Play@YSDC

You follow Dr. Keaton back inside the patient's area of the sanatorium and towards one of the interview rooms. A few patients, playing in a common room, wave to you in a friendly manner as you pass. Another patient, a giant of a man with a bald head and dark eyes, is being escorted by an orderly along the corridor. When you cross them, the man suddenly goes crazy. He slams an elbow on the orderly's face and rushes for you, biting the air with yellow, crooked teeth. Dr. Keaton yells: "Stop this instant, Mr. Culver!", but the man ignores him. He crushes into Christopher, trying to bite the neck but meeting only the flesh of the arm as Christopher shields himself. Christopher feels the teeth, the pain, and screams.

Holly is horrified at the sudden attack, but she knows what to do when mental patients turn violent. Leaving actually subduing the man to those who are able to do so, she opens up her black doctor's bag to try to prepare a sedative.

OOC,Stability test (no points spent): [dice]0[/dice]

Christopher Fontana

Christopher follows the others as Dr. Keaton leads them to an interview room, the place looks 'spick and span' and from what he can judge from observing the group of patients in the common room common room, it seems that the patients were well cared for. Just as he is about to make a comment to that effect to Fr. Flanagan he becomes aware of some commotion as Dr' Keaton yells in an alarmed voice, taken unaware Christopher can barely fend off an attack as a large hulking man crashes into him. By instinct he manages to avoid being bitten on the neck by but yells in pain as teeth bite into the top oh his arm, piercing his jacket and shirt.

Stability Test: (no points spent):,[dice]0[/dice]

Father Flanagan jumps back in alarm as the large man crashes into Christopher. With a purpose that might surprise those who don't know him well, Flanagan then moves to attempt to force the man off of Christopher.

Stability test (no points spent),[url]http://orokos.com/roll/371196[/url] Result: 5

Ian is not enjoying the visit. He never liked hospitals, really. And the apparent calmness of the interns make it all even more depressing, somehow.

All of a sudden, he sees one of the patients hurling himself towards Fontana with bared teeth. "Jesus Christ!" he yells while throwing himself over the man.

Stability,[url]http://orokos.com/roll/371241[/url] result 1d6 = 2

Chaos ensues. Dr. Keaton is still screaming for help, and after some seconds a couple of orderlies appear at the end of the corridor, running. Ian and the other men rush to the help of Christopher, but the madman fights like a possessed man and refuses to let go. He is still biting Christopher's arm, and in the struggle his teeth tear even more deeper. Holly manages to prepare the sedative, but she can't safely get close enough to inject it. She might try, but the brawl is still going on and who knows what might happen?

Clarence was at the back of the group when the incident occurred, a stranger attacked Christopher! This was clearly one of the mental patients! Clarence rushes in to restrain the stranger by placing him in a 'head lock', trying to keep the madman from taking any more bites from Christopher. The madman is strong and is bucking like a bronco. Clarence struggles to keep control of the man. In the corner of his eye, Clarence sees orderlies running towards the group.

Christopher and the madman are struggling on the floor, kicking and rolling around. The aggressor tries to bite Christopher's neck, while Christopher defends himself as best as he can. Ian, Clarence and even Father Flanagan try to intervene, but their efforts are futile. In the end, it's Holly's expertise that saves the day. With a fast and steady move, she reaches for the man and injects a strong dose of sedative. In a few moments, the man is once again under control, taken into custody by the orderlies.

"Oh, thank God", says Dr. Keaton. "Excellent work, Dr. Chastain. I'm terribly sorry, this shouldn't have happened. Are you hurt? ", he adds, leaning towards Christopher.

Christopher Fontana

Christopher manages to pull himself from under his attacker, leaving a read smear on the white floor tiles. His shoulder hurts ... stings with a wicked fire and he can feel his blood flowing down his arm. He tries to sit up and looks blankly at Dr Keaton the man was saying something, Christopher's ears were ringing, and his vision blurred. He tries to push himself upright but his blood slicked hand slips on the floor and he falls back, agonising fire erupts from his bitten shoulder as he slips.. "Arghh!" he yelps "He... he bit me!" he gasps.

With heavy breathing and his hands still shaking, Ian starts to recompose, looking nervously to his companions, Dr. Keaton, his shirt sprinkled with Fontana's blood and the orderlies conducting the giant man away with blood dripping from his chin. "Geez... what the hell just happened? Are you OK, Fontana?" He pauses, trying to recover his breath. "That man was unstoppable... Thank you, Dr. Chastain."

Clarence sees the blood, " Good God man , you're bleeding! ", exclaims Clarence, and proceeds to apply pressure on the wound to stem the bleeding. "Someone get medical help for Christopher here!", Clarence shouts.

Father Flanagan tries to remember everything about first aid he learned as a military chaplain as he moves to help Clarence aid Christopher. "He bit your neck, Christopher. There's a bit of bleeding - we're gonna try and keep pressure on until we can dress it. How you feeling? Faint?"

"You're very welcome," says Holly, sitting down beside Christopher. The adrenalin drains out of her, leaving her exhausted even though she didn't have to exert herself much physically. I didn't know I had that in me! she thinks, marveling that she was able to incapacitate the big man all by herself. "Here, let me help you. In addition to being a psychoanalyst, I'm also a fully qualified medical doctor." She helps apply pressure to the wound until the bleeding stops, then uses the contents of her already open doctor's bag to clean, disinfect, and bandage the wound.

OOC,Spending 1 point of First Aid to restore 2 Health to [b]Chirstopher[/b].

Dr. Keaton's face pales as he notices the blood: "Oh my God... oh no no no...". He calms a little as Holly bandages the injury, then leads you to a small but clean infirmary, where a nurse nods approvingly at Holly's work before saying: "It looks wowse than it is... it'll leave a mawk, but nothin' big". A hot tea is brought from the cafeteria for everyone.

After the situation has settled, Dr. Keaton speaks again: "I'm terribly sorry, I don't know how this could have happened. I... I... I'm just sorry. What do you want to do? Shall we postpone the interview until tomorrow?"

Christopher Fontana

Christopher blinks, trying to focus on Father Flanagan as he speaks. "Not my neck... owwww... my arm hurts... he .. he bit my arm..." Christopher move his uninjured right arm gingerly testing the deltoid muscle of his left arm and his hand comes away covered in blood his attackers teeth ripped through his jacket and shirt.

{A few minutes later, in a side room.}

"Thank you Dr. Chastain your skills are most appreciated."Christopher says as he struggles to slip is arm back into his blood-stained shirt after being 'patched up'. "What did you do to get that man off me? He was so strong, it was all I could do to keep his head .. and those..." he shudders, picturing the snapping teeth that came so close to ripping into his neck "I couldn't fight him off." he finishes.

OOC:   Christopher will suggest that there's no need to postpone though he will be wanting to get back to his hotel room to change his shirt and jacket. Time check please?

"You're welcome, Mr. Fontana," says Holly with a smile. "I'm just glad I could help you. I'm amazed too that a slight woman like me could defeat that hulk of a man. I was acting purely on instinct. It's one of those 'fight or flight' reactions, and I chose fight. I don't really know how to fight, but I do know how to administer a strong sedative - with an increased dose due to his increased mass and crazed condition. I've never been in a situation quite like this, though. I've injected violent patients before, but only when strong orderlies held them down for me. I'm still okay to interview Mr. Job later today if you are. Dr. Keaton, who was that patient? Does he have a history of violence?"

Christopher Fontana

"Fight or flight eh, well thank goodness you chose the former and had the presence of mind to choose a more calculated approach, I don't think I could have held him off much longer." Christopher says thankfully. "And thank you to Nurse.. umm Ashberry. he says pausing to read the woman's name from the badge she wears.

"Well, if it's all the same with you Dr. Keaton I'm all for pressing on, perhaps I'll sit at the back..." he adds, time is of the essence, they need to fit in a visit to Henslowe's family home before the next leg of their investigation, which was probably right across the country.

Ian take a sip of his tea and nod with his head, agreeing with the rest of the group. "If Fontana thinks he can continue, I think it would be better if we go on and talk to Mr. Job. The sooner we talk to him, the faster we can get out of this place. No offense, Dr. Keaton. I just don't like hospitals that much." He says, trying to hide the blood stains in his shirt with his jacket.

Dr. Keaton smiles at Ian: "No offense taken, I know this is not exactly an amusement park. I don't know what got into Mr. Culver's head, earlier. He has an history of violence, yes, but he has been stable for more than one year now. I'll have to check his medicines, I guess.", he brings a finger to his mouth, then nods. "Well, anyway, let's proceed with the interview. But first, let's do somethin' to at least cover up the blood. Here, take this.", he hands Christopher a white coat. "Stay close to me and don't wander around. I wouldn't want any of the staff, or the patients, to take you for a real doctor".

Dr. Keaton leads you to the same interview room that was used before, where another man is waiting for you. He is skinny, with stubble all over his face and scalp, almost looks like a prisoner of war. He watches you with uninterested blue eyes as you enter into the room. "Hello Edgar, these people are lookin' into the old incident at the farm, and would like to ask you some questions. Would you like to help them?"

His answer is half-bored, half-annoyed, accompanied by a melodramatic sigh. "If I must." He shrugs. "Can I smoke?"

"I don't mind, Mr. Job," says Holly, "though I can only speak for myself. I'm Dr. Holly Chastain."

Christopher Fontana

Christopher was content to sit well away from the patient and take notes, mostly due to his earlier experience and partly as Dr. Chastain and Fr. Flannagan were best places to ask questions based upon their earlier 'interview'.

Clarence lights a Rothmans then offers it to Edgar, "Mr Job? Pleased to meet you. My name is Clarence. I wonder if you you would be so kind as to tell us what you recall of that fatefull night, all those years ago?". He stands a few feet away from Edgar.

Edgar inhales the smoke with satisfaction. Then he looks to Dr. Keaton, a little nervously. "Dr. Keaton doesn't want me to relive those days or, uh, to, uh... externalize my fears. He doesn't like me talking about monsters unless they're me."

Dr. Keaton smiles encouragingly. "It's okay, Edgar. You can answer. But remember to keep a clear focus on what is reality, and what is just your imagination".

Edgar nods and continues. "Yes. Well, that night. There was an important meeting, for us. All the big shots were there. Echavarria himself, obviously. Savitree. That rotten bastard of Brooks. There was this... ceremony... to perform. It would have changed everything. Then those people came... Henslowe's friends. They caught us by surprise. There was fire, and guns. We fought back. It was a massacre. You can't possibly imagine..." He sighs, like there's an uncrossable gap between him and you.

"Please Mr Job, do carry on", urges Clarence.

Holly nods in agreement. "Take your time, Mr. Job," she says. "Please keep in mind that we're not as familiar with these events or the people involved as you are. You're right that I can't imagine what it was like, as I was not there, but I would like to try to understand. It will help you as well as us for you to get it off your chest."

OOC,Using Reassurance.

Ian sits, takes his pen and notebook and starts making annotations about what Edgar Job is talking. He feels that, having interviewed Henslowe, right now Dr. Chastain is in a better position to conduct this one. If needed be, He'll intervene later on.

Christopher Fontana

Christopher makes notes, opting to spell 'Echavarria' phonetically, Job's remark about the ceremony sounds interesting, something that ought to be followed up upon... might go some way to give them an insight as to the motivation of Job's group. He waited to see how Job would respond to the prompt to 'carry on'.

"Yeah, well... I still have nightmares about that night. I killed a man that night. The one that blew Echavarria away with his shotgun. I grabbed his knife... Echavarria's knife... big, ugly thing, but deadly sharp... I stabbed the man. To get away. I was sure he was going to kill me, too. So I killed him first." He looks agitated now, breathing quickly.

Dr. Keaton intervenes: "It's all right, Edgar. Calm down, take a deep breath".

Edgar nods, then continues: "I see his face every night. The poor bastard, was only doing the right thing. We were all crazed those days. Me and the others. And Echavarria was the craziest one of us all. It was probably for the best they stopped us."

"Yes, I think you're right," says Holly, changing the subject for now both to calm him down and to find out the answers to her other questions. "Let's go back to the beginning. How did you come to join this group originally, and how long were you a member? What can you tell us about Echavarria, and about the other members?"

"I met Echavarria around the time I was at UCLA. George introduced us, I think. George Ayers? Avery? I swear, I can hear his voice, why can't I remember his name? It's all so hazy...", he looks frustrated. Dr. Keaton intervenes briefly: "It's all right if you can't remember, Edgar. That's part of the past. Let's go back to Echavarria, and the rest of the group... or cult, I should probably say."

Edgar sighs, then nods. "Yeah, Echavarria. I wonder if that was his real name. Had one hell of a library. Strange books, creepy books. He showed them to me. I was always around him, those days... He was interested in my university studies... never truly understood why. Strange guy. But man, he knew how to party. There was a party almost every day. Sex. Drugs. I was practically high from 1923 through august of 1924. So my memory is not good. But I remember the drugs. Potent stuff. And the things he made us do and say. Ah, those were good days", he has a dreamy expression now, but he snaps back to reality as soon as his gaze falls on Dr. Keaton. "Until it all went to shit, anyway."

"Excuse me, Mr. Job. My name is Ian Morin." Ian steps in, trying to maintain their interviewee's focus. "This is really interesting. You are being extremely helpful. But tell me...What was your study about? And what were you and your cult trying to achieve until, in your words, 'it all went to shit'? It wasn't just sex and drugs, was it? And the other group members, who were they? We heard that there were some big shots, like Olivia Clarendon."

OOC,using Oral History

Dr. Keaton signals Ian to stop: "Slow down, Mr. Morin. Not too many questions at once. Edgar, take your time, and answer the questions you feel you can answer".

Edgar looks a little confused. He pauses for a few seconds, then starts talking: "Math... I studied math. I was very good. Too good, actually. Even my professors envied my talent. The bastards, they would never admit that I was better than they were." Anger surfaces on his expression. "Echavarria was different. He understood me." He smiles. "It was all good, in the beginning, you see. Yeah, we were perhaps a little too wild, but everyone was having a great time. Then things changed. Echavarria, he changed. He started talking about power. He promised us power. He promised me power. I didn't really care in the beginning, you see, but then I thought about those bastards at the university, I asked Echavarria if I would have my revenge, and he said yes. He said we would all get whatever we desired, when Gol-Goroth was here. We called him the Fisher from outside, for some reason. But that... that wasn't what I wanted." He looks anguished now.

Dr. Keaton puts one hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, Edgar. It's all in the past. And there is nothing mystical, or supernatural, about what happened, remember? Just the lies of a man that didn't want to lose his position as head of the cult".

Edgar nods, almost in tears. "Yes, I know, I know..." He rubs his eyes, then says: "Can I have another cigarette?"

"Yes, yes... I'm sorry. I understand completely, Dr. Keaton." Ian answers, not sincerely, but more as a reflex of his experience on interviewing people that become squeamish when pushed a little too hard. He takes his cigarettes from his jacket pocket. "Please, Mr. Job, take one of mine."

"Did you know Olivia Clarendon well?" asks Holly.

Christopher Fontana

Christopher studies the man, his manner, taking into account the circumstances and tries to assess the honesty of his answers.

OOC:   Assess Honesty: 2 Trying to get an 'overall' indication.

"Olivia Clarendon... the movie star? How would I know her? I've been locked up in here for ten years!", he opens up his arms.

"I had heard that she had been part of the cult," says Holly. "Perhaps my information isn't accurate, or perhaps she went by a different name or didn't go to the same meetings you did. What can you remember about the other members of the cult? In addition to Echavarria, you mentioned Savitree, Brooks, and George Avery or Ayers. What can you tell us about them, and do you know the first names of the ones whose surnames you mentioned? What about the women in the cult?"

Edgar looks stupefied: "You mean that maybe I fucked Olivia Clarendon and I don't ev-".

"Edgar! Watch your mouth! There's a lady in the room! Do you want me to sent you back to your room... and no cigarettes for one month?"

"Uh, no, sorry doc. Whew. What were we saying? Ah, right. The others. Savitree Sirikhan. She was one crazy bit-, ehm, woman. Always cutting herself and her partners. Vicious. Violent. Strong-willed. I always thought if one was going to challenge Echavarria for the crown, it was gonna be her. And Brooks. Jonathan Brooks. Little snake. Was always jealous of me, because I was Echavarria's favorite. He sold me to the police, I'm sure. He was the one that sold me. Hope he rots in hell."

"It's all in the past, Edgar. Move on. Forgive and forget."

Father Flanagan notes the names Job is listing.

"Sorry to interject, but I was wondering if the majority of the recruits in your... group... were young people? Students and the like?" He smiles at Job. "Might help us start to get a picture of what Echavarria was trying to accomplish."

"Thank you, Dr. Keaton," says Holly, also taking notes, "but I've heard profanity before from patients, and I can withstand it. There's no need to send him back to his room. It's best if you refrain from it, Mr. Job, but if it slips out again I won't hold it against you. Some people find that cursing has a cathartic effect, even if only a temporary one. Still, when you're in polite society, it will rub many people the wrong way. If you have to do it, it's best to do so when nobody can hear you. In any case, many Hollywood stars change their names when they begin their movie careers and adopt screen names. Their real names are often different, sometimes drastically so. Did any members of the cult besides yourself survive that night?"

Clarence listened as the others asked their questions. Occasionally he makes notes on a small pad.

"No, not only young people, and not all were students. Sure, most of them were in their twenties or thirties, but I remember a couple of old guys, around sixty I think. We saw all kinds of people at those meetings. All sort of stuff happened. Everything is funny when you are as high as we were", Edgar shrugs. "That night at the barn we were 33 if I remember correctly. Echavarria said the number was important. I think around half made it out of there alive. Not Echavarria himself, obviously. He was shot to pieces. I lost contact with the others after that night. Everybody went into hiding."

"How did you end up here?" asks Holly.

"After that night at the barn, I couldn't go back to my house, so I asked some friends for help. I stayed hidden for a few weeks, then the police found me. An anonymous tip-off, they said. Anonymous my a-... ehm." Edgar casts a quick glance towards Holly, then Dr. Keaton. "I know perfectly well who sold me. Brooks. That bastard was always jealous of me. So I ended up in jail." He puffs out some smoke. "Then there was the trial. I told them what happened, but well... they didn't believe me. Of course they didn't. No sane person would have believed my tale. And that's how I ended up here, with old Henslowe. Kinda ironic, all in all."

"That is unusual that you both ended up in the same institution," says Holly. "Mr. Henslowe is from Savannah, so it makes sense that he'd be sent somewhere close to home. Are you from Savannah as well, Mr. Job?"

Christopher Fontana

Christoper nods as Dr. Chastain asks her searching question, the fact that both Henslowe and Job are in the same institution is distinctly odd, surely Job's trial would have been in Los Angeles? So how did he end up here?

Dr. Keaton intervenes: "Perhaps I should answer this question. After we started treating Henslowe, I discovered that a patient with his same psychosis, developed after the same incident, was under trial in California. I requested the possibility to treat them together, on the basis that it would be helpful from a medical point of view. The State of California agreed to Edgar being transferred here, as long as the expenses for the medical treatment would be in charge of Joy Grove."

"Ah, that makes sense," says Holly. "It's too bad the two of them couldn't be in the same room with each other, but it was wise to keep them separate after the one time you tried it. Mr. Job, what exactly did happen when you met Mr. Henslowe here?"

"The first couple of times things went sort of... fine, I guess. I think we were sedated. I can't remember the conversations we had very well. The third time I remember. He shouted at me, calling me murderer. Scum. Said I should have died that night. I understand the forgive and forget stuff, I do, really, but I'm not too keen on being insulted by a middle-age madman with as much blood on his hands as me, if not more. So I jumped at him and punched him in the face. He punched back, and that's how it ended", Edgar shrugs.


"That's not the right attitude, Edgar. You need to work on this if you want to ever go back to the world outside", Dr. Keaton intervenes with a fatherly tone.


"Yeah, right. Sorry doc".

Holly looks around at her companions. "Does anyone else have anything to ask?" she inquires.

Father Flanagan raises a hand, then looks sheepish and lowers in again. "You mentioned that there was a very specific number of your group there that night, Mr. Job. Do you know why that was? Or what became of any... surplus members of your group, who may not have been there?"

Edgar starts speaking enthusiastically: "That night Echavarria casted a spell, for the summoning. It was a magic rit-"

"Edgar, let's try to keep it real, ok?"

"Yes, well, he said he was casting a spell. On me. On us. The number was important. I don't know this kind of stuff very well. Echavarria was the occult expert. Savitree, too. I can't tell you much. He cast that spell on me before that thing... the Fisher or whatever, showed up. I don't know what that spell was supposed to do, but I'm still alive, and that's something, right?" Edgar puts out the cigarette on the ashtray. "I don't know what happened to the rest of the cult. Most people were just there for the sex and the drugs, and you could easily find both of them in Los Angeles, if you knew where to search. I guess they just searched elsewhere". He shrugs.

"The number was 33," says Holly. "Its prime factors are three and eleven. It must have some occult significance, but I wouldn't know about it."

OOC,This sounds like Occult skill would be useful here. I know the significance of the number, but my character doesn't have Occult skill.

Christopher Fontana

Christopher quickly writes a few lines and tears the page out of his notebook and passes it to Dr Chastain.

Note,[font=Comic Sans MS]The number may be important. In occult terms 33 is believed to represent or have property for 'change brought about by sacrifice'. Usually symbolic in some kind of ritual. The 'cult' leaders had a specific goal in mind.[/font]

Clarence asks Job, " Mr Job, if we were to search out the remaining people from that night. Could you point us to a meeting place or an organization? "

"Well, we used to meet at Echavarria's place. He was rich, like, really rich. Had one of those huge houses, the kind of house people dream of. But it was more than ten years ago, I don't know what happened to it after he died. The address was... what the hell was it? Some boulevard. Large, with palms. Can't remember more", Edgar shrugs. "I have no idea where the others might be after all these years. I can tell you the farm where we held the ritual was called Blue Flowers, but I don't know if it even exists anymore".

Holly reads the note and nods, then passes it along to Father Flanagan. "Mr. Job, do you know if Echavarria intended to make some sort of offering or sacrifice as part of his ritual?" she asks.

"I... We never did that sort of stuff. Only the drugs... and the sex", Edgar replies curtly.

Assess Honesty,He looks nervous, he spoke too fast.

"There's something you're not saying," says Holly. "Surely Echavarria at least discussed it. Perhaps it wasn't actually done, if only because the ritual was interrupted before it happened. But he must have been planning something of the sort. That's what the significance is of the number 33, which was very important to him."

Edgar looks visibly distressed. "Echavarria would never do something like that... because that Thing was never there". He takes his head between his hands, shaking a little. "The Thing killed us, but the Thing was never there. So nobody died, right doc? Because the Thing was never there. And the spell kept me safe, because Echavarria cared. We were his people, after all. And the Thing was never there... never there..."

Dr. Keaton reaches Job and places an hand on his shoulder. "That's right, Edgar. People did die that night, but there was nothing supernatural about that. Only humans can be monsters in this world. You're doing great, Edgar. I'm proud of you." He turns towards you. "Please, leave. Wait for me in the entrance hall. I'll be there in a minute".

Ian starts to walk towards the door. He doesn't know what think. He was never religious or superstitious, but he was really impressed by Job. Even though he was telling himself that this... Thing, this Fisher was not there, the man really saw something. Or think he did. Was it just the drugs?

"Of course," says Holly, rising. "I hope you feel better, Mr. Job, and thank you for your help. I'll leave you in Dr. Keaton's capable hands." She steps out of the room and returns to the entrance hall.

Clarence looked on at the madman that was Mr Jobs. The sex and drugs he could understand and believe, but the worship and appearance of a 'thing', was a tale too far for Clarence to accept. He carried on looking, listening and taking notes. Oh well, at least this made a change to to the usual drudgery. It paid well. No doubt they would find more ex druggies locked up in a mental home in Los Angeles. Then he would return home with a nice fat pay cheque.

Dr. Keaton reaches you in the entrance hall after a few minutes: "Well, that was very interestin'... and helpful, I hope. It's the first time I get to see Mr. Job interact with someone that's not a doctor... or Mr. Henslowe. I believe there might be hope for him. He's still unstable, but seems to have realized that whatever happened that night was horrible, yet perfectly human. I hope one day he'll be able to cope with it, and perhaps I'll be able to give him some years of life outside this place. After all these years, I think he might deserve it. Well then, good luck on the road, and even though I've never met her, bring my condolences to Miss Winston."

"Thank you, Dr. Keaton," says Holly, shaking Dr. Keaton's hand. "I hope we were able to be of some help to your patients. While I'm a doctor too, I suppose I'm a rather atypical doctor, so talking to me was still a different experience for them, and my colleagues' presence was certainly helpful. I think we accomplished some breakthroughs today."

Clarence mentally stopped when the word 'spell' was mentioned. Its getting stranger. Nevertheless its another avenue of questioning. "Mr Job, you mentioned a spell. Can you tell us more about this spell that 'protected' you. What did it protect you from, and how do you get the spell?"

Christopher Fontana

Christopherwalks with the others back to the entrance hall of the sanitarium, his attention split between looking out for inmates with 'murderous' intentions and re-playing the interview with Job. While it was true that he hadn't knowingly interviewed anyone classified as insane before, he did have some experiences with people that were excitable. His professional work, investigating paranormal claims in and around the Boston area had given him a certain aptitude for guaging the veracity of people that he engaged with. Despite the unusal claims made by Job the man did seem sincere in what he believed happened, there wasn't any deliberate intention to mislead that he could tell.

Christopher thanked Dr Keaton, shaking his hand and assuring the other man that his bite-wound wasn't an issue; though in truth it was quite sore and the skin around the wound was hot and throbbed with pain whenether he moved his arm too fast. In a day or two it would be fine, he was sure.

"Well, I must say that was... interesting. I cannot profess a familiarity with anyone having Job's diagnosis but I am quite sure of his veracity. At least that he believed in what he was telling us, for him those events were real; but then that is the definition of being delusional. The fact that Job and Henslowe coroborate each other, to a large extent is unusual, would you agree Dr Chastain?" he asks as they leave the building.

"It's not as unusual as you might think, Mr. Fontana," says Holly. "I've made an extensive study of the phenomenon of folie a deux, or shared delusions. Usually the knowledge of the delusion spreads from one person to another, as Echavarria's followers seem to have learned their delusions from listening to him. He seems to have been charismatic, and they seem to have been impressionable. Henslowe hadn't interacted with Job or the others before that fateful night, but he seems to have picked up the same delusion indirectly. After investigating Echavarria's cult, he and his friends came to believe that they really could call forth this Fisher or whatever it was. The delusion affected them in a different way, however. They were determined to put a stop to the cult's activities, even to the point where they would risk their own lives in a violent confrontation."

"That makes sense. So this Echavarria must have been a hell of a speaker, huh?" Ian nods, trying to follow the conversation of his well educated companions. "What about this Fisher... this... Gol-Goroth? What is that? Some kind of demon, like Satan? Father Flanagan, have you ever heard this name before?"

Christopher Fontana

Something about the way Ian had asked his question 'rang a bell' with Christopher, he hadn't made the link during the interview but there was something about the name of the cult leader that was dredging up half-memories.

"South America! That's it..." Christopher stops, as if his sudden outburst has surprised him. "Sorry.. Echavarria that's a surname from the 'South Americas' I made the connection when Ian said the name again. I vaguely remember reading that Gol-Goroth, I'm pretty sure that was the name of a 'god' worshipped in places like Argentina and Columbia, pre-Columbus times. I'd have to check my books to be sure but I think the rites of 'worship' would have involved human sacrifice. I can telephone my secretary once we get back to the hotel and ask her to check for me, us I mean." he says.

OOC:   Plan of action: back to the hotel - Christopher needs a new shirt, possibly jacket too, then onto the Henslowe place?

"That makes sense," says Holly. "The Inca and other ancient cultures from that part of the world were known for practicing human sacrifice. Further research is a good idea."

OOC,Sounds good to me. If we have time, we can have a quick group therapy session to get back that lost Stablitiy. I can spend Psychoanlysis so that each person who lost Stablity gets back two points for each point I spend, and I've get plenty. It's not as efficient when used on myself, but [b]Father Flanagan[/b] has some Psychoanalysis too, and he can also get 2 for 1 when using it on someone else.

"Sounds right to me," Father Flanagan says idly, mulling over the day's events. "But how and why would a South American cult come here? This is... rather more than I was expecting to uncover."

OOC:   I'm happy to head straight to Henslowe's. Are we expecting trouble?

"I understand you completely, Father..." Ian says, lighting another Lucky.

OOC:   1 more vote for Henslowe Mansion.

Continues here: The Henslowe Mansion