Henry Cooper was naturally pleased to see his nephew. As they unloaded the items that Albert had retrieved from Roswell, Henry confirmed that he had heard about the missing children, telling Albert that much of the county had been paralyzed over the students’ disappearance. Everyone, seemingly, except those of The House. ”I certainly admire you wantin’ to help find them young ‘uns,” the rancher said, as he provided two lanterns for Albert to take back to town with him. ”Right thing to do. But you keep out of that business with Tunstall’s hands, you hear? At least until you and I have a chance to talk. Those boys...I think they’re going about things the wrong way.”

Henry also hands his nephew a heavy, long bladed knife in a canvas scabbard. ”Got that from Rentana Montaño. It’s a machete. Helped me clear out the brambles over where I built the horse run. You might need it. These weeds...they’re hard to clear. Since those children vanished, those vines have gotten all over the feed stores. Me and the hands have cut ‘em back twice. Pulled most of ‘em up by the root. Doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. Come sunup, they’re back again.”

Michael Kibbee was, as Albert had predicted, also willing to assist, providing Bryan Lee with a third lantern that he kept as a spare at his office for extra light on evenings we worked late. Jake McGraw, unsurprisingly, possessed his own light source. Desiree Thornton assured the group that she would be at the saloon all night, ready to assist in any way needed, including rousing Doc Wood, if required. She urged the four to return after their investigation to share with her what they had learned.

The misting rain had ceased when the group met at the schoolhouse, the horizon a thin line of orange, slowly yielding to a deep violet as the first stars made their appearance in the early evening sky. Father Narvaez, a dark haired man with a warm, but formal demeanor, was waiting at the road near the schoolhouse when the four arrived. Handing the key to Kate, he said, ”I intend to wait here, until you return. If you are in there...too long, I will seek help and then come to find you.”

From the road, the whitewashed schoolhouse appears almost innocuous, save for the the chain and lock securing the door.

Kate took the key and nodded.  She debated leaving the rifle behind, it would be useless in such tight quarters, but then again you never knew.

She also grabbed a lantern.  Kate practiced firing one handed enough, and didn't go in for that whole dual sixguns schtick.  Not that it wasn't strangely effective, it just wasn't the best when it was time for all slow men to die, at least in her opinion.

"Who's takin' th' butterknife?"  That struck Kate as a good idea, that thing might be useful, not necessarily as a weapon... or it might be useful as a weapon.  Great as the Toothpick was, it wasn't meant to hack through foliage.

Jake fiddled with his duffel bag, pulling out a contraption that looked like a fire hose nozzle attached to a pistol trigger assembly, the hose itself snaking into his bag. He pumped something that looked like a dynamite plunger a few times, then picked up his lantern. "Thing's pressurized now." He says. Something green dripped from the end of the hose. "This here is supposed to spray a concoction I whipped up to clear weeds. Ain't sure how well it'll work on these Devil Weeds o' ours, but it's worth a shot. Don't get any on you...the stuff'll blister the skin right off your bones, so when I'm sprayin', steer clear o' me."

((OOC: I'm taking an action to set up my bolt power to spray poison. I figure it will work like acid -- deal one less die type of damage (down to d4), but do it's damage a second time the next round (doing one less total die, so a 3d4 bolt will deal 2d4 the next round). Is that cool?))

OOC: Cool.

Wise advice about staying out of the line of fire, everyone. Acid’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Albert was glad to see both his aunt and uncle, and appreciated the chance to discuss what had happened since he left town. He nodded at his uncle's command. "Yessir, I won't go doin' nuthin' with Tunstall's former ranch hands."

His eyebrows raised in appreciation when Henry provided him with a machete. "Thanks, uncle. I'll put it ta good use." That there were weeds on his uncle's farm was telling. "Supposedly these weeds are only showin' up at places what aren't faithful ta the House." Albert clenched his fists briefly, then unclenched them.

He frowned briefly. "I'll update ya once we find out what's in that tunnel."

---

Albert nodded and offered his hand to Father Navarro. "Thank you, Father. We hope to see you again soon."

Albert listened to Jake's warning about the equipment he'd brought with. "Right, stay outta the way when ya spray. Got it."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Tue 17 Apr 2018.

As the small group discuss their preparations, they notice Jacinta Castillo and Tamsin River approaching the schoolhouse from the eastern end of the street.

"Well, ain't that a co-inky-dink."  Kate mused.  She had a certain feeling about this one but wasn't one to operate on trust alone if it could be helped.  She was tempted to make a crass but hilarious crack, but then remembered where she was and what they were doing and forgot about it.  "And if that is a co-inky-dink, ah'm Abraham Lincoln.  Any of ya'll vouch fer this?"

Albert smiled and raised a hand to give a welcoming wave toward Jacinta and Tamsin. He spoke quietly to Jake, Katie, and Bryan while the others were still out of earshot. "Looks like Jay-Lo and Flower Power might be joinin' us. Could be the latter knows a bit 'bout these weeds."

Jake transfers his lantern to the hand holding his contraption awkwardly and waves at Jacinta. "Good, ya found her!" He says as he swiftly moves his lantern back before he drops anything.

Kate nodded.  That was enough.

She approached the group, one eyebrow lifting as she took in the scene.  "Looks like y'all aim to do a bit of mischief.  How come nobody invited me?"  She gave Jake a nod.  "Yep, I found her and the other herbalist, both.  Had some interesting things to say about these maldito weeds, maybe even where they started.  Beggin' yer pardon, Padre."  She tipped her hat to the priest in apology for the foul language.

"What, exactly, are you folk bent on accomplishin'?  Just hackin' in to see what's inside?"

Albert smiled as the pair approached. "Good evenin', ladies. Glad that ya happened by. We understand that there's a hole in the church that leads ta some sorta tunnel underground. We aim ta check it out. Yer welcome ta join us."

Albert's gaze shifted over to Tamsin. "Don't s'pose ya got any thoughts 'bout these weeds or vines or whatever they are?"

Bryan thanked Kibbee for the lantern, holding it in his left hand as he made his way forward with the others. He was quiet for much of the discussion, finding his place of calmness as he headed into this new endeavor with a mix of people he knew and chance met strangers. He smiled upon seeing Jacinta again, and nodded to Tamsin as well.

"I'd sooner be off the street and away from prying eyes. Kate, if you could please open that lock, I'd much appreciate it," he said, gesturing to the key that the priest had given her.




Notice: 8

Just checking to see if they're being watched.

12:17, Today: Bryan Lee rolled 8,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max.  Notice.

Kate grumbled at the trail dust gumming up the mechanism as she fiddled with the key.

”Oh, are we going inside?”

Tamsin is not particularly excited, but she had wanted to see what was going on in the schoolhouse. Eager, was the word, perhaps.

”Well, they stopped the birds from singing around Miss Winter’s house when she ground one of ‘em up, which concerns me. My thoughts are that these vines are evil.”

She is not usually one to comment on the morality of plants, but these weeds are an exception.

Albert furrowed his brow and thought about Tamsin's response for a bit. "Ya think the vines themselves're evil? Not just that they were put there by someone that's evil?" He paused a bit and considered some more. "Huh."

He'd seen lots of crazy things, so he certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility of evil vines. All the things he'd seen had instilled an open mind in the ranch hand.

"Wouldn't surprise me none." Jake says. "I did some tests my own self, and these things don't act like any natural plants I ever heard of. They're dry inside but don't burn right, and are as hard to cut as barb wire. And they apparently can grow back overnight, least accordin' to what the folks are sayin'."

"An' they only grow where it's a might convenient fer certain folk.  Con sarn you open you rusty piece of-"  Kate grumbled.

With a hard twist, the lock yields to Kate’s efforts, dropping into her hand. Pulling the chain free from the door, she opens it.

Lantern light presses into the single room that comprises the schoolhouse. In the area closest to the entrance, all appears as one might expect: rows of well used desks and stairs, their slight disarray more suggestive of children who are eager to be free of class for the day than a sign of anything terrible transpiring. Even the abandoned pencil, stray pieces of yarn, and broken chalk littering the floor do little to alter this impression.

But as the glow of the lanterns reach the back of the room, things change. Vines have overtaken the walls at the rear of the classroom, a crisscrossing pattern of black veins that have greedily covered everything within their grasp: the slate chalkboard, the students’ desks, and virtually every inch of wall space. A large desk, presumably belonging to the schoolmistress, Valentina Perez, has fallen halfway into a large hole, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, that has been torn open in the floor, from which the thorn studded weeds appear to have emerged. A musty scent hangs thick in the air, the smell of a house, abandoned for decades, that has just been entered, or a long forgotten grave recently disturbed.

Nothing stirs in the long shadows of the schoolhouse. At the moment, all is quiet.

Lee takes a long look at Lincoln’s Main Street in the fading light, studying the gaps between buildings and the lengthening shadows. After a moment, the Ranger is satisfied that the group is not being observed by any outside parties.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:32, Thu 19 Apr 2018.

Kate's Roscoe was quickly in hand.  She entered cautiously in silence, not going too far, stopping to indicate with gestures she intended the tunnel of the hole as her path.

"Padre, while we appreciate you wantin' to wait on us, might be best out of sight, maybe from la iglesia, lest we draw even more attention by havin' someone stand outside the church," he suggested, before taking one last glance at the street and heading inside.

"Padre, while we appreciate you wantin' to wait on us, might be best out of sight, maybe from la iglesia, lest we draw even more attention by havin' someone stand outside the church," he suggested, before taking one last glance at the street and heading inside.

Jake, is makeshift squirtgun at the ready, follows behind Lee.

Narvaez nods in response to Lee’s suggestion. As the group moves to enter the schoolhouse, the priest walks back toward La Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, quietly muttering prayers as he departs.

Inside, Kate ventures forward, able to get a closer look at the cavity that has been torn open in the floor. It is immediately clear that the vines entered the schoolhouse from below, though their growth must have been sudden and violent to overtake the classroom in such a short period of time. Peering down, Kate can see the tunnel that Lyle Baxter spoke of: a round passageway, perhaps ten feet in diameter, leading off to the northwest, the earthen walls lined with thorn covered vines. Kate’s lantern is only able to illuminate a short portion of the corridor. The rest is shrouded in darkness.