|
Toby As Johnston ushers the troopers out of her office and returns to her class, Toby huddles with his partners. He looks very tense and he tries to hide his agitation. "It's her, she's the key to this. The line about her grandma was bullshit, she's not a local. And it's not just that. The call was traced to registries in England and Australia, right? Johnston received her training in Melbourne and Oxford. Megan called from her phone, it has to be her." "We need to search her quarters, find anything that can lead us to the truth. We're close now." Toby rubs his temples emphatically. "We need..." he lights up and snaps his finger. "We need someone to speak to the class. We're here on official business and we want to allay the fears of the children. While that person talks and makes sure that Johnston is occupied, the rest of us will go up to her room, one spots and the other searches. I'm pretty sure I can snow anybody we find up there. Does that sound like a plan?" He looks around at his partners. "First I need a closer look at those books, though." "One more thing, she mentioned a bell tower... might want to check it out. If Jerrod and Hart were actually laid low by a sound then... maybe some sort of loving magic bell would do the trick. We're through the looking glass out here." Toby is going to check the hallways for traffic and if he's in the clear, he'll sneak into Johnston's office to have a look at the tomes on the shelving.
|
#
?
May 16, 2014 10:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:02 |
|
|
Connie and John take their positions speaking to the class with Hazel, and they have a long talk about the importance of being honest if you see anything. Meanwhile, Toby makes for the bathroom and takes a sharp exit in the opposite direction. He opens and closes her office door quietly, holding the entire door by it's handle up so the weight is not on the hinges as it closes, an old trick he learned. Toby first checks through her books, he notices some more 'normal ones around, but one shelf is littered with very old books, many even hand written. While not an expert on these kinds of things, given the dating on the books this could easily be the most valuable library Toby has ever set foot in. Looking at the dust on the shelves, he notices one particular volume has probably been picked up many times. The spine does not have the title, so he gently pulls it out to read the front cover Whispers in the Night of Teeth. As he pulls the book just far enough out to read the last word, a very heavy silver Medallion falls out of it. The designs on it are beautiful and intricate, depicting a nights sky with multiple planets and holes picked througout it to make stars when shown in the light. The thing is so perfectly reflective it almost moves and disappears into the floor. A letter falls out beside it. Toby hears foot steps behind the door and sees the knob turning. A slight breeze seems to come through even before the door is opened.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2014 22:01
|
|
|
bump
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2014 02:12
|
|
|
Connie John did the favor of asking the class if they had any questions, while Connie pulled Hazel aside for a few more of her own. "Ms. Johnston, before we go, are there any other teachers here, or perhaps a student counselor who might have known Megan? I just want to make sure we've covered all the bases. What you said about Mr. Jerrod was... concerning." She tried not to picture the man falling down in front of her again but it was hard. Sorry I figured John was up.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2014 11:42
|
|
|
John Whilst Toby snuck off, and Connie questioned Hazel some more, John spoke briefly to the class, trying to answer their questions about the investigation as best he could (no details, of course, but vague reassurances). As he did so, he took a good look over the students, hoping to see if any of them looked particularly uncomfortable, or if they looked like they might have something they wanted to say to the police... Body language check on the students.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2014 18:48
|
|
|
They seem confused.
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2014 03:14
|
|
|
Toby's actions coming tomorrowish
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2014 04:18
|
|
|
Sorry, my plane home got diverted due to tornado warnings. Back home now. Toby Toby knew enough to figure that most personal libraries like the one in Johnston's office served a decorative purpose more than a practical one, and that the nature of their usage would typically reveal itself in the absence of a dedicated maid - if only one or two books were pulled from a shelf, the settled dust would point you to them. He found the tome easily enough. Whatever satisfaction Toby might have received from this new discovery was quickly quelled by the knowledge that he was clearly venturing deeper into things beyond his ken, or that of any sane man for that matter. He hears the door, feels the breeze, and knowing that confrontation is inevitable, moves to retrieve the dropped items. He turns to the door and before it opens, unlatches his holster. Toby will pick up the letter and the locket. He'll make an action to pocket the letter, expending a point of willpower to do so. Larceny (unskilled) + dex + will = 4 die.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2014 06:09
|
|
|
Success! Sorry, life Toby successfully hides the letter and locket, instantly feeling something is amiss with the silver pendant. He hides them as the door opens and a young boy (11 at most) comes in the room, takes some candy from a jar on the desk, and asks "Who are you?"
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2014 03:33
|
|
|
Toby Toby smiles a warm, surprised smile. "Oh, hey there! My name's Toby, I'm a state trooper. Could you point out the boy's restroom to me, by any chance? I got directions but must have missed the door. This room's very impressive, and distracting, but there aren't a lot of good places to take a leak, you know what I mean?" Gonna do my best to convince this kid that I wandered in here by accident, 10 die.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2014 11:36
|
|
|
"They're small bathrooms sir, they're all coed. There's one over here." He pulls you to what was probably once a closet and opens the door for you.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2014 01:59
|
|
|
Toby "Coed huh? Strong word. Thanks kid." Toby goes into the stall, closes it, turns on the tap, waits about 30 seconds, flushes the toilet, washes his hands and exits. He slips past the door to the classroom and opens it as though coming from the other end of the hall. He motions to his partners, mouths "Andy Carrignan", and taps his wrist as though to indicate time is short. Then he makes for the car. Once safely inside, he reads the letter. *edit - One thing I hadn't thought of, if it's at all possible I'll make sure the coast is clear and go back into the office before doing the rest, so that I can quickly push the book back into place so as not to make it plainly obvious that it's been tampered with. Basic Chunnel fucked around with this message at 10:13 on May 31, 2014 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2014 07:17
|
|
|
Ever write a long rear end post and then forget to hit submit? Toby walks into the bathroom and opens the letter. It is beautifully made, sealed in wax, though the seal was previously broken. quote:To my dearest Wife,
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2014 05:44
|
|
|
bump
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 02:48
|
|
|
Toby Toby frowns. The letter's contents are strange, surely enough, but related to nothing directly leading the team closer to stopping whatever was happening. Had he come across it 24 hours ago he wouldn't have thought it particularly relevant, but there he was, in a coed bathroom, reading yet more vagaries about Tokacha and its cursed nature. The possibility that formed in Toby's mind, based on the letter, was that whatever mad conspiracy running amok in the town was quite venerable - here was a letter sent 85 years ago that foretold some plot 100 years in the making at least. Was Megan's death intended to further such a plot? Toby had initially assumed the campsite arrangement to be meant as a grotesque taunt or expression of baroque pathology, but actual human sacrifice now seemed just as legitimate a conclusion. The letter writer had ended his life in guilt, after all, over the consequences of things done for the land. And what of Johnston? Her line about being a local was bullshit. The letter had been kept close to her... Toby found himself entertaining the notion that Johnston herself was the recipient of the letter. She would be 100 years old at least, but Toby no longer found his thoughts inhibited by notions of impossibility. This Alexandre Montague and his wife had come to Tokacha, come upon some terrible and powerful secret, and she in his stead had worked to keep it these many decades hence. Whether or not she was still around, the work was still being done. Toby wondered how long it would take Johnston to discover that the pendant and letter had gone missing. He had a feeling that when she did, there was no way the team would make it back to civilization without thwarting whatever plans she had. But he needed more than this - if discovery was a foregone conclusion, perhaps they shouldn't stop with the pendant and the letter but take the book as well, if possible. Its importance was unknown but Toby was sure it was... magic, in some way. In any case, the Montague name was a lead, however oblique - the town records could shed light on that dark corner. Toby pockets the letter, takes a deep breathe, and exits the stall, heading toward the classroom. Toby will attempt to flag down one of his teammates and, if he can do so without drawing the headmistress out of the classroom, will ask them to spot for him while he takes "Whispers in the Night of Teeth" from the office shelf, tucks it under his arm with his folder of case notes, and walks out to the car.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 04:09
|
|
|
It is done with ease
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 04:18
|
|
|
Everyone finds their way to the vehicle. Hazel resumes her extremely creepy anatomy lesson.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 01:24
|
|
|
Toby Toby uses a classic Hardy Boys trick and lays the book on its spine, allowing it to naturally open to its most viewed page.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 01:33
|
|
|
There are multiple bookmarks throughout the book, often detailing obscure ritual and prophecy. The content is intense, the kind of thing that would make Alister Crowley blush. The focus on the bookmark that is read the most is about a ritual involving intense torture and a slow draining of blood. The purpose of the ritual seems to be to "Dim the light".
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2014 03:29
|
|
|
Bump
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 02:30
|
|
|
mugrim posted:Bump
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 05:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:02 |
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 13:08
|
|