Play@YSDC

Ann Veronica

Luck,Luck 70: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/556350]Luck[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]78[/b]

SAN,SAN 70: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/556352]SAN[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]86[/b] SAN loss: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/556353]SAN loss[/url]: [u]1d8[/u] [b]4[/b] Sanity now 66.

Ann Veronica clutches her head as she feels the alien presence in her mind. The sensation is beyond description. The loathsome touch of the worm in the one place she would expect to be inviolate causes her to gasp in terror and revulsion.

This only makes her more determined to stop what is happening. This time, she brings her fists down on the controls.

Fist,Fist 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/556361]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]68[/b] I just can't get those successful rolls tonight.

Diane stays focused on the task at hand, seizing the vial and hurrying back to Gordon's side. She pours the precious liquid down his throat. "Break the bloody machine, or grab the cube!" she calls to the police.

OOC,You need to lose at least 5 Sanity in one hit to have a chance of going temporarily insane, so you should still be able to act and give the machine another kick. Luck roll (75% stat) for [b]Juk-Shabb[/b]'s mental attack: [dice]0[/dice] Sanity roll (current level 72) for seeing the worm-things: [dice]1[/dice]

Absolom Peredue Somerhayes

Luckily the bulk of the inspector shields Absolom’s eyes from the full horror of the scene. At Diane’s urgent cry he adds his own urging, “Yes Inspector shoot the infernal machine!!”

Luck,[url=http://orokos.com/roll/556516]Luck Roll 60%[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]59[/b] Just!

San,[url=http://orokos.com/roll/556518]San Roll; current sanity 54%[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]7[/b] -1 Sanity Loss; current sanity now 53%

James suddenly feels a sharp stabbing pain behind his temples, causing him almost to black out. At the edges of his mind, he vaguely senses an alien consciousness trying to claw its way in. Mustering all his remaining willpower, he manages to shrug off its influence, but only barely...

Exhausted from his physical and mental exertions, James collapses on the floor, panting...

The Elixir Viti has an immediate revivfying effect. Mr McKerry regains consciousness and opens his eyes to see Miss Siddons at his side.

Mr. McKerry: Miss Poole again strikes the device. Sergeant Mulverhill joins in at Miss Siddons' urging. At Reverend Somerhayes' shout Inspector Cleveland fires his revolver into the machine.

James finally manages to recover enough to act again. Seeing everyone make an attempt to destroy the machine, as soon as the inspector stops to reload, he joins in the fray and tries to damage the infernal device as much as possible.

Under the combined efforts of the investigators and police, the humming, rattling machine's activity ceases, gears grinding to an abrupt halt. With an ominous rumble and great venting of steam and sparks, the device explodes.

At once the invading tunnel stretching through the wall to some other world begins to shrink. With a mental blast of rage which echoes in the minds of all present, the shimmering sphere of the Great Old One Juk-Shabb is sucked through the diminishing funnel, along with the shadow-shape apparently possessing the Chinese man.

In the heart of the now-destroyed communicating machine the crystalline cube fades away and vanishes as the tunnel closes and is gone.

In the ensuing stunned silence the Chinese man lets out a sudden howl of anguish. Yet his voice when he speaks is that of an upper-class British gentleman, and an oddly familiar one at that. "No! You fools! What have you done to me? I must go back to Yekub! There I am a god!" He scrabbles futilely at the remains of the machine.

Inspector Cleveland steps forward warningly. "Now then, what's the meaning of all this? Who are you?"

With crazed eyes the man stares down at his body as if seeing it for the first time. "I am John Bidwell. I cannot live in this socially-unaceptable body. I cannot."

With that he turns and flees from the room.

"Stop him!" cries Inspector Cleveland, and he and the police constables set off in pursuit, leaving the investigators to reflect on their experiences.

Over the next few days life gradually returns to normal as the police continue to seek answers for these bizarre occurrences where it seems none may be found.

The scrolls discovered in the cabinet in the opium den office are identified as the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, an obscure work by the Chinese philosopher Hsan, which discusses occult subjects ranging from the proper way to deal with a dead sorcerer, to the many forms of Nyarlathotep, to the myriad realms of dream. These are entrusted to the care and study of the British Museum.

The letter, once translated from Chinese, is revealed to read:

My most loyal servants, I entrust to your care this vial and these scrolls. Protect them with your lives and keep them hidden until I return to England, and then give them to no one but me. Failure to do this shall result in the pain of a thousand slow deaths. --your Master, Dr. Fu Manchu.

Lee Ho Fook, the owner of the House of the Yellow Dragon restaurant and opium den, is arrested by Sergeant Craig while attempting to flee. Before being sent to prison, upon questioning he admits to taking orders from the Si-Fan's absent leader, but claims to have resented the fact that the mysterious "Yekubian" interloper had usurped his control, and had indeed taken quiet steps to aid the investigators' cause that evening.

As for the unknown Chinese man who claimed to have been inhabited by the specter of John Bidwell, he was never caught and was found later, having flung himself into the Thames to drown to his death.

Everyone:

It is some weeks later when the surviving investigators meet once more, on an overcast morning at the funeral of their sadly-departed companion Mr. Cecil Copeland, whose family in Wiltshire have requested Reverend Absolom Peredue Somerhayes to perform the last rites. Also present at the funeral to pay their respects are Inspector Martin Cleveland, Detective Sergeant John Craig and Detective Sergeant James Mulverhill of Scotland Yard; the celebrated psychic Mr. Godfrey Williamson; several of those noted personages who were in attendance at the seance where it all began; Dr. Campbell from the British Museum; and relatives of the deceased butler Hanson and Constable Baker, along with several members of the Limehouse Chinese community.

Professor James Powell has recently received an honorary invitation from the British Museum to take up a full-time position as a lecturer and researcher. Perhaps the influence of the director Dr. Campbell, whom you know to be an ally of the Masons, has been a factor. Nevertheless it is a significant offer for him to consider which will provide financial stability and distraction in the wake of his recent bereavement.

Miss Diane Siddons' valiant role in assisting the police with their inquiries concerning the scandal of John Bidwell's murder has generated much interest in the newspapers and society magazines. As a consequence of her celebrity she now finds herself one of the most famous and in-demand actresses in London, with theaters across the country and beyond eager to have her perform upon their stages.

Miss Ann Veronica Poole has likewise found her talents as an artist in great demand since, and soon after receives a letter inviting her to attend a solicitor's office. It seems the executors of the late John Bidwell's estate have made provision of a generous stipend in patronage of the arts: one which will grant her the leisure and financial freedom to eventually gain true independence, should she accept. Perhaps the Masons' grateful influence is felt here, too?

Mr. Gordon McKerry has noticed some curious beneficial effects from imbibing the 'Elixir Viti'. He feels in rude good health as he has never felt before and indeed over the next several years he will observe that he never falls ill, and in fact seems to have stopped physically aging at all. Perhaps a regular intake of the mysterious potion could even conceivably grant immortality?

As they all gather around the grave, perhaps their thoughts turn from the terrors of the past to what promise the future might hold.

Diane is saddened by the loss of Mr. Copeland, but she knows that if not for her quick thinking and actions, there would be at least two more dead, and possibly many more. She hadn't known him long, but the sorrow is still deeply felt. She is relieved to see that Mr. McKerry is in excellent health, completely recovered from his brush with death - and then some. Her acting career is really starting to take off now, with people flocking to see her perform, little knowing of the impact she has made on the stage of the world. The roles she plays on the theatre stage, once seeming larger than life to her, now pale in comparison to the role she has played in reality. It is good to be reunited with the rest of her band of brothers - and sisters.

The prospect of financial independence is too great to resist for Ann Veronica. She gladly accepts the stipend, and just hopes that it comes without too many strings attached. She plans to move to London, and hopefully can keep in touch with her new companions, especially Diane, to whom she is particularly indebted.

Meanwhile, one artistic side project is a rendition of the awful scene she witnessed of the alien creatures. Maybe that one won’t be for public viewing.

Having returned from the brink of death, only to be revived -- Heaven knows how! -- to an extraordinary state of health, Gordon is subdued, awed by mysteries beyond mortal ken.

Requiescat in pace. Will the familiar words ever mean the same?