====== 2021.04.06 Meet Mr. Scorpion ====== As we examine the ruins, we realize this was once a gigantic library, now brought to ruin. There are torn and loose scrolls and books strewn about. ++++ Fight by the Pool | - Round **Joker MichelStMarie** - MichelStMarie runs towards my shouting - AlinaBrowning shoots at the charging savages - Savages - A couple run up and claw me up a bit - RachelRoss shoots one down (total overkill). - I shoot at one, but my gun pops open and all the bullets fall out! - Round - MichelStMarie ... - I holster the pistol, draw my sword and decapitate one. - RachelRoss fires into the crowd, blowing another one away - Savages - A couple rush me and almost claw me, but I twist away at the last moment - A couple attack MichelStMarie, but miss - One punches AlinaBrowning - AlinaBrowning pulls out her pistol and shoots it, grazing it. It looks at her dumbly in surprise. - Round - MichelStMarie shoots one, enraging it. - DoctorGrant gives them a double blast of his shotgun, wounding one. - RachelRoss misses. - Savages - The ones fighting AlinaBrowning and MichelStMarie shake off their wounds and attack. - ... - I swing my sword, but cannot penetrate their tough hide. - Round - MichelStMarie ... - DoctorGrant hits, but does not seem to hurt it. - AlinaBrowning still seems shaken and retreats. - ElizabethWhite checks AlinaBrowning for wounds - RachelRoss shoots and kills the one fighting MichelStMarie. - I cut down the last one in the room with me. - Savages attack with little effect. - Round - DoctorGrant pulls out his sabre - RachelRoss runs up punches one, and breaks its neck - MichelStMarie shoots the one I'm fighting, but misses. He runs up to support me. - Savage hits me, but it doesn't hurt - AlinaBrowning is still catching her breath - I swing, but the cunning bastard ducks! - Round - MichelStMarie bayonets it, but it just grins maniacally at him. - I smack the last one with my sword, dazing him. - RachelRoss shoots, but the shot goes wild. - The Savage gathers his wits and swings wildly at me, but I simply step to the side. - AlinaBrowning catches her breath, and kills the last one. ++++ While DoctorGrant and ElizabethWhite examine the bodies, MichelStMarie checks the far doorway and finds stairs the lead down. AlinaBrowning throws some rocks down the stairs. MichelStMarie encourages me to scout out down the stairs. DoctorGrant thinks that the savages used to be martians, but have been twisted by the RedSand substance. RachelRoss goes down the stairs before me. We find some more rooms. DoctorGrant suggests we look through the books to get clues. They spend a couple of hours reading, AlinaBrowning finds a letter discussing moving the treasure room somewhere safer (across a chasm?). I practice fighting with my off hand. We hear the screams of the savages as they approach. I take up position in the doorframe, and MichelStMarie takes a firing position behind a large pillar. ++++ Lower Level Fight | - Round - DoctorGrant blows away one as it come into the room (from our rear!) - I shoot one, causing him to miss a step - RachelRoss shoot the him dead. - MichelStMarie moves to the middle of the room and shoots - AlinaBrowning waits for them to come through the doorway - Savages - A couple attack MichelStMarie - ... - AlinaBrowning moves and shoots. - Round **Joker DoctorGrant** - DoctorGrant ... - Savages - A couple attack me, but don't bother me much. - A couple attack MichelStMarie, but miss. - One claws RachelRoss. - The ones swarming AlinaBrowning drive her back a bit, seeming to shake her. - **One attacks DoctorGrant!** He gets in a good shot, and the Doctor seems concerned. - MichelStMarie pulls out a revolver and shoots wildly at the one attacking him. - ElizabethWhite hacks with her machete at the one she and DoctorGrant are fighting, but misses. - RachelRoss trys to gather her wits, but she is being pressed too hard. - AlinaBrowning recovers and shoots one. - I cut down one of the pair I am dueling. - Round - DoctorGrant pulls his sabre and takes a swing at the savage, but it nimbly side steps. - RachelRoss gathers her wits and swings at it, but misses, and retreats. Its parting swipe misses her. - I miss - MichelStMarie shoots the one next to him, winging him. - AlinaBrowning shoots one in the head. Nice shot. - ElizabethWhite misses. - Savages - Couple of misses. - One hits MichelStMarie, drawing blood. - One chases RachelRoss around the column and attacks, but misses. - Round - AlinaBrowning shoots the one attacking RachelRoss, distracting him. - I miss. - RachelRoss kills her savage. - Savages - I get attacked. - ... - MichelStMarie kills one. - DoctorGrant gathers his wits and attack, but misses - ElizabethWhite misses. - Round - I finally drop the one fighting me. MichelStMarie "Protect the Paycheck" Me "Trying!" - DoctorGrant ... - Savages - **One tears into DoctorGrant!** He seems shaken, and he is bleeding. - ElizabethWhite attacks with her machete, but drops it instead. - AlinaBrowning shoots the one attacking DoctorGrant, distracting it. - MichelStMarie shoots at the same one, killing it. - DoctorGrant realizes it was just a flesh wound. ++++ RachelRoss and DoctorGrant bind up MichelStMarie's wounds. I look into the next room (raised dais with a couple of exits and an old, cold brazier) and tell war stories, but MichelStMarie hushes me. I move onto the dais. I see another hallway to the west, and a room to the north. MichelStMarie "What ho, a statue" (looking into another room to the north). Me "What's it look like?" He describes it (robed martian holding a staff and a lantern). DoctorGrant says it represents education and knowledge. We enter the statue room, on the higher level holding the statue. I check the doorways (while they fawn over the statue). Doors and corners, doors and corners. I find a dark, pseudo-scorpion the size of a horse grabs at me, but I barely duck to the side. To be continued...