish the job you started. But, if not, you’ll get the power you need for next time.
Or, if you are unwilling to do that small task, find some other means to please me. I am a willing and benevolent ally. A little lying, a little manipulating, or a little sneaking around hiding evidence from the police and I can tell you what I know.
Yes, that would also be an acceptable option. Sneak around and make the investigation impossible to determine the truth. go to the barn and hide what evidence you can.
Your choice buttercup.[/details]
With no visual records and a lot of panic it would be really hard to figure out who one unknown student was and it is fairly unlikely that a superintendent would know one student. I’m torn between saying that Maria might know him or just leaving it as he’s hard to identify and thus unconnected to the other four for a while longer. Does anyone have an opinion.
FYI, you can’t talk as the demon unless you’re invoked. I just wanted you to know what you have to offer if they ask.