Jimmy looks around in amazement and wonder. The happening nearly turned his world upside down but instead he is just curious and confused..."how the hell..." He scoots one of the birds with his foot...

OOC: Fuck you insanity, I win this round!

10:06, Today: James Samhain rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).

   The bird is little more than a dry skeleton, as if it's been dead for months, if not years. It's badly damaged from the fall and begins to crumble from even the slight pressure of Jimmy's foot.

Looking around suspiciously and then back down to the dusty bird.

"Either you or the world is cracking Jimmy, get going and get this case good and done," he thinks to himself. Pulling the lapel of the coat up around his neck he pulls the ragged suit coat closed around him. Sure it was hot but it felt secure, like being held by a good dame after a long night.

Jimmy pushes the birds, the dreams and all other oddities of late from his mind. "Simple case, maniac killer...find out who it is and give the name to the sheriff, nothing new, nothing special...but damn I hate Cleveland."

   Kingsbury Run is a weed choked, garbage strewn, shanty town of tents and shacks cobbled together from whatever wood or metal can be found. At night this place would be dotted with oil drum fires surrounded by huddled, desperate men, but for now it was still too early for that.


  Jimmy asks around, gently putting out feelers for One Armed Willy among the Hooverville's destitute and poverty stricken inhabitants. At first he's not getting many answers. A black man with one arm sticks out like a sore thumb most places and plenty of people know who you're talking about, even if they don't know him personally, but nobody has seen him for some time.

   Eventually, Jimmy encounters a grizzled and heavily bearded old soak of a hobo who responds to Jimmy's query, "Lookin' for a little strange, eh? Some dark meat? Maybe something exotic?" and gives a knowing nod and a laugh.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:52, Thu 29 Sept 2016.

Jimmy plays the part...

*cough hack cough*

"Yeah...ain't nothin' wrong with that...I need something...dark meat sounds good, real good. I heard Willy is the man. You know where he is?"

OOC: Disguise

  "I've tasted some of Willy's wares myself in the past," the hobo says with a sly wink. "I've found him at..." the hobo goes on to give you directions to a number of street corners in The Third District where Willy can usually be found when he's hustling.

"Thanks friend."

Jimmy pulls up the collar of his coat and tilts his head. He can't help but feel like he belongs here. Though only gone from his home, office, Kitty...his life...for a few days it seems like a lifetime.

He heads off to find Willy based on the directions he was given.

   The sun is setting in the rough neighborhoods of The Third District. Jimmy is at his third location when he spots what could only be One Armed Willie on a street corner wearing grey slacks and a white shirt with the loose left sleeve pinned up to his shoulder where his arm should be. He's of unremarkable height but a skinny, almost gaunt build with hair that's a bit overgrown and 3 days of growth on his face. He paces back and forth on the corner looking bewildered and wild-eyed, spooking whenever someone walks past him and muttering to himself, as if speaking fearfully to somebody only he can see.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:18, Thu 29 Sept 2016.

"Hey there, you Willy? I heard you can provide?" Jimmy whispers in a gravely voice.

OOC: Can you give me some detail as to the setting. Or just a yes or no, I assume there are shanties here and there, perhaps an empty one? How many people are around us? If this talk gets a little tough I just need to know the environment.

   Willy startles at Jimmy's approach, "Huh?!?" he half shouts and jumps back. He looks at Jimmy with the wide eyes of the mentally unhinged. "Coming unstuck...coming unstuck" he mutters as his breathing quickens and he begins to look around wildly, staring at god knows what. He looks like he's ready to run.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:47, Thu 29 Sept 2016.

"God Dammit"

Why Jimmy thought this would be easy the devil knows why.

Jimmy lunges forward to attempt to grab Willie by the shirt and push him back into a shanty.

Jimmy manages to get ahold of Willie's shirt and pushes him back into an alley and against a brick wall.

"Listen here you gibbering fool..." Jimmy slaps him one to hopefully jog some sense into him. "I need some information, you give me that and off you go, no harm no foul."

OOC: Scuffle to start off with followed by some good ol' noir intimidation.


15:13, Today: James Samhain rolled 7 using 1d6+2.  Scuffle with Willie...he has one arm, it cant be hard!

  Jimmy drags Willie into the alley. Luckily this is the kind of neighborhood where people don't get involved in other people's problems or scuffles and the people on the street just look the other way and walk on by.

   The slap gets Willie's attention and he breaks down sobbing and moaning incoherently.

  "Please mister, the doctor already showed me papers says I'm gonna die in the past... I been spit up by the whirlpool but I always gettin' sucked back in... not again, not again... caught in the whirlpool." Willie blubbers.

Jimmy stands above the blubbering mess and runs his palm across his grizzled face.

"Listen here Willie. I am going to try to help you, whether you believe it or not. The Doctor...the one they call "The Hobo Doctor," where is he? Help me find him, just tell me dammit"

This all seemed so ridiculous, nothing should be this maddening but Cleveland has a cloud hovering over it...or as it seems a "whirlpool" surrounding it. Guess it all depends on who you are talking to.

If Willie needs more pushing...

"The pictures, the ones you had for insurance...where were they taken...a house? a hotel?"

  Willie shakes his head hopelessly and continues to moan, "Can't help me...I been spit up by the whirlpool just like in the story, and I'm gonna get sucked back in. The doctor, he live under the train... I didn't know he was the doctor before the first time he killed me so I shopped him Ed and Rose... caught in the whirlpool...CAUGHT IN THE WHIRLPOOL!"

 Willie lets out a long mournful wail full of so much hopelessness and grips Jimmy's arm with his one trembling hand. He locks eyes with Jimmy and stares at him pleadingly. "It's all happenin' again...The doctor gonna cut my arm off and kill me in 1929 and the one that gets away just runs and runs until he sucked back in! Coming unstuck! COMING UNSTUCK!"

"Dammit Willie...you damn fool."

Under the train...that's something...

"What about this?" Jimmy takes a look around to see who is watching and thankfully no one is or at least no one cares. He hurriedly rolls up his left sleeve and shows Willie the tattoo.

"You know this? tell me!"

  Willie locks his eyes on the tattoo. "The mark! The dog! The dog on the shoulder! He makes dogs out of them, you know?"

  Willie sinks down and begins to tremble, "It's happenin' again... I can feel it." he begins to reel and his head rolls back and forth seeming to stare at unseen horrors. Suddenly he stops and locks eyes with Jimmy and grips his arm once again. The look in his eyes is one of abject terror and the gravest seriousness as he takes a small gasp and whispers, "caught in the whirlpool," one final time.

  Jimmy feels a rush of hot liquid splash against his shirt and pants as Willie suddenly gurgles and starts inexplicably bleeding from a wound in his neck. You hear the sound of a great rushing wind and Willie's head simply tears loose and tumbles to the side where it disappears in a mist of blood and snarling noises. Your vision begins to grow dark around the edges then grey out as suddenly all of the light seems to be getting sucked away toward the Kingsbury Run. Willie's body falls backward into the shadowy darkness, his good arm flailing, and Willie too, disappears with a sucking splash sound.

OOC: 5 point stability test. Your vision then returns and Willie is gone but you are still covered in blood.

"Holy Hell!"

Jimmy falls to his seat and scoots back in shock and awe of the impossibility that just happened before him.

OOC: Please god tell me a made it?????

16:32, Today: James Samhain rolled 4 using 1d6+2.  Stability; Say good bye to sanity Jimmy.

Sitting there for a moment Jimmy shakes off what he just saw. Not that it didn't happen but that he didn't have time to deal with it now. It was like getting punched or on the rare occasion getting stabbed...step aside from the pain and soldier on.

He stood up and staggered out of the alley only looking back at where Willie had been once.

"Under the train..." Of all the insanities Willie spewed forth...maybe they weren't all that insane, "under the train" was the one tangible thread that Jimmy could pull on.

"What about the tattoo? dogs...that dream" he thought. "No, just keep going soldier, one foot in front of the other. Under the train." Taking the gun out of his holster under his coat he puts it in the right side pocket of the coat throwing the holster to the ground as he moved.

Jimmy finds someone nearby, "point me to under the train...tell me, where is it?" He didn't care he came across like a lunatic himself, here was one place where it was helping his disguise.

OOC: Here is hoping "under the train" means something so he can get directions. If/when Jimmy makes it to "under the train" he will slow down...maybe try some stealth out to see what is what.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Thu 29 Sept 2016.

  "Wh-what are you talking about?" is the confused reply that Jimmy receives. The man he accosted then looks down at Jimmy's shirt and pants in shock and horror. "Wait, is that blood?" he asks in a panic. "Are you OKAY???" he asks in alarmed concern.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Thu 29 Sept 2016.

In all the shock he failed to realize that he was soaked in blood, though he remembers it happening things are just moving all too fast...mistakes are being made.

"I'm fine..." he mumbles. "Pen exploded."

Jimmy folds the coat around him to hide as much of the mess as possible. Everything was falling a part. He had something to go on to get him close to this doctor but Willie popping like a tick under him is making it difficult to head that way...and "under the train," apparently isn't some slang hobo term for a location.

Jimmy staggers off away from the stranger. Find a taxi, get to the hotel, clean up and figure out his next move, just do it quick. He can clean up and come back out. No way in hell he is going to sleep both from fear of dreams and the adrenaline that is pumping through him. It is going to be another late night in hot Cleveland.

  "Must'a been some pen," the man says in bewilderment as Jimmy hurries away.

  Luckily for Jimmy the sun has disappeared below the horizon and the last of it's light is fading from the humid Cleveland sky. By using the darkness and carefully timing his movements through the street lights he is able to avoid drawing too much attention to himself and his bloody clothing, though he still gets a few startled looks and people jumping aside at the last minute when he is forced to pass them close by.

   It is one of these moments, while passing a short, wiry, haggard looking hobo on a bridge over the Cuyahoga that the two men bump shoulders. The hobo turns and looks at Jimmy with wild and angry eyes that look like they haven't slept in days. He has a reddish beard, a beaky nose and rotten teeth. He is barefoot and wearing leather trousers and a hobo coat that is several sizes too big.
   "Πρόσεχε! Τα σύκα είναι κακό! Το σκάφος μου είναι καταδικασμένη! Ποτέ δεν θα με πάρει στη ζωή τέρας!" he shouts wildly before pulling what Jimmy recognizes (from his earlier research into the bas-relief) as a Mycenaean broadsword and dagger out from beneath his coat. He waves them threateningly at the stunned Jimmy then shoves them back beneath his clothes and hurries off in a panic, disappearing through a sudden press of people crossing the bridge.

   A few blocks later Jimmy is finally able to hail a cab. The hobo disguise certainly had not been helping in this endeavor. The cabby seems to be able to tell that something is wrong but he asks no probing questions.  After an awkwardly silent cab ride, Jimmy finds himself back at the hotel.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:48, Fri 30 Sept 2016.

Mumbling about the crazed blade wielding maniac Jimmy stripped down and jumped in a hot shower...hottest shower he can remember taking. He kept his eyes closed for most of the duration not wanting to see the blood rinse off of him and pool at the bottom of the tub till it went down the drain. Only issue is, when he closes his eyes all he can see is horror.

Out of the shower and a towel wrapped around him he picks up the phone. It takes a few moments but he finally dials Kitty's home number. When she picked up Jimmy said nothing at first but finally spoke. He asked basic questions about the office and how Bill and the kid were doing. Kitty saw right through him and after answering his simple questions with simple answers she followed up with what he needed.

"Just do your job Jimmy, do your job the best that you can because you are the best. Do you job and come home," she said to him in her soft albeit sleepy voice.

They spoke for a moment longer but that was enough, Kitty had been his cheerleader for a few years now and it always meant everything to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still not dressed he sat on the bed looking over the documents and photos he had collected on this journey, the radio played softly in the background. "Under the train..." He repeated it over and over while looking at the map. There are several bridges where the train passes over the river to just wander around, he needs a destination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plan was to not sleep, to go back out...but when the eyes are heavier than your will to stay awake, there is no use.

Jimmy drifts off to sleep amongst the documents of horror.



OOC: in the morning if able Jimmy will get dressed, grab breakfast and head over to see the sheriff.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:07, Sat 01 Oct 2016.

  That night Jimmy has a vivid dream in which he relives a traumatic experience from his childhood but with Jimmy's current mind in control and totally aware of the awful things to come. It's all just so real, down to the tiniest detail, and try as he might, he is unable to stop things from playing out exactly as he remembers them. Jimmy wakes feeling tired, like he almost hasn't slept at all.

  OOC: Roleplay opportunity. For this one they suggest that you tell me what the dream is. It's supposed to be the worst thing that ever happened to you as a kid involving either drowning or dogs. Then make a 2 point stability test you nutjob.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:29, Sun 02 Oct 2016.

Not sure what time it was Jimmy awoke sweating. Another dream, this one simple compared to the rest but so real it didnt matter. Jimmy was young, perhaps seven. He ran from a dog and climbed a tree for safety. It didn't matter. The dog seemed to grow with each bark and snap of its jaw until it could reach him at the highest branch. Grabbing young Jimmy from the pant leg it pulled him down and dragged him across the grass. He clawed at the ground and could feel the dirt pile beneath his fingernails but the attempt was futile,. The dog started with the calves, biting and chewing down to the bone.

That was all Jimmy could remember by the time he woke up but the fear was real, Another sleepless night.

OOC: PS. Except for the actual biting and the dog growing this happened to me when I was younger, it sucked.


21:13, Today: James Samhain rolled 3 using 1d6.  Stability; more dreams.