Tommy slow;y steps forward, "Easy with that shotgun, no one wants to get hurt." his mind races, trying to come up with a story. He catches sight of the badge and the germ of an idea develops.
"Y.. you're a deputy?" he asks, injecting a note of relief in his voice. "See.. Harry there's nothing to be worried about..." he adresses the group of men again "You sure gave us a fright and that's for sure, some weird things have been happening here!"
Tommy studies the group.. the man with the bade in particular.
In the church:
At Tommy's words the short guy with the badge, puffs out his chest, "Yeah I sure am, so you'd best watch your step".
For a few moments silence decends as though both the deputy and Hennesy were considering Tommy's words, then the deputy speaks again, "Watcha mean wierd?"
Tommy,an 8 gives allows you to ask me one question from the following;
• Does he seem to be hiding something?
• Does he truly represent a threat?
• What does he intend to do?
• What does he wish I would do?
• How could I get him to _____?
Anne,even in the total darkness your touch quickly reveals the you stand before a gate. You can feel a latch and hinges that open away from you. It feels like a grilled doorway possibly leading to some kind of crypt perhaps. The latch does lift and the gate gives enough to show you that it is unlocked and relatively well maintained.
[/color]
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Read a Person,Then I would like the answer to: How could I get him to [i]let Tommy and Harry go on their way[/i]?
If it helps, I had planned something along the lines of...
weird... we yes Harry and I were driving back from visiting x (or passign through town) and we saw someone running into the churchyard... looked like a young girl... we though 'now that's very odd' and deducing that she was in trouble we parked up and followed, after all the girl was probably in some kind of trouble or lost.. we looked about the churchyard, saw nothing, then we heard the bell .. we came into the church... the girl was ringing the bell ... she said someone was coming and we ought to get out of here, then we hear ppl outside...
Anne takes a little oil from the lantern and rubs it on the gate's hinges to silence them. There's no telling how infrequently anyone comes down here. That done, she opens the gate, slips inside, and replaces the latch as she found it. If the men upstairs do manage to find the hidden door and come down here, she doesn't want them to realize that someone has already been this way.
Anne,within a few seconds you stand on the opposite side of the gate. The operation was noisless, courtesy of the oil, however you are still stood in total darkness with no idea of what awaits you. From the direction you have just come muffled voices atest to the precense of people above in the church, but from the level of sounds it seems the door is an effective barrier to noise. Your hand feels the precens of the few remaining matches in the matchbook that you had taken from the author chap.
Rebecca,From your position you can easily see the figures moving through the cemetery towards the church, it seems that something inside has taken the attention away from you.
[/color]
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Sister Frances Mary waits as the men pass her and head into the church.
After a few moments listening and hearing no gun fire, she heads towards their vehicle with the intention of escaping the churchyard before pausing obviously in two minds. She turns and heads back to the church, striding purposefully.
She walks through the door, making no effort to conceal her footsteps, she stops and takes in the scene before her before exclaiming in a stern and commanding voice
Gentleman! What in the Good Lord's Name is occurring here? This is a House of God! How dare you bring a weapon, a means of violence into his holy domain.
Who is in charge here? Explain yourselves to me and by the Good Lord I hope you have a very good reason to be brandishing firearms in this church because if you do not the bishop will hear about this and your lives will not be worth living!
Keeper,I'm trying my Lore move (Smite) which lets me Take Control/Threaten. I'm, not exactly sure of the game mechanics for this! Anyway I get to roll+Luck for this and I get +1 for all luck rolls so I think I'm as roll+3
[dice]0[/dice]
edit my bad roll should have been 2d6+3 so here's that extra d6 [dice]1[/dice]
Total 2+6+3=11
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
In the church: The sudden appearance of a nun behind them, looming throgh the doorway, causes both men to turn. At the imperious commanding voice they seem to visibly shrink. Hennesy seems to struggle with himself for a few moments before lowering the barrels of the shotgun towards the floor, "Jesus!...Sorry maam, don't mean no offense. You just caught me by suprise there"
At the same moment the deputy took on the appearance of a small boy caught doing somethinh he ought not to be doing. Nervously he started wringing his fingers all thoughts of his prisoners driven from his mind by the spectre he now saw stalking towards him, "Umm, Sheriff sent us to check out the bell ringing". He finished his words with a lame smile
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Harry lowered his hands, relieved that Tommy was by his side. The prospect of them being on the right side of the law was doubly reassuring.
Harry could did not spy the small boy, but he picked up on Hennesy's nerves. He shared them.
"The Sherriff?..." he asked, not entirely credulous. "Does he regularly stay awake to the early hours of the morning listening for the faint toll of distant bells?"
Rebecca,As you watch the activity at the church from the shadows, you notice that a few seconds after the Sister's entrance several figures appraoch the entrance. From their direction of approach you guess these were the ones who had been at the grave, and you guess that one of them, obviosly the leader, is, from the distinctive shape of his hat, the town sheriff Otis Farnberger. The best avoided 'strong arm' of the law in Ebon Eaves.
[b]OOC: You can try and creep a little closer and overhear what is happening within the church, but it will require you to roll 'Act under Pressure' (Roll [2d6]+ Reason) to avoid the person watching the cemetery gate
[/b][/color]
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
In the church: For a few seconds the church became a scene of almost total confusion. The dramatic entrance of Sister Francis Mary seems to have caught the deputy and Hennesy off guard and adds to the confusion being caused by Tommy’s detailed explanation for his and Harry’s presence in the church, having been drawn there by the ringing of the bell. However the unexpected arrival of the sheriff, heavy set and mean looking as befits his description, Otis Farnberger and several others, soon brings a kind of order to the proceedings. “That’s her, that’s the nun we told you about”, obviously one of the newcomers had met the good sister before.
Taking his hat off and running a hand through his thinning hair, Farnberger speaks, his voice slow and filled with an underlying hint of brutality, “Now one of you” he glances at Sister Francis Mary, Tommy, and the still white faced Harry Blake, “Best be tellin' me just what's been going on here”.
He listens, somewhat impatiently to Tommy’s explanation of young girls ringing bells, “Okay mister, I’m guessing that this girl is still upstairs?” “Orv, you and Kilroy here had best go on up and see ifn this feller is talking true...Hennesy you keep watching these two and I don’t care ifn this is the Lord’s house, you keep that scattergun pointed at that guy”, he gestures at Tommy, “The other one looks like he might have a problem fighting his way out of a paper bag”.
To general sniggers the deputy and the one called Kilroy head towards the door to the bell tower. “Now” says Farberger slowly dropping into one of the pews, “What do you know of an empty grave?”
Anne,as the oil lamp flickers into life you see you are in a brick lined room. Behind you an iron barred gateway separates this room off from a flight of worn stone steps, down which you had surreptitiously slipped a few moments ago, in fact your ankle still throbs as an unnecessary reminder.
In the light you can see this room is obviously some form of crypt, although from the age and state of the four caskets you guess it has not been used in many years.
From the far left corner of the room comes the steady drip of water, as does a gentle breath of breeze, but from your position you cannot see any source...
Tommy,Sorry I got caught up in the sudden burst of activity and forgot you. Please take a +1 ongoing to use when you like.
[/color]
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
"An empty grave? Why sir, what do you mean? Have the dead risen?" asked Harry, feigning ignorance and utilising his fear to mimic horror.
"It would seem a Church and a Nun are much in need if Judgement day is upon us! Come, let us pray!" he lied, having no religious belief himself. However, he judged a show of piety would be a worthwhile deception. He fell to his knees, gazed at the ceiling and mumbled some prayer or other to the almighty.
Anne:
Armed with your oil lamp, you make your way towards the back of the crypt to where you feel the draft blowing from. Carefully you pick your way through the pices of decaying wood that once formed parts of caskets, amongst the rubbish you find several pices of brass, no doubt from furnishings. You notice that the whole place seems abandoned and long unused, which is strange when the gate had showed signs of maintainance and recent use, whatever theis room is used for it has been long since it was used to simply hold the dead.
In the far corner of the room you see a broken piece of lead pipe protruding from the wall at about head height, it is from this pipe that a constant drip of water emerges. The wall itself seems to be constructed of the same brick as elsewhere however, you swear that you can feel the draft coming from between the bricks.
Anne,Please roll 'Poke Around' (2d6+Luck)
[b]On a 10+, select 1 of the following:[/b]
Find 1 good item (Keeper’s choice)
1 minor item (your choice)
1 clue (+1ongoing when acted upon)
or pick one from 7-9 table.
[b]On a 7–9, you may:[/b]
Find hidden area/threshold (in/out) (Keeper’s Choice)
Find minor item (Keeper’s choice)
Determine a physical hazard present (if none, you find that out)
[b]On a 6- 'Oh dear[/b]'
Harry:
Farnberger cracks his knuckles, a sound made more ominous by the echo of the church, "You trying to be smart boy? This town has a surplus of wise guys, we sure don't need any more. So ifn you know what's good for you shut your smart mouth or we might just take you down the station for a talk" The lack of humour in his face, and the way he spits the word 'talk', gives you the idea that what he's proposing might not be a good thing.
To his right a tall gangly individual in overalls and a battered hat grins. "Want that I should take fat boy here outside for some fresh air?"
Farnberger just scowls and shakes his head, although you get the impression he means maybe later rather than no, "Now mister about that empty grave?"[/color]
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Sister Francis Mary:
Finishing his question to the writer, Farnberger moves his attention to the good sister, "So sister, how about you. Know anything about the empty grave?...Hey Murdoch is thisn the nun you and Stewart claimed to have spoken with earlier?"
The tall, gangly chap nods his head, "Yup that's her alright"
In the church:
As the toing and froing of questions goes on, from the door to the belltower comes the sound of footsteps on wooden stairs, it seems the deputy and Kilroy are heading back down and from the sound of it they are not alone...
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Tommy silently cursed the sudden intrusion of the Nun, her appearance combined with her righteous and belligerent outburst threatening everyone with the Bishop put paid to his attempt to diffuse the situation and their new line of questions regarding an open grave was a real 'spanner in the works'. The fool of an author wasn't helping either his over-blown theatrics were apt to land them in even more hot water. Tommy couldn't rely on the Nun to keep her mouth shut and play along with his 'version of events', so he had to come up with a new plan, maybe one that would save his own skin, things were getting too complicated.
Tommy was about to deny any knowledge of the open grave when the author fell to his knees, what was the man up to? Did he want to get a beating... or worse? Tommy looked around the gloomy interior of the Church, looking for a way out or inspiration... it looked like Tommy had no option but to carry on with his story.
"Yes there's an open grave.. we saw it earlier before we came to see who was ringing the bell, what of it?" yes he could explain that they assumed the grave was freshly dug ready for an interment.
Footsteps coming down from the tower came to his ears... then it hit him... where was Anne if she was still in the belfry then they were in trouble indeed.
