"Hmmm, yeah I'll go find something to do," Rudy said. He wandered the hallways until he found a door to open.
After taking some binders for his sack, the Mountain Man then cracked the doors to this office and observed what he could while planning what to do next. To the south, the guard still stood there who was there when they came in. He missed the sounds of the scuffle from the room, apparently, because he was talking to a second mobster who just came down the ladder from upstairs. When the Mountain Man opened the north door he found it led back into the chapel – and a guard was coming straight towards him.
Rudy saw the door open and shut. He could not quite make out the person, but it looked like another guard. So he advanced to the door to see what was going on.
"There's another guard coming," The Mountain Man whispered before taking a position next to the door. He would close it behind the guard as soon as he got in there.
Silver Scorpion looked around for something to bind and, especially, gag Willy. She was still tying him up with his own jacket when the Mountain Man gave his warning.
Rudy walked up to the door and knocked. "I know somebody’s in there,” he said. “I saw the door open and shut. Is there something going on in there?" He scratched his chin and thought this was some suspicious behavior and, maybe, the guards had caught another prisoner inside, like that woman who had saved him.
The Mountain Man realized he could not have this guard drawing attention to them like this, so he opened the door real fast, grabbed the guard on the other side, and hauled him in. He kicked the door closed behind him, knocked the guard down on the floor, and bent over him.
"Whoa, who are you people?" Rudy asked. He could see Silver Scorpion binding an unconscious guy. "The good guys?" he asked more quietly. "I'm FBI!"
Just then, the south door opened and the guard from outside glanced in. Everyone looked at him and froze where they were. He looked in the room and saw a man bending over another man on the floor and a woman in a torn silver jumpsuit tying up a third man.
"Geez," the guard said. "This cult just keeps getting weirder and weirder..." and then he shut the door.
As that guard left, Rudy went on to explain, "I am Rudy Malefor and I was a prisoner here until a woman with an A on her shirt saved me. Bad news is they captured her and put her in a cell. That is the last I saw her." He paused and went on to say, "I think I saw another of your kind captured also. They were taking him somewhere. I asked what they were doing with him and they didn't give me an answer. I had seen him in a cell at first though, when they took him out, I followed them until they got too suspicious of me."
"How well do you know the layout of this place?” Silver Scorpion asked. “Could you lead us to Alpha-Woman's cell?" She added as she finished tying up Willy good and tight. "But more to the point,” she said, addressing everyone, “how are we going to get around this place without bringing all the guards down upon us? Perhaps we could continue the 'prisoners' ruse and say we've got orders from Willy to escort the 'prisoners' to the cells.” Addressing Rudy again, she asked, “Have you seen the guards using any written orders or authorization, or is it all verbal?” Then, as it occurred to her, she added, “Secondly, did anyone see a set of keys around the office? Could come in useful." Before she could get an answer she started searching Willy for any items on his person.
"Yes, I can help you find your way to the cells," Rudy answered and then paused. "And about the written orders, I've never seen it. From what I see it's all verbal. I do like your idea." Then, after another pause he added, "I say about this guy, since he's knocked out, we're just going to have to leave him here and go down there without him."
"Willy's tied up and gagged. I'm fine leaving him, we can just tuck him under the desk. Guards'll assume he's left by the other door or something."
The Mountain Man rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "Let's get to the cells and free the folks we need to...then I'm fixing to brawl and end this nonsense once and for all if we can pull it off."
The desk was small, but the Mountain Man managed to shove Willy completely under it. Silver Scorpion had found nothing useful on Willy.
The heroes decided next on a desperate gamble -- a run into the basement cell block and back with anyone they could find. Rudy knew the way and the way meant crossing the south end of the occupied chapel. The Daoist and Silver Scorpion re-submitted to their false capture and were led by three ‘guards’ time back out of Willy's room.
The ladder had been put aside in the chapel and one of the mobsters was standing on the dais at the far end. Though the heroes could see no microphone by him, his voice still boomed. "Check one. Check one," he said. "Hey, Dr. McDermott, those prisoners are coming back through."
"What?" another voice booms in the chapel. "Bring them to the dais!"
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Rpol Hideouts & Hoodlums Campaign - pt. 24
((Missing from this entry is more of Alpha-Woman’s solo session that ended with her unconscious and Megan taking the role of G-Man Rudy Malefor temporarily. How Rudy escaped from his cell, I don’t even remember anymore. Also, our Sewer Rat player came back after a short absence.))
"I'm not sayin' anything against St. Louis! I'm sayin', someone should keep an eye on these guys. I don't trust 'em."
"Well, it sounds like you just missed the secret sign. Just go ahead and get those prisoners inside!"
Before anyone could change their mind, the heroes crossed under the gate, then the bridge, and up to the entrance of the temple. This time the doors were even open! Once the group was inside, they looked for an empty side hallway they could use to shed their disguises and help their “prisoners” out of their bonds.
Finding an empty hallway proved difficult. The first side passage, where Sewer Rat had fallen last night, had a mobster standing there between the door and the ladder going up. He looked at them non-threateningly, keeping his pistol holstered at his hip. Up ahead was a tall ladder in the nave of the temple that was not there last night, and another mobster standing by that. The tall ladder in the nave was tall enough to reach the ceiling two floors above the pews. A third mobster was on the ladder and the second mobster, spotted a moment earlier, was spotting him.
“Let’s see if we can find where they keep the prisoners,” the Mountain Man said in a low voice.
Once out of sight, the Mountain Man removed the bark strips from the Daoist's wrists and Captain Liberty did the same for Silver Scorpion. They were whispering their intentions of what to do next when the second mobster peaked around the corner. "Hey!" he said loudly. "Are those two of the characters who attacked us last night? You need to get in there and show them to Willy!"
Meanwhile...
Though Alpha-Woman had been captured, she had found and managed to free FBI G-Man Rudy Malefor from the temple’s dungeon.
Agent Malefor finally completed his disguise and was ready to make a break for it when he saw two jailors escorting a new prisoner down the hallway. Their prisoner’s arms were tied up with rope, but his legs were left free for walking. One of the guards was holding onto the loose end of the rope like a leash. More unusual still, their prisoner was dressed up in a rat costume.
Rudy, confident in his guard uniform, approached within 10 feet and tried to size up the guards to see if he could take them. "Hey guys,” he said, “I can take him off your hands. I am not doing anything. Where you guys heading to?"
The guard Rudy addressed shook his head and said, "He's not going to be heading back to the cells after this. We're taking him to the waiting room upstairs." The other guard kept a close eye on his prisoner.
Rudy silently decided to just follow where the guards were going because that was where he was planning to go anyways. Maybe at some point he could save this other prisoner.
Meanwhile…
Silver Scorpion quickly moved her wrists back together as if they were still tied. She turned slightly to the side so the mobster could not get a good look at them. Otherwise, she remained submissive and quiet, maintaining her role as a defeated prisoner. The Daoist followed Silver Scorpion's lead, locking his wrists together and dropping his head in resignation.
"Of course...we were just going to,” the Mountain Man said. “Is Willy looking for us? Where is he?"
"He's in his office!" the mobster said, pointing to the door in front of them in the side hallway. "Just don't stand outside his door all day! There's lots of work to do around here and everyone can use a hand."
The Mountain Man knocked on the door to Willy's office.
"Come in!"
The walls of this small, L-shaped room were paneled in gold pine. A rug covered the floor. There were three matching white oak pieces of furniture in the room -- a couch against one wall, a cabinet against another, and a small writing desk in the center of the room, facing away from the heroes with thick binders of papers on it. An oily-looking man with slicked hair and a big black moustache had his back to them, but turned as they entered. "Who are you people?" Willy asked.
The heroes tried their St. Louis cover story again and Willy nodded. "Sure, sure. I've heard you St. Louis boys were coming. I've got something for you..." he said as he opened the desk drawer.
The Daoist was the first to suspect something wrong, but no one could reach Willy and stop him before he pulled an automatic pistol from the drawer and turned it on them.
The Mountain Man charged across the room with his hatchet hoping to knock him out before he could fire his weapon. Silver Scorpion also dropped her act and leapt at Willy to attack. Willy was taken aback by the rapidness of their response and it allowed them to close the distance safely. The Mountain Man's hatchet grazed the side of the slick hoodlum’s head. Silver Scorpion was also on Willy in a flash, slashing at his arm with her knife and cutting him. Then Capt. Liberty, with uncharacteristic good luck, landed a punch on Willy's face and Willy went down without getting off a shot.
Taking a quick look around, they found the desk was covered in accounting books and the cabinet had a long-distance radio/PA system in it.
"Alright, what do we do now?" the Mountain Man asked the others. Then, remembering his pulp detective novels, he began collecting documents and stowing them in his pack as possible evidence.
Meanwhile…
The guards escorting Sewer Rat had stopped in the upstairs gallery to turn and question the “guard” following them.
“"Are you followin' us for some reason?” one of them asked Rudy. “Don't have nothin' to do? There's plenty that needs doin' before noon. Stop bein' lazy and lend a hand!"
This had not been a good day. Tommy had lost his mask, been captured, and remained captured despite his best efforts. He missed his days of beating muggers in alleyways, instead of heavily armed and organized cultists. Tommy was very different than Sewer Rat. He just wanted to hide. He was afraid.
Rudy, for his part, said nothing. The guards gave up on being answered and led Tommy through the door on the far side of the gallery. There, they emerged into the south end of the nave of the temple. Ignoring the people tidying the temple, they rounded a corner and took Tommy to another door.
Rudy and Tommy saw that two mobsters were working at lowering a collapsible ladder in the middle of the chapel and an ordinary-looking woman had appeared with a broom and was sweeping the floor. Then, one of the mobsters at the ladder called over to the guards. "Hey, can one of you go check on Willy? I think two of our attackers from last night just got captured and brought to him!"
"I'm not sayin' anything against St. Louis! I'm sayin', someone should keep an eye on these guys. I don't trust 'em."
"Well, it sounds like you just missed the secret sign. Just go ahead and get those prisoners inside!"
Before anyone could change their mind, the heroes crossed under the gate, then the bridge, and up to the entrance of the temple. This time the doors were even open! Once the group was inside, they looked for an empty side hallway they could use to shed their disguises and help their “prisoners” out of their bonds.
Finding an empty hallway proved difficult. The first side passage, where Sewer Rat had fallen last night, had a mobster standing there between the door and the ladder going up. He looked at them non-threateningly, keeping his pistol holstered at his hip. Up ahead was a tall ladder in the nave of the temple that was not there last night, and another mobster standing by that. The tall ladder in the nave was tall enough to reach the ceiling two floors above the pews. A third mobster was on the ladder and the second mobster, spotted a moment earlier, was spotting him.
“Let’s see if we can find where they keep the prisoners,” the Mountain Man said in a low voice.
Once out of sight, the Mountain Man removed the bark strips from the Daoist's wrists and Captain Liberty did the same for Silver Scorpion. They were whispering their intentions of what to do next when the second mobster peaked around the corner. "Hey!" he said loudly. "Are those two of the characters who attacked us last night? You need to get in there and show them to Willy!"
Meanwhile...
Though Alpha-Woman had been captured, she had found and managed to free FBI G-Man Rudy Malefor from the temple’s dungeon.
Agent Malefor finally completed his disguise and was ready to make a break for it when he saw two jailors escorting a new prisoner down the hallway. Their prisoner’s arms were tied up with rope, but his legs were left free for walking. One of the guards was holding onto the loose end of the rope like a leash. More unusual still, their prisoner was dressed up in a rat costume.
Rudy, confident in his guard uniform, approached within 10 feet and tried to size up the guards to see if he could take them. "Hey guys,” he said, “I can take him off your hands. I am not doing anything. Where you guys heading to?"
The guard Rudy addressed shook his head and said, "He's not going to be heading back to the cells after this. We're taking him to the waiting room upstairs." The other guard kept a close eye on his prisoner.
Rudy silently decided to just follow where the guards were going because that was where he was planning to go anyways. Maybe at some point he could save this other prisoner.
Meanwhile…
Silver Scorpion quickly moved her wrists back together as if they were still tied. She turned slightly to the side so the mobster could not get a good look at them. Otherwise, she remained submissive and quiet, maintaining her role as a defeated prisoner. The Daoist followed Silver Scorpion's lead, locking his wrists together and dropping his head in resignation.
"Of course...we were just going to,” the Mountain Man said. “Is Willy looking for us? Where is he?"
"He's in his office!" the mobster said, pointing to the door in front of them in the side hallway. "Just don't stand outside his door all day! There's lots of work to do around here and everyone can use a hand."
The Mountain Man knocked on the door to Willy's office.
"Come in!"
The walls of this small, L-shaped room were paneled in gold pine. A rug covered the floor. There were three matching white oak pieces of furniture in the room -- a couch against one wall, a cabinet against another, and a small writing desk in the center of the room, facing away from the heroes with thick binders of papers on it. An oily-looking man with slicked hair and a big black moustache had his back to them, but turned as they entered. "Who are you people?" Willy asked.
The heroes tried their St. Louis cover story again and Willy nodded. "Sure, sure. I've heard you St. Louis boys were coming. I've got something for you..." he said as he opened the desk drawer.
The Daoist was the first to suspect something wrong, but no one could reach Willy and stop him before he pulled an automatic pistol from the drawer and turned it on them.
The Mountain Man charged across the room with his hatchet hoping to knock him out before he could fire his weapon. Silver Scorpion also dropped her act and leapt at Willy to attack. Willy was taken aback by the rapidness of their response and it allowed them to close the distance safely. The Mountain Man's hatchet grazed the side of the slick hoodlum’s head. Silver Scorpion was also on Willy in a flash, slashing at his arm with her knife and cutting him. Then Capt. Liberty, with uncharacteristic good luck, landed a punch on Willy's face and Willy went down without getting off a shot.
Taking a quick look around, they found the desk was covered in accounting books and the cabinet had a long-distance radio/PA system in it.
"Alright, what do we do now?" the Mountain Man asked the others. Then, remembering his pulp detective novels, he began collecting documents and stowing them in his pack as possible evidence.
Meanwhile…
The guards escorting Sewer Rat had stopped in the upstairs gallery to turn and question the “guard” following them.
“"Are you followin' us for some reason?” one of them asked Rudy. “Don't have nothin' to do? There's plenty that needs doin' before noon. Stop bein' lazy and lend a hand!"
This had not been a good day. Tommy had lost his mask, been captured, and remained captured despite his best efforts. He missed his days of beating muggers in alleyways, instead of heavily armed and organized cultists. Tommy was very different than Sewer Rat. He just wanted to hide. He was afraid.
Rudy, for his part, said nothing. The guards gave up on being answered and led Tommy through the door on the far side of the gallery. There, they emerged into the south end of the nave of the temple. Ignoring the people tidying the temple, they rounded a corner and took Tommy to another door.
Rudy and Tommy saw that two mobsters were working at lowering a collapsible ladder in the middle of the chapel and an ordinary-looking woman had appeared with a broom and was sweeping the floor. Then, one of the mobsters at the ladder called over to the guards. "Hey, can one of you go check on Willy? I think two of our attackers from last night just got captured and brought to him!"
Friday, April 6, 2012
Rpol Hideouts & Hoodlums Campaign - pt. 23
The Mountain Man and Captain Liberty changed their prisoners out of their coats and pants, leaving the men lying on the cold ground in their long johns. The clothes were a tight fit over their costumes, but would suffice so long as no one looked too close. Their next obstacle was that no one had any rope on them. The Daoist suggested stripping tree bark and wrapping it around their wrists as if it was rope. Because of his heavy accent, he had to say the plan twice. Once the Mountain Man got it, he made short work of some tree bark with his busy hatchet, making sure to choose a tree where the bark was supple. At least it might fool someone until they actually looked.
Having no better plan, the two disguised heroes and their "prisoners" made their way back to Roostertown. The west, less densely-housed side of Roostertown seemed to be the busier area this morning, with more people out and about there. There were fewer people out and about on the east side, and no women or children in sight.
"I suggest we observe this ruse until we are inside the temple once again,” the Mountain Man said, “or until we are discovered. And I think the best way to observe this ruse is to use the front gate to the temple. Once we're inside we can make trouble and find the prisoners."
Not sure which gate was the main gate, the heroes picked the east one, as it faced more of the town. Walking closer than ever to the town, they saw various small-town stores had been set up there, no doubt moved directly from their closed Highland counterparts, with improvised signs out front.
The east gate to the temple gardens stood open, with just one guard in a brown leather jacket, and lazily holding an automatic rifle, standing there. His eyes were fixed on Silver Scorpion as they drew near and whistled. "So this is one of the people who attacked last night? Darn, I should have asked for patrol duty!" he said. Only once they had passed him into the gardens did he add, "Hey...wait a minute! Who are you guys?"
"Erm, we're the new guys out of St. Louis,” the Mountain Man said. “Must not have run into us yet. Anyways, time to get to know each other later - we have to get these 'heroes'," he said with a sneer, "inside." He then kept walking nonchalantly toward the main building.
Silver Scorpion walked with her face downwards, trying to look dejected. She kept a close watch out of the corners of her eyes, however.
Captain Liberty started counting bad guys as he walked to see how many were left. He was worried that they would most likely be discovered and was ready to shoot his rifle at the first sign of trouble. But, for now, he tried to play it cool. It would have helped if the healing pill he took earlier had done more for him, but he was still seriously injured and just hiding it from the others.
At the Mountain Man's contemptuous words, the Daoist decided to get in on the act. He spat in the general direction of his companion and began to shout at him in Mandarin, saying some exceptionally rude things.
Everyone put on a good act, but the guard was still suspicious and followed them. They made it as far as the gate blocking the bridge to the temple courtyard, where they passed two men exiting with a long, rolled-up carpet between them. The guard following them called out to them again, saying, "Hey, stop these guys! They didn't give the secret rooster sign!"
There was an armed guard on either side of the open gate. The armed guard following them was about 10 ft. behind. The two men who were carrying the carpet dropped it so they could come help and were 5 ft. behind him.
"We did make the secret rooster sign,” the Mountain Man shot back. “You just missed it! Too busy eyeballing the silver lady. We don't have time to argue with you out here where these two can escape. We can talk inside the temple if you like," he said as he led his prisoners through the gate. He was ready to shed his disguise if necessary, but he was trying to sell this for all it was worth.
With the situation deteriorating, the Daoist decided action was in order. He tried to make a break for it. Or rather, he made a show of making a break for it. “Unfortunately,” his chosen escape path would take him right by the Mountain Man, who could easily subdue the escaping prison.
The guards were impressed with how quickly the Daoist was recaptured. "Good job grabbing that Chinaman," one of the guards said. "Got a fortune cookie for me, Chinaman?" the guard at the gate asked to mock him. It was hard to take, but at least the distraction had made half the guards forget to be suspicious of them and they went back to retrieve their fallen carpet. The other two guards began to argue, not about whether to let them in, but if they should be escorted further and which would do it.
"Look, I've got to get back to my post. You should take them in, show them to who's in charge, and find out if they're really from St. Louis or not."
"What does it matter if they're from St. Louis? You got a problem with St. Louis? I've got a cousin who lives near there."
Having no better plan, the two disguised heroes and their "prisoners" made their way back to Roostertown. The west, less densely-housed side of Roostertown seemed to be the busier area this morning, with more people out and about there. There were fewer people out and about on the east side, and no women or children in sight.
"I suggest we observe this ruse until we are inside the temple once again,” the Mountain Man said, “or until we are discovered. And I think the best way to observe this ruse is to use the front gate to the temple. Once we're inside we can make trouble and find the prisoners."
Not sure which gate was the main gate, the heroes picked the east one, as it faced more of the town. Walking closer than ever to the town, they saw various small-town stores had been set up there, no doubt moved directly from their closed Highland counterparts, with improvised signs out front.
The east gate to the temple gardens stood open, with just one guard in a brown leather jacket, and lazily holding an automatic rifle, standing there. His eyes were fixed on Silver Scorpion as they drew near and whistled. "So this is one of the people who attacked last night? Darn, I should have asked for patrol duty!" he said. Only once they had passed him into the gardens did he add, "Hey...wait a minute! Who are you guys?"
"Erm, we're the new guys out of St. Louis,” the Mountain Man said. “Must not have run into us yet. Anyways, time to get to know each other later - we have to get these 'heroes'," he said with a sneer, "inside." He then kept walking nonchalantly toward the main building.
Silver Scorpion walked with her face downwards, trying to look dejected. She kept a close watch out of the corners of her eyes, however.
Captain Liberty started counting bad guys as he walked to see how many were left. He was worried that they would most likely be discovered and was ready to shoot his rifle at the first sign of trouble. But, for now, he tried to play it cool. It would have helped if the healing pill he took earlier had done more for him, but he was still seriously injured and just hiding it from the others.
At the Mountain Man's contemptuous words, the Daoist decided to get in on the act. He spat in the general direction of his companion and began to shout at him in Mandarin, saying some exceptionally rude things.
Everyone put on a good act, but the guard was still suspicious and followed them. They made it as far as the gate blocking the bridge to the temple courtyard, where they passed two men exiting with a long, rolled-up carpet between them. The guard following them called out to them again, saying, "Hey, stop these guys! They didn't give the secret rooster sign!"
There was an armed guard on either side of the open gate. The armed guard following them was about 10 ft. behind. The two men who were carrying the carpet dropped it so they could come help and were 5 ft. behind him.
"We did make the secret rooster sign,” the Mountain Man shot back. “You just missed it! Too busy eyeballing the silver lady. We don't have time to argue with you out here where these two can escape. We can talk inside the temple if you like," he said as he led his prisoners through the gate. He was ready to shed his disguise if necessary, but he was trying to sell this for all it was worth.
With the situation deteriorating, the Daoist decided action was in order. He tried to make a break for it. Or rather, he made a show of making a break for it. “Unfortunately,” his chosen escape path would take him right by the Mountain Man, who could easily subdue the escaping prison.
The guards were impressed with how quickly the Daoist was recaptured. "Good job grabbing that Chinaman," one of the guards said. "Got a fortune cookie for me, Chinaman?" the guard at the gate asked to mock him. It was hard to take, but at least the distraction had made half the guards forget to be suspicious of them and they went back to retrieve their fallen carpet. The other two guards began to argue, not about whether to let them in, but if they should be escorted further and which would do it.
"Look, I've got to get back to my post. You should take them in, show them to who's in charge, and find out if they're really from St. Louis or not."
"What does it matter if they're from St. Louis? You got a problem with St. Louis? I've got a cousin who lives near there."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)