12d. A Walk in the Woods Re-visited (Sean)

[Philulhu]

”What? Have you miss out on the scoop of the year? ‘Witch’s family slaughter ancient foe’ - it’s your duty to tell the local people, so don’t run off.” She laughed dryly, but there was no humour in it.

While the lad with the air rifle guarded Sean, the man with the bull mastiff went to fetch two Jerry cans of fuel. ”Lead on,” she said, indicating to Sean that he was to go first…

[jp1885]

Sean rolls his eyes at his continued bad luck.

“Fine…”

Sighing with resignation, he leads them to the cellar door.

[Philulhu]

Hi JP, we’re slightly out of sync, time-wise, so I just need to pause until the others catch up. I’ll bring you back in as soon as I can!

[jp1885]

Yeah that’s not a problem

[Philulhu]

Sean has negotiated the steps before and knows they are tricky so what’s his approach here?

[jp1885]

At the risk of being a boring player, Sean is seriously freaked out and will run at the nearest opportunity! He’ll let the others go first and hang back if possible. Should they fall down, he’ll take the opportunity to scarper.

[Philulhu]

Sorry, I should have said that Sean’s been pushed to the front so it’s your lead.

The lad with the air rifle pushed it sharply into Sean’s back. ”After you!” he said, snidely.

[jp1885]

“Why me..?” mutters Sean to himself.

“Alright pal, I’m going.” he grumbles, slowly descending the steps.

[Philulhu]

Air rifle 1d100
Bull mastiff 1d100
Audrey 1d100

Luck 1d100

Forewarned by his previous side scent, Sean was able to descend without mishap. The same however, could not be said for the lad with the air rifle, nor the man carrying the cans of petrol, both of whom stumbled on the way down. There was a ‘phut’ sound and Sean heard something strike the brickwork in the darkness, along with a string of expletives and a sudden strong smell of petrol.

”You idiots!” hissed Audrey. ”You’ll give the game away!” and there was the sound of someone being struck, followed by a short yelp of pain.

In the corner of the room, Sean noticed a dark opening. Beside him, the bull mastiff stiffened and growled low in its throat, a sound that almost caused Sean to jump out of his skin!

[jp1885]

Suppressing a yelp, Sean tries to retreat into the shadows, as if the darkness will hide him from the madness.

“I-I don’t know where to go from here,” he stammers. “I didn’t go any further.”

[Philulhu]

Clearly angry, Audrey snapped, ”Over there, you idiot! Can you see any other ways out of here?!” She pointed towards the dark entrance while trying to avoid the spreading petrol on the floor.

[jp1885]

“Alright, alright; keep your hair on,” mutters Sean: now thoroughly fed up with his lot, but leading the way.

“Bloody hell, I wouldn’t want to return a book late…”

[Philulhu]

Dark, dank room followed dark, dank room. Sean stumbled forward, kept moving by one of Audrey’s two followers, with the dog snarling and snapping at his heels. After a while he noticed that the walls of the cellar had changed from brick to stone, albeit stone that had been worked by human hands (at least, Sean hoped they were human…)

After another five minutes, he noticed a greenish glow emanating from the doorway into the next chamber. Pausing to try to get a better look, he almost jumped out of his skin when Audrey whispered in his ear, ”What are they doing in there?!”

Can I have a listen roll, please?

[jp1885]

[73] = 73
Listen 60 d%: [ 73 ] = 73
Fail

Feeling utterly miserable and afraid, Sean hears nothing except the churning of his stomach.

[Philulhu]

“Useless!” snapped Audrey, keeping her voice low. She pulled Sean closer, grasping his head firmly in both hands. By the light of the green glow, he could see her eyes were screwed up in intense concentration as she muttered to herself in a language that Sean had never heard before.

“Janus, sweostor râd on−wendednes, oferhîeran mîn hrôpan.
Dôð wlitehêrof hæleð ðêah−hwæðere scieppan sê lêo.
Hê b¯æneðætte mâl hêrespel cûð sîene samðe in phrase samðsamð lôc hê.
Janus, sweostor un−l¯æd âwending, oferhîeran mîn langian.”

Her eyes snapped open and Audrey studied him intently before chuckling dryly. “That will do nicely,” she said, and she pushed him roughly through the doorway and into the next room…

[jp1885]

Spluttering with indignation, confusion and fear, Sean staggers into the next room, wondering just how worse his day can become.

[Philulhu]

The walls of the stone cavern in which Sean found himself were lit with an unholy green light emanating from the centre of the room. Blinking to clear his vision, Sean realised that he wasn’t alone. In the centre, inside a symbol marked on the floor that was shrouded in roiling steam, were the three Americans and the man they called Brophy.

Brophy stared at him, with fear writ large on his face. “Master Thomas?! Thomas Lee?!” he hissed. ”Shoot him or he will kill us all!”

With mounting horror, Sean watched as William brought up a pistol, took aim and fired…

Sean might want to try to dodge that…

[jp1885]

[88] = 88
Dodge 25 d%: [ 88 ] = 88

“What the bloody hell!?”

Dumbfounded, Sean is much too slow to avoid the bullet…

[Philulhu]

As the bullet hit his chest, Sean felt heat and a spreading burning sensation. Looking down, he saw blood seeping through his tank top and he felt sick.

From the middle of the room, he heard another gunshot! William had fired again!

Do you want to try to dodge the second one, then I’ll cover damage?

[jp1885]

[71] = 71
Dodge 25 d%: [ 71 ] = 71
Oh well…

Sean staggers back under the impact of the first bullet.

“Mate, what’re you doing? It’s me, Sean!”

Then the second bullet fires and the terrified reporter stumbles.