Play@YSDC

Location: Bridgewater State Normal School Library
Date/Time: September 10th: 8 AM

After last night's activities everyone has survived and met back at the library as per-arranged. Mr. Nichols is already in the library setting up some of the rooms for students to use for studying.

Maria has dressed appropriately for a trip to the swamp, wearing waterproofs and sturdy boots she borrowed from a local friend. Last night seems long ago now, but she knows that they all witnesses something very strange last night, which confirms her lifelong feeling about the area.

Tobias screamed and cussed all the way into the library, his car broke down in the middle of the road and he had to ask around to get his car towed, and then he had to run all the way here from the place where his car broke down. As if that wasn't enough, he tripped on the front entrance of the library due to his hurried running.

Dr. Porter climbs the stairs to the library and heads inside. He carries a cane in his left hand and a black doctor's bag in the right. The large man is wearing thick work boots, denim and an old flannel covered by a waterproof jacket - clearly the doctor was prepping for his trip.

Bentherat,Would Porter have had any trouble procuring an hold hunting rifle? I didn't specifically list all of the things he owns, but I figure the doctor is a man of means and probably has a few things like this.

"Hello, Doc. What's up?" Tobias said, in an attempt to be polite.

Eddie arrives punctually. He is also wearing high, sturdy boots. In addition, he has brought a backpack containing a strong rope, some trail rations, a full canteen, and a flashlight. He doesn't intend for them to still be in the swamp when it gets dark, but he isn't taking any chances.

Bret arrives last after the long night of doing research. "Hey, nobody told me we were going on a jungle trek," he says, noting the attire of all but him and Tobias. "Did you tell them what we found out, professor?"

"Well, I was thinking about it on the way here, but my car broke down halfway here, and I walked the damn mile. And I tripped on the library steps, now my clothes is covered in dirt and dust, and I've more or less completely forgotten the speech that I've prepared on our finding and discoveries. But I'll start you off," Tonias complained, finding that, for some weird reason, he was met with relatively bad luck this morning. "We've discovered that the supposed sightings for the Hound have a pattern; namely, the witnesses report the sightings once every twelve years, that, and the fact that strange sightings have been occurring ever since the King Phillip war. Bigfoot had been getting around as well, since some sightings of Bigfoot had been reported as well." He said the last part of his sentence with a sarcastic tone so thick that you could cut through it with a knife.


Tobias held up his notes and some newspaper clippings that he had snuck out of the papers as evidence...and then he realised that he probably wasn't supposed to take anything out of the archives. "Uhhh...am I supposed to take things out of the archive? I mean, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, so I didn't ask."

"Don't forget the Indian connection," Bret adds. "We also discovered that the swamp was a former site of Indian slavery and a shaman supposedly placed a curse upon it. Is there any coffee going?"

Maria

"The Swamp has always been a site of strange legends. Whether you believe it or not, there's definitely something different about the place. Last night, we saw the hound, and it was like nothing on Earth. We"re going into the swamp today to find some answers."

She turns to Tobias.

"Was the last reported sighting twelve years before now?" she asks.

"Yes...I believe so. I don't remember precise dates, but I think the last reported sightings are from a decade ago." Tobias turned towards Bret, "I mean, that was the date, right?"

Nevertheless, he remained doubious of the hound sightings with a somewhat dismissive attitude about it, after all, he wasn't exactly lacking in anectdotes after his misadventures in trawling through newspaper archives. He stared at Maria inquisitively, "Again, I don't recall Bret and I being invited in your little trips, so we aren't exactly dressed for swamp-diving, mademoiselle. Besides, I wasn't exactly planning to go into swamps when I first arrived, so I'll have to buy heavy gear." Tobias spat out the word 'buy' as if was a repulsive cuss word. He guarded his wallet with a newfound zealotry after losing a shiny dollar to the shameless bartender at the speakeasy. He was forced to pay double for piss-poor alcohol and, due to the circumstances at the time, he haven't complained, but he was still sore about it.

Maria smiles sweetly.

"You don't have to come if you really don't want to" she tells Tobias.

"Yes, every 12 years, that's a fact. It might be worth doing some additional research while we're here into whatever happens every 12 years also maybe the Indian history of the site and wait a second did you say you saw the hound Miss sorry what was your name again?" Bret whips out his reporter's notebook ready for the scoop. "Bret Parker from the Bridgewater Weekly. Our readers would love to hear the story of a pretty, local girl like you. Maybe get some photos too..."

Maria certainly isn't adverse to some publicity, but not dressed in these clothes.

"My name is Adams. Perhaps later Mr. Parker, when this is over. Yes, perhaps your journalistic skills might be suited to more research?"

"I got lotsa skills, dame. Hey, Mr. Nichols, are we good to crack open the special files again?"

Maria

"Dame?" thinks Maria. "What an arrogant jerk."

"Man, I sure hope we aren't gonna crack open 'bother special file." Tobias said, stretching slightly, "We spent nearly theee hours last night hopping from the Library to a speakeasy to a newspaper archive, and the fact that we found close to nothing except esoteric tales is really not making me motivated enough to repeat this all over again."

Toias looked adamantly at the lady, "Look, ma'am, I came here to write a paper on the creepy haunting and whatnot, if I got the chance to get firsthand evidence and details, I'm not going let the chance slip by. I'm a professor-in-the-making, not a bloody librarian that are going to be confined to musty old books for the ages to come. If that is all, Bret an' I shall go and buy some trekking gear."

"I've seen one of the hounds too," says Eddie. "It smashed open one of the farmer's crates, stole a chicken, and made good its escape. Both of us tried to shoot it, but it was too fast. I think the reason the farmer couldn't hurt it earlier was because all he had was birdshot and rock salt. I gave him some of my buckshot shells, which will hopefully be more effective. If any of you want to see it too, we know which way it went and can track it down. Now, I don't know much about history, so I don't know when the King Philip war was, let alone what it was about."

"The King Philip's War was an armed conflict between the Indians and the colonists in 1675–78." Tobias answered helpfully. He had, after all, received a college education.

"In all the previous sightings' reports, were there any cases of the hounds attacking people? What we saw last night only seemed to be interested in the farmer's chickens. In fact the farmer seemed more bothered at the loss of livestock than worried about potential danger to himself." Dr. Porter asked.

There was 1 incident where a person was found dead, and his death was attributed to the hound.

"Doctor, it's a good question you asked; and I must tell you that there was 1 incident in which a person's death had been directly attributed to the hound. Other than that, no." Tobias offered helpfully pulling a few dozen references to further support his claim.

"But nobody's ever seen the hound murder anything but chickens as far as I know," says Eddie. "Were there any witnesses? Just because the death was attributed to the hound, it doesn't mean the hound was responsible. It's possible someone else committed a murder and made it look as though the hound did it to deflect blame."

Tobias nodded, "That's what I thought as well. But I thought we are operating under the assumption that the Hounds exist and are a dangerous bunch."

Maria

“Well, we should take precautions. But maybe we shouldn’t be too quick to suspect the worst of these hounds, or hound. It certainly was strange though.” She goes silent, thinking back to the night before.

"I don't suppose you can tell Bret and I more details, pretty miss?" Tobias said in a friendly manner. He smiled.

“My name is Maria Adams, young man” Maria says firmly. “You may address me as Miss Adams. I will not be condescended to by any of this group.”

She looks pointedly at the reporter, Bret, as she says this.

She takes the sketch she made from last night’s encounter from her pocket and shows them.

“This is the best I could do. The hound is black, jet black, like ebony. It has red eyes and is the size of a fairly large dog. But it most certainly isn’t a dog.”

Ah, the lady's one of those, Tobias thought, careful not to show his cynicism towards Ms. Adams. He looked at Bret. "Journalist guy, what do you think?"

"Well, professor, I think what Miss Adams says confirms this is no ordinary pooch. But I'm also wondering if there's some connection between the hound and the native Indians who lived here. Maybe there are still some Indian folks living nearby who know the history."

"Guess we'll find out. But first, we gotta buy some camping gear. How much you got in your wallet right now? There's a store down the block that sells all we need and more. Do you want to go right now or stick around for another while?" Tobias said to Bret while counting the money he has left in his wallet and making a mental list of the thing he needs to buy.

"It's possible that someone is controlling the hound," says Eddie, "just like someone might command a normal dog. I heard cheering coming from the swamp in the direction the hound fled with the chicken. I don't think it was the hound that was cheering. Sounds like someone's using it to fetch chickens."

"But...why? Why chickens? You say there's some hidden puppeteer hidden behind the scenes for hundreds of years, controlling some dangerous beasts invulnerable to bullet wounds just to...steal chickens?" Tobias said incredulously, as he stared at Eddie with a complicated expression on his face.

"I said it's possible someone's controlling the hound," says Eddie, "not a certainty, and it may be used for other things, not just for stealing chickens. I don't believe it's impervious to bullets. Mr. Jenkins just shot it with either rock salt or birdshot, that's all. 00 buckshot may have an entirely different effect."

Maria

“If there’s nothing else why don’t we get moving? We can talk while we walk.”

She addresses Tobias and Bret. “You should go and get yourself equipped. We can wait here for you”.

"Sure." Tobias said enthusiastically, as he walked towards the front door.

Tobias and Brett:
You can find a clothing store pretty easy. They sell both new and used clothing.

A gentleman walks up and asks you what you are looking to buy.

Everyone else:
Are you doing anything while Tobias and Brett are going shopping?

"Hello there, good sir." Tobias said cheerfully. "We are looking for some hiking gear and heavy boots, preferably new, but I'm fine with used as well. How much would that come to be?"

Bret forgoes the heavy gear in favor of a pair of high waterproof wading leggings such as is worn by fishermen. He also picks up a bag of sandwiches in case they're out for a while. He also carries a camera stowed in a shoulder bag to get pictures of the hound.

"Smart choice, Journalist. I got the feeling we'll be out for a while as well." Tobias said, realising he had forgot to buy any food in the nick of time. "Now, how much will it come to be, good sir?"

Bentherat,do I need to do a Fast Talk skill roll to get what I want at a low price?

Tobias,if you'd like.

OOC:   He looks the 2 of you up and down. Tobias CR [dice]0[/dice] Brett CR[dice]1[/dice]

He smiles, "of course we have the finest in boots and leggings for the rugged man on the go." He snaps his fingers and a couple young boys of 14 or 15 began scurrying around. "Trekking into the Hockomock today? Beware there are always strange goings on around them parts. Ah, here we are."

The boys had brought 2 pair of waders and 2 pair of hiking boots. He opens the boxes. "The boots are some of the finest craftsmanship, and sell for $12 a pair, but I have them on sale for you today for only $10. The waders are $8 each. So a total of $36." He smiles as the boys begin to bag them up. "How will you gentlemen be paying for this today?"

"I don't suppose we could just hire them for the day? We're going on a picnic."

OOC:   Fast Talk 25%[dice]0[/dice]

He sneers at you, "we are a store, we sell quality goods. We do not rent gear. I thought you were men of means. If not, we have used equipment, we can sell you.", he snaps his fingers. One of the boys takes the bagged new gear away and the 2nd boy brings some boots and waders that are not in a box. "We can sell you these for $8."

"We'll take 'em," Bret says, throwing down the cash, grabbing the gear and heading for the door. "Come on, professor, let's get this picnic started."

You gather up your boots and waders, and returned to the library. As you return the others are ready to go, and you all pile into a couple cars and drive out towards the swamp.

OOC:   everyone, please move over to chapter 3 here.