Play@YSDC

Returning to the village, the investigators find it silent and still, as if a curfew were in course. However, there is some activity on the docks. Lights are there and some are moving. With a closer look, the group sees that someone is loading barrels on a small boat. The boat of the investigators is no longer there. Perhaps it moved away from the coast to avoid being seen. The old man had told the group he was afraid of making contacts with the people of Coney Island.

There are no custumers in the inn. The girl is alone behind the counter cleaning dishes and glasses.

Kathryn looks around for a hiding place from which she can observe the girl without being seen herself, so that she can secretly follow her if she leaves.

Ivy sticks with Kathryn.

The girl looks out the window, catching sight of the boat in the distance.
Hes pale face expresses anxiety, fear and indecision. She seems paralized. Suddenly, she jerks to the kitchen and comes out with a big knife in her hand.

She runs out of the inn. Her thin body trembling as if she had the devil inside.
She goes towards the docks, furtively. She silently approaches the boat, but then turns away towards the rocks, out of the light field of the flashlights used by the men standing at the dokcs.

Doing as little noise as possible, and being careful not to be seen, the girl enters the waters.

Kathryn follows the girl quickly but quietly, relying on the darkness to hide her, hoping to get close enough to see where the underwater tunnel entrance is.

OOC,Stealth roll (60% skill) following the girl: [dice]0[/dice]

Meanwhile, Michael takes the opportunity to investigate the inn's ledgers, to see if they reveal anything. Sneaking around isn't his best skill.

The girl swims holding the knife between her teeth and approaches the boat. She seems to be looking for a point whereshe can climb without being seen. Meanwhile, the group sees that five men are loading large barrels from the docks onto the boat using a ramp.

Michael,the inn's book has no information about people hosted. Liquor production records are reported instead. The production has been going on for years. Eight months ago began an interruptiont that lasted for several weeks. The production has been resumed recently. The new period of production is referred to as Brew Draft of Phan phase

Michael grunts at what he's seen in the inn's records. All ties together. He moves to a window where he can watch the men approaching, pistol ready if needed.

Kathryn hides and signals to her friends to join her. "If we can hide in the barrels," she whispers, "those men will load us on the boat."

Michael watches the detective try to sneak into one of the barrels. Cute idea. Too bad he's way too big and clumsy to pull it off. Anyway, he better stick around until that gal that works at the Inn gets back, and ask her a few questions.

"I think we all need to be aboard that boat," whispers Kathryn. "That's probably how she gets to K'n-yeil."

Ivy sighs, eyeing up the barrels warily.

"It beats swimming I suppose. Very well, let's climb in."

Resigned to the scheme, Michael does his best to get aboard without tipping over the boat. "I gotta bad feelin' about this,"he mutters.""I always knew dames would get me in trouble."

The investigators approach the wooden barrels, hiding behind a group of rocks close to the docks. The five men brought the barrels with a cart tied to two horses, which now stands near them. Six barrels have already been transported on the boat, five are still on the pier. The five men are now pushing one barrel on the ramp to load it on the boat. They are doing it with effort. Surely, the barrel they are moving is heavy and filled with something. As the detectives try to sneak into one of the barrels, they realize all of them are heavy and filled with something liquid. It smells strong liquor.



Now, they remember of a document they found in the secret room of the mansion.
The document reported all the accounting for whiskey production in Flowerege, this town of Coney Island. The alcohol has been regularly boarded in Flowerege, and then sold at a low price in Greyton. Mr. Crookey, the owner of the Crockey Inn in is the one who organize the production and transportation. Trade has lasted for many years and, apparently, it was interrupted by the end of December 1928, that is, eight months ago. No reason was mentioned about that.

Michael,When Michael saw the Inn's book, he indeed found records of liquor production. The production has been going on for years. Eight months ago the production has been interrupted and has been resumed only recently. The new period of production is referred to as Brew Draft of Phan phase. Michael now remembers about another document the group found at the mansion. A typescript describing the recipe for a syrup, called indeed Brew Draft of Phan. Its production requires a careful and meticulous selection of algae species belonging to the order Laminariales, an order commonly known as kelp. The syrup also includes fresh poppy tar and bear’s spleen. The recipe described the preparation, but did not say anything about its purpose and effects. However, the document is meant to prepare a mixture of syrup and whiskey. This recipe also explains how to prepare the alcoholic beverage containing 5% of Brew Draft of Phan. [ooc]Also, take a look again to Darcy´s letter dated August 17, 1928, in the last post of the Cue thread[/ooc]

Meanwhile, while the men are pushing the barrel, the girl quickly climbs on the boat and hides among the barrels that are already aboard. She esitates several times, then she does that as fast as she can.

Then, one of the silhouettes of the five men stops pushing. He takes out a gun.

"Stop. I thought I saw something moving on the boat."

Kathryn takes out her own gun. "If they find her, we may need to intervene," she whispers. "Looks like we can't hide in the barrels after all. I doubt we'd have time to empty them before they return."

Michael readies his pistol, but waits for the men to take action first. He wouldn't mind some booze himself right now, but he's got a hunch that the stuff in those barrels is not your typical rotgut.

"Maybe we could spook the cart horses." Ivy whispers. "And use the distraction to sneak onto the boat."

"That's a thought," whispers Kathryn. "If we can make them run and take the cart with them, at least some of the men will chase after them."

Ivy sneaks up to the horses. Having ridden them as a girl, she had some familiarity with the beasts.

OOC:   I’m going to make a Ride skill roll; not to ride the horses, but to see if she can spook them without making it obvious.

Failing in her role as horse whisperer, she slaps one of the nags hard on the rump.

If the men notice that they've got uninvited company, Michael will try to shoot a hole in one of the barrels, both to cause more chaos and to get a sample of the stuff. Until then, he'll play it quiet.

"Ivy's action does not call for the men's attention. Their attention is called by the presence of the girl in the boat.
One of the men gets on the ramp connecting the boat to the dock. He aims the flashlight on the hull and moves the beam among the barrels.
As the light illuminates the scared face of the girl, the man vents his anger and exclaims."

"It is Vera! Damn it! ."

"I had told Croockey that she had to be locked up.
Go and get her, soon! And be careful not to kill her."

The four men run to the boat and point their flashlights to her. Vera
remains motionless in panic, with the knife in her hand as a disperate defense.

"At least they're not going to kill her," whispers Kathryn, "but they may have something worse planned. Still, we have time to rescue her, so we can wait and see what happens first. If we do rescue her, she'll be grateful, and she may tell us how to get to K'n-yeil."

"The Crookey family is in league with the Andersons, remember?" Ivy hisses to the others. "Perhaps we should assist this young lady."

In an attempt to distract at least some of the men, tries to push some of the barrels off the cart.

"No need for silence now,"Michael mutters, "with them barrels makin' one hell of a racket." He fires a shot directly into the nearest barrel, hoping the men will be more concerned about the booze inside than the woman."Freeze! Federal agents got ya surrounded! You're under arrest for violatin' the Volstead Act." It's a bluff, but he hopes it will give them enough time to get the woman out of danger.

The five men react immediately and one of them swears something. Two of them gets on the boat, trying to catch the girl. She makes a scream of fear and then starts moving quickly among the barrels.

The other three men point their flashlights at the barrels and cart, so that their shapes become invisible to investigators.
One of them has already begun to shoot at the origin of Michael's voice.

NPC Roll,[dice]0[/dice]

Michael feels the blow of the bullet hitting the barrel next to him.

Seeing that subtlety has now gone out the window, Kathryn fires at the man who had just shot from her position of cover behind the barrels, thankful that the flashlights and muzzle flash had lit him up nicely. Her gunfire is far more accurate than his, and her bullet strikes home.

OOC,Firearms(Handgun) roll (65% skill) shooting at the goon who just fired: [dice]0[/dice] Damage to goon: [dice]1[/dice]

Michael returns fire.
The shot strikes home.
It's not fatal, but it must hurt the guy.

"Let the girl go, or the next shot will be the last thing you ever feel."

OOC:   Sorry for being quiet. Ivy doesn't have a gun!

As shots ring out, Ivy takes cover behind the cart.

OOC:   The rifle found, unfortunately, had been immersed for a long time in salt water and was also unloaded.

One of the men screams and falls to the ground. His flashlight illuminates the sky above like a flash, and then falls next to him.Two men fire and the bullets hit again the barrels, releasing the smell of liquor in the cold air. The other man runs on the boat to help his companion getting the fugitive girl.

"Damn it," Michael mutters. "Can't let them take her." Tossing caution to the wind, he rushes after the guys who have the woman, not firing but ready to do so. He huffs and puffs as he runs as best as he can.

“Oh no you don’t”

Ivy scuttles out from her hiding place and races to the host, swinging her nightstick.

"Wait, stay behind cover, they're still shooting!" calls Kathryn. Remaining behind cover herself, she fires at one of the two men still shooting, reasoning that even if she doesn't hit, it should at least divert his attention and force him to take cover himself. Her shot is accurate and devastating.

OOC,Firearms(Handgun) roll (65% skill) shooting at one of the goons shooting at us: [dice]0[/dice] Damage to goon from .38 bullet: [dice]1[/dice]

Kathryn fires a lethal bullet at the forehead of one of the shooting men, who collapses on the ground.

Suddenly, a splash in the water distracts everyone. The girl has just dived into the water and is swimming towards the docks. The men on the boat blather something among them, difficult to understand, but none of them chase the fugitive.

When Ivy comes out of her shelter and runs towards the boat, she sees the two dead bodies lying in a pool of common blood. They are village men, bearded, dirty and badly dressed, long chaotic hair and sunburnt face.

The third flashlight stops pointing the investigators and runs towards the boat. As soon as the man is on the deck, one of his companions on the boat removes the ramp while someone else turns on the engine.

Two silhouettes are standing on the deck, ready to give covering fire against anyone who gets too close to the departing boat.

If Ivy is within running distance of where the girl seems to be swimming to, she will head that way to assist/intercept her.
If not, she will search the bodies of the men.
If she has time to do both, then she will.

Kathryn holds her fire as long as the men don't shoot, content to let them escape now that the girl is safe. She stays behind cover and reloads her revolver to replace the bullets she fired.

The boat moves away and disappear into the darkness, while the noise of its engine echoes towards the open sea. Gradually the sound of waves gently crashing on the rocks returns. The fugitive girl swam to the docks. As her dripping body comes out of the waters and she lifts her head, she remains petrified before the new flashlights pointing at her, like a wild animal which is about to be run over, under the bright headlights of a car. She holds the knife she took in the inn with anger and fear, pointing it at the strangers, while the bulbs of her eyes seek for a way out.

Ivy tries to look as friendly as she can.

“It’s alright miss, we’re friends. We’d like to help you.”

Kathryn puts her gun away, displays her empty hands, and smiles. "That's right," she says. "We rescued you from those men."

The girl is still confused, still unable to clearly see the faces of those in front of her. Then, she recognizes them as the strangers arrived this afternoon.

Her voice keeps a tone of diffidence and fear.

"Who are you? What are you doing in this place? Go away, while you are still in time."

"We're detectives sent here to find a kidnapped little boy named Timothy," says Kathryn. "We know that he was taken here, and then to K'n-yeil, through the tunnels. We can't leave without him. Please, tell us where we can enter the tunnels."

Michael studies the woman's reaction to all this, keeping his big mouth shut for once.
He can't tell what's she's thinking.

"Yes, we want to put a stop to all this. Is that why you tried to get on the boat?"

The girl relaxes, but her face goes from fear to profound dismay and resignation.

"If you want to put an end to this ... you should have stopped their boat."

"They went to Greyton with a load of liquor ... they worked for that stuff in the cellars of the inn ...
it's something that changes people's minds ... the whole city of Greyton will also be dominated by the spirits of the sea. "

"The tunnel you say leads to the spirits of the sea..."

He begins to speak in a whisper

"The spirits of the sea ... I know where they are, but I can never get close to them, when I get close I am afraid and run away."
"People believe they dominate the sea, but the spirits of the sea knows how to dominate men. They are the lords of our mind and our body."

The wet clothes reveal something in the body of the young wretched soul. She is pregnant.

"I'm sorry, we didn't know," says Kathryn. "That must have been the Draft of Phan. I just thought it was a regular load of liquor. Why haven't they done this before? Why wait until now?"

Michael feels sorry for the young woman, and worried about the child she's carrying. If one of those creatures got to her . . . He's still wondering if they're incubi.

"We gotta get to the mainland and stop those guys," he says. "And you should come along, and get to a hospital.

Ivy’s expression turns grim when she sees the young girl’s condition.

”If there’s a telephone, maybe we can call the Coastguard; surely there’s no way the three of us could catch that boat. Besides, we have to stop this at the source. Miss, could you lead us to the spirits?”

"Yes," says Kathryn, "we'll never catch that boat now. Alerting the Coast Guard is the only thing we can do about that. We need to go through those tunnels and find where they've taken Timothy."