Play@YSDC

Before the investigators leave, Carson warns the group again. Much more is at stake than the life of a child, even though the investigators may not yet understand it.
When the darkness falls on the small town, the group goes to the villa. All the inhabitants of the town disappear from the streets and retreat to their homes. The whole village sinks into darkness and torpor, like simple life forms naturally tuning their activities to the daily cycle.

The Anderson mansion is a brick made structure, whose proportion is symmetrical, with the ground floor block augmented by wings. A mixture of clapboards and shingle cladding was used for construction. The corners of the house were decorated with wooden quoins to imitate stone.
The mansion must have been majestic in the past, but now it is nothing but an abandoned ruin. A room of the upper floor has collapsed, and a pile of rubbles stands at its place. It is located frontally and on the right of the upper floor.
The grass grew high in the front yard. Climbing plants have grown on the walls, many windows are broken and some shingle lacking on the roof. The whole structure seem to lose pieces in several points, even if doesn´t seem about to collapse.
All the windows of the second floor and many on the ground floor are shuttered with wooden planks. The windows and the grand door at the entryway resamble the face of a dead soul staring at the group.

"If he's in there, they've probably got him in the basement or wine cellar," says Kathryn. "He was being kept below ground in Darcy's house before. If there are tunnels connecting the mansion to other places, they'll be underground too. Shall we enter through the front door, or should we circle the mansion and look for another way in?"

“Compared to the other piles on this god forsaken island, this place is positively palatial,” Ivy sniffs.

“I think it best if we take a look around before we go knocking on the front door.”

She will begin poking around.

Kathryn nods. "Let's circle around the place then and get a good look," says Kathryn.

The house side yard is similar to the front yard, covered in tall grass.
The backyard has a pond, more or less circular, whose diameter is about ten yards. The soil around the pond’s perimeter is sandy and humid, and there are many footprints overlapping each other.
The footprints are somewhat confused, as they go in two direction, towards and away from the pond. However, one can clearly distinguish palmed paw, adult shoes and child shoes prints. The footprints disappears a few inches away from the pond, where the ground is dry. The waters are still and the soil beyond the pond hosts the same kind of tall grasses in the front yard. A tiny stream coming down from the hill, passes between the grasses and ends in the pond.

At the back of the backyard is a small wooden hut. Some material for masonry work is accumulated inside the hut; a pickaxe, a hammer, a chisel, a shovel, a ladder, three bags of cement and some bricks.

"The child-sized prints must be Timothy's," says Kathryn. "I guess he likes swimming, since he's part sea creature. If we follow the prints away from the pond, they should lead us to him, probably inside the mansion."

Ivy nods grimly, steeling herself for the task ahead.

"Agreed."

Michael doesn't like the looks of this. "I can swim about as well as a stone,"he whispers. "If any one of you bathing beauties want to wade inside, be my guest. I'll stand guard out here."

There footprints only close to the perimeter of the pond, where the earth is wet and without grass. The rest of the garden is covered with tall grass, which prevents the formation of footprints leading anywhere.

"I don't think any of us should go in the water," says Kathryn. "I don't think he's in there now, or he wouldn't be able to breathe. He must have gone back to the mansion, but he didn't leave any prints in the tall grass. I think we should enter the mansion through the back."

“Well don’t expect me to get my feet wet!” Ivy snorts.

“I wonder... If we could find a fishing net large enough, we could cover up the pond and catch anything trying to get out of it.”

Previously said:   If we could find a fishing net large enough

No fishing net was found in the garden and in the rooms described below.

The backdoor of the house opens to the kitchen. The kitchen comuicates with other three smaller rooms of the ground floor. The four make up a part of the house thought for the preparation and storage of food. The kitchen has a wood oven full of ash connected to a chimney, which goes out through the ceiling. A big empty cauldron lies on a cooking place. Lures and fish skin remains are spread all over the floor. Fragments of old plaster lie damp over the floor. Water seeped through the rotten and blistered window frames, so to feed the mildew and detach the papers from the wall. The cupboards are of long forgotten manufacturing, which would barely live in the lost memories the elders. There are crumbs all over the table and dirty dishes sitting on the floor.

The larder was used for food storage, the larder. As the door opens, a myriad of cockroaches escape inside a crack in the wall, when the light enters the room. Here are shelves filled with jar of spices. Big empty bags are on the floor, and some grains of wheat and rice are spread everywhere on the ground.
The scullery was the preparation room, it has two sinks for cleaning food and washing the pots. Many pans and pots are stacked inside one of the sinks.

The fourth room served as an accommodation for the housekeeper. This room has a bed, a wardrobe and a sewing machine set on a small table, and many pieces of fabrics scattered everywhere. Inside the wardrobes are some objects: earrings, combs, an empty purse and a small portrait photograph of a young woman. The person in the picture is the mother of Jason Carson. There are also some daily lists of jobs to be accomplished, including cooking, cleaning and embroidering.

The southwest wall of the kitchen has a closed door that leads to the other rooms of the house.

Kathryn takes out her revolver and tiptoes over to the door, putting her ear to it to see if she can hear anything on the other side and peeking through the keyhole if there is one.

OOC,Listen roll (55% skill) at the door: [dice]0[/dice]

Ivy stands close by, ready to assist if anything untoward happens.

Michael peeks inside the back door. Looks like the joint's deserted, or else somebody is a real lousy housekeeper, he muses. He readies his pistol, leans in the back door without yet stepping inside -- his bulky frame is likely to set the floorboards creaking -- and aims the weapon in the direction of the door leading to the rest of the house.

As the investigators walk toward the door, they hear noises coming from beyond. These are slight noises, as if something small, like a group of rodents, were moving on the floor. The noises ends anytime the group stops its movements and everybody stands still.

Kathryn puts a finger to her lips. "It sounds like rats are in there," she whispers.

Rats! Michael hates the little so-and-so's, ever since he saw them attacking kids in the slums of Boston when he was just a tyke. Filthy little monsters. He slowly approaches the door as quietly as he can, which isn't saying much. He gestures with his pistol for Kathryn to open the door, getting ready to blast them away.

Ivy lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, let's blast our way in and let everyone know we're here, hm? If they're rats then a flashlight should be enough to scare them away. Kathryn, when you open the door, I'll shine my light in. Michael, you can stand by with your firearm, just in case they aren't rats."

The noises of the movements have something strange. They are well synchronized with the group's steps, as if they perceived every slightest vibration. As soon as they open the door, the investigators have a dark room in front of them. The only light comes from the room where the group is and is partly blocked by their bodies standing at the doorstep.. However, enough light beats on the floor of the new room for them to see that they are not rats. On the floor are small piles of brown muddy matter that is difficult to identify as something already known. Before the group opened the door, the things were moving driven by a mysterious intelligence, to gather towards something bigger. As the light bursts into the room, things back off, and disperse rapidly towards the corners of the room

"Those aren't rats..." whispers Kathryn with a shudder, rather wishing they had been. "Shine the light on whatever they were gathering toward."

Ivy follows Kathryn’s instructions and shines her flashlight onto the larger object.

"Blast that thingswith your flashlight, Ivy!" Michael tries not to show his fear. "It's afraid of the light. We've gotta chase it away!"

As investigators point their lights at the beings on the floor, the things separate and hide in the dark spots of the room. Silence returns.

“I wonder if these things are related to the things that attacked us?” muses Ivy, nose wrinkling with disgust.

She chases some of them around the room with the beam of her flashlight.

”Is there a light switch I wonder?”

Kathryn looks around for a light switch, though she doubts there's still electricity in the mansion, if there ever was in the first place.

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) searching for a light switch: [dice]0[/dice]

Michael whistles through his teeth, a long, low sound indicating bemusement. "As long as we got flashlights, those things will stay out of the way. As much as I hate to say it, I think we better keep goin' and see what else is waitin' for us in this funhouse."

"I hate to say this, but you're right... Let's press on shall we?"

Ivy takes a few steps into the room, swinging her flashlight from side to side.

The house is old and has no electricity.

The group enters the room. The smell of salty is strong and the ambiance is moist. The floor is so decrepit and fragmented, that footsteps generate shock waves, creaking at multiple points of the wooden surface. Every step echoes like a small ghostly cry ahead and behind. The floor is also dotted with ten greenish spots, looking like residues of dead algae. Each spot is a circular flat green mass, about ten inches in diameter.

The room is a dining room. A mahogany upholstered sofa, a marble-topped mahogany table and eight small chairs occupy most of the room.
There’s a fireplace made of white marble and wall lanterns made from and rococo-style candelabras. There is also a piece of furniture hosting a crystal set with porcelain dishes and silver crockery. The floor is made of waxed wood, while walls are painted in subtle shades of pale blue. The walls have mirrors that create the perception that the room is larger by reflecting the light of the flashlights.

There are two open doors. One leads to whatonce was a bathroom. The floor is almost non-existent and completely covered with vegetation. Plants and shrubs also conquered the sink, toilet and bathtub. There are smudges on the windows and mirrors.

The other door leads to the hallway. Here doors and windows are covered with a thick layer dust that looks like it has been untouched for years.
The smell of closed is unbearable, it seems that the entire house has been buried for decades. The newest residents of the house are the spiders. Many have laced the walls with cobwebs of intricate beauty. A scarlet red carpet covers the hallway floor. The floorboards are broken in several places, and this allowed the grass to generate scattered tufts throughout the entire floor. A large glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The floor creaks under the feet making a squealing noise, louder than the footsteps noise. Ther are two closed door leading from the hallway to other rooms, respectively on the West and East walls. From the door on the west wall comes a nauseating and unbearable smell difficult to identify, something rotten or decomposing.

"Let's try that door first," whispers Kathryn, wrinkling her nose. She indicates the door on the east wall.

"Jake by me,"Michael says. "Smells like somethin' -- or somebody -- died in that other room." He tries to open the east door slowly and quietly, pistol ready.

Ivy nods her assent.

”Yes yes, if we must.”

The room is a dark living room, containing many pieces of antique furniture, made of richer materials. Windows are shuttered with wodden planks. The furnishings and their placement in the house is typical of the nineteenth century style. Being untouched for years, this furniture is decaying and frayed. Here also, the floor is awash with the detritus of wildlife.
The room comprehends a square rosewood piano, a mahogany stand for bric-a-brac, two large upholstered rosewood sofas and two large armchairs. The sofa are covered with blankets decorated with embroidery’s. The room furniture also includes a walnut writing table with three wooden rocking chairs.
Many keys are missing in the piano and its lid is closed.
With careful observation, the investigator notices that the piano lid is not just closed, it is sealed. A kind of glue or resin seals the lid. The color of this substance is greenish.

"Something tells me tinkling the ivories would be a bad idea," muses Ivy.

Instead, she takes a look around the writing table for any interesting letters, books etc.

"Whoever did that with the piano may be trying to keep something in," says Kathryn. "It couldn't be Timothy, he wouldn't be able to breathe." Gun in hand, she takes a peek under the blankets.

There is nothing under the covers. The table is also empty and covered in dust. But there is a small drawer, with a folded, yellowed and decrepit piece of paper. It was certainly written many years ago.

It is a brief message.

The maid who escaped from your house has reached Greyton, and has been hosted by Father Colby. She was in a confused and delirious state. A few days after her arrival she killed herself, after giving birth. I met Colby and he told me he will raise the kid. The priest ignores what happened to her. I doubt she was able to tell anyone what she knows.

While the group reads the message, they hear some heavy steps over their heads, from the upper floor. The steps quickly move westward, then go down a stairs. The noise extinguishes in the room to the west, the one with the terrible odor.

Ivy freezes as the footsteps clump above them. She ceases her searching.

"I wonder if we should go say hello..." she whispers.

"No, let's hide and put out our lights," whispers Kathryn, looking around for a good hiding spot. "Whoever it is may not be friendly. Let's get a look at them before we let them get a look at us."

OOC,I'm sorry, I must have missed the update. Stealth roll (60% skill) hiding in the room: [dice]0[/dice]

A big lummox like Michael doesn't have many places to hide. He tries to squat down under the piano, as quietly as he can; fat chance!
When he bends down he hits his head on the bottom of the piano, setting the strings vibrating and letting out a few choice curse words, to the annoyance of everyone else. At least he'll take the opportunity to listen to the piano and see if he can tell if anything's moving around inside.
The noise he made covers up anything he might be able to hear inside.

Guess this wasn't such a hot idea after all.

Ivy winces as Michael blunders about (though truth be told she's not exactly graceful herself).

With their position given away, she decides that hiding isn't worth the effort and instead positions herself by the doorway, nightstick raised, ready to strike whoever comes in.

The noises of footsteps ended when the walker got downstairs in the room to the west.
The house soon returns to silence. When the group waits, they hear no other activity.

Kathryn emerges from her hiding place. Gun in hand, she slips over to the door to the room to the west and listens at it.

OOC,Listen roll (55% skill) at the door: [dice]0[/dice]

Michael sheepishly crawls out from under the piano, pistol ready in case somebody -- or something -- unfriendly is behind the door.

The nauseating smell invades the nostrils and calls a gesture of protection. Kathryn listens, but the silence seems to dominate the room. After a while, she hears an echo of something dripping, but very far away, as if it were at the bottom of a well.

"All I hear is a distant dripping sound," Kathryn whispers to the others. She ties her handkerchief around her head to protect her mouth and nose from the horrible stench. "I guess we're going to have to open the door. Everyone ready?"

"Yes, I rather think you're right. Ready your firearms while I open the door."

When the others have thier weapons ready, Ivy will fling the door open so they get a clear shot.

Michael aims his pistol, but won't fire unless he sees something that needs killing. He's still not sure exactly what's going on here.

The room is wide but dark. All windows were closed with wooden planks. There´s no floor in this room. The room walls are continuous with those of a large well that descends down into the earth.
Every little sound produces an echo, suggesting that the well must be somewhat deep. The air is filled by a revolting and terrifying smell of decomposing biological metter, which comes from the bottom of the well. The source could be a mixture of different kind of excrements, along with whatever other nauseating liquids might be secreted from biological organisms.
At the East corner of the hall is a flight of stairs leading to the upper floor.

"Let's make our way to the stairs and go up them," whispers Kathryn. "Carefully."

"Lemme go first, sister, Michael grunts. "I got a bad feelin' about this."

"Be my guest..."

Ivy allows Michael to go first, but follows closely.

As the group steps beyond the door, everybody hears something moving fast from the depths of the pit. A few seconds and the thing massively rises from below.

It appears as a horrible and unthinkable creature, a mighty sack of protoplasm, roughly 15 feet in diameter. A plastic column of fetid, black iridescence, oozing tightly onward. A shapeless congerie of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and unforming, as pustules of greenish light. The mass has also dozens of tangled limbs, each one plated with a goo seeping from hundreds small black pores. The thing is able to forlimbs, eyes and other appendages at will. It imitates multiple life forms at the same time, awhile performing great feats of strength with their chaotic moving. It is an absolutely unclassifiable life form, being unthinkable as producible from evolutionary history. It looks like a large colony of organisms endowed with unlimited morphology power, so that different parts of the colony can generate new organs in an instant, in absolute indifference to any biological law formulated by man. There seems to be no limit to the morphological variety that its protuberances may generate. In addition to mouths, eyes and tentacles, the shapeless mass is generating gills, pulsating blood vessels, renal sacs, and digestive organs that digest themselves, emitting a nauseating odor.

The thing approaches the edge of the pit and crawls towards the unwanted invaders.

Sanity rolls,Emma [dice]0[/dice] Kathryn [dice]1[/dice] Ivy [dice]2[/dice] Michael [dice]3[/dice]

Sanity loss

Ivy
[dice]0[/dice]
Emma
[dice]1[/dice]
Kathryn
[dice]2[/dice]
Michael
[dice]3[/dice]

Intelligence rolls

Michael
[dice]0[/dice]
Emma
[dice]1[/dice]

Emma and Michael are horrified and scream with terror. Emma faints, while Michael stays petrified observing details of the absurd being, as his minds desperately tries to find a sense and explanation. After staring for some seconds at the thing, he has a reaction of terror and disparation. He collapses on the ground and covers his face with the hands, while weeping and trembling.

Michael,Michael has lost 14 SAN and the roll on INT has succeeded. He understood the horror as part of thids world. He understood that the thing existis the way it is and is absolutely REAL. More than that, it represents biological life, as something potentially chaotic horrible and senseless. From now on, he will have to deal with this terrible and horrible truth. Michael disparation lasts for three rounds. As soon as 3 rounds are passed, Michael will have again control of his rationality. There will be some mental consequences. I will let you know.

While horrified beyond measure, Ivy is strong-willed enough to keep hold of her wits.

"This is a battle we cannot win!" she yells to Kathryn. "Let's get out of here - help me move the other two!"

Kathryn nods, already having come to the same conclusion, as she puts her gun away and tries to pull Emma back out of the room and out of harm's way.

Michael screams and sobs inarticulately.

The group runs out of the room and quickly closes the door behind them. The thing does not follow them. It must have returned to its hole, because, having closed the door, the investigators find themselves in a silent hallway. They are still shocked. Even the neutrality of the furniture around seems difficult to accept as normal and there´s something disturbing about it. Emma regains counsciousness . She looks around in amazement. Her fear is mainly because of the faces she reads on her fellows. She does not remember ever having entered that room, but an exchange of glances with the others is enough to generate discouragement in her about that place.

Michael calms down and breathes deeply, even though a deep restlessness tinges his cold and pale face, like an impressionist painting.

Michael,Michael now has control over his rational faculties. However, he developed a phobia. From now on he will feel disgust, repulsion and fear for any animal form without clearly defined limbs, for example worms, snakes, larvae, jellyfish etc. Those things only degenerates into biological chaos and should not exist at all

"I don't see how we can get past that thing," says Kathryn. "We can't kill it. Maybe I could sneak by it after it goes to sleep - if it goes to sleep - but maybe it would notice and eat me. What if we climb up the outside wall to a window on the upper floor? That's got to be safer."

"Perhaps - the thing doesn't seem to be following us." There is a perceptible tremor in Ivy's voice. "I hate to say this, but maybe Carson is right - perhaps we have to kill the child after all..."

"Let's get the hell out of here," Michael says, no longer watching his language in front of the women. "And gimme one of those damn flashlights. I don't want to step on . . . anything." He gives a little shudder.

The back of the house has a veranda, which can be easily climbed to have access to three windows of the upper floor. The windows are shuttered with wooden planks, but in the garden the group finds a pickaxe among the tall grass, along with other mason tools.

"Who wants to go first?" asks Kathryn.

”I’ll go first.”

"Okay," says Kathryn. "I'll go next."

"I'm stayin' out here to keep a lookout,"Michael says in a more subdued voice than usual. He watches where he steps on the ground. "Hope there ain't no snakes or worms around here."

Passing through the window, the group accesses a bedroom. A thick carpet of dust clung to every object.
The beam of the flashlight catches on the particles suspended in the stagnant air.
The double bed has a canopy framework, from which curtains are suspended, the cove being covered with stamped leather. The decoration in the panels is inlaid. There are, also, an empty corner cabinet, a small table and a piece of furniture with drawers. All the furniture is old, empty, decrepit and abandoned.

Next to the bedroom isa large bathroom, typically Victorian style. The bath is a single ended with ball and claw cast iron feet, having tap holes at one end. It is eight feet in length and tapered like a coffin in shape. Cradle bath mixers are in gold. Above the bath and the toilet are high-level cisterns with chain pulls. Florally blue decorates sanitary ware.
The floor, the sink and the bath are dotted with moss, and dirty with a decomposing greenish substance. There are also salt deposits at various point. The green matter looks like remains of marine plants.

An open door leads from the bedroom to a corridor. The walls are old and decrepit, and the paint has fallen in many places, so that the underlying bricks are visible. One closed door is in each of the two walls of the corridors. The corridor curves to the right and ends up in stairs that descend downwards, from where a nauseating smell comes from.

There are footprints that come out of one of the closed doors in the corridor and go to the stairs. They are wet footprints. Something has recently wet the floor by running upon it, wiping away the dust.

"Those stairs must go down to that pit," whispers Kathryn. "We don't want to draw the notice of whatever that thing is again. Let's check out the door from which the footprints emerge first."

”I concur: I’d much rather see where it’s been, than where it’s going...”

Kathryn nods, taking out her gun. She tiptoes down the hall and puts her ear to the door to see if she can hear anything on the other side.

OOC,Stealth roll (60% skill) moving quietly down the hall: [dice]0[/dice] Listen roll (55% skill) at the door: [dice]1[/dice]

The investigator hear no noise from the room. They slowly make their way inside. The room is dark. There´s only one window, it is on the East wall and has been closed with wooden planks.

The room is a library. There are bookshelves against all the walls, and two bookcases placed in the center of the room, one placed perpendicularly to the other, so to draw a L. All space on the wall is occupied by bookshelves, and only a part of the southwest wall is free of bookcases.
The shelves in the center of the room are filled books, but they are open on the back, so that one can look through them by dislocating some books and opening a chink. There are hundreds books including cyclopedias, essays, classic novels. There texts of history, natural science, anthropology, geography and geology. Many volumes are specific to the history and natural features of the Bay of Fundy. Bookcases with the oldest books have glass doors, some of which date back to the end of the nineteenth century. Next to the South East Wall there´s a small table with an oil lamp placed on it.

A portion of the shelf occupying the Southwest wall contains fake books. They only have spines, so that at first glance, they actually look like real books. However, if viewed closely, each spine is connected to an iron lever penetrating a hole in the wall, so that each spine can be pressed like a button. The buttons form a grid with seven columns and four rows, thus counting a total of twenty-eight buttons.

While observing the strange shelf, the investigators remcall two things. First, beyond the Southwest wall of this library should be the room they saw as collapsed, from outside the house. This collapsed room was above the living room.
While observing the strange shelf, the investigators remember two things.

First, beyond the Southwest wall there should be that room that they saw collapsed from outside the house. This collapsed room was above the living room.
Second, when they were downstairs in the living room and they heard the footsteps from the upper floor, these started right above their heads.

"There's a secret passage behind that fake bookshelf," whispers Kathryn, excited. "Those books must be the key to open it, by pressing the right buttons. I bet the Constellation of Virgo as drawn on that piece of paper is the key." She takes it out and shows it to Ivy. "See, it has four rows and seven columns, just like these buttons." She presses the spines to match the pattern shown on the paper.

"That, Kathryn, is an excellent idea."

Ivy steps back, nightstick at the ready, as Kathryn presses the spines.

As Ivy presses the buttons corresponding to the constellation, the bottom of the shelf stops resisting. It rotates outward like a door, allowing access to a secret room. The room beyond has nothing to do with the collapsed room seen from outside, which only could be an illusion.

The secret room has no window and the flashlight is required to see. Smell of old and closed emanates from furniture and fill the room along with smells of mold and musty paper. Cobwebs are all over the ceiling. There´s a large desk with four drawers full of old paperwork. Close to the left wall is a shelf unit, full of books and documents, most of which being yellowed.
Some books are about accounting, administration and economics, especially oriented to agricultural and fishing income.
The documents show that the Anderson family owns many lands in the Maine countryside and some fishing boats. They are among the main shareholders of many large food companies.

A round disk made of stone, the size of a book, is placed upon the table. The rock has reliefs that draw four triangles, whose tip is directed towards the center of the disk. Although the disk is a single rock, the triangles have different colors, being one of these darker and the other three gradually lighter.

Inside the drawers the group finds two letters and other documents:

Letters

July 7, 1921
Illustrious and supreme. Today is the memorable day. A young woman from Portland is staying here in Greyton. I have identified enormous potential in her. She must be one of the vestals. The fruit of her womb will give the strongest contribution to our duty. I ask His Majesty permission to proceed.
Semper serva tua
Darcy

August 17, 1928
Illustrious and supreme,
Greyton has been eight months into withdrawals. Their thirsty throath is now ready to taste the sweetest nectar. As desired by His Majesty, I successfully brought from Portland the fruit of our holiest vestal womb. The world as we know it nowadays is about to enter the Virgo constellation. It would be essential for His Majesty to accelerate the process of the infant transformation. He´s now on the way to K’n-yeil. The ancient and authentic generator of life will soon be awakened. Return to the origins is close.
Semper serva tua
Darcy

Documents

Documents about the traffic of liquor between Coney Island and Greyton. The Anderson family produces liquor in the island and then markets it in Greyton, giving a percentage of the profits to the local police.

A typescript describing the recipe for a syrup, called 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 typescript is purely technical, it is just a recipe. It describes the preparation, but does 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.

One document reporting all the accounting for whiskey production in Flowerege. 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 Flowerege, 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 is mentioned about that.

"Thank you," says Kathryn. "I should be a private detective or something." She examines the disk and the documents. "These letters must be referring to Alyssa and Timothy. They've taken him to this 'K'n-yeil' place, wherever that is. It must be that place up north Carson mentioned, in the bay. He said the Andersons and Jennings know where, but I don't think they'll just tell us. Maybe there's a map around here somewhere." She collects the disk, the letters, and the documents in her purse and looks around for a map of the bay that might show the location of K'n-yeil.

After the others have done all this investigating, they'll run into Michael, who has been following them for a while. When asked why he left his post outside the house, he'll mumble about seeing something crawling on the ground outside and getting the creeps. When further questioned, it will turn out to be nothing more than an ordinary earthworm.

Eager to change the subject, he studies all the documents and stuff found hidden in the house.

"This is enough to put Darcy and her pals behind bars for a long time," he says. "Better hang on to these letters as evidence. They're not only makin' and sellin' hooch, they're adulteratin' it. Betcha that Brew Draft of Phan stuff is what makes the locals into a bunch o' ninnies."

Meanwhile, he tries to make sense of the weird disk and the name K'n-yeil, browsing through the books in the place.

"I'm not so much worried about the locals, but what if they're importing this stuff to the mainland?"

Ivy also takes a look around.

Library Use 60%,[dice]0[/dice]

Spot Hidden 65%,[dice]1[/dice]

Kathryn hopes the others have better luck searching.

OOC,Library Use roll (55% skill) to find maps of the bay: [dice]0[/dice]

The weird disk is just the way it is, nothing in the room helps to make any sense of it.

Among the books, the group finds an old notebook of an anonymous traveler, who was passing by Coney Island along his journey. It is decrepit and the pages are yellowed, it dates 1864.
The writer describe the people of Coney Island as savages. He had the curiosity of an anthropologist.
According to his words, the savages said to be ruled by undefined entities that emergede from the depths of the Bay of Fundy, from a place called K'n-yeil. Those entities created underground tunnels connecting the sea floor with the island. The writer also says the entites organized the people of the village in two social groups.
A first group are called guardians and they are among the richest families. These administer the city and are the only ones who have contact with the entities. The others lives normally as fishermen and farmers, following the lead of the guardians. Guardians have transformed agriculture in the island, by intensifying the cultivation of grain for the production of alchoolic products. Common people don´t wants to become guardians. Some of the guardians' children are said to disappear. The writing ends when the writer decides to do something to meet one of those mysterious entities.

No other relevant information is found in the secret room.

"Looks like this place has been rotten to the core for a long time," Michael says. "Unless you wanna stick around here, I say we go confront this Darcy dame with what we know. I've got a feelin' she's the real boss around these parts."

”That might prove difficult, considering we found her corpse...”

Ivy smiles, not unkindly.

“Though it wouldn’t surprise me to find her alive and well, the crazy things we’ve witnessed recently,”

"We'll have to find an entrance to those tunnels," says Kathryn. "That's where they've taken Timothy. Maybe Carson will know where to look for them and what the disk is. Before we go, let's check the opposite door in the hall and see what's in that room."

Acknowledging his foolish mistake, Michael realizes that the shocking thing he recently witnessed shook him up worse than he thought.

"Yeah, I forgot about that," he admits. Trying to regain some confidence, he goes on. "I'll check out that other room. Watch my back." He goes over to the door, hoping it won't be any worse than what they've already found.

The last room is just a small bedroom with a single bed, The windows are shuttered planks. There is an old and empty wardrobe and a lot of dust in the air.

OOC:   Does the group confirm it goes back to see Carson?

Michael agrees with the others to check out Carson. There's nothing here he wants to ever see again.

On their way back, Kathryn keeps an eye out to make sure they're not being followed.

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) to spot any tails: [dice]0[/dice]

The group leaves the mansion, passes through the silent and dark village, and then goes up to the hill, until they reach the clearing with the huts.

Carson is there, anxious to hear what they found.

When questioned about the underground tunnels, he has to say the following.

"Yes, I think there are tunnels under the island that communicate with the sea. I never managed to find the entrance. The girl of the inn. I think she knows something. Once I saw her going to the shore. When I got there she had disappeared. I looked for an entrance, but could not find it. The Inn's owner is their servant. I don´t know about the girl.

Also, there´s a pond in the garden of the mansion. Once I see some shadows entering the waters. Maybe, theis is another way to get to the tunnels."

"

"I'm not a good swimmer," says Kathryn, "but I am good at following people without being noticed. I can try to follow the girl the next time she goes to the shore. We did see wet footprints going between the mansion and the pond, so that probably does lead to the tunnels, but that way is probably more heavily trafficked, and possibly by Timothy's...father and others like him."

Ivy has been quiet for a while, mulling over some unpleasant thoughts. When she speaks, it is with some reluctance.

”Remind me, Mr. Carson, what did you say before about killing the boy? That it would end all this madness?”

Carson replies:
"I would evoke a Celtic deity, called Nodens. I need Alyssa´s child, to sacrifice him to evoke Nodens. Nodens is the God Pan, the god of Eros, the force of life. Nodens will cause a cataclysm that will destroy Greyton, Flowerege, and their submerged city in the bay. As I told you, you would be safe here at the top of the hill, but many innocents in Greyton would die. This is one possibility, unless you find another way to stop them.

You can try following the girl´s moves, but the girl sticks around the Croockey´s Inn, and Croockey has some thugs there. "

"I can handle a few thugs," Michael says, tapping his pistol. "Let's drop all this talk about killin' kids until things get much worse. Havin' the lady 'tec shadow the dame sounds jake to me."

"Yes, there must be a better way," says Kathryn. "We'll just have to find it."

"I sincerely hope you're both right, but, like it or not, we may have to do something drastic. But yes, we should follow this girl first."

"Before we go, we found this in the mansion," says Kathryn, showing the disk to Carson. "Do you know its purpose?"

Carson looks at the object, intrigued.

"It must be something they use as a sort of key. I don't know its specific use. I believe these triangles indicate how it should be positioned to activate something. I have read of similar things used to open passages by deforming the space tissute. I don't know if you are willing to believe in such things."