Play@YSDC

OOC - Read me first,I have sent each of you a vision that you had after the ritual. Please read that before reading your private spoiler messages here. And please... read only YOUR spoiler message below.[i] Geez, I hope this works.[/i]

Someone manages to find their way through the darkened room to where the light switch hangs by the closed door and flips on the light. Perhaps it would have been better to leave the lights off.

Petronella,You open your eyes and see an elf sitting before you cross-legged; your "imaginary" childhood companion. He has a misleadingly innocent smile upon his rosy-cheeked face! "Did you really think that I had forgotten about you? All of those carefree hours that we spent singing, dancing and playing at the bottom of the garden! That sort of thing stays with the 'Little People' you know!" He giggles at you mischievously. "Do not think by changing bodies that you can hide from me young woman – well actually it is young man now isn't?" You stare at the little man feeling somewhat confused. You stiffly pick yourself up when you realise that something is not right, something is definitely wrong! For starters you can clearly see someone who is your exact double, not only that but she is wearing your clothes! Looking down at yourself you see that you now seem to be in residence in what looks suspiciously like a male body! A pot-bellied male body wearing Paul Chaplin's clothes. If that were not bad enough, your face is covered in… in - yes it is fresh and rather pungent cow dung. Oh yuck! You are suddenly come over with panic and you lose control of your (Paul's?) bladder. The elf jumps up onto your shoulder, he says to you in a very serious tone, "Now I do believe that you did not want to do that!" Your hands are shaking with panic. Tears fill your eyes. You want to run away, but to where? OOC - Oh and please feel free to become hysterical!

Lawrence,You feel terrible, in fact you cannot recall ever feeling worse. Actually, come to think of it, a few of those student hangovers… Your long blond hair has come untangled; you brush it aside with some annoyance. There is a strap digging into your left breast. This is most uncomfortable, it feels like a… Stop! Wait! What is going on? Long blond hair? Why am I wearing Samantha's dress? The penny drops and hard realisation suddenly hits home. It is not Samantha's dress that you are wearing but her body… Paul Chaplin, for some unknown reason has dung plastered all over his face. Where the Hell did that come from? OOC - You now feel the obsessive compulsion to tidy up, to straighten things out etc.

Samantha,Now you knew, positively knew that Nicholas' interest in the occult was not healthy! Okay, so you do not understand this ritual nonsense, but, really, is it necessary to feel this… this bad? Good Lord, Paul Chaplin has got dung on his face; how did that happen? Oh my God! Your hair has turned grey and half of it has fallen out… and these joints, they feel like they could do with a good oiling. Hang on a second, I seem to be in the wrong place. No wait, there I am, over there. Look at the state of my hair! Phew, that's a… re… lief… Bloody Hell!!! I… I… I'm the pr-pr-profess-ssor! OOC - The mind transfer into the professor's body has hit you very hard. You were proud of your good looks, your long well kept hair and of your health & fitness. This is all gone now! You are very resentful of young women, especially Prof. Hickman who is now in your body enjoying your youth while you have to put up with his creaky, worn out and aged near-corpse! In order to try to come to terms with your current situation, you remember your Catholic upbringing. You are now much more religious and look to God in the hope that He can reverse what has happened to you…

Paul,You wake up feeling very giddy. There is an unsettling feeling of nausea in your stomach. Everything around you is a complete blur. You rub your eyes to clear them, but to no avail. The nausea rises by about six inches. Slowly your eyes clear, you can see the blurry shapes of your five companions. They do not seem to be any better shape than you are! The giddiness is clearing and you are starting to feel better. Your head is clearing, your blurred vision is gradually focussing and the nausea is subsiding. An uncomfortable feeling comes over you – you feel… er… strange. Your body, it seems to be, well, larger; it is almost as if you have put on weight. Your hair is wrong, its texture is different and it is too long and the dress that you are wearing feels very strange. Dress? Dress? DRESS? A sudden rush of adrenaline helps to clear your senses further. Your heart is pounding, you can hear the blood rushing through your ears. Your whole body is shaking… …or rather it is Petronella's body that is shaking! You can quite clearly see yourself, correction, your body, your body with a dung-covered face, and you ain't in it… You need help! OOC - Do something to attract the other's attention. Whatever you do, do not let them forget that you are here! I may tell you that you are feeling ignored. If this should occur, you should take steps to get everyone's attention.

Nicholas,You do not know what were you expecting, or remember why you were expecting something, but you do not think it was this... There are five others of your… er… species that you do not recognise. Your body feels very strange, very uncomfortable and very awkward. No, no this is not right – where, when, what on Earth am I? You find that your hands are very difficult to control. Getting the thumbs to work with the fingers is very hard (something like an amateur struggling with chopsticks after several pints of lager…) Your clothes are very itchy and irritating. This is so uncomfortable! How do these humans put up with this? What happened here, what are these five others and why has that fat one got brown smelly stuff on his face that is making me feel ill? Why does my head hurt so much? Is there something inside of it trying to get out? Should I try to break it open? OOC - You suffer a –10% penalty to all physical skill checks and –1 penalty to your DEX while you continue to be clothed due to the itching and irritation.

A crucifix hangs on the wall, maybe mocking the ritual practitioners.

Paul gasps in the moment he realizes what just happen 'Petronella im in your body! Its me Paul!' 'God almighty what happen to us?!' Paul mind rushes trough his events 'we.. we... opened a gate and without the key' 'an elf told me when i was lying down paralyzed with my face in dung, well my body, me, oh God' 'We have opened the gate and it might get out!' 'the elf told me' 'we have to close the gate again and with the key that is hidden somewhere'

'Hey you in my body Pauls body' 'who is inside'

"What just happened?" gasps Laurence. "I'm me, I mean I'm Samantha, but I'm in Laurence's body. What about the rest of you? Did you see something weird too? I saw, well I'm not sure ... it seemed like a leprechaun, telling me to shut the gate." Then he/she spots the crucifix, gasps, and says "Oh we should never have dabbled in this ..."

Paul screams, raising his fingers to his face and wiping it furiously! "What happened?!! This isn't me!! I'm Petronella!" He points a finger towards the form of Petronella across the room, waving it hysterically. "Did you do this?!!"

OOC,I was unable to see any symbol in my PM.

Samantha looks around, confused. "Good heavens!" she says to Laurence. "I'm Laurence. We seem to have swapped bodies. I had this strange vision of floating in space and seeing the stars as they progressed through the ages, and then I got pulled into a black hole." She looks over at Paul's body. "First thing we're doing is getting you cleaned off! Come along to the bathroom."

Mr. Handy,Probably because I didn't post one... sorry. You know what it is though, OOCly anyway. Looked a lot like this: [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RNrl2Gr0VwI/SW2XdXP1FrI/AAAAAAAAAjc/Y_liZtHCf_o/s400/elder+sign.jpg[/img]

The drapes seem to have shadows dancing on them, and now that the initial shock has nearly ran its course, you seem to notice people outside speaking loudly - although it is impossible to hear what they are saying through all the excitement and being behind closed windows and drapes.

"Nicholas" looks at his hands for a moment, a look of utter confusion on his face. He then begins to scratch like crazy all over, finally tearing off his shirt and then began to remove his socks and shoes.

ooc,I think the mental shuffle has made all of you hesitant into doing anything else. Still waiting for actions that demand my attention.

Lawrence (in Samantha's body), takes Petronella (in Paul's body) to the bathroom to help her (him) clean up. They grab a pair of Martin's pants on the way, sure that they will fit... if a little tightly.

Everyone else seems still in shock and sit around the table, slack-jawed and wondering how in the world to reverse what just happened.

Meanwhile, outside, there seems to be a growing commotion behind the drawn shades as shadows frantically continue to dance from the flickering light cast about in the village.

Nicholas keeps removing his clothing until he is butt naked, rubbing his skin and speaking in a different language.

When "Samantha" returns, she moves over to the window and peeks out past the drapes.

OOC TO ALL,Can we agree on a standard to how we refer to us self? Its gonna be ahrd to follow who is saying what if not. I propose we all start the post with: PC in Pc's body in bold. As in my case [b]Paul in Petronellas body:[/b] (text)

Paul in Petronellas body:

Paul looks around for a mirror to take a look at Petronellas body to se if she has any injury and deal with it if so. He will approach Petronella in his boy as soon as he can 'Petronela, what happend to you, tell me what you saw it might be of importance...' what is that noise outside?
Paul will take a look outside as soon he finishes talking to Petronella.

Petronella in Paul's body looks confused at herself, then tries to remember. "I saw....the little imp or elf from when I was young. The one the doctor said wasn't really there, even though I used to play with him...He was here..." He/She looks out the window as well, alarmed at the noise.

Moving the drapes aside you see that several buildings within the village are on fire, not all in the same place... they are scattered about. People are rushing to help others or put the fires out as they can.

Nicholas is still in the room, just butt-nekkid and speaking in a language no one understands.

Samantha in Laurence's body looks at Nicholas with concern. "What's wrong with him?" she asks the others. "Why can't he speak? Why is he so scratchy?"

After the clothes were off, he stopped scratching, a look of slight pleasure came across his features. He looked down at his body and gave a quizzical look at the strange thing between his legs and sort of batted at it. Feeling a unpleasantness in his stomach from that, he decided that wasn't a good idea and would not do that again. He then looked at the others, mostly at the man that must be talking about him since he was scratching. "I... iz can spek."

"Do you know who you are?" asks Samantha in Laurence's body gently. She desperately wants to cover up Nicholas, but doubts he would go along with that.

"There's a fire! Several, in fact.." Petronella in Paul's body exclaims before turning to look at Nicholas' body. "Oh my..."

Samantha in Laurence's body sees Paul/Petronella's remark, and finally reacts. She takes off Laurence's jacket [I am assuming he is wearing one over any shirt/jumper, as a typical British academic would] and approaches Nicholas gently, trying to cover his private parts, and saying "Please, cover yourself up just a little. Please. For me."

Nicholas winces as the jacket comes near and asks, "Does... form not please? Coverings make form unpleasant. If form not pleasant than will cover."

"Form not please," replies Samantha in Laurence's body, trying not to sob. "Please cover, just a bit."

Nicholas looked down at the pants he wore and put them back on squirming slightly. He looked at the people around and asked, "Who you all is?" He looked at his hands. "Who is this form? Where is here?"

"I am Laurence Hickman," says Laurence in Samantha's body to Nicholas. He points to his own body. "This is Samantha Hollis. We have switched forms with each other." He then indicates Paul and Petronella in turn. "These are Petronella Waters and Paul Chaplin. They have switched forms too. Your form is Nicholas Hollis, and here is Glendale, in England. Who are you?" He closes the drapes and smoothes them out. "We ought to go and help do something about those fires. They're making such a mess. We'll just have to keep straight who we are when we go out there."

Petronella/Paul frowns and looks around. "Well....if that's not Nicholas...Then where is he?"

Nicholas face bore the expression of complete confusion. "I am Nicholas?" He asked and then said, "Do not know who I am. Cannot remember. I am Nicholas now."

Samantha in Laurence's body sobs.

Nicholas looked at the sobbing body of Laurence and pointed. "Why form make noise with water?"

"Samantha is sad," explains Laurence in Samantha's body. "She and Nicholas are married, and they love each other. She is worried that we won't be able to get her Nicholas back." He turns to Samantha. "But we will, Samantha. We'll find a way to set everything right. We have to find this 'key' that Paul told us about and then perform the ritual again, with it. In my vision, I saw a symbol. That might be what we need to find. It looked like this." He picks up one of the Sharpies and draws it on a piece of paper.

"Thank you Laurence," says Samantha in Laurence's body, managing to stop her sobs. "I'm sorry for getting so upset, but seeing Nicholas like this ..." She glances at her husband, and struggles not to start crying again. "But you think we can fix this," she continues, turning to Laurence. "That gives me hope. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome, my dear," says Laurence. He has no clue about the symbol he just drew.

(Rolled a 46 on Cthulhu mythos on D&M)

No one can tell much of anything from the symbol Lawrence (in Samantha's body) drew. It looked something like this:



After cleaning up and finding new clothes for Paul, and making sure their own house is not one of the many on fire in town, the group ventures out to the street to see many villagers scrambling around with water buckets, hoses, axes... cries of help sound out from many directions. A police officer takes notice of the group and nudges his partner.

When asked 'What happened?', one of the frantic locals passing by says "It was... it was incredible! The clouds just rolled over the sky and a North wind blew up. The lightening came down from the sky and hit the village – again and again. God preserve us - I… I have never seen anything like it."

"I would not have believed it possible! It is, was like something off one of these Amazing Stories programmes on the telly. It will take more than bunch elves and pixies to fix this mess!"

"At least three people are dead, and Lord knows how many people are hurt. The village Doctor, poor fellow, does not know what to do! All he has done for nigh on twenty years is prescribe lemsip and aspirin…" the local excused herself and heads out to the left.

"I can't help but feel responsible," says Laurence in Samantha's body once the locals are out of earshot. "Let's see what we can do to help the fire brigade."

"So you think it was related to what happened in the ritual?" asks Samantha in Laurence's body. "If so, oh dear, what have we done. And, yes, we must help as much as we can."

Nicholas doesn't say anything but looks around at the scene before him.

Mr. Handy wrote:"I can't help but feel responsible," says Laurence in Samantha's body once the locals are out of earshot. "Let's see what we can do to help the fire brigade."

Paul in Petronellas body:

'Well i think we are responsible Laurence' 'right behind you boss'

"I think it's unlikely to be a coincidence," says Laurence in Samantha's body as he heads with the others to help. "There was no way we could have known this would happen, but still..."

Petronella in Paul's body wanders stunned through the streets, looking around. After a little while, she/he starts running to fetch water to help douse the fires.

Before anyone gets very far, the constable across the street and his partner has come across to question the group. Fire engines, ambulances, and more police cars scream through the area, sirens blaring.

Looking at the officers, one is a man with graying hair, a thick mustache (also gray), a bit thick around the belly, and apparently of some years of experience if the insignia on his uniform is any indicator. The other is a female, brown hair pulled back in a bun and tucked under her hat. She is younger, mid 20's, and a bit timid. She seems to me more wet behind the ears. The police office is a superintendent and he is wearing a very stern expression on his face. His enlarged belly hints at too much time sat behind a desk. Conversely his companion has a slim athletic build and seems overwhelmed by the situation.

"You there... I need to ask you all a few questions. It shouldn't take much time," said the older constable. He had the name tag "Woodhouse" on his left chest pocket. His partner's name tag said "Appleton". Woodhouse has already pulled out a notepad and pen and is starting with his barrage of questions. "Can I please take all of your names and home addresses?"

Paul (in Pet's body) is a bit distracted by these awkward lumps on his chest. He's a gentleman about it, all-in-all... but he never realized how uncomfortable they were... and his bra was cutting into his shoulder. The longer he is like this, the more miserable he finds himself. Perhaps if he took the bra off, he would be more comfortable - and it would have the added benefit of drawing more attention his way.

Pet (in Paul's body) can't help but notice a group of what could only be fairies flying in a squadron from down one alley and into another quicker than she could manage to draw anyone's attention to it.

Nicholas notices a strange, transparent figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop... and he thinks it looks fun.

Lawrence (in Samantha's body) has his attention fully on the officers.

Samantha (in Lawrence's body) could swear she saw some sort of horned creature roaming through the fires in the upper floor of the building just down the road. She's sure that Satan had something to do with this destruction.

"There!" Petronella in Paul's body shouts, pointing, then starts running after the faeries.

"Of course, Superintendent," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "I am Samantha Hollis, and this is my husband Nicholas." He points him out, then fishes through Samantha's purse for a driver's license or some other form of identification. His plan is to pull it out and surreptitiously see the address on it in the process, then offer to show it to the constables in case they want to see it (which they probably won't), and finally to give her and Nicholas's address.

Paul in Petronellas body:

Paul stands behind Laurence and search herself for identification papers. Damn bra! he mutters to himself

Samantha in Laurence's body stands beside Paul in Petronella's body, and tries to discreetly look for identification as well, starting with reaching her hands into Laurence's trouser pockets. If all else fails she will give his name, but hopes to find more precise information to supply if needed, such as an address and some form of ID.

"Ooo!" Nicholas said pointing to the figure and then darted off after it.

"Hey!" Superintendent Woodhouse exclaims as both Nicholas and Pet in Paul's body rush off in different directions. He said to his partner, "Don't just stand there, after them!"

Constable Appleton looked first at Nicholas, then the running form of Paul, and decided she'd be more apt to catch Paul... so she ran after the older gentleman.

"I don't know where they think they are, but around here we tend to respect our law enforcement!" Looking back at the remaining others, the superintendent gathered their information and then asked "Now then... what were you doing when the storm hit?"

--------------

Pet (in Paul's body) continued to chase the spritely fairies, oblivious to the fact that there was a constable giving chase at first. Perhaps it was the rookie's squeaky, high-pitched voice that simply didn't demand attention, or just the fact that Pet was wrapped up in a chase of her own. But for whatever reason, it wasn't until the third time Appleton called out, "Halt! In the name of the law!" that Pet actually heard the directive. She(he) turned around to see a determined, young female constable bearing down on her (him). As she closes distance, the constable doesn't appear to be slowing down any.

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Nicholas continued to follow the ghostly spirits leaping from housetop to housetop, fascinated with their agility. His shoes were so uncomfortable and confining... he felt certain he could run better without them.

As he ran, Nicholas discarded his shoes and remain clothes. They were still itchy and uncomfortable and he could move so much easier without them on anyway. He had a sense of freedom being in the form's natural state, running after the ghostly figures.

"I'm sorry," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "They're not themselves. They had a bit too much to drink down at the Goat earlier, and they had even more later after Martin Richardson died. We were visiting him when it happened. The five of us remained gathered at his house mourning his passing, and we were together there when the storm started."

"Yes, we were all very distressed when Martin died," adds Samantha in Laurence's body. "It was so sudden, and shocking."

Pet in paul's body turns to look at the police constable, and when it appears she won't stop, the older gentleman takes a step to the side, not to be bowled over. "Yes? I'm halted. Was I speeding?" He/she chuckles a little, then grows serious again as the reality of burning houses and screaming people comes through. "Sorry, officer. What can I do for you?"

"Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Screams Nicholas as he darts around butt naked, his genitals flapping in the breeze.

Mr. Handy wrote:"I'm sorry," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "They're not themselves. They had a bit too much to drink down at the Goat earlier, and they had even more later after Martin Richardson died. We were visiting him when it happened. The five of us remained gathered at his house mourning his passing, and we were together there when the storm started."

'As he is saying sir' 'they are quite not themselves' 'i think we, as in Lau...i mean Samantha and I can help them if we can get them to calm down' 'and take them to a know space for them as their rooms or alike'

Superintendent Woodhouse shook his head, "You'll have the opportunity after you answer just a few more questions." He was writing down notes as they went on. "If I might be so inquisitive... how did you react when the storm hit?"

-----------

To Paul, Constable Appleton recites from memory some obscure reference to the law regarding fleeing from the police. "We have some questions that we need to ask you. Please return to the others and I will give chase to your..." she glanced Nicholas' way who had just stripped off his last article of clothing. "... naked friend." She ran off in that direction.

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Nicholas has lost sighting of the strange ghostly figures, and is quickly finding himself surrounded by houses that were burning brightly. He finds it all very exhilaration.

"At first I was startled and confused," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "I mean, the weather didn't exactly indicate it was coming. I looked out the window and saw the buildings on fire, so I gathered the others to come outside to help."

"Yes," agrees Samantha in Laurence's body. "We weren't sure what was happening, so came out to see better. And then to help if we could."

Paul in Petronellas body:

'Terrible what has happend terrible' 'where did that storm came from?'

Nicholas just kept running and staring at the buildings, trying to see if he could find the ghosts. As he ran he let out an exhilarated yell.

Samantha in Laurence's body glances briefly over towards the direction Nicholas's voice comes from, and hopes that the policewoman catches up with him soon. Samantha continues to mask her inner distress at her husband's condition, and awaits the next round of police questioning.

The constable jots notes down as you respond, then asks, "Are any of you injured or in need of medical <sniff> attention? <sniff>" he sniffs around some more and asks, "Does anyone else smell excrement?"

------------------

Nicholas has run quite a ways looking for his ghostly friends, then he is suddenly confronted by a very angry looking female. She says "Sir, you are under arrest for public indecency. I'm going to need you to lay face down on the ground and put your hands on your head." She held some strange object in her hands, it was black and squareish, and she held it toward Nicholas like she expected him to reach out and grab it.

"Thank you, I'm fine," says Laurence in Samantha's body. He sniffs too. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Seems that even after cleaning Paul's body up, he still has the odor of poo lingering. A long bath should take care of that.

"I'm fine too," says Samantha in Laurence's body. "I think the only people who may need some assistance are our friends who ran off, but even they will probably be fine when we get them back quietly indoors."

"Yes, let's go find the others and get them back inside," says Laurence in Samantha's body.

Nicholas hasn't gotten too far, and he's easily found standing down another road. He is naked and looking at the female constable, who seems to be holding a taser pointed to fire upon the man if he doesn't comply.

Paul in Petronellas body:

Paul makes nothing out of himself tailing Laurence in Samanthas (stinking fine) body.

Petronella in Paul's body makes a face. "Yes...I do need a bath...May we go, officer?"

Superintendent Woodhouse nodded slowly, "Uh, sure. But be careful. With all these fires, it could be very dangerous around here." He turned away, still jotting notes as he was.

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ooc,Waiting to hear from Nicholas and his response before going further...

Nicholas leans his head to the side slightly looking at the squarish thing. The woman's tone sounded haughty and he assumed that the thing she held out was not something he would like. As quickly as he could he reached out to grab the device.

"Thank you, Superintendent," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "We will be." He goes off in search of Nicholas.

Samantha in Laurence's body follows Laurence in Samantha's body, fearing what she will find when she next sees Nicholas.

The rest of the group round the bend just in time to see Nicholas fall to the ground and shake around uncontrollably. The Constable Appleton stands over him with a black device in her hand that has wires leading to Nicholas' body. Snap-snap-snap-snap-snap! She is talking to Nicholas, though one doubts if Nicholas is bothering to listen considering the sounds he's making.

"You are under arrest for indecent exposure and obstruction of justice. What you are feeling now is 50,000 volts of electricity pulsing through your body." the clicking from the device stops and she adds, "If you continue to resist arrest, I will be forced to shock you again. Now roll over on your belly."

ooc,Sorry Andrew. A missile weapon readied, aimed, and ready to fire always goes first before melee in this game. Don't worry though... your friends can get you out of this if they are good with a fast-talk or persuade check - depending on what they are trying to do.

Nicholas just sort of flops around like a fish out of water.

She has released the trigger, and the voltage had stopped coursing through his body... then directed him to turn over onto his belly. Does Nicholas comply?

What do the rest of the party do when they discover Nicholas is buck-naked and about to be arrested?

Nicholas, scared out of his mind from the device that mean woman has rolls onto his belly. He starts to sob and talks to himself in his own language.

Paul in Petronellas body:

'Please dont hurt him please!' Paul cries out trying to mimic a woman's voice 'hes harmless, hes just... a... bit... confused' 'he must be panicing from all this fire and destrucction' 'let us help him taking him home miss'

Fast Talk 60% (1d100=88)

"Yes, please don't hurt him," cries Samantha in Laurence's body, trying to hide her distress at her husband's state. "If we take him home I'm sure he will be fine. I think he's just severely traumatised."

"Le do thoil! Ná Gortaítear dom le do arm dubh! Tá mé leithscéal a bhí ag rith mé timpeall. Chonaic mé biotáille agus díreach ag iarraidh a imirt. Ná Gortaítear orm arís, beidh mé go maith geallaim." Nicholas whimpered his voice filled with the sound of panic.

Petronella in Paul's body also quickly moves to aid Nicholas, or whoever inhabited his body at the moment.

Samantha in Laurence's body recognises the words as something like Gaelic, and wonders what is happening. She reaches out towards her husband, to steady him.

OOC,I recently read [u]V for Vendetta[/u], and the scene of [b]Nicholas[/b] running around naked reminds me of Finch's "trip."

"Oh, Nicholas!" cries Laurence in Samantha's body, trying to appear more distressed as he faces Appleton. "Please, Constable, my husband is harmless. He's just had too much to drink. Our friend Martin Richardson passed earlier this evening, and he's been really distraught and tried to find comfort in a bottle. And then the storm hit, and that didn't help any." He feels as though he's starting to get through to the policewoman, but not entirely.

yockenthwaite wrote:Samantha in Laurence's body recognises the words as something like Gaelic, and wonders what is happening.

(Except we're in England, where Gaelic would be pretty well known. All the street signs in Ireland are both in English and Gaelic, for instance )

Just when the group thought for certain Nicholas would be spending the night in the slammer, a woman ran up to the constable and said, "My baby, I can't find my baby! Please help me!"

Constable Appleton nodded once to the woman, then faced the others, "This man should be going to lock-up, but I'm relinquishing him to your care. See that he finds his way somewhere where he won't cause any harm to himself or others... and for God's sake, get him some psychological help!"

She headed off at a jog with the woman next to her, "Where did you see your baby last..." The conversation fades off as they get further away.

Standing in a village, several houses burning wildly, people panicking all around, and the investigators can't help but wonder if this was their fault... some half-thought-out scheme to set things straight gone awry, and now things were even worse with the lines between this reality and the next almost non-existent. Something must be done, and quickly.

"Thank you, Constable," says Laurence in Samantha's body. He takes Nicholas's hand. "Come along, Nicholas. Let's get you back inside."

Nicholas was whimpering as he got up. He was no longer smiling and looked terrified at the back of the constable.

Paul in Petronellas body:

'Ill start searching as good i can and taking my time. Ill go trough all bookshelves, computers and alike.'
Paul Looks for a basement to start from bottom to top on the house.

All rolls failing

In short order, the group found themselves back inside the relative comfort of Martin's home. Luckily, it was not one of the buildings that had caught fire during the freak storm.

Nicholas, still naked, curled up onto a sofa and shut his eyes tight, his arms wrapped around himself and his legs pulled into a fetal position.

Looking anxiously towards Nicholas curled on the sofa Samantha in Lawrence's body says to the others "So now what? What should we do? How can this be fixed?" She sits down on one of the chairs, trying hard not to cry.

Petronella in Paul's body sighs. "Well, I'm gonna take a bath. and wash these clothes." She/he heads for the bathroom.

"Capital idea," says Laurence in Samantha's body before turning to Samantha in his own. "Like I said before, we need to perform the ritual correctly in order to set things right. We were missing a key component, something bearing the symbol I showed you before." He again displays the piece of paper on which he drew the symbol.



"Now, Martin must have had some idea about this and must have prepared for it. We must search this house top to bottom and find either the sigil or some indication of its location."

Paul in Petronellas body:

'Ill start searching as good i can and taking my time. Ill go trough all bookshelves, computers and alike.'
Paul Looks for a basement to start from bottom to top on the house.

All rolls failing

"Thanks Laurence," smiles Samantha in Laurence's body. "A plan. Good. Ok I'll start with his bedroom. I think he might have kept it there." She heads off to search there, determined to look as thoroughly as Paul plans to.

"You're quite welcome," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "I shall start in the study." He heads off to the study and begins his search.

Nicholas just sort of slightly trembles curled up on the couch.

While outside, the group did manage to overhear some conversations going on by the locals.

ooc,Don't know if I already mentioned this part... but just incase...

"It was… it was incredible! The clouds just rolled over the sky and a North wind blew up. The lightening came down from the sky and hit the village – again and again. God preserve us - I… I have never seen anything like it."

"I would not have believed it possible! It is, was like something off one of these Amazing Stories programmes on the telly. It will take more than bunch elves and pixies to fix this mess!"

"At least three people are dead, and Lord knows how many people are hurt. The village Doctor, poor fellow, does not know what to do! All he has done for nigh on twenty years is prescribe lemsip and aspirin…"

Finally, they made their way back inside Martin's house and started looking for notes, anything that might help them make right what had gone so horribly wrong. Near as the group can figure out, everything should have gone according to plan. The only thing that could have knocked the ritual astray would be outside interference. Whatever spell someone had cast that started all of the strange ghost and fairy sightings must have been very powerful, and very unstable.

Nothing more of help is found within Martin's notes, library or anywhere else in the house.

ooc,There are several choices available to you, and you have all the information within the course of the game to determine with some good guesswork what has gone wrong. It's up to you now.

"Right everyone," says Samantha in Laurence's body. "Think hard. Is there anything that we've overlooked? The leprechaun in my vision told me to go to the Goat, and drink Guinness, and tell Bill Tarmey that Shamus sent me. But I don't know if that's relevant now, or if it was just, well to put it bluntly, blarney." She looks around at the others of the group, hoping for more ideas.

Before the others can speak Samantha continues: "And did any of you see a ring of ten stones in your visions after we performed the ritual? I did. I was standing in one when the leprechaun appeared. Could that be significant? It seemed awfully like the ring near George Tennison's house. Actually thinking about it he seemed incredibly reluctant for us to see the ring. I wonder why?"

"I saw nothing like that," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "We each must have had a different vision. I've already described mine, with the stars and that symbol. What did everyone else see? The ring of stones, and their defacement, may indeed be significant. Perhaps it is necessary to restore them to their former condition, but I don't know. I think we should go to the Goat first and do what the leprechaun said. We've got nothing to lose, and you can't go wrong with Guinness. And perhaps Bill Tarmey does know something. He is a ghost, so he has some connection to whatever's going on."

Petronella in Paul's body returns from the bathroom after cleaning up again. "I didn't see anything useful in my vision. Just a pixie I thought long gone. And a couple of gnomes and a fairy waving her tiny wand at me..."

Paul in Petronellas body:

'I was told we were using the gateway without a key' ' whatever that means'

"Ok the Goat then?" says Samantha in Laurence's body. "Should we bring Nicholas, do you think, or leave him here while we explore?"

"It might be best to leave him here," says Laurence in Samantha's body, "but not by himself. Someone needs to stay with him to make sure he stays out of trouble, so we wouldn't all be able to go. The missing key might involve that symbol I drew, or the ring of stones, or even both. Going back to the Goat seems like the only concrete course of action we can derive from the visions we had, at least for now. Maybe a chat with Bill Tarmey will open up other options."

A short trip later, those who do travel to The Goat find it engulfed in flames. Several of the regular patrons are standing outside of it singing sad bar tunes, arm-in-arm, watching it burn away to nothing.

"Oh, blast," says Laurence in Samantha's body. "I do hope nobody was inside. I wonder if they managed to save any of the Guinness?" He looks around for the bartender.

The bartender is helping with the bucket brigade on a nearby residence.

"Let's go help out," says Laurence in Samantha's body to Samantha in his own, pointing out where the bartender is. "We can talk to him while we fight the fire." He heads over to join the bucket brigade.

"Good idea," says Samantha in Laurence's body, following Laurence as she says so.

Mr. Handy wrote:"Let's go help out," says Laurence in Samantha's body to Samantha in his own, pointing out where the bartender is. "We can talk to him while we fight the fire." He heads over to join the bucket brigade.

Paul in Petronellas body:

As many times before Paul, now in Petronellas body follows his employer 'i hope we can get something ouf of the man' 'we got to fix this mess'

ooc: Gah... ok, let's put this puppy down. I'm going to take a few liberties and rush you all off to the end of the story. It wasn't that far away anyway.

Please go to End Game.