Ch.12b. Caught somewhere in time

[Bullfrog]

"Let's get this over with." Lawrence sighs, looking defeated; at this moment, he felt a whole lot older than twenty-two. After a moment's reluctance, he steps into his circle.
"God have mercy on your soul, Alex."

[Mr. Handy]

"You're a better man than I am," William says to Alex as he steps into his circle. "Do we just think of home? What if we decide to return several months before we left? Would there then be two of each of us? Would we be able to change things that happened?"

[Silver Priest]

"I am." Alex nods. He turns to his companions and offers his gun. "Whichever of you is better with a gun, please take this. Just to remind Mr. Brophy to live up to his end of our arrangement."

"It will be alright." he tells his friends. "Perhaps I'll be a good influence on him, or he'll take this chance to lay low. At the very least, I'll do my part to get you both home. Please take care of yourselves, gentlemen." For a moment Alex looks as though he is going to tear up, but he maintains his composure, taking a deep breath before he addresses Brophy.

"I'm ready. Let's get on with this."

[Philulhu]

William has the slightly higher handgun skill (60% vs Lawrence’s 55%)

“Stand behind me,” Brophy instructed Alex. “Put your hands on my shoulders. There will need to be contact for the transference to work.” He shrugged his shoulders, like a boxer limbering up for a fight. He paused, then looked up keenly.

“I don’t think we have much time, gentlemen!” he said briskly. “I will need to conduct the transference while you open the gate for you to return to your own time. Repeat after me, ’Gla’aki ymg' hafh nyth'drn! H' tharanak wgah'nagl l' cahf! Iä! Iä! Gla’aki! Iä! Iä!’” He repeated it, correcting their pronunciation as they stumbled over the unfamiliar words, if words was indeed what they were.

“That will have to do!” he snapped, after a few more tries. “And don’t forget you need me alive if you want to get home!” and he started his own incantation, similar but different, and Alex felt the shoulders tense beneath his grasp, as his own hands clenched involuntarily, fingers digging in…

Can I have a listen and a POW role from everyone, please?

[Bullfrog]

The alien syllables feel completely out-of-place in Lawrence's mouth, as if they weren't meant to be spoken by human beings, yet he manages to pronounce them coherently nonetheless.
"Gla’aki ymg' hafh nyth'drn! H' tharanak wgah'nagl l' cahf! Iä! Iä! Gla’aki! Iä! Iä!"

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[Silver Priest]

Alex tries to ignore the terror he is feeling and focuses only on the unfamiliar words.

1d100 Listen 60

1d100 POW 75

[Mr. Handy]

William takes the gun and tries his best to pronounce the words correctly, hoping he doesn't mess up "Gla'aki."

Listen roll (68% skill) during the ritual:
d%
POW roll (65% stat) during the ritual:
d%

[Philulhu]

From one of the rooms towards the entrance, there was a metallic ‘clang!’ and the sound of muffled curses. “Keep the words going!” snapped Brophy. “If you stop, we’ll be stuck here!”

[Mr. Handy]

William continues chanting, gripping the gun tightly.

[Bullfrog]

Lawrence, having a strong desire to not continue being trapped 43 years in the future in a foreign country, carries on with the disconcerting chant. With any luck, this would be over with soon.

[Silver Priest]

Alex also continues to chant, hoping that he is doing the right thing.

[Philulhu]

As they continued chanting, William and Lawrence noticed that hazy tendrils of what looked like green-coloured steam were starting to rise from the pentagram. Questing like a vine would climb a tree, it started to drift upwards, slowly entwining their legs, bringing with it a bone-numbing cold. Teeth chattering, it became more difficult to say the words taught to them by Brophy and they stumbled once or twice, bringing a sharp rebuke from their teacher.

Alex could also feel the cold but he had more pressing concerns of his own. Starting at his fingertips, it felt as if something was slowly enveloping his fingers, then his hands, like a firm handshake that just wouldn’t go. As Brophy’s chant continued, Alex felt the vice-like grip pass his wrists and start to travel up his arms…

From the next room, they heard a faint noise. Through gritted teeth, Brophy hissed, “Shoot anyone who comes through that door, Mr Preston!”

Alex - SAN check, please. All - POW roll, please.

[Mr. Handy]

William takes aim at the door as he continues the chant, but whether he fires or not depends on who comes through the door, if anyone.

POW roll (65% stat) during the ritual:
d%

[Bullfrog]

Hoping desperately that things wouldn't have to come to violence, or at the very least nobody will have to be killed, Lawrence held steady with his chanting; he spoke the inhuman words as clearly as he could, even as the icy fog left him trembling. The young farmer could hardly even believe what he had gotten himself into.

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[Silver Priest]

Alex stumbles over the words, and it takes all his will to continue with this blasphemous ritual as he ignores the white hot terror that threatens to envelop him. Still, he seems to manage for the moment.

1d100 San 71

1d100 POW 75

[Philulhu]

As William watched, a figure stumbled through the doorway, illuminated in the ghostly green light given off from the pentagram. Average height, he had a shock of white hair and a full beard. Piercing green eyes caught the ghost light and gleamed, evilly.

From behind, Brophy hissed incredulously, almost fearfully, “Master Thomas?! Thomas Lee?! Shoot him or he will kill us all!”

Alex - lose 3 points of Sanity as you experience your body being taken over.

[Mr. Handy]

William can tell that this intruder is serious bad news, and he fires, striking him in the center of mass.

Handgun roll (60% stat) shooting at Thomas Lee:
d%
Damage to Thomas Lee from .38 bullet:
1d10
Do I get a second shot this round?

[Silver Priest]

Alex's eyes widen at seeing the shot, but he is more concerned with the increasing powerlessness he feels as his body begins to be taken over. Terror fills him, but he feels powerless to stop. Maybe he was, by now.

[Philulhu]

“What the bloody hell!?” said Thomas, mere moments before William’s first shot caught him in the chest. It looked like he’d tried to duck out of the way, but he was far too slow…

Yes, he can take another shot.

[Bullfrog]

Lawrence has to hold himself back from leaving the circle to fight off this intruder; he didn't know how Thomas Lee had survived for this long, but if Brophy was terrified of him, Thomas had to be a serious threat.