Ch.11. Oakwood House (Alex, Lawrence, William)

[Bullfrog]

"And by any chance, did Ms. Livingstone bring any sort of book with her?" Lawrence adds, intent on finding out if that strange book was still in Emily's possession; he presumed it held the formula for creating that strange poison, and if she didn't have the book, she must have memorized said formula.

[Philulhu]

Alex studied the doctor but he had no reason to suspect that he was anything other than someone trying to do the best for his patients.

”We encourage our guests to address the problems they were having. For some, that involves writing, for some it is poetry, art or sculpture. I believe that it is important for these things to be examined and discussed, unlike some of my colleagues, who would just lock such people away,” Dr Roy explained, somewhat testily.

“It has taken some time for my more enlightened methods to gain traction, so please understand how important this is. Traditionalists are just waiting for me to fail so they can carry on with incarcerating these people instead of genuinely seeking to help them. Any setback could have serious repercussions for a large number of people. Hopefully, what we do here could be the start of a new era in the treatment of mental illnesses.”

He paused, looked down and straightened his coat. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I have much invested in this. I hope you will understand.”

He turned back and continued to walk along the corridor. “As for letters, we do allow our guests to send and receive mail, although it is vetted. We wouldn’t want anything sent that was inappropriate. And yes, I believe Emily brought a journal of some description with her. She carries it with most of the time, although I have no idea what she writes in it - we ask our guests only to share that sort of thing when they feel ready to do so.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Has anyone else come to visit Miss Livingstone or sent her letters?" asks William.

OOC,Psychology roll (55% skill) about [b]Dr. Roy[/b]: 0

[Silver Priest]

"Of course." Alex nods. He can't see any reason the Dr. wouldn't be on the level. For a moment he had gotten paranoid and wondered if Emily had had inside help. Still, Dr. Roy stood to lose a good deal if Emily was found to have committed these crimes. They likely couldn't count on much assistance from him. In a way Alex almost hoped they were wrong; he could sympathize with the doctor's new treatment methods. But he had to pursue the truth.

He continues to silently follow.

[Bullfrog]

"I understand the letters are looked through, but have you ever had any trouble with patients sneaking letters out?" Lawrence asks; surely, he thought, if all mail coming in and out was searched, then either Emily had been able to sneak the poisoned letters out of the facility, or someone on the inside was letting them through.

[Philulhu]

OOC,William has no reason to doubt what Dr Roy is telling them.

”Letters? None that I can recall,” said Dr Roy as he walked. “We keep a record so I can check, if you wish, but here we are.” He stopped by a pair of double doors. They were half-glazed so they could see into the room beyond. ”This is the sun room,” Dr Roy explained. ”As you can see, we use this room to encourage our guests to explore the arts. The views over the coast are quite something and we have the beginnings of a nice collection,” he said proudly.

In the room, were half a dozen guests, some sitting and sketching on their knee, others, like Emily were standing at an easel. A tutor stood in the middle of the room directing the class and two nurses stood talking by the large window that overlooked the sea. As they looked on, Emily glanced up from her painting and saw the four men watching through the glass. A puzzled look crossed her face - she must have recognised William and Lawrence from their visit to her in Amesbury but momentarily couldn’t place them - but then it dawned on her and she smiled warmly and waved to them.

[Mr. Handy]

"Miss Livingstone," says Wiliam, smiling back. He holds out James's letter to her. "James wrote this letter for you."

[Philulhu]

Spoiler:

OOC - William, At present you are outside the room, looking through the window in the door.

[Mr. Handy]

William tries to open the door and enter the room.

[Philulhu]

OOC,Can I have a listen roll, please?

[Mr. Handy]

William hears something.

OOC,Listen roll (68% skill) on the other side of the door: 0

[Philulhu]

William could have sworn he heard a man’s voice but when Dr Roy pushed the door open, all he could hear was the sound of the female tutor talking to the guests. ”... the use of colours will affect the tone of your painting and how the viewer sees it...” She paused, hearing the door creak and looked over her shoulder, her dark fringe falling across her face.

”Miss Dufresne? May we join you?” asked Dr Roy politely.

Mutely, Miss Dufresne nodded, and turned back to the guests. “Please show our visitors your work,” she said, indicating that the guests should stand. The guests stood, their movements suddenly jerky - almost like automaton, and as they turned their works to face the men in the doorway, a familiar symbol was etched on each one, as if sketched in a poisonous green ink...

Actions,please.

[Mr. Handy]

"These are very good," says William. "What was the inspiration for them?"

[Bullfrog]

Lawrence is noticeably put-off by the use of the strange symbol in the patients' paintings; if only he revisited the university, maybe then he'd know what they meant.
"Could we speak with Ms. Livingstone in private for a moment? I hate to interrupt, but it's very important." Lawrence calmly speaks with authority he does not actually have.

[Silver Priest]

Thankfully, Alex does have the authority. He flashes his badge and looks at Emily, inspired by William's clever ploy. "Hello Ms. Livingstone. James wanted us to give you something."

[Philulhu]

As they stepped over the threshold and into the room, the light changed perceptibly. It grew darker and the early evening sunshine that had streamed through the windows was occluded by thick clouds that started to roll in from off the sea.

As one, the guests began to chant mechanically. “Gla’aki ymg' hafh nyth'drn! H' tharanak wgah'nagl l' cahf! Iä! Iä! Gla’aki! Iä! Iä!” The papers they held dropped to the floor where they instantly started to grow a network of thick green tendrils that emerged from the green ink of the symbols, writhing and twisting together to create a larger version of the symbol on the floor.

As Dr Roy gasped in shock, Miss Dufresne stepped forward into the centre of the symbol, and looked up towards the men at the door. The air shimmered - around her was blackness with some vague hints of sharp angles - and her face twitched and warped. She tried to speak! “Help m...” but her face twisted - now more mannish, with an Adam’s apple and a stronger jaw -and she was cut off by a gruff voice all too familiar to Lawrence and William - “Farewell, gentlemen! You won’t stop me this time!”

OOC,One action each, please.

[Mr. Handy]

William takes out his cigarette lighter and uses it to try to set the green tendrils on fire.

[Silver Priest]

Alex's police training kicks in, and he pulls out his gun, aiming it at the figure in the symbol. "Freeze, Mr. Brophy! You are under arrest!"

[Bullfrog]

OOC,I assume that [b]Lawrence[/b] lost his pistol after that run-in with the cultists in Louisiana? Or did he have enough time to replace it with another once he got to Arkham?

[Philulhu]

OOC,As you didn’t specifically state that Lawrence was going to replace his pistol, I’m assuming that he is unarmed.