Play@YSDC

You meet back at the hotel and, after a quick lunch, get back in the cars to drive out of town, to the old farm where Echavarria and many others lost their lives in that deadly summer of 1924. You feel your mind is already wandering to the coming journey to Mexico, and whatever danger might await you there. In contrast, this short trip to a long-forgotten farm doesn't really fuel your enthusiasm - but you feel you can't afford to let anything slip by.

You follow the main road until you reach the farm's address, then turn to take a dirt road leading into the countryside for a couple hundred meters. Finally, the small trail dies off as you stop the car in front of some barely visible remnants of two burned down buildings.

Holly examines the dirt road for tracks to see if there's been any recent traffic. "I didn't find out much from the sample," she says, "only that it seems to be organic in part. It's almost as though it's alive. It felt like it was actively trying to hide its true nature from me, and just trying to figure it out made my head hurt and my stomach churn. Any luck with Olivia Clarendon?"

Cameron

Holly's description, combined with the heat and the pain in his shoulder, make Cameron feel ill. He gets out of the car before he answers her question.

"She didn't have much to say that we didn't already know. We can quite certain that her involvement was casual, and she wasn't involved with the major players. She just wanted to forget the whole thing."

He looks around. "Shall we have a little look at what's left of the buildings?"

He heads toward them.

Cam,Searching the buildings doesn't reveal much. There were clearly two large buildings here, that burned down quite some time ago. Since then, grass has grown on the ruins, and all around, unchecked.

Holly,There are indeed signs of movement. You find tracks that could be left by a truck or something of the sort. More than that, there are signs of recent digging.

Cameron kicks at the dirt.

"There's nothing to see here" he calls to the others.

"I wouldn't be so sure," says Holly, studying the dirt. "There are tracks here, recent ones. Looks like a truck's been through here, and there's evidence of recent digging too. Everyone stay alert. We might not be alone here." Once again, the weight of her concealed gun against her thigh is reassuring, though she hopes she doesn't need to use it.

Cameron comes over and bends down to look at the site of the digging more closely.

OOC,How extensive is the site of the digging Overlord?

The digging site is about 15 meters away from the ruins, and it's not small, although it is sort of hidden by the tall grass and it's not strange you couldn't immediately notice it. Anyway, it seems they are - were? - digging a hole several meters long on each side, and more than one meter of depth.

Cameron

"What on earth could they have been looking for?" muses Cameron. "And have they even finished?"

He looks around him anxiously. "Whoever did this might be back."

Ian Morin

Ian crouches at the edge of the digging, analyzing the floor without jumping in. "Maybe they are, or were, building something."

"I don't see any construction equipment here," says Holly. "Maybe they were searching for something. Perhaps they've found it, perhaps not. It might be worth our while to continue digging there in case we find it first. Maybe there's a shovel around this place, in a tool shed or a barn or something. Of course, it is a rather wide hole, but they might not know too precisely where whatever it is is buried. Could be dead bodies, maybe. Or maybe they are planning to build something and have only dug the foundation hole so far."

OOC,[b]Christopher[/b] has Architecture. It might be a good idea to use it here.

While you move around, talking and inspecting the site, Cam feels a sudden burst of pain from his leg, near the calf. His hands instinctively runs at his gun, but looking down, it's just a brown cat. A feral cat, relatively large in size, biting Cam's leg. A quick kick is enough to send it flying a few meters away. The animal hisses back at you before disappearing in the tall grass.

Cam,You lose 1 Health.

Cameron

“Goddammit!” shouts Cameron. He rubs his leg where it was bitten. “What the hell was that about? Goddam cat!”

OOC,This is some kind of evil cultist cat, no doubt?

Holly bends down to examine and treat Cam's bite. "Are you okay?" she asks. "It looks like it broke the skin, but it's not too bad. I just hope the mangy thing wasn't diseased." She doesn't mention rabies so as not to alarm him, but that's foremost in her thoughts.

Cameron

“I’ve had my shots, but… I wonder why he did that? Cats don’t usually attack without provocation.”

Christopher Fontana

"That's true... you must have startled it... they lash out if they're surprised." Christopher offers a clean handkerchief as a makeshift dressing. "Let's keep an eye out for any more feral animals..."

OOC:,Are the old farm building totally ruined or do some parts survive intact enough that we could investigate?

Cameron nods his thanks and takes the handkerchief. “Well at least it wasn’t a cougar” he says.

As he applies the dressing, he addresses Christopher. “What do you make of this digging?”

Holly,Judging by the wound, it seems the cat's teeth are in very bad shape, ingrown and crooked. There's nothing else strange about the wound.

Christopher,You judge the burned buildings to be what remains of a barn and a farm, but there's nothing more to be learned from them. Regarding the recent digging, considering the size and shape, it seems to be the groundwork for a new building - another farm, maybe, or a mansion. In any case, the work efforts were abandoned a few months ago.

"The bite isn't too bad," says Holly, cleaning and dressing the wound. "The cat's teeth are in terrible shape. I guess it never got to the dentist out here," she adds with a grin. "Maybe it used to live here back when the farm was a going concern, and it attacked because this is its territory. I wonder how old the cat is. It's possible it could have been here in August 1924."

Cameron

“Maybe he knows something”. Cameron heads towards where the cat disappeared in the grass.