Play@YSDC

Linda leads the way back to her home throws open the door and steps inside... but she stays there near the door, hands clenched close to her heart as she looks on with concern and worry for her dear brother.

There, near the fireplace, Martin sits before you fighting for breath. His face is blue and is contorted in an agonised expression.

Paul run up to Martin prepared to help him breath easier. As he enters the rom his military background make him glance around the room looking for any treat to himself or the asphyxiating man.

First Aid 30% (1d100=39)
Spot Hidden 35% (1d100=16)

Samantha stands back, leaving the more experienced Paul to administer medical aid. She takes the chance to look around the room though, trying to take in the situation around her.

Rolling Spot Hidden (stat 40%) in Martin's dying scene (1d100=18)

"Oh, my god.." Pet whispers, when she sees the dying man. "Uh.....I'll stay outside, make sure the ambulance finds us..."

OOC,I think you mean [b]Linda[/b], not Donna.

"Martin!" cries Laurence, hurrying to his friend's side and doing his best to assist Paul in keeping him alive. "I knew you were unwell, but I had no idea it was this bad. Hang in there, the doctor's on his way."

Linda calls to Paul and Lawrence "Can you help him? Please?"

Those who take the time to look around carefully do not detect anything out of the ordinary in the room.

"Please listen… not much… time. The G-G-Gate is ajar… must close… close the…" He grabs his Lawrence's arm tightly, "aaarrrgghhh… Gate! Cast the spell… spe… spell to close… Must not let… danger… do not let… through. Per-perform the ritual tonight. Tonight after… after dusk. Paper..." he pointed at his desk.

Paul picks up the paper that Martin was pointing at and shows the others... hand written instructions on how to perform a ritual.

Despite several attempts to calm Martin, and requests for him to save his strength, he continues to struggle to get out what he needs to tell the others.

"The ritual… tonight... Do it here… in… in my house. Y-yyou… aarrgghh… you can use the… use the dining ttable…"

Martin falls to his knees; his hand clutches the left side of chest in a futile gesture. His face contorts in terror. He holds up his left hand as if to shield himself from some unseen horror.

"Nnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooo… It… it can't…can't be. Pleeeease, I… I… I'm not ready. Y-you can't n-nnot yet… Take…"

He falls back... silent.

First Aid,First Aid checks were futile in attempt to help him, but they succeed in informing you that Martin's pulse has stopped and he breathes no more.

Sanity checks required,Lose 1d3 if it fail / 0 if it succeeds.

I do not have the strength to perform the ritual so I write it down for you my friends.

Five must gather when sunlight is no longer seen directly gather together in a place guaranteeing privacy and away from interference of ignorant fools.

The Five must sit around a table such that they may join hands. The leader draws fivepointed star such that each point points to one of the Five. Put a lit candle at each point of the star and one in the middle.

The Five must picture within their mind's eyes the closing of a rift in space. They must chant the se words in unison, such that the Universe can hear their plea.

When the Five feel Power coursing through them the ritual is working and they must continue until they are no longer able. Then and only then is the rift healed.

M

Laurence breaks down upon seeing his friend die and being unable to save him, but only momentarily. When he realizes that there's nothing more he can do for him, he looks at the paper. "That's in Latin," he says, nodding. "Yes, I know what most of these words mean. Let's see, Omnis-et-Unus means 'all and one.' Portam, that must be the Gate to which Martin referred. I believe claude means close and claudus means closed. Nosterum imploratum means 'we implore,' and tempum et spatum means 'time and space.' Portae is the plural of Portam, so Gates. Custos means guard. Not sure what Sototte means..."

Rolling Sanity check (stat 55%) after Martin dies (1d100=91)
Fail, so Sanity loss after failing Sanity roll after Martin dies. (1d3=3)

Samantha reaches towards her husband for support. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Laurence." she says. "But rituals and spells, that sounds worrying, and maybe something we shouldn't be tampering with."

After a little thought in the matter, Lawrence translates the ritual as:

The All-and-One close the Gate
The Gate will be closed
The All-and-One hear our call
Time and space be healed

Hear us the All-and-One
Close the Gate lest creation be destroyed
Sottott the Keeper of the Gate
The Gate will be closed

"Thank you," says Laurence, wiping up his tears with a handkerchief. "I understand your concern, and I am cautious, but this was his dying request. And if he was right, then it may be more dangerous not to perform the ritual. Why did he not tell any of us this sooner?" He turns to Linda. "Did your brother ever talk to you about this before?"

(failed sanity at 78, sanity loss 1 )

Petronella moves curiously into the room again, and gasps seeing Martin die in such terror. Filled with fright of what he saw in his dying moments, especially after just having seen a ghost, she darts back out again, and stands against the wall outside, pressing her hand to her mouth.

Nicholas holds onto Samantha, smoothing her hair trying his best to comfort her. "A gate ritual. As crazy as it sounds I'm in. If he believed so strongly in this that he was frantic about it to his dying breath... Least we can do is honor it. I'd love to get shots of that." Nicholas was happy with himself, resisting the urge to photograph a man dying. He wondered what type of awards or settlements he could have gotten out of that. He also wondered if the camera would have captured whatever it was Martin was yelling at in the end.

Samantha looks towards her husband for support. "I'm still concerned, but if if was his wish, as you both say, then we should honour that."

'This is madness... but ... Martin seemed convinced and to be honest i dont dare opposing his will' 'this is something we have to do' 'theres been going on to many strange things' Paul dries a tear from his cheek 'I wonder what part of this those fairies plays' 'and the carriage' 'and the tavern ghost' might they all be slipping into this reality from this breach we must close?' Paul starts searching the room for candles and something to write on the table with.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing myself," says Laurence. "We've run into an excessive number of unusual phenomena today, which suggests that this rift may be widening."

Linda was overtaken with grief when her brother died. She ran to him and knelt beside him, sobbing on his arm. When Lawrence asked her "Did your brother ever talk to you about this before?" she looked up - eyes filled with tears. "He had such strange hobbies, I never really involved myself in them. Perhaps I should have... <sob>"

It wasn't long before the doctor showed up. He made his way through the opened door and over to Martin. He stopped briefly, looking at the look of sheer terror on the dead man's face, then put his stethoscope in his ears and listened at the heart. The doctor shook his head, "It appears as if is heart gave out. The constables would probably like an autopsy to verify the cause of death." He looked to Linda and asked, "Would that be ok, my dear?"

She had her face buried in Martin's arm sleeve and simply nodded, waving the doctor away.

"I'm sorry, Linda," says Laurence. "If there's anything you need, I'm here for you."

Nicholas put his arms around his wife, looking at the scene he didn't know what to say really. Obviously his heart gave out, if it wasn't beating that would be a logical conclusion. He wondered if the doctor would have said the same thing if the man had had his throat cut. 'Blood stopped pumping, died because his heart gave out.' Nicholas sighed, sometimes he hated being so analytical. He just gave Samantha a light squeeze, it must have been the scent of her hair because his thoughts suddenly turned to sex.

He coughed and said, "I need to get some air." He then abruptly walked outside and began fishing for his cigarettes.