IC: Perception [Everyone]

[Kadael]

The man at the window turns to face the gathered crowd, his shoulders trembling and his head low, as if from shame. His face is still shadowed by his dark blond hair, but in the sunlight, it's clear that dried blood is caught in its tangles. It's everywhere. Blood smeared over his arms, covering his hands, caked under his fingernails, in visceral colors of red and brown and black. His torso is encased in a straitjacket, though it does nothing to hold him - several of the straps and buckles have been broken or torn apart.

He raises his head. He has no eyes.

Shreds of tissue still cling to the empty places where his eyes should be, all of it soaked in a sea of crimson. Long, jagged scratches cover his forehead, his cheeks, his nose. His lips quiver as he continues with his muttering, as his eyeless sockets fixate on the faces of everyone present. His gaze drifts from Dutch to Peter to Henry to Brewster, and back again. He shouldn't know where they are. He should be blind. His fingers twitch.

Everyone,Sanity check. 0/1d2 loss.

[Mr. Handy]

Henry stares in horror at the man, very disturbed by the sight. "My God!" he exclaims. "How did this happen?"

[Quinch]

SAN,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3492555/]San roll for seeing eyeless man. Current san 60. (1d100=98)[/url]. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3492557/]San loss for seeing eyeless man. (1d2=2)[/url]

Brewster stops dead when he sees the ghastly face of the man, his hand dropping from the man's arm.

"Eyes," he whimpers, staggering backwards and paying no attention to the young man rescuing his female friend. "No eyes..."

Brewster takes a step back, almost falling over in the dirt. He looks around at the assembled crowd, eventually coming back towards his senses, if not quite reaching them. "Someone should fetch a doctor," he mutters, almost to himself.

He looks frantically around the ground nearby for something he can use to defend himself.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3492559/]Spot Hidden: 65% (1d100=17)[/url]

[royya]

SAN (65%) (1d100=36) – Success

My god ...
Peter shifts his gaze immediately from the eyeless man to the sobbing woman and help the student to carry Eliza away from the terrible man that stood over there.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, a doctor!" says Henry. "I'll go find one." He runs off towards the Department of Medicine, which shouldn't be too far away. There had to be people there with medical skills.

[Captain Impossible]

Rolls,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3493472/[/url] [url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3493531/[/url]

Dutch takes a step back, unprepared for the gruesome sight. Operating more on reflex than will, Dutch pulls out his badge and raises it for the crowd to see. "Arkham Police! Everyone take a step back, give him some room," he barks, although no one seems particularly eager to approach the man. Turning to the eyeless man, Dutch tries to calm his nerves.

"Sir, we're getting a doctor for you. Just take it easy, you're going to be alright."

[Kadael]

Eliza has her face buried in her friend's shoulder, a handful of his shirt clutched in her fingers. "I didn't know, why'd you leave? He was just hitting the window and I didn't know, I was so scared, tell me he's gone..."

The young student puts a hand up at Peter's approach, shaking his head. "Ssh. He's not gone yet. But it's okay. It'll be okay."

The eyeless man continues his quiet ramblings, head still turning to stare straight into everyone's eyes. Despite Dutch's attempt at reassurance, he only seems more frightened - as frightened as a man with no eyelids can look.

Brewster notices several shards of what might have been clay pots, scattered across the grass. Some are sharp enough to be used as improvised weapons.

Some distance away, there's a shrill, harsh sound: a police whistle.

Everyone,Make a Listen roll if you want to try and figure out what the man is muttering.

Henry,Return to your own thread: [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=224&t=3183&p=127912]The Halls of Academia[/url] You may not make a Listen roll, since you are no longer here.

[Quinch]

Brewster can't make out what the eyeless man is saying. That might be because his hearing is going, or it might be because he is spouting a stream of invective that has no right to impinge upon the delicate ears of Arkham's more privileged young residents.

He turns with a scowl, lambasting the nearest student, "Get a cloth, or a bandage or something!"

He doesn't wait to see if the student makes a move but, with a gulp to draw in some courage, he approaches the man again. "Listen fella, come and sit down. We're getting a doctor. It'll be, err, hmmm...."

Brewster's reassurances tail off, not delivering on their initial promise.

Listen,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3494464/]Listen (25%) (1d100=29)[/url]

[Captain Impossible]

Listen roll,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3494548/[/url]

Dutch approaches the man. "It's going to be alright, friend," he assures in a calm voice. "Let me help you take a seat on the steps, and we can have a doctor look at you." As he gets next to the man, he tries to listen in on the eyeless man's mutterings. Where's that damned doctor? Dutch thinks to himself as he tries to gently guide the man to the steps.

[royya]

Peter was concentrated on pulling the girl outside and is surprised by the student's rejection for help so he is not paying focus to what the eyeless man say at all.

Listen vs. [45%] (1d100=91) - Fail

[Kadael]

The eyeless man hesitantly submits to Dutch and Brewster's coaxing, but chooses to sit on the grass instead of the steps. His gaze drifts to a nearby patch of purple flowers, and he cocks his head with an almost childlike curiosity.

Dutch,His murmurs are incoherent, but words are discernable. "The stars... alive... waiting... star... nearly there, saw it..."

There's another sound of a whistle, and approaching footfalls. A voice barks, "Arkham Police! Step away from the man in the straitjacket!" Three officers are coming up the street, armed and determined.

[royya]

Despite being pulled by the student, Peter approach Eliza and asks
Who is the man? Do you know him?

[Captain Impossible]

"Shh, don't worry, pal," Dutch says, uncertain how to respond to the man's words. What does that mean? Well, the guy's in a straightjacket, Dutch, don't blow a fuse thinking about it. Dutch raises his badge in the air to the approaching cops. "It's Detective Vrees. I have the man calmed down," Dutch says, looking at the policemen to see if he recognizes them.

[Quinch]

While the two other men deal with the incident, Brewster is keen for the gaping audience to be hurried off to lessons as quickly as possible.

He turns around and starts waving his arms as if he were herding sheep. "Go on," he shouts. "Get! Off to lessons! Nothing to see here!"

All the while he's shaking his head at what he has seen. He looks even paler and more ill than normal and presents quite a sight to the students.

[Kadael]

Whether or not Eliza is in any state to be answering questions, her friend answers for her. "No, we've never seen him." He then gives a slight nod to Brewster's remark. "I think we should go. Come on, Eliza."

As those two silently leave the crowd, though, more people come in. Henry returns, followed by a man with a black doctor's bag, and a tall woman approaches from up the street. "I heard someone went crazy--what's happening now?"

The three policemen slow to a stop, and the one leading them raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Huh," he grunts, folding his arms. "Nice job, Vrees."

Dutch,You recognize him, but not the other two. [b]Sergeant Willem[/b] is an honest, hard-working man - but that's really all that can be said about him.

[Tabs]

. . . and a tall woman approaches from up the street. "I heard someone went crazy--what's happening now?" . . ."

[Mr. Handy]

"Here he is," says Henry to the man following him before turning to the crowd. "I was wondering what had happened myself."

[Tabs]

"Well, that fellow"--she indicates the man in the straight jacket--"looks unhappy!" Jean Moss makes a critical survey of Henry. "You look like an academic: Do you work at the university?"

[Quinch]

Brewster shakes his head and mutters to himself as he starts to tidy up the mess the incident has left behind. Morbid curiosity piqued, he peers through the window to see what the lunatic was trying to get to.

He takes little notice of the other men, whether they be police or academic staff, and assumes they'll return the favour. He's used to just getting on with his job and not being noticed.

[Captain Impossible]

"Don't worry, pal, I'm right here. The doctor is going to take a look at you," Dutch says to the eyeless man before standing up again and talking to the police. "The man app.ears to have knocked over that garbage can. He ran down here and tried to go through that window there. Damned if I know what happened to his eyes." Pointing to one of the officers, Dutch continues."Get to the nearest call box and tell them to send an ambulance out here. We need to start interviewing witnesses."

Dutch pulls out his notepad. He flips to the last page and quickly jots down what he heard the lunatic say. Probably just ramblings. He waves the doctor over to treat the man.