'The Strangeness of Hezekiah Mason' - chpt 1

[Priest]

In the church:
Tommy has his words rudely interupted as the door to the bell tower crashes open. Framed in that doorway are the figures of the deputy and the one that the sheriff had called Kilroy, between them held securely the familiar form of the young bell ringing girl, Molly. Once again Tommy sees the moment snatched from him as the sheriff turns his attention to the new arrivals.
As the group stops the girl manages to extracate her left arm from Kilroy's grasp, then with her finger shaking she points accusingly at the kneeling figure of Harry Blake, "It were him, the fat one did it"

[Mr. Handy]

That's got to be a secret passage! thinks Anne, carefully examining the brickwork for cracks or hidden catches.

OOC,Poke Around roll (2d6+Luck) in the crypt: [dice]0[/dice] I want to find a hidden area/threshold.

[carnage_lee]

Tommy Stone

"He did what, exactly?" Tommy asks putting on his best 'court-room' voice. They were running out of time, losing the initiative - he needed to know what was going on and what they were dealing with.... trouble was, could he get the Nun and Blake to play along and just where was Anne?

[Priest]

Anne,Your groping fingers find several bricks easy to remove, once these are removed you find that a small section of the back wall can be accessed. Not a secret room, or exit as you may have hoped but definitely an area that someone had been at pains to hide. Once accessed you find a room little bigger than a cupboard, which it may once have been. Copious signs of unuse abound, from the half inch or so of mildewed dirt, to the almost forests of dust blackened cobwebs. Sudden movement to the rear of the cupboard hints of the non-abandonment of all the spiderwebs. Yet the small area is not empty, for on an age worn shelf sits a large rectangular box, composed of rusting metal you recognise as a strongbox of an earlier time probably the 1860s. Cautiously you reach out for the brass padlock that seems to be its only lock...

In the Church:
With the sudden reappearance of the deputy, along with the youngster, the interior of the church falls into a deep silence as for a moment the strange accusation sinks in. Tommy is first to react, [/color]
"He did what, exactly?"
At his words all attention is focused on the girl. “Yeah, Molly Parker what did this feller do? And just what are you doing wandering at this time of night?” demands Farnberger, “Henessy point your gun at him and if he so much as blinks shoot him in his damn smart mouth”
Hennesy grins, nods, and levels the twin black barrels of the shotgun at Harry Blake.
Molly Parker smiles, the malicious kind of smile a child might make while pulling the wings off a crane fly, “Ask him about Janey. He knows where she is”.
At the name ‘Janey’, Hennesy pulls back the hammers on his shotgun and both Farnberger and Clay draw their pistols cocking them with ominous clicks.

[Supercape]

Harry racked his brains. He had done plenty in his life, but for the life of him he could not think of what he could be accused.

"Janey? Janey?" he blustered. He fancied a wrong word could lead to his brains decorating the church wall behind him.

"Janey, ah yes, Janey, of course!" the only Janey he knew, or at least could think of right now, was some withered old hag that used to act as Hezekiah's maid. Awful, black eyed woman.

"Janey is at Hezekiah's old haunt! through the trees! although what she is doing I do not know!" he guessed, wildly. Fat as he was, he was not fat-headed. He said it with level confidence and false honesty.

[Mr. Handy]

Anne examines the box, particularly the padlock, shining the lantern on it to make sure that there are no nasty poison needles or other traps. If she is satisfied that it is safe, she takes a hairpin and tries to pick the lock.

[Priest]

Harry,Please roll 'Convince (roll [2d6]+Affinity. As you are trying to convince them to look in the old Mason house. Tommy Stone or Sister Mary Francis may choose to assist your roll On a 10+, they ask you to promise something first, and then do what you ask once you promise. On a 7–9, they need some concrete assurance first, otherwise they refuse.

Tommy or Sister Mary Francis,You may 'Help' Harry if you choose. In a change to the usual Trust rules, you each have 0- 3 points of trust for each character. You choose how much you trust this character and act acoordingly the levels are +3 trust him as a brother, +2 trust him as a friend, +1 trust him a bit, 0 neither trust or distrust him. Negatives are for you to decide. The points may fluctuate through the adventure depending upon therir future actions, also the levels you choose to assign need not be reciprocated. If you choose to trust him implicitly and assign a +3 to Harry Blake, he may not trust you in return and assign you a 0. So to gain the trust of another character you must earn it, so choose wisely. Ask youselves "Do I trust this man?" and then how much. To 'Help' you roll 2d6+ the number of trust points you choose to add. On a 10+, they take a +2 (help) to their move. On a 7-9, they take a +1 (help) to their move, and you expose yourself to danger, retribution, or other consequences. On a 6 or less: You don't want a -6, believe me

Anne,Please roll a modified 'Act under pressure' (2d6+reason) 10+ success 7-9 success with a consequence 6- whoops!!

[/color]

[Supercape]

Spoiler:

[dice]0[/dice]+2, a 9 which is just off...

Harry wiped his brow and pleased with the gunmen. "Please, gentlemen, if you want to find her, the old house is your best bet. I...er...we..." he paused, looked at Tommy Stone pleadingly..."would be pleased to assist you in this endeavour. Old Hezekiah was a curious fellow, and this is a curious night. Surely there is safety in numbers!"

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Act Under Pressure roll (2d6+Reason): [dice]0[/dice]

[Priest]

Anne,Despite the age and obvious disuse of the lock eventually you are rewarded with a sharp 'click' and the padlock opens. With its removal, the lid of the strongbox yields, begrudgingly, to your efforts despite its rusted hinges, on the inside of the steel lid you can make out the stamped image of the Federal Eagle under which is the date 1864. Inside you see a small leather bound book, from the accumalated dust would seem to suggest that it has been here, untouched, for as many years as the box. There is also a small leather bag, fastened by a twisted leather lace, which from the state would seem to have been placed here at the same time as the book.

In the church:
Harry begins a stuttering reply to the accusation, although it is plain that he has no idea as to who this 'Janey' is, or where she may be found. As all eyes turn towards him, he glances over at Tommy a pleading look on his face...
[/color]

[Mr. Handy]

Anne wipes the dust from the book, careful not to make herself sneeze, and removes it from the box. She examines the cover for a title and then opens it, treating it with the care and respect that its age demands.

[Priest]

Anne,The book looks much older than the box it sits in, The cover seems to be made from leather, but leather from the hide of what creature you do not know. It may have once been a pale leather or as black as pitch, its age has rendered unrecognisable. With the practiced care of one schooled in the care of antiquities you carefully turn the cover, the first page seems to be made of some age yellowed vellum, but again its construction is unknown to you. Where you would expect there to be a title of some sort there is just a random jumble of shapes. Possibly a code of some kind, the only shape you recognise is one that bears an uncanny resemblence to the number 3, this shape, number or whatever it is, is repeated several times amongst the others. Turning further pages of the book shows that each successive page is covered in similiar shapes, the nuber 3 appearing often throughout the close, delicate, drawings. Turning to the leather bag, you note that the leather seems to be recognisable as goat skin. Gently you untie the leather lace revealing a ground whaite powder that looks and feels like common salt.

[/color]

[Mr. Handy]

Anne carefully closes the leather bag up again and secures it with the leather lace, then places it in her purse with the dagger. Once she has finished leafing through the book, she wraps it up carefully and places it in her purse as well. After verifying that there is nothing else inside the old box, she shuts it and locks up the empty box again with the padlock. Then she makes her way back to the gate and listens at it.

[Priest]

Anne: As you move back to the gate and the steps leading up to the door of the crypt. You are able to hear voices beyond, however the thickness of the door, earlier a benefit, now proves a hindrance as it proves impossible to make out what the voices are saying.

Rebecca: From your hiding place in the shadows opposite the cemetery entrance you can hear some sort of commotion occuring within the church. As you watch the figure by the police car moves towards the church, getting close is now a simple matter of stealthy movement.

In the church: Harry's pleading looks seem to have gone unoticed, he flashes a last despairing plea to the stern looking private eye and the, hopefully, more caring Sister Francis Mary. Seeing the way Harry keeps looking at Tommy and the siste,r Farnberger turns towards them, "It seems this'n thinks you may know something about the dissapearance"

[Mr. Handy]

Anne replaces the bricks where she found them to once again conceal the box, then goes back to the gate, douses her lantern, and cracks the gate open to better hear what is going on beyond.

[carnage_lee]

Tommy Stone

Tommy looks up as the Deputy, things were spiralling out of control control again, these men were obviously riled up and acting like a 'wild west posse' he had to try an calm things down. This odd girl.. she obviously had something to hide, her accusation sounded hollow. Tommy needed to slow things down, get these people to start 'thinking' rather than reacting.

"One second, Deputy, I believe you asked this girl 'What she was doing here' I think she should provide an answer, don't you? It's obvious that Harry here doesn't have a clue as to whom this 'Janey' or any 'disappearance' - We would be happy to help you in your search but wild accusations won't help anyone."

OOC:   I think a puzzle things out roll, might be appropriate here: (2d6 +1 (reason)) - i'll keep the ongoing bonus in hand. [dice]0[/dice]

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   Re. Dice roll Asking: 'Which enemy before me is most dangerous? Seems appropriate.

[Priest]

In the church: Farnberger, seems to consider Tommy's words, "Ayuh, his fear filled bablin' does sound a bit odd, and you do make a good point" he stares at the girl for a few moments, "Okay Molly Parker, before we get into the why's and wherefores of the missin' Collins girl, how comes you are here in this church at this hour? And do your folks know about your wanderin'?"

Suddenly Molly is all sweetness and light, "Why Sheriff Farnbergeryou know my folks was at the meetin'. As to my being here, I followed Mr Murdoch there when he came lookin' for the lights seen in the cemetery by old man Keats" she smiles a smile of a innocent young girl, but again it doesn't quite meet her eyes, which look flat and ageless.

"That there fat man called me names when he come up stairs. I just thought I'd get my own back by makin' him squirm a mite"

Tommy,In your estimation the most dangerous looking person before you is the girl, there is something odd and more than a little scary about her, The sheriff Farnberger has a look of someone to best avoid annoying, but the girl, even though you guess she can be little more than 13 or 14 years old, seems by far the most dangerous in the church.

[/color]

[carnage_lee]

Tommy Stone

The hairs on Tommy's neck prickle and raise as he sees the 'cold, almost other-worldly' flat stare in the girls eyes; the vague unease he felt earlier when he first met the girl is multiplied, nothing he can put his finger on, nothing he could prove but she was definitely 'dangerous'.

Her outright lie about Harry calling her names was interesting but not something that he could bring up right now. Just what was the girl up to? Did she have some grudge against Harry? Was he caught up in the mystery somehow and what was she really doing here? All things that Tommy would have to discover but first he had to get rid of the girl before she could cause any more problems.

"So, Sheriff my offer to help stands.. and this isn't the time or place for Miss Parker to be about, can you spare one of your men to escort her back to her parents, after all they may be very worried if they have noticed her missing..." Tommy tries to put all his persuasiveness as he speaks.

Convince Roll,[ooc]Convince doesn't quite cover the situation but is close enough?[dice]0[/dice][/ooc]

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Am I able to hear what's being said upstairs?