A Rush and a Push (IC)

[kalstone]

Violet

Violet tips her hat to the bikers as they pass. She tries to determine if they look threatening.

Read People [1d8]=8

[tibbius]

The bikers grin and wave their plastic bottles of spirits in a merry, non-threatening way.

The road continues through the trailer park. There must be nearly a hundred trailers down here. Most of them are dark and quiet; either deserted, or folks go to bed early. About a dozen, scattered through the park, are lit up with crowds of people thronging the rickety porches and dusty yards. Maybe that's where all the folk from the dark trailers went ... Music pumps as you pass one particularly overflowing trailer. A girl in a top so cropped that her bra peeks out waves energetically at you, a big grin on her drunken face. "Yawanna parr-tee?!" she exclaims.

[Pulpatoon]

Peppermint

"Obliged for the invitation, Ma'am." He tips the brim of his hat and gives his mechanical goat a little nudge to keep moving on.

[tibbius]

Beyond the trailer park, the gravel road continues about half a mile, then ends at a drop off about a couple feet down. It looks like a dry stream bed. Or almost dry; there's a faintest whispering of water. It's dark out here. Do you have head lights or flash lights?

[Pulpatoon]

Peppermint adjusts Barnabas' controls to dim its headlight to a low red glow—enough to avoid falling into a ditch, but hopefully not enough to alarm any lurking Beasts.

[kalstone]

Violet toggles the lamp on her portable device to light the way.

[tibbius]

There's a shallow stream bed, a rivulet of water going left to right along the bottom. The width of the bed is surprising, and suggests there might some century be a flood round here. Right now, the stream looks easy to cross - and that proves to be the case, you proceed without difficulty more than a little splashing.

The far side of the stream, you hesitate. Then you see, up and ahead, to your right, a small light dancing almost imperceptibly at the top of the gulch on the town side. The light blinks repeatedly - like someone might be keying it on and off to attract attention.

Did you give the Sheriff a way to contact you, before you headed to Shady Acres?

[Pulpatoon]

Did you give the Sheriff a way to contact you, before you headed to Shady Acres?

Yes?

I mean, Yes! Definitely!

If we're sticking with the at-least-iPhone level of tech capability, I'd assume we'd be trading off contact information as a matter of course.

[tibbius]

Peppermint's antique flip phone shudders with an arthritic vibration - someone's calling.

[Pulpatoon]

"Go fer Peppermint. Whatcha got?"

[tibbius]

"We see you at the river crossing," answers the Sheriff clearly. "Follow the river toward us. The cave entrance is on the other side, where it bends against the base of the mesa. Deppety Arnaud has her long gun on the scope."

[Pulpatoon]

Peppermint

"Much obliged, Sheriff."

To the others: "Anybody have a fancy plan for approaching this cave, or shall we just make a bee-line to it?"

[kalstone]

Violet

"Let's head in, but be careful." She looks around for any signs of danger.

[tibbius]

As you approach the cave along the river, you see a lot of scuffed up clay with traces of claw marks. It seems like the strange predatory beast might frequent this area, maybe to come drink from the trickling stream?

"Should have mentioned," the Sheriff's voice crackles on Pulpatoon's phone speaker, "That there cave is sposeta be a disused entrance to the old salt mines. Ifn it is, the mines go in and down a long way. Don't get too deep."

[Pulpatoon]

Peppermint takes a gander at the clawed tracks, to see what he can see.

[tibbius]

Peppermint takes a gander at the clawed tracks, to see what he can see.

Suggestive of a very big bird, something bipedal with great big claws anyhow. Leading to and from the trickle of water, and into the dark mouth of the cave.

[Pulpatoon]

Peppermint shares this with the others, looking to Violet's mount. "Could be yer purdy-girl's bigger cousin."

[kalstone]

Violet

"A big cousin. Reckon we oughta head in. Maybe we can catch it nappin' after its meal."

[tibbius]

This would be a good time, maybe, to assess your armaments.