The Prologue (1941) - Part I

[Tarotdragoon]

"Woah! careful Kestral! those things are ancient" Russo cries out looking rather wide eyed and panicked he moves hastily up to John with the box and attempts to take the knife from his grasp before he can hurt the ancient thing,

"You have to treat these things with respect, these belong in a museum, you can't just wave them around like that"

knowledge history:30!!! for checking out the knives learning what he can from the details and intricacies as well as any symbology present and maybe how old they are even though he was told a good few pages back

[BowenSilverclaw]

"If you guys think these things can help us in battle, they'd better be just as good, if not better, than a standard issue combat knife.

Historical value won't help us when facing more characters like that Muta guy, a good blade will." Kestrel explains to his namesake.


"Damnit!" John shouts as the stone dagger shatters upon impact.

"And this was supposed to help us in battle?" he asks, sarcasm clearly audible in his voice as he hands Russo the shattered remains of the dagger.

[jacemachine]

John is basically stabbing and cutting like with a normal combat knife, treating the post as if it were a normal enemy in close-combat

The stone dagger strikes the wood, but shatters in Sgt. Kestrel's hand. It seems that sacrificial dagger had never been intended for stabbing poles, and its extreme age only amplified that fact.

The group now has 3 priceless obsidian-bladed stone daggers now.


About this time Dr. Loder and Herr Eisen return from... where ever it had been that they had run off to moments earlier.

[j0lt]

Loder trots up to the group in a slight jog.  "Max, what was it you had said about the sug--"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Loder's jaw hangs open in shock as he stares at the pieces of broken dagger currently resting in Russo's hands.  "Wh-- What have you done?!"

[Neull//]

[[OOC: What about my knowledge rolls concerning the daggers?]]

Max hates when something like this is happening…the destroyed dagger besides a historical treasure, would have been a possible way to fight those demons…
 
“We still have 3 of them. Just try to use them against an evil entity and not against a solid wall!”

“Dr Loder, where did you go? What did you find? Sugar? Yes I said I tried the sugar trick but did nothing, the demon just attacked me…he does not seem to be attracted by it”

[Tarotdragoon]

Russo stands there the handle in his grasp, he seems to have entered some form of shock...

"I-he- T-t-t-the... he....he broke-" he manages to splutter eyes wide, mouth agape in sheer horror from the look of him anybody would think somebody had just disemboweled a child.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Yeah, sorry to ruin your priced archeological finding, Doc, but it doesn't seem to be quite the weapon it's cracked up to be." John shrugs.

[Nanshork]

Richard spins around and glares at John.  "You!  Never touch anything I own again!  Why would you think that a knife made out of stone would be used to stab a pole?  You don't stab poles with knives you bloody fool!"

[BowenSilverclaw]

"This one works just fine on wood, thank you very much." John snarks as he demonstrates his knife skills with his combat knife.

"You really think those stone relics are better than this basic knife if they can't even put a scratch on some old wood?" He continues as he steps away from the old post, revealing a number of deep gashes and cuts on the wood.

[Nanshork]

"You're not here to think, you're here to shoot things you bloody Yank!  Your thoughts on these knives are unimportant."

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Yeah, rational thought is obviously the specialty of you and your hoodoo experts, isn't it, limey?" John deadpans as he starts to make his way back into the Grateful Goat.

"I need a drink..." he mutters under his breath.

[j0lt]

His eyes still on the broken pieces of dagger, Loder distractedly relates his discovery at the Dunning grave.  "Oh, uh...  Earlier when I had first found the grave, I had noticed some small white grains in his satchel.  After we were all back together and Eisen mentioned sugar, it clicked, so that's where we just went.  Sure enough, they were grains of sugar!  Just what exactly is going on here?"

[jacemachine]

"Yeah, when Eisen and myself had been in chief Rhoando's place, one of the beds had been covered in a layer of sugar, and the impression of a body was in it, like someone laid down in it. It was weird to say the least" Bones interjected.

[Neull//]

"Ok, brainstorming people, we should put everything we know together"

“Point 1..According to my knowledge every demon has a craving or a bane -- something the demon craves in order to remain healthy, or something to avoid as if it were deadly poison. Based on that assumption I tried to use sugar against our villain but it did not work. He told me that I may keep my sugar because he had plenty of it…”

“Point 2...the demon characteristically  told me that the boy wanted only to save those he loved that he did not care the result. Does that mean that the demon could only possess you if you accept some kind of a deal? Is this what also happened to Karl Dietrich, Hauptmann? The nazi leader did some kind of deal with evil?”

“Point 3…The Germans came here looking for Dunning’s grave. Do we know what they took? During their stay they terrorised and killed some of the villagers. Most importantly they messed with the chief’s family and did some weird hoodoo staff….hhhhrrrrr shit I do not have all the information of what exactly happened at the village. I cannot put the pieces together… Could someone enlighten me with details from the villager’s story?” 

[Flay Crimsonwind]

"I don't know about the villagers, but if the demon said he had plenty sugar... then we need to move. Quickly. I agree, Dietrich might have done some sort of deal, which would account for his attitude. In which case, now the demon knows, and I'd bet money Dietrich will soon if he doesn't already, where we are and whom we're traveling with..." A glance in Bones' direction got the point across to those missing out. "We can discuss it more on this Halcon, or whatever it's called, so I suggest that, if for nothing else for sake of time..." A look in John's direction now, "... we bury our literal and metaphorical dead, and get a move on. Search what you'd like, say, within an hour, and then we should move fast as possible. Remember, this is still a race, and this village, while sad and in need of help, is not our concern... We need to finish the job first..." He didn't suppose that his neglect for the villagers would go over well, especially with Bones or Pingo, but he was hired as a professional soldier, and that's what he'd at least try to do.

[j0lt]

Loder cocks his head in confusion.  "Wait, did you just say a demon?  As in hellspawn?  What the hell did I miss?!"

[Nanshork]

Richard just shakes his head and turns his back on them and the conversation.  He has found a prey worthy of hunting, and that is his new focus.

[Tarotdragoon]

muttering under his breath Russo begins to wrap the daggers back up carefully and puts them back in the box, he takes a look on the floor and begins to collect the pieces of the shattered knife, treating each piece as if he was handling the body of a loved one a look of pity on his face.

"Say these daggers do work, we only have three now and I don't suppose you want to distribute them anymore... I suggest a new house rule, if we find anything else ancient and priceless, one of us Brits keep hold of it agreed?" he breaks off disgusted "Trust a damn yank, no respect"

picking up the last piece he wraps the shards in his own aviation scarf
"Do you think I could keep hold of the broken one Richard? I think I might be able to make some use of it"

[jacemachine]

"That's right Max, you and Sgt. Kestrel were away when this tale came out..." Bones says, he begins the tale again that he had translated earlier for Russo, Eisen, Richard, and Loder.

"Five days ago the Nazis were here. They came through the town. Nazis with three trucks, she says.The villagers watched as they drove through.They stopped their trucks just on the west side of town. Nazi soldiers got out with guns.

"Their leader came out. A scary man. Cold. Looking at him gave her chills. She felt as if she should know him for some reason, but she doesn’t know why.

"Their leader demanded to speak to the village chief and smacked a child in the face to prove his point. The chief then came out of his home followed by his son Muta, after he told his wife and young daughter to stay in their home.

"He then met the Nazi Leader, And they two went into the Grateful Goat. The Nazis held Muta outside.

"From inside there was the sound of a struggle and the village chief came out covered in a spray of blood, but He did not seem to suffer any wounds. He held a bloody knife in his hand, and chief Rhoando said that the village would help these Nazis.

"Then the Nazis 2nd in Command shouted orders, and the soldiers began to round up the villagers. A few people were killed, some inside their own homes, for resisting.

"The old woman saw her son-in-law, the chief, go back to his own home. Then he heard the screams of his wife and daughter.

“The men were all rounded up near the well with their arms bound behind them. The women were gathered up in the church.

"It was after some time, maybe an hour before the Nazi leader reappeared. Some of the women thought he was dead, killed by the chief inside the Grateful Goat, because no one had seen him leave the building. Only the bloodied chief.

"But here he was. He went straight to the grave of Dunning and had his men dig it up. The women watched from the rear windows of the church. Then he jumped in and dug around tossing the bones and belongings out. He dug through the man’s purse, then scattered the contents out. He began shouting angrily. Striking one of his own men in anger.

“He then loaded the men into the trucks, and locked the women in the church.
From the window the old lady saw her grandson confront the Nazi leader. He bent forwards and whispered into Muta’s ear. He pointed to the church. Muta nodded, then hung his head. The Nazi patted Muta’s cheek, and chuckled.

“Then the Nazis left. Muta ran to free the women. But shortly afterwards he began to act crazy. Then he even attacked a child and her mother, biting them and scratching at them.

“Once again the women hid away once again in the church, under the floorboards. Anytime they tried to get away, Muta would show up. They had been trapped ever since.” He nodded to himself when it was done, satisfied that he had not left anything out, then he looked over at Loder. "The Doc here had translated the old gal's story about Dunning coming out of the jungle.

"Zaikara said she was here the day that he came to the village.  Dunning was quite sick or delirious.  He kept talking about a lost city and a demon wearing the clothes of a man.

"He had been seriously clawed by some sort of animal and appeared to be dying.  A missionary happened to be passing through the village at the time, and this man volunteered to look after Dunning, and was with him when he died.  The missionary performed the funeral, and then Dunning was buried here.  Dunning had written some letters and the missionary had agreed to take them so they could be delivered. The old woman said she did not trust the missionary for some reason."

[Nanshork]

Richard nods that Russo may take the shattered knife, he has no personal use for it.  He is still very angry at John, but then again how could he expect better from a Yank who's never been out in the real world.  The damn Yank is probably going to go crazy next time he sees the demon, he's useless.

Richard then listens in to Bones' story for the second time, hoping to glean a few more hints about how to deal with his prey.