[Serra Britt]

As I consider what to do, Gizzie and Tsukiko go and inspect the grave site. Illusion is still firing off arrows, thankfully missing hitting anything.

Action taken:
- Explore the grave a little more

[Rainbowfox Ari]

The Pumpkin Patch decides to explore the grave-site a bit more. The large old tree is not a real one - which is why it looks so healthy. Instead, the plant appears to be made of a mixture between copper and marble - roughed up and painted to look like old wood. It looks as though the 'door' on the back of the tree sculpture opens up with a key inserted into the top - a very small key. Likely, the key at the top of the tree would not fit into this small hole. What would open the thing would be a small, golden key with a simple square hole. With enough digging around, one of the Patch finds this key buried under a very pretty rock with the name 'Virgil' engraved into it. Also found are several other rocks with other names, but these have mostly been scratched out.

Of note, there also appear to be canid-type tracks through the dirt across the front of the grave, and a place where something lay down or sat. There are also drag-marks, and a single place where claws dug deep enough into the dirt to uproot some of the grass...

YOU MAY:
- Try the key in the hole
- Explore the pawprints
- Go back and try something else
- Leave the garden

[tsukiko]

i'm interested in the key, but also the pawprints....so whatever my teammates want to do is fine by me ^__^

[Illusion]

Oh, shit Virgil!? Like the Virgil who wore these clothes, Virgil?

Virgil's Hair
Virgil's Jacket
Virgil's Pants

I also have a pair of his underwear that I erh. Acquired through completely legitimate and valid scientific reasons.

[Death by Mirrors]

The smell has already been enough a reason for the Ghosts to cover half their faces with hands or sleeves, yet still they shudder at the swarm of bugs buzzing towards them and - thankfully - out of the window. For a few moments they fight an urge to vomit. Then they reluctantly look around again. It seems no living creature has been in here for quite a while, except for insects. And rats. And a huge snake in the sink. "Is that... a venomous one?" blackfoxette inspects the serpent from a careful distance. Not one of the Ghosts however is an expert on snakes, so they decide to leave it alone. For now at least.

Kaderin tilts her head at the axe. "Maybe we can use the handle to get that key?" One more glance at the snake. But then shining silver in the tub catches her eye. "What's this?" Death steps closer. "Seems like yet another key."

Well, whoever it belonged to clearly isn't needing it anymore. "Maggots only go for rotten flesh." Lee takes a deep breath and then quickly reaches right into the writhing mass, fingers clenching around the silver glint.

[Graveyard Ghosts fish out the key from the tub]

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Originally Posted by Illusion

Oh, shit Virgil!? Like the Virgil who wore these clothes, Virgil?

Virgil's Hair
Virgil's Jacket
Virgil's Pants

I also have a pair of his underwear that I erh. Acquired through completely legitimate and valid scientific reasons.

No, I'm afraid this is another Virgil.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Lee from the Ghosts finds that these are not normal maggots and worms. Small pinpricks of pain emerge as well as the silver key, clutched tightly in the hand. Blood trickles from more than three dozen little bites and nibbles - but there are no more maggots on the skin. As Lee picks up the key, the Person-That-Once-Was stirs from eternal sleep, and the skeletal hand clasps Lee's.

The skeleton opens their long-dead jaw, and the bones rattle as it sits up in the tub. Maggots and worms fall from in-between the bones, and lights come to life in the skull, twin blue flames. The jaws snap together, and a soft voice drifts through the air - a smooth male tenor whispered in the stillness as though on the edge of tears.

"Resssssst... I mussssssssst... Ressssssssst... Please... please let me ressssst..."

Old bones creak and crack as the hand lets go of Lee, but the skeleton hasn't sunk back down, and is still watching the entire team with those eerie blue eyes.

"There is more danger here than you know. Than anyone knows. Your precious one is hunted - as I once was. The fanged one knows naught of this. You must... you must let us rest... let us rest... put us to rest... Or my fate will befall all within... Ressssssssst.... Ressssssssst..."

With that, the skeleton goes still, and slumps in the tub again - the maggots and worms slither down the freed drain, into a long-since rotted away septic system, and into the ground where they belong. Once the tub is empty, it reveals two objects in the tub. A long silver dagger, and a tarnished silver chain, with what was once a rose-gold rose in the center of it. The dagger has a snake wrapped around the handle - also done in silver. The chain is very old, but remains unbroken - as does the pendant.

YOU MAY retrieve the items AND:
- Attempt to get the keyring from the snake, who is now eying that dagger
- Attempt to speak to the skeleton about what happened or what he means
- Take the axe handle and try to free the door

[Serra Britt]

Tsukiko and I both look at the paw prints, then at each other, and I nod slightly. We both go to follow the paw prints as the other Pumpkin Patch members follow.

Action taken:
- Explore the pawprints

[Rainbowfox Ari]

NOW the Pumpkin Patch seems to be on to something. These are fox-prints, and they lead further into the garden. There are drag-marks, as if the animal was digging their feet in to avoid being moved, and all of this leads toward an unassuming tower at the very end of the garden. Unfortunately, this also means that there is a hedge-maze in the way, and three different entrances. One with a golden bird above it, one where the entrance-hedges have been replaced with marble pillars, and one where the foliage seems dead, and there are leaves underfoot - but no trees overhead. The pawprints seem to lead down this entrance.

YOU MAY:
- Follow the pawprints through the dead-leaf entrance
- Go through the marble entranceway
- Go through the golden-bird entranceway
- Go back and do something else [tell me what]

[Illusion]

*Uses tracking skills and follows the prints*

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Due to the amount of time left in the event, I will be speeding things up slightly and skipping steps. If you would like to know the full story of the mansion, and still have the detective-bug, I'll be running this as a full-on story-line type game sometime shortly in the future from the very beginning. IF you would be interested in that, drop me a line so I can see what my interest level is.

[XoGizmooX]

Sounds good to me

[Serra Britt]

As Tsukiko and I eye the paw prints eagerly, Illusion takes the lead. "Let me handle the tracking part, we'll find out where these go." The rest of us follow with interest.

Action taken:
- Follow the pawprints through the dead-leaf entrance

[Illusion]

*Sniffs tracks like a dog*
*barks at everyone*
*continues to sniff and follow tracks*

[Rainbowfox Ari]

The Patch follows the pawprints down the old, abandoned part of the otherwise well-kept maze. Stark branches and dead plants mark the passage, and at one point the prints veer off sharply to the right, leading directly to the other two keys that the Patch had been looking for. Pocketing those is easy, but then the pawprints vanish as though they never existed at all, they stop - right there at a very large tree, and a very nasty-looking set of chains and spikes that wind up the branch. It's either very odd decorative art or something tore apart a meat grinder or something of its ilk, and wrapped it around the trunk of this tree. As if that wasn't enough, the pawprints seem to have lead the Patch in a full circle, winding back up at the entrance to the garden from the indoor patio - nearby the bathroom where they first encountered the puzzle.

YOU MAY:
- Use the puzzle pieces in the puzzle
- Explore the area some more

[tsukiko]

*curious to see what secrets the puzzle pieces hold, i wait for the rest of my team to decide what to do*