Re: August 18 - 5.45 PM - Crockey Inn

[robertod]

The inn is a two-storey wooden building with a terracotta tile roof. The ground floor is a bar, while the upper floor must have four or five bedrooms at most.
The whole structure looks like a ghost building. The chimney on the roof is cut to pieces and the fur coat has colored the roof tiles black. The colors of the sign are faded, the glasses are dirty and some are cracked too. The shutters are missing from many windows.
The silence reigning in town transforms this place into something barely hospitable. The building lacks fire escapes and, although apparently operating, the place looks to have been mostly vacant. Dark wood dominate the interior, which is minimalist and devoid of any ornament or decoration.

The place has what is sufficient to have a seat, eat and drink. Most space is filled with round wooden tables and there´s a staircase leading to the upper floor. Lighting is provided by a wooden board with gas lamps. There is a large counter and a young girl behind is cleaning glasses. The space behind the counter communicates with the kitchens. Someone is working inside there, making noises with pots and pans.

Only two people are seated at one table. Their talk is very low, which seems more like a church confession than a bar chatter. They ignore the entry of the investigators. They are two middle-aged men, dressed in heavy clothes, whose face hides behind a thick gray beard. Their clothes seem to have been used for decades.

Shortly after the investigators entrance, they get up and go out, keeping their heads down, so as not to meet the eye of the strangers.
The girl receives the new arrivals with an evasive half-smile.

[jp1885]

Having tried to communicate to the half-wits outside, Ivy is instantly suspicious of anyone showing any kind of initiative on the island.

She lags behind slightly therefore, and watches the two bearded men as they leave the inn.

[Mr. Handy]

"Hi," says Kathryn to the girl with a smile. "We'd like some rooms, please."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Having tried to communicate to the half-wits outside, Ivy is instantly suspicious of anyone showing any kind of initiative on the island.

She lags behind slightly therefore, and watches the two bearded men as they leave the inn.

Michael notices what Ivy is doing, and nods to her. He figures it might be a good idea to tail these two characters for a while. He slips out the door after them as inconspicuously as he can, hoping to be back in a little while.

[robertod]

Kathryn and Emma
The girl leads the strangers upstairs, to show them thier romms. She show no curiosity for their presence in town. Upstairs is a corridor with ten room doors. The girl lead the investigators all the way down the corridor and enters a room. The room is dusty and plain, providing only a single window, a double bed, a gas-light lamp, a battered wardrobe, a small desk and an armchair. All furnitures looks empty.

Kathryn and Emma,From the window, Kathryn and Emma see a man hiding behind a house who spies on the place where Kathryn has gone. He is very different from the other inhabitants. He wears a raincoat, similar to those of the Greyton schooner fishermen. He has a hat and a scarf that covers his face. The man does not stay there for long. After a few seconds, he walks away stealthily at a brisk pace. He goes north at the area of ​​the ruins.

Ivy and Michael
The two men enter a nearby small house, a hundred yards from the Inn. The place looks more like a temporary settlement, than a real home. The structure is ancient and built with stones. There´s only a large double door to access the structure, and the two men close it behind them. The windows o don´t a have glass, but just large iron bars. The interior is mostly occupied by a big cart, similar to one of those used for the hay transport. The load are eight wooden barrels, each one having with the capacity of about one thousand gallons.

[jp1885]

Ivy peers carefully through the bars, whispering to Michael.

"What do you think? Bootleggers?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Quick," Kathryn says to Emma, "let's get downstairs and get out after him before he gets too far ahead. We need to see where he goes and who he talks to."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Ivy peers carefully through the bars, whispering to Michael.

"What do you think? Bootleggers?"

Michael nods. "Five will get ya ten they're runnin' the stuff from Canada. Perfect setup for it. Nobody here but a bunch of ninnies who won't ask questions. I think we better get back to the inn and let sleepin' dogs lie. Bootleggers don't play nice, and I'm not in the mood to have a chat with a tommy gun. Later we can tip the local cops."

[jp1885]

"I agree - let's not get tangled up in this. Back to the inn it is then."

[robertod]

Ivy and Michael see Kathryn and Emma running out of the Inn. They call their attention and point at a manwho is running in the distance, wearing a hat and a raincoat. The man has just entered the northern area of ​​the village, where some ruins are surrounded and buried by dense vegetation. He´s just taken a trail that penetrates the vegetations and goes up the hill.

The young girl of the Inn follow the two women who have gone out, and calls them in an embarrassed voice.
"Hey misses, what happened? Do you still want the room?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes," says Kathryn. "We just have to do something first while there's daylight, and then we'll be back."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Great, Michael thinks to himself, another mess to deal with. He plods after the man, well aware that he's not likely to catch up with anybody who really wants to get away.

[robertod]

OOC:   Everybody going after the man? Running of walking?

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

My character isn't likely to be running, but he'd also feel compelled to follow the man.

[jp1885]

OOC:   Ivy doesn't do anything as gauche as running, but she could manage a brisk walk.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Kathryn[/b] will move quickly yet stealthily, trying to keep the man in sight without being seen herself. If it's necessary to do that, she will run, even if she gets ahead of the others. Stealth roll (60% skill) following the man: [dice]0[/dice]

[robertod]

The man keeps walking north, towards the ruins of old buildings at the foot of the hill, not far from the cultivated fields. This forgotten and abandoned part of the town included about a hundred wooden houses. Now little remains of them.
The vegetation of shrubs and bushes has grown everywhere, to the point that some structures are only vaguely recognizable as old homes.
Such bad conditions of the houses is not merely a result of time. The houses have been partly dismantled and looted. Many wooden planks are missing. What was left has now assumed a skeletal appearance. A number of broken or unusable objects and furnishings are scattered all over the place, even outside the perimeter of the houses. In many points, the vegetation has been able to grow because something has been removed or destroyed before.

Despite the state of abandonment and wildness, the man can follow a trail among the vegetation. Indeed, it is possible to identify points where the plants have been bent recently and several times. The trail that goes up the hill.

As they walk to follow their suspect man, the group´s attention is called by the remains of a house that was built with yellow-painted boards. It was the home of Dorothy Carson, the same of the picture they found at Colby´s place. Here the crumbling walls are nothing more than a ghostly silhouette of some previous existence. The house dissolves into the shrubs and withering trees arrogantly conquered the interior.

The hidden trail leaves the ruins and raises up the hill, but avoid reaching the top. At a certain point, the trail rather moves sideways, making a shortcut to get directly to the other side of the island. The trail is bordered by trees and continues through thick vegetation. However, once the trail has left the ruins and entered the hill vegetation, becomes easier to follow. Here the impeding plants were cut more efficiently, so to make a better passage.
Following the man without being seen is relatively easy. There is only one path and the plants cover the investigators while they walk behind.
After about a half a hour walk, the trail reaches its higher point above the sea level. From this point, the view opens onto the Bay of Fundy landscape. The fog appears like a soft white carpet, which extends for many miles in all directions. The elevations of the Grand Island and the hills of Greyton emerge from the mist to finally meet the decreasing sunlight. After descending the other side of the hill, the trail encounter a circular clearing, its diameter is about twenty yards. The trail continues after the clearing, descending the hill towards the sea.

At the two ends of the clearing are two huts with a thatched roof, built under the trees. The structures are rough. No windows and one big opening that serves as a door. Ashes of a recently extinguished fire are aat the center of the clearing. The man enters one of the two huts.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I'll let you call the shots,"Michael whispers to Ivy. "You wanna check out that other hut first, or go talk to this guy and see what he's up to?

[jp1885]

Ivy nods, quite used to her employers asking for her advice.

"You and I will talk to this man, while the other two can investigate the other hut."

[Mr. Handy]

"Let me go ahead first," says Kathryn. "I can sneak up to the hut and see if anyone's in there with him. If he's the only one in there, I'll signal for you to join me. Otherwise, I'll stay and eavesdrop."