Allgood searches the room carefully, checking every corner and beneath the bed, but finds no trace of a lost child.

The only thing the minister notices is a series of marks in the wooden floor, near where he witnessed the small figure crouching. They are scratches, thin gouges in the wood that appear to have been left by claws of some kind.

---

Lee opens the door opposite the bedroom, finding that it opens into a storage room. Shelves line the walls to the left and right of the entrance. On the left, several dust encrusted jars occupy the wide, splintered planks, while rotted linens fill the shelving on the right.

Another door, which stands ajar, is opposite the doorway Lee entered. It leads into a ruined kitchen.

On the floor of the storage room are two corpses. One is a young man with short brown hair and a stubble beard, dressed for work on the range. His eyes are wide and bulging and the skin around his mouth is gray and blue in color, suggesting that he died fighting to breathe. Dark bruises on his throat, along with several deep scratches, serve as further testament to the manner of his demise. Clutched in his right hand is a Colt Army revolver.

Beside him is a figure that is no more than two feet in height, by Lee’s estimation, its slender body made up of a twisted collection of the dark vines that filled the schoolhouse and nearby fields. Its hands and feet have three fingers and toes, respectively, all of which end in long, curved talons. Its head resembles a dried out pumpkin with a leering face carved on its surface. Portions of its body are broken, with small fragments of vine littering the floor, suggesting to Lee that the creature was shot several times.

Peering closely at the man, the Ranger estimates that he has been dead no more than a single day.

---

River is able to collect some of the best specimens of plant from the table into a single jar, along with four of the rocks. Several of the cuttings she takes have thorns of varying sizes, but her practiced hands avoid any injury.

Lee rejoines the others shortly, closing the door behind him. "There's a couple corpses back there. Mr. Cooper, Mr. McGraw, I might need your help with identification later if they're locals," he said. "But for now, the kids. If Kansas Kate is staying up here, then we're covered. She did some good shooting back on the stagecoach. As for what's down below, I don't know the situation well enough for a plan. I hope to do as much as possible without any shooting. First priority is gettin' them kids outta there."

Albert nodded at Bryan's report. He hoped they weren't friends of his. "Here's the plan. We go down there, beat the tar out of whatever's holding those kids, bring them kids back up here, and very, very quietly get them safely back ta town."

"I don't know how much help I'll be there, but I'll do what I can." McGraw says when the subject of corpse identification came up.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:53, Thu 17 May 2018.

"Corpses?  Musta been what had the pistolero so nervy when we got here."  She checked her rifle for readiness and rested it on her hip.  "Alright, then.  Let's go."

"Yes and no. I think there's somethin' more than that goin' on here. Whatever's got that pistolero all shook up, I think it's down below. Be careful with your fire, and with your device Mr. McGraw, as there will hopefully be children about. But if you have a clear shot and it seems like we're at that point, don't hesitate," he said.

Lantern in one hand, he lifted up the trap door and looked to see what the method of ingress into the basement level would be.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Kate sighed.

She hadn't done this out of some kind of duty, nor cowardice.  The fact was, if it was a Critter, her little six gun probably wasn't going to faze it much.  Weird things tended to laugh at mere mortals.

"Just you and me, loser."  Kate let her presence be known to the prisoner.  Carefully, she removed her rifle from its carrying scabbard and slowly, and deliberately chambered a round as she cocked the Winchester for theatrical effects.  When you were tied up in enemy territory, that was one of the loudest sounds you could hear.  "Or as your people say, pendejo.  Though it don't quite translate, does it, pendejo?"

Lee pulls the trapdoor open.

A flight of crude, wooden plank stairs descends for roughly fifteen feet into a shadowy, dirt floored tunnel. The now familiar vines cover the walls, a thick, tangled net of climbing stems and thorns.

As the lantern light illuminates the descent, the vines visibly contract, shrinking back from the stairwell.

”No. Not quite,” Segovia answers. ”You gonna kill me, señorita? Your friend leave you to do the job she didn’t have the stomach for?”

“Lemme guess. You’re friends of the Regulators. Right?”

In reply to Manuel Segovia (msg # 207):

Kate laughed.  "Somethin' like that, pendejo, somethin' like that.  But don't take it so personal, in another time, another place, we'd be reversed.  I'm the one on the top side this time is all.  Won't always be so.  Usually ain't."

She mused silently for a moment and asked with just a hint of sarcasm, just enough to show she was insulting his intelligence.  "Now whatever makes a fine upstanding gentleman like yourself make such an outrageous implication?"

Kate is trying to upset him into saying more than he wants to out of anger.

20:13, Today: Kansas Kate rolled 7,6 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Taunt.

Albert looked down into the cellar as the trapdoor opened, but followed Bryan's lead. Given the Ranger's hand-to-hand skill, it would be best to be out of his way when they came into contact with...whatever they found below.

"Alright, here's the marching order - Me, Coop, McGraw, Jacinta....and the Rev." The order seemed to make logical sense.

"Reverend, I trust you'll be quieter in this enterprise than you were in the last. Remember, we're here for the kids and how you act has consequences. And Jacinta, if the good Reverend has another fit and starts bangin' on things and makin' a racket, feel free to club him with the butt end of your rifle."

He'd take point, putting himself at most risk over his momentary deputies. Cooper's sidearm would be good at close range. That would give McGraw some space to determine how and when to use his solution on the vines. Jacinta would be towards the back with her rifle, giving her some space to pick targets if needed. And finally the Reverend - an extra set of hands to grab the kids, if he could prevent himself from raisin' hell.

"Time's up. Let's do this." Lantern in hand, Ranger Lee descended into the darkness below, hoping that they'd be able to rescue some children and reunite them with their families, but not truly knowing what awaited him below.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Fri 18 May 2018.

Albert nodded at the plan, then followed - pistol still in his right hand and the machete held low in his left.

McGraw also nods, though he doesn't offer any commentary. He still wasn't sure the stuff he'd mixed up was going to work like he hoped...but he could probably figure something out if it came down to it.

The five descend the steps, the rickety planks creaking ominously beneath their feet. To the left and right, the vines continue to move, their motion reminiscent of snakes slithering through undergrowth, the dry rasp of their shifting filling the quiet that dominates the cellar.

At the foot of the stairs, the group finds themselves in a wide room with dirt walls that have been reinforced with uneven, horizontal timbers. The dark weeds cover the walls and much of the earthen floor, having overtaken much that was once stored in the cellar: shelves, a long tables, and a number of stacked crates. Aside from the vines, the group sees no movement within the basement, the smoky illumination from the lanterns casting long shadows in the chamber’s corners.

On the eastern wall, to the right of the stairs, a ten foot section of the wall has collapsed, revealing a dark tunnel beyond it.

23:22, Today: Manuel Segovia rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3.  Spirit.

Segovia grits his teeth. ”Why in hell do you think? They’re the only ones foolish enough to buck Mr. Murphy and the House here in Lincoln. The only ones that think they can actually change the way things are,”

“Don’t you get it? Mr. Murphy’s influence in this valley, it goes a lot deeper than him having the biggest cattle herd in the area. Billy and his crew, they’re not the first to challenge him. But do yourself a favor. Ask around town how its turned out for the others that have tried to buck The House. What’s happened to them will happen to the Regulators. They’re not going to accomplish a damn thing.”

"Don't s'pose they put the kids in them crates." Albert sighed. Another godforsaken tunnel. As he walked he gave a slightly annoyed look at the weeds on the floor. It would be nice if they weren't there. Weedkiller McGraw might be the one to see to it that happened, though.

In reply to Manuel Segovia (msg # 214):

Kate played dumb.  "There ain't no man what can't lose everything by catching enough bullets.  What other influence does a man need other than havin' all th' cattle, figuratively or otherwise?"

In reply to Albert Cooper (msg # 215):

McGraw carefully threaded his way through the vines, and headed over to the crates to take a peek inside. He suspected they'd have to go down into the tunnel, but there might be some sort of clues he could glean. He was tempted to spray the floor to clear his path, but he wasn't keen on provoking the vines or whatever was controlling them just now.

Somewhere in the middle of the pack, Jacinta entered the room with the others, keeping quiet for the time being.  She had her rifle at the ready, but was cautious on account of them possibly encountering the children.  Her eyes darted over the room in search of anything unnatural, and she frowned upon seeing the tunnel.  She really didn't want another long jaunt underground, but it seemed as though that was in their near future.



Notice: 6

23:56, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 6,3 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Notice.

Once Tamsin has collected enough plant material, she steps out of the room. She does not follow down the stairs- she was not invited, and anyways, it's better for her to stay out of the line of fire.

"I'm going to take a look at the corpses," she says quietly to Kate.

McGraw carefully peers into a few of the crates. For several, the passage of years and ongoing neglect have reduced their contents to ruin. McGraw encounters broken jars and rusted metal containers, whatever they held long lost. However, the engineer does locate a set of digging tools in one large crate: shovels, pick axes, and other implements of excavation. In another, he finds a trio of burlap sacks containing seed: black kernels the size of pumpkin seeds. McGraw notices that the crate containing the seed has faded stenciling on its side, which indicates that it originated from England.

The vines that cover the walls and ceiling of the cellar continue to shift, their movement slow, like serpents in their den stirred from sleep. Aside from the dark colored plants, Castillo does not perceive anything else within the room. No threats lurk within the shadows or behind any of the stacked crates.

---

River ventures back to the storage room, pausing to regard the portrait of the stern looking older man hanging at the end of the hall.

Taking in the two bodies, RIver has no doubt that the young ranch hand has been strangled, the last moments of his life spent in a desperate struggle to draw breath.

The other corpse is assuredly not human, much of its form comprised of the same vines that occupy the fields outside the abandoned farmhouse, the plants that River first stumbled across behind the schoolhouse. The creature’s hands and feet end in claws that, upon close examination, River can see are thorns that have grown to a much larger size, and that have taken on a distinctive, curved shape.

The creature’s head resembles a pumpkin, dark orange in color with streaks of black crossing its leathery surface. The head appears sunken in, much like a melon that has been left to spoil. However, River can make out crude features that resemble a face: deep slits for eyes and a jagged mouth that is turned upward in a perpetual, leering grin.

Segovia shakes his head slowly. ”I don’t reckon it would hold much water with you, but the way I heard it told, it’s akin to the Apache or Comanche, having a bond with the land itself. Since Mr. Murphy came down from the Capitan Mountains years back, this valley’s belonged to him.”

“Look, I already done told you that those kids aren’t gonna come to any harm, chica. You and your friends are just plain stupid for tryin’ to interfere in this thing. Be smart. Gather your people up and get the hell out of here. Don’t line up to get yourselves killed like McSween and John Tunstall’s crew.”

Kate smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, funny thing about that... what no one ever took a chitlin from its folks... lessen' o' course those folks are Satan's own asshole, ever had them a good reason fer it."

She chuckled bitterly.  "You know why I called you a loser?"

"Huh." McGraw grunted. He set his makeshift pistol down, pulled out the mason jar that held the remnants of the clipping he'd taken, opens it, and scoops some of the seed into it. Closing the jar, he put it back in his bag and withdrew a notepad and a pencil, then made some notes about the stenciling, copying it as best he could. "I wonder if this here is the seed they used for them vines." he muttered. He looked around. Tamsin wasn't down here, so he couldn't ask her. Still, he had a hunch. "I think we oughta get these out of here," he says, addressing no one in particular. "I don't like the look o' them. I reckon we can destroy 'em, cripple their ability to plant more vines to hassle folk they don't like."