CHAPTER ONE: Travis' Journey: Arrival

[Laraqua]

Hide,Pharmacy for therapeutic and Occult for ritualistic.

[Laine]

OOC,I would have felt natural history or anthropology would have been more appropriate

What is my emergency exactly? I've against good reasoning prevented a man from seeking medical attention. I don't even know what happened.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to call. It's just me and some friends are at our hotel and someone is making threatening calls to us.."

[Laraqua]

"I see. Perhaps you should call the local authorities?" asked the woman, her tone suddenly clipped and annoyed. "This is an emergency line."

Hide,Well, Pharmacy is actually all about medications and their therapeutic uses. It's what the skill is actually for. i.e. the book states Pharmacy allows the user to recognize, compounds, and perhaps dispense a wide variety of drugs and potions, natural and man-made, and understands side effects and contra-indications. He or she has a good practical knowledge of poisons and antidotes, and can use Pharmacy as a first-aid skill in cases of poisoning. Voila, pharmacy. Natural History represents the traditional knowledge and personal observations of farmers, fishermen, inspired amateurs, and hobbyists and identifies species, habits and habitats in a general way and what may be important to a particular species. Such as judging horse flesh at a country fair. It could be used to know a bit about the species, White Claudia, and a vague understanding that its a mild hallucinogen, but not a whole lot more. Anthropology enables the user to identify and understand an individual's way of life from his behavior. If he observes another culture form within for a time, or works from accurate records an extict culture, he or she may make simple predictions about that culture's ways and morals, even though the evidence may be incomplete. Occult allows you to recognize occult paraphernalia, words, and concepts, and identifies grimoires of magic and occult codes when he sees them as well as being familiar with the families of secret knowledge passed down. It's not as fitting as Pharmacy, really, in knowing what the drugs do (and what the drugs actually are) but it can give names and religious theories surrounding them. I'm happy for you to roll both Pharmacy and Occult to see what you can learn about those sorts of drugs. You may roll Natural History to try to figure out where you might find White Claudia, the flower. You may also roll Anthropology to figure out a bit of information about what sort of society has surrounded Walter from what you know thus far. You can roll all four, I'll give you information based on your successes.

[Laine]

" I apologize."

He hangs up the phone and turns to Emily.

"What shall we do?"

OOC,I wasn't thinking White Claudia specifically. Mostly in the contex of other cultures( which I have a good grasp on.) using mushrooms, cacti, etc.

[Laraqua]

"I don't know," said Emily. "But this is getting serious. Look, I don't want to worry you ... but Silent Hill has always had a high amount of missing persons and Shepherd's Glen has lost a large number of individuals over the past decade. We should step carefully. Oh, I don't know. Principal Roseworthy used to hint at a lot but I don't know much. It could just be an angry ex-girlfriend, for all we know. In fact, that's a lot more likely."

Hide,Know skill would be enough for generic knowledge and theorising. Feel free to make a Know skill if you want to draw on your own player knowledge and pull that in-game. History would work if you have A LOT of knowledge about those details. You can also roll those other skills if you want hints that direct you to stuff that's a bit more specific to the current situation (not that general knowledge isn't handy).

[Laine]

Other people missing over the years. Are these just isolated incidents? Something seems out of place here.

Travis gazes out the window towards the lake.

"Emily, I saw a young girl about 7 to 9 wandering around the streets by herself. Normally, I wouldn't be concerned by such a thing in a small community such as this, but do children go missing as well a lot here? I mean I know I have no children of my own, but..I don't want to judge people either, I am sorry."

[Laraqua]

"Yeah, it-it happens," said Emily. "What kinda girl, though? What did she look like? Maybe I know her."

[Laine]

"Well she was blond and blue eyed with a white and blue dress, I believe. It was the oddest thing, she told me first her name was Casey and then Jessica, I am not sure if either were her actual name. She always wanted to go to the amusement park, later I learned that she had been at the hospital and her parents were worried."

Walter has been at the hospital and has horrible memories, it seems. Did this girl run away from there...?

[Laraqua]

"I don't recognise the names and description," said Emily. "Sometimes people do let their children roam, even though it's never a good idea. So, what're we going to do? Just wait until he sobers up?" She wrinkles up her face. "And do you think they meant their threat?"

[Laine]

" I suppose we could. You did say it wasn't good to be out when it gets dark due to animal attacks. So, we had better decide soon. He seems pretty delusional at the moment, but I don't think he will hurt anyone."

He looks around the room briefly.

"I know this sounds a little off the wall, but we should make sure that his environment is calmin and soothing, especially if he is under the influence of a psychoactive."

OOC,I guess he should make all applicable rolls as we discussed earlier?

[Laraqua]

Travis can't recall a lot of the bits and pieces he's read over time but he does recall that there are a number of wilderness drugs that are out there. Mushrooms, cacti, toads, and certain roots can also have some interesting affects on the human body. The thing is that natural drugs generally have to be ingested or burnt and breathed in and generally don't pass through the mucus membranes of the eye (and he doesn't recall any that pass through the skin). PVT obviously can. This might be because of the White Claudia flower or due to whatever chemical alterations they made when they make the compounds. White Claudia is a very localised plant, he recalls, that grows near the lake and nowhere else. He thinks he recalls hearing that people tried to grow it elsewhere and failed but it's hard to be sure. Travis can't recall much about historical uses in America of these sorts of drugs, either. Perhaps he's too stressed at the moment. Maybe if he had access to a computer or a library he could look it up.

[Laine]

It seems like there may be religous implications to this plant amongst these people?

"Emily, I am not sure, you are the one who heard it. Do you think we are going to be secure here for the time being though?"

Travis will head towards the hotel room door and make sure the chain lock or bolt is locked.

[Laraqua]

"I don't know. They didn't say much. Just that we should leave if we want to stay safe. I-I mean, there are rumors? Look, maybe you should head home. I'm known here and generally if they want to beat him up, they won't beat a woman up as badly." She hugs herself. "It was a woman's voice, after all. Croaky."

[Laine]

She might be right, I mean what do I have to gain by staying here? On the other hand how do I make it home on my own.

"I am not so sure, we all came here in Walter's car and it would take me a while to make it on foot."

If I could make it at all.

"We could all go...nevermind."

[Laraqua]

"You could call a taxi," said Emily, gesturing to the telephone. She bites her lip nervously. "It's just ... you're new here. No need to get swept up in all the madness right away, huh?

[Laine]

"If you really think youmwillbe okay with him here."

Travis, will tilt his head towards the bathroom door but will pick up the phone and see if there is a phone book near by. If there is he will look up a taxi number and dial.

[Laraqua]

"I'm not afraid of Walter. From what I've heard about him, he's a really good guy. I mean, he's a writer. They're about the least scary profession. And he's been a fireman in Christchurch for who knows how long so I pity anyone who attacks, even if he's a bit drugged at the time. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Travis can't see a phone book but Emily knows the cab company number and gives it to him.

"You should ask them to meet you in the lobby," said Emily. "Just to be safe."

[Laine]

"Hmm.I'd probably just get in his way anyway."

He laughs a bit, but it's nervous and doesn't help to break the tension.

WIth the number now in hand he will make the call to the taxi company.

[Laraqua]

"Hello, this is Bertram's Cab Company. How may I help you?" chirps a friendly young man's voice on the other end of the line.

[Laine]

Despite the recent events Travis attempts to maintain a calm and steady voice. He will also write the number down should he need it in the future.

"Yes, can I arrange for a pick up at the Lakeview Hotel. Just outside the lobby would be nice if possible. Travis is my name, thank you."

He hangs up the phone when he is done and turns to Emily.

"You can feel free to call me should anything happen. I just got a new phone.."

Travis will give her the phone number to the cellphone that Calvin had given him.