This session began at the tail end of a riot in an art gallery, likely prompted by an enchanted painting that the group had destroyed in the previous session. While the immediate threat of the painting was resolved, Ryo wanted to check out the artist. A quick look at the card next to the painting’s former location and some internet sleuthing by Troy revealed the name and address of the artist – Samantha Wilkes. Geared up for trouble, the team took two cars to Samantha’s off-campus apartment.
Samantha seemed nervous and exhausted when she answered the door, but CP’s charms worked their usual magic, and she soon invited them in to see her newest painting. As they entered her studio, the investigators noticed that many of her paintings were far less accomplished than the one they’d seen at the gallery. When Samantha spun her latest painting towards the group, they all attempted to avert their eyes – most were successful, but Ryo got a good look at the image of a cornfield guarded by a scarecrow. Seeing the odd behavior from her guests, Samantha lashed out at Marco with a pallette knife, screaming that they would not take her paintbrushes from her.
The group attempted to subdue the raving Samantha with some difficulty, as they were at once trying not to hurt her and trying not to look at the painting directly behind her. CP got a good look at the painting before Marco upended it onto the floor, and he froze, seemingly entranced.
Troy picked up some psychic impulses from the brushes, and, seeing the effect on CP, Matt determined they were probably cursed. With Troy grappling Samantha, Ryo was able to knock her out, and the team broke the brushes, causing CP to emerge from his trance and report that he had been trapped in the painting and hunted by the scarecrow.
With the curse lifted, the group returned to normal campus life, until Dead Week, when Mariana received a disturbing call from former boyfriend and occult investigator Jackson Greene. It appeared Greene had been attacked, and a visit to his house confirmed that he was missing, and that a shotgun blast had wounded him, or someone or something else. Troy’s precognition showed a flash of a wounded woman on the floor of a jungle-like space, confusing the team but showing some urgency to the case. The investigators talked their way into the house and found quills resembling those they had seen from the campus boogyman, the Needler.
After overhearing a radio call about an incident on campus, the sleuths visited a student, Veronica Nails, who claimed to have heard an inhuman sound and seen strange shapes near the Horticulture building. With a ROTC student volunteering to tag along, the team headed that way…
Leave a Reply