"You wouldn't by chance be Frank Hickering, would you? Roger mentioned you might help me find a notebook he hid away. He thought it would be useful to our investigation." Amadeus smiles widely and in as friendly a manner as possible.
The groundskeeper turns, appraising Amadeus silently until it becomes uncomfortable.
"Nope. Name's Currothers. Hickering don't sound familiar, neither. You want one of Mr. Henslowe's books, his study's upstairs on the right."
"No Hickering, eh?" Freddy gives a suspicious look to the others. "Well thank you Currothers, the study sounds like as good a place as any to start."
The four of you file up the stairs from the main hall. Plaster peels from the walls, the house itself a victim of the humidity. You smell a musty scent like stale flowers mixed with cat boxes and the swamp smells from outside. The gospel music continues from behind the closed door at the top of the stair.
Taking a right, you can see into a bedroom at the far end of the hall, the ceiling drooping in toward the center. Next to this room is a study featuring a roll-top desk and a sizable library. Left out on and near the desk are a collection of items- a shovel, a flashlight, a camera, a ball of twine, a jar of blue ink and a dried-up brush encrusted with blue ink.
Amadeus moves into the library, strolling around and examining the tomes.
Henslowe kept a sizable collection of books about anthropology, archaeology, business, American finance, art, art history and the occult. Looking through the titles, Amadeus recognizes a name: Francis J. Hickering. It's on the spine of Communion Rites of Victorian Death Cults. Naturally, as an occult expert in spiritualist circles, Amadeus is quite familiar with the book- sadly, Henslowe's copy is the watered-down 1912 edition rather than the rarer and more grotesque 1909 edition. The book itself is concerned with rituals and communion with powerful spirits (and other vaguely-defined beings) and with ritual sacrifice.
Grabbing the book, Amadeus finds a photograph tucked into the front cover. It's a low-contrast image of the Henslowe estate house- it must have been seen from the southeast, with a stretch of overgrown yard and sagging mossy branches well in view. Scratched into the front is '#1'. On the back of the photo is a hand-written list:
2. Grant
3. John & Mary
4. Zachariah & Millicent
5. Back to one.
Amadeus pockets the photo and thumbs through the book. If he finds nothing else of interest, he replaces the book on the shelf and peers about to see if Henslowe had any interesting volumes he may lack himself.
While Amadeus is familiar with everything that Henslowe has on the occult there are plenty of other volumes that he could "borrow".
Udko hangs back a bit behind the others as they all move through the house but does look with interest at the state of disrepair that the grand old house has fallen into.
"Interesting place, wonder why it's so badly maintained. Any sign of the journal?" he asks Ra after noticing him take something from one of the books.
Freddy picks up the camera and pops out the film cartridge. "Could be something of use in here."
Freddy will then check inside of the desk, keeping an eye out for false bottoms of drawers, hidden compartment, etc..
Freddy takes a look at the camera- it's in good working order but doesn't have film.
The desk drawers have loose papers, pencils, jars of paint, brushes and other miscellaneous items but no false bottoms. On the top of the desk sits the ball of twine, the flashlight, the camera, the blue ink and the dried up brush. While searching the desk, Freddy notices that the twine has marks in blue ink throughout the length, along with several knots.
Udko hangs back a bit behind the others as they all move through the house but does look with interest at the state of disrepair that the grand old house has fallen into.
"Interesting place, wonder why it's so badly maintained. Any sign of the journal?" he asks Ra after noticing him take something from one of the books.
Freddy holds the twine up to the rest of the group. "Does anyone know what this is about? It looks like the twine has two different marks on it; some are with this blue ink and others with knots."
The ball of twine is marked throughout its length with blue ink marks in little clusters a foot or more apart, with each cluster separated by several feet of twine. Each stretch of clean twine is marked by a bit of tightly knotted twine well past the halfway point between ink stains. This divides the twine either into five flusters of ink marks or into four lengths of clean twine, with each length marked by a knot.
Freddy scratches his stubbly chin in thought. "Hmmm five markers on the twine, five items listed on the picture. Maybe we should check out the south east part of the yard?"
Freddy scratches his stubbly chin in thought. "Hmmm five markers on the twine, five items listed on the picture. Maybe we should check out the south east part of the yard?"
"Makes sense to me Mr. Elliot, I'll bring the shovel in case we need to dig up the journal." Putting words to action, Udko grabs the shovel.
Anatloy has had enough of buildings, and hallways for now, and decides to stay outside in the fresh air and walk the property keeping an eye out for any outbuildings, or anything out of the ordinary.
Anatloy has had enough of buildings, and hallways for now, and decides to stay outside in the fresh air and walk the property keeping an eye out for any outbuildings, or anything out of the ordinary.
Under his umbrella, Anatoly looks over the property in the slowly growing rain. Here and there a flash of lightning in the darkening sky heralds the approach of a summer storm.
The Henslowe estate is slowly sinking into the swamp it once bordered. Old pillars stick out of the high grasses, marking the site of a vanished building. Broken walls outline the edges of old structures. An old rusting car on the western edge of the property is gradually being swallowed by the swamp water. Leaves, blown in on an old storm, stick to everything. Birds nest in the crannies of ruined outbuildings and toolsheds, with reeds growing up through the splintering walls. The song of bugs carries out of the swamp beyond, where alligators float and stare out of the canopied gloom.
At the heart of the property, where the ground slopes down into the watery mud at the swamp's edge, tombstones jut from the weeds and reeds. Some are modest old things, some are tall stone crosses, one is a weeping angel. An empty vase stands before the one marked "David and Virginia Henslowe".
After a short time walking the swampy grounds, Anatoly can already feel several fresh mosquito bites on his hands and neck. Shortly thereafter, the rest of Janet's investigative team join him out back.
Amadeus wars within himself: to share his knowledge or to hoard it, to keep it safe from unclean hands. He finally sighs and turns, pulling the list out. "This was placed in a book by a Mister Hickering. Poor edition, nothing of import, but this does seem useful, does it not?"
"Well the list is mostly names.. I wonder if we'll find the same names on those grave stones. Freddy gestures over to the swaps edge, with a grim look. " Guess we should take a look."
"Well the list is mostly names.. I wonder if we'll find the same names on those grave stones. Freddy gestures over to the swaps edge, with a grim look. " Guess we should take a look."
"Yes, yes, that makes sense but number one doesn't seem to have a name associated with it. Maybe we should try to find the spot that the picture was taken from?" Udko gives a small shake of his head, "I'm afraid I'm not a photographer so I'm not sure the best way to identify the right location."
Flashlight in had, you examine the gravestones. Twenty-two graves fill the family cemetery, but only some of the markers are still legible:
David (1856-1921) and Virginia (1854- {blank}) on a tall stone cross*
Jonas Douglas Cokeridge (1897-1917) on a modest stone cross
Grant Henslowe (1880-1917) also on a modest stone cross*
Douglas Henslowe (1882- {blank}) on a simple stone block
Mary-Margaret (1880-1882) and Anne Mary (1882-1883) Henslowe marked by a weeping angel statue
John (1873-1929) and Mary (1873-1929) Cokeridge on a tall stone cross*
James (1831-1879) and Mildred (1834-1881) Jones on a modest stone slab
Zachariah (1830-1862) and Millicent (1832-1899) Henslowe on a modest stone slab.*
You also notice on close examination that some of the headstones have a series of faded blue marks on them, each with gaps where perhaps something interrupted the brush stroke.
"Seems straight forward enough. Let's tie this off and wrap it around the grave stones. Maybe that will give us a clue where to dig?"
Freddy will use his keen eye for photography to determine the vantage point of the photo and tie off the start of the cord to the spot. Then he'll wrap the twine to each marked headstone, careful to follow the order on the list.
Amadeus looks almost feverish as he nods to Mister Elliot and begins to stalk about, looking for the correct headstones.
You find that standing at the David and Virginia Henslowe marker, your view of the house matches the photograph found in Henslowe's study. You tie the twine tightly around that headstone so that the blue marks line up, then pull it to Grant, John and Mary, Zachariah and Millicent and then back to David and Virginia. With the twine tied around the gravestones, an uneven square is formed around the cemetery, with a knot tied on each side. The knots seem to line up with their opposite across the cemetery.
Udko walks into the middle of the circle carrying the shovel. He tries to identify the exact center of the circle and once that's done he nods to the others, "dig here, you think?"
Anatoly anxious for some physical exercise to take his mind off things nods his head, and goes to look for a shovel.
"Da".
You dig a few feet down in the muddy soil at the center of the square, anxiously awaiting some results... but you find nothing.
Anatoly can't help but remember his time on various digs as a graduate student doing the grunt labor on excavations- laying out numbered grids on the site to direct and catalog digging. Though this time, there's substantially less twine to work with... unless those knots might be significant. Yes- maybe thinking of it all as a grid is the best starting point. If two formed an x axis and the other formed the y...
The Russian archaeologist takes the shovel and starts digging at the point where the imaginary lines through the knots would intersect. The rest of the team gathers around, with umbrellas and flashlight at the ready. For a moment, you're almost convinced that your hunch was wrong- until three feet down, you hit something solid in the mud and clay.
Prying it up with the shovel blade, you find a sealed box the color of a gun closed with three tight metal latches. It's just barely rusting.
Hunched together, you open the clasps- the first thing that greets you is a flat and jagged square stone decorated with a raised but worn glyph. It looks as if it's been removed from some temple wall or statue somewhere. Beneath that is a translucent envelope containing a note from Douglas Henslowe to Walter Winston-
"W- I've destroyed the notes I took during our investigation, after compiling what I saw and what I remember into this notebook. The stone you might recognize, I took it from the barn that night. (I think it was E's) I know the Thing watches me. If it wanted to hurt me, I think it could. I hope you're careful. I put our materials in a safe-deposit box in the First Bank of Long Beach before coming home. The key is here. Use it wisely. I know you will.
Don't come for me. I don't think I have it in me anymore to do the work. I don't trust myself anymore. Thank you for coming this far. -D"
Beneath the letter is Douglas Henslowe's journal, wrapped in plastic. Lightning flashes overhead, thunder following shortly after as the sky pours down rain.
"Let's get back into the house and read this notebook."
"Yes! Yes, let's head inside." Amadeus' eyes look greedily on the journal and the glyph, feeling something akin to the excitement a child feels on Christmas day.
Anatloy wipes the sweat from his brow, then gives up, as it mixes with the rain. Hope I don't catch a cold from all this. He then puts the shovel over his shoulder, and follows the others to the house, wiping the mud from his boots as best he can in the grass as they go. Then he has a second thought.
"Dang. I'd better go fill that hole back in. Don't want anybody snooping around to suspect anything... or for that matter the old man to fall in the hole".
Anatoly then heads back to de-excavate before heading up to join the others.
"Ra, you're the expert in occult knowledge, any idea what this weird design on the stone means?"
Anatoly doesn't recognize the glyph precisely, but he can trace its lineage to being derived from the Aksum Empire. It may have been meant to block spying spells and mystical surveillance.
Retreating from the rain and into the back porch, you hastily unwrap the notebook. Tucked inside of the front cover is a small key that Freddy can confirm is of the kind used for safe deposit boxes in banks and post offices.
The notebook itself is a combination of diary and sketchbook written in a mad shorthand and a jumbled stream-of-consciousness style that leaps about through time and space. All of the memories of Henslowe's time with Walter Winston seem to be contained within, in one form or another. There are lovely sketches of the 1924 Investigators, drawn over and over throughout the book plus page after page of gruesome and violent images of figures dancing or writhing against huge, licking flames. It also includes various drawings of a multi-limbed, headless form with arms or tentacles or legs ending with dripping mouths. Many illustrations depict this Thing biting off heads or tearing human figures apart.
A product of a disturbed mind, surely. Instinctively, you try to dismiss these images from your mind.
Repelled but fascinated, Udko's desire to know to understand to comprehend far outweighs any disgust that he feels from looking at the notebook. He holds it tightly as he slowly flips through the pages, repeating some of the text under his breath. Yes, yes, this feels like the TRUTH, Udko thinks even as his grasp on sanity is weakened.
Amadeus studies the glyph, trying to place it's occult meaning.
Seeing the good doctor's fevered look and wild eyes, Amadeus takes the notebook. "Perhaps, Doctor, it would be best to allow a professional to study this?" He greedily takes it and reads without stopping, his eyes becoming wider and wider as he fills the dark places in his mind with newfound knowledge.
Seeing the look in the eyes of Amadeus and the good doctor, Freddy passes on taking any closer of a look at the journal. He will examine the key closer though. Any markings or indication of wich bank it may be from?
Freddy looks over the key- there's a faded tag that says "14C" attached to it, "First Bank of Long Beach" typed on the reverse side.
Freddy holds out the key for the rest of the group to see. "Gentlemen, it seems we are headed to sunny, Southern California. It'll be a nice change from this rain and humidity."
Anatoly perks up at the mention of California Well anything to get away from this spooky place.
"That is good. I have never been to California. Perhaps I shall become a movie star, no?
You all head out into the driveway after Anatoly so thoughtfully fills in the holes in the family cemetery. Currothers lets you out through the front gate with his usual brusqueness and you all pile into the car heading back toward Savannah proper. The country roads are slick and muddy in the rain and the windshield wipers whine across your vision, granting brief moments of visibility.
"No." Amadeus states quite finally to Anatoly, shaking his head.
[ooc]I've good with Freddy driving.[/ooc
Already a bit shaky Anatoly is on edge.
Sense Trouble w/2-point spend
Clearly Freddy is too focused on navigating the rain slicked country roads to worry about anything else.
Dr. Udko spends 2 points of sense trouble from his 7:
Driving back toward the city, you approach an intersection of muddy roads. Anatoly, who is riding in the front seat while Amadeus and Paul look through the journal in the back, notices a car with its headlights off idling next to the road- he has only a split second to call Freddy's attention to the vehicle before it peels out from the shoulder on a collision course with your car!
"Whoa!! Hang tight every one!!"
Freddy will spend two driving points.
Keeper screen:
Freddy turns the wheel hard, banking around the car and preventing the other vehicle from blocking you in on the road. Mud flies from the tires as you briefly hydroplane. With the headlights on, you can see at least five men in the car as you pull around it.
"What the..." Udko exclaims as the car swerves suddenly. Then he sees the car that tried to ram them and counting the numbers he yells to Freddy, "get us out of here."