Play@YSDC

By the time everyone returns to the Nennington Arms, the Nutters are gathering in the skittle alley - pints in hand and excited grins on their faces.

The pub itself appears to be equally lively - no doubt the opposing team are making themselves comfortable until it's their turn to bowl.

Mike Butterfield lumbers out of the alley, accompanied by a grinning Neil.

"There they are! Our star players!" he bellows.

Behind him, the Nutters cheer.

Jordan grins. "Honestly, I'm not that good," he says, "but I'll do my best and have fun doing it."

Skipper gives a modest wave and a grin. "Right, time for a cleansing ale before battle commences."

He adds to his colleagues, "I hope everyone realises that my first two efforts were a complete fluke. There's no guarantees that is going to happen again, if this all goes relatively normally. On the other hand, maybe Ben Kenobi will offer me guidance from the other side. Proton torpedo, exhaust port."

Skipper heads off in the quest for fine local beer and then a spot to light up a cigar.

Any sign of the Rev?

Izzy is in full agreement, as far as a cleansing pint goes, but she decides to make it half a pint of Rosie's cider instead. Probably better to keep at least some wits about her if a revenant does show up, after all.

"Actually, I didn't mention it earlier, but I do go bowling a lot with my mates. I'm not that bad, actually. Plus, if we're playing on behalf on the Nutters... well, since it's a home game, I have a feeling we're almost guaranteed to win..."

If there are supernatural doings afoot, then it shouldn't be too difficult for Izzy to keep her mind focused on sensing anything magical as the team plays. As soon as an errant ghostly hand nudges the ball one way or another, she'll be ready...

Assuming (hoping!) that she wasn’t expecting to take part, Des retreated to one of the stools at the back and settled down with her J2O to watch the match.

Leo danced through the door, making crowd noises as he did so. "I'll certainly give it a shot," he said. Then he moved over to Des, giving her a knowing at Des. "After all, this is the Nutter's home alley, you know... Nudge, nudge, wink wink."

Those in the pub...

It's much busier in the front bar than it was earlier, with the locals sharing the space with the Nutters' opponents - Walt's Ramblers from the Cross Keys, you discover.

Despite the fact that the match hasn't even started, the Ramblers look already half-defeated. Muttered accusations of cheating dampen what would otherwise be an exciting event in the rural sporting calendar.

Behind the bar, Dominic looks equally as surly, serving drinks with a smile that does little to lighten his sour expression.

Those heading into the alley...

You step into the building surrounded by back-slapping and high-fiving middle-aged men, as the Nennington Nutters crowd elatedly around you. Butterfield seems particularly beside himself with excitement - a stark contrast to the dour and cynical former detective you met earlier.

Please roll Sense Vestig- actually, don't bother. The atmosphere is thick with the vestigia you felt during your previous visit, but this time it's way stronger. The scatter of skittles, the rumble of balls, the snatch of a song and that petrol smell.

You feel it swirling around you and the Nutters. A wave of elation washes over you...

Des frowned. She was feeling the urge to be cheerful and that just felt… wrong.

Skipper doesn't love the atmosphere in the pub. He's been in enough pub fights for one lifetime. He grabs a beer, raises it slightly to Dominic by way of 'cheers', and heads outside. Skipper finds a free space at an outside table somewhere to sit anonymously. He fishes out a cigar and fires it up with his Zippo, careful not to gross anyone out with passive smoke.

"I have a feeling we're going to win," says Jordan as he enters the alley. "Is there time to get some practice in?"

If Leo hadn't already dealt with the timey-wimey stuff earlier, the strong vestigia would have been even more overwhelming. As it was, he paused for a moment before proceeding.

One doesn't make it to DC without paying one's dues; he'd helped break up plenty of London brawls after football matches so while he knew he could acquit himself well should things in here go pear-shaped, he would miss his faithful old stab vest.

He high-fives all of his teammates and passes in front of the other team, trying to get a better sense of where the vestigia is centered.

I am going to try to determine more specifically the source of the vestigia by walking around the perimeter of the alley high-fiving teammates and mildly taunting opponents. I know it is currently crowded, so that may not be possible logistically. Hopefully, now that it's much stronger, it will be easier to determine.

Sense Vestigia (60/30): 1d100

"Oh, we don't need to practice!" bellows Butterfield.

"Let's get your names on the board..." he pauses for a second, working out who to write down first. "I'll lead the charge, then Neil, you can follow up. Then... yeah, our two newcomers."

He turns to you all. "What names am I putting down?"

Leo, the vestigia feels strongest around the playing area, where the players bowl from.

The wave of positivity passes over Izzy and she immediately thinks about stepping outside for a moment and calling Alice, but given the job at hand and the time she thinks better of it. They can always have a conversation later on instead. Besides, right now Alice is likely busy feeding Freya and settling down to watch something on Netflix.

Izzy heads across to Mike Butterfield, walking over with her half pint and leaning in to speak without prying ears listening. She pulls up the photo on her phone of the Nutters and the urn, from earlier, showing it to Mike. She doesn't mind if she's part of the team or if the others are more eager to step up, since she'll be focusing on tracing the supernatural dealings anyway whether she plays or not.

"Just when you get a moment, while we're sorting out the team, I don't suppose you're ever seen the urn in this picture before, have you? We think it's connected to whatever's happening here."

She doesn't give too much away, but watches carefully for any reaction from Mike to the picture of the urn and the runes that decorate it.

Observation: 60%

1d100

"You can put mine down," says Jordan. "Jordan Schneider. I'll bowl last."

Skipper puffs away on his cigar and drinks his beer in relative quiet. He watches the crowd in the pub with interest, and assumes someone will find him if he's late to Skittle. He wonders if there have ever been any Skittle related riots through history.

As an afterthought, he makes sure his phone is de-batteried.

Skipper - As you light up your cigar, you become aware of lots of angry looks being thrown in your direction.

Dominic hurries over, picking up some empty glasses as he does so.

"Hey, no smoking! What d'you think this is - the eighties? There's a shelter outside if you want to kill yourself."

In the skittle alley, Butterfield chalks up Jordan's name before craning his thick neck to look at Izzy's phone.

"Nah, ain't seen nothing like that. Neil, what about you?"

Neil also looks, but shakes his head.

"Dunno why you're asking though. Now, you bowling or not? You want me to put your name down?"

Izzy - you notice nothing weird, save a bunch if overly-excited middle-aged men.

If you really want to check their reactions, how about a Read Person roll?

"Sure, I'll give it a go. Izzy Cooper, that's spelled with a 'Y."

Izzy sees nothing, but she takes a slightly closer look just to see if she can pick up any sort of tell or subtle cue in the men's faces or body language...

OOC:   Sorry, forgot there was a Read Person skill! Same percentage for that, 60% for Izzy.

1d100

Skipper mutters apologies and heads to the shelter to finish his cigar and beer.

"Leo," Leo added quickly. "Just like it sounds. L-E-O..."

He moved back to the Nutters area, and as soon as he got a chance, he muttered to Izzy, "It's strongest at the actual bowling spot, and it appears to be having the opposite effect on the other team. No wonder they win so often here."

*I wonder if there is something buried under that spot...*

"Where's Skipper?" asks Jordan. "He should definitely play."