The Ghost Whisperer, Part 2

Another session of Victoriana. According to Dan, we missed a lot when we "finished" the mission, so this is a continuation.April 29th, 1880

A servant delivers a letter.

Dear William Hume,

It is unfortunate that I can not deliver my message to you in person but to be truthful such a course is far to dangerous for me. You have garnered the attention of a foe far to dangerous for me to face. If fortune was better I would have more information to give you but that is simply not the situation. A monster stalks you and your compatriots; whether it be demon, monster, or fey I do not know. The creature is bound to the will of another though I fear to speculate onto whom lest such words lead back to me. You will need to find this creature and strike it and its master down before they come for you. I will continue to search for clues. For the little its worth you will be in my prayers.

Sincerely,
A friend

I'm a little concerned by this message, so I send a message to Father Amorth asking if he has any ability to ward against an otherworldly attacker. He replies saying he cannot, as that is not within his sphere of interest, but if I am attacked, make sure to preserve the body, especially the blood.

Sidney is up to no good. She is looking to do some thieving, and she's looking to procure some throwing knives to replace ones she has lost.

She's lurking around a particularly promising shop when she spots a large figure. Sufficiently spooked, she decides to come back another time.

As she's leaving the area, someone grabs her on the shoulder. It's not the same person, just a constable. She shrugs him off and bolts.

Edwin Ingram hears noises, and his dog is barking. He sees a raven figure, and gets up, and heads downstairs.

As he steps on stair, he slips on it. The stairs have been completely covered in ice. He gets up, and limps the rest of the way down.

The shop looks deserted. Edwin senses into the supernatural world, and only sense an inky black.

His dog barks again, at the ceiling this time. Edwin looks up, and the ceiling looks like it's dripping blackness. Edwin yells at the spirit to leave him be, and tendrils descend down upon him, grabbing him and his dog.

Edwin dangles from the ceiling, and the blackness grasping him congeals and takes form. Edwin's dog breaks free, and lunges at the tendrils, but gets knocked aside.

The tendrils attempt to peck Edwin's eye out, and Edwin struggles wildly, trying to break free and protect his eyes. One of the tendrils manages to stab one of his eyes, and Edwin's dog attacks again, getting a bite in.

Suddenly, there's a blinding light, and a figure near the shop entrance. The inky blackness melts away.

Sidney makes another attempt to steal herself some new throwing knives.

She's more lucky this time, and nets herself two engraves throwing knives.

It's morning. Edwin Ingram has lit up his shop, and is relieved that the night has finally passed.

He writes out two messages about his night, for me and Father Amorth, and leaves a token in Sidney's dead drop to meet up.

Edwin looks over his shop, and nothing seems to be out of place, but he does notice a strange odor come from the door, and some dried oily looking droplets on the door.

I receive an invitation for dinner at the Etholl estate, and to bring up to three additional guests. I send a reply saying I will attend, but imply I will only be bringing two others.

I also receive another note in the same writing as the previous warning. It only says "Seamus O'Reilly".

Eventually I get around to visiting Edwin Ingram. Sidney and Father Amorth are already there. It seems his attacker is Celtic in nature, possibly fey.

During my research into Vinotonus and other Celtic gods, I did discover that crows have a significance with a particular goddess of war called Badb.

Father Amorth wants to do a séance for Seamus O'Reilly. It will at least let us determine if the person is living or dead at a minimum, and if dead, provide a great deal of useful information.

We go to Father Amorth's unfashionable flat to do it. Father Amorth starts it, and the room darkens. Not an inky black, but just dark.

A spirit appears, of a well muscled man in a suit. He asks who summoned him, and Father Amorth answers, saying he needs answers, asking how he died.

Seamus says that a textile cart ran into him, but it was a suspicious. He was an inspector for the metro police service, and investigating Jordan Etholl on suspicion of counterfeiting and smuggling. He had a lot of evidence, most of it at his lover's house, a Roseanne Ross.

We also find out that he was killed over a year ago, and that strangely, he knows that the Etholl estate was built in the 1640s...

Sidney hangs out around the estate before the other three of us arrive by carriage.

Edwin Ingram knocks on the door knocker, and the door creaks open, as if it's been left slightly ajar.

There's a dim light from the end of the hallway, and I yell if anyone is home. Jordan Etholl responds, saying to come on in.

We step into the house, and head down the hallway. The artwork has changed since the party, and is primarily forest based, or occult, or even bordering on satanic.

At the end of the hallway is a small dining hall, and the first course is already set out for four people. Jordan Etholl is sitting at the end of the table. As we enter, he stands and greets us, sounding even creepier than usual.

I'm curious why he has invites us over, and I ask why and he says we have such a reputation. Father Amorth says a quick prayer, and Edwin asks for some water.

Outside, Sidney is investigating the exterior of the house. Each door she checks makes a weird clicking noise, as if being locked or unlocked. She checks the upper level as well, but none of the windows are penetrable, and the upper door is clicking as well. She opens the door, finds that inside is an inky black darkness. Outside of the house the inky blackness if flowing as well. The stars disappears.

Sidney slides down the side of the house, to the ground, where the inky blackness also lives.

She puts her bowl, the one Adeen had once given her, on her head. Perhaps it'll protect her.

We move on to the second course.

Jordan is making conversation about old Celtic gods, but really does not want to talk about any specific god. He only seems interested in finding out what we know.

He talks to Edwin and Father Amorth next, trying to pick apart their relationship with me. He seems particularly interested in buying Edwin's store from underneath him.

Next, Jordan Etholl brings out a cake. Not a servant has been seen. Who cooked this cake? Why doesn't he have servants bringing it out? How puzzling.

Shortly after the cake is brought out, the candles go out. Jordan can be heard apologizing, saying he'll relight them, and then shuffling can be heard.

Edwin lights a match and asks if he wants help, and Jordan says that there's no need, as we'll need those matches later.

Sidney comes around the house to where the carriage is still waiting.

The carriage driver is completely unwilling to talk to Sidney, despite her repeated requests for a match. She gives up and steels the carriage lantern.

There's an inky blackness around us all. Edwin suggests leaving, and Jordan retorts that it'd be our funeral. Father Amorth proclaims scripture at him.

Sidney arrives from the hallway. It does little to dispel the inky blackness.

Jordan is about ready to eat his cake, but Edwin shoots at him. He misses and hits Sidney in the arm instead.

Distracted and confused by Edwin shooting Sidney, Jordan mumbles and then says he'll get some brandy. He leaves the room, and the door shuts on its own behind him, along with all the other doors.

Edwin heals Sidney. Father Amorth disintegrates the main door, and steps through into the darkness.

Edwin lights a candle and follows into the darkness.

Sidney and I discuss our options, and I suggest that staying would be bad. Sidney doesn't seem to agree, until suddenly she puts her precious bowl on her lantern and steps into the darkness as well. I sigh, take a candle, and step through.

The light from the candle is visible, but it fails to illuminate. With my gun extended forward I step cautiously into the darkness.

I can't see it, but I hear Edwin's yelling as tendrils extend from the wall grappling him. Sidney into Edwin and tries to help him off.

I reach Sidney and Edwin, but because I can't see what is going on I can do little to help. Apparently Edwin is freed, and we continue forward.

We exit the building, and outside we can see a tall figure in the dark, with the head of a crow.

Father Amorth steps forward, and touches it, burning a hole in the darkness surrounding it. Sidney slashes at it, and the figure explodes into thousands of tentacles.

We shoot and slash at it, and after a dozen seconds, it congeals and turns into a crow. Black ice shoots from it at us, and after hitting it a few more times, it explodes into many crows and flies away.

Turning, we can see a man behind us. It's Jordan, eating a piece of cake.

We get the hell out of there.

The newspaper the next day says that the Etholl Estate had a shooting and then burned down. Jordan Etholl is missing.

Back at Edwin's shop, Freddie has an eyepatch and a bandage on his armor, claiming a demonologist did it.