St Mary's Hospital / Return to Arkham Asylum

[Cearlan]

On the way back to the hospital, the wretched man drifts in and out of semi-consciousness. When he is more awake he murmurs and rambles about Henry Atwater in his odd tone of phrase.

"Ye be gone ... Atwater be mine own ... Arrgghh no (followed by frantic weeping)" are typical examples of the fragments of conversation. When he weeps it generally descends into a series of croaking screeching noises, as though his body is being wracked with waves of pain before he lapses once more into a state of unconsciousness. You can see by his eye movements however that his torment continues even when his consciousness is not fully in this world as his eyes constantly and violently shift left to right and up and down, though no discernable pattern seems to exist.

Once back at the hospital however, you are on familiar ground and you go with the patient into the observation rooms where he is cleaned up as best he can be. The clothes he wears are little more than rags, barely covering any attempt at modesty, but are peculiar in that they seem to be centuries old in style and coated with grey dust ... no it seems to be more soaked into the fabric as opposed to coating it.

The man is aged about 70. has a terribly deformed spine with curvature in both the lateral and vertical planes and this accounts for his twisted body shape. His facial aspect seems cruel and twisted and his toothless maw emits the foulest odour she has yet come across. He lies emaciated and naked on the gurney as nurses and yourself do their best to wash the dirt from his body, though some find it hard to disguise the disgust at this task, others find a shred of pity in their hearts.

After he has been cleaned up as much as possible the Doctors are admitted to see him and despite their curiosity over his spine and the effects it must have on his heart, lungs and other internal organs they all agree there is nothing they can do for him here when suddenly the figure sits up and grips one of the doctors by the throat with both hands.

"I be not this wreck of a ma... ARGHHH" he cries out as he is restrained by attendants. His arm snaps with a loud crack as it is bent back, the attendant immediately lets go and the broken arm grabs him by the hair and drags him close. The attendant grabs the arm where bone fragments start to protrude and the figure on the trolley cries out in agony "Nooo ye don't understand ... I be ..." and he goes limp and the pain becomes too much for him.

"I ... I didn't have hardly any pressure on his arm before it broke doctor!" the attendant stammers. "Just enough to make him let you go."

The doctor he had grabbed falls to the floor and shuffles away on his bottom from the scene as quickly as he can. "There is nothing more to be seen here," he croaks through his damaged throat, his face flustered. "We cannot begin to diagnose, let alone treat this individual while he is as violent and unpredictable. He has to be sent on to the asylum. Does everyone agree?" When everyone nods assent he turns to the attendant. "You did nothing wrong lad. We can all see how emaciated he is. Nurse we can set this arm before we send him up to the house I think though. it's the least of what we can do - I shall do this myself."

[Mr. Handy]

"There is one other thing we can do for him," suggests Katherine as she assists the doctor in setting the man's broken arm. "He doesn't seem to be himself. I think a priest should see him. I'm not saying that this is a case of possession. I'm not qualified to determine that. But a priest is, and that's why we should call one in."

[Cearlan]

(Written in the absence of DeeJ61)

OOC,Idea roll please Sr. Katherine

"Possession Sister," laughs the doctor quietly as he works on the arm, "Very well, if you think it will be of any help, though I would have thought such things to be a bit ... shall I say mediaeval. However there is nothing that St Mary's can do for him whilst he is this state. I'll give you an hour before I call for him to be transferred to the Asylum, if you have not managed it by then then it will be at the dictates of the likes of Hardstrom at the asylum."

Sharon pipes up at this point. "Sorry Doctor, you did not see how he attacked poor Mr Calamy, and although I did not see it fully myself I saw the effect it had on two worldly-wise men such as Mr Calamy and Mr Vecchio ... and he seemed to be buried under ..." she breaks off, her eyes filling with tears and unable to continue with the rest of her sentence.

[Mr. Handy]

Katherine can't think of any other ideas. She places a comforting hand on Sharon's shoulder. "It will be all right, Sharon," she reassures her. "It's over now, and he can get the help he needs. I know how you feel. I was there too. And thank you, Doctor. I'll make the best use of the time." Once Sharon is comforted, Katherine goes to telephone a local priest she knows to see if he can come to St. Mary's and examine the patient.

[Cearlan]

(Written in the absence of DeeJ61)

Twenty minutes later a Catholic priest bowls into the room. Wild haired and with an air of authority Sharon has rarely seen before. He runs his hands through his hair and closes the door before removing his dog-collar and scratching his neck which you notice is red and sore looking. Sharon's Spot Hidden on Fr Marsh /25 (1d100=28) Noticing Sr Katherine and you keeping watch over a twisted individual lying on a bed in a sweeping glance around the room, you get the impression that he can see right into your soul through his one eye, his right eye being wholly glazed with cataracts or maybe blindness - it is hard to tell.

In one stride he takes your hand and kisses the back of your hand "Miss Williams, whilst I would never claim to be your greatest fan, I would hope that I would be numbered in the top ten. I am so sorry that we had to meet in these sad circumstances, for I would have wished it had been otherwise. but if you will excuse me and Sr Katherine, we have some work to carry out that must be done in ... shall I say in private." Before you know it he has led you to the door and opened it. "We shall speak soon if you would please wait outside."

As Father Marsh enters the room, his penetrating gaze takes in the room. He speaks with Sharon and after a few sentences, ushers he out the door. He comes over to Sr Katherine and hugs her saying; "Well Sr. Katherine, you look none the worse since I last saw you ... what is it now some seven or eight years ago. What do we know here? what is it that we have to deal with?" He moves over to the bed and examines the twisted man on the bed in close detail as Sr Katherine fills him in on the relevant details

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Father Marsh," says Katherine with a smile. "It's good to see you again, and you don't look a day older." She summarizes the situation with the strange man found buried in the hole. "Considering those circumstances, his apparent decrepitude and yet uncommon strength, his odd manner of speech, and the words he spoke - I think this may be a case of possession, but I of course cannot make such a judgment. That's why I called for you, so you could make a determination one way or the other."

[Cearlan]

Father Marsh asks relevant questions of Sr Katherine which she answers to the best of her ability, though her mind seems to be distracted by the feel of Henry's weeping form against her thighs.

Eventually the old priest stands up and pronounces "There is no sign of demonic possession here Sister, though something does seem to be unusual. Look here he's coming round a bit." The figure on the bed shakes his head slowly and mutters something almost inaudible, but the good Father leans in close to hear. The figure croaks through parched lips "n ...no keep away foul creature

"No, we are not here to harm you, I am Father Dermot Marsh and this is Sister Katherine O'Neill, one of the brave people who found you by the Miskatonic river. Can you tell me what your name is and what do you remember?"

The figure's eyes focus on the priest and he cries out "Help me Father I ... I am not myself anymore!" He grips the priest's hand and squeezes it tightly. "I am ... am ... I ... I cannot remember anything ..." his words break off into wracking sobs of grief and despair.

Father Marsh gestures Katherine round to the other side of the bed and nods as she grasps the man's hand. "In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost I pray that you can find it in your great heart to look over and protect this soul and despite his past sufferings, grant him the respite he needs at his moment of greatest torment. Amen."

The figure seems to rest a moment and Father Marsh indicates to the door with his head, and they both manage to extricate their hands from the man and head for the door. Outside they find Sharon sitting outside the door. "Well as for possession," the priest begins, "there is no evidence to support any form of theory that he is possessed. However, as I said in there Sister, something is definately not right. You were right to call me in when you did, though what help I can be remains unclear at this point. I will retire to my library and see if there is anything I can uncover that may be relevant."

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Father," says Katherine. "Please let me know if you learn anything of interest."

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

OOC ... Sorry everyone for not being around for a while, I was on holiday and then fell ill with Flu just before I came home, which resulted in a very bad chest infection, it's taken awhile to shake it off but I'm good now and I'm back, Thank you very much to Cearlan for the excellent job he did NPCing Sharon for me.



Sharon turns to Sister Katherine and says;
"Thank you so much Sister Katherine for all of your help and support throughout this horrendous ordeal. You offered earlier to be with me when I break the news of my Brother's death to my Father, I would like to take you up on that offer if it still stands".

[Mr. Handy]

"You're very welcome, Sharon," says Katherine, "and of course my offer still stands. Before we go, is there anything you can think of to get through to this man before they take him to the asylum? He was there with your brother. He may know what happened, but he can't remember anything."

[Cearlan]

Sharon thinks hard for a while and says "Sorry Sister, I have no experience with this sort of thing at all so cannot offer any advice." She purses her lips and frowns in concentration "I did have an Uncle once who went on Safari to darkest Africa, the Congo I believe, with Columbia University's anthropology department, and he came back a broken man. Kept muttering something about mad Arabs and evil spirits that no-one could make any sense of. He committed suicide eighteen months after his return, though how he managed to swallow his tongue no-one could understand. You see our family have a defect that is known as tongue tied where the membrane under the tongue is further forward than it should be. I have had mine corrected, but Uncle Thomas hadn't. He had also scored a design on his chest with his fingernails as well but no-one had seen it's like before or since as far as I know. He was largely unresponsive though but had periods of greater or lesser lucidity."

[Mr. Handy]

"Then I suppose all we can do is stay with him for as long as he's here and pray for him," says Katherine, "in the hopes that he'll have a lucid moment and say something that helps."

[Cearlan]

After a while of the patient coming in and out of his semi-conscious state and with the only lucid comments you can hear being things such as "I be Atwater get thee hence!" and "Ye'll not get away wi' it foul creature, this wreck is nae ..." punctuated with the most heart-rending sobs you have ever heard.

After about half an hour two orderlies enter the room with the doctor and he says. "Well, how well did your superstitious tales go down? Sorry Sister, Miss Cardigan, but I am a man of science and if I see the proof before me and have a rational explanation, then this will be the case, but your suggestion went out with the Salem Witch trials so holds no water with me as they say. Well he is beyond the care of this hospital now and will be looked after better in the asylum." He nods to the orderlies and they position a trolley beside the bed

The orderlies load the wretch, non too gently, onto the stretcher and wheel him out the room to a waiting ambulance

OOC,Where to now ladies?

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[Mr. Handy]

"St. Thomas needed proof too before he would believe our Lord had truly risen, Doctor," says Katherine. "I pray that one day you shall see your proof, as he did. Good day." She turns to Sharon. "Shall we go break the news to your family now?"

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams

"Ah Yes ..." replies Sharon. "I am dreading this so much, but as long as you think we have done everything we can here, then I know it cannot be put off any longer."

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, I think there's nothing left for us to do here," says Katherine. "I know this won't be easy, but I will be with you. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner your burden will be lifted."

[Cearlan]

It is getting on for almost two o'clock when you eventually reach the offices of banker Herbert Cardigan. You are ushered inside the plush private office and offered a seat. "Just give me a minute whilst I finish something off and I'll be with you, Please ladies have a seat. I'll send my secretary in with refreshments ... damned heat 'scuse me Sister." Herbert leaves and a few seconds later his personal secretary comes in and takes care of any refreshment needs you may have. Herbert finishes his bank's business in the outer office with another secretary. After a few moments he comes in and checks whether or not you have been catered for. "Sister, I got coffee or tea if you prefer Sister, but by the looks on your faces and your presence tells me that I might need something a bit stronger." He opens a concealed wall cabinet and pulls out a tumbler and pours himself a generous shot, He turns and asks "Would anyone else would like a drink, a real drink I mean, imported from England this stuff." He gives drinks to either of you that feel the need. Sighing he turns and sits beside Sharon and takes her hand.

Sharon has never known him to either show such emotion before, and for the first time she notices how old he is looking recently.

"Well ladies I am a businessman, pure and simple, and I appreciate straight talk, but I have never had to deal with this kind of situation before so maybe not quite 100% straight off the hip if you please."

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Mr. Cardigan," says Sister Katherine. "I would prefer coffee. Cream, one sugar, please. I only drink the stronger stuff when I take Communion." She also obeys the laws about Prohibition, though she doesn't mention this. Of course, a man as wealthy as this could very well have a large enough liquor collection from before the Volstead Act went into effect that he'd still have some left, and she gives him the benefit of the doubt. She looks to Sharon to see if she wants to speak first.

[DeeJ61]

Sharon Williams


"Tea for me please ... strong, with milk and plenty of sugar would be very welcome after the horrendous day we have had ..."
Sharon looks tenderly at her Father, wondering just how much information she should give him at this stage. Having given it some consideration she decides at this point to keep things fairly simple in order for him to first be able to come to terms with the death of his Son.
Sharon grips her Fathers hand tightly ... and simply says.
"Oh Father dear I have terrible news of Richard ... I'm sorry to have to tell you that Richard is dead."
Sharon is trying very hard to remain composed and be strong to support her Father, but she cannot control the steady flow of tears that run down her cheeks, although there has never been much emotion shown by her Father ... she does feel an emotional bond with him at this time and imagines that he will put on a brave front and would not want her to make a scene.
"It was some sort of accident Father, there is another man who may know something of what happened to Richard, but he is in a very bad way ... so bad in fact, that they have taken him to the Asylum, so I don't think we will be able to get any information out of him to be honest."

[Cearlan]

The old man's shoulders sag and his eyes water, and for the second time in Sharon's life, she sees how old he has become. This has taken it's toll on him, more than she could have imagined possible. Gripping her hand he takes his drink in one large swallow and coughs as the hot liquid burns down his throat. He stands and refills his tumbler once more and turns to you both with tear filled eyes he continues;

"What do you know of this other man Sharon? And you Sister, have you anything to add to this horrid tale? I sense there is more to this than meets the eye. You went out of here yesterday with a reporter and a private investigator that I am paying for - where are they right now? HAve they anything more to add? I still want answers as to what happened, and I demand that there be no let-up until the job is completed."