by sniderman » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:39 am
Lucas releases his grip on Mrs. Burke, who slumps to a seated position on the stairs. She looks at you all.
"Please," she begs. "Help my daughter. Her...soul...has been corrupted by hatred. Fear. Anger. Tell me what you'll do to give her peace."
Lucas quickly recaps what happened inside the house to Hal, Jack, and Webb. He then explains about Audrey's penchant for sketching Forget-Me-Nots, which is also the foral scent everyone detects whenever Audrey is near. "At Tillamook Park, there's a place called University Falls," Lucas says. "Audrey used to go there and sketch. That's gotta be the place. I think we need to go there while we still have time."
Hal smirks knowingly as he recalls his discovery on the map of Tillamook. "I think we've already found it," he confirms as he shows the map of the location already pinpointed on his phone.
Webb starts piecing earlier conversations together. "Baxter said he’d 'marked her bed with the big gold rock in the fall'. Perhaps the park rangers disturbed her unmarked grave, becoming her first victims?" He turns to Mrs. Burke. "As her mother, Audrey’s final resting place is up to you. But given her love of University Falls – which is where we believe she was buried -- that does seem like a fitting resting place. Maybe we could arrange to have a plaque or other marker put up, and fence off the area, as well, to avoid this happening again." Webb addresses Hal, asking, "Professor, didn’t you say you had some notes on this type of ghost? Would that be likely to placate her?"
[[SPECIFIC check versus Hal's Anthropology skill. Results:
Anthropology skill: 99 - Rolled 29 - Margin of Success: 70
Action Table results: 70 "Attack Margin" cross-indexed with Column 3 "Skill Checks" = CK result (CRITICAL SUCCESS) ]]
Hal shakes his head. "It's unlikely that would do it. No, according to the record, a wraith can only be stopped if a wrong is corrected. From what we've seen of her actions, her feeling of being lost and forgotten is the great 'wrong' to correct. We need to first and foremost find her so she's 'found.'" Hal scowls. "And once we find Audrey's body, we need to somehow show 'remembrance.' I'm certain that if we can reunite her with something of great sentimental value that shows she wasn't forgotten all those years..."
Magnus approaches Mrs. Burke. "Mrs. Burke, is there anything you can think of that Audrey might have been attached to ... something we can bring with us?"
Mrs. Burke idly touches the charm bracelet she's worn since the day of Audrey's disappearance, considering what she's heard and seen. She quickly unclasps it and hands it to Magnus. "Here, take this," Mrs. Burke says. "Maybe it will protect you and give her some peace as well."
"You've worn that all these years?" Hal asks as Mrs. Burke nods. He turns to the others. "If that's true, then it's a virtual talisman at this point, imbued with 40 years of a mother's love."
The five of you say your goodbyes to Mrs. Burke, who asks to be informed of what you find -- for good or bad. You instruct her to stay inside until she hears from you again -- preferably in Audrey's room in case that offers any protection from the vengeful wraith. As you approach the cars, you see that sundown is quickly approaching. Looks like it'll be a full moon tonight...of course.
"Guys, I think we'll need to stop somewhere and get a shovel or two," Jack says.
This round is about to end. Where you're heading next is somewhat apparent, but I'd like to know what (if any) prep you plan to do before heading there. Sun will be down in about 45 minutes. And Tillamook State Park is about 30 minutes away...