We Sons Of Daley [Manhattan Blues]

Bluff like you know what they're talking about.

You attempt to bluff your way out. "Hm. Maybe. You have a healer, I'd assume, so it's no big deal that a couple of your guys are ciritically injured. More importantly..."

You look to the other side of the camp, where gunshots are going off. "If you're really just an extension of the GRAND ARMY... Then what should really concern you isn't this humble POLITICAL OFFICER, but rather, the capture of Public Enemy Number 1."

They all freeze. Many of them DROP THEIR WEAPONS. "... N-n-no..."

"Not-"

"You have to be lying-"

"It can't be-"

No. Need to act serious. Grim grin, tell them, "Can't let you get too lazy."I saw its eyes with my own... Even if I weren't ORDERED to OBTAIN A FULL REPORT... THE GINNIE IS HERE."

> Just watch them freak out!

> Just watch them freak out!

You wish you could- the panic is a little AMUSING- but you have a JOB TO DO, and while the GINNIE is helping you do it, you have no TIME for such RIDICULOUS MEASURES.

You raise one of your 1911s and smirk, drawing a bead. You are going to enjoy this. "Of course, if you're going to run around like CHICKENS WITH THEIR HEADS CUT OFF..."

BLAM. The bullet THUDS a CENTIMETER away from the panicked man's nose, in a wall nearby. "It becomes obvious you are LYING."

Everyone STOPS, and stares at you in HORROR. The spokesman stutters out, "N-n-no, that's not the case-"

"Less TALK, more PROOF." You draw a bead on the next bandit. "After all, you don't have much TIME before the Ginnie kills us all."

"Wh..."

"PROOF, you MORON! I want to see where the HELL you get off saying Chicago has AUTHORIZED this!" You pause, then add, "Otherwise I will be forced to lodge an OFFICIAL PROTEST."

One of them starts running for the CAVES.

Well now what? You have a rampaging BLOOM CHILD in BLACK in the camp and a bunch of MORONS who you're supposed to KILL... Some of whom have nearly pissed themselves.

... Strike that nearly. Ugh.

Shoot the one that pissed himself.

Wait, who is the ginnie now?

More importantly

Can you make wishes on him?

Wait, who is the ginnie now?

More importantly

Can you make wishes on him?

Don't you just wish. The GINNIE is Public Enemy Number One, a swirling angel of death in a black burnoose. Burnous. Whatever. Point is, the Ginnie is known quite well for the Ginnie's propensity to blow in to an area, and leave nothing but DEAD BODIES in his wake. He'll leave a survivor on occasion, to TELL THE TALE, but mostly? He leaves a bottle of BLUE LIQUOR.

For your SPIRIT, you see.

Even if you weren't already HORRENDOUSLY OUTNUMBERED, this would be HORRIBLE NEWS. Now you can only hope you are either up to the task of TAKING OUT THE GINNIE, which you don't think your whole team TOGETHER could manage, or are somehow BENEATH HIS NOTICE or SPARED.

Speaking of-

Shoot the one that pissed himself.

BLAM. You sigh. "You BONEHEADS better get your shit together! Because I'm NOT HELPING YOUR SORRY ASSES."

One of them reaches for their SIDEARM, already tracking you. You make an EXAMPLE of that one. "Anyone else wanna DIE!? No?"

A couple of them grab their TECs and start running, the leader of the ones remaining is still staring at you in ABJECT FEAR. Well, at least that's five bandits you don't have to kill yourself.

You hear a voice like CREAM ROLLING DOWN SILK. Female. "Did you not know about this...? Really?"

> Wake up

Look around for that lady's voice and try to figure out why The Ginnie would travel with a female. Find her and order the idiots to get your hostages free or safe.

Look around for that lady's voice and try to figure out why The Ginnie would travel with a female. Find her and order the idiots to get your hostages free or safe.

You look at the idiots. "You five have hostages. GO GET THEM, and BRING THEM OUT OF THE CAVES. Or I will SHOOT YOU MYSELF!"

They HOP TO IT.

Once they are gone, you look around. "Hey, lady, knock off the telepathy and start jawing, or I start filling the air with lead."

"... You really didn't know. You STILL don't know," the lady's voice whispers in your ear.

"That's not a priority right now. The HOSTAGES? Are. I need to get them out before the Ginnie kills 'em."

"... I'll see what I can do. Oh, and Mister Arlington?"

"What?"

"Congratulations."

"Why?"

"You get to live."

... Oh. My. God.

That is good news.

Don't freak out. Just thumbs up and take care of them hostages.

You can always panic later.

Dude. You should sit down and just TAKE IT ALL IN.

Panic and run around in circles.

Panic and run around in circles.

Oh God. Oh God. That was the Ginnie wasn't it it had to be the Ginnie she must have had you in her sights-

Don't freak out. Just thumbs up and take care of them hostages.

You can always panic later.

NO! No. You shove the panic into a little hold somewhere where it claws and screams to get out, and start walking towards the caves.

STATUS
-- Score 22/100
-- Bandits slain 30/150
-- Temples defiled 0
-- All items unidentified

Right. Okay. Okay. Let's head into the CAVES.

THE CAVES
Well, more accurately, it's one cave system, that descends down. You think it was an old COAL MINE SHAFT, like a lot of the CAVES in the area; it doesn't surprise you at all to see a TREE STUMP wrapped around a STEEL RAIL like it is trying to SUCK ON A CANDY CANE. The inside of the cave is lit intermittently with MINING LIGHTS strung out. They must have some form of GENERATOR or RUNE to supply power.

You have no idea where the HOSTAGES are, but the fact is, plans have changed, and indeed, did not survive first contact with the enemy.

The outside is eerily silent for something that had thirty bandits outside NOT THAT LONG AGO. The Ginnie works fast. You'll need to be too, if you want to live.

-- What do you do?

Stay quiet and search for the hostages.

>identify those ITEMS!

>identify those ITEMS!

You'd love to, but you have neither the APPRAISAL nor the MAGIC APPRAISAL skills. You get the feeling your KEEPSAKE is kind of IMPORTANT but you can't remember where you got it, or who gave it to you. It's the only thing you actually OWN out of all this stuff, ANYWAY.

Stay quiet and search for the hostages.

This is a better use of your time; who knows when the GINNIE will tire of her mind games.

THE CAVES would be a lot easier to navigate if they were not a maze of twisty little passages, all alike; you duck down an EXPLORATORY SHAFT and discover that they hit a COAL VEIN. There is a DOOR nearby. In the ORANGE SODIUM LIGHTS you can see that the walls are PAINTED with something, but can't tell WHAT- it all looks ORANGEY and SAMEY to you.

In the immediate area, there are about ten ENERGY SIGNATURES. Some of them are BEHIND THE DOOR. They may be the hostages, they may not. Only one way to find out, really.

>Open that door!

>Shoot through that door!

>Shoot through that door!

You knock. After a long moment, you pause, and think about how to proceed. You jiggle the handle.

It's not opening.

Luckily, you have a WARRANT. It's right here. In your TYPEWRITER. Your TYPEWRITER has 95 bullets left.

The door is UNLOCKED.

>Open that door!

CONTROL ROOM
Eighteen years ago, this was probably the SECURITY ROOM for the entire MINE. BROKEN, SHATTERED GLASS TVS line the walls, and a CONTROL PANEL sits lifeless. Inside, there are five SCRUGGY-LOOKING PEOPLE, all of them BOUND AND GAGGED. The light in here is white, and you realize what the entire place has been painted with.

BLOOD.

Check their pulses.

Check their pulses.

Most of them are ALIVE, but UNCONSCIOUS. They've lost a lot of blood, but are NO LONGER BLEEDING. The last one is staring at you in a mix of FEAR and CONCERN, even as you take off her GAG.

"RUN, YOU BONEHEAD!" she shouts. "IT'S A TRAP-"

As if this is a signal, you hear the telltale static of a RECORD starting up. You have no idea what this piece is, or who wrote it. It is at this point you notice the large amount of NITROGLYCERIN hidden behind the five HOSTAGES, attached by PIANO WIRE to their WRISTS.

Magic CIRCLES appear on each wall.

A set of WOODEN DOLLS carrying KNIVES appear. Each one is wearing a RED BASEBALL CAP. The knives are BLOODY FRENCH KNIVES, that glint and glisten in the light as they begin to move in a HIDEOUS PARODY OF LIFE.

... These quarters are too close, and the surroundings too hard. You're lucky you didn't BLOW THIS PLACE TO SMITHEREENS when you WROTE A WARRANT! You'll probably want to keep from using firearms in here, lest the ricochets KILL A HOSTAGE or, more importantly, SET OFF THE NITRO.

> Casually back out of the room

Punt them like footballs.

They're dolls, magically or some other way animated dolls but they're only dolls. Which means you can set aside any form of morality concerning humanoids, really. Try to knock one over and steal its knife, then dismember it.