Play@YSDC

[Spoiler-Button]Seamus has a Luck of 60

He rolls:[dice]1[/dice]
[/Spoiler-Button]
[dice]0[/dice]

After the Major Arcana and the Knights were removed, the Tarot deck had the same composition as a regular deck of playing cards, albeit with different suits. This was no surprise, as Benjamin well knew, since the traditional playing card deck was in fact based on the Tarot deck. Benjamin's hand was junk, with his high card a Jack. Archie did a little better than that, with a pair of fours. However, Seamus easily won the round, revealing a straight with a ten high.

OOC,I'll just count the first roll.

A gleam comes over Seamus' eyes as he collects the cards and begins to shuffle. "Now for me prize. Tell me the scariest thing you've ever experienced."

Benjamin hesitates at first. "The scariest thing I've ever encountered? A few years back, one morning I found the word "Jude" on the door of my tailor shop in Berlin... " He closes his eyes and shudders. "And now I'm here, stuck in this shelter. It seems I did not run away far enough..." He falls silent.

Archie grins and reaches over to give Benjamin a cheery clap on the shoulder. "Well, I can't argue that perhaps New York would have been safer as a final destination, saving the gun-toting bootleggers, gangsters, cowboys and Indians one sees at the cinema. On the other hand, old son, you are on an island filled with people who dislike Herr Hitler about as much as you do. And as Mr Churchill has said," and here Archie draws breathe and adopts the jowly long vowels of the famous leader, "We shall never surrender."

Turning to Seamus, Archie considers. "So, I must redeem my debt, hmm, scariest experience. I am slightly tempted to say being forced to eat haggis with the Home Fleet at Scapa. But secretly, I've started developing a taste for the stuff."

"No, hunting U-boats in the Atlantic at night in winter, when it's blowing, it's pitch black, there are huge cresting waves and it's freezing. Then your ship is torpedoed, you feel it and you can see the red-orange of a fuel fire. Then you wonder, will something hard hit you, will you get burnt, will you fall into water full of floating, burning oil, will you drown or freeze? And what about all the men you have been ministering too, facing the same varied fates?"

Archie takes a deep breathe and smiles. "As it turns out, something hard hits you, lights out, and you awaken in a lifeboat. One of the few."

Seamus mentally compares his experiences to those of the two men. He immediately regrets asking such a provocative question, not because of the pain it must have caused these two men, but for the memories brought to the surface within himself. After an awkward pause, Seamus snaps himself back to reality and looks at Archie and Benjamin.

"Woah," he exclaims. "You boys have really lived. Is it weird to feel jealous of the shite you two went through? My stories would be significantly less impressive."

Archie barks a short laugh. "You have nothing to be jealous of or apologise for. If I had my wish, none of us would ever experience anything so frightening."

"Anyway, frightening is nothing new. I imagine Boadicea's people were frightened of the Romans, and later the Saxons would have been rightly terrified of the Vikings. Then the Normans would have been scary again, and speaking French. Your own nation would have been hardly pleased to see Cromwell and his murderous army. We must pray the future brings more civilised times."

Seamus shows a grin without much happiness within it. "I'm impressed by your knowledge of history. I don't know who Baudahoochie is but my people are descended from Vikings. Maybe that's why we can't stop fecking killing each other." He reaches out and pats Archie on the shoulder, "Your unbridled optimism leaves a lot to be desired though friend. In my experience, the more you strive for peace the more devastating the fall when mankind inevitably disappoints you. Better to rely on the erring of man than to trust in it doing right."

Benjamin stands up and walks to the cellar's door, puts his ear against it and listens for a while. "I can't hear anything. It's been a while since the last round of shelling. I wonder how long they'll keep us waiting until they sound the all-clear. Or perhaps there's no one left anymore to sound the all-clear..." He shudders.

[dice]0[/dice]

Archie pauses in his chatting and card play to caste an eye over the basement. He is looking for what appears to be the safest place, perhaps under an arch or under a pew?

Benjamin notices Archie looking around. "Wait, you heard that too right? Everyone, hide under a pew, aircraft are coming!". He ducks under the nearest pew, nervously peering out from under it.

Archie raises his hands for attention. "Benjamin is in fact correct. No need for fuss but it might be a good idea to look for something solid to sit under. A table, an arch, a pew even."

Archie will assist anyone who needs assisting to move.

To cheer everyone up as he attempts to organise them, Archie cheerily pipes up, "I'm trying to write a good wartime song but I haven't got very far. Tell me what you think though." He clears his throat and commences a jaunty little song...

"Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler,
If you think we're on the run?
We are the boys who will stop your little game.
We are the boys who will make you think again..."

OOC,With all credit and many apologies to Mr Jimmy Perry and colleagues of course.