Frozen Sick (2) BE7

OoC: I am good to continue as is. Thanks for checking in…

I did debate this back and forth, I felt the previous post offered some latitude, so I am relieved you are okay with the direction I went….

i felt it was the only way it could go….given its….Gus

Quote from Naiya_Varma >>

“Well would you look at that....” is all he manages before Rose launches. She hits him with full, committed momentum, and the two of them crash through door, bursting through the doorway and into Pelc’s Curiosities in a heap of limbs, and one airborne spoon that arcs briefly before clattering loudly across the floor.

Gus takes the brunt of it, sliding across the wooden boards with Rose still very much part of the situation, one leg stretched awkwardly behind him, half in the doorway, snow trailing in after him along the floor. For a moment, everything just stops. Then Gus sits up, slowly, deliberately, as though this outcome required careful consideration. There’s snow in his hair, a pine needle clinging stubbornly to his shoulder, and a tear forming along one sleeve. He doesn’t acknowledge any of it. He is still holding Rose.

“Well would you look at that…” he says, taking a small breath. “Dynamic entry.” He nods once, satisfied. “Yes… exactly as I suspected.”

He pushes himself to his feet, facing inward as though he meant to arrive there all along. Without breaking the illusion of control, he stoops just enough to retrieve the spoon in one smooth motion. Then, with calm authority, he glances back briefly toward the others. “We’re inside.”

 “Well would you look at that....” is all he manages before Rose launches. The feline stretched out, front paws seeming to get longer in the blink of an eye!  In a puff of fur, the cat vanished, replaced by a heavy set female gnome.  She hits him with full, committed momentum, and the two of them crash through door, bursting through the doorway and into Pelc’s Curiosities in a heap of limbs, and one airborne spoon that arcs briefly before clattering loudly across the floor.

Gus takes the brunt of it, sliding across the wooden boards with Rose still very much part of the situation, one leg stretched awkwardly behind him, half in the doorway, snow trailing in after him along the floor. For a moment, everything just stops. Then Gus tries to sit up, slowly, deliberately, as though this outcome required careful consideration.  Despite his efforts, he was momentarily blinded by a dry cloak, and buried beneath a pile of flailing arms and wild hair.  There’s snow in his hair, a pine needle clinging stubbornly to his shoulder, and a tear forming along one sleeve. He doesn’t acknowledge any of it. He is still "holding" Rose.

“Well would you look at that…” he says, trying to taking a small breath. “Dynamic entry," he manages to wheeze out.   He nods once, satisfied. “Yes… exactly as I suspected.”

The gnomes manage to separate their muddled appendages.  He pushes himself to a seated position, facing inward as though he meant to arrive there all along. Without breaking the illusion of control, he stretches out just enough to retrieve the spoon in one smooth motion.  Finally glancing up he sees that five cloaked kobods appear to have ransacked the shop and are searching through the broken debris on the floor. The furniture, shelves, and front counter have been smashed, and the shop’s wares now litter the floor.

"Oh, dear," Aunt Rose manages to say when she sees the welcoming committee.  

Then, with calm authority, he glances back briefly toward the others. “We’re inside.”

***Everyone please roll for initiative!***

***INI Aunt Rose: 7***

Pelc's Curiosities

 ***Left to right bottom row; K1 K2 K3.  Left to right top row; K4 K5***

Gus is brushing snow from his sleeve, when he notices the cat is not a cat. He stops completely. His eyes lock, and for a long, very noticeable moment, nothing else in the room exists. Not the broken shelves, not the voices, not even the fact that he is still holding a spoon. “Well would you look at that…” Gus says, and this time it lands more like a realization than a conclusion.

The moment stretches. Then stretches further. He straightens, then straightens again, as if the first attempt lacked authority. A flush creeps across his face, subtle at first, then not subtle at all. His hand moves to adjust his coat. There is nothing to adjust. He commits anyway. Then, for reasons known only to him, adjusts it a second time. “Yes....yes… exactly as I suspected,” he says quickly, nodding with a level of conviction that arrives well ahead of logic. “Gnome. Of course. Obviously.” A brief pause. “Deputy.”

He looks at her again just a fraction too long, then snaps his attention elsewhere, the floor, the wall, a broken shelf, anything that isn’t her. Then, inevitably, back again. His foot shifts, slides slightly on the snow he slid in on, and he recovers with a turn that begins as correction and ends as something he fully intends to pass off as positioning. “Well would you look at that…” he murmurs again, quieter now.

He realizes he is still looking. Stops. Looks again. Stops looking harder. Clears his throat, once, then again, because the first one made everything worse. “Good to have you...uh....here,” Gus says. “Inside. With me......I mean us..... the investigation. I mean generally.”

Then something crashes deeper in the shop. Voices. Movement. Gus blinks, and reality returns all at once. The wreckage. The scattered wares. His posture resets instantly. “You don’t say.” A short pause. He steps forward just enough to place himself between Rose and the room without acknowledging that he has done so. He leans slightly toward her again, voice lowering, though not quite as steady as before. “Stay near me,” he says, then quickly adds, “....for investigative reasons.” 

Init [8]

Gal is absolutely flabbergasted by what she just witnessed. From the Launch of Aunt Rose to the crash of what is now two gnomes through the front door of Palc’s, Gal is stunned just stuck in this moment briefly. Before she can process everything fully Gal runs up to the doorway and sees Gus and Rose standing up inside the shop.

Once her comrades are fully off the floor Gal breathes a sigh of relief only to looks around and sees most things in the shop destroyed and a plethora of beings still searching through the carnage. 

“Well dint dis just get excitin real fast now eh??!” Gal says with a semi menacing grin on her face followed by chuckle. Gal hasn’t been in a good fight in a few months and has been READY for some target practice!!

Initiative: 21

Combat Order:  (by dice and royal decree)

Gal, Tory, and Cato - your characters will have the first action.  

The kobolds will follow.

Gus and Aunt Rose will begin combat prone.  The initiative began right about the time they rolled to a stop and the spoon sailed gracefully through the air.  

Cato can reach K1 with 25 feet of movement.  He could reach K2 with 30. 

Gal could reach K1 with 30 feet of movement in the square just SE of it.

Tory can get inside, and one square right or left of the doorway with 30 feet of movement.  

Torwynn arrived a breath late.

Not from hesitation—never that—but because she had, quite reasonably, decided to finish her drink.

Possibly two.

The cold hit her cheeks as she stepped through the doorway just in time to catch the tail end of Gus and Aunt Rose’s… dynamic entry, followed immediately by the unmistakable sound of something inside going very wrong.

She paused just long enough to take in the wreckage.

Shelves torn apart. Goods scattered. Kobolds.

Her grin spread slowly.

“Well,” she said, rolling one shoulder as she slipped fully inside, lute already in hand, “I leave for one more round and you all start without me.”

Her eyes moved across the room—quick, sharp, taking in what mattered.

Not random destruction.

Focused.

Intentional.

Her expression shifted—still amused, but edged now with something more deliberate.

“Oh, you’re not just making a mess,” she continued, stepping to the side of the doorway to clear space for the others.

Her fingers struck the strings—bright, cutting, a chord that rang out and curled through the room like a hook.

“You’re looking for something.”

Her gaze locked onto one of the kobolds, steady, confident—judging action, not words.

“Question is…” she added, voice dropping just enough to carry weight beneath the music—

“who told you to?”

The magic threaded through the words, sharp and invasive, pressing into the creature’s mind.

She tilted her head slightly, a crooked smile returning.

“Because I’m in a generous mood tonight,” she went on, “and I’d hate for your evening to end worse than mine will if I don’t get another drink after this.”

A quick glance flicked to Gus and Rose on the floor.

“Up,” she added, easy but firm. “You made a memorable entrance—try not to make a short story out of it.”

Then her focus snapped back to the fight, stance loose, music still humming faintly in the air.