Part 24: Day Two- Page 24
PlaceholderPigeon posted:
The keyhole in the attic looked blocked but we didn't have a functional key for it, yeah.
The locked door under the bridge comes to mind too
Well, we're here for now. Let's see if this iron key opens the attic.
>up
Pantry
>se
Kitchen
>turn off flashlight
You switch the flashlight off.
>e
Back Hall
>s
Foyer
>u
Upstairs Landing
>e
Upstairs Hall
>u
The ancient rungs creak alarmingly as you ascend.
Attic
It's much cooler up here than in the rest of the house, and you find it hard to suppress a shiver. Grotesque, looming shadows crawl across the low, slanted ceiling, and the dust hangs thick and motionless in the air. To the west the ceiling dips even lower until the space beneath leaves hardly room enough to crawl, while to the north stands a wooden door, draped in shadows and half-hidden by the slanting eaves.
Huh. Don't know why it keeps giving me the full room description every time I enter the attic.
Maybe some weirdness in the programming.
>unlock door
(first taking the keyring)
You go through all the keys on your keyring, trying each one in turn, but none of the keys seem to fit.
>unlock door with iron key
That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Damn.
>d
Upstairs Hall
>n
Library
A beautiful pair of mahogany sliding doors stand closed to the east.
Shhh... Hear that?
>listen
You can hear Michael in the next room, typing away.
It's the sound of genius happening.
Seyser Koze posted:
Play the flute. Maybe we can become the servitor of Azathoth or something.
Seems like a good idea.
As I said, Miranda isn't musical, but she can try.
>play flute
(the strange metal flute)
You blow an open chord into the little flute, and it resonates with an eerie, metallic warble. The sound lingers in the air for a moment, then gently fades away.
Maybe there's something special about the holes in the flute.
Noun search!
>look at holes
Which do you mean, the first flute hole, the second flute hole, the third flute hole, the fourth flute hole, the fifth flute hole, the sixth flute hole or the seventh flute hole?
Okay. The game seems to keep track of all seven holes separately.
>first
It's a small round hole; you cover it with your finger in order to change the flute's pitch.
So, if Miranda covers a specific hole and plays...
>cover first hole
You place your finger over the first flute hole.
>play flute
(the strange metal flute)
The flute emits an eerie, almost sub-sonic note. The sound lingers in the air for a moment, then gently fades away.
We get a separate sound from the flute.
>cover all holes
You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
>cover second hole
You place your finger over the second flute hole.
>play flute
(the strange metal flute)
The flute emits an odd mixture of metallic, warbling notes which intertwine and harmonize eerily with each other. The sound lingers in the air for a moment, then gently fades away.
You can hear Michael in the next room, typing away.
I see no portals opening up releasing the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, so I'mma consider this a success.
Seyser Koze posted:
Then let's start with the backyard and work our way out into the city from there.
To the back yard.
>put flute in coat
(the strange metal flute in the trenchcoat)
You slip the strange metal flute into the pocket of your trenchcoat.
But first...
>take puzzle box
Taken.
>throw puzzle box south
I only understood you as far as wanting to throw the puzzle box.
>throw puzzle box at door
Bad idea; you're not a particularly good shot.
>put puzzle box in coat
You slip the puzzle box into the pocket of your trenchcoat.
Gonna have to try other forms of violence to get this box open.
>s
Upstairs Hall
>w
Upstairs Landing
>d
Foyer
A cold, noiseless draft coils through the narrow entrance hall. You shiver, wondering where it came from.
>n
Back Hall
>w
Kitchen
>look at door
It's just an ordinary-looking back door.
>open door
You open the back door.
>n
Path Behind the House
A gravel path starts here at the back door of the house, and marks a trail nearly overgrown by weeds and briars. It disappears into the undergrowth to the northwest, framed by crooked trees with overhanging branches that seem to form a stunted, jagged archway into the dim recesses of the forest.
>close door
You close the back door.
>look at trees
The woods are ancient, thick with undergrowth and full of shadows. Branches creak, leaves rustle beneath unseen, half-imagined footsteps, and strange birdcalls echo through the trees.
>look at trail
You needn't worry about that.
It doesn't look like some place Miranda would let her kids play in. Assuming Miranda wants children, which she does.
Personal preference aside, Kids will find any place to play. Abandoned lots with dirty mattresses, back allies around courthouse corners. Even graveyards, tho oddly we haven't com across any.
>nw
Stooping to avoid the sharp, bare twigs that snag your clothes and seem to reach greedily for your eyes, you pick your way through the undergrowth to a small clearing.
Family Plot
Old, moss-slimed tombstones, many broken off and leaning crazily like an old man's teeth, poke up from the soft, mulchy earth. In their midst stands an ancient marble crypt, its heavy iron door nearly obscured by thick draperies of ivy. The trees press close around this quiet enclave of death, leaning together over your head as if sharing secrets. A gap in the undergrowth to the southeast reveals a narrow gravel path.
Never mind.
>look at tombstones
Years of neglect have left the tombstones in bad repair -- the ones not broken are eroded to near-illegibility, and those not eroded are covered with thick, sticky moss. From what you can make out, though, most of them are servants' graves. Family members were most likely buried in the larger structure in the middle of the clearing.
>look at crypt
Grimly carved letters over the door spell out a single name: "VERLAC".
>look at moss
You needn't worry about that.
>look at door
Grimly carved letters over the door spell out a single name: "VERLAC".
>look at ivy
The lush, greenish-black ivy seems to thrive with an unwholesome vitality, as though its roots were drawing some gruesome nourishment from beneath the soil.
Talk about creepy. My own family has its own section of graves in texas, but we don't keep them behind our house!
>open crypt door
It seems to be locked.
>unlock door
You go through all the keys on your keyring, trying each one in turn, and after several false attempts you discover that the old-fashioned iron key fits the lock.
You unlock the iron door.
Mystery of the iron key solved.
>open door
You open the iron door.
[Lovecraft Joke] Alright, Miranda is going to put one telephone receiver on this end of the crypt, then talk to you guys from the other end from inside and tell you what she sees.[/Lovecraft joke]
>north
The faint echo of dripping water and a musty smell of decay grow stronger as you descend.
Darkness
>turn on flashlight
The flashlight emits a warm yellow beam.
In the Crypt
The air is clammy and frigid, the stone walls damp and streaked with mud and lichen. Pale, swollen roots push through cracks in the masonry. The smell of damp corruption is almost overpowering here, though the stairs to the south lead toward fresher air.
The walls of this chamber contain dozens of wide, shallow niches; in each niche, a coffin.
>look at coffin
Rank upon rank of the ancient Verlac family remains are stacked away in this hole, left to crumble and deliquesce together, merging back into the dark matter which gave them birth. Above each niche is a nameplate indicating who was buried here and when they died.
This looks like another file system. The Album, the register, the files in the office.
The author must really like files.
>look up wilhelm
(in the nameplates)
You can't find that name anywhere; but then again, it may just be too corroded for you to read.
>look up mordecai
(in the nameplates)
You can't find that name anywhere; but then again, it may just be too corroded for you to read.
>look up elijah
(in the nameplates)
You can't find that name anywhere; but then again, it may just be too corroded for you to read.
Does no one take care of this place?
If it were up to Miranda, she'd have the whole crypt uprooted and moved north of town.
>look up Julia
(in the nameplates)
The nameplate reads "Julia Ward Verlac, b. May 4, 1964, d. January 10, 1997". Like the others, this coffin is built of solid oak, sealed with lead.
>look up Edward
(in the nameplates)
The nameplate reads "Edward Verlac, b. April 26, 1960, d. March 14, 1997". Like the others, this coffin is built of solid oak, sealed with lead.
I don't think we caught the name of Edward's kid.
At least we know there the previous Verlacs are.
And... Well, there is one other Verlac that should be here.
>look up william
(in the nameplates)
The nameplate reads "William Verlac, b. June 22, 1954, d. September 18, 1958". Unlike the others, William's coffin is a ramshackle affair of cheap pine, held together with rusting nails. It's half-rotten with age and so shabbily built you could probably open it with your bare hands.
>
Where to next, goons?
Also, if you have other suggestions, leave them in bold.
Items
In Trenchcoat
