WindStruck and Zene's The Haunting IC

[zingbobco000]

Yitzhak struggles a bit, but through the assistance of Lois and Deirdre, he hands the books off (or maybe ties them to the rope) and then heads up on the rope back into civilization. Speaking of the books... one appears to be some kind of journal, but as you're looking through it you soon find that the musty hold pages simply fall to pieces, but a couple scraps appear to still be intact.



The other book is an enormous volume, clearly written in Latin, but so rotten and worm-eaten that whole sections of the book can no longer be recognized as writing. However, a very brief skim makes it quite obvious (especially to Yitzhak) that this book is discussing matters of the occult, with the barely discernable title of Liber Ivonis.

Spoiler: Successful Language (Latin) Roll

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You just happen to know that Liber translates to Book, and Ivonis appears to be a genitive (generally possessive) form of some sort of 3rd-declension proper name, so Book of someone named Ivon?
----

If you succeed in this, the difficulty for the next roll is decreased by one step.

Spoiler: Successful Combined Occult Roll or Hard Know (Education) Roll Where Only One Must Succeed

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That name... Liber Ivonis... You might not know what it means, but you know the name. That's some sort of famous and actually well-known occult book.

Spoiler: Hard Occult Roll or Extreme Know (Education) Roll

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It's in fact one of the most esoteric and arcane of tomes you can recall (there are a couple greater or on par, but not many). How'd it end up in a basement in some chapel?

Spoiler: Extreme Occult Roll or Critical Success

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Apparently, it was some sort of transcript of Eibon, alleged wizard of the mystical land of Hyperborea (ancient Greek mystical land of northern giants). Only six bound manuscript versions are known to exist in the entire world.

Boston, 9:10 AM, Thursday, November 3rd, 1921

Lois stares at these writings. "Who in tha' name a' tha' lord is tha' 'Dark Man?' N' wat is this 'bout children?" She then gestures to the book. "N' what tha' heck is this?"

[Zene]

Latin: (d100)[38]
Combined Occult and Know: (d100)[52]

[Zene]

”Children as shields,” Izzy mutters.

”I’ve never heard of this “dark man”, but it’s generic enough that it could refer to just about anything.” He looks down at the book.


”This is some sort of occult book. Either of you read Latin?”

[zingbobco000]

Lois immediately looks horrified by this prospect, "I... that's..." She shivers but eventually tries to compose herself. "I don' 'ave the slightest idea 'bout it, no."
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I should note that as always, you may attempt a Language (English) roll to get a transcript from me concerning the content.

[WindStruck]

Latin: (1d100)[44]

Occult/english: (1d100)[54]

Deirdre says, "Looks like they're saying Corbitt's body is in the basement of the house, but his soul lives on. That definitely must be part of the problem right there.. erm, assuming all the hauntings and such are real and all..." she says, trying to add on some skepticism. Though perhaps she wasn't so skeptical after all.

"I also see.. Councilman Ellsworth. That's the higherup that was protecting them, isn't it?"

She looks at the others quite perturbed by all this. "Yeah, I think this cult definitely has to do with the haunting of our house. But in any case, maybe we'd better revisit the subject a bit later? I think we're going to miss the train if we stay any longer."

[zingbobco000]

Lois nods, "Although... wat're we gonna do with that?" She points towards the rather large tome.

[WindStruck]

Deirdre shrugs. "I dunno, I can't read it. Same thing as with your rope, if you're keeping that too? Maybe we could, um, put it in a box and take it to a hotel room if you want to keep it?"

[zingbobco000]

She shrugs, "We'd best be off then..."

[Zene]

”Sounds good. Let’s not miss that ride.”

Izzy takes the book with him, and tries to glean whatever he can from its pages during the ride. Looking for the tri-y-eye symbol, or anything else familiar.

[WindStruck]

(Deirdre doesn't really have anything else to add to the situation. And she clearly can't get anything from the worm-infested book. Ick. Let's go catch the train?)

"I'd really recommend keeping that thing in a box or something..."

[zingbobco000]

Ok, sounds good!
----

You all rush to drop off the rope and any other items that you do not wish to bring on the journey and depart then for the train. Luckily you departed quite early and thus made great time to the station. From there it's a short ride as the train makes its way to Roxbury, along the tracks, leaving the urban landscape of central Boston and instead the more rural neighborhoods of Massachusetts that have been around for centuries.

Spoiler: Yitzhak Laskov

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You cannot truly decipher anything, and the symbols themselves do nothing but make you confused and give you strange headaches the longer you focus on them. Nothing looks at all identifiable, especially without understanding what any diagrams actually depict, but what little you can obtain from the book, you're sure that whatever information is contained, should one be able to understand, is utterly strange and alien.
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Note, you may Push the Language (Latin) roll if you want to ignore the headaches and just constantly stare at this thing, but otherwise, at least for now, what little you can actually see of the language (again the book is basically falling apart) makes very little, if any, sense.

Roxbury, 10:32 AM, Thursday, November 3rd, 1921

You exit the train, Lois looks around the general area. "Well, ya' said visitin' hours are at noon? It's still 'round 10ish or so, wadda ya' say we find the sanatarium, get a quick bite ta' eat 'round there, n' then check on it?"

(Assuming you all follow this plan)

You cross past the new Boston Children's Museum on the streets of Roxbury as eventually you see the sanatarium itself. Surprisingly it's not as daunting as one might think, looking just like a simple hospital. The plain white walls on the outside and lack of windows are... strange, but not incredibly off-putting. Nevertheless, you pick up a quick bite to eat, a warm chicken sandwich sold at a nearby café, until eventually, it is time for visiting hours.

Roxbury, 12:00 PM, Thursday, November 3rd, 1921

Silence. That's the first thing you think of as you enter this area. Even from the doorway you can hear the receptionist scribbling on some forms. Meanwhile your footsteps seem to echo off of the plain walls of the building. Two sets of chairs line the walls, presumably for some kind of waiting area. The receptionist looks up as you approach, putting on her glasses as she does. "Hello, can I help you?"
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Please both of you give me a Combined Appearance and Credit Rating roll where only one must succeed.

[WindStruck]

The building may not have been so daunting, but it was creepy in a way with no windows. Then again.. windows were probably bad when it came to crazy people. Broken glass would be a bad thing. Sad they couldn't have natural light though.

The silence was a bit offputting, but Deirdre is undeterred! The place wasn't actually that creepy now that she entered, and there were three of them, so.. nothing bad was probably going to happen. At least, she hoped so, anyway...

Appearance/credit: (1d100)[6]

[zingbobco000]

The receptionist looks a bit surprised as Deirdre enters, curiously intrigued by the way she holds herself in this plain and solitary location.

[Zene]

Credit rating / appearance: (d100)[85]

Izzy never liked hospitals. Doctors and nurses were great —people of knowledge and reason— but something about hospitals; they always seemed a bit too unnatural.

He realizes a bit belatedly, that carrying a large, creepy, disintegrating tome into a hospital probably doesn’t make the best impression. He tries to fade into the background a bit, and let the women take the lead.

[zingbobco000]

Lois gets a Success for her roll.
----

Lois smiles cheerfully, but she sort of nudges Deirdre forward, obviously, she was more confident in Deirdre's force of personality and charm than her own.

[WindStruck]

(Sorry, I was sort of expecting an update but never got the notification.. or maybe I missed it?)

---

Deirdre flashes her winning smile to the receptionist and greets her. "Hi.. We were here for the 12 o' clock appointment?" she says, almost more of a question than a statement.

[zingbobco000]

The woman nods. "Of course." She then gets up and calls down one of the halls. "Jefferson, Ronald!" Immediately two large orderlies in plain white suits and blank faces duck into the room. She subsequently looks back at you "Would you like to meet first with Mr. Marcario or Mrs. Marcario?"

[WindStruck]

Deirdre takes a quick, nervous look at the large orderlies and then back to the receptionist. "Oh, um. I don't think it matters who is first. Just whoever is more convenient?"

[zingbobco000]

Lois shrugs, (unless Yitzhak has anything else to add, if he does I'll happily retcon this), "I understand. Take them to Block D please." The two orderlies give a grunt of affirmation. It's a strange walk through the halls of the sanatarium, the place is full of strange creaks and every now and then there's a muffled cry from behind a steel door. The slight glances you all get of the a room's interior for the most part simply depict a blank room with a person inside. Most of the ones in "Block D" seem to house those who are able to enjoy the comfort of say a writing desk or a small bookshelf. Ronald and Jeff eventually lead you to cell D47, opening up the door and subsequently standing guard outside while you enter.

Inside the interior of the room you see a Spanish woman in a very simple hospital gown staring at one of the walls with a sullen gaze. She looks up as you approach, a confused expression furrow her brow. "You are not one of the doctors... who are you? Outside consultants to see just how delusional I am, or how mí marido was simply seeing things? Try again next year, tontos." That last part was more of a mutter, but was nevertheless audible.

Spoiler: Successful Language (Spanish) Roll

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"Mí marido" refers to "My husband" and "Tontos" is basically her calling you "Idiots" or "Fools."

Lois shakes her head, "Nah, ma'am, ya' got it all wrong! We're uh... um... well..." She then looks frantically at the both of you for help.

[WindStruck]

"S-sorry for the surprise, ma'am. I.. I suppose they don't tell you much, do they?" Deirdre looks back towards where the orderlies waited nervously. She didn't want to wind up here herself...

She approaches a bit, but not too close and her voice lowers. "So, um, listen.. we know the house has a history..." She looks back to the exit and her voice drops, still. "And apparently the guy that used to own it belonged to some kind of cult. We're not here to test you, and I don't think you're crazy. We just want to know what you saw. What happened?"

[zingbobco000]

She looks surprised but narrows her eyes when you mention the previous owner. "I don't know about any cult, but there is un espíritu maligno. A presence, an evil presence." She adds, noting the confusion on your face. "It lives there, it looms over you when you sleep. I woke up to find it doing that very thing one night... I slept with one eye open each night after." She shivers as her hair begins to stand on end. "When it was angry, it would lash out, hurling objects - dishes, toys, and other things around." She looks off towards one of the blank walls of her "room." "But mostly it hated Vittorio, mí amor... all its anger, concentrated on him..."

Spoiler: If You Succeeded the Previous Language (Spanish) Roll

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"Un espíritu maligno" is essentially "A malignant spirit." Whereas "mí amor" is "My love."

[WindStruck]

Deirdre nods. "Your husband. That's your husband, right? We haven't seen him yet, or heard of his status. Is.. is he alright?"

[zingbobco000]

She looks back from the wall towards you and your group. "Yes, he's my husband... he's... here." She does not seem to wish to say more on this subject.

[WindStruck]

Deirdre looks back at the others, nodding sadly. A look that probably said this woman is confirming something they already suspected...

[zingbobco000]

Lois looks sadly on at this woman, asking the group with her eyes whether or not they have any more questions.

[Zene]

Izzy leans in. "What did the spirit look like? And do you know what made it angry?"

[zingbobco000]

She shakes her head, "Spirits do not look like anything, anyone can tell you that. As for its anger, I do not know what set it off, but you could feel the evil..."

[Zene]

Izzy lowers his voice to a near-whisper. "I know this is a painful subject for you, and I apologize for asking. But: Do you have any idea why it targeted your husband?"

"Are you able to see your husband in here? Is there any message you'd like us to bring to him? Or any other way we can help you..."

[zingbobco000]

She shakes her head for all of your queries, noting only that. "I must pray... for my boys... I must pray." She then kneels down on the floor and starts to pray, staring towards the blank ceiling of the chamber.

[Zene]

Izzy walks over to the door to leave, leaving the woman to her prayers.