Friday, 3 September 1926, Evening,  The Miskatonic Camp
"Of course, not everybody likes camping trips.
I do not myself enjoy them much, because I'm not outdoorsy, or at any rate, I'm not outdoorsy overnight-without-a-matress-wise.
There's a limit to the outdoorsiness to which some academics can be expected to submit." G.A. Cohen, Why Not Socialism?

    Theaker gets out of the Duesenberg, opens Christine's door and helps her out. He digs out some of the provisions that they bought in Blackwater Creek and puts them away. He says hello to George, Frank and Bee.

    He sits down for a few minutes and discusses what they have seen and heard in Blackwater Creek.

Bee had been quite firmly informed that she was allowed a piece of well de-mustarded sandwitch ham if she would lie quiet and when the humans had finished the rest (Bee did manage these conditions and did, definitely, enjoy some mildly washed sandwitch ham). George already has his captured flecks transferred to one of the tin cans from lunch by the time the others return. He and Frank catch the others up likewise on their findings around the neighbouring farms.

"Sounds like them all in town've got sores the like of what got Jarvey's sow," is George's opinion. "All the more reason to get that bite cleaned, Frank, a critter survivin in water like that. And I reckon you all-" he looks about at the men of the party who went to town "-got the Cartwrights' "gift" now, whether that comes with sores or what all, seein' as they're usin the poisin water up there n' it's likely Cartwright 'shine is down at the shop. Don't know that disease would survive the alcohol, but if it's some kind of mineral or rock poisin, well, that won't show up 'til yez break out, unless there's enough of 'er to show colour in some burnt liquor."

"That given, I would advise you, Mister Theaker an' Doctor Bliant, go and take these critters to the veternery feller we met first thing and see what they is and what kind a poisin they can live in. Seein as it looks to be that that's the "Mother-gift" the Cartwrights are waterin' their corn on." He gets up and takes then proffers the can of critters to Dr. Bliant, resettling on his camp stool and piled coat.

"So. What I would plan for tomorrow is to head up to the Creek source and come down the way, see if the excavation would interfere or interact with it at all, so vexin' the Cartwrights or any other types who might have taken up the cult and seen any heathen artefacts as a holy sign from Her In The Thickets."

Reminded, George takes in a breath where he sits, warming his hands on his coffe mug. "That said, Missus Theaker - did you bring out Henry's day book from the camp? Or one with the...small find numbers, for the artefacts? If he found somethin' that might get took for an omen, well, they might have off with it but they wouldn't remember about the con-text."

Frank makes a report, consulting his small notebook as he speaks: "George says there's strange stuff going on in the woods along that creek--strange growth and such with the plants in the woods and the corn on their peoperty and at the Cartwright farm. The Jarveys seemed to confirm it. I don't know enough about rural goings on to be sure, but I trust George.

"I'd be glad to have you check my foot, Doc."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:34, Tue 23 June 2020.

Dr. Bliant takes Frank into one of the tents and examines his foot by the light of an oil lamp turned up high.

"I don't find evidence of a bite or any other wound or lesion," he says when they've rejoined the group, trying not to betray any skepticism, "But I swabbed it down with alcohol and painted it with iodine as a precaution against infection.

"As for the flecks you had netted, Mr. Mogrey, I only find little fragments in this can." He shows the contents, or lack thereof, to George and to James. "It may be a good idea to go back to ask those children where they got their specimens or perhaps even try to purchase their jar so we can take them to Mr. Merritt the veterinarian, or even to the Biology Department at Miskatonic."

The empty can causes George some perplexity. "Now, I know I turned out two critters in there at the least...can't have both et'n the other..." He squints in there, takes the can and swirls it around a little in case flat things have concealed themselves against the side. "They'nt there," he concludes, baffled. "Maybe they've an adaptation for mercury like sea fish breathe salt and only salt - die in fresh water - but there ought to be bodies..."

Friday, 3 September 1926, Evening,  The Miskatonic Camp
"The most confused you will ever get is when you try to convince your heart and spirit of something your mind knows is a lie." Shannon L. Alder

    Theaker looks at the almost empty can.  "Those 'ashes' are interesting.  The 'critters' just turned to ashes.  As you suspect those seem to be the same as the ones the children were playing with.  As for getting more of the 'critters', it seems they will find us easy enough if we go into he water.  Maybe a bit of fresh ham on a string would attract them.

    I suggest we try that tomorrow.  When we get enough, we can sent them and the alcohol I bought in town to Miskatonic for examination.

    After that, I'm thinking we examine the creek upstream for a bit. I feel whatever is happening is based on or near the water.  Let's fortify our legs with some thick canvas wrappings to help prevent those 'critters' from additional dining. The Roades might have seen the same things we witnessed and tried to find the source.

    Perhaps what the Roades discovered, made them to dangerous to the bootleggers or someone else."

"I never heard of anything like that," George says bemusedly at the assumption the animals had disintegrated into the remnant particles. "An' I guess it's your health, but I would strongly advise you get those critters looked at first thing, so as to know what it is you've drunk."

He shakes his head at the notion of wading upcreek. "Water critters'll just flow up under wrappins an' you'll just come to the Cartwrights' dam besides. You're welcome to come up'n walk down from the source with me, though." He addresses Christine a touch more than Theaker at that, however, hoping that the party member with least inclination to trouser-wearing might take the most sensible approach.

Friday, 3 September 1926, Evening,  The Miskatonic Camp
"We usually learn from debates that we seldom learn from debates." Mokokoma Mokhonoana

    Theaker responds, "I would suspect that if you did not properly create the leggings and properly put them on, then yes they would probably not work.  I think we can do it properly, I want to look at the source tomorrow.

    So tomorrow, let's also try fishing for some of those 'critter'.

    We should set watches this evening, those bootleggers might try something."

Christine eats fairly silently, only answering the question. "I didn't take anything from the camp unfortunately aside from a few books, in hindsight I could have been more practical of the whole thing." She admits, and listens while George looks for his own specimens of the local water supply. Recalling herself if she has drunk any of the local water supply.

"I know it's something of an endeavour, but would it be worth taking a car and picking up water from somewhere close by? So we're supplied at the least. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's concerned about what we could be drinking here?"

When an opportune moment presents itself, Christine slips back to her own tent, gathering the research notes recovered earlier from the Rhodes' camp.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:07, Mon 29 June 2020.

"It is surely concernin, but I've a confidence in the farm pump, Missus Theaker - Brewer would have noticed if the poisin'd got down to the groundwater," George assures Christine.

"None of Brewers' hands nor kin that I've seen have got the sores, and there weren't critters in what we used this morn. No, that poisin'll be either from what the Cartwrights're puttin' in their part as holy devotions or somethin disturbed higher up - could be Henry did that."

"If indeed these creatures are unique to this place, perhaps to this time, I doubt that Dr. Merritt will know much of them. We should secure samples of the fauna and of the creek water, as well as the moonshine for testing at the University, I think.

"I will volunteer to take them back to Arkham. Perhaps, Mr. Mogrey, you could drive me down in the truck?"

"No need for George to give up his search for his cousin. I've studied his techniques enough that I figure I can handle The Beast."

"That's a long supposition, Doctor Bliant - there's plenty of crawling and sucking things I can't identify by sight, especially the rarer types. They're easy enough to catch, though, and plentiful - you can take some back, we'll take some to the vet and you can tell the university to send in police if we're not back when we should be." He manages not to smirk at the thought of Bliant doing the cranking, chok and occasional unsticking work in the mud patches that had been Frank's part on the way out.

"As for watches, why is it you've a suspicion they'd lay for us, Professor?" George asks, concerned at the need for such. "Did you bring away something of interest to them yourself or d'ye jus' reckon Stoughton has gone and got 'em up against us to save us making trouble for him?,"

[[edit: tone fix.]]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Sun 28 June 2020.

Christine returns, handing the books over. "It's all research notes, above me I'm afraid, but maybe you can get something from them?" She says. "I do hope so at any rate."

"Thank you, Missus Theaker," George says, passing what seems to be the more number-filled volume up to Theaker. "I wouldn't say I've a knowledge like your man here might have, just got to listenin to Henry - know you've got to keep a day book in case it pours with rain some days n' you miss a heap of old stuff, then it gets dry and you find it all. Record that with no note on the soil bein wicked sticky an' it looks like the folk lived in the places you dug dry and but hardly in the places you dug wet."

He pauses. "Ex-cavation bias, that's it. Likely you know better'n I about that. First I ever heard a spade could tell lies," he finishes, and turns to the last page in what he takes to be the daybook to look that over.

The sun has set some time ago (it's almost eight o'clock) and night has fallen very dark out here in the wilderness with a new moon and no sources of light except the campfire. It is much too dark to read the handwriting in either notebook or even the printed books Christine has in her tent.

George fetches his rifle and returns to his tent, turning the kerosene lantern up high enough that he can make out Henry's hand.

Frank takes the first watch with George's shotgun. He will wake James at eleven and James will turn the watch over to Thomas at three in the morning to watch until dawn.

[Does James review the log of recovered items before going to sleep?
Does Christine read any in the two books she brought back: Indian Tribes of the Northeast by Ethan Chapman (1893)— and Myths and Legends of Old Massachusetts by Oliver Stansfield (1913)?
The former is very scholarly, the latter in a more popular style.]

Friday, 3 September 1926, Evening,  The Miskatonic Camp
"Let us study things that are no more. It is necessary to understand them, if only to avoid them." Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

    Theaker inspects his M1911 Colt to make sure it is properly loaded and makes sure another clip is in one of his pockets.  He then begins to examine the log of recovered items.

George reads awhile and lies awake a bit longer, trying to recall what offhand things he'd heard about the end of the first settlement. Had it been the settlers killed off the Indians or the other way about? Enough time had passed here in the East that the word 'massacre' was used either way - blood was just part of the ground around here, as maybe it always was.

[[16:43, Today: George Mogrey rolled 7 using 1d100 with rolls of 7.  Archaeology? (22) Good sucess at knowing what Henry's on about there.]]

Outside, Bee is pleased to keep the watch company, if a bit confused that they don't also settle down to sleep.

Christine doesn't pay much heed to the books, reading them albeit briefly in the tent was enough, but as the night comes in she does sit outside, looking up at the stars, despite the situation at hand, it's easy to get lost in the expanse above her, out here the skies are so clear, a far flung cry from New York at any rate, before retiring herself and making her way back into the tent.

In reply to James Theaker, Ph.D. (msg # 18):

James finds everything as it should be in the dig ledger. There are some 77 items all told, including fragments of glass and pottery. Mostly they are consistent with a 17th century English colonial settlement, though there are a couple of dozen listed as Indian items, bone and antler and stone plus a few shells. The largest is the rim of an iron cauldron at 18" diameter. When he finishes, the combination of somewhat smeared handwriting and the kerosene light has given him a slowly throbbing headache.

By the time Frank scratches at the door of the tent, James has completed his review. Frank reports that all has been quiet and that Bee went into George's tent a short time earlier. George banked the campfire before retiring and the embers are glowing dully.

In reply to Christine Blake Theaker (msg # 20):

When Christine finds herself dozing in her camp chair, she carefully stubs out her cigarette and goes into the tent. Bidding James a fond goodnight, she crawls into her cot and sleeps.

Thomas retires to the tent he shares with Dr. Bliant. He finds the doctor snoring lightly. There is a slight odor of fermented peaches in the tent. He is tempted, but chooses to just turn in to get some sleep before his watch.

In reply to George Mogrey (msg # 19):

While George ponders fruitlessly on the archaeological implications of George's notes, he falls asleep. He doesn't even wake up when Bee comes in and curls up under his cot.

In reply to Keeper of the Dark Woods (msg # 21):

Saturday, 4 September 1926, Early Morning,  The Miskatonic Camp
"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'" Charles M. Schulz

    Theaker awakes when his watch is due to start.  He inspects the cap in a walk around and is seemingly satisfied that nothing is too far amiss.

OOC:
11:02, Today: James Theaker, Ph.D. rolled 34 using 1d100 with rolls of 34.  Resist moonshine: Pow: 65/32/13.
11:02, Today: James Theaker, Ph.D. rolled 9 using 1d100 with rolls of 9.  Stay awake: Con: 55/27/11.

The night is early-autumn cool. Although only the stars provide illumination, they impart a silvery glow so that everything--grass, branches and leaves, the Duesenberg, even the tents--is bathed in mystical radiance. And the fresh air! He wishes there was time to do more camping this season. It just makes a man feel so alive! He wishes Christine was awake.

It's almost three when he reaizes he's overstayed his watch and goes to wake Daniels. He stays up for more than a half hour more chatting with his young student.