confronting Evandau

[gistful]

Characters: Evandau, Anton, Hawke, Septimus, whole bunch of others
Date: August 28th, 2014
Location: The Midnight Hotel, may move to outside one of its entrances in one of the five sectors
Situation: It’s time to confront Evandau.
Warnings/Rating: Probable violence, will update accordingly.

By the time Hawke calls Evandau out, the Hotel is as prepared as it’s possible to be. The radio set has been brought in so they can communicate with the teams outside using the portable WWII handset Akito jerry-rigged. Anton has warned the gang-kedan, particularly the Dust-user and distributers, most of whom are hiding upstairs. The commons aside from the lobby have their doors closed; judging by the rowdiness in the living-room still filtering through the door, ‘noise pollution’ is the going excuse. Anton wants his current patrons as protected as they can be, which is why he encouraged a couple of those present to guard the stairs up.

There are a fair few people in the lobby, which isn’t unexpected, but Anton has warned each and every one of them about the Hotel rules and the fact that, if any of them jumps the gun, he will be forced to defend Evandau. Nothing would ruin the plan more than Anton being obliged to stand up against those with whom he would rather be allies. He doesn’t know most of them, but it’s clear that they’re friends of others who are in on the plan; the only person who worries him is Wreath, sitting quietly in a corner behind the entrance.

Anton himself is behind the reception desk, going through his ledgers and waiting quietly for Evandau to arrive, and keeping Daisy the shotgun close at hand under the counter. Just in case.

Comments

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery feels the shift of the air above him just in time to move forward, although a little late to dodge the cultist entirely. The knife misses his shoulder blades and mercifully misses the middle of his spine as well. It may have nicked another rib on its path through his ribcage, but Skulduggery chooses to believe that the lack of pain is because it hasn't, rather than because the earlier near-miss is numbing him to pain entirely.

If he falls forward, the Kedan will have the advantage, and he'll lose entire bones. Best to avoid that. Skulduggery instead launches himself into the air and flips over in the hope that the sudden momentum will be enough to dislodge the cultist. If it isn't, he's making a grab for the knife at the same time.

[ironwood]

The cultist doesn't even attempt to keep holding on: the knife has done its job. They can't be sure if the poison will work in this magical foreigner, but the kedan decieds he can't lose valuable time by waiting to see if it works out or trying to spread more poison.

She jumps away, leaving the knife behind. And Skulduggery will find the cultists have lost interest in him completely. They will attack him if he gets in their way, but now that he's been already wounded they need to focus on those who aren't.

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery's back on his feet before he notices that no one's trying to attack him anymore. Since situations like these are usually feints, he takes another few seconds to be absolutely sure he's in the clear, and then moves off to help those Foreigners who haven't been quite so lucky.

He doesn't get very far before he hears Anton's voice booming from the Hotel entrance, sounding the retreat. It forces him to change tactics, helping people make it safely back into the Hotel rather than stand their ground and fight the cultists off. If anyone asks, he tells them Anton is built for fighting alone against impossible odds.