Platform BEGIN HERE

[Ritterton]

Artemis picked his way back through the broken door and onto the platform. He took a moment and got his bearings as to where along the platform he needed to go to find a back portion of the restaurant's kitchen and delivery area. Carefully, holding his walking stick at the ready, he moved along the brick wall looking for any window or door not connected with the sitting area of the restaurant.

[Laraqua]

It's cold. So very cold. Your fingers are starting to go a little numb.

You two can hear some cheerful humming coming from the open door of the station waiting room. You could easily avoid it to circle around the platform....

[Ritterton]

Artemis raised his walking stick to his hand and blew on his fingers. He heard the humming and froze. He looked over his shoulder and then motioned to head away from the sound of the humming and pressed a finger to his lip. He turned back and started walking around the platform away from the humming.

[Mr. Handy]

Kate keeps following closely, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering. "Maybe we should see who's there," she whispers.

[Overlord87]

Jonathan shakes his head with decision: "Even if by chance someone happened to arrive here, someone completely unrelated to this mess, like we were just a few hours ago... well, he wouldn't be humming that cheerfully. For sure. I say we stay away from that door".

[Ritterton]

Artemis nodded in agreement to what Jonathan had said. He kept moving about the platform in a way that took him farther from the cheerful humming.

[Mr. Handy]

Kate shrugs and keeps following the men.

[Laraqua]

They circle around to the back and find another door. This one has been forced open.

[Laraqua]

The fog is thick and dense around you, cold tendrils snaking into your clothing and tickling your skin almost as though it were a live thing. The bright roundness of the moon can still be somehow glimpsed through the cloud which surrounds you though you can barely make out more than a few yards ahead of you. You can primarily see the concrete platform and the stripe of paint declaring how far you should stand back to avoid being sucked under the train's wheels, and the red brick building behind you with its white-lined windows and Victorian lamps pressed against the station's brick walls and sitting unlit. Benches line those same walls, empty of fellow passengers, crowding more thickly beneath the blue awning that stretches before the station restaurant. You can smell the smoke slowly dissipating from the train itself and see it mainly by its dark silhouette, somehow darker than the space behind it. You can hear the sounds of its engine slowly, ever so slowly cooling, as though the train were parked here to stay. Perhaps with a flashlight you could see further, as it is, you have to walk and look about.

There's nobody on the platform that you can see, but there is a coat on the platform itself. It's hard to make out in the gloom, but there appears to be some sort of dark stain....

Places to Go:

• Appledown Station Restaurant (broken open from the inside).
• Main Waiting Room (covered in chains that have been snipped).
• Upstairs Bedroom Window (cloth rope dangling down from it).
• Shed (unlocked).

Evidence Collection,There are twin scrape marks across the platforms. 1-pt Outdoorsman or Crafts spends available.

Flashlight on the coat,The coat is stained with blood.

Opening the folded coat,A mess of blood slick feathers lies around a quivering skinless mess, vaguely shaped but for a beak and ... and talons! Is that a tiny bird? It looks like something has pulled its feathers off. Stability Loss 0/1.

Forensics Knowledge,The bird wasn't skinned. Somehow its feathers and skin were firmly attached to the coat and yet loosely attached to its body, meaning that when the coat was last unwrapped they went with the fabric. This ... isn't natural. Stability Loss 0/3. MAXIMUM OF THREE CAN BE LOST ON THE PLATFORM IN THIS SCENE SO IF YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST ONE YOU CAN ONLY LOSE TWO MORE.

[Mr. Handy]

Kate emerges from the restaurant door and starts carefully heading toward the door to the main waiting room.

[Laraqua]

As they step out onto the platform, there's a high-pitched screeching sound overhead almost like a plane passing overhead but far too near and far too distorted. All the lights dim and there's a pressing darkness, and when it passes, it's just the two of them.

The others have vanished....

OOC:   Don't worry, the other PCs can return when the players do but this is the easiest way to split the party.

[Mr. Handy]

"Where did they go?" gasps Kate, looking around.

[Laraqua]

"Let's get inside," says the stranger, eyes darting around as though seeking the source.

[Mr. Handy]

"Right," says Kate, heading for the front door.

[Laraqua]

The darkness flashes across them as she throws open the door and stumbles inside. The moment she's inside the darkness lifts from her like a blanket and, turning, she can see that outside is still filled with an inky darkness. The stranger stumbles in behind her.

They find themselves in the waiting room as expected.

[Laraqua]

The gloom is thick and dense around you, cold tendrils of fog snaking into your clothing and tickling your skin almost as though it were a live thing. Even the flashlight barely penetrates the gloom and you have a feeling that without it you would be standing in darkness. You can barely see the concrete platform and the stripe of paint declaring how far you should stand back isn't visible at all as you creep along the wall, keeping close to the red brick building with its white-lined windows and Victorian lamps pressed against the station's brick walls and sitting unlit.

You have to step out further from the wall to get around benches that line those same walls, empty of fellow passengers, crowding more thickly beneath the blue awning that stretches before the station restaurant.

There's nobody on the platform that you can see, but there is a coat on the platform itself. It's hard to make out in the gloom, but there appears to be some sort of dark stain....

Places to Go:

• Appledown Station Restaurant (broken open from the inside).
• Main Waiting Room (covered in chains that have been snipped).
• Upstairs Bedroom Window (cloth rope dangling down from it).
• Shed (unlocked).

Evidence Collection,There are twin scrape marks across the platforms. 1-pt Outdoorsman or Crafts spends available.

Flashlight on the coat,The coat is stained with blood.

Opening the folded coat,A mess of blood slick feathers lies around a quivering skinless mess, vaguely shaped but for a beak and ... and talons! Is that a tiny bird? It looks like something has pulled its feathers off. Stability Loss 0/1.

Forensics Knowledge,The bird wasn't skinned. Somehow its feathers and skin were firmly attached to the coat and yet loosely attached to its body, meaning that when the coat was last unwrapped they went with the fabric. This ... isn't natural. Stability Loss 0/3. MAXIMUM OF THREE CAN BE LOST ON THE PLATFORM IN THIS SCENE SO IF YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST ONE YOU CAN ONLY LOSE TWO MORE.

[Mr. Handy]

Kate carefully leads the way along the wall toward the restaurant, staying as close as possible when she has to step away due to the benches.

[Laraqua]

The flashlight barely penetrates the darkness but whatever may be out there, stays away from them as they make their way to the restaurant.

[Mr. Handy]

Kate proceeds quietly toward the restaurant entrance.

[Laraqua]

They enter the restaurant.