Play@YSDC

Professor Krugmanconsiders his knowledge of occult matters... unsuccessfully.

Bridget coughs into her fist, seemingly attempting to re-establish her presence amidst the flurry of investigative activity and speculation.

'Bah, I hate it when I blank out like that!' she thinks reproachfully.

Approaching the huddled group she arches herself onto her tiptoes, straining to see over their shoulders and catch of glimpse whatever quality of the vanity that has so piqued their collective interests.
"Oh how awful!" she exclaims, suddenly thankful for the grim exposure that years of beat reporting has bestowed upon her. She turns from the mirror and gazes out the window at the lonely oak, one hand thoughtfully cradling her chin. "Yes, the address on the invoice seems to make the most sense to follow up on. Tony, you think on the way we could swing by the municipal library and try to grab a copy of that book you all found in the study? Whatever Veronica is mixed up in may have something to do with those Japanese mythologies, at least in her own mind. It may provide us with a bit of perspective into her mental state."

'A member of the New England elite obsessed with Japanese ghost stories gone bananas, missing or possibly both? This might have front page material written all over it!' she ponders excitedly, 'I wonder if any of the cub reporters back at the Eagle would be willing to run research duty on this one for a co-writer cred?'

Priest, I'll leave it up to you to determine whether or not Bridget would have sufficient resources back at the Eagle to have someone do research for her.

"Yes, the library at Miskatonic University is supposed to be excellent," says Tony. "We can stop there first, but I don't know if they'll lend books to people who aren't students or faculty. We could always drop someone off to look through it there."

Professor Krugman: I have full use of the library at Miskatonic, don't worry about that.

Bridget claps her hands approvingly, already striding excitedly towards the cramped apartment's door.

"Now we're on the trolley!" she exclaims, "I have some research assistants back at the paper who can chase down some of these leads and hopefully provide us with some additional information! I'm going to check and see if Ms. Hickman has a telephone in the house I can use. I'll meet you fellas at the front door in a blink!"

The plucky reporter heads off in search of the landlady and hopefully a working phone. If one is available she will place a call back to the Eagle and ask cub reporter Chip Jolsen to follow up on several leads, including; obtaining and reading through A Dream of Japan particularly for relevant information on the Yurei, scowering the archives for any past stories involving Japanese Death Cults, and any public information regarding the Maritime East Shipping Agents.

If a phone is not available, she will wait patiently by the front door while working on headline titles and place her call at the first available opportunity.

Bridget Barrett:
Leaving the group in the apartment, you go in search of Miss Hickman, the landlady. She is not hard to find as she seems to be hovering just outside the apartments door, perhaps listening, and from the length of her cigarette ash she has been holding this position for quite a while.
Quickly pulling herself together she shows you to the telephone just inside the front door near the bottom of the staircase. After a long delay while the various switchboards are negotiated you are able to speak to the Eagle and arrange for the items to be looked into. You are told that it will take several days, but they are on it.

Bridget says her goodbyes to Chip before placing the mouthpiece back in it's cradle. She allows a wry smile of self-satisfaction to cross her lips.

'There's nothing like a good scoop!' she thinks to herself.
Suddenly, something catches her attention.

(In the abscence of Ben)

Ted Nelson:

Ted tips his hat onto the back of his head and reaches for a cigarette from his almost empty pack. As he puts a light to the tip he gazes around the room, "Well I guess there is little else to be found here, so maybe a visit to this shipping agents is our next step" He looks towards Tony for some sign of agreement.

Bridget Barrett,As you replace the receiver on its hook you notice that someone has scratched something into the black finish of the telephone. It looks like some kind of symbol, but you dont recognise it. It may be some form of Japanese letter, but it means nothing to you. Taking your pencil you quickly copy the symbol to your notepad, after all it might mean something to somebody. [center][img]http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp292/priest_019/RPG%20Stuff/radical-tree_zpsd155768f.jpg[/img][/center]

Struck by the foreign character etched into the telephone, Bridget offers the looming Ms. Hickman a perfunctory nod and heads back upstairs, happy to have caught the rest of the group before they've set off for the car. Flipping her notepad open, she displays the copied symbol to the assembled group.

"Found this etched into the blower downstairs. I don't suppose any of you can read Japanese?" she states proudly. She angles the notepad towards Paula in particular. "Ms. Deveroux, have you seen this symbol anywhere before?"

"Not me," says Tony, "but maybe the library has a Japanese-English dictionary or something. All right, let's get moving. I'll drive," he adds before Tilda can volunteer.

Tilda, seems quite happy for Tony to drive muttering something abot the Ford being beneath her. She glances at the drawing displayed by Bridget and yawns in a bored fashion. In fact the whole episode is boring her greatly and she could think of better things to be doing, like the South of France for example. Oliver had invited her and a few friends to his yatch in St Tropez and she is seriously considering his offer. She has fulfilled the desires of her aunt to her best ability, but it seems that Ronnie has simply vanished. That being so, the it was her decision and Tilda doesn't see why that should spoil her plans to winter in Europe.
"It looks like the Japanese symbol for tree, but it is so badly drawn that I barely recognise it"

Other Language,Japanese 40% 1d100 → [25] = (25) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4565462/

Your journey to the Miscatonic is uneventful despite their seeming to be a large number of emergency vehicles on the roads, however;
Normally you would expect halls of academia such as Miskatonic University to be studiously quiet, but today the grounds are awash with activity. No less than a dozen emergency vehicles are parked in the lot outside the huge old Orne Library with tens of emergency personnel working to evacuate the main buildings. Students wander the grounds of the campus in small groups, watching the excited hubbub. On the road through the massive gates, a policeman waves you away from the turn-off that leads to the parking lot.
"Sorry folks, the University is closed temporarily. Some sort of gas leak. As soon as the leak is found and dealt with the place will be open for busness"

Professor Krugman: Thank you for driving, Mr. Esposito... Oh dear... I had hoped we might pause for refreshment at one of the faculty senior common rooms before visiting the library. Basic hospitality was sadly lacking at the lodging house. But now... Oh dear... 'Cursed is he who lives in Interesting Times' if you will allow me a Chinese rather than a Japanese proverb!

-How convenient. So, any other library we can go? Or is there any japonese comunity where we can go ask anything? Like a chinatown?- says Francis

Ted Nelson:
Watching the activity around the university as Tony swings the car back into the traffic, Ted, after a moments contemplation, says, "Rather than get caught in never ending cycle of searching for possible clues to some Japanese mythology connection. It would be best to just go to the address of the shipping agents and see what we can find there. That seems to be our only concrete lead at the moment. We know she contacted them, and from her possesion of their card it is likely she visited them in person, so lets go see if they remember what it was she saw them about"

-Thats another possibility-says Francis.

Bridget watches the infamous university shrink in the growing distance behind them and ponders their bad luck. She scrawls a reminder to herself to follow up with Chip at the Eagle. If he's successfully obtains a copy of the text, perhaps he could pass it along to them once he was done with his initial research. Of course, there was always the option of 'Ronnie Mouse's' personal copy back at the manor...

"Rotten luck guys." she says from her place in the backseat. She idly studies the Japanese character on her notepad. "'Tree' eh? And in poor penmanship no less? Not a fantastic leap to assume Veronica carved it into the telephone. I wonder why though? Something to do with that oak outside her window?"

She shudders slightly as the disturbing image on the mirror is conjured up in her mind.

"She did have a morbid interest in it after all..."

"Yeah, that's a good thought," says Tony as he drives away from the university. "Maybe she hid something in the tree. We'll have to check it out when we go back there. Do you want to do that now, or should we continue on to the shipping agents?"

Ted Nelson

Ted nods, "It's possible but I think we need to check out the shipping agents as we are so close. According to the address the place should be just around the corner... Down there between the post office and the restaraunt"

Just ahead you see a small, shabby looking shop front squeezed between the Post Office and 'Luigi's Fine Italian Cafe', a small painted sign proclaims 'The Maritime East Shipping Agency'. Another sign hangs askew on the door 'Open'...

Bridget nods in agreement with Ted. She straightens out the creases on her blouse from the long car ride and approaches the door to the squat establishment.

"Lets see what we can find out." she mutters, more to herself than to her compatriots.

She opens the door and steps inside.