Play@YSDC

OOC,I'm keeping you three in one topic (although you will go separate ways), simply because with my limited internet access right now it's easier to monitor and update less topics! ;)

Ray and Nat:

Nat does his best to establish the basic facts about the group's whereabouts. Kane Spring turns out to be a small area on the west shore of the Salton Sea. It's a small cluster of motels, shops, cafes, built during the Salton Sea touristic boom, sometime in the late 1950s. Nat consults the road-maps: Kane Spring (sometimes marked Kane Springs on older maps) is approximately a 120 mile drive from San Diego.

OOC (Cotton),So, how do you want to gather information on Cavendish? By "local precinct", do you mean the San Diego Police Dept.? Also, please roll [b]Idea[/b]!

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Julie:

Julie heads over to the University of California first. The campus with all its facilities is overwhelming: there are dozens of modern state-of-the-art buildings, the surrounding parks are full of students hurrying to lectures or just chilling on the grass, enjoying the weather... Julie gets mixed feelings. On one hand, the people here are her peers, young, energetic people; but on the other hand, they are hip students, who discuss serious matters and would probably look down on her. But Julie overcomes this, and concentrates on the task at hand.

Julie knows that Elizabeth was at Revelle College, a building complex for social sciences, humanities. She also stayed at the College's dormitory. She heads over there first.

OOC (Mr. Handy),Roll [b]Luck[/b]!

Whilst Nat checks up on the town, he looks to see if there is a newspaper office in Kane Spring; if not, he'll go to the San Diego office of the paper that covers the local news. "This temple or Cavendish might have been in the news before, Mr Tovar. It's worth a look although I'm not very quick at research."

Julie is very lucky in her search.

OOC,Luck roll (60% stat) on campus: [dice]0[/dice]

Ray has an idea.

Nat and Ray:

Kane Spring doesn't seem to have its own paper. From what Nat can deduct from the information available, it's a very small place, not a proper town, but a holiday resort. It is located in Imperial County. The San Diego City Library holds back issues of smaller newspapers as well. So if Nat is not afraid of yellowed paper and faded print, he can try his luck there.

The strange familiarity of Malcolm Cavendish's name has been nagging Ray since the meeting with the Sandovals. He cannot connect it to any of the small underground cults he usually deals with, however the more formal and traditional and ordained "Revered Malcolm Cavendish" faintly rings a bell...

OOC (Cotton),Yes, Ray sounds like somebody who can have a contact at the Police Dept. Please, roll [b]Law[/b] to establish the contact! And provide some ideas on who do you imagine this contact to be? Who would Ray know in the Force? Who can he turn to? Feel free to make up sub-departments or special branches or statues as you need. If I like the idea, I will add a bonus to your roll ;)

Julie:

While strolling through campus, Julie stops by a noticeboard, and sees a faded piece of paper. It's a call for volunteers at a San Diego homeless shelter called Street Relief. There is an address, and a phone number of a coordinator.

Julie copies down the address and phone number. Reasoning that it's better to go in person than to call on the phone, she heads to Street Relief.

If there's one thing Ray knows about cops its that they love to talk. Which is why he makes a habit of visiting cop bars wherever he goes. He speaks with detectives, especially those working the missing persons unit, vice squad, or units that monitor suspicious group activity. Listens to their stories, and will get around to mentioning his own line of work. It doesn't always work out as well as he'd hope however.

Nat heads down to the city library. As he enters the doors his heart sinks. He hates research.

Library,(20%) roll: 99!

Julie:

A bumpy bus-ride takes Julie to a neighborhood rather different from the hip and modern university campus. Now she is on the outskirts of San Diego, filled with housing projects, warehouses, unfinished construction sites. She finally finds the shelter. It is a simple two-storey building, next to a vacant lot. The lot is so overgrown with weeds, the vegetation is threatening to overtake the small yard before the shelter. Other than this, the place looks clean and well-maintained. On the chainlink fence, there is a hand-made sign that says "Street Relief", with another sign underneath, detailing the rules of the place in smaller print.

Near the entrance of the building, two people are sitting on a sunbed. One of them is a middle-aged man, with a long unkempt beard, wearing camouflage patterned pants and vest (but no shirt under it). The other person is a young woman, with braided hair, dressed in jeans and a simple shirt. She is holding some fabric in her hands, and there is a sewing kit on the sunbed beside her. She is patiently conversing with the man.

OOC,Post for Nat and Ray coming soon!

Nat:

"Not so fast, boy!" a security guard halts Nat at the library entrance. "Library's closed for today. Broken pipes," he adds, angrily. It seems like he blames Nat personally for these problems...


Ray:

Ray pays a visit to a couple of haunts of San Diego's finest, but only meets beat cops and police department accountants.

As he sips his drink of choice, he, however, has an insight: Revered Malcolm Cavendish was a name much spoken about in religious circles a couple of years ago. He was a successful new school Baptist preacher, with a significant following. The reason Ray couldn't recall his name on instant is because Reverend Cavendish was pretty much a mainstream person, not connected to any of the fringe movements that Ray is usually interested in.

"Hi," says Julie, greeting them with a smile and a wave. "I'm Julie. Do either of you know my friend Elizabeth Sandoval? She used to volunteer here." She proceeds to describe her.

Ray sits around and drinks, occasionally making small talk, but mainly considering his next move.

Ray:

OOC,Roll [b]Luck[/b]!

Reverend Cavendish was active in California. He was a charismatic Baptist preacher who started his own convention. He was extremely successful for some time, with people from all over the state travelling to hear him preach. But then he sort of disappeared off the radar.



Julie:

The description isn't even necessary: both the woman and the man recognize Elizabeth's name.

"Yes, of course! Lizzy used to be a regular here. It's a pity she stopped coming..." the woman says. "Of course, things like this aren't rare in our line of work. How is she doing?"

"Well, I'm not sure," says Julie. "I haven't heard from her in a while either. She went off and joined the Temple of Concordance, run by a Malcolm Cavendish. That seems to be why she's dropped out. From what her parents told me, I don't think she wants to be there any more, but she can't exactly leave for some reason. I was wondering if someone she met here might have gotten her involved in it."

Julie:

Mr. Handy wrote:"Well, I'm not sure," says Julie. "I haven't heard from her in a while either. She went off and joined the Temple of Concordance, run by a Malcolm Cavendish. That seems to be why she's dropped out. From what her parents told me, I don't think she wants to be there any more, but she can't exactly leave for some reason. I was wondering if someone she met here might have gotten her involved in it."

"Wow... That's... Unexpected, and, frankly, quite alarming," says the woman. She indeed seems genuinely concerned and stops fiddling with needle and thread. "She wasn't the religious type. She had been getting very insecure, though, before she stopped coming around. 'How can I help others if I cannot help myself,' that was almost like a mantra."

"Malcolm, you say? Huh, a fellow with that name hung around these parts some time ago. He didn't come to the shelter, but would find us on the streets, give us blankets, preach some. Christ stuff. Finding yourself. Saving yourself. Used to ask about our lives and hopes. He did meet Lizzy at least once I know of! Saw them chatting," says the man.

Nat scowls at the security guard, turns on his heel and stalks off with his hands in his pocket. There would be no point in trying to break in; he wouldn't know where to look once inside. Instead he asks around for a used car hire/sales place and heads off to have a look at what vehicles they've got. He has in mind a four-seater pick-up as Ray's city car would be a bit obvious out in the country.

"I'm worried about her too," says Julie. "Thank you, that helps. Whatever this Malcolm was preaching, it wasn't real Christianity. The whole point of Christianity is that we can't save ourselves, Jesus Christ has to do it. Can you describe Malcolm, please?"

Julie:

"A-men, sister, amen," says the man, stroking his beard. "Sure: younger than me, very smooth looking. Long dark hair, but well-kept, none of that hippie stuff. Clean-shaven, too. I don't blame Lizzy, for listening to such a charming fella!"

"Thank you for all your help," says Julie. "Maybe what you've told me will be useful to help Lizzy. I don't blame her either. I just want her back safe. Was there anyone around here who spent a lot of time around Malcolm and might have listened to what he was saying?"

The longer Ray ponders this Cavendish character the more he recalls.