As Flying Eagle rolls out of bed, he realizes that his naked backside hadn't been covered by the sheets and says "Oh...ummm...sorry about not being fully covered by the sheets" and quickly gets dressed.
"So, do we go looking for Rufus, or wait for him to show up? You remember that actress' name? Maybe we could ask around to find out where she lives. Or, have breaskfast and wait for him to come back."
Rufus
Mademoiselle Montreiu snuggles next to Rufus "A man of action I see" before thinking of things to keep Rufus mind off his dreams. In the morning, a Very Tired Rufus makes his way from the room after she said she needed to get dressed and meet her troupe around noon and said he was "simply to much a distraction " with a seductive smirk.
A man of action, and a distraction. Are they not complimentary he says with a grin.
He takes the time to admire while he slowly gets dressed. He then sneaks one more kiss, before making his way towards his own hotel.I wonder if the others had those nightmares, and if so, I wonder what they meant. I guess I will ask when I see them.
At his own hotel, he lets the desk clerk know he will grab his valise after breakfast.
He then sits down to order a solid breakfast and wait for the others, while he eats.
Regardless of what Flying Eagle and Winona decide to do, when they go downstairs, they see Rufus in the dining room, and head toward him.
"Rufus - glad you're alright! We were worried about you."
Flying Eagle, pull up a chair and wrap yourself around some of this food. Its just what we need.
Once the others are sat down with coffee and breakfast, Rufus relays some of the dreams that he had last night.
Did either of you have the same thing?
As Flying Eagle gets dressed, Winona quips, "It's a pretty good derriere."
The pair head downstairs and she says, "I think we see if he's here in the hotel first, then we spread out as needed to track him down if he's missing." She nods as Rufus comes into view and says, "Looks like that won't be necessary."
Winona takes a seat and says to Rufus, "Sorry I'm such a mess, it's been a mornin'." She listens to his description and shakes her head and says, "I have no recollection of any dreams or, well, anything since we split up last night. No idea how I even got into bed."
At Winona's comment, Flying Eagle just stares at her for a second, then turns away, his face beet-red, continues to get dressed, and doesn't say anything until they see Rufus.
He replies to Rufus' questions "Well, I had dreams of being chased in a storm, thru a burning city, by strange beasts, and of dead friends being ripped to shreds by an unseen monster".
You sat in a restaurant near your hotel. You notice a few people from the hotel, the mood is a bit subdued. You see people yawning and there is a feeling of just exhaustion that seems to hang in the air.
"Seems like everyone is a bit peaked," says Winona. "And I'm sure not all of them were having as enthusiastic an evening as you, Rufus." She smirks slightly as she teases the gunman.
Glancing back to Flying Eagle, she says, "I'm not sure which is worse, having nightmares like that, or not having any memory of the evening at all. For a lady, having no memory of an evening is a nightmare of its own kind."
She sighs and cranes her neck around to see about getting some food service.
"Coffee for everyone, I presume?"
Well, one thing to say about stamina. But I had very similar set of dreams
He waves over the waitress for another set of coffees.
While he does that, he looks around.
You know, it is kind of odd that so many people are so tired at the same time. I wonder what is up.
Winona gratefully accepts a cup of coffee and holds the black nectar of the gods in her hands.
"I think this is more than just us," she says. "Did you... learn anything else specific about the acting troupe?"
Sadly no, but I did learn a lot about Miss Montreuil. Why
"I'd swear I saw some dark ghostly tentacle-like things leave the stage and wrap around members of the audience during the show. They got you and me, Rufus. Hmmm...now that I think about it, they didn't wrap around you, Winona, and you didn't have bad dreams. But I can't explain why you don't have any memory of getting into bed, or why you're so tired as well."
"I think I might be able to find out more if I commune with the spirits of my ancestors. I'll have to leave town and find a secluded spot, but after that it should only take an hour or two. I'll try to meet you both back here for lunch."
Flying Eagle leaves town and heads for any hills. He sets up the items needed for his ritual, and sits still to meditate :
= 10, Raise
Though the haze of the smoke, Flying Eagle see shapes taking shape in the smoke. You are pulled into a dream like vision of lands you do not know. In a smoky room of colored stone you see shapes, people fornicating , there are draped clothing and red liquor, languages you do not know. Jumbled scenes, a feeling of age and darkness of need and desire.
You see these great pots, tall and alien to you. You feel pain and death and desire and above it all is a woman, with feet of a bird and you see her surrounded by the pots. You see rivers of pain and sorrow run from the mass of bodies into the pots, you watch those age and decay even as they endlessly fornicate and the woman drinks from the pots.
You see her shape change and change, like flickers of a fire, each a new and lovely form. You see her reach out and lay robes of darkness and blood upon some of the dying and see them become young and strong as around them an entire city of painted stone withers and dies in passion. You watch the woman leave the city with those new, young lovers and a cart of those pots. The dead city, inhabited only by carrion eaters.
The last thing you experience is the sound of smashing pots, the smell of blood and a beating heart suddenly stopping.
Flying Eagle gasps as he comes out of the trance, afraid that it was his heart that stopped beating.
He rushes back to town, finds the others and says "There is an ancient evil that has taken root in this town. It feeds off of sex, and won't quit until everyone in the town is dead. It must be using the theater to find its victims. We must stop it!"
Sadly no, but I did learn a lot about Miss Montreuil. Why
"Just tryin' to put pieces together," says Winona. She pauses and leans a bit closer so that she can speak more sotto voce.
"The Marshal service has occasionally run into cases that we cannot easily explain, and we have some files on uh... unusual phenomena. It sounds like we may have stumbled into one, and we must figure out who's involved, how and why."
~~~~~~~~~~
Winona finishes her slow breakfast with Rufus while Flying Eagle excuses himself.
"He's a curious man," she mentions between bites after Flying Eagle leaves. "Rufus... I hope that whatever is going on, we are able to liberate anyone who's fallen under the sway of some kind of hidden conspiracy."
So what you are saying is that we need to find and deal with a conspiracy
He pauses and then continues.
Any idea where to start, as I have no idea
"Well, those jars seem to have some significance. I remember seeing a few of 'em backstage in the theater. Odd thing for a traveling group of entertainers to carry with 'em from place to place."
"Maybe when Flying Eagle returns he'll have more ideas."
~~~~~~~~~~
Flying Eagle returns with his epiphany some time later and makes his sudden outburst. Winona's eyebrows come up and she puts a hand in front of her face.
"How lurid," she says. "Well we can't just go around the town telling people to stop having sex at the theater, we'll look like temperance loons. The only things I can think of are to put a watch on some of the performers to see if we can figure out what they are actually doing, or investigate those odd jars that the troupe brings around with them."
"Jars? I saw jars in my vision! The creature always had jars around it! There must be a connection!"
Maybe we have to break the jars to break the connection?
Rufus ponders.
Or maybe that will make it worse, I dunno.
but from the sounds of it, if we don't do something, the city is dead.
"The pots stored whatever the creature needed to eat to survive. So if we break the pots, maybe it can't feed anymore. But I don't know how long it would take it to starve to death."
Or it might force whatever is doing this, to come out in the open, where we could deal with it.
Rufus waves for another coffee.
So a first step, is that we look at the clay jars that Winona found. Unless someone else has an idea
The Thing Place Winona recall is seeing the Jars at the Theater. So they could be there. But As Rufus well knows the troupe does not sleep there, so the jars could be elsewhere. You know very little about the troupe, Although Rufus does know they came by train.
"Makin' a guess here, but if the troupe is just working in the theater and staying somewhere else, moving all of those jars is quite a chore, so they must be VERY important. Something they keep close, no matter where they go, keepin' them close by while they were working, even if they have to then gather 'em up to take 'em back to where they sleep."
"Rufus, any recollection of where Madame took you? Any inkling, any clues at all?" she asks.
Well, we had dinner, and then took a stroll around the town.
Where we went around town is a bit of a blur.
He blushes slightly with this next comment.
We then ended up in her room for the rest of the night.
Next thing, it was morning, and I thought to meet you here, and explain the dreams that I had.
Rufus will recall the Hotel, The Grand Istria. About two blocks away and easy waking distance to the Theater. It was a rather Nice Hotel if he recalls.
"While this creature may need to keep the pots close, it'd be pretty obvious and odd if they carted them back and forth from the hotel to the theater twice a day. I'd bet they're keeping them hidden somewhere in the basement of the theater. Shall we try there first?"
Lets give it a shot, but I think it should be in the early morning, when everyone is asleep.
"Why not the middle of the night? Darkness would allow us to sneak around easier. Or by 'early morning' were you thinking of before dawn?"
Before dawn, is what I was thinking of.
Do we have any means of getting though a lock
"I'm no good at that. I can barely sneak around without tripping over my own feet. Winona?"
"Not really, no. So we need a distraction, or some excuse to be back there."
Flying Eagle will spend 50 cents while talking to people :
= Success
And learns...???
Rufus will also pay .50 to try and get info.
Best result 10,
He learns ?
Flying Eagle and Rufus spend a few hours in the locations around the hotel and Theater, asking some questions, striking up conversations and buying a few drinks. You find out a few things.
The theater is pretty empty of a night, after clean up and everything its mostly just two guards, one of which sleeps most of night.
A few hands, know of the troupe you mention and some of them recall seeing jars, but they were told they were for luck or something, French people are strange.
The troupe are not all saying at the Hotel that Rufus visited, just a few. Most stay in wagons near the warehouse where their pops are stored. Near the train station, they are not sure just how they got permission to camp in the rail yards.
"If I had to guess, the jars are probably in the warehouse. Shall we call on them late tonight?"
"Socially or stealthily?"
With a wink and a smile, he says "Why, stealthily, of course."
Of course we should, but I got a feeling that if those jars are as important as you think they are, then they are probably where the troupe will be at night.
So if we don't find anything there tonight, we are probably going to have to go to the rail yard.
Most stay in wagons near the warehouse where their pops are stored. Near the train station, they are not sure just how they got permission to camp in the rail yards.
From what you heard they seem to be in the railyard itself. Camping near one of the storage warehouses.
"... I wonder if one of the stores in this town sells pottery, like something we could sneak in and swap so that we can sneak out with one of theirs to inspect it later."
There should be someone whom might be able to make one. Should I ask around for a potter?
"They didn't look like any modern-day pots, and they were made with red clay." But wouldn't pots made now take a week or two to dry completely?