Prologue: One Foot in the Grave

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Sep 30, 2021 7:16 pm
Jay, Derek, and Max

Jérôme watches as the three of you engage in conversation with, from his perspective, seemingly no one. At Derek's question, he raises an eyebrow. You can tell that he's still extremely skeptical about the whole thing and is wrestling with how to react. Finally, he resigns himself to indulging all of you for a little longer.

"Maybe ask the ghost if he'd be kind enough to leave our home and never come back." he says to Derek.

In response to Jay's question, Jérôme sighs. "Uh... yes, there is. Carrollton Cemetery No. 1 is down the street. Maybe a block from here." At the mention of possible remains, Mr. Guillory's face goes slack. "I did hear that the flood waters caused major damage to the cemetery. It’s rumored that not all the bodies were recovered after Katrina. You think there are people's remains on this property?"
Sep 30, 2021 7:25 pm
Derek gives a shrug about to remind him this isn't the one taking bites out of his daughter when the man gives up some information.

"I'll ask if he comes back around he seems to have gone slack looking for his wife and son, who are likely also dead but he seems to have thoughts he's still alive. He's warned us to stop digging to not rile up the Red Lady who's been attacking your daughter. I guess she's one of the few she is seeing that have migrated here via their washed away body caught under your property...Carrolton Cemetery No. 1 you said?" Derek comments pulling out his phone trying to find the cemetery and who would have records of the bodies in the cemetery or the bodies missing from there.
Sep 30, 2021 7:48 pm
In response to Max, William says, "Catch up? Well, I suppose we could go on ahead of her."

Meanwhile, Jay readies his plasm. The opaque jelly falls into the cup and dissipates as the Sin-Eater ritually converts it to Essence. Although Essence isn't a discrete thing that can be perceived in and of itself, you can still experience it as an ineffable series of phenomena. In this case, derived from the plasm of the Long Man, the mug feels like it carries regret. If you could distill an emotion down to its metaphysical, quintessential nature, this would be it. Just holding the mug, you can feel tinges of the emotion wash over you.

The ghost suddenly stops speaking and glances back at the mug. Without a word, he turns and approaches Jay, and then reaches out to the cup. His hand disappears into it, and you see William close his eyes in quiet satisfaction. He then opens his eyes, blinks, and looks around in confusion. He stares back at Max for moment. "I thought you were... I could've sworn that..." The ghost rubs his face. He's visibly disoriented and upset, but he seems to have snapped out of the fugue that had taken hold.

William composes himself. "Thank you," he says to Jay. "She keeps us here to feed. We can't leave, and we can't fight her. When she ain't feedin' on the girl, she feeds on us. Keeps us weak. When that family first moved in, we tried to scare them off. We made all the commotion that we could. We'd yell, stomp around, knock things over. Anything to get their attention. But it's too late now. The Red Lady has developed a taste for the girl. She ain't leavin' that family alone."

He looks around at all of you. "She comes and goes from the Place Below. She comes from under the house. Like a demon rising out of Hell itself."
Sep 30, 2021 7:52 pm
Jérôme motions to the hole that you've all been digging. "Far as I know, the lowest point on the property is, well, below the house," he says to Derek.
OOC:
Derek, give me an Academics + Intelligence roll when you have a chance.
Sep 30, 2021 7:59 pm
Adriana

After Max rushes from the kitchen, Claudine moves to one of the windows and looks out. While none of the kitchen windows directly overlook the gentlemen outside, she can get close enough to see the light of Jay's lantern, and she can see Max speaking to someone.

"What could they possibly be doing?" she says.

As she continues watching out the window, Samantha suddenly reaches out and grabs Adriana's hand. The teenager's face is pale. "I have a bad feeling," she whispers to the Sin-Eater.
Sep 30, 2021 9:29 pm
"Huh, if the other ghosts leave first she won't have them to feed on until they're weak and have nothing left then she'll be looking for your daughter... Actually he says they've been trying to get people to move out on account of what has happened to your daughter..." Derek states his voice trailing off, "Shit we just fattened him up to feed her didn't we..." Derek states with a groan looking at Fields apologetically.

Rolls

Acad and int - (5d10, RA)

(14896) = 28

Sep 30, 2021 10:25 pm
Derek

You do some quick research on your phone, and you find a website for Carrollton Cemetery No. 1. The site includes a helpful registry of graves that is searchable by name. Sure enough, when you search for "William Fields Sr," you find a matching entry. It states that the individual was interred on May 18th, 1961. There is an attached picture and obituary, which indicates a death due to stroke. It also states that he was survived by Phyllis Fields (his wife) and William Fields Junior (his son). Although grainy, the black and white photo definitely depicts the ghost standing in front of you.

You confirm that William Fields is correct. He was laid to rest in the cemetery down the street. However, the site gives no information about the current condition of the cemetery graves, or what other bodies might be missing.
Sep 30, 2021 11:55 pm
Jay patted the shade on the shoulder, a reassuring grip on the old man's spectral arm, Thank you coming to warn us about the Red Lady and for trying to warn the Guillory's, Mr. Fields. I know that took courage. Do you know anything else about her? A name, her story, why she's still here? Jay had a feeling the flurry of activity at the Guillory's home and the presence of their krewe had tipped off the Red Lady and she might not be far from confronting them all.
We might want to get Adrianna, Samantha and Mrs. Guillory out here with us... he told Max and Derek. I don't think we should be split up if "Ruby" does show up and we could definitely use Adrianna and her Geist if it comes to a confrontation.
He pitched the spent contents of the diner mug onto the ground and covered it with damp muck shoveled from under the house. Mr. Fields? If I might ask, what's keeping you here instead of moving on?
Oct 1, 2021 2:41 am
While relieved, at first, by Mr. Fields' return to the present, his face darkened as the ghost shard some of what he knew about the Red Lady.

"She comes and goes from below, you said? If that's true... There are only two kinds of beings of which I am aware that possess the ability to enter and leave the underworld at will. Ghosts are not one of them."

He was speaking to Jay and Derek, and apparently giving no thought to include Mr. Guillory or to explain himself to their client.

"I better have a look," he said. The sweat that was beginning to bead on his forehead and his trembling right leg was ample evidence of his suddenly nervous condition. Shifting a little of his weight onto his right leg was enough to stop it from shaking, but with less weight now resting on his left leg, it began to shake instead. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to compose himself.

Once he had steadied himself, he looked Mr. Guillory directly in the eyes and said, "Why don't you go inside with your family, Mr. Guillory. I'm afraid that if you stay here with us you are going to see some things that you would probably prefer not to see. Trust me. Go. Now."
OOC:
Max intends to use the Shroud to have a look around. I will write that up in another post because I don't want to sit on this one while I double-check the mechanics of using a haunt. I would like to not screw any of it up.
Oct 1, 2021 6:05 am
the_puppeteer says:
Max intends to use the Shroud to have a look around. I will write that up in another post because I don't want to sit on this one while I double-check the mechanics of using a haunt. I would like to not screw any of it up.
OOC:
No problem. If it helps, here’s the gist of using Haunts:

The first dot of a Haunt describes its base effect.

The higher dots provide enhancements. For additional Plasm, these enhancements may be applied to the base effect. Enhancements may be added even after a Haunt has been activated.

Dice pool for Haunts is always [Synergy + dots in Haunt]. In your case, it’d be Synergy 1 + Shroud 2 (3d10). Pay the Plasm cost and roll. On a success, you gain the Haunt’s specific Condition (i.e., the Shroud Condition, p. 308).

Keys
You can also use a Key to unlock a Haunt, but this is optional. Doing so let’s you add the Key’s Unlock Attribute to the dice pool.
For the Key of Deep Waters, that’s your Manipulation (+3 dice).
For the Key of Chance, that’s your Dexterity (+2 dice).

You also gain a number of free Plasm equal to the Unlock Attribute. Only one Key per Haunt.

If your use of the Haunt matches the Key’s resonance, you get an exceptional success on three successes instead of five.

However, using a Key gains you the Doomed Condition (p. 121), which gives you a Beat when it resolves.
Oct 1, 2021 7:16 am
OOC:
Max will use the Key of Chance to add his Dexterity (2 dice) to the dice pool and give him 2 extra plasms. If successful, he will spend 2 plasms for 2 charges on the Shroud (Holding 1 plasm in reserve for possible use later in the scene. If it isn't used it will dissipate at the end of the scene). He gains the condition: Doomed (Chance, The Forgotten). The next time he has to roll 3+ dice on an action, he will roll a chance die instead and resolve the Doomed condition. If the action succeeds it counts as an extraordinary success.
Somehow sensing Max's intention, the Forgotten steps up behind Max but instead of stopping he continues forward as if he will walk right through him. His form swells as he approaches until he is just slightly larger than Max. Just as it appeared that he would, he takes a final step forward until the two of them occupy the same space. When they come in contact with one another plasma begins to cover Max as if it is condensing around him like water vapor on a glass of ice. The plasma causes his form to become less and less distinct as the pair crosses into Twilight.
OOC:
Max's fear is that there is an Avernian Gate located under the Guillory's home that Ruby, who he now believes is probably a Reaper, uses for entrance and egress from the Underworld. His intent is reconnaissance. He can remain in twilight for two rounds for each charge he spent on the Haunt.
Last edited October 1, 2021 7:49 am

Rolls

Synergy (1) + Shroud (2) + Dexterity (2) - (5d10, RA)

(2221095) = 30

Oct 1, 2021 7:33 am
Adriana squeezes Samantha's hand. "Stay close." She returns in whisper. The Impure, sensing a threat to the girl, moves to the Sin-Eater and the living sensitive protectively.
Last edited October 1, 2021 7:34 am
Oct 1, 2021 1:34 pm
Derek quietly says Oh and texts the last member of the Krewe still inside.

"Hello from outside, we're talking to someone who got washed over from the cemetery, nice fellow, family man, in the area a little while back from Katrina so good news we know who most off the people are possibly from, cemetery doesn't know the bodies are likely washed under this house. Bad new the Red Lady is probably not a ghost since she feeds on these despondent few and the young lady of the house."
Oct 1, 2021 10:03 pm
Adriana hears the alert on her cell. She reads it quickly and with the lightning finger slides of an adept texter, replies. "Sam senses danger. I am not leaving her side. Is it done? Is the passage beneath the house clear?"
Last edited October 1, 2021 10:03 pm
Oct 2, 2021 4:46 am
Max

Mr. Guillory gives you a quizzical look. Although he seems to want to debate the suggestion, he thinks better of it and places his shovel down. "I need to check on my wife and daughter, anyway," he says curtly. He grabs his suit jacket from the bush and marches back inside.

Though you've employed the Shroud before, it remains a sobering experience each time you use it. Upon activation, you are sheathed in your geist's plasmic body. The Forgotten draws you across the barrier between life and death, and into the frequency of Twilight. For the briefest of seconds you feel weightless, and then nothing. You are immediately aware that you feel… nothing. Hunger. Thirst. Fatigue. Your body is no longer registering physical sensations. If you gave yourself a moment to process it, the sudden lack of such input would undoubtedly be unsettling.

While Sin-Eaters have their toes perpetually dipped into Twilight, it's an entirely separate thing to be fully immersed in the state as you are now. Everything looks different. Faded. The colors around you are muted and washed out. Dark hues have shifted to gray tones, and bright hues have dropped their saturation. Even light itself, whether moon light or patio lights, have less brightness to them like they're pouring through an opaque filter. Sounds aren't any better. All the noises around you are muffled as though you're hearing them underwater. This is how it feels to be a ghost.

Only the other members of your krewe, the Sin-Eaters, appear immune to this effect. None of them are muted, but rather, beacons of life. Their liminal auras put them in stark, crisp contrast to everything else. If the world in Twilight is standard definition, the Bound are 4K picture quality.

With little time to spare, you launch yourself into the dirt wall beneath the house. There is no resistance; it's like stepping through smoke or mist. All it takes is a few foot steps to get where you want to go. You pass through dirt, mud, rocks, and roots, and enter a small hollow within the detritus packed beneath the house. The area is a miniscule space about five feet high and no more than a few feet across. Although it would be pitch black in here for the eyes of the living, you perceive blackness (and everything in it) in shades of gray. Piled together at the bottom of the hollow are the remains of six people. The bodies have long decomposed into skeletons, but still clad in their burial garments. They have been contorted and hunched together in order to fit completely into the hollow. A quick glance is all you need to see that these bodies didn't end up this way simply by floating here. Someone carefully deposited them in here.

Directly above you are the joists and baseboards that comprise the bottom floor of the Guillory's home. At various spots, a semi-clear viscous jelly is dripping from the support beats, almost like the wood is sweating. It's Plasm, which tends to collect at cenotes. And where there's a cenote, there's very often an Avernian Gate. Though you have no way of seeing a gate while it's closed, your geist feels it. Some kind of passage way exists here under the house.
Oct 2, 2021 5:20 am
William thinks about Jay's question. The influx of Essence from Jay appears to have restored some of his resolve. He is less anxious than he was at first. "Don't know her real name from when she was alive. Never told it to us. The young white girl calls her Ruby, but that ain't her name. She goes by somethin' grandiose... a title. But I don't wanna say it aloud." He eyes both Jay and Derek. "I know she ain't fond of the Eaters o' Sin. She said that she's encountered your kind before. Told us never to talk to the Bound or there'd be consequences. I'm takin' a big gamble speakin' to you like this."

William removes his hat again in a beseeching gesture. "I don't know for sure, but I think she brought my body here during the hurricane. I think she brought the others here, too."

The ghost turns toward the backyard and motions with his hand. "It's all right! Come on out! These folks can help us! You don't need to be afraid!"

For a moment, nothing happens. Then slowly, you begin to discern gray shapes emerging from the darkness of the backyard. The sight is more than a little creepy. A group of five figures move toward you; their pace and body language indicating hesitance. As they enter the light, you see they are shades of the dead. A middle-aged woman missing half of her face. A young couple with mangled bodies riddled by broken glass. A blue-lipped man with a waterlogged, bloated Corpus. A gentleman with a bloody hole in his chest.

William looks back at you. "The Red Lady been feedin' on all of us. We're all trapped here."
Oct 2, 2021 6:38 am
Max took in the little space that had been carved out under the house, horrified by what he saw there. He didn't dare linger there, though, not alone and fully immersed in Twilight as he was. The scene had was not one he was likely to forget. So, there was no need to study it now. He turned and fled from beneath the house as if pursued by the Chthonic Gods, themselves.

He rejoined the others next to the house a moment later. Plasm dripped from him as he hovered between Twilight and the demesne of the Living. There were several other ghosts present now, he noticed, but that didn't stop him from interrupting the conversation by blurting out what he had seen. If anyone was offended by his abandonment of social norms he could deal with that later.

"There is an open space under the house. The remains of six people have been gathered up and placed there. The underside of the house, above, is dripping with plasm. Something has turned the place into a graveyard! There is a Gate. It's closed, so, I couldn't see it. But, as sure as I'm standing here, it's there. I don't know if now is the time, or not, but we have GOT to get in there and... and...", he sputtered.

And what? Max didn't know what the 'right' thing to do was. He wasn't enough of a fool to think that they could take the time to help six ghosts resolve their anchors so that they could move on. Should they destroy the remains? The ghosts would be dragged into the underworld. If they had other anchors they might resist that fate, but he doubted that they did. If that were the case they wouldn't be trapped here. Reinter them elsewhere, maybe? Would that help?

"...and I don't know what," he finished, finally. "But we have to do something!"
Last edited October 2, 2021 6:40 am
Oct 2, 2021 12:20 pm
You said she physically moved your remains and those of the others to the house during the hurricane? Jay asked the shade of Mr. Fields. Is she a ghost like all of you or something...else?. He felt like the krewe we're missing an element vital to the tragic story at play. An element that put them all in eminent danger if they didn't figure it out before the Red Lady made her appearance. He agreed with Mr. Fields that he shouldn't say her title out loud; they were both shure that would hasten her appearance.

When Max returned from his Twilight scout, agitated as he was, Jay knew things were about to get much more serious. Well, we know what the right thing to is but that may not be the smart thing to do.... He considered a moment, knowing their time to plan was dwindling. The right thing to do is get these folks' remains back to the cemetery and out of Ruby's control.
Digging them up will definitely bring Ruby into play and put us all, Samantha and the Guillorys included, into great danger. She'll go after Samantha before any of the rest of us, I'd bet. She's got something planned for her.

Max, you said there's Plasm beneath the house? We should use that to help feed the others.
he indicated the newly emerging shades. They might more able to recall information about Ruby if they're not starved. And maybe better able to stand with us against her.
Oct 2, 2021 1:09 pm
"Could she be like us but bad morals?"
Oct 3, 2021 1:54 am
"I don't think so," Max replied to Derek. Unsure if the question had been asked in earnest or not, he decided to assume that it was. "Nothing that Samantha told us suggested that she was bound."

Ever since Max accepted the Bargain that the Forgotten had offered him, he had grown accustomed to operating with a certain level of uncertainty. While he was alive, he had never given much thought to what happened to people when they died. He knew what the Catholic Church had taught him, but the reality of it was very different from that. Often times he found that the best he could do was to trust his instincts, and right now his instincts told him that they needed to get Samantha out of there.

"I had just finished telling Mrs. Guillory that there wasn't any point in them staying somewhere else tonight. I think I'd better go tell them I was mistaken. Ruby is likely to make an appearance regardless of what we decide to do here. I assume that she will try to thwart whatever we attempt. If Samantha is here, Ruby may try to use her to that end. If she isn't here, I think that we will all be better off. Any objections?"
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