After facing down a small zombie horde, the sophomores made short work of the remaining two, with Marco hitting a home-run on the last one to finish the combat. The books the zombies were attempting to steal turned out to be volumes on the occult. Even more interestingly, a bookcase door opened in the hallway, revealing a secret room. The walls of the small room were carved with runes and sigils, and a pedestal in the center held a journal of ritual magic. CP and Matt’s study of this book taught them Banish the Darkness (dispel) and the grave speak ritual.
After finishing midterms with fairly mixed results (notable for Mariana’s acing her Art History midterm despite zero investment in learning anything about art history), CP’s study of the Crayton Compendium identified a possible base of operations for the 1950s investigators known as the Founders. A clue in the book led them to Mary Lynn’s Used Books and Emporium. In theory, the hideout was somewhere on the second floor. CP’s initial bold-faced attempt at asking about rituals got him a brush-off, but Matt quickly capitalized on a help wanted sign and got himself hired at the bookstore. After Mary Lynn left for the night, Matt led the team to the stairs, only to find a security camera there. Quick work from Troy disabled the camera, and Matt led the team upstairs. The front room of the second floor was uninteresting; the back room seemed empty until Marco found a hidden latch on an empty bookshelf.
The bookshelf swung out in a cloud of dust. Beyond was a small room with a shelf of books, some miscellaneous objects that might have been useful in ritual magic, and a young woman in 1950s garb sitting on the ground. She identified herself as Judith and asked the heroes to help her escape, as she had been trapped for an unknown period in the room. While the team cautiously questioned Judith, she became increasingly agitated, until her disguise slipped for a moment, revealing glowing yellow eyes and razor-sharp claws. When it became clear that Marco had seen a hint of her true form, she said, “Well, s**t,” and began to transform…
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