[Game Thread] Act I - Caught In A Briar Patch

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren grinned and got Severance ready, just in case Kinny decided not to cooperate.

[Surgate]

Jeremiah hunched low, studying their captive in silence. He covered tired eyes with signature goggles, and looked up at Madeline. "Our friend Kinny is trouble." The widowman spoke with a monotone grumble, and turned the gnome over so his face reflected in both lenses. "You will answer all of our questions" The lawman didn't feel it necessary to mention consequences, Darren and his mighty axe were statement enough.

Jeremiah continued, "First Question, When does Anarchae plan to blow the Chesapeake?"
He paused, before adding, "Second, who was the dead gnome at your house?" If Kinny didn't feel like cooperating, and before encouraging Darren to do what he does best, he considered grabbing Kinny's hand and breaking a finger.

[kdtompos]

Dice Will Save:

d20-1sch16

(7)-1

✘

Total = 6

At Edward's word, Kinny's eyes gloss over and his eyelids droop. When they open again, his fearful panic resumes though he continues to look toward Edward for help as his mind tries to resolve the dissonance between the ropes that bind him and the friend who watches on. The widowman's presence halts his panic momentarily, causing the gnome to lie rather still, his eyes still wide and white. "The Chesapeake? Who the hell told you about the Chesapeake?" he stammers. He tries to steel his resolve, but it's obvious that the gnome is lying. He keeps looking over at Edward, pleadingly.

"Please, untie me. I've nowhere to go. And I'll tell you what you want to know." Again, he looks to the business man. If that man trusts these others, he might as well. "At least let me sit up, unbind my hands..."

[Surgate]

Jeremiah reached down and sat the gnome upright, and while their faces were close, Jeremiah spoke slow, "We will ask the questions Mr. Hamilton." He stepped back, "It's ill-advised to untie him" The widowman reached up and gently felt his bullet wound, though much better still stung tremendously.

[Muggins]

"Really?" queried Madeline, "because I'd have been all too pleased to have shot him if he ran. In the legs." She nodded, then added, "he's right, though. He has nowhere to go; he's dead as far as the rest of the town knows, and if he was to return to his gang they'd treat him like a mole. He could leave town and all this business behind, but that doesn't solve anything - and we'd like something in return." She studied the gnome for a few moments; no, it wasn't quite safe to untie him, but they needed the information he could provide. "We both have something the other wants; freedom and knowledge, respectively," she chimed, "so, mister Kinny, would you mind sharing with us your knowledge? If you do, I'll even buy you the ride out of this crumbling town. How does that sound?"

"Tell us about Anarchae, your crispy doppelganger and the rest of our questions in turn, thank you."

Information Dice Diplomacy check to improve Kinny's compliance: 1d20+2 (4)+2 Total = 6 Dice Bluff check to improve Kinny's compliance: 1d20+6 (16)+6 Total = 22 I don't think that Diplomacy check is going to get us anywhere, but the Bluff check should help if you'll allow for its use. While the Diplomacy check would simply improve his disposition through a fair deal, the Bluff check would help to assure him that there's no catch to Madeline's proposal. Maybe.

[kdtompos]

Kinny smirks, pridefully. "Did a number on ya, did I?" he asks, staring down the lawman. "Five of you, armed. And you fear me... unarmed and still groggy." He then turns to Madeline, raising a single eyebrow in condescension. "And where would I go? You think this Anarchae you talk about is centered here? Heck, maybe I'll just hop a rail and head on up to Summit." He adds sarcastically. "Nah, wouldn't survive that trip. No one will."

He sighs, trying still to wriggle his hands free, but not as violently as before. "Look, you're too late." He finally continues. "We saw you snooping around town, but the deed's done. We was just cleanin' up when you finally caught on." Still unable to free his hands, Kinny manages to push himself up to a reasonable sitting position. "Might as well kill me now, though, rather than promise to let me go. Otherwise I'll end up just like that Kinny you apparently saw earlier. You want to work out some sort of trade I'd actually be interested in, then you could start with freeing my hands and gettin' me a drink."

[Surgate]

Kinny couldn't see behind the goggles framing Jeremiah's narrowing eyes, nor the fatigue in them discarded for something not akin to passion but its antithesis, as cold is to hot, clinical precision and complete absence of ego. He didn't have time to dally around with a non compliant suspect when lives and the law were at stake. Jeremiah walked away from the belligerent, cocky gnome and grabbed a dirtied bar rag, partially soaked, and wadded it into a ball, and shoved it in Kinny's mouth as he finished.

"That's all you get" He grabbed one of Kinny's bound hands, preferably his shooting hand, and pulled his index finger back till it broke.

"If you don't tell us everything you know...now I will break the rest of your fingers before executing you in the name of the law. Nod if you understand"

Actions -Gag Kinny with bar rag -Break Kinny's finger Dice Strength: 1d20+3 (8)+3 Total = 11 - Dice Intimidate: 1d20-2 (9)-2 Total = 7

[kdtompos]

You can hear the gnome screaming behind the dirty bar rag, muffled as it may be. His eyes are watering, and open slightly to unleash their own string of threats and insults at the widowman if only they could speak. After several minutes of defiant silence and pointed glares, the gnome nods a resolute 'yes' of understanding. His brow is still furrowed, and it's plain to see that his eyes are filled with hate rather than fear.

[Surgate]

Jeremiah remained ever stoic, and appeared to take no pleasure in the act. He removed the rag. "Choose your words carefully"

[kdtompos]

Kinny appears for a moment like he wants to speak, like he wants to let loose a whole deluge of words and venom the moment his gag is pulled free; but the levy continues to hold. The air in the room feels electric, and you can smell the perspiration and gunpowder.

Finally, Kinny's features soften and for a moment the room seems to breathe again. "You're too late." Kinny says, with a satisfied smirk sliding across his lips. It's all he says for a while, letting it sink in. "The fireworks are all set," his slick voice continues, savoring every word, "and tomorrow the Chesapeake Bridge will be nothin' more than a headline in the papers. The lot you just finished off, we was only the cleanup crew, removing any evidence now that the work's done. There's some big bombs strapped to that bridge, lawman. So when the sun comes up tomorrow you should find a good spot facing west so you can watch the show." His smile stretches from ear to ear now. "Oh, and if you have any loved one's travelling, make sure they hitch the rail to Summit tomorrow."

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren looks at Jeremiah and asks, "Well, that's no good... so am I taking a bit off the top, or are we gonna let the mayor have him?"

OOC So explosives... would that be Disable Device? Or is that one of the many things Knowledge: Engineering can do for me?

[Muggins]

"He's a dead man," Madeline chimed, "so we'll make sure the records match the reality of this situation." After a moment she stepped back, gesturing her companions a few inches away from Kinny in order to speak in private - except that she spoke clearly, without any notion of a whisper, so that he could hear.

"I say that we leave him tied up here, doubly so, and go diffuse these explosives. Once we're done, we come back here and blow him to smithereens. There'll be nothing left but your charred gibs, mister Kinny," she said, eventually speaking to the gnome directly, "of course, unless you like the thought of living a while longer until your sad, misspent life comes to an end." She couldn't help but find an inkling of joy in taunting the man, so egotistical in nature that he'd so easily given away the reality of their situation. While there was the potential that this was all a trap, that there were no explosives and the target was elsewhere, they couldn't use that as an excuse to just sit back and do nothing.

"And by the way, Kinny," she chimed again, "I've got no family. I've got no home. I've got nothing to lose, just like you. Keep yourself mindful of the fact that I can, and will, sink to depths just as low as yours to get my job done."

Note I guess this kind of turned into an Intimidation-Interrogation, or at least (in this post) a threat. Why not take another roll, just for fun, 'eh? Dice Intimidate: 1d20+2 (14)+2 Total = 16

[kdtompos]

Kinny scoffs at Madeline's threats, though she can tell that she's shaken him a bit. He knows that at this point his life is forfeit anyway, but didn't particularly care for her description of the ordeal.

"I'm not in this for riches, or power." He spits, "So you can save your threats. I might as well be dead already, and I'm ok with that. But so are a lot of others come tomorrow." You feel sick to your stomach as you watch the smile crease his lips. "And there's no way your diffusing any explosives, as you seem so cavalier and confident of. You're welcome to go stumble through the black out there if you want, let the wildlife take you for all I care. And by time the sun comes up, there's no way you'll make the bridge in time on horseback. Which from what I've seen of you today, isn't even an option. So you're stuck here unless you..." Kinny pauses for a moment, his cocky smile growing slack and his pupils dialating as though shocked by his sudden awareness. "Unless you have a miracle." He stammers quickly. "And I don't think any gods are listening to you folk."

 

Kinny looks like he just remembered something, and it's clear by his last stammered statements that he's trying to cover it up. He seems anxious to get free again, while just a moment ago he was becoming resolved to his fate.

[Muggins]

Dice Sense Motive:

1d20

2

"I'm sure you're not in it for money or power," Madeline replied, "since, as a nameless goon in the eyes of your organisation, you'd receive none of that were this to succeed. Even then, for the world at large, you still wouldn't have done anything remotely impressive." She then pressed further, saying idly, "you seem quite confident that we lack the guidance of the gods or the ability to make a miracle. I suppose, after our performance in your ambush, such a belief is to be expected. Can't exactly say we weren't expecting a fight by heading in there."

Eh Should've just rolled in the dice thread. Sorry!

[kdtompos]

ooc Not a problem. I don't mind dice rolls in this thread at all.