Play@YSDC

A short jaunt through town brings the group up to a small one-story cozy cottage. Knocking on the door gets no immediate answer. After a second rapping, you hear the voice of a frail man from within say "Come in." There is a bit of a coughing fit afterwards.

Those who know Martin Richardson personally can read this,[b]Martin[/b] is a former member of the highly discrete occult group called [i]Club Nyctopia[/i]. About three years ago, he has moved into the quiet village of Glendale to be close to his sister and to enjoy some peace and quiet in the twilight years of his life. He came here after a nasty incident that occurred just over five years ago that resulted in many months of counselling and psychiatric care. He has no memory of the incident. [b]Martin[/b] now hopes to lead a quiet life! He does not get out much, and rarely interacts with the other villagers. He lives with his divorced sister, [b]Linda Brown[/b].

The cabin inside is neat and warm. Sitting beside a gas-burning fire within is an older man sitting in a chair and leaning over a very large book. Presumably, this is Martin.

Martin is a sickly looking man with the look about him of someone who is old before his time. He has a pasty, sallow complexion and is very thin and bony. His hair is almost non-existent and is grey. It is almost as if something has sucked the very life out of his prematurely aged body. On his lap is a large and old brown leather bound book.

Peaking at the book,The parchment pages contain hand-written Latin.

After everyone arrived in the living room Paul gives a little cough to remind the reading man that he invited some guests just seconds ago.

"Good evening, Martin," says Laurence. "We've just arrived in Glendale. I hope this isn't too late an hour to call on you, and I hope you don't mind that these other visitors have decided to accompany us." He looks at the book out of curiosity, but he cannot decipher the text at first glance.

Martin looks up from his book, "Oh! Lawrence, come in... sit down. You brought friends too. Come in, come in." He doesn't get up from his seat... though he does give it half an effort and decided against it. His aged body didn't agree with the strain. "I think we have some tea in a pot in the kitchen... just needs to be warmed up if you'd like. Linda, my sister, prepared it before she left." As he motions to the kitchen, his hand shakes uncontrollably. He grabs it with his other hand and caresses it with concern on his face. "So what brings you?" A strange question from the very man who asked Lawrence and dropped hints for Petronella to come.

"Thank you," says Laurence. "Well, I've come to Glendale to look into the local phenomena and find an explanation for them. The others here have similar interests. I figured you would have some insights and would know where we should begin our investigations."

Pet moves forward to shake the elderly man's hand. "Yes, we're very keen to find out more about the fairy sightings and spirits. I'm Petronella Walters, sir. I write for a magazine."

Without asking for permission, Nicholas, with camera ready, snapped off a picture of Pet shaking Mr. Richardson's hand. "That'll be one for the scrapbook!" He exclaimed.

Samantha laughs. "Please excuse my husband Mr Richardson, never one to miss a good shot. My name is Samantha Hollis and I'm here with my photographer husband Nicholas. Nicholas is the one in the family interested in strange goings-on, but I've come along with him this time."

After greeting everyone, and everyone is seated, Martin Richardson responds, "Ah, strange goings-on... fairy sightings. Of course. I remember now. Ah... where shall I start?" He closes the tome he'd been reading, sending a cloud of dust billowing outward and breaks into another coughing fit, first coughing into his hand, and then grabbing a linen napkin to finish the job.

Medicine Roll?,Medicine roll is applicable here if anyone wants to take a stab at what's ailing [b]Martin [/b]besides old age.

Pulling the napkin away after the coughing subsides, he says "I have come to notice that strange temporal effects have been taking place in and around Glendale. These images from the past are leaking into the future... or rather, the present." He shifts his gaze to see everyone as he continues talking, "in other words, the ghosts that people have seen are really images somehow recorded and sent from the past. I believe that there may be a fault, crack, or fissure perhaps, in the space-time continuum caused by unknown paranormal forces."

Pet's usually distant eyes twinkle with interest at what Richardson has to say. "Really? How intriguing...a rip in space and time itself...That's quite an unusual theory, sir. Unusual, but thrilling." She smiles.

Laurence has no clue what could be ailing Martin. "Yes, a fascinating theory," he says. "Something like that could explain all ghost sightings, or at least a lot of them. So, how can we put this theory to the test?"

Martin looks to Pet and says, "Thrilling? An understatement. Such a development could render all sorts of havoc on our world. Whatever is causing this should be found, then eliminated before it gets much worse."

Nicholas points out, "But that really doesn't explain this bit about fairies, does it?"

"The little people... ah yes," Martin responded. He leaned forward, coughed into his handkerchief, then spoke "I have no explanation for the little people sightings, but I do believe that they are too commonplace to be merely made up and it's unlikely its a hoax. It is possible that the boundaries between alternative Planes or parallel Universes have become blurred allowing people to witness these strange creatures." He leaned back again and smirked, "Of course, it's just as likely it may be some sort of mass hallucination caused by temporal or paranormal energies of unknown origin."

"Well as I've heard it, a wealthy former industrialist that goes by the name of George Tennison retired to this area not too long ago, two years I think. He bought the Stately home, Cranborne House, and renovated it. If you ask around, you'll find it's no secret that Tennison is very interested in the Victorian period. He owns many antiques and objects from that era. It is said that he has an interest in Victorian tales of fairies and has several alleged photographs of fairies in his possession." The man paused and looked away for a moment thoughtfully, then said "Personally, I've not met this Tennison, nor seen any of his pictures. Don't really know if I believe all that talk, but it's certainly worth looking into."

To Laurence, he responded, "If you want to get to the bottom of this, I suppose the best way to go about it is to get more clues as to what is really happening. Go about the town and speak with the people to get eyewitness accounts. Take notes," glancing at Nicholas he adds, "and pictures. Especially if it is happening right then and there." Looking back to Laurence, he says, "I'll continue looking through my books for possibilities."

"Thank you," says Laurence. "We have a number of promising leads already, and I'll be sure to add Mr. Tennison to the list. Whatever the cause of these phenomena, we will get to the bottom of it. Have they been increasing in frequency or intensity as of late, or have the sightings been steady?"

"This place," Martin coughs again, his coughing fit lasts a full minute but he's sure to keep his handkerchief up by his mouth the whole time. "... Sorry. Glendale has been famous for the alleged Fairy sightings for a very long time, but the ghostly visions people have been reporting... those seem far more recent. I couldn't hazard a guess as to when though. Certainly within the past few years."

"It is possible that the boundaries between alternative Planes or parallel Universes have become blurred allowing people to witness these strange creatures."

Puh, what a waste of time.
Paul was thinking and left the room with no word to prepare some tea for the party in the kitchen.

"Extraordinary.." Pet mutters, and looks deep in thought for a few moments while she considers this. "Then maybe the fairy sightings are actually...alien sightings..."

"Aliens? Is that really likely, or even possible?" says Samantha, somewhat surprised.

"I have my doubts about that," says Laurence. "These creatures, whatever they may be, are most likely terrestrial. Still, the only way we're going to find out for certain is to investigate."

ooc,Any more questions for Martin? If not, where to next? May be late, but there's still people at the Goat. It is a Pub after all.

Martin shrugged to the alien suggestion and said, "I'm leaning toward mass hallucination," then broke into a coughing fit.

Meanwhile, Paul found everything he needed to make a mean cup of tea.