Play@YSDC

The fog begins to lift from your head and the stomach cramps have lessened to a steady dull ache.

As you open your eyes, pain lances through your skull as the bright light really hurts causing you wince and close your eyes. You try to focus on what happened but all you can remember after the sight of Grant proposing a toast are dreams ... terrible dreams where you seem trapped in some kind of brick labyrinth which you sense is almost endless. Rolling thunder crashes overhead whilst terrible, inhuman voices chant rhythmically at the edge of your consciousness.

As you eventually are able to open your eyes, you find yourself in an unfamiliar four berth cabin. As your eyes adjust to the light, which in reality is at a pretty low level. you notice that there are others that you recognise from the party, though you may not yet know their names. As Tommy (randomly chosen) is about to ask what is going on but he is interrupted by an echoing howl, agonised, long and filled with anguish, it reverberates throughout the wood paneled walls of the paddle steamer.

The following people are in the cabin;-

"What the devil was that?" Tommy shakes his head in an attempt to clear it. "Feel like I've gone ten rounds with Dempsey. Must have been knock out drops."

He notices Cynthia nearby. "Are you all right? Is there anything I can do?"

"I...I think so..." mumbles Cynthia, sitting up. "What happened? How did we get here?" She looks around and spots her friend. "Melissa, are you okay?"

When Henry comes to he will start to feel around the cabin while his eyes adjust to the new lighting. When he hears Tommy and Cynthia speaking he calls out, "Wh- what happened? Is anyone injured?"

Father Mason opens his eyes, feeling horribly, yet unmistakably alive. There you go Edward, you thought your Lord was finished with you, but it seems you'll have to wait a little more. He tries to stand up, failing miserably.

"Where are the others? Who is screaming?", he asks weakly.

Henry Boles groans when he tries to move but once he hears the young man mention knock out drops, he suspects that he is right, in one form or another, some form of poisoning at least. "Y - yes I think you are right young man. Some form of poisoning agent must have been introduced at some point. But where is everyone else?"

In the cabin there are four bunks, two chests of drawers and a large wardrobe. As you pat down your pockets you realise that your belongings are missing. "My pen, my other items seem to have been taken - by the people responsible I presume." As he tries to stand up his legs buckle underneath him and he cries out but manages to catch himself at the last moment before he falls down, but not before he strikes his head a glancing blow against the wardrobe.

Cynthia gasps when Henry falls. She is unwilling to try to stand herself yet, as the room is still swaying, and she isn't sure if it's due to the drugging or the fact that they're on a boat - or both. Instead, she scoots over to him to see if she can help.

Henry waves away Cynthia's sympathies. "N.. no my dear, I'll be fine thank you very much for your concern. But I suggest we all wait a short while before we try to become mobile."

Once more there is a loud crash followed by the inhuman moan, albeit from seemingly further away. Sounds of gunfire follow, once, twice then a roar of pure inhuman rage then a terrifying human scream, half terror half agonising pain. The silence ... and somehow the silence is more unsettling.

Albert finally moves a bit. He slowly opens his glassy looking eyes. He hears several voices and tries to respond, but he emits only a low groan.

Cynthia swallows in fear and wraps her arms around herself. It's a nightmare, she thinks, it's got to be! Wake up, Cynthia, wake up!

Tommy paces the room restlessly. "We're in a bad way, but let's try not to panic. Looks like hoods have taken over the ship. Grant figured something like this might happen. The good news is that we're still alive. That probably means they want to hold us for ransom. As long as we're worth more alive than dead, we still got a chance. The first thing to do is to find out if we can get out of here."

He carefully tries to open the door, ready to see if anybody outside reacts.

OOC:   Everybody's belongings are missing. There is only the contents of the furniture available to you.

As Tommy tries the door he finds it locked.

After taking some time to recover from his head injury, Henry will search the wardrobe he hit his head on. "It sounds like things are pretty bad outside of this room, and I'm not sure it is wise to wait around for our captors to return. Maybe there is something in this room we could use."

OOC:   Welcome back cotton!

Your heads quickly clear of the drug used to knock you out and soon you are back to 100% efficiency, if without any equipment.

A search of the wardrobes and drawers reveal little of interest. From the contents, you can determine that the people in this cabin, persons called Cory, Frampton and Petts did not intend to stay more than one night - if that! A change of rough clothing, poor quality shaving kits and three grey robes - all embroidered with a red hand. At the centre of the embroidered palm is a roughly shaped object that could either be a lidless eye or a mouth. From the rough and ready workmanship it is difficult to tell anything about the robes provenance.

Melissa does not seem to be recovering from the effects of the drug.

"This explains why the stewards' clothes don't fit," says Cynthia, getting uneasily to her feet. "They're impostors. I don't think they're holding us for ransom, though. You heard that scream. Besides, nobody could pay that much to ransom me. Melissa, maybe." She looks sadly at her friend. "She must have gotten a bigger dose than the rest of us. I don't suppose anyone knows how to pick a lock? I've got a hairpin, unless they took that too. Otherwise, we'll have to break the door down, and I'd be no good at that." She tries to hold her fears in check. In her daydreams, Douglas Fairbanks or, more recently, Rudolph Valentino would burst in and rescue her from danger, but that didn't seem too likely in the real world. They were going to have to get out of this mess themselves.

Father Mason, feeling better, stands up and walks unsteadily towards the wardrobe, picking up one of the strange gray robes.

"Odd...", he says, watching the strange symbol on the palm.

"Very odd," says Cynthia, peering at the robes. "I don't think this is what any of the passengers or crew would be wearing. Our captors must have brought them. Maybe some of us could use them as disguises."

Henry noticing that the girl called Melissa does not seem to be recovering as well as everyone else will look over her and see if she is stable. "Perhaps some of us could use those robes, but I'm worried we may also end up having to carry Miss Melissa here."

Cynthia peers at the robes. "I've never seen the like before, but they're certainly creepy." She plucks the pin from her red hair, shaking it loose as she holds the pin out to whoever can use it.

OOC,Occult roll (10% base skill) about the robes: [dice]0[/dice] None of us has points in Locksmith, but it might be possible to use Mechanical Repair on a simple lock, which I imagine this would be.

First aid skill of 50%
[dice]0[/dice]

Henry's mind is still too foggy from the drugs for him to concentrate.

Cynthia sits down beside Melissa and tries to help her the best she can, which isn't good enough,

OOC,First Aid roll (30% base skill) trying to help [b]Melissa[/b]: [dice]0[/dice]

Fr. Mason Occult Roll,Rolled a 30, a success. http://orokos.com/roll/477844

Fr. Mason Idea Roll,Rolled a 51, not sure if it's a success or a failure. http://orokos.com/roll/477890

[dice]0[/dice]

Henry racks his brain for a way to get himself and his fellow captors out of this situation, but can't come up with anything.

Albert stops moaning and attempts to sit up.

As terrified as she is, Cynthia is still able to think clearly.

OOC,Idea roll (70% stat) in the cabin: [dice]0[/dice]

Those that pass their idea roll,You look closer at the door and come to the idea that it may be forced, perhaps with two people timing a kick beside the lock simultaneously. Or maybe the bottom panel might be able to be kicked out?

Those that pass their occult roll,Looking at the robes, you are at once repulsed by the oily feel of the material, especially the 'hand motif' But also there is something that nags at your memories about a group of depraved people from abroad whose total abandonment of all morality it outrageously scandalous

Melissa start to come round and oromptly throws up on the corner of the bed where she is sitting. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she mumbles an apology "Wh-what has happened -? Where are we?" she manages to get out before she dry retches again

Cynthia sits beside Melissa - on the clean part of the bed - and hugs her. "I think we've been drugged and kidnapped, Melissa," says Cynthia. "We're locked in, but if nobody can pick the lock, I think the door can be kicked open. If two strong people both kick next to the lock at the same time, or maybe the bottom panel, that should do the trick."

"Good idea. I'm ready to break this thing down. Who wants to give me a hand -- or a foot, I should say?"

"I can't help you with the door, but I've remembered something about these strange robes. I don't know the details, but they belong to some depraved group from abroad. Probably worshippers of Satan or the like. It might be possible that being kidnapped for ransom is only the best scenario".

Albert slowly stands up.
"Give me just a minute to get my wits about me. I'll add a foot or shoulder to the door."

Cynthia shivers at Father Mason's words. "I was afraid of that," she says. "They haven't killed us yet, though. Of course, I can think of worse things they could do to us than that."

Henry says, "Based on the screaming and what I can only assume were gunshots we heard earlier I do not think are captors intend to ransom us. I think breaking down that door is our best bet, but what is the plan once we are out of this room?

"Perhaps three of us could use the robes to pretend to be some of the lot who abducted us," suggests Cynthia, "and the rest of us could be prisoners being taken somewhere."

"Good idea. If Albert and I don two of them before we try to smash open the door, we might be able to excuse the noise as a tussle with the prisoners. Who wants to be the third cultist?"

Albert says, "Great idea, is there anything besides a coat hangers we could use as weapons?"
Albert looks around.

"It shouldn't be me," says Cynthia. "I don't even know if any of them are women. I'll be a helpless, frightened captive. That won't even require any acting skills." She turns to look at Albert. "I read a book once where someone picked a lock with a coat hanger. Probably better than a hairpin, but I don't know how to do it."

"I could wear the third robe," says Henry, "but we should probably avoid talking to our captors if it all possible. Who's to say how well they might know one another."

"Right. Cover your face as best as you can with the hood of the robe, don't say anything. I still say we should bust the door down, but if somebody wants to try the coat hanger trick, be my guest."

Tommy fumbles around with the lock, but it's no good.

In the interest of stealth, Henry will also attempt to pick the lock.
[dice]0[/dice]
Unfortunately, he has never been one for skullduggery.

"I'll give it a try," says Cynthia. "It was my idea." She replaces her pin back in her hair, takes a coat hanger, and fiddles around with the lock - to no avail.

OOC,Hard Mechanical Repair roll (10 / 2 = 5% base skill) trying to pick the lock: [dice]0[/dice]

Melissa has come round more or less fully by this time;

"Why this is simply cosy everyone - a bit too cosy for my liking. I really feel the need to get out of here - and fast! What are them awful items of clothing, some kind of robe? What have we stumbled upon - some perverse kind of druids?"

OOC:   No need to play out the telling of Melissa what you have determined so far - I'll assume it as an automatic action

Cynthia fills in Melissa on what they know.

Melissa's face pales as her friend tells her the tale of how they came to be locked in this cabin.

"Oh my, that's just terrible! Gunshots and screams you say? Sounds simply awful Look, we have to get out of here!!!"

"Would you like to try to pick the lock?" asks Cynthia, offering her the coat hanger. "I thought I was getting close, but I couldn't quite do it."

"What - behave like a common thief... ok then, it sounds exciting. What do you do?" Melissa almost giggles with delight.

1/2 mech repair = 5%
[dice]0[/dice]

While Cynthia and Melissa take their turns attempting to unlock the door, Henry will figure out which one of the robes fits him best and put it on. He will try to cover as much of his face as possible with its hood.

"I think we should go ahead and try to break down the door, I doubt it will be noticed on account of whatever is going on on the rest of the ship."

"I have a bad feeling about this...", mumbles Father Mason, mentally reciting a quick prayer.

"Yes, I think you'd better," says Cynthia, backing away from the door to give them room. "Try kicking it either beside the lock or at the bottom panel for best effect. I know I can't do it. If I tried, the door would break me."

"Well, here goes," Tommy says, preparing to bash into the door.

Albert dons a robe and moves towards the door, "OK, Tommy on three. One, Two, Three!"
Albert aims his kick at a place near the door knob, but leaves room for Tommy to kick.

OOC:   I'm not even going to roll an opposition roll what with therm rolls. The door had a STR of 75 so ..

With a loud crash the door flies open as both Albert and Tommy stagger through the portal. Beyond is a shadowy oak-paneled corridor intermittently lit with flickering oil lamps whilst long shadows dance in an unfelt draught. Directly opposite the cabin you were in is a door marked with a letter 'B'. To the left and right are the remains of double doors that have been smashed from their hinges. The corridor is ominously quiet and you notice that there are five slender lines of dark fluid running along the wall with occasional rund of the fluid down the oak panels.

OOC:   Wither bound next bold investigators?

Henry will inspect the fluid on the wall, if only to confirm his suspicion that it is blood.

"We should try the door," whispers Cynthia. "Maybe there are other captives in there, or more robes."

Tommy figures they've made enough racket for anybody around to hear, so he tries to just pull the door open without keeping quiet.

As Tommy pulls on the door, he finds that it opens easilly.

Inside there are two sets of bunks, neatly made up just inside the room with two small wardrobes. A search of the wardrobes reveal the same as the previous cabin. personal clothes, shaving kits, but no robes. A small porthole looks out over what you presume is still the Thames, though all that can be seen is thick roiling fog that seems to be clinging to everything. There is nothing else of note in this cabin

"Shall we check the other cabins in the back for robes or anything else of interest?" whispers Cynthia.

"I don't know much about ships, but... are there some lifeboats on board? If yes, we could use them to reach safety", Father Mason suggests.

"That's worth a look, Father, although I don't think river boats normally have them." Tommy looks forward. "We better check out these other cabins one by one, then the Captain's Quarters. Either he's in there, or else the criminals have taken it over." He tries the door of Cabin C.

Albert responds in a hushed tone, "I'll check out the opposite door, Cabin E." He carefully checks to see if the door is locked."

"I'm a good swimmer," adds Cynthia. "I can get to the riverbank and get help even without a lifeboat, but who knows where the boat will be by then?'

"I'll keep a lookout and make sure no one surprises us." Henry will watch in the direction of the lower sun deck and especially keep an eye and an ear out for anyone coming down the stairs.

"Good thinking," whispers Cynthia. "I'll keep watch in the other direction." She takes up a position at the other end of the corridor.

As you all emerge from the cabin where you awoke, the first thing that hits you is the profound cold, almost immediately followed by silence - the sort of silence that makes you lower your voice. The air is heavy and oppressive and the feeling that you are being watched is causing you all to keep looking over your shoulders, jumping at imagined noises and shadows cast by the flickering lanterns.

Tommy,Tommy finds cabin C door is locked

Albert,Albert checks cabin E and finds it locked

Henry and Cynthia,Nothing disturbs the silence of the ship, not even the sound of the waves lapping against the hull.

Cynthia,Cynthia roll an extreme listen roll please (less than 11%).

"Locked," Tommy mumbles. "Not sure if we want to just keep breaking down doors all night. I better check Cabin D first."

Albert, still whispering, says "Cabin E is also locked." He moves to Cabin C and carefully checks it to see if it is locked."

Cynthia can't hear a thing.

OOC,Extreme Listen roll (11% skill) in the corridor: [dice]0[/dice]

"Seems a little too quiet," Tommy remarks to Albert. "Let's see what we can see from the deck. Then I suppose we'll try to Captain's quarters."

As you step out onto the Upper viewing deck the silence, which had been noteworthy and unsettling before is now absolute. You gaze out, almost in trepidation, at argueably the thickest bank of fog any of you have ever seen. It is a thick cloying fog that clings viscously to the boats railings and smokestacks, tendrils curl around your ankles, your bodies, dampening you wherever it settles.

OOC:   Everyone make a listen roll please. Those that fail,You hear nothing. Those that pass,You hear a gasp and stifled sob, though due to the density of the fog, it is impossible to tell where it is coming from. If you pass with a critical roll,You can tell it's coming from the deck below.

Tommy stands still for a while, just staring at the fog.

Albert walks quietly up the stairs and looks around.

[dice]0[/dice]

Henry continues to keep a lookout, but hears nothing.

"I heard someone gasp and hold back a sob," whispers Cynthia, "but I can't quite tell which direction. Probably another captive like us, hiding."

OOC,Listen roll (55% skill) on the Upper Viewing Deck: [dice]0[/dice]

"Yes, I heard that too", Father Mason says, "We have to find him, or her".

Listen roll,http://orokos.com/roll/483008 Rolled a 46, a success

A search of the upper viewing deck does not reveal anything, but now that it has been mentioned, everyone can hear the sound of sobbing. You can identify that it is a woman's sobbing, sometimes nearby, yet at others it seems further away.

OOC:   Didn't Tommy say he wanted to check the Captain's cabin?

"Yes, we need to find that poor girl before the bad guys do," whispers Cynthia. "If she saw us, she's probably afraid because some of us are in robes."

Tommy checks the Captain's quarters to see if it's locked.

The door marked as the captains cabin opens easily enough. Inside the cabin, sitting on the fine desk, you can see a fine fine smoker's cabinet made out of a dark wood, maybe mahogany. Upon opening the cabinet, you find two expensive looking Calabash pipes, two Bock y Ca Exceptionales and a small leather pouch.

On the desk is a card-holder containing business cards for Thaddeus Grant, indicating that he is using this cabin tonight, a fact that is borne out by the personal effects within the cabin.

Anyone looking under the bed notices a locked iron box, containing something metallic which you can tell if the box is shaken.

That strange sobbing noise and the thick fog give Tommy the creeps. He tries to distract himself by trying to open the box. If the box is locked securely, he'll search the desk for a key.

"Miss?" says Cynthia softly. "You can come out now. We're all in the same mess as you, and we're safer if we stick together. Our friends are just in disguise in those robes, they're with us."

Father Mason stands next to Cynthia and adds: "We are not trying to deceive you. My name is Edward Mason, I am a priest. We can offer help".

OOC:   Persuade Roll: 40 (successo) http://orokos.com/roll/483746

You seem to believe that the sobbing is coming from the deck below you, though the fog is disorienting sounds. Even from a few feet away voices can become muffled and somewhat indistinct.

"K... Keep away don't come any closer!" the voice cries out, you can hear that it is a voice that is filled with terror, bordering on completely losing control.

"Hurry, we have to save her!" hisses Cynthia.

Since there's no point in pretending to be the rotters any more, Tommy whips off the robe and runs down the stairs to the lower deck, ready to use his fists.

Once Tommy and any other men who want to go start down the stairs, Cynthia follows.

Henry will follow Tommy as well.

Father Mason, too, will stick with the others and head to the lower deck.

As you rush down the stairwell in the centre of the riverboat you see bloody footprints in several places on the floor and broad trails of darkly glistening smears leading to and from the forward cabins.

At the top of the stairs down to the main deck lies a body with a shovel lying beside it. The body is grimy and has dark stains over what you can see of his head and arms. None of the investigators has seen this person before.

Henry will approach the unidentified body cautiously, and check to see if the man is alive. While doing so he will say, as quietly as possible, "Young man. Tommy, was it? I hate to suggest it, but perhaps you should grab this shovel just in case whoever did this comes back."

Tommy accepts the makeshift weapon grimly.

"I better check out the forward cabins."

He carefully follows the gruesome smears to the nearest pair of cabins and investigates them.

"Be careful," says Cynthia. "I hate to say it, but perhaps we should look through his pockets for anything useful. I wonder where that girl is?"

Father Mason moves his hands in the air over the body in a quick gesture of blessing.

"Was he sick? What are these dark spots?", he asks Henry.

Henry,The man is stone dead ... but to Henry's trained eye there should be more blood than there is. There are several wounds on his arms, chest and face. The wounds look to be hand shaped bruises with bite marks in the centre of the palm. There are also some defensive wounds on his forearms as well. The man's wallet reveals him to be a Patrick Cottrell. From the dark stains on his head and arms, you determine that he has had contact with coal recently.

Tommy,As you pick up the shovel you notice that there is some dark ichor stains along one edge. Cabins 17 and 18 are both locked

Between the stairwell and the forward end of the ship are the investigators cabins. All of them are locked and none of you have your keys. As you look aft you notice that the door to cabin 9 is open as does cabin 11's door seem to be. The sounds of the woman's sobbing seems to be a little louder, and you can now identify that it is coming from the Lower Viewing Deck at the fore end of the boat. Roilling fog can be seen through the smashed doors at either end of the corridor, considerably thicker than it seemed to be upstairs.

"I'd scare the life out of anybody seeing me with this," Tommy says, holding up the filthy shovel. "Somebody else better go find that woman. I'll check out the open cabins, see if I can find any clues to what's going on."

Henry responds to Father Mason with the bluntness of a coroner, "The victim's name is Patrick Cottrell. The dark spots are bruises consistent with an open hand and what appear to be bite marks. He has some defensive wounds as well so he struggled with his assailant. I would guess he was a crewman based on him carrying a shovel and the coal residue on his arms. The blood on the wall isn't his, or at least not all of it. One of us should hold onto his wallet so that we can find his next of kin when we get out of here."

Henry will them check to see if the man has any keys or anything else of use.

"She might have hidden in one of those open cabins," says Cynthia.

Father Mason heads towards the Lower Viewing Deck, checking the open cabins as he goes.

Tommy,You head down the corridor aft and reach the door to cabin 9 which is partially closed. Trying cabin 8 you find the door locked. Pushing the door to cabin 9 open you see that the room has a double bed with a small wardrobe and a battered steamer trunk beside the bed. [ooc]Do you want to search this room or move onto the next cabins.[/ooc]

Henry,The man has nothing of interest in his pockets other than some loose change.

Fr Mason,Checking the cabin doors as you go you find that they are all locked

Melissa pipes in, "If there is a woman out there in trouble then I think a feminine touch could be helpful Father, I'll come with you.

Fr Mason and Melissa,As you reach the area beside cabins 19 and 20 you can see a huddled shape lying on the deck across the threshold of the smashed doors. A step or two further reveals that it is the badly mutilated body of a man you recognise from earlier in the evening as Alistair Campion-Reeves. In his right hand is a gun. He looks to have similar wounds to the crewman back inside, though it's hard to be sure in the dim light and the fog. If you move the body at all you hear a woman's scream outside. [url=http://s255.photobucket.com/user/Cearlan/media/Terror%20on%20the%20Thames/25%20-%20Terror%20on%20the%20Thames%20-%20Alistair%20Campion-Reeves_zps53ptxe6b.png.html][img]http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh150/Cearlan/Terror%20on%20the%20Thames/25%20-%20Terror%20on%20the%20Thames%20-%20Alistair%20Campion-Reeves_zps53ptxe6b.png[/img][/url]

"Here! Help, please!", he calls, turning back towards the others.

Henry will rush to where Father Mason is to help.

Cynthia hurries after Father Mason and Melissa.

Albert maintains a 'watch' at the top of the stairs.

"Any of you any good with one of those?" whispers Cynthia, glancing at the gun. "I've never fired one in my life. Of course, it didn't do the poor man much good."

Tommy figures he'd only get in the way of the other trying to help the screaming woman. He decides to check out the open cabin to see if there are any clues to what's going on, but he does a poor job of it.

Tommy,looking in the cabin you see the steamer trunk. Upon approaching it up you can see that it 's luggage label indicates that it belongs to Alistair Campion-Reeves. The clothes inside are of a practical cut, a Valet Autostrop saftey Razor and a bottle of rose water. As you are putting the clothes back you drop the bottle of rosewater onto the bottom of the trunk and are surprised to hear a hollow sound. [ooc]I'll give it to you as it won't do you much good anyway ;-)[/ooc]

With the body of Campion-Reeve,The night is shattered by a terrible scream from the port side (left) If anyone turns the body over to examine it closer. The same happens if anyone passes through the shattered doors. [color=#0000FF]"Noooooooooooo! Keep away!"[/color]

Henry will remove his cultist robes and move towards the sound of the woman's voice. He will walk slowly and try to appear as non-threatening as possible. He will also say, "Father Mason, I think you should accompany me. Seeing a man of the cloth might help to calm this poor woman so that I can make sure she is uninjured."

Fr. Mason nods and follows Henry, speaking to the yet invisible woman in the fog: "We are walking towards you. We don't mean to hurt you. I'm Father Mason. I called out to you earlier, remember? Calm down, we are here to help. There's no need to scream".

The woman ceases to scream and the silence is all but deafening. faintly you can hear the rustle of her clothes and a soft moan from the direction you are heading. After a few steps, the port chimney looms out of the fog and as you get closer you can see, there huddled at the base is the frightened form of a terrified woman. She is whimpering and trying her best to force herself between the wall and the chimney. Some of you may recognise her from earlier in the evening.
She starts to scrabble away from you as best she can, but when she spies the robes of Fr Mason and friendly demeanor of the two men, she relaxes a little.

Melissa is not far behind the two men and rushes to the woman's side, brushing dishevelled hair from her face and shushing her as she starts to sob uncontrollably.

After some minutes she does start to calm down a little to relate her tale.

"I took part in the toast in the dining room and felt ill. N ... Next thing I knew I awoke as Cunliffe and the crew were lining up unconscious passengers in the Dining Room. I overheard his plan to blow up The Louisiana Lady with the "those they didn't need" on board to conceal the kidnapping of the other passengers. I was waiting for Cunliffe and the crew to leave with their victims when that Felicia Ingram, who was “frightfully excited by it all”, began to change." Her voice wavered at this point and she had to swallow hard before she could continue. But continue she did which went to show her character.

"Campion-Reeves was suddenly at my side and helped me escape. we collected his pistol from his cabin and he bundled me out onto the Lower Viewing Deck where you found me.

That was when the screaming began. With no way to escape the boat, he stood guard at the door until “the thing” attacked him. She heard gunshots, then Campion-Reeves’ screams. The door shattered as something threw him through the doorway, but nothing came out to pursue me. I guess he saved my life at the expense of his own ... the poor man." At this she starts to sob again, though not as uncontrollably as before. She reaches out towards Campion-Reeves still form but Melissa pulls her back.

Cynthia keeps the gun, along with any ammunition she finds on the body. She knows she'd be hopeless in a fight without it, but she also knows that it might not do any good regardless. She follows the others over to the woman to help them comfort her. "My name's Cynthia," she says. "I'm so sorry. We're all going to get out of this. We need to get off this boat. We'll need to get to the helm, so we can steer it. I can swim to the riverbank if we're not out to sea, but not everyone can, and who knows how far we've gone?"

Henry will, if allowed by the woman, check her for injuries. "Hello miss, my name is Henry Boles, I am a doctor. What is your name, and are you injured in anyway?"

The woman flinches when Henry makes a move towards her, but after a reassuring smile from Cynthia, Melissa and Fr Mason she relaxes and allows an examination.

"No ... no I'm not injured, I think. It all happened so fast that I am not too sure." Shakily and with some assistance she manages to stand whilst Henry continues his examination, which uncovers no obvious injuries other than being shaken.

Tommy decides to check the trunk for a false bottom, then join the others. They seem to have found the woman they're looking for.

Fr. Mason smiles reassuringly to the woman and says: "Do you think you can walk? We better be out of this boat as soon as possible".

Tommy,Looking closely at the base of the trunk you discover that it does indeed have a false bottom with a very small tag at the back that allows entry into the compartment. Contained in the hidden section you find a handgun, (colt M1911 .45 semi-automatic), and 43 rounds of ammunition in two boxes.

On the Lower Viewing Deck,[color=#0000FF]"Yes I can walk I think without too many problems, thank you Father."[/color] She raises her head and looks around her with an aloof manner. [color=#0000FF]"Yes, I think a quick exit from this accursed vessel may well be called for."[/color]

Tommy grabs what he's found and makes his way to join the others.

Henry asks, "Does anyone know if this vessel has any lifeboats? I admit I'm not especially familiar with boats, but it seems like that would be much safer than trying to steer the ship towards land."

Melissa tries to remember but can only say;

"I don't recall seeing any when we were looking at the firework display, but then again, I was not looking for them particularly!"

"I don't remember seeing any either," says Cynthia. "I doubt there'd be any on a riverboat, but we can go up on deck and check. We probably have to go that way to get to the helm anyhow."

Albert remains at the top of the stairs keeping watch and listening.

You climb up to the upper sun deck and as you ascend the stairs you can see the pilot house, and through the ever thick fog the vague outlines of the two smokestacks loom in and out of view as the mist swirls cloyingly around you. By now your hair is starting to stick to your head and your clothes start to feel damp.
The fine drizzle that descended before has stopped and there is absolute and dead silence, no birds sing, no waves lap at the boat and the only sound you can hear is your own laboured breathing.

"There's the pilot house," whispers Cynthia, gripping the pistol. "If the villains have abandoned ship, there won't be anyone there, but we should be careful nonetheless. I'm very good at moving quietly. It comes from working in a library, moving about without disturbing the readers. I could take a closer look, and if any of them are in there, I can just point this at them while the rest of you approach." She hefts the gun.

"After you," Tommy whispers.

Cynthia nods, pushing aside her fears as she slips up to the pilot house close enough to peek inside, reassured that Tommy is not far behind her.

OOC,Stealth roll (60% skill) approaching the pilot house: [dice]0[/dice]

The Pilot House is a tenebrous shape forward of the stairs. If the investigators explore the area, they are met with a grisly sight:

Looking through one of the panes of smashed glass into the ruined remains of the Pilot House, a chill shivers your skin. The door lies smashed to mere kindling and several of the windows have been smashed as the strangely viscous fog seeps over the window ledges to pool like ichor on the polished wooden floor.All of the ship’s instruments have been smashed and the wheel ripped from its mounting. A single hand dangles like a crab from one of the wheel’s spokes.

At the base of the wheel, the body of a uniformed man lies face up in a pool of blood. His uniform is ripped in several places and his skin shows livid wounds like bites surrounded by what look like bruising from large hands.

OOC:   San roll for those viewing this grisly sight please (0/1D3)

Tommy is shocked by the gruesome sight. His nerves are badly shaken.

Cynthia somehow remains calm, in spite of the grisly scene and the destruction of the controls. "Maybe we can fix it?" she asks hopefully.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 71) looking into the pilot house: [dice]0[/dice]

Fr. Mason stayed behind with the rest of the group, waiting for a signal that it's safe to move forward, and is for now spared from the horrible sight.

Henry will also remain with the rest of the group, but will try to look over the edge of the sun deck closest to the group.

OOC: Does Albert see any of the activity going on?

@ Albert (brz101) Depends where he is at this moment. I asked if anyone other than Cynthia and Tommy were heading towards the pilot house. From the top of the stairs you can just about make out Tommy and Cynthia's figures in the swirling fog

Cynthia & Tommy,As you edge closer you try and squeeze through the door to the pilot house. Easing through the ruined door to the Pilot House, a chill shivers your skin. Several of the windows have been smashed and the strangely viscous fog seeps over the window ledges to pool like ichor on the wooden floor. You can now see the full extent of the damage to the ship’s instruments and the wheel ripped from its mounting. A single hand dangles like a crab from one of the wheel’s spokes. At the base of the wheel, the body of a uniformed man lies in a pool of blood on his back. Having seen the previous bodies you can see that the Captain's extremely pale body has the same livid wounds. The hand on the ships wheel has been torn from the Captain's arm. Spot Hidden rolls please

Melissa calls out "What's happening over there Cynthia?"

Tommy is repulsed by the ghastly sight that greets them. He notices something and tries to draw Melissa's attention to it.

"The captain is dead!" Cynthia calls back. "The controls have all been wrecked!"

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) in the pilot house: [dice]0[/dice]

Tommy notices that the fob chain in the captains waistcoat appears to have something on it. He also sees something on a shelf on the forward facing bulkhead

Tommy tries to think about something else other than the gruesome state of the captain's body.

"Take a look at these," he says, indicating the watch fob and the shelf. "I think it's some kind of clue."

"Let me see," says Cyythia peering closer at the watch and the object on the shelf.

Cynthia and Tommy,Peeking at the watch chain you can determine nothing untill you withdraw the end of the fob from his pocket. A viscous scarlet congealing fluid now stains your hand as you withdraw a pair of keys, one similar to the key that opened your cabin and the other slightly smaller, the sort that would open a display case at the museum or library perhaps.

Moving onto the shelf you find a box containing six flares, a Webley and Scott flare gun (1D10+2), and over in the corner lies two full paraffin lamps and a crowbar. On top of the box of flares lies a rusty pocket-knife (1D4).

Melissa strides over to the pilot house. "Cynthia, I asked you what was ..." her question goes unfinished as her face contorts into a silent scream as she views the scene through a smashed window.

Melissa's San,San 60%
[dice]0[/dice]

"Oh my God it's Captain Blunden - and what's that on the wheel thingy?"

"I wouldn't come in here if I were you," Tommy says to Melissa, hoping she doesn't get hysterical. "It's not a pretty sight. Could you ask Albert to come here? There's something here he might know about. You can fetch the others as well, but warn them that it's pretty horrible."

Good thing Cynthia got's a cool head on her shoulders. I'm not feeling very brave myself.

"Take a look at this key," he says to her. "Looks like your kind of thing. Ring any bells?"

He grabs the crowbar, certain he can handle it.

"Albert knows about guns. He'd be a good man to make use of the flares. We need somebody to carry the lamps, maybe even that knife, small as it is. We need as much protection as we can get."

Cynthia hugs Melissa, turning her away from the gruesome sight in the process. "That's a hand on the wheel," she says. "Don't look at it. The key looks like it opens a display case. I've seen some like it at the British Library and the British Museum. The flares are useful not just as a weapon, but also to signal for help."

Henry will walk into the Pilot House since it seems to be safe.

San: 19 [dice]0[/dice]

[dice]1[/dice]

Hearing that there's a body inside, and knowing it might scare the woman they helped earlier, Father Mason decides to wait outside with her, while also keeping watch.

Henry can quickly confirm that there is not enough blood on the pilot's cabin floor to account for the pale and haggard looking man, compared to when he was seen earlier, even including his hand which he notes is gripping the damaged wheel. He also notes the same livid wounds as were seen on the stoker, bruising as from a large hand and bite marks in the middle of the hand.

OOC:   "I assume Cynthia has the keys, but what about the other stuff, flares, gun etc.?"

Henry says, "These are the same kinds of marks as before, and once again there is too much blood." He moves carefully to collect the flair gun and flairs. "Should we use one of these? Try to get some help from shore?"

"Worth a try," Tommy says. "Just one, though. We might have to use that thing as a weapon." He lifts the crowbar. "I'll stick with this for now. One of you grab that gun."

Tommy's not sure what else to do. Something very bad is going on here, and there doesn't seem to be a good way to get away.

As Cynthia pockets the keys, something occurs to her.

OOC,Idea roll (70% stat) in the pilot house: [dice]0[/dice]

Idea: 70
[dice]0[/dice]

Henry leaves the Captain's Cabin and goes to where the others are waiting. "We found a flare gun that I'm going to use to try to get some help for us." And with that he will fire one of the flairs into the air.

"I think I know what these keys are for," says Cynthia. "The big one probably is a passkey for the cabins, and I'd wager the small one opens the locked cabinet in the Captain's cabin. We should get back there and see what's inside."

Father Mason looks up at the flare shot by Henry. "I hope help is on its way, but we should also take into account the possibility that no one will see the signal and that we will have to save ourselves. We should keep firing flares regularly, though, maybe one every ten minutes or so. How many do we have?"

"Good thinking. Lead on."

Henry responds to Father Mason, "We only have five left. That young man, Tommy, he suggested saving them to use as a weapon, and I'm inclined to agree. There is something very wrong here."

"We should only fire off a flare into the distance if we know there's someone out there to see it." says Cynthia. "If there was nobody to see the first flare, there probably wouldn't be anyone to see the second. But if there was, and they get close enough, it could help them find and rescue us. Let's get to the Captain's cabin and see what we can find." She heads back that way with the others.

Henry will follow Cynthia's lead. "Thats a good point. I just hope this fog lets up soon."

Father Mason follows the rest of the group back inside.

You all reach the outside of the Captain's cabin which is still open as you had left it. On the bed lies a locked iron box which was under the bed, it can be opened with one of the keys off Blunden's corpse.

Inside is a handgun (a loaded Enfield Mk1 with twelve rounds of spare ammunition; 1D10+2)

"I've already got the pistol we found earlier," says Cynthia. "Someone who knows how to use it should take this one. Then we can check out those other locked cabins."

"I can't say I've had much experience", says Henry "but I'll take the pistol just in case." If there are no objections, Henry will grab the revolver and pocket the spare ammunition. He hopes not to have to use it.

There is nothing else of interest in the Captain's cabin. Where are you going next?

Mr. Handy wrote:]OOC,Which of the cabins that we've already tried are locked?

OOC:   You all woke up in Cabin A, Went into Cabin B and the Captain's cabin. Tommy searched cabin 9 on the deck below while everyone else was busy with Yvonne Forbes-Pennington on the Lower Viewing Deck. All the others you have tried were locked.

"Let's try the cabin across the hall from the captain's," says Cynthia, pointing at cabin E. "It's right here, and it's a big one, so there may be something important in there. I'll try the key."

The door is locked but opens easily with the key. The room is tidy and organised. The scant personal effects of James Blunden, Albert Colyer and George Thornton, are stowed in the two wardrobes. A copy of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Gods of Mars (A. C. McClurg, 1918) is on one of the bunks.

Seven robes bearing the same embroidery as those in Crew Cabin A are folded in two piles at the bottom of one of the wardrobes. Four are of similar quality to those you have already found. Three are much richer, however, and the finer embroidery makes it clear that it is a mouth, and not a lidless eye, in the palm of each scarlet hand.

As the investigators search the wardrobes they will find a worn pea coat. Inside is a letter from Cunliffe to Blunden (see below), explaining the need to assemble a crew for The Louisiana Lady from among the ‘Disciples’.
[Blunden – 19th June, 1920
It’s done. Dawson and his men will be too sick to crew the riverboat. I need you to assemble the Disciples. Only those you trust, mind, especially those with river experience. Grant’s crew is fifteen strong. We could run the ship with a dozen at the least. Try and get fifteen. No one else is to know of this. These men will be my Chosen. They will go out to our acolytes across the city and tell them of the great work I have done. Transformed, she will be magnificent. Our lord will – must – answer this time. There will be no more ignominy. I will rise, and you will rise with me, Blunden. I will return to Liverpool and I will sweep him from his perch and the Disciples of the Scarlet Palm will writhe and lust and scream before me. There will be no atrocity left unknown to us.

I will meet you and your ‘crew’ in the usual place on the 20th. Tell Gough to bring the mandrake. Remind him that there must be enough for twenty-five: the perfect symbolic square, the square of the sum of man and woman.
William]

OOC:   Any investigator in the room, make a Spot Hidden roll.

Cynthia notices something else in the cabin.

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) in the cabin: [dice]0[/dice]

Henry carefully searches the room for more clues.

spot hidden: 55%
[dice]0[/dice]

While the others look around the room, Father Mason focuses his attention on the letter. As he reads, he feels a chill down his spine. They have fallen right into the madness of a group of deranged lunatics.

Occult,63: a success http://orokos.com/roll/501983 I'll see if anything in the letter rings a bell.

Albert, after a rather lengthy watch, slowly goes back down the stairs and continues listening.

"A ship full of madmen and none to be found," Tommy says. "We've got to find out where they are, or" -- pausing to gulp a bit -- "where more victims are. Let's try that key on the other cabins, one by one, standing by with weapons. If the key doesn't work, I've got this crowbar."

Cynthia shows the note she found in the coat pocket to the others. "It's a list of the crew," she says, "both the original crew of fifteen and the thirteen who replaced them. That's a very ominous number. The replacement crew were all in on it, including the captain...but who killed him?"

Henry reads over the note that Cynthia found, trying to make sense of all that they have seen since awakening. "Perhaps these madmen have turned on one another. That might explain the shouting and gun fire we heard earlier."

"Let's check the next two cabins," suggests Cynthia, "starng with the one next to the Captain's cabin."

OOC,That's Cabin D.

"I'll be right behind with the crow bar. Step aside if there's any trouble."

Cabin D

The door to the cabin is locked, but opens easily with the pass-key. Upon opening the door you can see the following. Inside, suitcases are stacked on the four bunks and a fifth bed has been made up on the floor. A quick search reveals US passports belonging to the band. There is also enough clothing for each man for a fortnight and three bottles of John Power& Son’s Special ‘Three Swallow’ Irish whisky, one of which is empty.

A business card bearing the likeness of Thaddeus Grant is under one of the full bottles. Written over its printed details are: ‘Welcome to a more civilised country, boys! Enjoy! Proper accommodation tomorrow night I promise.’

Cabin C

The door to the cabin is locked, but opens easily with the master key. The cabin contains two sets of bunks and two wardrobes. The crewmen’s personal effects are in kitbags. If these are searched, investigators will discover four robes of the kind found in Crew Cabin B concealed beneath rough working clothes.

Henry searches through the crewman's bags and, upon finding more robes, says: "Something must have went wrong here for the madmen. Why would they go through all the trouble of bringing these robes and then not use them?"

"You're right," says Cynthia, checking inside the wardrobes. "That is odd. We've already been through the next two cabins, so let's proceed past them. We could look inside the water closets, just in case someone's hiding there, and then go on to the next two cabins."

Water Closets.

These were quite lavish water closets with enameled cast iron fixtures manufactured by Kohler. The doors are now ripped from their frames and the toilet bowls splashed with blood.

Cabin 2

Once more the door is locked, but with the master key opens smoothly, despite the gore splashed across the outside panels. The cabin is obsessively tidy. Photographs of a young man adorn the bedside table and chest of drawers. If the large valise tucked under the bed is opened, they will discover a packet of love letters from “Your loving J” tied with red ribbon.

From the evidence of the letters ‘J’ and Mrs Berringer are having a passionate – and secret – relationship. One line, “your grief is our veil” suggests that Christine Berringer’s anguish may be a pretence.

As you are leaving cabin 2 you hear a heavy object fall, a sudden clatter followed by a slow creaking from within cabin 1.

Cabin 1

As you push the door aside, the body of a heavily built man, Tony 'Big T' Laine from the The Driskill Mountain Jazz Band, swings in front of you on a rope made of the silk belt of a bathrobe. A fallen chair lies beneath his feet and he seems to be fighting the impulse to pull the cord from his neck. His body spins slowly, revealing a purpling face, bulging eyes and protuberant, lolling tongue. A mucus-thickened bubbling comes from his throat as he chokes to death.

"Hold him up!" cries Cynthia, hurriedly righting the chair and placing it under his legs to support them.

Tommy grabs the man with all his might, hoping it is not too late to save his life.

Henry will try to assist Tommy in holding the hanging man up.

STR: 40%
[dice]0[/dice]

"Oh my God! We need a knife... something to cut the rope!", despite his best efforts, Father Mason finds himself paralyzed, the act of taking one's life abhorrent to a man of God like him.

Looking around the room you can see a letter opener on the dresser table and what looks like the handle of a pocket-knife sticking out of the pocket of a jacket thrown on the bed. Also I do believe that you got a rusty pocket-knife from the pilot's cabin.

"Oh God in Heaven, Please hurry he's still chocking." says Melissa from the corridor opposite the open doorway.

Cynthia snatches up the letter opener and reaches to try to saw through the cord.

Due to the tension on the silken belt, due in no small part to Tony's weight, it parts smoothly enough. He falls heavily onto the bed and once he is given time to recover he will relate the following to you in a halting, raspy voice.

"We had done the first set and were resting up when y'all came back from the firework show." He coughs and rubs his throat which is red and scored by the bathrobe sash. "Anyhows, we joins in with the toast with Thaddeus Grant when ah suddenly had stomach pains and fainted. The next thing ah know, was ah was laid out like chicken on a butcher’s block an’ there was this here woman standin’ over me. Never seen nothin’ like it, boy. Her head was all shrivelled up an’ her hair was fallin' out like she had some damn disease." Tony pauses and rubs his throat once more. Once he composes himself he then continues;

"Then ah seen her hands. Nothin’ like no normal hands, neither. Had mouths in ’em. Mouths in the palms. An’ she was gonna bite me with them hands. Ah ran. The whole place seemed fulla corpses. They was everywhere. Ah run up them stairs like the devil hisself was after me. There was people screamin’ and hollerin’. Hell’s opened up, boy. Ah tell you, Hell’s opened up."

Cynthia shivers at his description. "We haven't seen anyone like that," she says. "I think the people who did this have already left the boat. We're looking for other survivors, and then we need to find a way off ourselves."

Tony waves his hand and coughs. "Has anyone got anything to drink?" After a drink of water from the table he continues.

"Thank you. now where was ah? Oh yeah, so, ah ran in here. Thought ah’d try hidin’. An’ then ah heard her comin’. Heard her slitherin’ an’ slidin’ up them stairs after some poor fella screaming his head off. Ah sat in here and listened to him die. He didn’t die easy boy, ah tell you. Ah thought ‘bout doin’ it, you know, ‘bout hangin’ m’self for a long time, long time. Then ah decided: no bloodsucker’s gonna git me. Took me some time to pluck up courage mind, but once ah was decided… Ah guess that’s when you found me.” Tony snorts, looking into the distance.

“They spiked our drinks, boy, I tell you. The crew. They’s were in on it. This seemed like such a sweet deal when Mr Grant invited me an’ the boys over here, but we should never have left the Mississippi.”

Tommy figures there must have been kind of crazy dope in their drinks to cause a hallucination like that. He tries to calm the man down.

"You're safe now. Stick with us and we'll get out of this mess. Safety in numbers, you know. We've got to keep exploring, find others we can help."

"Aye-uh." Tony says with tears in his eyes. "Do we even know where we are or how long we were out for?"

"I'm not sure," says Cynthia, checking to see if she still has her watch, and if it's still running.

Father Mason crosses himself, then says: "We should be moving. It's dangerous to remain in one place for too long. Even though... the ship seems deserted".

"You're right," says Cynthia. "Let's explore the next two cabins. Someone should take that knife before we go. It could be useful."

OOC:   I've done the rest of this deck to try and speed things up a bit.

Cabin 3:
The door is unlocked. This cabin is a mess. Clothes are strewn on the bed, cosmetics stain the chest of drawers, and
the doors to the wardrobe are thrown wide. There are at least three dresses pooled inside. The occupant appears to be
something of a human whirlwind. On her bedside table is a diary. Her name is inscribed on the first page. The only entry is
for 1st January 1920. It reads: “This year I, Madeleine Buckingham. resolve to keep a diary and record all of my innermost thoughts and insights. It should be jolly fun and ‘illuminating’ as Uncle Percy would say.” The blank pages that follow perhaps speak more eloquently of Miss Buckingham than anything she could have written.

Cabin 4:
The door is locked. hiss cabin is undisturbed. A suitcase, open on the bed, contains a change of woman's clothes. The suitcase has a luggage tag identifying the occupant as Yvonne Forbes-Pennington. The clothes have not been unpacked. Three books are open beside it, however: John Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Lower and Upper Egypt (London, 1888), Amelia B. Edwards’ A Thousand Miles Up the Nile (London, 1891) and Charles Henry Hawes and Harriet Boyd Hawes’ Crete, the Forerunner of Greece (New York, 1909). They are all heavily annotated. It seems Miss Forbes-Pennington is in the process of planning an expedition to a place called wādī al-hitan (‘The Valley of Whales’). Written beside the name is the phrase ‘the whales of time’.

Cabin 5:
The door is locked but is easily opened with the pass-key. This cabin is unremarkable,though the clothes carefully hung or folded reflect her wealth, taste and dedication to the latest fashion. The suitcase has a luggage tag identifying the occupant as Violet Gibbs-Woolf .A Mme. Jeanne Lanvin dress and a Jean Patou cardigan are amongst her belongings.

Cabin 6:
The door is locked but can be opened with the master key. This is Miss Godfrey’s cabin, and is notable only for a series of newspaper articles and photographs of Suzanne Lenglen, the famous French tennis player, who won Wimbledon in 1919. A Jean Patou tennis dress – the twin of the one worn by Lenglen in the Wimbledon photographs – hangs scandalously sleeveless and calf-length in the wardrobe. There is also a small bottle of brandy in the bedside cabinet.

Cabin 7:
The door is locked. Felicia Ingram’s cabin is empty but for a suitcase. If the investigators open it, they find it as empty as the room except for a single birthday card. On its front cover is a pencil-sketch of Felicia Ingram’s face at the centre of a long-fingered hand. Inside, in formal, bold script, are the words (see Handouts 3 and 3a): “Tonight, my love, you will come of age. We will fornicate in their entrails.” A capital ‘W’ is the only signature. The handwriting matches that of the letter from Cunliffe to Blunden found in Crew Cabin E (see Handout 2).

Store
There are a number of items the investigators might find useful. A quick search yields thirty feet of rope, a crowbar (Club, 1D4+1), a Hand Axe (Club, 1D6+1 + db), a hammer (Club, 1D4+1 + db), and three fuelled paraffin lanterns.

After all this searching and the ghastly things they've found, Tommy is feeling more than a little nervous. "Boat's been taken over by a mob of bloody maniacs. All this hocus-pocus nonsense doesn't make them less dangerous. Everyone grab any kind of weapon you can find and get ready for a fight." He grimly prepares for whatever other surprises are in store.

Cynthia takes the crowbar, though with her lack of strength she will most likely rely more on the pistol. "Once we've gathered everything," she says, "we need to head down to the next deck."

Henry is sure to gather the rope and one of the lanterns. He grips the revolver he picked up earlier nervously, the musician's story was ridiculous, but he can't deny the similarity to the monster he described and the wounds he saw earlier. Attempting to sound calm, cool, and collected, the way a physician should, he says "I'm ready when everyone else is."

"Actually, that's a better idea," says Cynthia. "I'll leave the crowbar for someone stronger." She exchanges the crowbar for a lantern.

Tommy already has a crowbar from earlier, so he'll pass on the other items for now. It takes both hands to use it properly.

"My Good...", Father Mason mumbles, "Just who are these people?"

He follows the rest of the group.

Move to this thread, viewtopic.php?f=396&t=6046 folks

OOC:   Sorry This has been on the back burner due to real life - but I'm back now