Episode 21

# 02.21: Merry Christmas!

Cynthia led some breaking and entering, Frank followed a few loose ends, Milo saw some footprints, and Tom's sister visited.

## Characters

The PCs:

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

NPCs:

* Madoc Jones
* Christmas Shreely
* Lorna Crawford
* Nova di Pasqua
* Rochelle Hight
* Jo Brennan
* Morgan Towler et. al.
* Wayne Buker
* Marshall Evins
* Afya Niazi (& co.)

## Summary

##### **12/25/2014: Thursday**

The snow had finally arrived in force, resulting in a white Christmas. Tom, Cynthia, and Frank all attended the church service, along with a large chunk of the rest of Granton.

Cynthia and Tom had a fairly awkward Christmas dinner. Frank hosted a Christmas party, at which Milo and Jones were the two main attendees, so it was closer to Christmas poker night.

##### **12/26/2014: Friday**

Frank had some deliveries to make: he brought food to Christmas and Nicky. Christmas was around and fairly confused, if grateful; Nicky was nowhere to be found so Frank left the food at his campsite with a note.

Cynthia visited Lorna, to deliver seasons’ greetings.

Tom called Nova, citing the weather in an attempt to warn her off from visiting Granton. Nova, already on the way, wasn’t inclined to listen, and arrived in the afternoon.

That night, Tom was woken up by a scream from the other room. He checked on Nova, who was shaken, and assumed she had a nightmare, apologizing for waking him. Tom checked out the window, where the seal against the cold had a hole in it. There were no footprints in the snow.

##### **12/27/2014: Saturday**

The next morning, Nova brushed off what happened last night as a nightmare, insisting it was fine when Tom asked.

Cynthia called Milo, asking if he knew anyone who would be able to look into a ghost problem she was having. Milo didn’t have any ideas, as Eero wouldn’t appreciate the visit. He asked about disappearances in the Gore, which Cynthia didn’t have any insight into. Cynthia told Milo Frank had died in the Gore, which prompted Milo to call Frank to confirm her story. Frank also informed Milo Cynthia had killed 26 in the process.

Frank went to buy a few groceries at the Hight store, and chatted with Rochelle while he was there. He learned the weather has scared the coyotes off, as well as a bit about the Hight’s statue.

Cynthia had her car towed back to her house, after it got abandoned in the Gore.

Nova headed out in the afternoon.

In the evening, Jo Brennan paid Cynthia a visit. He pointed out it’s odd she hasn’t been looking into the weather, since it’s endangering townsfolk. With this prompting, after some consideration, Cynthia agreed to make a deal with Brennan: a question for a question. Cynthia learned the unusual weather is caused by a territory dispute, so the best way to solve it would be to take care of one or both of the parties involved. Brennan asked if Cynthia remembered how they met, but Cynthia was unable to provide specifics. On the way out, he advised her to ask him about occurrences in the future, before she gets in too deep.

##### **12/28/2014: Sunday**

Frank visited the graveyard, and had a conversation with the entity that lives there. Morgan told him things have been quiet, but there has been an odd guy wandering around with a stick, talking to himself.

Cynthia visited the diner, to ask about the weather. No one there had any particular insights.

Tom went to the B&B in search of Madoc Jones, and tried to demand answers from him. Jones wasn’t inclined to offer anything, telling Tom his best move would be to stay out of it. However, Jones did let slip the previous Death had been number 114, and that he had a waterlogged 26 in his bathtub he was planning on wringing out.

When Tom got home, he called Frank, and let him know about his visit to Jones. Frank was impressed Jones didn’t just kill Tom—though Tom admits it was a close call.

Milo went on a hike in the Gore, and found a trail through the clearing he’s visited before. The trail of footsteps stopped abruptly, and it had gotten late at that point, so Milo headed back. He also learned WH had uploaded a new video, of a similar appearance in the Gore, which he conveys to Tom. When Milo got to his car, he noticed someone had left him a note that the road was closed, so he can’t park where he did.

Frank called Madoc Jones, who isn’t concerned about having 26 around—it’s likely they haven’t had the time to go feral the way the other one did. Frank also checked in with Milo, who did in fact go on a walk in the Gore.

In the evening, Frank went to the bar to check in on occurrences around town. He had to talk Wayne out of getting the cops involved in Jones and 26’s missing person case.

Cynthia was woken up in the middle of the night by her bathroom sink, which was running dirty water. There was a message scrawled on her wall: GET THE BOOK, and the wet pages of every book on her bookshelf bore the message DESTROY THE BOOK.

##### **12/29/2014: Monday**

Tom went to Christmas’s house, to see if they were home. When he didn’t get any response, he tried the door, which was unlocked, and went looking around. On his way out after finding nothing, Cynthia pulled up. She convinced Tom to help with her search for Christmas’s book—he’s interested in information, isn’t he?—and the two conducted a more thorough investigation of Christmas’s house, starting with the one locked door.

This locked door led into the basement, which was damp and covered in wet paper. Tom had some luck looking around, and found a locked drawer, that Cynthia promptly broke open.

They had just long enough to find the contents of the drawer before another car pulled into the driveway above them. At this, Cynthia teleported them both to Tom’s house. They had a brief conversation, Cynthia convincing Tom everything was fine, before Cynthia left for her own house.

Meanwhile, Frank’s employees had commandeered his shop to hang out in. Their board games were interrupted by Marshall’s arrival. Frank barely managed to drag him into his office before Marshall told Frank he’d seen Cynthia driving back out towards the mills. Frank called Cynthia, who had just returned to her house. He wanted to know what she had been doing, and she only mentioned she had been to visit Christmas.

Unsatisfied with this answer, Frank decided to pay Cynthia a visit. He was interrupted on his way out by Afya and the rest of his employees, who had been listening and wanted to know what he meant about someone being thrown in Mill Stream.

## Notes

Hight statue:

* Rochelle wants to get rid of it, but the kids are attached
* Depicts the farm’s founder

Frank at the bar (Sunday):

* Abbot, the Hight’s farmhand, got pretty roughed up by the coyotes—he’s doing better now, but it did happen
* Jones and 26 were in recently, acting strange (or something? Wayne thought it was odd)

Christmas's basement:

* Walls papered in newspapers and magazine clippings, all of which are very damp
* A small bed against one wall, with a bedside table; also a very tattered armchair (all also covered in paper)
* On the wall by the bed, several faces pieced together from magazines
* In the bedside table: two keys, and a note reading "the spot where he plays"

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