[IC] Act One: Savannah

Samuel, waiting for the right moment as the gator swings back and forth between the three targets, waits for its attention to focus on one of the others before driving the sharpened edge of the shovel into the things face. While it doesn't kill the creature, it does wound it - you can see blood and a clear wound that might still fell the beast given time and possible infection, especially in this climate and the ill-smelling swamp. It does, however, do enough damage that the gator thinks twice about continuing this opportunistic attack, and with a thwack of its tail as it turns that almost takes out Dr Weston's legs, it slithers back into the swamp, swimming out a little way, then surfacing so that only its eyes and the tip of its snout are visible in the mire. You can see a few other eyes glinting in the torchlight, but they seem further back in the swamp, and seem unlikely to repeat the attack themselves having witnessed food that fights back effectively.

Samuel shakes his arm out, wincing slightly after the bite. "That could have gone worse. Thank you both for coming back, by the way. Now let's get this box I almost lost an arm for out of the dirt and see what we find." Samuel will use the shovel for leverage and work to finish freeing their goal from the earth's embrace.

"That damned big lizard... let's get this box out of this swamp, then I'll take a look at that bite, Sam..." he says, hastening to help the wounded man with the box.

"Let's get ourselves away from here, in case the other's decide to try their luck anyway," Lillian gestures towards the spectating alligators.

"I'm sorry Mr. Weston, I thought that you would have ran too."

With Dr Walker helping, and with Lillian keeping an eye on the gators, Samuel takes just a minute or two to unearth the object.

It's a box, wrapped in an oilskin to protect the contents, though that hasn't been entirely successful, as the box shows signs of rust forming.



The box itself has a clasp that's firmly closed, though no actual lock, and you can see wax around the opening, as if to again keep the elements out of the thing itself and preserve the contents.

It doesn't take long to scrape away the wax sealing the lid of the metal box, and with a little difficulty, the lid is raised on its squeaky hinges. Inside you find several things:



The first thing you notice is a flat, squarish jagged stone with some sort of symbol on it, a raised but worn glyph depicting a stylised lidded eye. It looks like it was brutally removed from a temple wall or statue or something similar. Secondly, there's an envelope containing a short note:



Thirdly, there is a notebook, which as you lift it out of the box, deposits a key from within the front cover. Opening the journal, you see a mixture of cryptic notes, sketches, and what can only be described as outlandish, horrific doodles of some weird creature(s) that obviously does not exist in nature - surely the work of a deranged mind.

"From D to W... That's Douglas, of course, to Walter. And this stone thing belonged to E. It could either be Echavarria, the LA cult leader, or Edgar Job, the fellow in the Sanatorium."

"Perhaps we should leave," Lillian says, "Regroup, consider things. Call at a drugstore for that bite. That oulandish letter is confusing, the notation in parenthesis. Could be E 1/2 or a C. Or something different. E for Eye?" she muses, thinking aloud.

"Oh, my apologies Sam - I was so intrigued by the contents of that box that I forgot about your bite. How rude of me... Let me take a look, I have some basic antiseptic and clean gauze in my bag. Maybe I can help a little..."

"Oh wait, it could be as you say, Doctor. Echevarria or Edgar."

"It's fine, Doc. Natural to be excited about what we found," Samuel replies casually. "Although we should probably make to leave, I feel like our welcome is about worn out. Though I'd like to fill in the hole we dug, and remove the string. Leave it as we found it."

Samuel lets the good doctor tend to his arm. "Seems we have another flight in our near future. That safe deposit box appears to be our next step."

The group assembles their gear, with Samuel filling in the hold quickly while the others keep watch for gators (which maintain their vigil, but make no further move), and as they pass Carruthers' shack, he comes out onto his porch, the dogs around his legs but making no attempt to come to you or make much noise. Saying your goodbyes to him, he simply replies with an "aye" and watches you head towards the gates and your car.

The drive back is relatively straightforward - you don't even take any wrong turns this time - and you soon find yourselves back in Savannah. It's quite late, and since you didn't really eat any of the food that Carruthers had prepared for you, you're all pretty hungry, so once again assemble by the riverfront after getting some food, and then after escorting Lillian back to her hotel, the two men return to theirs, where Dr Walker starts reading through the journal and making notes. It's hard going, not least because the writing degenerates in places and is often written in a maddening shorthand that you have no key for. It's also very "stream of consciousness," so Dr Walker finds it hard-going, even though it's fairly short.

Impending Doom Points: 5-1=4

Gabriel's mind reels after the stange dream. It takes him a long time to calm down his breathing and pulse.
The suggestion of that deranged journal must be powerful, he tries to rationalize.