Seance at Cecile's
Once Crea Cartwright gets the characters into Cecil's Hotel, she will be busily chatting and prattling, all friendly banter and heartfelt laughter. Trying to guage the party, she will try to organize a seance that night for fun; a little ice-breaker, as it were.
The seance will be a front to gather information. But more importantly, and in a more immediate need, it is to sow misinformation about the mine. Crea will try to convince the party that the mine was closed up and forgotten generations ago.
History
Execution
Crea gets all dressed up in flowy garments made of red fabric, sits in a large wicker chair in front of a heavy wooden table, and dons all black accoutrements, including a crocheted veil and hair net. She will get everyone to sit around the table, holding hands, and giggle while she intones:
If you walk beside us unseen, whisper now.
If any who sit in this circle carry burdens of death or secrets unspoken—
Let the silence break."
In an effort to direct the attention of the party away from the mine, Crea will first tell the fictional story of an ancient scribe:
The lights are dimmed, and everyone clasps hands around the heavy wood table. Draped with a black linen cloth, the red candles of the ritual stand out in stark contrast to the table. “Aaaahhhh… someone steps forward now," Crea speaks in a sing-song voice. "He was an accountant. No, a clerk, maybe. No name, but his hands shake. He kept records in a mine. A mine with no name. A place buried deeper than the desert allows.
But one day, the ledgers were blank. Entire years—erased. He was made to forget.
He walks now with charcoal fingers… not from ink, but from something that burned. Something buried.
He begs me: ‘Tell them there is no mine. Tell them nothing was ever dug there. Tell them if they dig, they will not just find death… they will call for it.’
Does this mean anything to any of you?”
A DC15 Wisdom(Insight) Check will reveal the truth that Crea is making the story up whole cloth, but not the reasons why. She has no idea there is an Efreeti Bottle buried far below the mine.
She will then go on to ask a series of subtly prying questions, always from the perspective of roaming desert spirits that she is "channeling".
One of Crea's burning questions is, who sent the party?
Crea's eyes roll back, and she starts to speak in a sing-song voice;
“There is a man in the mists… he wrings his hands. He fears for you. He says he didn’t want you to come. Did someone warn you about this place, perhaps? Or order you to come here?"
Speaking in an unfamiliar accent, Crea says;
“There’s a man watching from the door, but he won’t come in. He is wearing a uniform, maybe? No—robes. His face is heavy with guilt. He says he should have come himself.
"But he won’t say his name. Do you know it? Do you speak for him?”
Crea really wants to find out where they are coming from.
Crea lets out a long breath, and intones;
“A child speaks now. They say you come from far away… too far. A land with cold wind. A name that starts with—mm—‘D’? 'Dar'...? No... It’s fading. Help me. Speak the name and it might call the spirit back!”
Crea addresses an empty space in the room;
“I see windblown trees. And water, wide and black. People speak with strange accents. But the spirit says that place is far away, just outside of memory. And yet, you carry it. The scent of its soil. The weight of its sky. Tell me—what name do the dead give your home?”
Part of Crea's assessment is to find out if anyone knows the characters are here.
Crea closes her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath before saying;
“A bell tolls. Someone mourns for you. They say no one knows where you are. Not your friends. Not your families. You’re already forgotten. Unless... someone followed you?”
Crea starts talking in a whisper, gradually getting louder;
“A voice calls out in a dream; yours, perhaps. They whispered your name in their sleep three nights ago. They felt your absence. But now that thread is fraying. If something happens to you here, who will mourn? Who will notice? What will your legacy be?”
Comments