Play@YSDC

"I'm not a good liar," says Victoria, "but if I could find the records for real, it wouldn't be a lie. If you have a copy, I could just take them with me. Thank you so much, Mother. I love you, and I wish you and your Victoria happiness."

With a touch of shame, Elizabeth confesses "I destroyed all records of your existence years ago, hoping to forget the pain I must have caused you. As far as the orphanage is concerned, you were simply a foundling."

The parting of mother and daughter, echoes of another such pair, is an emotional one.

Victoria hugs Elizabeth one last time, crying herself. "Then I'll have to hire a private detective and say that I suspect that you're my mother, saying that I've noticed what I believe is a family resemblance. Farewell, Mother. Treasure your Victoria, and I'll treasure my mother when I return home." With that, she slips out and goes to find Professor Stokes.

Professor Stokes is pleased to enjoy the company of a charming young lady, and arrangements are made for a meeting at his bachelor lodgings.

"I usually offer my guests sherry, but I suspect that you would prefer tea," he says with a smile. "I have some rare varieties from the Far East, not commonly known in the Occident, if you would care for some. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, my dear?"

"Thank you, Professor, I would like some tea," says Victoria. "Earlier you helped my friends return to their own time using the I Ching. I need your help for something similar. While I don't wish to go back to 1795, this is not the 1967 from which I came. Some aspects of history are different from what I remember, possibly due to changes caused by my arrival in 1795. I arrived in the present at an earlier time than I left as well, and there is a younger version of me. She has just arrived in Collinsport today, just as I did myself once. I don't think it would be good for us to run into each other, and I should return to my own world."

"It appears you have had some experience with this particular method of journeying through parallel time tracks," Professor Stokes replies, seemingly not very surprised by the revelation. "It is a hazardous undertaking, and one may find oneself in some other time and place than desired. However, if you are willing to take that risk, it might prove a very interesting experiment."

"I think I have no choice," says Victoria. "I don't really belong here, and I need to get home. If I end up in the wrong time and place, I'll just have to keep trying until I get it right. If I can travel in one direction, I should be able to go back."

"Very well. I shall prepare the ceremony."

True to his word, Professor Stokes arranges for the tossing of the I Ching sticks, his bachelor digs filled with candles and incense for the occasion.

"Concentrate! Picture yourself passing through a great iron gate, into the world you once knew."

low roll bestd6

The room seems to grow dark and misty, as if time and space are melting away. Victoria feels herself drifting off into a place unknown.

with a roll of 4, let's play around with time (and introduce a subplot.) Odd = past, even = future. d4

When a full sense of reality returns, Victoria finds herself in the forested part of the Collinswood estate, which seems more extensive that it was in the present, but less so than during her adventure in the dim past. The Old House and the mansion are both where they should be. The former is neither as decrepit as it was before Barnabas Collins moved in, nor in as fine a shape as it was in the 18th century. The latter is not as new-looking as it was in the 1790's, nor as completely covered with ivy as it was in the 1960's. A horse-drawn carriage passes by on its way to the mansion, apparently unaware of the woman who watches it from the woods.

Thinking that this is most likely some time in the nineteenth century, Victoria approaches the mansion.