Part 1 - Ice and Time

[SunlessNick]

"Please..." he coughs out.

[Mr. Handy]

"Remember what we discussed earlier with the voodoo man, " says Jacqueline to Ellis, hoping to remind him of the solution without saying what it is in front of Covington.

[HoneyDog]

Ellis has no idea what Jacqueline is getting at.

"Let's go. Leave him here."

[Mr. Handy]

"It was the first thing he told us," says Jacqueline, seeing he still doesn't remember, "about the solution."

[SunlessNick]

OOC,It's only been an hour or so for Ellis, so it's fair to say he'd remember: Isiah Washington suggested that one of two solutions you found to the equation would open the "door" for Covington, while the other would fully close it.

On the other hand, while he doesn't appear injured in the conventional sense - you still can't see any blood, from his back or his mouth - the bullet from Jacqueline's gun seems to have affected him as it would any other man.

In any case, Ellis can see the correlation between the light-traceries around you all and the equation he solved - he can identify which part of it corresponds to the way out of this limbo, whatever it truly is.

Alexander and James are both on their feet now. Both are shaking, but they no longer look afraid.

[HoneyDog]

Understanding, Ellis takes out his notebook and pen, and starts to calculate.

[SunlessNick]

OOC,Secret roll against mathematics.

You can calculate a direction and an angle at which to walk into the tracery, corresponding to the solution to the equation - and a second direction and angle that should leave one hopelessly caught within it.

[HoneyDog]

Ellis will lead everyone in the necessary direction.

[Mr. Handy]

"Aren't you forgetting something we have to do first?" asks Jacqueline.

[HoneyDog]

OOC, Sorry, I have no idea what Ellis is supposed to do.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC, I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you more than the Keeper already told you in [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?p=249669#p249669]the spoiler button in this post[/url], but please read it carefully and look back at the early part of the first conversation we had with [b]Isiah[/b].

[SunlessNick]

OOC,As I said, it's only been an hour or so for the Investigators - say anything you want.

[HoneyDog]

OOC, Is the idea to trick him into thinking he has an exit?

[SunlessNick]

OOC,I think that's what MrHandy is getting at. But you'd need to convince him you're being either compliant or merciful, both of which might be difficult. Or you could trust that Isiah's wards will work once you're out of here and he's completed them. Or a few more bullets might be enough to end whatever facsimile of life he's been maintaining.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC, Yes, that's exactly what I meant. It's really up to [b]Ellis[/b], as he's the one with the solution and its opposite.

[HoneyDog]

Ellis hesitates.

"I could give you a way out" he says to Covington. "But not with us. I won't have you anywhere near these boys and their family. Do you understand?"

[SunlessNick]

Covington searches your face, but seems to believe you. "I agree," he says. His voice is growing stronger and his breathing more even. "I have no need of them once I am on Earth again."

[HoneyDog]

"Then get out of here!"

Ellis points towards the angle which should trap Covington.

[Mr. Handy]

Jacqueline watches to see what happens when Covington tries to leave. This will also allow them to verify that Ellis has indeed calculated the solution correctly. If Covington is trapped, they'll know Ellis has the right answer. If he escapes, that would be regrettable, but they'll be able to use the same angle to escape themselves.

[SunlessNick]

Covington climbs to his feet, the pain from injury apparently fading. "If you speak truly, I shall keep my word - you and my descendants will not be troubled again. If you lie, I will haunt your mind until it breaks beneath my hands."

Presumably you do not take the opportunity to come clean.

He walks into the tracery without looking back. His form seems to distort as he comes into contact with it - it's hard to focus on him - he seems almost to blend into the light. You hear a triumphant exclamation, which seems to come from both impossibly far away, and from all around you - and is suddenly cut short, becoming a scream, which is itself cut short an instant later.

There is no further sign or sound of him.

Jacqueline,There was something familiar about the way his body blurred... it reminds you of the way the crowd in the Savannah Club looked when Walter Locke was playing the Heart Music.

"Is... is he dead?" Alexander asks.