Scene Two
Chapter Two: Quest
Scene One: Back at James and Gemma's
mgrasso> (By the way, I'm sorry I couldn't get the log up before today's game.)
Mandy> yeah! you did it bill!
Mandy> can we take my spaceship to LA?
Erica> That's okay. We understand about the log, Mike. It happens to everyone at some point. (tee-hee)
mgrasso> Oh wow. Um, that'd be tough.
Erica> Even in the Dreaming?
mgrasso> Banality would be very problematic. I mean, if you had a way to take it there, yeah.
Julia> Spaceship to LA, yes! :D
Mandy> yeah, I hear parking is a bitch in the city.
Erica> Oh, wait. Finding the whole trod thingy.
mgrasso> Well, we have to decide how we're going to get there.
mgrasso> And yeah, a trod. :)
Bill> Its a six hour drive, or a 1.5 hour flight, don't make it to tough
Erica> $60 on southwest. I say fly.
mgrasso> Well, there are cheap flights, from what you said last time, Erica.
Mandy> blah, the whole point of the game is to find a dificult way to do a simple task.
mgrasso> Exactly.
mgrasso> Heh.
Julia> I vote for first class. :)
Bill> sorry, thats from vegas
Bill> i keep forgetting your in arizona
Erica> harg! First class on southwest? No such thing, babe. :D
* mgrasso sees Ingrid with one of the "cattle tag" numbers from Southwest.
Erica> Do you guys have Southwest? It's 15-passenger van of airlines.
mgrasso> Yes, Erica, we do. :)
Julia> Oh well, I suppose Ingrid can suffer the banality of Southwest. :D
mgrasso> Ahem. I'll be the judge of that. :)
Joe> Or we could all have this argument in character. :)
Mandy> hurrah!
Julia> Oh excuse me, Mister Gamemaster. :)
mgrasso> Hah! Yeah, Joe, good point. :)
Erica> Ohyeah. Characters.
*** Julia is now known as Ingrid
* Erica spins
*** Erica is now known as Gemma
*** Joe is now known as Chet
*** Mandy is now known as James
mgrasso> Cool!
mgrasso> So, where shall we discuss this?
mgrasso> And when? The same night as Chet's show?
Gemma> Plan first, check with bosses later?
Chet> (Where did we leave off? I n James/Gemma's apartment?)
mgrasso> Yup.
mgrasso> Probably a more sound idea to get the days off first. :)
Gemma> (I believe we left off with speculaitng on whether or not the car had been turned into a lowrider.)
Gemma> (with crushed velvet upholstery)
James> gah@
mgrasso> (That, too. :) )
Gemma> (and tiny gold-plated chain steering wheel)
James> Gaaah...
Gemma> (and a backseat shaped like fuzzy dice)
mgrasso> So, where and when shall we meet, folks?
James> (brb!!!)
mgrasso> (okay)
Gemma> (I guess the Sin Shed?)
Gemma> (James & Gemma's place again? Since that's where it sorta started? Maybe? Kinda? Um. Yeah.)
mgrasso> Sure! A couple of nights later sound good?)
James> (ok)
mgrasso> Excellent! Everyone has managed to finagle a 3-5 day long weekend. Next weekend, which would be... April 5 (Thu) to April 9 (Mon)
Bill> what year is it
* James goes shopping to avoid embarassing Gemma again when everyone shows up
mgrasso> 2001.
*** James is now known as blahblah
blahblah> sorry!
*** blahblah is now known as James
James> (I was trying to teach bill to change his name and changed mine)]
*** Erica (slattern@pool-63.50.212.217.phnx.grid.net) has joined #Changeling-Tucson
Erica> sorry
mgrasso> So, okay. We're all at James and Gemma's on the night of Monday April 2.
*** Gemma has quit IRC (Ping timeout)
*** Erica is now known as Gemma [Gemma:#Changeling-Tucson PING]
mgrasso> Let's do it! :)
James> Can I get anybody anything?
Ingrid> Some ice water?
James> Sure, and it's bottled. Chet? We bought Gatoraid.
Chet> Nah. I'm fully hydrated today, thanks.
Gemma> Are you sure? How does your mouth feel? Sticky? Dry? Lonely?
* James gets Ingrid an Icewater and himself a gatoraid just to prove that they have it.
mgrasso> (heh)
Ingrid> Thanks, James.
mgrasso> (sorry, I'm really happy to be playing :D :D :D)
* Chet sits on the floor, scribbling in his composition book.
* James bows and smiles "no problem!" he seems kind of gittery, giddey, like a kid at christmas
mgrasso> Who's going to buy the block of tickets, by the way?
* Gemma pulls a notebook out from behind a cushion, flips it open, and puts it on the coffee table. You can all see a short list written in neat, italic handwriting
mgrasso> (Oops, I'll shut up :) )
Gemma> Here's some stuff I thought you might need. You'll notice tickets are at the very bottom of the list.
* Gemma points it out
Chet> What?
Ingrid> I'll get them. I expect reimbursement, however.
Gemma> I can bounce you a check.
Chet> Reimbursement?
* Chet looks over the list.
Ingrid> You know, where you guys pay me back?
Chet> Tickets? Are you guys planning on flying?
James> I've got gemma and me covered
Gemma> No, Chet. We're taking un trambia.
Ingrid> Well, tickets right now are ridiculously cheap.
Chet> I hope they're...
* Chet digs in his pockets.
Gemma> !dice 4 5
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 4d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 10 4 4 6
Chet> About 35 cents.
Gemma> !dice 1 5
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 1d10 at difficulty 5. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 2
* James pops into the study and goes quickly online
Ingrid> Maybe we can work something else out, Chet.
Chet> Cause if they're any more than that, I'm going to have to meet you guys there.
James> he calls back into the other room "I can cover about half of chet's ticket right now"
Gemma> I'll cover the other half if Chet promises to give James a lapdance.
Ingrid> I'll cover the other half, James.
Chet> It's not really a problem - I can meet you guys there. Somewhere in California...right?
Chet> When are you guys going?
Ingrid> I think it might be better if we travel all togehter.
Chet> Then we should probably think about driving or something.
Gemma> I get carsick.
Ingrid> Why, don't you fly, Chet?
James> you went in my spaceship just fine
Chet> Not so much that I don't fly as I don't do airports.
Ingrid> Uh... why not?
James> we don't have time to waist driving!
Chet> That's what I'm saying. You don't have to waste time. I can just meet you out there if you're dead set on flying.
Ingrid> What's the matter with aiports?
James> WAIT!
Gemma> What?
James> how else can we get there chet? If you don't have to fly to meet us there, is there another better easier way?
Chet> I don't know.
Chet> I haven't really thought about it too much, I guess.
James> We could take a train if you want.
Gemma> What train? A freight train?
Gemma> This is the left coast, mijo.
James> no trains? what the fuck is the matter with you people out here?
mgrasso> (hah!)
Ingrid> !dice 5 10
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 10. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 3 4 7 3 9
* Gemma gives James a disgruntled look
Chet> Can I use your phone?
* James mutters "down the road a piece"
Gemma> No.
James> sure, go ahead.
Chet> Ummm...
* Chet looks from Gemma to James.
Gemma> I mean, yes. Maybe. Is this a trick question?
* Gemma gets the phone and hands it to Chet
* Ingrid is returning from the other room, where she wandered for a moment.
Ingrid> Here, you can use my cell, Chet.
* Ingrid hands it out to him.
Chet> Thanks, but I 've got one.
* Chet gestures with GEmma's cordless phone.
Ingrid> Okay.
* Chet wanders into the kitchen and dials the phone.
Gemma> I guess he had to go call his sponser.
James> or his probation officer
mgrasso> (*snort*)
* Gemma chuckles
* Chet returns and hands the phone back to Gemma.
Chet> Thanks.
Chet> So when are you guys flying out?
mgrasso> (Thursday)
Gemma> James?
James> yeah?
Gemma> Chet asked you something.
James> oh Thursday.
Chet> OK. Is there any reason that we all need to travel together?
James> your charming personality?
Gemma> I get airsick. I need someone to vomit on.
Chet> I thought that's what boyfriends were for.
Gemma> No, that's what sidhe are for. But I need a boggan to cheer me on.
Ingrid> To be serious about it, there is an unstable poiltical situation right now.
Chet> HOw long of a drive is it?
Gemma> Come on, Chet. Mi vida, mi cielo, mi sol. Just go with us.
Ingrid> Travelling separately could be dangerous.
Gemma> 8 hours. 12 once you add in my frequent barf stops.
James> We're going to furking LA, If we don't arrive together we may never find eachother.
Chet> So how much difference is there between driving and flying? Half a day? Less depending on what time your flight is?
Chet> Come on, we can rent a van - road trip!
* Gemma raises an eyebrow
James> Fine, whatever- we take a van, hopefully I'll have to drive back anyway.
mgrasso> Accommodations?
Gemma> But mileage! Gas! Vomiting!
Chet> OK. So if we get on the road at say, 2 or 3 in the morning, we can be there in time for lunch.
Ingrid> Who's driving?
Gemma> Do you think I'm kidding? I'm not a dog! I won't ride with my head out the window.
James> Oh, oh! Me!
James> we'll bring you a bowl baby.
Chet> We can take turns on the late night/early morning driving shift and everyone else can sleep.
* Gemma grumbles
Gemma> I'm so not packing my good underwear.
James> In that case you are so not packing any.
Gemma> I am too! The granniest sets I have. And I have *many* leftover from the old days, honey.
Gemma> I have underwear like pants!
Gemma> With pulleys and levers and combination locks and maybe even an attack dog or two.
Gemma> Really tiny ones.
Gemma> Attack chihuahuas.
* James stops, Gives Gemma a look for a second and keeps talking
Chet> See. Now we're getting somewhere. Who wants to rent us up a van?
James> I just want us to find a solution that furking works for everyone
Chet> How does this not work?
Ingrid> It's fine with me, as long as I get some sleep.
James> I didn't say it didn't but Gemma seems less than pleased.
Chet> We can put Gemma in the van at 2 am and by the time she wakes up, we're there.
Gemma> You never did work out that translater, did you, mi bien?
James> Actually!
* Gemma shakes her head and smiles
* James runs out of the room like a maniac and you can hear furious footsteps skuttle downstairs
Bill> (mi bien? my very)
Gemma> (literally, "my good" but more like "sweetie" or something like that)
Gemma> (pookie-pie or cherry butt. that sort of thing)
Bill> oh
Gemma> Oh, great. he's off into his great unknown. Probably searching through that porn stash he thinks I don't know about.
* James runs back into the room with a bag slung over his shoulder There is a cord that travels from the bag to his ear, with a half muff and a bell from an old victrella sticking out of the bag. Finally there is a chord that goes to something that looks like a cross between a dousing stick and a metal detector. every now and then the bag beeps- James smiles broadly
* Gemma looks a bit shocked
Gemma> What is that?
Gemma> Please tell me that's a chimerical walkman.
James> a translator!
Gemma> No!
Ingrid> A... translator? What are you translating?
Gemma> Nothing! Not a damn thing. Let's get going. We're going now, right?
Ingrid> No, really, I want to know!
Gemma> No. Get out, you guys. Especially you, Ingrid. Shoo.
James> It's okay baby, only I can hear it.
James> And I would never use it if you said not to- I was more curious to see if I *could* do it than anything else.
* Gemma slowly nods
Gemma> Is it ... um, on?
James> not yet- will you let me try it?
* Gemma shrugs
Gemma> I mean, it's there. I guess.
Ingrid> This sounds interesting.
* James turns it on "I don't even know if it will work"
Gemma> It translates my Spanish for him. So now he'll know that all my pet names have been very insulting.
James> yeah, what did your dad call me?
Gemma> A distinguished gentleman, of course.
Gemma> Or was it, "my esteemed son?" Something like that.
Gemma> I had so much wine that night, who can remember? [Gemma:#Changeling-Tucson PING]
James> damn.
Gemma> What?
James> it's only half helpful.
Gemma> How so?
James> well, I can tell when you're, um, speaking spanish, but not what you're saying.
* Gemma laughs, then abruptly clears her throat
Gemma> I'm, ah, sorry to hear that.
* Chet laughs LOUDLY!
Chet> Ummm... sorry.
* James 's machine beeps so loudly at Gemmas last remark you can all hear it.
Gemma> Ah. Chet's drunk.
Ingrid> What's so funny?
Chet> He invented a Spanish detector.
Gemma> Yeah! It's high-tech and stuff, Ingrid. Get with the now.
Ingrid> But she wasn't speaking Spa-- Oh, I get it.
* Ingrid laughs now.
mgrasso> (*snort*)
* James winks at Gemma "I think I'm going to put this in the bedroom..."
mgrasso> (HAH!)
* Gemma says to James and Chet, "Ingrid isn't the freshest donut in the case, is she?"
Chet> OK. So who's renting that van?
Gemma> Don't go in the bedroom. If you go, I'll follow and then you-know-who's going to want to join in.
mgrasso> So, we are driving. Where are we going to stay?
James> Lets everybody go into my study so we can figure this out.
James> I can rent us a van, reserv us some rooms
Ingrid> I can take care of reservations if you all agree.
Chet> I don't care.
Gemma> Yeah, sure. Go nuts. And then go. I'm tired.
Chet> This trip is suffering from a serious case of overplanning. I don't even see any party supplies on this lst.
Gemma> Chet, it's right under "condoms."
* Gemma points out item 12, "Noisemakers and Glittery Hats"
Chet> That's not the kind of party supplies I mean.
Chet> How many rooms are we getting?
Ingrid> We could get a big suite.
James> Not a fucking Suite.
Ingrid> I'll check around.
mgrasso> And where will you be staying? Downtown L.A.? Hollywood? Elsewhere?
Gemma> Look, I think it's obvious who wants to sleep with whom.
Ingrid> James? Where's the car?
Gemma> So go from there. And call me when you're done.
Chet> OK. How about someone take charge of making the plans *coughIngridcough* and you can fill me in later.
mgrasso> http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=&city=Sherman+Oaks&state=CA&slt=34.151100&sln=-118.448303&name=&zip=&country=us&BFKey=&BFCat=&BFClient=&mag=4&desc=&cs=7&newmag=5&poititle=&poi=
James> alright alright- Ingrid, get rooms, I'll get a van, we'll all meet back here at midnight the night we're gonna leave.
mgrasso> That's a good map of the L.A. area with Sherman Oaks marked.
Ingrid> All right, fair enough.
Chet> I've got business. Can someone call me later and tell me what the plan is?
mgrasso> Fair enough. This sounds good to me.
Ingrid> Sure, I'll call you.
Gemma> Just show up midnight on thursday, Chet.
Gemma> Wait.
James> wednesday, we have thursday off.
* Gemma grabs a pen and a sheet of paper from her notebook and scrawls a reminder
Chet> How about whoever has the van just swings by and picks me up around midnight. Is that midnight on WEdnesday or Thursday?
Gemma> Chet, do you wear the same pants every day?
Ingrid> Midnight Wednesday. I'll pick you up. Write it down, Chet.
* Ingrid smiles.
James> alright folks, that's a plan.
* Chet writes in his notebook. "Midnight Wednesday - Ingrid!"
mgrasso> Excellent. Thanks. Let's move on. :)
mgrasso> Thursday midnight comes.
Ingrid> Wednesday. :)
mgrasso> Huh?
Gemma> (wednesday 11:59/thursday 12:00am)
mgrasso> Yeah.
mgrasso> (augh I'm confused)
mgrasso> What day are we leaving?
mgrasso> Wednesday or Thursday?
Gemma> (technically thursday)
Ingrid> Thursday morning.
James> We are leaving wednesday night
Scene Two: Freeway
mgrasso> Okay, on Thursday morning, everyone gets picked up in the van.
mgrasso> You guys head out onto the highway at about 1 am thursday.
mgrasso> (How does the Radisson in Sherman Oaks sound?)
Ingrid> (fine with me)
James> (yeah, fine)
Chet> (fantastic)
mgrasso> We drive west through the desert on I-10 the whole way.
mgrasso> You hit Los Angeles in the middle of rush hour on Thursday morning.
mgrasso> I need everyone to make Glamour rolls, diff. 8.
Ingrid> !dice 5 8
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 1 5 8 9 9
Chet> !dice 4 8
* DiceWell Chet rolls 4d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 10 7 10 4
James> !dice 4 8
* DiceWell James rolls 4d10 at difficulty 8. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 1 1 10 2
mgrasso> Because my goodness, have you ever seen such a... cloud of Banality hanging over a scene. The cars, frozen in the morning sun of Los Angeles, millions of commuters merely staying put, not moving, and every one of them a black cell in a malignant Banal tumor that sits upon the gleaming highways.
Ingrid> Oh, great timing.
mgrasso> Chet?
Chet> (Yes?)
mgrasso> Sorry, Gemma?
mgrasso> Damn.
*** Gemma has quit IRC (Ping timeout)
mgrasso> (I had a feeling that's what happened)
mgrasso> (Sorry we moved so slow back there guys)
*** Erica (nutscratrchpiruja@pool-63.50.231.126.phnx.grid.net) has joined #Changeling-Tucson
*** Erica is now known as Gemma
mgrasso> Erica, thank goodness. Glamour roll, diff. 8.
Gemma> !dice 6 8
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 6d10 at difficulty 8. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 1 1 1 2 7 9
Gemma> oh, for the love of crap
mgrasso> Everyone in the car seems sickened by the collective oppression of thousands upon thousands of Angelenos and their pathetic, angry, impotent rage.
Chet> LA sucks.
mgrasso> The city, clearly seen from the freeway, is cloaked already in an orange haze.
mgrasso> All of you, natives and transplants, miss the clean desert air of Tucson. Deeply.
mgrasso> (probably should've flown, but then again, one crying baby... :) )
* James looks around wildly at the people in their cars, and then begins driving like a total asshole, like he's trying to piss everybody off, cutting people off, honking the horn, swearing loudly.
Gemma> (Chet is dead. Check.)
mgrasso> Heh! Manipulation + Empathy, James, diff. 5.
mgrasso> NO!
mgrasso> WAIT!
mgrasso> A better combo would be Manipulation + Drive. :)
mgrasso> Which I'm sure, I'll NEVER use again. :)
mgrasso> (I had to do it. :) )
James> !dice 7 5
* DiceWell James rolls 7d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 3 7 5 10 4 7 1
* Ingrid closes her eyes and thinks of sitting on the deck outside her apartment, watching the sunset...
James> (cunning?)
Gemma> (Didn't Gemma use Manipulation + Drive during a certain road trip to Nogales...? >:D)
mgrasso> (Yes, James.)
mgrasso> (Did she?)
James> !dice 1 5
* DiceWell James rolls 1d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 5
Gemma> (I'm kidding. Because of the whole ... uh ... you know. Bob, slurp, bob, slurp... never mind.)
mgrasso> Okay. That's enough to get someone to get out of their car. :)
Gemma> (who's sitting where in the van, btw?)
James> driver.
Ingrid> I'm in the back, as far as possible.
Gemma> (And Chet?)
mgrasso> In fact, James gets stuck behind some traffic and one of the people he cut off, a Hispanic man in a pickup truck marked "Hernandez Gardening, Los Angeles," turns off his engine and gets out of his car, walking over to the van deliberately.
Chet> In the back with seat belt filrmly buckled.
mgrasso> Gemma's shotgun?
Gemma> (sure)
mgrasso> James, in your side mirror, you can see he's carrying something metal in his hand.
* Gemma crosses herself
James> Great, Can I turn to see what it is before he gets to the van
James> ?
mgrasso> It's long, about two feet... looks like a tire iron or a crowbar or something.
* Chet lights a cigarette.
mgrasso> (I love random encounters) :)
mgrasso> Again, you guys are just hopeless stuck in traffic. There's nowhere to go.
mgrasso> The man, about 40 years of age, chewing something, is screaming "Get the fuck out of that fucking car, I'll show you how to fuckin' drive!" You can hear this through the closed wndow.
* Ingrid still has her eyes closed, meditating.
mgrasso> He wears workman's clothing, and he is definitely carrying a tire iron. He holds it up, brandishing it for James and Gemma to see.
mgrasso> "Get the fuck out of the car!"
* James points to himself
Gemma> Does he really think we're going to get out when he's waving that around?
James> me? you want me to get out of the fucking car?
mgrasso> "I'll fuckin' break your fuckin' window, you fuck! Get the fuck out!"
* Ingrid mumbles "Welcome to LA."
* Gemma starts rummaging through her purse
mgrasso> "Yeah, you! Get out!" He looks like he's getting ready to swing his tire iron at the window. Gemma, James, Wits + Empathy rolls diff. 7 or if you have Sense Deception, you can try it at a 5.
mgrasso> Wits + Sense Deception, that is.
James> !dice 9 5
* DiceWell James rolls 9d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 5 successes.
* DiceWell 4 5 8 3 2 2 6 5 10
Chet> !dice 6 8
* DiceWell Chet rolls 6d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 5 9 3 7 9 2
Gemma> !dice 5 7
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 5d10 at difficulty 7. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 2 5 5 6 2
mgrasso> Just Gemma and James, please.
James> oops! I miss read!
James> !dice 9 7
* DiceWell James rolls 9d10 at difficulty 7. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 1 9 4 3 2 4 5 7 1
mgrasso> That's okay.
mgrasso> James, Gemma, he's swinging the tire iron at the drivers' side window. What are you going to do?
James> What are you some kind of fucking psycho?
James> you could put an eye out with that thing.
mgrasso> He stops just short of breaking the window, but now he's getting ready to get on your front bumper.
* Ingrid streatches backwards in her seat, combing through her long hair with her fingers.
* Chet watches with interest.
* Chet takes another long drag on his cigarette.
* Gemma finally finds her rosary and holds it out at the guy, shouting, "The power of Christ compells you!" Then she sort of tosses it at the window as though that'll help.
* James opens the door since he is no longer standing right at it and stands behind it shielding himself
mgrasso> (*snort*)
Gemma> (Does that make him laugh? :D )
mgrasso> James is now outside. The gentleman comes back towards James, getting right in his face.
mgrasso> (No, me. :) )
James> or you could bust your fat fucking lip- what are you? all talk? Chicken shit- go back to your fucking car
Gemma> (damn)
James> !dice 9 6
* DiceWell James rolls 9d10 at difficulty 6. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 9 5 3 1 5 7 3 4 1
* Ingrid is still combing her hair, plaiting little pieces of it and then unplaiting them.
* Chet says to Ingrid, "It's amazing the situations we continually find ourselves in due to his bad driving."
James> Sit down, shut up and learn to mind your own fucking buisness you asshole- you fucking asshole!
* Gemma quietly slips out of the car
* James is screaming now
Ingrid> And who was it that didn't want to fly?
Gemma> !dice 5 7
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 5d10 at difficulty 7. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 1 6 6 9 1
mgrasso> Before we do anything else, I need Gemma and James to roll Wits + Alertness, diff. 4.
Gemma> (oh, for the love of christ, I hate dicey)
James> !dice 4 7
* DiceWell James rolls 4d10 at difficulty 7. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 1 7 1 5
Gemma> !dice 7 4
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 7d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 5 successes.
* DiceWell 7 5 3 5 7 4 2
Ingrid> (but Dicey luuuuuvs you. :)
James> !dice 5 4
* DiceWell James rolls 5d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 4 1 8 2 5
Gemma> (Yeah, sure. THANKS DICEY!)
Chet> Hey, not flying doesn't have anything to do with this...
Ingrid> Except we wouldn't have been here...
mgrasso> All right. James provokes the man into a final paroxysm of rage. James, expecting to receive an influx of Glamour from this emotional outburst, is surprised when he doesn't.
mgrasso> Gemma, however...
* Chet leans over the front seat and fiddles with the radio until he finds a classical station.
* Gemma lunges for the guy, a pink stun gun ini her right hand aiming for the bulkiest, fleshiest part of the guy she can (his torso)
Gemma> (from behind, sorry)
Chet> OK. So this sucks. I admit it.
Ingrid> Oh well. I guess you can't choose your friends... Oh wait, you can.
Chet> Well, I'm sorry. I really wish you would've flown.
Chet> It's not that I didn't want to. I just couldn't.
* James rushes foreward and grabs hold of the tire iron as Gemma does this, to keep the man from swinging it at her.
mgrasso> Hold on guys.
mgrasso> (sorry about this, I need to find stats for the stun gun)
mgrasso> Dex + Melee, diff. 6, Gemma.
Gemma> !dice 4 6
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 4d10 at difficulty 6. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 3 8 1 2
mgrasso> wp?
Chet> Do you think we should do anything to help them at all?
Gemma> yes!
mgrasso> Chet, Ingrid, HOLD ON. this is happening quickly.
mgrasso> Gemma, damage is 5 at diff. 6.
Gemma> !dice 5 6
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 5d10 at difficulty 6. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 1 2 3 3 7
mgrasso> Sorry, no willpower there.
Gemma> (oh, for the love of crap. Doesn't it at least make him wet himself?)
mgrasso> Gemma jabs the man with her stun gun but it does nothing to affect him. Meanwhile, James grabs for his tire iron. Dex + Brawl, diff. 6.
James> !dice 5 6
* DiceWell James rolls 5d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 6 7 7 5 5
mgrasso> Okay, now I need Srtrength + Brawl from James please.
mgrasso> diff. 6
James> !dice 1 6
* DiceWell James rolls 1d10 at difficulty 6. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 4
James> WP!
mgrasso> (one measly die. Hah.)
James> (he's "wirey")
Gemma> (That's *so* sad -- I mean, manly. Manly.)
mgrasso> Okay, You definitely manage to grab hold of the tire iron, but he whips it out of James hands, easily. Man, that burned. Must have been some real iron in there. 1 level of chimerical damage.
mgrasso> He's now threatening Gemma with the tire iron. Not swinging though, just protecting himself from her stun gun.
Gemma> (can I talk to him?)
mgrasso> Chet, Ingrid, both can roll Wits + Alert, diff. 4
mgrasso> Yes, but hold on, Gemma.
Ingrid> !dice 5 4
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 4. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 9 1 1 1 4
Chet> !dice 3 4
* DiceWell Chet rolls 3d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 6 4 9
mgrasso> Gemma, you are first.
mgrasso> But wait, Ingrid must declare first.
Ingrid> I'm just going to move up front and get a better look at what's going on.
Gemma> (I'm going to speak in Spanish. Do you want that in msg?)
mgrasso> Okay, Chet and James?
mgrasso> Yeah!
Chet> (Is there anyone else in his truck?)
mgrasso> (Nope)
* Chet lights another cigarette and smokes both at once while watching the confrontation. [Gemma:#Changeling-Tucson PING]
*** Gemma has quit IRC (Connection reset by peer)
mgrasso> Damn.
*** Erica (nutscratrchpiruja@pool-63.50.229.236.phnx.grid.net) has joined #Changeling-Tucson
mgrasso> Erica, you were about to speak to the man. James, Chet?
James> should I make that roll?
mgrasso> Yes.
* Chet lights another cigarette and smokes both at once while watching the confrontation.
James> !dice 3 4
* DiceWell James rolls 3d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 3 3 4
mgrasso> James' form shimmers, changes... leaving you all, including our attacker, with a gangly, pasty-white nocker standing among you. All you changelings: James' mortal seeming is gone. Mr. crowbar stares at him, blinks, not quite sure what he's seeing.
mgrasso> Ingrid? Go for it.
Ingrid> !dice 5 8
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 8. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 5 2 4 1 2
Ingrid> gah!
Ingrid> (Dicey blows!)
mgrasso> Tonight, hells yeah.
*** Erica has quit IRC (Connection reset by peer)
mgrasso> Jeez, poor Erica.
James> darn it!
Chet> (sonuva...)
mgrasso> (For those of you scoring at home, James called upon the Wyrd.) :)
mgrasso> Which is a fun thing to do. :)
James> (heh)
Chet> (so I figured... :) )
mgrasso> (brb)
Ingrid> (go James, you road-rage +7 bastard, you!)
James> (damn straight, "my car does 12d6 points of damage, wanna go?")
mgrasso> If only he'd Ravaged successfully...
Ingrid> I blame Dicey/
James> (no shit, hu! Dicey sucks)
* James twiddles thumbs
mgrasso> I still think we should make that bumpersticker, mandy :)
Ingrid> I do too. :)
mgrasso> I'd really like to finish this tonight.
James> I know!
Chet> (me too)
mgrasso> I bet she's switching computers.
*** Erica (nutscratrchpiruja@63.50.216.236) has joined #Changeling-Tucson
mgrasso> Whew.
Erica> Oh, finally!
*** Erica is now known as Gemma
mgrasso> Okay, Erica, I need to know what Gemma said, then we can go on.
mgrasso> Oh, and James, become Aranth.
*** James is now known as Aranth
mgrasso> The people in the cars nearby, who were observing this event before with concern, now alternately faint, stare, and scream upon seeing James' true form.
Aranth> ("thank you, I'm here till thrusday,try the veal")
mgrasso> Okay, this round, Ingrid? Declare first.
mgrasso> (hah)
Ingrid> I'm just watching for now.
mgrasso> The man is now a gibbering imbecile. All fight is out of him ashe just tries to comprehend what happened to James. Aranth, I know what you're doing, Chet?
* Chet shakes his head.
mgrasso> Gemma?
Gemma> I'll keep on babbling to him in Spanish.
mgrasso> Okay. James, do what you were going to do.
mgrasso> He's totally ignoring everyone in favor of just staring at James. :)
Gemma> !dice 6 4
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 6d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 4 successes.
* DiceWell 6 3 4 5 3 5
* Aranth raises his crossbow up, pointing it at the man, his finger on the trigger "you, asshole, back to your fucking car, NOW!" and then he grins his grotesque nocker grin
Ingrid> !dice 5 5
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 7 4 8 3 7
mgrasso> The man, leaving his tire iron behind, walks slowly, backing up back to his car.
mgrasso> The traffic in front of you has cleared, coincidentally, to the 210 on-ramp, which leads to Sherman Oaks.
Chet> Nice...real subtle.
Ingrid> James, get in the back. You can't drive like that. I'll drive the rest of the way.
Aranth> No. Shut the fuck up and sit back down.
* Ingrid slides behind the wheel of the van.
Ingrid> No, you're not going to racvage me, James. Get in the back.
Aranth> If I had known that there was going to be a fucking psycho I wouldn't have done it, now get in the back ingrid, I don't have the time or the patience to argue about this right now
Gemma> Shut the fuck up, both of you. You're two of a kind, you know that?
Ingrid> James, NO. You cannot be driving with your fae mien hanging out for all to see!
* Gemma climbs into the van and slides into the middle seat, crossing her arms over her chest
* Aranth glares at both of them
Aranth> I can do what ever the fuck I want.
Gemma> James, get in here. Let her have her fucking power trip.
Gemma> You can get something a lot better from me later.
Gemma> That is, if your ego will allow it.
Ingrid> Get in, James. It's not worth arguing over.
* Aranth looks at Gemma pleadingly, but lets her back him down.
* Gemma pats the space next to her
* Ingrid gets the van moving again and heads for the exit.
* Aranth smiles a little as ingrid notices he has the keys
Ingrid> argh!
Aranth> but passes them up to her
mgrasso> Heh.
mgrasso> Ingrid, I need you to give me a Wits +Drive roll, please. Diff. 6.
Ingrid> Thank you, *Aranth*.
Ingrid> !dice 4 6
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 4d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 2 7 4 9
Gemma> (are we back to driving now? :) )
Ingrid> (I hope so)
mgrasso> Excellent. Ingrid manages to drive very well for the rest of the trip to the hotel in Sherman Oaks. Even with a fair amount of traffic, she's quick-witted in her driving. About 10 minutes after your roadside encounter, Aranth fades back into James again.
mgrasso> (yes)
mgrasso> So I think it's time for us to check into our hotel.
* Aranth grabs the "oh shit handle" and hangs on for dear life "Oh god ingrid look out for that pedestrian! was that a dog we hit back there?
Aranth> "
Ingrid> Well. How about you all wait here while I check us in?
* Gemma nods
Chet> Sounds good to me.
* Gemma slides onto James' lap to keep him put
Gemma> You stay here. We'll make out in front of Chet. He'll never notice.
Ingrid> Great. Don't scare anyone while I'm gone, okay?
* Ingrid gets out and heads for the lobby.
* Gemma pinches James' cheeks
mgrasso> Guys, I'll describe the hotel next time. We need to wrap up.
mgrasso> I have a massive headache.
Aranth> (poor bill)
mgrasso> I'm sorry, Bill.
Gemma> (I know!)
Aranth> (poor you)
mgrasso> Next time, for sure!
Chet> (sorry bill :) )
Bill> ok