Play@YSDC

Ronald openly weeps, making an odd little strangled noise in the back of his throat. "They're all dead ... all those little children ... taken because they're more trusting." He raises the puppet to say, "It's okay, Ronald, we'll all probably be dead soon anyway."

Agnes,I've added your sheet to the Chapter Three sheets collection. Unfortunately when I ran a search for your character I have nothing recent so I'll let you roll to increase five skills of your choice to reflect last chapter's exploits.

OOC: Ok!

Agnes try to ignorate Ronald speech, the situation is already bad, they don't need anyone saying things like that.

Sarah starts to cry as well. "I know it hurts," she says, hugging her father. "That's what they tried to do to Brianna. But you saved her, Ronald. You fought back when they tried to take her. Once she killed Dr. Sutcliffe, she was no longer innocent and they couldn't use her as a sacrifice any more. You're her hero. And now we have a chance to put a stop to it once and for all. If we succeed, there will be no more sacrifices, ever. That taboo thing will be taken out of this world. And these jars full of ash are how we'll do it. That was your clever idea, Ronald. But we're going to need to go inside. That's where it is."

"You're right, my dear," says Lionel, drying his eyes. "Once we prevail, everything will be better."

-Let's go and finish this- says Agnes.

Ronald shakes his head as though denying the task ahead. "What if we're wrong? What if this is all pointless? What are we supposed to do if we're the only ones left after this nightmare?"

Sorry guys,I should have clarified that I won't assume you're walking forward until you state that you are doing so. I really should have mentioned it earlier as I think it has caused some delays ... my fault for not explaining my thinking. We should be able to get this all finished by February next year at the most if we keep on track. So close now....

"I undestand," says Sarah, putting her hand on Ronald's shoulder. "I've been second-guessing myself this whole time, but I've only messed things up worse when I did. I don't know for certain if this will work, but I know we'll fail if we do nothing. This is the only play we've got, and we have to try. The alternative is unthinkable. I could never sacrifice someone even if there were someone here who qualified, nor could you." She looks to her father.

"Nor could I," says Lionel, meeting her gaze before turning to look at Ronald. "I know we will succeed. We must succeed! I'm confident that the world will be restored once we do. Even if I'm wrong, there are always other survivors out there. That's what poor Daniel said. And even if there are not, the four of us are enough to rebuild the human race. Noah and his family managed it, although they had twice as many people as we do. You will likely all outlive me, it is true, but I have much knowledge I can pass on before that happens. We can make the world a better place."

Rebuild the human race... thinks Sarah, looking back at Ronald with fresh eyes. If I hadn't met Cael first, I could easily have fallen for Ronald. He's so much like me, and we both love Brianna with all our hearts. If it's just the four of us,..I could easily see myself marrying him, having his children. But where would that leave Agnes? She's much too young for my father. Would we have to share Ronald?

OOC,That's okay, you did the right thing. I was waiting to see what [b]Ronald[/b]'s reaction would be before trying to go through the doors.

Looks at Lionel puzzled with the idea of rebuilding the human race.
-We will not fail. At the rigth moment we will know what to do. And not having another chance will help- says Agnes and she walks forward

Ronald's mouth drops open and he makes a few little sounds like a choked off squawk, low but still audible, as the thoughts truly sink in. He gapes at one, then the other, then realises he's only emphasised the meaning of those words by looking so he stares down at the ground, slapping his jaw shut with a clack of teeth and blushing awfully in the darkness. He raises the puppet to say something, then can't think of anything to say. Would Lionel and Agnes...? Would he be capable of it? What would I be....?" He tries not to think of it anymore but he can't shake it now it's there.

Agnes ignores Ronald talk.

Sarah blushes as well, then turns to face the doors. "We need to keep going," she says. "Whatever's chasing us isn't going to wait around forever. The only way is forward. Is everyone ready?"

"Yes, we must proceed now," says Lionel.

These doors are more readily opened and sit so nicely on their hinges that Agnes barely has to pull for them to swing open. As they enter the space, they can almost hear the sibilant whispers of previous accusers justifying their actions. This is what we were preventing. All the dead ... all the dead ... billions lived because of the marks we laid on our own souls. What is one life against the lives of the billions that were, are and always would be? It reaches back through time, clawing, seeking, and forward through time. Its child's mewling cries directed it here and it will dismantle the world to find it and to release it from the cage that is its egg. We had to do it ... we had to betray the ones we cared about ... but we can never accept what we did ... only know that it was necessary.

A few stone steps, worn smooth with the passage of years and many feet, step down into a sunken chamber whose discolorations mark where the water would rise to its greatest amount. On the centre of the floor lie what could only be torso clamps for a reasonably small person, like a child, and to one end is a sharp two-ended prong that would be driven into the child's eyes.

So that her last sight is that of the Betrayer as the water laps her face.

There is also a wheel set into a pipe and four carved screaming faces from which water is likely to pour should the wheel be drawn around.

A chute stands at the other end of the room, likely where they would dump the still living and ever immortal bodies so that their psychic screaming could blanket out the entity's cries.

Sarah shivers. "Oh, how horrid," she says. "I think what we need to do is pour some of the ash we've collected down that chute. I hope that'll do it. I don't want to go down there."

Agnes faces turned white when she sees that.
-I hope so. Let's finish this.

Ronald just stares at the awful contraption and hiccups a little with fear and sadness.

"It seems to be the only option," says Lionel.

Sarah nods and takes out one of the jars of ash. Removing the lid, she pours some of it down the chute.

Agnes is near Sarah in case she needs help.

The ash pours down with ease, seemingly eager to leave the jar to slide down the chute into the waters below. No ash puffs back towards them. All makes its way down ... down ... down.... Then there is silence as Sarah puts the jar back and for a moment it feels like nothing has happened. Perhaps they will indeed need to go through the chute themselves or otherwise find some way down into the depths of this place where the Hidden God lurks. And yet the silence seems to deepen, as though the world were emptying of sound, drowned out by a noiseless wail that builds until it presses down on their flesh and compresses their skulls.

The world splits in two, images overlapping and bursting with spots, as the pressure builds and enfolds them as though in rings of steel ... and that is before the answering cry from above them tears through the air with actual sound, a roar of sharp edges that tears at the eyes and ears and nose (Con x 3, POW x 3) as they feel the pressure multiply exponentially. The world above them seems to crack and twist, ash pouring through gaps that they did not even know was there. The air is cold then hot, by turns, the ash abrading them as it passes, filling their heads with staticky images of past, future and present, of what is, what wasn't and what could have been.

Ronald stands over the stove, cooking something in a pot, and he turns to give Sarah a shy and hopeful smile as she walks in and throws down her handbag, still in her nurse's uniform.

Agnes prods a prybar beneath a hunk of concrete, levering it up and away to reveal desperate faces staring up at her. Moments later another bomb lands, too close, much too close, and then there is no more.

Lionel weeps, carrying a little girl's body to the chute entrance, and sliding it down ... down ... down. No arms, no limbs, no teeth. She falls sliding, hair sliding about her face, before clearing the chute exit and falling three feet into water to float with the other children's bodies, locked in agony, too small to cause pain should they rise again.

Lionel stands over his daughter's grave as the rain softly falls, cursing himself for not seeing the risks earlier.

And then there is a sudden rush of energy and force and ash that feels like it is moving up and back and in all directions but more than any other it is moving out, out, like someone pulled the plug and all the pressure was swiftly moving into Elsewhere, leaving them behind with all their hopes and dreams and what few possibilities are left to them on a pruned vine of ashen hopelessness. (SAN loss 1d10/1d20).

OOC: Once these rolls are made, we can move into the Epilogue.

Sarah reels, stumbling back from the chute and trying to reach her father. The impact is more than her mind can bear. She finds an inner source of resolve, but she is nonetheless overwhelmed by the certainty that this is all her fault. She falls sobbing into Lionel's arms.

Lionel feels the weakness that comes with age, but his will is still strong. HIs daughter's presence bolsters his mind, but he too is badly shaken, sure that his advice has failed them. He hugs Sarah, relieved that he still has her.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4759962/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4759964/
OOC: I don't know what her stats are, but I think she passed the first one, and probably failed the second;
OOC2 I don't know the sanityu value bnut probably more than 50, so 14 is good!
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4759969/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4759971/

Agnes is so overwhelmed with the mental pain, that she doesn't feel (or care for) for any physical pain; this ordeal is been to much. But Agnes remembers that she has already lived other horrors. People injured. People dying. And she has know some wonderful people. Lifes is worth living. No regrets. And she close her eyes when she feels the bomb. No regrets.