Sunday, July 1, 2007

The Journal of Cassandra Kane: Her Adventures in the Wild Wild West

Dime Novel: The Lost Cave

Real World Date: July 2007

Game World Date: July 1878

Episode Five

July 1, 1878

Aieslyn, Marguerite, and Reggie researched with Mr. Thomas about the chalice and about Henry Johnson’s journal in the Library in Progress. James tells us about mundane items or power. He knows about 40 of them. So he’s not too upset about us taking the chalice – which supposedly can bring some one back to life, or heal wounds, or get rid of scars. But if someone drinks from it they fall asleep.Mr. Parker & Captain Miller (who we haven’t seen since we last saw Mr. Conkling) show up in Progress.I tell Mr. Thomas we’re leaving and tell him that he send us a telegram in Freedom if he wants to talk to us. He says that we can contact him in Progress.Capt. Miller has a mission for us from Mr. Conkling about Reverend Grimme. He wants us to stop one of Grimme’s operations. He is trying to locate some items.Capt. Miller takes the Lt, Corman, and some of the Lt’s men with him on ahead to scout. The rest of us along with some of the Lt’s men take a different path.The middle of the night Zombie Henry Johnson shows up looking for the chalice aiming right towards Aieslyn. I guess he can tell that she’s the one holding it. After we shoot him all up she gave it to me to hold. Figure it’s not that good to get our healer getting attacked.

July 2, 1878

Nothin’ much happens.

July 3, 1878

We hear gunshots in the distance. Found a bunch of Injuns chasing after Mr. James & Mr. Gates. Mr. Gates gets hurt real bad but Aieslyn was able to fix him. We save them from the Injuns. Mr. Thomas said they were checking out a potential dig site which was on Injun land. Mr. Parker says they can come along with us. Though it does look Mr. Parker is kinda sweet on Aieslyn.

July 4, 1878

Scouts see a group of Confederate soldiers muckin’ about. We avoid them.

July 5, 1878

Attacked in the middle of the night by a bunch of stuff. Cultist, Anubis demons (those guys we came across in the mountains a few months back). There were a whole bunch of them. I don’t know how they found or followed or snuck up on us. But it was a crazy amount of them. If it wasn’t for Reggie and his dynamite and his lucky I’m certain we would have had a lot more deaths on our hands. As it was I got swiped twice by one of those demons and it hurt! I managed to use my Hex to blow a hole right through him. I had to take on the last one not blown up by the dynamite too. I was damn lucky with my second Hex too.After the carnage and the healing we looked around and found the body of James. It was so sad. He was one of Mr. Fairfax’s men. He was dead and in chains and it looked like he’d be dragged along by the cultists. I’d forgot that the last letter I had gotten from Mr. Fairfax was him telling me that he was looking for those cultists. I hope the rest of them are okay. We buried his body and took a cross of it to give to Mr. Fairfax.He must have been a prisoner.

July 6, 1878

We find a cave entrance. This might be what we’re looking for. We find a room inside the cave, door, furniture, all done up. Dusty and dirty like anyone hasn’t’ been there for along time. There’s a big ritual circle on the floor in the middle of the room.

HUNCH: I see my Hoyle book.The room that started it all.And old man – his face is blurry. He’s working on a ritual, but he’s writing the runes in the air and they are staying there.I can see around his room, I see the chalice, I also see a bunch of things that are on the list Mr. Thomas gave us of mundane items, the musket, pencil, some books.Then he’s working on the ritual. And the place shakes. It looks like the room rips apart, then there’s a bright white light.I see my book, a skeleton key, and the door.

After playing around and trying different things I figure that holding my book while opening the door (once everyone’s on the outside of it) opens up into a nicer cleaner version of the room. The fireplace is burning and everything looks clean. We find a coat in the closet (that wasn’t there when the room looked dirty). The Lt’s men were looking for us because once we leave the room he said he could see into the room and it was dirty and empty. We also figured out everything in the room is an item (not the furniture) and that it can be stored in the clean room. But we collect it all for Mr. Parker to take. I’m thinking it was this guy’s ritual that started all the magical stuff going in the world.

July 11, 1878

We make it back to Progress. Mr. Thomas & Gates say their farewells. I send a telegram to Mr. Fairfax, and we charter a boat home.

July 15, 1878

Lincoln

July 16, 1878

Freedom – Mr. Parker lets Aieslyn hang on to the occult books from the room only for some time. He said he’ll wait and send them back in the second batch. It looks like Mr. Parker wants to ask me about handing over my book. But he doesn’t.He can’t have it anyway. It was gift from Mr. Fairfax.