Play@YSDC

After you've created your characters, here is where we will set the scene. The only thing you need to know is that the adventure begins with your character driving in the middle of nowhere, around 2am. The rest is up to you. Please write a brief post detailing where you are, where you're going and for what purposes, who else is in the car (no NPCs, but two players can be in the same car), as well as what possessions you have in your car. Unless some characters are travelling together, everyone is assumed to be in different locations driving for different reasons, but for everyone it is 2am, on a lonely dark empty road.

Assistant District Attorney Christine van Pelt drives her Ford down the lonely stretch of road at close to 2:00 AM. Normally she wouldn't be out here all by herself this late at night, but she works long hours and is dedicated to her job. This new murder case could be huge, and the site where the body had been found is in an isolated, wooded area nearby. She wasn't expecting the killer to still be near the dump site, but just in case he - or she - returned to dispose of forgotten evidence or something, Christine carries mace and knows how to use it.

OOC,My possessions and the contents of the car are listed in the character creation thread.

Mathew Scade knew it was mad, but what the heck. Here he was on some lonely road at some god forsaken hour for a meeting with a self proclaimed sorcerer who goes by the name Ashburn, to take a look, with a view to purchasing, at a rare journal aledgedly penned by Cotton Mather and concerning the Salem witch trials.

Driving through the dark, empty road you feel a slight sense of apprehension as you realize that it has been almost 30 minutes since you've seen another car or a useful traffic sign or marker. You worry that you have taken a wrong turn, and the woods around you take on an oppressive sense, seeming to push close to the road. This feeling fades, however, as the forest begins to melt away and you see flashing red and blue lights at the crossroads up ahead.

Everything about this is an accident. The three cars shouldn't have collided at this crossroads, the drivers would have have seen each other coming from a mile away. There shouldn't have even been here at the same time anyway. In fact, they should have never come to this place at all. But the biggest accident isn't the one that happened tonight. It happened five years ago, at this very crossroads.

The sheriffs car is parked, with the lights flashing and the front door ajar, a few yards away from the crumpled mess of the three vehicles. The sheriff, who has his right arm in a sling, turns and waves with his left hand as you approach. "I need some help here!" he shouts, "We need to get these people out before the cars go up!"

Confused, Mathew opens the door to his car and begins to climb out. "Sure thing Sheriff. How can I help?"

"Of course, Sheriff!" says Christine as she hops out of the car, always pleased to see a lawman. She doesn't hesitate in running towards the wrecked vehicles.

It isn't until you have exited your cars and started towards the wrecked vehicles that you see each other. It seems impossible that another car could have come up without either of you noticing, but there you are. What's worse is the road behind you. The forested growth you were driving through seems to have gone, replaced by wide open space for miles in all directions.

The sheriff doesn't seem to notice anything odd, though. "It's damn lucky you folks came through at the same time. My radio is busted, and I took a fall off a ladder last week so I can't do much about the people in these cars. But we have to get them out of there as soon as possible."

The wrecks emit are strong and potent odor of gasoline, and every few minutes you can see sparks coming from the hoods of one of the vehicles.

"Those cars could explode any minute, and I don't want anyone dying on my watch. I have some body boards in my cruiser we can use to get them out. You folks are going to have to hurry, though. We don't have a lot of time."

Mathew eyes the sparking wrecks nervously, hating to think what might happen if those sparks make contact with the gasoline he can smell. Gulping, He turns to the Sheriff, "Maybe I can call for help?" He produces a cell phone from his inside pocket.

The sheriff shakes his head. "You can try, but the hospital is 20 miles away from here, and the police station just as far. There's no way these folks will survive if we wait. Don't worry, I can guide you through it, it'll take a couple of minutes and then we'll be clear. This is the only way those people are going to make it through this alive."

"Nobody else can get here in time." Christine tells Matthew. "It's up to us. Come on, let's get moving." She leads the way to the sheriff's car to retrieve the body boards, the urgency of the situation keeping her from dwelling on its strangeness.

Unhappy at the prospect of death or injury, and feeling far from heroic, Mathew nods. "Okay lead on". Gritting his teeth he follows the blonde woman and the disabled sheriff.

The sheriff opens the trunk of his squad car to retrieve one of the body boards and helps you move it over to the first vehicle. The door was damaged in the collision but opens with a crunching sound. The airbag has deployed, but the driver hit his head on the window and is unconscious with blood gushing from a gash in his temple. He looks like he is ok to move.

Speed rolls please, to remove him from the vehicle and onto the body board and then away from the wreck.

Christine works feverishly to extract the man from the car, but she's just a hair too slow.

OOC,Yes, I believe we're just supposed to roll 1d100 against our Speed stat. Missed it by [i]that[/i] much. :(

Mathew tries but he's fast at going nowhere.

Christine manages to get the man's seatbelt off and they maneuver him onto the body board. Blood pours wetly from his temple as they do so, running down onto the handholds, which they are too preoccupied to notice. The sheriff barks orders, but the fumes from the vehicle make you both dizzy. You take one end each and heave it upwards with difficulty, the man is heavier than he looks. Christine, taking the leg-side, stumbles as one of her shoes is caught on a piece of glass. The sheriff moves forward with surprising agility and prevents her from dropping the body board, but Mathew is taken by surprise and over-compensates, his hands slipping off one of the hand-holds. The body topples off the body board as it twists, the man's head hits the ground with a sickening thack. The sheriff curses and helps you to get him back on the body board, and you manage to make it away from the car and put the body board down at a safe distance.

The gash on the man's head has widened, and now a portion of skull is visible. He is still breathing, but red bubbles are oozing out of one side of his mouth.

Christine flinches in anguish when she sees the man's head wound.

The sheriff crouches near the body, and grimaces as he examines the wound more closely. He looks up at Mathew, "Don't worry son, I've seen worse than this back in the War. One of them anyway. He's better off than he was in the car." He takes something out of his pocket, and opens it. It's a small wet paper towelette. He bends down and dabs at the head wound. "No real debris in the wound, which is lucky considering he broke that window open with the side of his head. Son, come here and hold this firmly on the wound to stop the blood flow."

Leaving Mathew with the man, he walks back over to the wrecks, curses, and returns to Christine. "One of the cars looks like its wedged between the others, we won't be able to get the door open unless we can lift the middle vehicle up. Do you have a jack in your car?"

"Yes!" says Christine, relieved that she can be of help. "Yes, I do!" She runs to her car, opens the trunk, and retrieves her jack.

The sheriff places the jack under the car, and cranks it with his good hand. The car groans and moves upward slightly, while the other car suddenly jerks downward. The sheriff leaps back, but then assesses the situation.

"OK, it looks like we can get the other two out now. I'm feeling damned impotent with only one arm. Son, how is the wound?"

When Mathew looks at the wound, it looks a lot better. The bleeding has stopped, and the skull is no longer visible. This doesn't seem possible. The blood, which was gushing only minutes before, has not even soaked to the other side of the towelette.

Without waiting for an answer, the sheriff shouts, "He'll be fine, we still have these two to get out of their vehicles. I will help you balance the body board this time, since I have at least one working hand."

Again,same deal, Speed checks to move the second driver.

Mystified by what is going on with the headwound, Mathew attempts to help, but again is not quick enough.

Christine tries her best, but she has no better luck this time.

The second driver is pretty banged up, you can see bone exposed on one of his arms, and his head lolls forward. Pools of blood are everywhere, they glint in the flashing red and blue lights of the squad car. With some assistance from the sheriff, you are able to maneuver the man onto the body board safely. But just as you are lifting it, the vehicle shifts with a jerk. The sheriff had forgotten to brace the wheels while jacking up the vehicle. Startled, the body board twists and the man's arm is jarred roughly. The man's eyes open, and he lets out a bloodcurdling scream, which then deteriorates into bloody coughs.

Christine almost suppresses a whimper.

OOC,Blast! :x Missed it by 1 again!

You are able to maneuver the second man onto the street next to where the first man is lying. The sheriff looks down at the second man. There is a growing pool of blood forming around the arm with the bone exposed. "I think one of his veins might be severed, maybe. Do either of you have anything we can use as a tourniquet until the ambulance gets here? Some kind of rope?"

"Jumper cables!" says Christine. "I'll go get them!" She runs back to her trunk and fishes out the cables. The oddity of once again having exactly what is needed strikes her, but she's just relieved that she has them.

"Good, they should work well." The sheriff ties the jumper cable tight above the man's wound, and after a few moments the flow of blood drops off.

"Phew! He would probably have been a goner if it wasn't for the cable. I think he'll be all right until the ambulance arrives. Now, only one left, and we'd better hurry."
The sparks from the engines are coming more frequently now, and the smell of fuel is mixed with a disturbing hint of ozone. Better move fast.

This time Mathew moves with a purpose, showing a turn of speed that had been lacking in his previous attempts. He is tempted to shout 'Taa-daa' but resists as the sheriff doesn't look particularly good humoured and the situation doesn't really call for it.

Spurred on by adrenaline and determination, Christine moves quickly enough to pull the driver out before the car blows.

Everything seems to come together just right this time. Having got the hang of using the body board, you are able to move the final driver out of the vehicle and move him onto the road. "That's it! We've done it!" the sheriff exclaims, Now, I have a first aid kit in the trunk of my cruiser, we can patch them up a bit before the ambulance arrives." He dashes over to cruiser. As you stand there, looking over the bodies, the heady intoxicating smell of gasoline fumes makes your heads spin.

That's when you notice something strange. Now that the excitement and fear has drained out of the situation somewhat, you can look at things more objectively. There is something strange about the drivers, which you hadn't noticed before. All three men are identical. They are wearing different clothes, but their height, weight and features are exactly the same. They could be triplets. A spray of sparks from one of the vehicles gets your attention towards the wreck. The cars, too, are exactly the same model and make, three beige Hyundai Sonatas.

The sheriff comes back with the first-aid kit, sees the look on your faces, and looks down at the drivers. He sighs deeply, and shakes his head. "I knew it. It's that damn Bill Toge again."

A wave of heat washes over you as sparks from the engines finally ignite the growing pool of fuel around the vehicles.

Onto the next scene...