Game Thread: Werewolf- this time it's real!

[Mnemosyne]

"Hey, phantom, don't we have some way to throw this guy out? I don't think he's entirely right..."

[the phantom]

Suddenly the elderly gentleman broke his silence. "This is it. This is the place. We feels it. Father spent much time here. But why here? Because this is where it happened, or did it happen because he figured it out here? Or can it happen anywhere, but it's just easier here, because he did it here so often?"

Phantom and Mnem looked at each other. The man was obviously off his rocker. "Come on, sir," began Phantom. "Why don't you come over here and I'll call-"

"It doesn't matter!" growled the man, still looking around as if he couldn't see Phantom. "All that matters is that we can go from here! It will work! We knows it!"

[Mnemosyne]

"We knows it... Is this someone's idea of a sick joke?"

[the phantom]

"You know, this guy looks kind of familiar," said Phantom to Mnem. "I just can't place him."

"I can sure place some of his choices in wording, though," returned Mnem. "Though I've seen much better Gollum impressions than this."

[Mnemosyne]

Mnemosyne's mind raced. "Father, father--he said father! Father used to be here, he talks like Gollum, he looks kind of-- Oh, holy Valar, phantom, please tell me I'm going crazy!"

[the phantom]

POSTING TIME IS OVER.

Roles will be PMed soon. The narrative will go up a little bit at a time during Night 1. Remember, Night 1 is 36 hours.

[the phantom]

Originally Posted by Mnem

Mnemosyne's mind raced. "Father, father--he said father! Father used to be here, he talks like Gollum, he looks kind of-- Oh, holy Valar, phantom, please tell me I'm going crazy!"

Phantom looked closely at the man. "Well, he does kind of... but really, I mean... why in the world would Christopher Tolkien be here?"

At this, the man jerked his head so that he was facing Phantom and looked directly into his eyes. "Christopher... yes... that's what he used to call me. But he didn't know everything. He was wrong about it. He said it couldn't do anything here. But no, no, he didn't know. We've kept it longer. It got in our head, and we wants it out!"

The man grabbed Phantom's shirt and pulled him closer. "We've gots to do it! He said never to open it, or to try to find how, but we must! It hurts... in the head... and it won't let us take it off!" He waved his hand in front of Phantom's face, and on his finger was a simple golden ring.

Mnem rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be invisible?"

"It doesn't work like that here," answered the man, and Mnem jumped in surprise, not expecting to be addressed. "Not in this world. Father didn't think any of it worked at all here. Thought it had no power at all, since it couldn't make him disappear. But no, it still has power. Just slower, and less. But it's too much for us! It told us to take it back, and if we don't...."

At this point such a look of pain and fear crossed his face that Phantom waved off the possibility of a joke. This man was clearly crazed. Just then Mira approached with her laptop.

"I thought he looked familiar," whispered Mira, "And look!"

On her computer was a picture of Christopher Tolkien. "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Mnem. "He looks just like him!"

"Just like him?" said Mira. "It IS him."

[the phantom]

While the three of them were staring at the computer, Christopher Tolkien pulled from beneath his jacket an old battered piece of parchment, and proceeded to read from it in a low voice.

"What's he doing now?" wondered Mira aloud.

"It sounds like Elvish!" exclaimed Mnem, who knew a little bit herself.

"Can you tell what he's saying?" asked Phantom, but Mnem didn't answer. A strange bluish glow had begun emanating from a point in midair directly in front of Christopher. All three Downers stepped back from it and stared with wide eyes. Indeed, all the Downers in the room plus the pub staff were now giving their full attention to the perplexing scene.

There was a collective gasp as the small glowing point expanded quickly. It was soon several feet in height and breadth, every bit of it giving off the same eerie glow. It rippled, like a sheet of water suspended sideways in the air. Others recalled a flag in the wind, though no flag had ever looked so curious.

Phantom slowly edged around to the other side, and Mira followed. There they saw Christopher staring straight ahead, wringing his hands, his face changing back and forth between awe and disgust. Phantom could think of nothing to say, but it did not matter, for Christopher began conversing with himself.

"We mustn't do this. We mustn't!"

"But we doesn't like it! We must be rid of it!"

"No, we can't. Father said we must always keep it, and never seek to return unless they come for it. It would kill them all!"

"But they're not from here. We'd never have to see them. They don't matter. They're not even real. This is only a dream."

"It's not a dream! Father told me all about it. It's real!"

"No, it isn't. How can this be real? It's all in our head. And if we do this in our head, we'll be rid of the madness forever."

Christopher bent over and covered his head. Phantom slowly approached him. "Sir, are you okay? Christopher, do you-"

But Phantom was interrupted by Mira tugging on his shirt. "Look, look, look!" she hissed in an excited whisper. Phantom turned towards Mira, but stopped dead facing the blue glowing disturbance, or rather, what he expected to be the blue glowing disturbance. For on this side, it was not a glowing watery thing at all, but a window into someplace other than the pub. A rocky hill rose up out of sight, pines thick upon its slope. At the foot, thirty or forty feet straight ahead, a heavy wooden door was set in the stone, no doubt covering some sort of cave. Two sentries stood before it, mail clad with spears and girt with swords and shields slung upon their backs.

Even as Phantom and Mira stared, the sentries seemed to see them. The one upon the left lowered his spear but did not advance. The other turned and vanished through the door, so quick that the onlookers barely saw it open and shut.