The Campsite

[Cearlan]

Sr Katherine and Sharon,As you both approach the crows do not give up their prize easily and you are almost upon them before they fly off noisily, wings and claws brushing your faces and bodies as they alight from the ground. You can hear Officer Peartree behind you start and call out but cannot make out what he says. It seems that the river's tidal flow has uncovered part of the gruesome sight before you. You see a half buried, rotting and now partially eaten corpse which is lying face down but exposed from about the waist up. The corpse's left shoulder has been partially eaten by the birds, though swarms of flies have settled upon the wounds. The stench is pervasive and the body is bloated and blackened. OOC,No surprise here but I think some sanity rolls are called for ladies (in character) though Sr Katherine gets +25% due to her previous medical experience. [color=#0040FF]"Jayzus on a hell-cart!"[/color] exclaims Officer Peartree [color=#0040FF]"'Scuse me sister."[/color] He pushes his shaking hand through his sparse hairm knocking his hat off in the process before he draws his whistle and blows hard on it, the shrill 'peep' cutting through your thoughts like a knife

Jimmy and Henry,You hear a shrill whistle from the general direction of the camp, sounding like a police whistle. [color=#0040FF]"Oh no!"[/color] exclaims Off Oxley as he sets off at a run for the camp

[Mr. Handy]

Katherine is made of strong stuff, and her only reaction is to cross herself as she steps aside to let Officer Peartree approach. She stoops down to retrieve his hat for him. "Is this Mr. Cardigan?" she asks. Of course, if it's not, then that would mean that he was still missing and someone else was lying here dead.

[Priest]

Alarmed by both the shrill whistle and Oxley's reaction, Jimmy leaps upright and jams his hat back on his head before rushing after the running cop back toward the campsite.

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

[dice]0[/dice] SAN roll

pass ... phew! 68/75.

The loud shrill of Officer Peartree's whistle and the panic that it invoked certainly pulled Sharon back with a start from the shock of witnessing that horrific sight before them ... she is trying hard to remain composed and positive, after all, there is nothing as yet to say this poor soul in the ground is her brother.
But then, if not her Brother ... then who? and where then could her Brother be? does he have any connection to this atrocious find?
There are so many questions spinning around in her head, as she backs away from the chaos that now unfolds before her, she simply sits down on the ground out of the way.

[Cearlan]

As Officer Peartree approaches he shoos the flies away and checks the skies for the return of the birds fortunately not finding anything. "Mahve back folks." he calls, "We need t' see jahust wha we gaut aheor."

After about two minutes Officer Oxley comes up from the bridge ruins from along the riverbank, closely followed by Jimmy (and possibly Henry?). The two officers move in and start to dig the body out "Give us a hand here - please!" pleads Off Oxley. Their attempts to free the body are hampered by the sand being wet and hard as well as it flowing back into the areas around body as soon as it is removed.

[DrPeterson]

Henry arrives at the scene a few moments after the others. He stops, out of breath and cough violently a few times, before regaining his mien.

Not as fit as I used to be..., he grumbles and then springs to the officers' assistance.

[Mr. Handy]

Katherine stands back, knowing that she is too weak to be of any assistance. She would only get in the way, and it's better to make room for others stronger than her.

[Priest]

Having quickly pulled off his jacket and hung it safely from a nearby branch, Jimmy, firmly pushing his hat back on his head, moves to assist the officers.

Spoiler:

OOC: Just in case it's needed. 1d100 → [18] = (18) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4086629/

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

Sharon ... still sitting on the ground in a clearing away from all the commotion ... watches as the men struggle to dig out the body ... her mind drifts back to when she and her brother were children growing up together, they were happy times back then. She is finding it increasingly more difficult to stay positive, she is greatly upset as thoughts are creeping into her mind that this probably is her brother lying there in the ground.
"Oh Lord ... please let it not be my dear brother Richard there in the cold wet ground, please Lord, please!" She pleads quietly to herself.

[Mr. Handy]

"Amen," says Katherine, sitting down beside Sharon. She bows her head and prays silently, fingering the beads on her rosary.

[Cearlan]

OOC,[color=#FF8000]For this post you will need to know your SAN score. Remember [b]5 or more lost SAN in one roll will result in a temporary insanity. Another figure to keep in mind is your one fifth of your SAN. If you lose this in one hour then you get an indefinite insanity.[/b] Teaching you all to suck eggs I know but it's better to be clear about these things from the off.[/color]

The men start digging at the sand as the women look over their shoulders anxiously. Eventually they manage to remove the body from it's sandy grave. Sharon instantly recognises the body as being that of her poor brother Richard, but there's something wrong with his head, she cannot quite focus on it just now because she, along with everyone else gasps as a fouls stench rises from the newly formed pit. As the group look closer, they see a blackened arm protruding from the crater as well as a burnt face leering out at you all. The arm darts out and the foul smelling hand, which feels like cold, wet slime through his clothes grabs onto Henry by the top of his arm, holding on tight, Whatever foul creature this is uses it's hold on Henry's arm to try and pull itself out of the riverbank.

The head, with a vile sucking sound manages to extricate itself partway from the cloying sands, leaving parts of it buried in the sand. The stench of decay from the greenish ichor that flows from the wounds caused by it pulling itself upright, cause you all to gag reflexively which is exacerbated when the head screams at you all in agony and what sounds like no language you have ever heard before. The miasma of death pervades the riverbank from the foul breath of the buried creature.

The half-buried figure is that of a man, a grossly deformed man, but a man nontheless. This poor wretch is gaunt, blackened and scorched. He is nearly bald, his long wispy hair over his collar and, now that he is half sitting up, you can tell he is severely humpbacked, with scraps of antique cloth clinging to him in rags.

OOC,I think this could well call for SAN roll please from everyone and an extra SAN roll from Sharon as well for recognising the body of her dearly departed brother.

Whilst this is happening a crow flies down and plucks off one of the fingers on the hand round Henry's arm whilst another goes for the head. Everyone is too shocked to react at first as the crow flies off with the body's finger and the other with a strip torn off it's cheek which is oozing a foul smelling greenish pus. As the birds fly away he screams in pain before drawing a deep breath and shouting,with the foulest breath imaginable "Hen ... Henry Atwater!!! before he collapses back once more, now inert and unconscious. Officer Oxley collapses in a dead faint whilst Officer Peartree turns and starts to throw up the whiskey he's been drinking.

OOC,Oh and another SAN roll please for witnessing the prequel to the body's actions and the birds

[Mr. Handy]

Katherine isn't affected too much by seeing the body, though what happens afterwards is a little disturbing. Still, she remains steadfast. She recites the Ave Maria to herself as she rises and approaches to try to lend medical aid if Richard Cardigan is still alive by some...no, miracle isn't the right word.

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

DeeJ61 rolled 1d100:
39
San roll 1
Pass - 39/55

DeeJ61 rolled 1d100:
2
San roll 2
Pass - 2/55

DeeJ61 rolled 1d100:
51
San roll 3
Pass - 51/55


It had been a while now and there seemed to be a bit more commotion at the graveside, so Sharon decided to go and see what was happening, just as she got to where the men were digging, they pulled the body from the ground, Sharon saw straight away that it was her Brother.
"Nooooo ... Richard!" she cried; "It's Richard!"
She was distraught, but then was soon brought back down to earth, when suddenly, with a sharp intake of breath she was retching as the putrid stench hit the back of her throat.
Just then ... something was moving in the pit, a hand came out of the ground and grabbed the arm of one of the men, this ... thing, was pulling itself out of the ground, It looked like ... oh my god, it was a man!
This would be unbelievable had she not been witness to it with her own eyes.
Out of nowhere the Crows came, they were ripping pieces of flesh from the man in the grave.
Sharon couldn't even react, she was rooted to the spot ... she was numb as she watched in both amazement and horror as the events unfolded before her, he let out a painful scream that she will never forget ... and he spoke ... just two words ...

Henry Atwater.

Sharon still rooted to the same spot begins to gather her thoughts, she looks around at everyone there, she quickly realises as the numbness wears off, that this is not some horrendous nightmare that she will soon wake up from, but this is happening, this is real.
She is slowly getting her wits about her now and her thoughts turn to her dear departed Brother Richard.
No longer rooted to the spot, she is able to go to where Richard lies, she kneels beside him and prays over him.
As she looks upon him, something is not right ... "it's his head" ... She calls out to the others: "There's something wrong with his head."

[Priest]

As horror builds on horror Jimmy simply collapses into a burbling heap.

Spoiler:

Failed the first by 9 and the second by lots.
San roll 1) 1d100 → [64] = (64) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4087991/
San Roll 2) 1d100 → [93] = (93) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4088001/

OOC: You didn't say what the sanity loss was for the events.

[Cearlan]

Sharon and Sr Katherine,Kneeling over the body of Richard Cardigan Sharon prays and is joined by Sr Katherine who checks for a pulse, fortunately not finding one. Sharon looks up at her expectantly and Katherine shakes her head slightly to indicate that he has indeed passed over. As Sharon kneels in silent prayer, Katherine kneels opposite and joins in. Sharon takes one SAN point for seeing her brother's bloated and mutilated body. When the hand snatches at Henry's arm and the creature underneath pulls itself upright you both manage to keep a lid on things but take one SAN point each - 2 and 7 - two excellent rolls there people As the crows attack you both pass so get away with no further SAN losses this time

Jimmy,Clawing your way through the wet sand to free the body is bad enough and when you eventually free the body to reveal the creature underneath which results in1d4+1 SAN loss. As the creature grabs Henry's arm and screams before being attacked by the birds causes another 1d6+2 SAN loss.

DrPeterson,Just awaiting DrPeterson to post as he will have a slightly different san loss for Henry being grabbed

[DrPeterson]

Calamy coughs as the pervasive stench assaults his senses.
He was looking at the dead man when all of a sudden his arm is grabbed. Instinctively he rolls with the pull and ineffectively lunges a left hook at his assailant, just as the birds appear.

Rolls,Sanity 60 [dice]0[/dice] second Sanity 60[dice]1[/dice] Fist punch 50 [dice]2[/dice]

[Priest]

Sanity loss for Jimmy:

Spoiler:

1d4+1 → [2,1] = (3) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4089203/ Creature reveal
1d6+2 → [3,2] = (5) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4089207/ Bird attack
So that's a total San loss of 8%. I think I have some insanity coming my way

[Cearlan]

OOC,Your [b][color=#FF8000]Very Silly Keeper[/color][/b] forgot IDEA rolls for those who failed their SAN rolls. DOH!!! If you failed a SAN roll then give me an idea roll for each one failed. If you pass, you understand the implications of what happened, but if you fail, then you are left mystified by the events before you and don't really understand what you just saw.

[Mr. Handy]

Katherine prays fervently for Sharon's comfort, clutching her crucifix tightly.

[Priest]

Jimmy's idea rolls:

Spoiler:

1d100 → [6] = (6) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090099/
1d100 → [41] = (41) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090102/
Yahoo, made them both. But maybe that's not a good thing?