[Day: Friday, July 16th. Time: Somewhere around evening, but it's hard to tell with all the timezones you've been crossing.] [You're in a plane! It's a big golem-carrying plane. You're somwhere over Saudi Arabia, you think, although you've been flying so long that it's hard to tell. Naomi went with you; she's in the back of the plane discussing something with Chomei. God knows what.] [Session Start!] * Rei looks out the window. BOX is open and on her lap, as expected. For whatever reason, she has shoelaces tied in her hair today. The ones with the flourescent colors and springy curly tips. * Lazar is standing in an aisle a coupla yards away from the rest of you, shadow boxing. Only he's not actually throwing any punches; he seems to just be dodging them. (Oh god, you actually did use the shoelaces.) (I did!) * Chie is leaning back in her seat, dozing. * Rei is also singing! "Thirty-nine grains of sand in the desert, thirty-nine grains of sand! Take one down and put it in an hourglass, thirty-eight grains of sand and one minute gone in the desert. o/~" * Asanjya is reading. Thirty-eight grains of sand in the desert, thirty-eight grains of sand! Take one down and put it in an hourglass, thirty-seven grains of sand and one minute gone in the desert. o/~ (I can do this all the way to zero. Watch me.) ( I will! ) (Woo hoo!) Thirty-seven grains of sand in the desert, thirty-seven grains of sand! Take one down and put it in an hourglass, thirty-six grains of sand and one minute gone in the desert. o/~ * Rei swings her feet. Thirty-six grains of sand in the desert, thirty-six grains of sand! Take one down and put it in an hourglass, thirty-five grains of sand and one minute gone in the desert. o/~ * Asanjya turns the page. Careful observers note hair stuffed in her ears. * Lazar is managing to both continue his shadow boxing and not strangle Rei. At the same time! * Rei grins madly and keeps singing. She cares not for Lazar's shadow boxing. He can box in time. "Thirty-five grains of sand in the desert, thirty-five grains of sand! Take one down and put it in an hourglass, thirty-four grains of sand and one minute gone in the desert. o/~" * Chie sits up and yawns. "Rei, you've been at that since five hundred sixty seven grains." Actually! Five hundred sixty-eight. And a half. A half? How do you have half a grain of sand? Well, you take a grain of sand... And then you cut it. In half. Was only worth thirty seconds? And then you have half a grain of sand- yes, actually, it was. You'd have to have something really precise to do it with. Hmm. I wonder if I could do that. Naomi and Chomei finish their talk. Chomei apparently decides to try to get some sleep, while Naomi comes over. "*Ahem*" * Chie looks up at Naomi. "Yeah?" * Rei looks over and waves! "Hi Naomi!" * Lazar stops shadowboxing, and waves. "We've figured out a plan to get you guys there, if you'd like to hear it." Sure! * Asanjya subtly unplugs her ears, but doesn't look up. Plan always good. * Rei nods. Is like having no plan, but better. Does it involve sliding down a rainbow staircase on an extra large king- sized mattress while fighting off rabid frogs? Please say it does. Naomi takes a seat. "The plan involves two diversions. The first will get us past the main force. Our side will concentrate an attack on one area. The undead should respond sending more units over there. After that - no - we'll hopefully have an easy time getting to the castle itself." Us? You come with? She nods. "Yeah. I might not look like much, but I can do a lot of good. Besides, you need me for the next part. What's the next part? ( Well, I have to tear out Rei's heart and sacrifice it to Cthulhu... ... ) "The second diversion. Dracula will probably have a few guards around the castle gate. Chomei and I will draw them out while you sneak in, and join up with you later." ( Hey, you can't sacrifice me to my daddy!" ) Wait a second. ( Shigthulu! ) "Yes?" We're splitting up? Was what Belmont suggest. [She nods. "In fact, you should split into two groups again once you're inside. You'll be able to cover more ground that way."] ... Um. * Rei looks at the other three. * Chie muttergrumbles. "I *hate* splitting up." And shouldn't we decide this when Chomei's awake? "I told you, he'll be helping me with the diversion." Well, in theory, it'd be three groups of two. It's not like we have huge amounts of... uh, us, and don't we all want to be together when we face Dracula? "It's pointless to fight Dracula before we find all the fragments." I think point that we gather back before go face Dracula. Naomi nods at Lazar. And there's no chance that we'll encounter him before then? No like we going run into him while he going to kitchen for sandwich. (major flaw in this plan. What if he finds you first? ) "It's highly doubtful. He'll be far too busy conducting the ritual." ( Silly man. Last boss never leaves his room! ) ( * You find Dracula in the kitchen making a pot of soup, wearing a "Bite The Cook" cape. ) What if we accidentally walk into the room with the ritual? ( he'd be mixing Bloody Marys for his wives ) Again, doubtful. Going be most remote, hard to get to room. Be kind of silly if he doing big ritual in living room, no? Naomi nods at Lazar. "Probably in the tallest tower in the center of the castle." Why not? Probably has lots of space, some comfy couches... Yeah! You could follow up with a soccer game. Beings that powerful are often stupid. Hence the plentiful defeats. * Asanjya turns the page. And chips and dip. I could make some really good dip. Though I don't know any recipes with blood, and he'd probably want one like that. There stupid, and there STUPID. I hope Dracula latter, but doubt. Plus, have communicate things. Can keep up with other group on where are, if find fragments, if being chased by thing with large teeth... "As Julius said, he is and he isn't." She frowns, "I'm afraid I didn't really understand what he was talking about." * Chie looks at Lazar. "Yeah, true." She still doesn't seem happy. Naomi: "If you've really got a problem with it, you could stay together. However, then we run the risk of Dracula completing the ritual before you can stop him." * Rei digs into her backpack and pulls out an earpiece. She tosses it to Naomi. "So we can keep in touch." Well, we did okay last time... I think I kind of get what he mean... Dracula know how he beaten before, he just no able to use what know. [Naomi catches the device.] [Time passes! It's still evening when you're landing. Screwy timezones. You land in a makeshift airstrip not actually in Transylvania, but a small field squashed between mountains and hills. There are a lot of tents and people out there. The plane sets down!] * Lazar gets up once the plane stops. "I assume Dracula have everything but were-kitchen-sink fight for him?" Oh, he's probably got one of those, too. Naomi comments as she gets off. "Don't be surprised if he has that too." * Chie grins at Naomi. * Asanjya sweeps her cloak around her and exits, tucking the book in her cloak as she goes. * Lazar looks mildly impressed. Probably two of them, if there is a such thing as a were-sink or whatever- who wants to turn into a sink when the moon comes up, anyway? Just be careful if walking in woods, get hands dirty, and see nice shiny sink sitting by tree. * Rei exits the plane! I will. No washing my hands in strange sinks. * Lazar follows! He's 'dressed' in a loose cotton tunic and matching pants. * Chie heads after them, clad in black as (almost) always. * Chie has the vampire killer whip coiled at her belt. [You step off the plane! The first thing you notice is the diversity of the people around here. Some of them wear military-esque clothes, carrying assault rifles but also stakes, crosses and probably holy water in those canteens with marked by crucifi. Another group is full of white-collared priests. And then there are people who don't seem to belong anywhere but are here anyway for some reason.] * Asanjya follows, staff in hand. She uncurls her hair and lets Xaphan perch on her shoulder. * Lazar looks around, shrugs, and drops his illusion. When in/near Transylvania... [Xaphan gets a lot of contradictory looks. Some people look upset, some look excited... nobody tries to do anything about it, though.] * Rei bounces a little. The shoe strings in her hair bounce, too. * Lazar doesn't bounce. He lumbers. Golems don't bounce unless you coat them with a lotta rubber. * Chie does not bounce. She walks. She could bounce, probably, but she's not terribly excited right now, especially since she's going one place and Chomei's going another. [As you take in the sights, you are approached by a silver-haired man in his early thirties. He's wearing black slacks and a purple vest and, of all things, a black cape. "" he says in English. "" * Rei smiles at THE MAN. "" [He's got a 'stache and a beard, too! Lest I forget to mention that.] ( It's the phantom of the opera! ) * Lazar knows at least that much English, and waves. * Asanjya looks around curiously. [His accent seems Romanian, by the way.] [He nods. "" He looks at Naomi. "" She nods.] [He turns back to y'all. ""] * Chie nods. * Lazar taps Chie's shoulder. "Translate?" * Asanjya looks back at the man, then at Chie. ( Don't hafta do it in text, when you get back. Just say okay, and we'll assume it's being done ) [He nods "" He gestures to the west, where the sun is slowly sinking behind a hill. ""] * Lazar nods at the man. * Rei nods. "" "" [He starts walkin'!] * Rei goes walkin', too! She doesn't mimic his gait too much. * Chie walks. * Asanjya walks. She looks like she's pondering things. Xaphan shuffles on her shoulder like an ungainly parrot. * Lazar lumbers along after them, quietly humming a gypsy tune. [Naomi also follows! She jogs a bit to catch up to Rei, and whispers something in her ear.] * Rei blinks a couple times, then shakes her head. She whispers back. * Chie looks over at them. * Lazar notices not. He's caught up in the tune. [Naomi whispers back.] * Rei keeps up with the whispering! [Naomi starts to respond, but you get there before she can. Ivan leads you to a green army truck. Yes, it's really more of a truck than a van. ""] * Lazar pauses, and eyes the truck. "Wow. First time in long time I going be stealthy..." * Chie snerks. * Asanjya smiles. [He nods. "" He departs.] * Rei watches him go. "" She looks to Naomi once he's out of earshot. "So, what *is* he gonna be doing in all of this?" So. How're we gonna do this? Me and Rei one team, Laz and Asanjya another? Naomi shrugs. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess he'll use his abilities in the diversion, or... something?" * Lazar checks that his stakes and silver knife are easily accessable, then draws his sword and lets it dangle from his hand in front of him. * Rei looks thoughtful. "Yeah, okay." She looks to the others. "Asanjya and I should be on different teams. I don't care too much past that." * Asanjya opens the back door to the truck, if there is one. "Chie's separation is acceptable." Would almost suggest I go alone, since Rei can heal rest of you... but that probably bad idea. So that make sense. So me and you, then, since Laz and I have the vampire-slaying stuff. * Rei thinks a little longer, then nods. "Yeah. Chie with me makes sense, 'cause I can heal her." We'd wanna have one person on each team with that. * Asanjya climbs into the truck and closes her eyes, mumbling softly to herself. ( [Naomi leaps into the air, spinning around faster and faster. Her leg glows blow as she lands a kick across her opponent's face. "COMMA SPLICE!"] ) (HA.) ( Hey, I did that joke first in LoCS. =P ) Also make sense. Plus, good mix styles. I fight close, keep enemies off Asanjya. Chie, you do same for Rei. Naomi: "Who's going to drive?" Me! * Rei runs for the driver's seat. YAY. * Chie nods to Lazar. I'm not driving this thing. [Naomi takes a seat in the back. So does Chomei.] * Chie sits next to Chomei and leans against him. ( o_o) [Chomei responds by snoring.] (What a lousy boyfriend!) [Seems he was really tired. Couldn't sleep with the singing and all, you know.] ( * Chie strokes Chomei's hair softly, slicing off two fingers in the process. ) * Rei acquaints herself with the vehicle. (...) [The hustle and bustle around the camp indicates that it's about time to go. But if that's not good enough, Naomi says, "It's about time to go."] * Lazar gets into the van, and buckles in. If things get bumpy, it'd be good for him not to crush anyone. * Rei adjusts mirrors. "Which way are we going, exactly?" [Naomi points at a road that heads North/Northwestish.] * Rei stretches, then buckles in. * Chie buckles her seatbelt. * Rei reaches into her backpack and pulls out fuzzy dice, of all things, and hangs them up. [Rei forgot to pack 'em. All she's got is a Kirby.] * Asanjya buckles up, but keeps meditating or chanting. * Rei hangs up the Kirby, then! Ready? [Naomi nods. "Ready."] Ready. Ready. All right! * Rei kicks the mystery machine into gear and gets going down that North/Northwestish road! [Off you start! As you drive, you notice the camp's forces mobilize as well, going more west, less north than you.] Any word on what happen to villagers in Transylvania? Naomi: Evacuated. At least, the people that survived..." I hear genocide's popular around here. [You drive for a while. Gradually, the road curves west, towards the mountains. Gimme hearing checks at +2] * Lazar frowns. "Is too bad..." He gives no indication if he's sad that a lot of villagers died, or that many survived. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6+2) and gets 5. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6+2) and gets 13. 2d6 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6) and gets 2, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "A WINNER IS YOU!" ( HA! ) * Dicesuke throws the bones for Asanjya (2d6+2) and gets 14, a CRITICAL FAILURE!!! "Looks like your thread just got cut. Sorry." (... Heh.) ( Well. A nice varied response. ) (3, 11, 2, 12...) [Lazar hears nothing! Rei hears gunfire to the south. Waaaaay in the South.] * Chie shudders. "What the hell is that?" What is what? Guns, but something else too. Like... wailing. Banshees, maybe? I hear guns all right... * Rei drives faster. Wailing... could be many things. Naomi: They must be fighting, then. Means plan working, then? Naomi nods. "Sure seems that way." She looks out a window. "Seems like even the undead don't sense us." That's a good enchantment, then. * Lazar nods. "Is good. Lots of probably tasty brains in here." Mine tastes like peppermint and sweet and sour sauce! [You drive on as the sun sinks lower in the horizon. The truck passes through an area that looks unpleasant, to say the least. Ruins of some kind of camp are plainly visible, and bones litter the ground everywhere. There are grave markers dotting the ground. Some of the graves apparently weren't filled. Or worse, maybe they were dug up... from the inside.] ... son of whore! * Lazar starts ranting in Hungarian. * Chie looks out the window. "Zombies?" [Naomi blinks a few times and looks outside. "Seems clear."] [There's a stone structure you pass, as well.] That... that filthy son of whore mother defile graves of my people. * Asanjya keeps her eyes closed but looks pensive. Was no rabbis left, so no could bless ground to keep from being raised... *starts ranting in Hungarian again* * Chie goes quiet. Naomi looks outside again. "I'm sorry." * Rei winces. She just keeps driving. * Lazar stops ranting, falling silent for a moment, his head drooping. He then starts muttering softly in Hebrew. [You drive further in silence! At that point in time where the sun has gone below the mountain but the sky is still blue-and-orange and visibility isn't completely obscured by shadow, you reach a small village. It looks like a throwback to earlier times; the houses are 19th or maybe early 20th century structures. There's only a few of them, and it looks like the road you're on is the main road. ] * Lazar looks out the window, and scowls. "Be it ever so evil, no place like home." [The road cuts through the village and at the end cuts a twisted path towards an unusual land structure: A plateau shaped like an upside-down cone. And on the plateau is the castle. It's big and black, it's towers reaching up and partially obscuring the rising moon. ] [The first building on your left is apparently a tavern of some kind. Hanging over the door is a sign written in English: ""] [And this seems like a good place for Session End!]