Miskatonic University students Richard Cardigan and Henry Atwater went camping on the banks of the Miskatonic River on June 2, 1927. There was a terrible storm over the next couple of days with very heavy rain and many local lightning strikes. Cardigan goes missing and Atwater turns up a few days later stark-raving mad and is placed in Arkham Asylum. The characters were:
- Mickey O'Dwyer -- an M.U. student who knew Cardigan well
- Donald Lutherhagen -- Cardigan's baseball coach at the University
- Albert Winston -- A professor at the University
- Jack Roberts -- Private Investigator originally from Chicago (at times PC and NPC, but mainly there throughout)
- Gregory Atkinson -- Lawyer at E. E. Saltonstall, tasked with finding Cardigan by a client (Cardigan's father)
- Arch Ackland -- Freelance photographer, worked on the story of the missing boys for the Arkham Gazette
- Rascee Timms -- Woodsman/Ranger met up with Jack Roberts to help
- Ondine Dumont -- Translator who worked with Atkinson (character dropped out of the game after a while)
The characters meet up in two groups and independently head to Arkham Asylum hoping to speak with Atwater. Once there, the director (Hardstrom), doesn't let them get anywhere near Atwater until Winston arrives as the two men know each other. Atwater is close to comatose and mutters a few useless words, but that's about it. They don't get any information from him at all. The characters also meet Detective Stuckey of the Arkham Police Department. Not having much else to do at the Asylum, they stop for a quick lunch before heading to the campsite of the two boys as the police are coordinating a search party for Cardigan and are enlisting volunteers from the city to help.
The campsite is a short drive out of town on the banks of the Miskatonic. The search party is already underway, but mostly focusing on the woods near the campsite, not the bank of the river itself. A short walk away from the tent, the characters spot an unusual amount of crows pecking at the sand on the bank. On approach, the crows eventually scatter to reveal a partially buried body face down. During and after the storm some of the sand had been washed away which is why the body is showing now and why the police didn't see it earlier. As the characters and police attempt to roll the body over to identify it, a human hand reaches up from underneath it! Another person was buried below this face down body and this person is still alive!
The face down body is identified as Richard Cardigan, but no one knows who this other person is. He is extremely old, evidently in a state of extreme shock (naturally), and just keeps repeating the name, "Henry Atwater!". No one knows how he survived being buried for days. He's rushed to St. Mary's hospital in Arkham where they declare, despite is very old age, he's perfectly fine other than a spinal deformity that was pre-existing his burial. After being treated at the hospital he's sent to Arkham Asylum
DAY 2
The characters head to the Hospital and the Asylum first thing. Upon reaching the Asylum (after hearing of the old man's move) they find that Atwater has escaped. No one knows how he got out other than the lock on his door was disintegrated in some way. Hardstrom had lessened the drugs Atwater was taking in the hopes he'd be more cogent and could tell what happened. He did perk up a bit, but none of the characters got to talk to him. They did question Hardstrom about what he had to say, though, and Hardstrom mentioned Atwater seemed very confused and had an odd way of speaking. Certainly not much like a college kid.
A lot of research is done today. Jack and Gregory head back to the campsite to try to find other clues they may have missed. They don't find much in the immediate vicinity, but they spot a broken down bridge they hadn't seen the day before. It was there, but in the confusion no one really paid it any attention. It's a ways away so it's not unusual they missed it. As the get up to it, they see it's been destroyed for quite some time, and cannot be used to cross the Miskatonic. All that's left is a stone support pillar in the middle of the river. It, too, is broken and destroyed.
After that, they head to the Gazette to talk to the reporter who wrote the story about the missing boys. Here they meet Arch and the reporter mentions that Peabody over at the Arkham Historical Society knows a lot about that region and about that bridge in particular. Everyone heads over there to talk to Peabody who gives them a copy of a story he wrote a while back about the bridge (story is in the Clues thread). They note that the support pillar that is now broken and destroyed was not like that when Peabody wrote his article so it's a more recent occurrence.
DAY 3
This day starts with news of a murder. One Nina Williams Hope is found dead in her living room by her maid just coming in to work for the day. It appears she was killed with a fireplace poker and the numeral 1 was carved into her head post mortem. Her upstairs library, which is rather extensive, was also ransacked. The investigators ask Peabody if there's anything he knows about the woman and he notes that she helped him write the article about the bridge and it's history. The investigators then head to the crime scene where they see Detective Stuckey.
This is where we stopped. The investigators were just starting to look into the crime scene. I think this gives a pretty good overview of what happened, but if you do end up playing in the game it'll be worthwhile to read through the old threads as there may be some other smaller details I've (inadvertently) omitted. However, I hope this helps to whet the appetite.
Is Donald at the crime scene as well?