Something Wicked 2.0 - STORY THREAD

[Asarasa]

Jo scowled over her shoulder at Roach. "Ah'm sure! First time Ah found the creek, Ah came back this way - oop!" 

 

When the door opened and the man spoke, Jo spun around, startled and embarrassed. She straightened her shoulders and nodded. Unconsciously, she leaned to the side slightly, trying to get a look at what was the playing the odd music. She was betting it was something old, like a CD player, maybe even a Record player. He dad had one, and some albums. The cover art was pretty cool, but it looked damned inconvenient to play one, to her.

"Sorry, sir," Jo said in contrite apology. "Didn't mean to trespass none. Ain't been no one livin' at the ol' Clairburn place fer... fer generations now. And we lot hadn't seen anyone movin' in," the strapping, young blond woman explained. She tossed her head, indicating her friends. "Ah reckon we coulda skedaddled without disturbin' yah none, but it didn't seem right. Jus' wanna say we all are sorry and will get off yer property now and stop usin' it fer a short cut."

 

Jo nibbled on a lower lip, then added, "You might have some trouble, knockin' and whatnot, the next couple o' full moons and new moons, 'til folks figure out there's someone livin' here now. The  Ol' Clairburn Place, it has something of a sinister reputation, and young folks hereabouts, see it as a dare. Anyways, sorry again fer all this and we'll just be on our way. Oh, Ah'm Jo. Jordan Johansson. Guess we're neighbors now, though mah house is close up to the road."

[Nina]

The man had to look up at Jo and he did, wide eyed as she barrel rolled through her speech full of apologies, his only movement was to lean slightly to block her from looking inside when she did her own lean.

 

“My, you are one big girl. I bet you play sports.” He said as she finished, and he grinned at her. He had a gravelly voice as distinctive as his looks and the accent was weird because there didn’t seem to be an accent, at least not one that was readily placeable.

 

“Uh, Yeah, I do.” Jo stuttered.

 

“Ah, forgive my manners, I’m Warren Clairburn, and yes, I just moved in recently. You probably didn’t notice because I have done most of the moving myself and most of it at night. But all the long distance moving is finished and I’m staying here now.”  He looked past Jo again, “I could use a break. If you and your friends would like to come in I have some soda’s in the fridge.”

[Asarasa]

Jo followed the man's eyes toward her friends. She raised her brows questioningly at them, but when none of them said yay or nay, she shrugged and nodded at the newest resident of the Clairburn Place. Besides, it seemed neighborly.

"We can stay fer a few minutes, Mistah Clairburn," Jo said. "And if you need help movin' anything heavy, Ah'd be pleased to help."

"Warren, please," Warren Clairburn replied with a gravelly chuckle. "Or must I call you Miss Johansson?"

"No! Jo is fine, Mis - Warren," Jo affirmed quickly. She patted Banner on his head, then slipped a pair of fingers under his collar. The big dog sat on his haunches, head tilted to the side as he regarded the man with stoic amber eyes.  "Is Banner, my dog allowed in, or would you prefer Ah leave him here out on the veranda?"

[Nina]

"Oh I am definitely animal friendly," Warren said as he stepped back opening the door wide.

[Shameless]

Hank shrugged once they were all invited, and made his way up to the house.  He smiled at Mr. Clairburn, and nodded.  "Thanks for the invitation sir.  I'll second the offer, if you need any help with anything, just ask. "

He seemed friendly enough to Hank, and he wasn't about to leave Jo hanging.

[SalmonMax]

Rochelle climbed up the few steps onto the porch, keeping her eyes on Mr. Clairburn with a certain wariness.

 

"I know all of us are kinda spread thin out here," she said to the old man, "but you're taking that pretty far, huh? Who's even your closest neighbor?"

 

She glanced around.

 

"Can't even see Mister Yorushh's place from here."

[Asarasa]

Jordan gave Rochelle a puzzled frown and shook her head minutely as she unclipped Banner's leash. They were still a ways away from the creek, let alone the weird rock that Jo presumed is where they would find the uncanny Mister Yorushh. Roach should know that, even if they'd taken a car last time and made it to the creek a different way.

The Kangal Shepherd prowled forward, his nails clicking on the old wood. Jo eased her bulk around Warren Clairburn, giving him a nod, then hunched her shoulders and ducked slightly as she stepped inside the sinisterly reputed Clairburn estate. She wasn't sure if the front door was actually lower than others on newer houses, but it felt tighter to her. 

Inside, her dark blue eyes darted about, looking for any lingering signs of what she might have expected in a haunted house. Super thick cobwebs. Spiders the size of house cats. Broken Mirrors. Blood stains, maybe still wet. Shadows on the walls of people not there. An actual body or even skeleton seemed to be a bit much, but who knew? As far as Jo knew, besides Warren Clairburn, they were the first ones to step inside the Clairburn estate in nearly a hundred years, near enough.

[Nina]

The foyer was large and spacious and had boxes stacked along the walls. To the right of the front door was a set of double doors on the left another set was located about six feet further in. The foyer ended with a broad staircase leading to the upper floor and beside the star a short hallway led to a couple of doors, one at the end of the hall and one on the left about half way. All of the doors were open and the foyer and rooms were lit by electric light and what must have been new led lightbulbs. It was a lot cleaner than they expected. Once everyone entered the house, Clairburn closed the door and motioned everyone into the large room off the right of the foyer. He either missed Roach’s comment or ignored it.

 

The room was very large and sported a bare hardwood floor badly in need of a good stripping and polishing, dozens of boxes were scattered pell-mell about the space with an inflatable mattress and sleeping bag on the floor toward the back of the room where what looked like a food counter stretched. Behind the counter were more boxes and an ancient dining room table that could easily sit twenty. The table obviously an original furnishing of the house was in excellent shape but there were no chairs. Above the table an ornate crystal chandelier, the kind you only see in vintage movies about the South.

 

“Pardon the mess, I’m just starting the unpacking part. I forgot how arduous moving could be. Now, if you all will wait here, I’ll get those sodas.”

 

Clairburn walked around the counter and past the dining table and through one set of double doors in the back wall. The Kids could hear him back there as they took a quick look around. They found the source of the music and old turntable  hooked up to some fairly nice if dated speakers. The disc on the turntable was some band called Hawkwind and the record was ‘The Warrior on the Edge of Time’ none of them had ever heard of it. The boxes, those that were open that they could see in, were full of house hold items and books, lots of books.

 

Clairburn returned after on a couple of minutes carrying a box which held several bottles of soda. He past them out, “I think your going to like this I brought them with me from Main since you can’t get this brand down here.”

 

The Kids all looked doubtfully at the unusual bottles.     

 

Clairburn opened his and lifted it in a silent toast before taking a big swig, then noticing that none of the kids were following suit, “Go on kids it perfectly safe it's even made by Coca-Cola. And it the only thing in the house to drink since I don’t have water yet.”

[SalmonMax]

Roach took a bottle, then quickly got her phone out as she levered the cap off with her pocketknife. After some quick thumbing of URLs, she took a sip of the soda and made a sort of squinched expression as the somewhat bitter aftertaste hit.

 

"Made by Cornucopia," she said. "Which...was owned by a local branch of Coca Cola since 1966, but bought by the main company in...2018. Huh. But the recipe is old. Like old old. 1876 old."

 

She shrugged and tried another sip. "Pretty popular in Maine...I dunno though. It's kinda like root beer with cold medicine mixed in?"

 

Rochelle lifted her eyes to Mr Clairburn, then glanced around the house.

 

"So...just you moving in?"

[Nina]

MC had watched as Roach braved the odd drink then when she didn't keel over opened hers and took a drink, swallowed and made a face.

 

Clairburn who had been watching the two girls, chuckled, "I guess it is an acquired taste."  He directed his attention to Roach, "Yes It is just me, Miss..." he paused none of them having introduced themselves aside from Jo.

 

" Just Rochelle."

 

"Miss Rochelle, Pleased to meet you and I'm Warren." He glances expectantly at MC who turns red and mumbles "MC."  Then Hank and Ben both sheepishly introduce themselves.

 

"Sorry I don't have any furniture yet, the stuff that was here, well lets just say had seen better decades. Please just sit on any old box.

 

Back to your question. Yes' I'm living here alone. I Uncle passed back in July and I am the last living member of the Clairburn clan and so inherited this grand old place.

 

Not exactly where I intended to spend my retirement years but for Tax reasons here I am." His smile was broad and genuine.

 

"So who is this Mr Yorussh? I thought my only close neighbors were over on Walsh Road.""

[SalmonMax]

Roach shrugged at that, and took another sip of the soda. She didn't like it, exactly, but the taste was weird enough that she wanted to try it again.

 

"Some guy we met further out in the woods. Had a...similar love of antiques." She gestured around the house.

 

"We were actually going to try to find him again when we found your place here."

[Shameless]

Hank took the offered Soda and drank slowly, having never heard of this type before.   It was odd to hear them tell Warren about what they were doing and where they were going, but Hank simply remained quiet on that.  When he mentioned taxes as his reason for coming back, he nodded.  "Dad's always starts complaining when they try to push new taxes on the community for whatever new reason they come up with."  

The drink tasted very different, and he looked to Warren.  "Can't say I've ever had one of these before."

[Asarasa]

Not quite trusting the boxes, the overgrown girl sprawled out on the floor, one leg half crossed. Jo twisted off the cap of the unfamiliar soda with a callused palm then took a sip. She took a look at the bottle again then chugged down half of it.  It didn't really taste like root beer to her, but she couldn't think of anything else to compare it to. She'd heard people say something was bittersweet, but this was the first time she actually tasted something she would call bittersweet.

She rather liked it. She just wished it was cold.

 

When Roach mentioned Mister Yorushh, and then kept on talking about him, Jo gave her a disbelieving look. What was she doing? Things were already weird, they didn't need their new neighbor Warren Clairburn thinking they were weird too. 

"Um, so, M - Warren, what y'all do up there in Maine 'fore retirin' and movin' down here to Blairsville?" Jordan asked, both curious and trying to distract him from asking more about after who she was growing convinced was some sort of elf.

 

Her father - and her eldest brother, she supposed - were part of the union at the Steel Mill in Ivy Log, and had pretty good retirement benefits. She knew little about taxes, so didn't know what would make someone of retirement age have to move so far, unless they got hit by medical bills or something. A free house might've done it, if Warren hadn't known how much work the Clairburn Place actually needed.

Jo went to take another sip of Moxie, but a faint expression of forlorn crossed her face when she found it empty.

[Nina]

"I'm a writer, Historical fiction mostly." Clairburn said then took a sip of his drink. 

 

Jo felt a tap on her shoulder and Ben handed her his un touched soda.

 

"Historical fiction? How can history be fiction?" MC asked a quizzical look on her face.

 

"Well, a lot of people find history in books to be dry and boring. What historical fiction does is take Historical events and weaves a fictional narrative into it while relaying the history as accurately as possible. At least that's what I do."

 

"Anyway I am very glad you all dropped by, but since you were on your way to somewhere I don't want to keep. As for short cuts your welcome to cut through here any time. Just be careful up in them hills."

 

 

[Shameless]

"Thanks alot for that Warren."   Hank said in response for his permission to cut through.   "My dad likes that kind of book.   He's always been a big WWII History buff since his grandfather fought in it."   

Hank smiled.  "I enjoy learning about it too,  though probably not to the same extent."

[Asarasa]

Jo smiled her thanks to Ben over her shoulder as she casually opened the bottle with a twist of her hand. Sipping at the odd but invigorating Moxie, the teenaged Amazon listened to Warren Clairburn explain what he did. She tried to look interested, but...  Well, she didn't much like reading, school books, fiction books, most books really. She mostly looked at entertainment and health magazines and blogs, some Instagrams and Twitters. It was a concerted effort for her, being somewhat dyslexic. Though it was better than it had been.
 

And she had to agree with the old man, she find history dry and boring. And she didn't think adding Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings to it would make it better, not when you still had to read it. But whatever, it didn't hurt her none if the boys and Roach were into that stuff, though she supposed Roach would prefer Science Fictiony stuff more than Fantasy.

Finishing the second bottle of Moxie, the overgrown girl rolled smartly to her feet, brushing off her yoga pants. Banner stood up, sensing his master's intent. She nodded at Warren, then the pair of bottles sitting together on a crate like a pair of brown glass soldiers.

"Thanks fer the hospitality sir - Warren," Jo said. "If ya need settlin' in or fixin' the place up or whatnot, mah brothers and me live next to the drive up here." She figured while offering her help, she might as well offer the help of the twins. "And mah Da and eldest brother, they work up at the steel mill. If you need something made special, they can help get yah a good price."

She grinned as she rolled her shoulders and stretched up on her toes. "And don't worry none 'bout them hills. Ah've been up in 'em plenty and Hank here is a God's honest boy scout." No need to add that there seemed to be more to the hills than they actually knew. But if you wanted to win, you had to believe you would win. Doubt, and you had no chance. "We'll be fine."

[Nina]

Mr Clairburn showed the Kids to the door and watched from the porch as they disappeared around the house making for Jo’s shortcut. After they were out of sight, he drew a deep breath and sighed. “So young…”

 

Jo led the little band through the overgrown gardens behind the old mansion and into the woods. Surprisingly the path was easy to find even though she had traversed it only the one time. It meandered quite a bit but was clear of overgrowth and looked as if it was freshly blazed. Banner trotted beside her his large head swerving from side to side, sniffing, but he never moved more than a foot from her side. Behind the big girl and her dog was Benn followed by Roach and MC , who were walking side by side, with Hank bringing up the rear.

 

Hank was doing like Banner without the sniffing, something was bothering him. Several times he thought they were being followed but whenever he looked back he didn’t see anything. And then there was the odd way Roach and MC (really how did she become part of our gang) were walking. From behind Hank could see that MC kept leaning close to Roach, close enough that their arms were touching. And then there was the fact that He didn’t know this trail and he knew these hills better than anyone in the county including Jo.

 

Then three things happened simultaneously, or nearly so. First, Banner let out a loud bark followed by a low growl and he jumped in front of Jo facing down the trail, forcing her to stumble to a stop. Second Hank heard a screeching hiss and another growl from behind, Spinning he stopped just intime to see the cat from his and Clairburn’s yard landing in the middle of the trail behind them facing back the way they had come, it’s back arched fur bristling. And third, MC froze in mid step, shuddered, threw her head back her eyes rolling until only the whites could be seen, and she moaned, an eerie, raise the hair on the back of your neck, make you pee your pants sound which dragged on mingling with the cat and dog growls and scaring the heck out of everyone.

 

Then MC, still in the throes of what they assumed was some sort of convulsion rose some six inches off the ground as if hanging by wires, and, still moaning, began to speak in an otherworldly voice.

 

Time follows time

The spinning stops

A knot formed in ages unravels

Five and two chosen and one undone.

Six Mastered or None

The King rouses, the Queen awaits

 

Mc’s moans grow to a crescendo then, as if the strings holding her have been cut, she falls toward the ground!

[SalmonMax]

Rochelle's mouth had fallen open in an expression of shock and horror. When MC started to fall, she acted on pure instinct; leaping forward to try to catch the other girl.

 

In the urgency of the moment, she failed to take into account relative mass. MC was just...bigger than her. And upper body strength had never been her forte. MC crashed down, into Roach's arms...and then kept falling, now with Roach under her. The two sprawled onto the ground with Roach more or less pinned under MC.

 

"Blegh...ugh..." she groaned, trying to sit up, failing, then reaching out ahead of her for leverage on the ground. "Little help here? MC? Hey..."

 

Roach twisted around as best she could and managed to swat at the other girl's arm. "Hey...wake up! Are you okay??"

[Asarasa]

Jo's head whipped back and forth, from the growling dog to the hissing cat and back. She'd rarely seen Banner in such a state. His low, rumbling growl was growing louder, deeper into a sort of roar. That was the second stage of a Kangal Shepherd's defensive posture. The next stage, the final phase, was attack.

 

The big girl's hands balled into hard, tight fists, anxiety building with her dog's ferocious demeanor. Then her deep blue eyes widened, showing white all the way around when MC floated off the ground and began to speak in a voice not her own.

 

The brawny blonde's mouth went dry, stunned at the sight. Banner's roaring barks faded into the background of the rushing sound in her ears, the thunderous beating of her heart. So bewildered at the sight, Jo didn't even think of moving until MC collapsed on top of Roach and the slighter girl groaned for help. Then Banner's barks and the cat's hissing blossomed back to full volume. 

 

Jo quickly glanced from side to side, looking for whatever had the animals on edge, sure they were about to be attacked. She'd worry about whatever MC was saying later when they had the time. Then she rushed forward several long steps, almost knocking Ben aside, as she reached down, knotting hand in the back of MC's coat and hauling her up to her feet with brute force. With her other hand, she grasped Roach's flailing arm, braced a foot on the ground, and pulled her up, too, almost hard to leave the ground.

 

"Dunno what's goin' on, but we all gotta go, somethin's comin'," Jo said. She glanced down at MC to see what condition she was in. She let go of Roach when it seemed the smaller girl found her feet, and shifted her weight, preparing to heave MC over her shoulder if necessary. "Can ya walk? Or ya need me to carry ya?"

Edited June 13, 2022 by Asarasa

[Nina]

That Something was there.

 

As if on que the woods shudder and howls joined the hissing and growling and two beings from a nightmare D&D game burst from the trees behind them and faced the cat.

 

They looked like werewolves but wearing tunics of scaled leather and each wielded a wicked looking blade. Both howled and their howl was answered by a third  as another much larger version of the beast men crashed out of the trees before Banner. This one held a huge axe and he roared at Banner!

 

Sword      Axe   

 

Spoiler

No initiative but we are now in combat rounds. decide among yourselves who will go first. that person takes his action and when done he decides who acts next. I will interrupt when it is the monsters turn.   ASA - you run Banner -  Justin and max decide between yourselves who runs the cat.

 

[Asarasa]

Kangal Shepherds, despite the name, did not guide herds. They were herd guardians. They had a three step process for warning off threats. First, they barked. Second, they roared, a loud, deep sort of growl. Third, they attacked.

Banner didn't hesitate. As soon as the third creature appeared, the huge dog was off like a tan-coloured missile. Several powerful strides, then he was airborn, long, white teeth flashing in his dark muzzle as he went for the towering creature's arm, to worry it and bring it down.

"Banner!" Jo screamed in fear for her beloved pet. She thrusted MC into Roach's arms. "Get her away, Roach." She caught Hank's eyes as she spun to face the other two... two whatever they were. Werewolves. Gnolls. Whatever. "Hank, I got the one on the right. You get the one on the left."

Her dad had taught her to box a little. She had played football a little. She wrestled a little, but stopped as she kept flying through weight classes. With her size and build, Jo could easily have been a bully. Maybe to some, she was, she was imposing without doing anything. But she would always defend her friends.

With a wordless roar of her own, the teen Amazon rushed her opponent to take it down, only looking at it as an armed man-shaped figure rather than an actual, real, fantasy creature. She was bigger than it was. If she could tackle it to the ground, rip the sword-thing from its hand... she could save her friends and her dog.

 

Spoiler

Hank is up next.

Banner, assuming he has the same attack as the cat - 

!roll 2d6+4
Asarasa Roll: [3, 2] Result: 9
Damage - 

!roll 1d3
Asarasa Roll: [2] Result: 2 x2 = 4 damage

Jordan's Attack - 

!roll 2d6+2
Asarasa Roll: [1, 1] Result: 4 [Womp-womp!]

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Asarasa

[Shameless]

Hank nodded, and from seemingly nowhere, drew his Hunting Knife.  He was the only one who was almost always prepared for most anything.   Today that stood him in better stead than he liked.  Still, it was knife against a sword, and he'd have to play it smart.  He'd never really fought anyone like this, but be damned if he'd let these things hurt his friends.
 

"C'mon poochie, let's dance."  With that Hank darted in quickly, slashing with his knife.  The armor looked tough but his knife was sharp, and strong.  
 

The Creature managed to parry Hank's slash surprising the both of them.   Hank pulled back into a defensive position.   His eyes showed only his determination to protect his
friends.
 

Spoiler

Roach is up next

 

[SalmonMax]

With one being bull rushed by Jo and her dog, and another intercepted by Hank, that left one of the creatures free to advance on Roach as she struggled to carry MC away from the fray. Unlike her friends, she lacked bulging muscles or any weaponry more dangerous than salty language...and carrying MC she couldn't even run fast.

 

Drop her whispered a panicked piece of her brain. You're both going to die at this rate, so drop her and run! You're not saving her like this!

 

Ironically though, those thoughts had the effect of stiffening her spine in reaction. Obstinacy was baked into her. Not only was she not going let this garbage reject from a direct-to-streaming knockoff of Lord of the Rings bully her, but she sure as shit wasn't going to give up one of the handful of people in the world that she could call friend to it either!

 

So she turned to face it, looking for somewhere to stash MC while she tried to distract it, maybe lead it away...and there was a yowl.

 

A blur of fur whizzed past, and then the cat...that damn cat...was standing between Roach and the hulking beastman. Back arched, tail floofed and lifted. It hissed at the creature. And the creature...paused, taken by surprise.

 

Its indecision didn't last long though. With a guttural growl it hauled back its weapon and brought it down on the cat! The cat however did not wait meekly to be bisected. Rather, when the monster wound up for its strike, it darted forward and leapt ONTO the thing, grabbing on with its claws and sinking sharp, sharp fangs into the thing's left thigh, where its tunic didn't quite extend down far enough to protect.

 

Roach would have winced, but she hadn't been fucking around watching. The instant the cat appeared, she'd wheeled around with MC in her arms and made for the woods to take advantage of the opportunity that fucking hero cat had given her. She'd be back, she promised everyone silently as she went, just had to make sure MC would be out of harms way first.

 

Spoiler

Cat attacks, does 2 damage.

 

[Nina]

Banner latched onto the big wolf-man-things right forearm sinking his teeth in and locking his jaws, yet even with Banner's size he barely moved the monster only managing to yank it arm which held the strange axe like weapon down and out of action for the moment.

 

The Beast grunted but paid little attention to the dog instead focusing on the human, Jo, that was charging him. The beast raised it's left arm palm facing Jo, she could see that it had some sort of metal jewelry laced through its fingers which held a large jewel nestled into the beast mans palm. The monster bark what sounded like a word and and invisible force hit Jo lifting her off her feet and hurling her back several feet where she landed on her ass.

 

The Beast-man that parried Hank back peddle, unable to carry through an attack of it's own.

 

The last beast-man howled and tried to dislodge the cat which sunk its claws in and climbs the Monsters torso heading for it's eyes!

 

Spoiler

Jo takes 1 point of damage to her stamina   Next Round go!

 

[Asarasa]

Jo blinked, shaking her head as she sat up, not sure what had happened. Had the monster landed a punch she hadn't even seen? The jewel, glinting under the fading sunlight, blinking like a baleful eye, reminded Jo of something from one of Ben's roleplaying games. Some sort of magic item an evil wizard might wield, the creature's harsh voice the command word. She wasn't entirely sure, she mostly played barbarians and fighters.

Jo gave grunt springing to her feet, teeth gritted. Teeth flashed when she saw Banner still had the wolf-man-thing's arm that held the axe. "Good boy! Hold on to its arm!"

Jordan pounced, keeping low, juking one way, then the other, trying to dodge... whatever it had done, going for the jewel, to wrest it out of the thing's grasp. If she could take or break a few fingers due to the interlacing jewelry, so much the better. Banner bit down even harder, head shaking as he tried to worry the creature's arm from the socket, his hind feet scrambling on the dirt.

 

Spoiler

Banner Attack
!roll 2d6+4
Asarasa Roll: [4, 3] Result: 11

Damage
!roll 1d3
Asarasa Roll: [2] Result: 2 x2 = 4 damage
 

Jordan Attack, trying to get the jewel/jewelry from the wolfmanthing
!roll 2d6+2
Asarasa Roll: [4, 1] Result: 7

If Athletics is more appropriate (with Advantage)
!roll 3d6k2+3

Asarasa Roll: [2, 1, 1] Result: 6

Holy shit, the dice roller is hating Jo

Stamina: 28/29
Lifeblood: 58/58

Hank is up, unless Justin isn't around, then go ahead, SMax.

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Asarasa