Play@YSDC

"Right, then let's check the watercloset to make sure we are not missing anyone," Artemis agreed. He picked up the torch in his left hand and readied his walking stick in his right. He nodded at Ms. Kate when he was ready for her to open the door.

Kate nods and makes her way to the door, carefully avoiding the glass. When she reaches it, she tries to open the door.

It's not too difficult to avoid the glass. Perhaps it did come from the overhead light exploding? Opening the door into the water closet, they see a trail of suspicious looking rust brown stains leading into the next compartment (7) whose door is closed and locked from this side. A book sits on the ground, laying open, written in what appears to be French. There are no stains on the book.

"What is going on in this train?" Artemis shook his head and reached down for the book. German and Latin where his expertise. He flipped the book close and waived the closed book at Ms. Kate.

"Recognize this one?" Artemis asked with a shrug.

There's a mouth pinned to the front cover, lips spread open around the title, flaps of skin from the chin and cheeks and that bridge between nose and mouth pinned to the wood. Due to how he closed it and swung it up to present to Kate, Artemis won't be the one who notices it first.

Stability Loss 3 on a failed roll.

OOC,technically you could read your post a few different ways but this is the most cinematic option and it doesn't really mess with anything to have you accidentally present a gruesomely decorated book to her.

When Kate before she sees the cover, she screams and shoves it away. "Oh, how horrid!" She hugs herself, shivering.

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

Artemis was taken aback by Miss Kate's reaction to a simple book. "What is it Kate?" He pulled the book down and looked about the cabin to try to find what had caused her to react as she did. It had to be something like what he saw in the other room.

"Th-that," says Kate, pointing at the book, her arm trembling. "I think I can safely say I've never seen that book before."

Artemis shook his head at Miss Kate not understanding her reaction from a simple book. He looked down at it when she pointed at it in a rather paniced manner. "I don't see what you are all concerned about regarding a book."

As he said it, he flipped the book over with a twist of his wrist and saw the mouth that was tacked to the front cover. His eyes went wide and his face snarled in revulsion.

[Spoiler-Button][dice]0[/dice] spending one stability point of the 6 remaining. [/Spoiler-Button]

"Yeah," says Kate, seeing his reaction. "I know the feeling. What's it doing here? Who would even make a thing like this?"

"No clue," Arty tossed the book to the floor and tried wiping the taint of the book off his fingers as he shuddered. His neck tightened and his face shifted into a terrible scwol. "I am really starting to hate this train, Miss Kate."

"You're preaching to the choir," says Kate with a grimace. "Come on, let's check the next compartment. We need to find anyone on this train before that air raid gets here."

Arty followed after Ms. Kate as they walked back into the sleeping car's central corridor. He readied himself at the next door with his walking stick at the ready. He face twitched as he tried to wipe the image of the face bound onto that book. He had not seen somethig that grisly for some time. He nodded at Ms. Kate and said, "Maybe this time we can find something we could actually understand and explain."

"Fifth time's the charm," says Kate. "Or is it sixth? I've lost count." Shrugging, she positions herself beside the next compartment door and raps on it.

As she rapped on the next compartment's door, Artemis readied his walking stick in preparation for what may be found within this compartment. His mouth twitched a bit as he waited.

There is no response to the rapping at the door but there is a vague sound coming from further along the train towards the social cars.... A high, sharp sound. A scream? A shout? Impossible! In this silence you should be able to hear such a thing clearly.

"The compartments can wait," says Kate, already heading towards the sound. "Someone could be hurt! Come on!"

Arty looked back at the door and then shook his head. "Fine, I am not sure it is best to leave our flanks exposed as we push forward the line, but fine."

He walked after her. His walking stick tapping out a rythmatic tattoo in the train's corridor.

This can't be right. There haven't been any sleeping cars on British trains since the war began. They're a waste of space, really. Trains these days are so packed with troops that even families have a hard time getting onboard. Yet here is this sleeping car looking as flash as anything one might expect to see on the Orient Express. The wood panelling is beautiful, with light touches and detailing here and there. The pale green blinds are each down. The electric lamps in their delicate lamp shades gives the cramped aisle a cozy glow. The aisle is cramped enough passengers moving along it in opposite directions must flatten themselves against the windows that line the right or the doors and interior walls that line the left in order to pass. The compartment doors are marked with 10 compartment numbers. This place is so nice and even the brown-patterned carpet so nice that few would have stepped onto such a luxury train compartment before. The fold up seat at the other end of the aisle, where the conductor would sit, has a simple peaked hat sitting on top of the clipboard.

It's cold in here, though. Don't luxury trains have some sort of centralised heating these days?

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Leave for the Platform.