Episode 06

# 01.06: Be Careful If You Want To Go Hiking

Cynthia gossiped, Frank had a conversation in the bar, Milo got lost in the woods, and Tom's research hit a wall.

## Characters

The PCs:

* Cynthia
* Frank Smith
* Milo McCrery
* Tom di Pasqua

NPCs:

* Afya Niazi
* Nicky
* Magnolia Hight
* Death 26
* Wayne Buker
* Madoc Jones
* Beth Lawrence
* Ella-Rose Carpenter
* Rochelle Hight
* Nancy Neese
* Shawn Durkee

## Summary

##### **10/06/2014: Monday**

Frank woke up too early in the morning, with his hand on his front doorknob and the train whistle ringing in his ears.

Cynthia went for a walk around town, including visiting the cemetery.

Tom went to the records at the town hall, but had to contend with the secretary and didn't make any progress.

Milo set out to visit Surveyor Ledge, after learning that's the cliff Afya was referring to. It's a bit of a hike to the overlook, one that was made slightly more difficult by the night's encroaching clouds, but Milo made decent time. The cliff itself had two memorials to fallen hikers, though was otherwise unremarkable. On the way down, Milo kept hearing an odd shuffling, dragging noise following him, and eventually took off, only to find himself lost in the woods just as a storm broke.

##### **10/07/2014: Tuesday**

After not receiving a response from Milo the next morning, Frank went to look for him. While in the woods, he ran into Nicky, who was out hiking and volunteered to help find Milo--which he succeeded at, and brought Milo back safe. Frank took Milo back to the ice cream shop, giving him breakfast and some time to warm up. After sending Milo home, Frank tried again to find any answers about the train online, with no success.

On his way to work, Tom noticed the shadowy figure just on the edge of his yard, no longer in the woods. He texted Milo about it, but the paranormal investigator was recovering from his night spent in the woods and called for a rain check.

Cynthia had Magnolia over for afternoon tea, and the two caught up.

Frank spent the evening at the bar, where he had an interesting conversation with a person Cynthia would have recognized from the Carpenters' driveway. He also chatted with Wayne, and heard some of the local gossip.

##### **10/08/2014: Wednesday**

Frank started work on converting the ice cream shop into a cafe for the winter season.

Cynthia had a fairly busy day, starting with a visit to the cemetery. No one was around, and she caught a glimpse of an intriguing letter on Bruns's desk. She also called Ella-Rose, who was still doing as well as she has been, as well as Milo. He hadn't seen or heard any developments about the person Cynthia told him to keep an eye out for. Cynthia rounded off her day by visiting the Hight farm store, which had no interesting gossip or developments.

Tom texted Milo, and heard about his adventure to the cliff in vague detail.

Milo went to the grocery store to replenish his hoard of snack food.

Frank finally made it to poker night, where he noticed Madoc Jones's winning streak.

##### **10/09/2014: Thursday**

Tom did some research into train schedules, but didn't find anything conclusive about the train Frank has been hearing.

Cynthia stopped by the diner for a cup of coffee, and gossiped with the waitress.

In the evening, Tom invited Shawn to get a few drinks, where they ran into Frank. The three spend a nice evening at the bar, and Frank made an effort to include Tom in the conversation he and Shawn could have very easily carried by themselves.

The next morning, earlier than was reasonable, Frank woke up in his parking lot--though it was the rain, not the train whistle, that woke him.

## Notes

Nicky:

* Has spent a lot of time in the woods, knows them well
* Would rather stay away from the forestry service; he's had a few close calls by wandering into places better left alone
* Has a friend (who would rather stay out of things) who's seen a ghost during the day

Cynthia's tea with Maggie Hight:

* A well-dressed person talking to Bruns doesn't ring any bells, but she can keep an eye out
* Has Cynthia considered just asking Bruns?
* Ella-Rose was at knitting club the past weekend, doing the same as always

Frank's chat with 26:

* They've heard something about a Frank--which is a fairly common name, so, could be nothing
* They're here on business, and haven't managed to get a great sense of the town yet
* Looking for a coworker who fell off the grid in this area about a year ago, but they've run out of leads
* Not someone they knew, but they have an ID number

Gossip at the bar:

* The storm that rolled in yesterday isn't going to be leaving for a while

Gossip at the diner:

* 26 has been by for tea a few times, but hasn't chatted
* The person Bruns has been talking with has been in town for just about a year, and stops by for coffee early every morning, but doesn't talk
* Nancy doesn't know much about the kids in town, so doesn't recognize the description Cynthia gave of the kid she saw in the graveyard, but she can keep an eye out

← Episode 05 | Episode 07 →