Archie opens red-rimmed eyes and stares at the intruders. He pulls himself to his feet and walks unsteadily to the door. He croaks in a raw voice, "The girl is dead. Killed by a vagrant and her body mauled by a bear. He killed our friend, too. But we took him out."

Ha, as an Indiana Jones-inspired character you would think I'd have known to not look at things.

I'll keep playing. I have to say as my first Cthulu mythos roleplaying it was quite unsettling compared to D&D. And if that was an introductory encounter...well I suppose we are all likely to die. I am curious as to how improving our skills a bit over time will help us face increasingly difficul...

As suddenly as she had appeared, Miriam had vanished. For a moment there was a mind-numbing nightmare vision, then darkness enveloped him and Archie fell to his knees, unseeing and retching. He lay on his side breathing heavily until his eyesight cleared. As the archaeologist shakily sat up, he said...

Archie struggles to get free.

Archie thrashes about and foams at the mouth, groaning and trying to get back to the circle.

After all the horrors of the day, Archie is overwhelmed with relief and joy to see the familiar face of Miriam Merriweather. It doesn't occur to him that there is anything odd about her presence here. He strides forward into the mystic circle, sobbing with is arms outstretched. Elmer's sudden grasp ...

Glad to hear the surgery went ok.

Completely unrelated...why is it "insanity" to be attuned to the (albeit horrible) actual way the Universe is in Cthulu mythos? It seems like the problem is a bad case of stark sanity.

"Aggh! Finish the ritual! Finish the ritual!"

Archie falls back from the door, pale and shivering. He looks from the front door to the attic wildly, unfurling his whip and holding it out to one side.

Shaken and burned, Archie jumps at knocking at the door. He decides that anything is better than dealing in silence with the pervasive feeling of horror and he goes to check out the window hoping to see a human form.

Archie watches the attic nervously, wondering what a whip will do against evil wind.

Archie's brain starts to shut down, but his adventuring instincts kick in. He stands beside Elmer, facing the mysterious attacker. "Hyacinth, stay behind us! We need to get back to the house, now!" Archie will try to dodge, while urging the party back toward the illusory safety of the door.

"A bear?" Archie tries not to stare at the corpse, instead looking for any sort of tracks on the ground around it.

Archie finally emerges from the basement to see people discussing a scream in the woods. "Better check that out. Beats hanging around this place for another five hours. Who's coming.?"

Do I get a successful skill check for using the whip? Or does that not apply to combat skills?

Satisfied, Archie recoils his whip and puts it away. Jed seems to have rapport with the hobo. If the others go upstairs with the man, Archie will have another look around the basement with a flashlight.

While the man has his attention on Jed's gun, Archie will slowly pull his bullwhip from its belt loop. Grasping the handle firmly, he will lash out and try to snag the club from the man's hand and yank it free.

"Hold up, folks. Musty, dark old places are my specialty." He follow the party down the stairs.

"Nice place. My intuition is telling me to check for a back entrance."

Archie tips his fedora and heads out to keep inspecting the grounds.