Ezeze

Again? How often are we hiding corpses?

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ ■ ■ Harm □ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience □ □ □ □ □ David might be having an 'off day,' but Ekram is on to something. Time to get our new friend out of the way so he can poke around. "Oh, that's a good idea, putting hoardings up. Better than letting someone hurt themselves, yes? Let me help, then. It's been a bit since I've been around Merton, but the storage is down this way right?" He assumes the air of a confused old man and sets off, hoping to pull the porter in his wake - and give the others time to investigate further. OOC I'm going to spend my banked advance to increase Charm, which works because it's where I was thinking about putting it anyway, then roll to Manipulate this NPC. Edit: I attempted the roll and failed, but I don't want everyone floundering around with nothing further to do until something happens. Not with Alice's life on the line. So I am going to go ahead and spend a Luck point - Mr. Porter happens to have, or had, a beloved old grandad who got a little confused sometimes, too, and he's got a soft spot 😄

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm □ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience □ □ □ □ □ (+1 banked Advance) Sophie's read on David was spot on, of course. It always was. He wasn't behind a desk anymore, was out making a real difference. And he had been spared most of the burns the others had been subject to, the worst of his injuries having been some bad smoke inhalation that had left him with a rough cough all throughout Christmas but had then cleared up - a far cry from the worst of the injuries he'd gotten doing this sort of work back in his youth. But age had stolen much of his vigor. He was slower to heal than he had been. And then there was the guilt. How could he be feeling upbeat when his charges had been so injured under his watch? He wasn't sure what he could have done better, but that doesn't assuage his feeling that they were so hurt as a direct result of his shortcomings. David is a thoughtful man, more prone to studying data than inferring outcomes. So while Ekram makes a cut call, he mulls over the exact words texted to them. Over and over again. Was there some sort of code hidden within them? Some secret instructions, or more detailed call for help?

Kambei Hunger □ □ □ □ ☑ Willpower □ □ □ □ ☑ Health □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ "How interesting" Kambei remarks aloud. He speaks to the person directly, asking "Are you not able to hear me, or simply not able to respond?" He's almost certainly not a vampire, else Kambei's beast would feel his. So Kambei runs a battery of tests. Snapping, then clapping in front of the man's face. Ordering him to introduce himself first in his normal voice, then ordering him to introduce himself calling upon the powers of his blood (using Compel, let me know if I need to roll for that).

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ ■ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ The younger folk had been quicker to react than David, and he was lucky for it. But David knows something that they don't; where the fire extinguishers are kept. With the drauger defeated and gone, he makes a sprint (or as close as he can mange) for one. Because the first priority is always to save the congregation, of course. A church is its people, more than a building. But saving the building, too, sure would be nice. He'll pass the first few fire extinguishers he can lay hands on to willing volunteers - the other members of the Society if possible, but they've already done more than enough if not - keeping only the last one he knows of for himself.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ David taps Sophie and Annika on the shoulder. With a nod of his head, he leads them all over to Reverend Alice Smith. "Reverend" he says, politely. "Is anyone hurt? Can we do anything to help?"

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ David rests his hand on Sophie's. "Now Sophie" he chides, gently. "I thought you knew me better than that." "If there is really no risk, I won't be harmed any by going to take a look. But if there is a risk, how could I live with myself when I could have prevented a disaster and did nothing? "I promise if I don't find anything, I'll right to home and we'll try again tomorrow. But I have to go look."

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ "Well, then our next stop has got to be the Cathedral at Christchurch" David says. "I am going. You are free to accompany me." That last bit was directed at Sophie, Annika and Sigurdur all. Any of them, individually or as a group, are welcome to join him. But there isn't anything they can do to stop him.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □ How fascinating. And horrific, of course. Terrible business, not respecting the sanctity of the church. Killing hundreds of people. Though, mmm, how interesting that they are all fighting-age men. No women, no children, no elderly. David continues to poke around.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □ David looks over his companions with a critical eye. Ekram and Hal were not OK. Very much not OK. Sigurdr was unconcious. That left himself, Annika and Sophie able-bodied. They had to take care of their teammates, yes, but they also needed to dig deeper into this mystery. They may not get another chance to investigate like this. Or worse, that chance may only come after the draugr has killed again. So he makes a judgement call. Maybe it's a bad one, but it's the one he can make with the information he has. David fishes his keys out of his pocket and tosses them, under-handed, to Annika. "Take the boys to my place. You saw where I keep the medical supplies. Get them stable. Sophie and I will be there to help as soon as we can." That done he grabs one of the lanterns, holds it aloft, and - with a nod to Sophie to indicate she should follow - lowers himself down into the excavation. He crawls on hands and knees if need be, but he needs to get a better look figure out what's really going on here.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □ It has been a long time since David was quick enough on his feet to be of any use in a fight like this. Age and decades behind a desk have dulled his reflexes. But he's still got his eyes, can still find a way to do something to help.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience □ □ □ □ □ David finds himself surprised to be consulted. He furrows his brows together. "No, no, of course not" he agrees with Hal's assessment that holding Sigurdr responsible for killings committed while under the drauger's control would be unfair. "The only witnesses to see him at the scene of the unfortunate events are currently in this room, yes? We need only keep mum. With no leads, and no rational motivation to lead them back to this gentleman, the police will flounder for a while and it will, unfortunately, land upon their pile of unsolved cases. All the more reason for us, who know what really happened, to bring justice to the real culprit, yes?" "In fact" David continues, turning his attention back to Sigurdr. "Fleeing suddenly may draw undue attention to you. It may be better to stay here, yes? Keep your head down, finish your education? Because you may not know how to get rid of him" David moves closer, claps a hand on Sigurdr's shoulder "But I do, and we intend to. When we are done, it will be safer for you here than even back at home. And you will know to come to us if ever you are in trouble." OOC Using my 'Often Right' to give Hal +1 ongoing to avoiding cops 😅 The OUMHS doesn't talk to pigs. Then I'm going to throw some Charm dice at Sigurdr to convince him to stay at Oxford, at a minimum to finish his degree. He's a bright lad, David doesn't want to see this ruin his future, too. Edit: I rolled a 6, which is a failure, but I'm actually going to burn a Luck on this. For two reasons, one IC, and one OOC. The IC one is that David thinks helping Sigurdr and keeping him in his education is the right thing to do. Coming to Oxford is the opportunity of a lifetime, and it would haunt him forever if he ran from it, The OOC one is that I'd love to see him turn into a reoccurring contact. Lets make some friends, populate the world 😁

Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus - The Expert - Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience □ □ □ □ □ Getting over the fence and into St. John's may have been an easy task for the other hunters, but David is an old man, and with a hurt back. He places his hands on the fence and goes to swing himself up, but can't quite manage the task. Takes a few steps back, attempts again with a bit of a run-up and a hop, but only succeeds in hitting the wall stomach-first and embarrassing himself. A few more tries later and the other hunters finally take pity on him. One goes ahead, holding David's hands and pulling him forward. The other grips his legs and pushes. Between the three of them they manage to heft David up and over the wall - where upon he promptly hits the ground on the other side with an 'oof.' He gets up and brushes himself off, dirtier for the experience but unhurt save for his pride. Of more concern to him is Annika's comment from earlier, about a possible war between ideologies. "Hm. Well. Christianity was introduced to Scandinavia as far back as the 8th century BC lead by, you know, Saint Ansgar who acted on the order of Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis the Pious. The conversion was peaceful, for the most part, but also, you know, generally top-down as the Kings and Chiefs of the Northern lands would convert first - usually for political expedience - and would pressure their subjects to convert through favorable treatment of Christians rather than any, you know, overt laws or direct persecution of pagans. The benefit being that Christian neighbors would usually ally, rather than attack one another - while followers of Pagan religions spared each other no such courtesy. And you know, in a time so turbulent, a boarder or two you didn't need to defend was, hah, a great advantage. And more than enough justification to convert." "This is, of course, a general pattern. A gross oversimplification, considering we're talking about a period of history that ran from about 960 to 1020 BCE, and within a territory of more than 450,000 square kilometers. Undoubtedly, and unfortunately, some individuals were converted by force. There is some historical debate over whether Harald Bluetooth's conversion was entirely willing, you know. With one account from about four hundred years after his death claiming that he converted after ordering a Christian missionary to perform a miracle and so the man carried hot iron without being burned, and another from a hundred years later - barely a blink of an eye in historicity terms - claiming that he was forced to convert as part of a peace treaty when a Frankish king defeated him in battle. There is ample reason to doubt both accounts, for no other record of the battle referenced exists, and even speaking as a man of faith I have never known God to perform miracles on command. Not even at the command of such accomplished Kings as Harald Bluetooth. "And even in a relatively peaceful conversation of course a number of, you know, pagan temples were destroyed in the process. Priests of the Old Gods - worshipers of Thor and Odin and the such - were unseated from their positions of power. Any major change, you know, is going to upset someone. I don't mean to make light of their suffering, of course. Only to acknowledge that the spread of Christianity did cause a great deal of social upheaval. Though a lot of good, as well, you know. For example, Christian law made infanticide illegal. Where as, previously, it was a practice to simply leave unwanted babies out in the cold of a winter evening, and if the gods wanted them they might claim them themselves. Which I don't mean to imply was a practice unique to Scandinavian Paganism. An American historian whose work I am rather fond of has a book, 'The History of Childhood', which does quite a good job of exploring child rearing practices across time. It's rather dense and, I am afraid to say, a rather depressing work. But a well researched and documented one, which provides a worthy foundation for conducting further historical research through a psychoanalyst's lens." "Speaking of books, an old friend of mine - Anders Winroth - is currently working on a book explicitly about the conversion of Scandanavia to Christianity. He hasn't seen fit to consult me in any way" the way David puffs a bit lets the others know his feelings were rather hurt by that fact "but that is for the best, I suppose. It's not as if I can share my experience in battling draugr as a credible source, and there are other professors at Oxford and at Yale and Stockholm for whom that period of time is a specialty, and I am sure he consulted with them." He continues talking on the subject, almost like comparative religion is his life's work, until someone tells him that he needs to be quiet.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience □ □ □ □ □ "I can't think of any drauger that would be out to get me, specifically" David says, honestly. "But they may dislike the church generally, and I make no secret of my faith." "After tonight, having seen it disappear through the road like that, I think this creature might be bound to St. John's college. We'll need to get in and look around. Maybe we can even find where it sleeps during the day and destroy it for good."

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ Ow When Sophie wakes up David breathes a sigh of relief that immediately sends a spasm of pain down his back. "Put the iron spike through her chest. I will go get my car. Keep people from seeing her. Then we'll talk about what to do next." Unless something else happens to slow him up he'll get the car, wrap Dr. Abrams in a tarp and put her in his trunk. Then take whoever is interested in coming with up to the graveyard to inter her beside her husband.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ ■ □ □ Oh no. David attempts, as quickly and gracefully as he can while winded, to rush in behind Ekram, scoop Sophie up, and drag her away from the thing stroking her temple.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ ■ □ □ □ Hal is pressing the attack with his unexpected, but certainly very useful, power. Ekram is protecting Sophie. As much as he'd like to rush in and help, David knows he'd be more liability than asset. Better to hang back, and keep an eye on the boys' backs.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □ Tonight was an object lesson for David in why monster hunting was, by and large, a young person's game. Ekram had shown up beaten and bloody and, before he'd even gotten himself oriented enough to act, the others - with Alice's help - had put together that there was more violence coming tonight and had sprinted out to act. He'd followed along as fast as he could but, frankly, that wasn't very fast. Even a spry sexagenarian wasn't going to be able to keep up with 20-somethings, much less magically aided 20-somethings. David wasn't carrying his iron sword for the rather simple and straight forward reason that running through the streets of Oxford with a meter long blade would cause panic. But he'd brought one of the iron spikes he'd used to lay Mr. Andrews to rest. Those were only about a quarter as long as the sword, much easier to hide in his jacket. He arrived panting and out of breath, but fumbled out his spike and offered it - hilt first - towards the gathered group. "Dr Andrews" he puffs between gasps for air "is being puppeted. From beyond the grave." "She is already dead." "All we can do for her. Is to stop her from hurting anyone else. Then lay her to rest beside her husband." They are big words, and maybe the others will hate him for them. But hopefully they will do what needs to be done.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ □ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   David is retired, which means he is afforded a luxury the other members of the monster hunting society are not on the morning after their graveyard shenanigans; he gets to sleep in.   But once he has woken, had a modest breakfast and been caught up on the night's proceedings, he starts looking more deeply into the deaths of Mr and Professor Andrews. It's easy enough to do a little bit of groundwork; checking their obituaries, visiting the place where the supposed hit-and-run happened, checking local maps and his notes to see what other suspicious activities have happened nearby in recent history (or not so recent, given how long David has been keeping 'notes' on the happenings in Oxford) might relate to these deaths. No doubt the university had some sort of announcement of the Professor's death as well. Perhaps he might be able to narrow down where Professor Andrews worked, and ask questions about what she was doing before her untimely demise. It's probably not related, but he won't know unless he checks.   Edit I got a partial success on my Investigate a Mystery, so lets go with the obvious question; What happened here?  

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ ■ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   David, being a very old hunter indeed, takes a moment while Ekram and Annika are getting the coffin and body back into place to clamor down into the grave and knock on the bottom of the second coffin to confirm that there is not a third one beneath it.   He pulls himself back out of it in time for the two youngsters to drop the remains of the first coffin on the second, and to help them rebury the whole mess. In response to Annika's question, he tightens his lip into a grim little smile. Rather than answer directly he takes their hands - Annika's in his left and Ekram's in his right - and, for the second time in recent memory, recites psalms 23. Perhaps leaning a little heavier on the middle line - "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me" - than he would have had he been totally alone. The last thing he does before he gets the two students back to their dorms to manage as much sleep as they can is to take out his little pad and pen and make note of the name and date of death of the re-interred body. It's a lead. He'll follow up on it later.

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ ■ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   "Better to not bury the lede, I suppose" David says. His tone is neutral; he doesn't particularly approve or disapprove of the choice. "This is a newly made draugr. And the only way to get a new draugr this far South is for someone to be killed by an old draugr. So we may have something bigger, scarier and smarter than our friend here to contend with." "That's the worst news. The merely bad news is that this fellow" he pats the corpse's arm "will only stay dead while that iron spike is lodged in his chest. So we can't hand him back over to the authorities with an apology. They may remove it, you see, and then he'd wake back up. We need to go rebury him tonight and hope no one noticed. As long as he's undisturbed for a year or two the body will decompose naturally and his soul will move on." "The good news is that we know what they are, and we know what they don't like; iron. I have a few more iron spikes and even this -" he holds up a finger in a 'one minute' gesture, steps off to the side, rummages it a bit and comes back with - no kidding - a big, black, iron sword. It's nearly a meter long, crudely shaped, dull in color and plain in design in a way that implies that it's practical rather than decorative. "It's cold iron." He rubs his back with a serious frown "Perhaps you'd like to keep it for now, Ekram? Or, maybe Hal. He seems the athletic sort. Just, uh-" he bites into his lower lip, looking nervous "keep it scabbarded around Sophie, will you? She's a little bit squeamish. Doesn't like weapons. Bad memories, you know."   "... either of you feeling up to helping an old man move a body?"

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ ■ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   An iron spike. David needs an iron spike. The last time he saw one, was..... (ooc: Rolled +Sharp for Preparedness. Got a 10 total, meaning I have it on hand)   Oh! Right! He keeps one, right next to his blessed knife and silver blade. He leaves the corpse temporarily under Ekram's supervision, collects the spike, then drives it through the draugr's chest. Once that is done, he turns to his two - well, dare he think of them as protegee? Perhaps. "I have good news, bad news and worse news. In which order would you like them?"

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ ■ □ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   Annika's answer to Ekram's 'shot' is delayed by the reappearance of David. He is freshly showered, has partaken of a ritualistic cup of tea (with two sugars and just a splash of milk, thank you), and is hauling a corpse wrapped in a blanket with all of the attendant grunts of exertion and clumsily bumping things that accompanies that.   He staggers down the steps under the weight, drops the corpse on the free medical table, groans and puts a hand to his back. "I will be feeling this tomorrow" he complains. But he couldn't have asked Annika or Ekram to move it - they were both injured. What if they'd reopened a wound, or pulled a stitch? He washes his hands in the sink, then goes about the grim work of arranging his few medical tools. "Don't suppose you are feeling well enough to help me with an autopsy?" The question is asked of the group, but with a disarming smile - one that leaves room for either to refuse if they are not feeling physically or emotionally capable of assisting with this particular task.

"Your grail is probably long since poisoned" the voice on the radio continues after a few seconds of silence. "Probably has been since before anyone even noticed it was missing. If we thought otherwise..." The voice on the other end of the radio does at least seem a little regretful.   "Last I checked we haven't stockpiled a ton of food down there. We didn't count on being trapped. But the Pawnee have a long history of using the natural caves underground as sort of, uh, fermentation cellars. It may not be what you're used to, but it'll keep you alive. Arthur will know how to get you there. That's my suggestion."

The Reverend Dr. David Beaumont, Professor Emeritus Sheet Luck □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Harm ■ ■ ■ | □ □ □ □ Experience ■ □ □ □ □   When David scrambles back up out of the grave Annika is sitting shocked with her back to a gravestone with her hands to her neck, blood seeping through her fingers. Ekram is standing, and dragging the re-dead corpse behind him. So hopefully he can be forgiven for assuming that Annika is the worse off, and running to her side. "Let me see. Let me see. We have to know how bad it is" he says to Annika in the most soothing voice he can muster. After a brief inspection he determines "You'll be OK. We'll get you patched up. Soon it will be nothing but a faint scar with a story behind it, yes?" But then he directs his attention to Ekram, and he is not doing quiet so well. "Annika" he says, trying to keep his voice calm. "Annika I need you to reopen the gate and put that corpse in my boot. Can you do that? We need to get going. Ekram needs medical attention. I have the supplies we need back at my place. I can drive." David drives slowly - he's still a second behind in the timeline, so he's even more cautious than normal - so it takes ten minutes to make the normally three-minute drive. But Ekram can hold on at least that long. Especially because the moment the car is parked he's ushered inside and down into David's basement where he has a fully stocked infirmary against just such an occasion. Given the urgency, David sees to Ekram first, which entails getting out a surgical needle and thread and stitching him up. Thankfully, something David is practiced enough at to do even affected. Then he cleans up Annika's cuts and applies some bandages. Then he tends to his own wounds, starting with a 'cleansing ritual' to wash away the remnants of Annika's scrying spell. The 'cleansing ritual' in this case being a long, protracted shower upstairs, leaving Ekram and Annika alone together in his basement for about half an hour.