The Gap

The Gap, Authored and GMed by Josh Harwood

Friday, September 8, 2023: you play agents investigating strange occurrences outside the small English town of 'Once Brewed', Northumberland.

Dr. Wendell Weatherworth (Thom): Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) agent in the MI6 Forensics division.

Dr. T.S.R. (Tybalt Savoy Rutherford) Blackwood (Gordon): Biologist

Ian Gibson (Bill): Government Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage.

Dr. Edward Langdon (Cody): Historian.

Rupert Northhamptonshire (Max): SAS agent in the MI5 Tactical division.

The Assignment: Ian fumbled for words over the phone, “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it, sir. Goodbye sir.” Ian hit his intercom button for his secretary, “Miss Penny, will you please ring Dr. Langdon for me.” It wasn’t long before the return call came in. “Edward, so good to hear your voice. Say, I just got a call… from my boss’s boss’s boss. Yeah, all the way to the top. Someone in Parliament. Anyway, I need to organize a team to head up to Once Brewed in Northumberland. I was hoping you’d come along. By the way, what do you know about any historical sites in that area?”

Edward didn’t even have to open a book, “Well, besides Hadrian’s Wall? The 122 AD boundary between the Romans and the Caledonia Celtics of what is now Scotland. I seem to recall a favorite tourist trap near the town you mentioned… the Sycamore Gap tree.”  Edward was a bit surprised when Ian added, “Whatever is going on, it sounds serious. We are to meet up with two special investigators. Yeah, real James Bond types from the Secret Intelligence Service.” Edward asked, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring along a close friend, Dr. Blackwood. Let me get things together and we’ll meet you there.” Nothing like a late Friday assignment to screw up the weekend!

3pm, Saturday: By the time Ian, Edward, and Tybalt arrived at the Second Brewed B&B, the special investigators were already there. Wendell wore a white smock which set him apart from the other Tavern patrons. At his side, agent Rupert dressed more like an agent of MI5 (also out of place in attire), which allowed introductions. Rupert spoke up, “Evening gents. I’m here with me best chum, old Bonesaw.” Dr. Weatherworth eyed the newcomers, “You must be the government rep… fancy tie gave you away. And the others? Care to explain what’s going on?”

A “harrumph” clearing of one’s throat behind them broke in after adjusting the glasses that slid down his nose, “You must be the chaps I was told about. I’m Professor Stuart Laipple, focused on European History and other empires (Ottomans, Chinese, etc.).” Dr. Blackwood recognized the name from lectures he’d attended. Stuart apologized, “Sorry for getting you out here. This is confidential... hush, hush government business. If you noticed the tents on your way into town… my research team’s base of operations. Just like the tents erected near Hadrian’s Wall. As for why I called you… If you kept your eyes on the news, the Sycamore Tree in the gap was vandalized. Chopped down.”

Ian almost choked on his ale, “They did what?! Desecrated a historical landmark? Please tell me they just cut off a branch or two.” Stuart added, “The local police arrested two hooligans who wandered into town carrying chainsaws. Military folk have the perpetrators sequestered inside the town hall.” Rupert was more relaxed, “What’s the big deal? You caught them, case closed. Fines and incarceration. Why involve us?” Professor Laipple apologized, “Did I forget to tell you about the body? It’s inside our tent outside of town. Best if you see it for yourself, as I don’t want to sway your opinion.” Tybalt was anxious, “Professor, what exactly did you dig up?!” “That’s just it… we didn’t dig it up. We found it just lying there. Since then, the locals have reported strange lights, voices, and noises around the gap. I have no idea what’s going on. We’ve seemingly lost contact with those near the wall. Every time other research members have been sent there, they return as if compelled. Or don’t return at all. Shall we be on with it?”

Professor Laipple led them across the street to the town hall, “The suspect vandals are inside. The tent with the body is setup further behind the building.” As Weatherworth and Blackwood continued to the tent with the professor, Wendell noted, “I hope you are keeping the body refrigerated.”

Suspects: Colonel Alex Sun interrupted the trio (Ian, Rupert, and Edward) entering the building, “Civilians are not allowed here.” Ian pulled up the email on his phone, “I’m the assigned government inspector as per this authorization from Parliament.” Colonel Sun spit his wade of chew in his red-solo cup, “I should have known per the fancy tie.” Alex looked at Rupert (smartly dressed in military type gear) as their spokesman, “Those 2 chaps, yes, the 16-year-old and his 67-year-old grandfather, wandered into town about 2 hours ago with chainsaws in their hands. Two others got away. Both have clammed up, or are babbling nonsense.” Edward asked if there was any forewarning, “Anything on social media? Any calls to rally round-the-wall?” One of the local police-bobbies also in attendance answered, “None we knew of. Best we’ve found: Kenneth Lowe is known as a town hero down in Westend. His grandson Ben is also well known but not in a mischievous way. Out of character for both of them.” Langdon noticed both looked at peace, as if they’d done nothing wrong.

Body? Meanwhile, as they approached the tent, Wendell offered vapor-rub, “To mask the scent of death and decay.” But Tybalt was distracted by the yellow flower growing profusely in the area, “I’ve only seen such yellow flower to the south of here… the York Groundsel was killed off in the early 1990s by weedkiller spraying. What is it doing here of all places?” As they continued inside the tent, they met others in attendance. “We are Doctors David and Holly Cabrera, medical assistants from the local university. We were called in after the body was found about 4 hours ago at the top of the hill. If you’ll step this way.” 

The sheet was pulled back to reveal an almost naked man, only wrapped in bearskin, wearing a kilt, with his face and exposed body painted blue. Wendell had to ask, “Do you stage LARP re-enactments of the Hadrian Wall battles for the tourists?” Wendell took a look at the man’s teeth, “Odd shape and discoloration as if he’s never seen a dentist in his life.” He gathered the instruments to being an autopsy, taking note of the wounds. “These are recent sword stabs. And from what I can see of his exposed organs, this is not a modern day human being!”

[Botany] Meanwhile, Tybalt noticed the pouch hanging from a necklace around the man’s neck. Wendell chimed in, “At least he dressed the LARP part, wearing such pagan superstition gear.” Tybalt opened it and found a small crude carving knife with runes, several small vials (containing herbs and spices), and a charm bracelet made of bones also with rune etching. “The knife handle seems to be made of sycamore wood.”

Suspects: Back in the holding room, colonel Sun explained how he sent soldiers to the gap to find the other suspects. “My first team hasn’t returned nor reported in yet. A second team reported a mist around the gap as they searched for the other team and suspects. But then their radio also went silent.”

Rupert tried his hand at ‘interrogation’. Kenneth and Ben seemed to stare blankly at nothing till Rupert violated their personal space. Kenneth made eye-contact and growled in a feral sort of way before speaking in an unknown language. His grandson joined in with his own threatening unknown words. [Fast Talk] Rupert returned their growls, mimicking their grunting language. Kenneth and Ben reacted as if Rupert the ‘Alpa’ or at least a member of their… tribe? They began sniffing his clothes. And that’s when Colonel Sun commanded, “You two! Sit DOWN!” Edward surmised, “If I didn’t know better, it sounded ancient Celtic. Pre-Babylonian!” Ian turned to the colonel, “Have you drawn blood to test if they are under any drugs?”

Rupert continued the strange verbal exchange with the pair of suspects, when Ben suddenly stood and attacked his grandfather! Too quick for anyone to react as Ben bit into Kenneth’s neck, tearing his carotid artery! Blood squirted everywhere as Kenneth gasped in English, “Son, what have you done?!” Rupert yanked Ben off and cold-cocked him unconscious. Ian rushed to Kenneth’s side, clapping his hands over the wound, applying pressure. “Someone call the doctors!”

Wendell was in the middle of the autopsy when Tybalt’s phone chimed with a text, “Seems there’s a situation at town hall.” Leaving the Cabreras with the body, Wendell and Tybalt rushed to the building. Too late to save Kenneth who bled out. “What happened?” Edward’s description of the suspects’ strange language and actions was bolstered by Ian’s concerns of drug use. Dr. Blackwood rushed off to get Dr. Holly Cabrera (a true Doctor of Medicine). And that’s when Rupert noticed Ben started to rise. All could hear the clicks of his bones as he maneuvered his handcuffed wrists from behind his back to over his head and broke free of the cuffs! [Sanity check]

Rupert drew his pistol and shot, hitting the boy square, he thought. Ben’s sudden motion threw the colonel’s aim off. Edward was just able to pull Wendell out of the way as Ian raised his taser in defense. All stood in shock to see Ben crash into… AND THROUGH… the wall! Blackwood and Holly happened to be coming around the building, when bricks flew everywhere. One knocked Holly unconscious. Ben was just running up the hill when one of Colonel Sun’s soldier shot and killed him.

Colonel Sun was even more concerned, “As my soldiers neared the gap, before their radios went silent, they reported a mist rolling over the wall. What is going on?” Tybalt calmly surmised, “It could be swamp gas or even plant spores that cause hallucinogenic reactions.” That got Ian asking the colonel about available respirators. And that’s when Professor Laipple poked his head thru the hole in the wall, “I just got a radio call from someone near the Sycamore tree. A plea for help before the call ended.” Wendell offered, “Dare I say the body we cut open is more Celtic, ancient. I say it’s about time we go see this gap.”

To the Gap: Ian and Tybalt were last in line as they first stopped to get respirators for themselves (the others scoffed at the idea). Soon they saw the mist rolling thru the gap where the sycamore tree once stood. Stuart’s tents blocked the view of the tree stump. Ian temporarily removed his respirator to use his bullhorn to call out for the reported missing soldiers, “Sergeant Sanderson, Private Luellen… can you hear me? Anyone?!” Silence encouraged Ian to put his mask back on, before the group (including Colonel Sun and Professor Laipple) crossed over Hadrian’s Wall.

They stood in a field of tall grass partially obscured by the mist. “Where’d the wall go? Professor, don’t they mow the grass for all the tourists to see the area?” But they also realized the wall was no longer at their backs. Just the sheer cliffs of tall mountains that seemed to cradle them in a bowl. And that’s when Ian, Rupert, and Edward stumbled over something and fell. [Sanity check] Ian quickly pushed off and away from the dead soldier. Edward took the time to inspect the body at his feet, “The man has been slashed by a bladed weapon.” It didn’t take long to discover the other missing soldiers of the 2^nd squad sent out. Yet instead of their automatic rifles, the soldiers held spears. At least their equipment and weapons remained present day. “What the hell is going on?!”

Back in Time: Reluctantly, they continued forward as the cliff walls funneled them through the thin mist. No surprise they came upon more dead bodies painted blue. But also, some of the present-day soldiers also dead from stab wounds. Soon they could hear movement and sounds in the distance and thus stayed at the ready with whatever weapons they had. Such as the spear Ian now wielded. Professor Laipple was the first to see, “The tents we erected around the fallen tree!” Yet as they approached, one of colonel Sun’s soldiers came running out… only to fall with a spear thrown into his back by the now visible roman soldier at the mouth of the tent. He looked at the new arrivals, and in understandable English, “More have come to desecrate the sacred tree? Then prepare to die like this man who tried to hack its trunk.”

Dr. Langdon was the first to react, “I’ve heard ghost stories of a roman centurion haunting the area, but to actually see! And understand his language: does he speak English, or do we understand Latin? Have we stepped back in time?!” The Roman answered, “I know not what dialect I speak that you understand, but I am the last of the protectors of the sacred World Tree. Whomever broke its protective ward has unleashed pure evil upon the world. I, Tiberius, am sworn to defend the gap! At least your other soldiers were honorable in their actions, defending against the Picts.”

Wendell explained how they too came to investigate the felled tree. “The men responsible have been captured and dealt with.” Ian pulled out his treasured item (Roman coin), “Your history is long and true. We’ve come to help.” Tiberius surmised, “Those responsible must have been afflicted by what I know not. Fortune most of your soldier men presented no threat. I tried to protect them as they joined my side against the horde.” Dr. Blackwood asked, “What can we do to restore whatever protection you speak of? Can we possibly graph a branch to start a new growth?” Tiberius knew not what the man spoke, “Your words sound like ages for effect.” [Sanity checks] Realization began to sink in they actually stood talking to a true centurion, “What sorcery is this?!” [Sanity loss: Ian over 20%]

As Tiberius led them toward the stump, they passed other corpses (members of Laipple’s research team) slain from curved blades (Middle Eastern kukri) or bullet holes from weapons of the middle age. Ian paused to pick up a spear and blade held at the ready, “Tiberius, I await your orders.”

The stump seemed to glow with a pink mist around it. Edward noticed the rune stones in a circle around the stump, “I recognize the lettering as Roman or Celtic protection spells.” Harmonious. Wendell realized Tiberius had been guarding the tree for 2,000 years, “How has something/someone been able to thwart you?” Tiberius looked confused, “Something stopped me. I felt my ethereal body briefly disappear with the tree full in bloom only to return to the sight of a stump. 

"Do you not know the significance of the sycamore? To other cultures (Celtic), it represents the World Tree. This one is a beacon for other World Trees (such as Stonehenge). Gateways to other times and space. Words I shouldn’t be able to comprehend. To chop one down allows evil to reach it roots and thereby alter reality as we see now.”

CLIMAX

With permission, Dr. Blackwood approached the tree trying to understand. When he knelt down to feel the soil and touched the stump… clarity and peace. “This tree was cut down with hatred.” He sensed a need to rebuild it. “But there must be another way…quicker… to restore the harmony.” [POW 94, Luck 82] Any further conversation was lost when Tybalt suddenly disappeared!

Rupert rushed forward, touching the stump as he looked for Tybalt… when he too suddenly disappeared! He found himself standing in the middle of the Roman Colosseum amongst gladiators in combat. He flinched when he became the new target of their attacks… and blinked out of that existence to return to the side of Tiberius, in total shock.

Wendell was the one who spotted runes within the stump itself! He called Edward over. Edward realized they were some kind of binding spell. “If we can repair this bind… any ideas?!”

Tybalt found himself in a 1920s diner. Everyone turned to stare. He stepped outside and read a street sign to realize he was in New York!

Tiberius touched Langdon on his shoulder. [POW] Edward felt enlightened. Tiberius disappeared with his armor falling to the ground, empty. They already thought Ian was crazed. Now they could only watch and shake their head as the man donned the armor, picked up the gladius sword, and proclaimed, “I am Tiberius II.” At that moment, the spirit of Tiberius flooded into his body and mind, giving him the strength and knowledge of a true centurion. [STR, Brawl, Dodge raised to 90]

Yet Edward ignored the scene as he looked heavenward at signs floating about. Runes and phrases floating and bumping as if needing to be put back together. Knowledge as if the centurion had gifted him foresight. “I can see it so clearly!”

As the others watched Edward standing dazed and reaching toward the sky, they heard an “Umph” from behind. Both of the coppers (who had come with them) fell with a spear thrust in their backs by the Picts behind them!

They had little time to react as a horde of foe emerged from the mist in a battle-cry charge. Yet the attackers included foe from all ages: Caledonia Picts, Saxons from the 5^th century, Viking raiders from the 8^th century, Napoleonic soldiers, Ottoman skirmishers, even a Nazi soldier. Tiberius II cleaved the closest handful while Wendell leveled his pistol at another foe. Colonel Sun shot and killed the Nazi while Professor Laipple cowered inside the tent: nope, taken to the ground by a skirmisher. But this was but the first wave driven off!

Rupert used the pause to climb up the tree branches…

[POW] Vivid visions invaded Edward’s vision: historical figures in the prime of their life. Flashes of other people like Tiberius... flashes of history overwhelmed his brain! [loss of magic points] Voices offered suggestions on how to piece the runes and phrases. But his focus was distracted by the sense of evil looming near. 

[Sanity check] Large black tendrils ebbed and withered from a central mass [Azathoth] while several spawns of creatures rushed downward to Earth. Visions that would have shredded the sanity of normal man. Yet Edward stood defiant, as if he wielded a weapon that would vanquish his foe: a book! The voice of Tiberius echoed in his thoughts, “Evil advances upon all of our World Trees. This is our last defense. You MUST hold strong!”

Meanwhile, Rupert (climbing up the tree) found himself descending another tree… back at the Once Brewed town square. He realized he had returned to the present. Yet as he climbed down, he heard the strange battle cry of what must have been those 2 escaped suspects (in league with Kenneth and Ben). He attempted to dodge their advance to reach his car to run them down. He failed: one stabbed him with a spear, hobbling him. With his strength quickly fading, Rupert barely managed to pull his pistol and kill one attacker before collapsing unconscious.

[POW, Luck, CON. Loss of 2 magic points] Edward saw the evil yet felt he had the power to fight it off… push it back from whence it came. His visions became reality as he saw more World Trees circling around, ever closer to the evil threat. Knowledge that if evil reached them, the world would be doomed! Edward knew not how to achieve success, but he had to try something. Bringing his arms high above his head, he thrust his palms outward as if he had the ability to project a force field. A shockwave of energy dispelled the mist and drove off the ethereal tendrils that reached out from Azathoth. His minions faded from the sky. Present day stars appeared overhead.

As they knelt to catch their breath in the freshly mowed grass around the sycamore gap, they saw the slain bodies still remained. Even the ancient warriors of the various empires. The tree was gone but around the stump was an ethereal version of the sycamore tree. Yet as they continued scanned the area, they realized Ian was missing. And where was Rupert and Tybalt?

EPILOGUE

Edward answered the phone, “Yes, this is Dr. Langdon of the History Department.” The person on the other end spoke up, “Sir, we’ve had a rash of amateur treasure hunters trying to get reimbursed for Roman stone tablets found around Hadrian’s Wall. Of course, we ran them off as frauds once we realized the first carved line was in English. And that’s why I’m calling… it’s your name sir!”

Ian (aka Tiberius II) was the new ghostly centurion patrolling the gap grounds. Bestowed with the ancient knowledge of centurion Tiberius, Tiberius II used his time to carve new stone tablets in Latin to list unknown sites of other ‘World Trees’ that needed protection.

Dr Blackwood accepted the fact he now lived in 1920s Arkham where he was offered a job working with a Julius Smithe (head of the Arcane Society). Lost to time, but armed with the knowledge of the stock market.

Dr. Weatherworth visited Rupert in the SIS medical ward. He pretended to look at his medical chart before teasing, “Damn it man, I’m not that kind of doctor. I was just checking when I could come back to find you a corpse that is more in my field of study.” Wendell closed the door before sliding his chair closer to the bed, “If you’re up to it, I just wanted to compare notes of what just happened.”

BACKGROUND

The local cult of Azathoth finally enacted their plan to bring forth their god.

In real life…

The Sycamore Gap Tree or Robin Hood Tree was a sycamore tree standing next to Hadrian's Wall near Crag Lough in Northumberland, England. It was located in a dramatic dip in the landscape, which was created by glacial meltwater and was a popular photographic subject, described as one of the most photographed trees in the country and an emblem for the North East of England. It derived its alternative name from featuring in a prominent scene in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The tree won the 2016 England Tree of the Year award. It was felled by chainsaw in the early morning of 28 September 2023 in what the authorities described as “an act of vandalism”. Two suspects (68 yo and a 16yo) have been arrested. The felling of the tree led to an outpouring of anger and sadness.