Fantasy The Disappearance of Wilfred McMillan

[Space Dingo]

@Charcoal @papachan @Diminium @SachiGrl @TheDaftStudent please place your profiles in the character sign up. @Diminium if you are still interested, please finish up your profile by Wednesday.


I will be making an opening post when I can. We will be starting in Romania the night before we enter the Forest.

 

[Space Dingo]

Friday October 3rd 1923


Cluj-Napoca, Romania




The rain began gently falling down through the streets of the city as a distant church bell rang, signalling that the time is now 6PM. The streets grew dark as the sun dropped lower and lower behind the beautiful architecture. The sound of boots slapped rhythmically against the cobbled streets as a man walked briskly with fervor. As he felt the rain drops, he adjusted his trilby hat on his head and wrapped his not-warm-enough coat tighter around his torso.


Curse these people.


Curse this city.


Curse this country.


Curse this rain!


William began to repeat to himself as he furrowed his brows angrily. While he and his crew first entered Kloozsh-Napoo-whatsitcalled, they've been having one hell of a time getting answers on the whereabouts of poor Willy-boy. Either Wilfred did in fact not travel to this stupid city, or these crazy locals were just feigning ignorance! Luckily, though William met this elderly man who just loved to talk his ear off. It was the first time William traversed to the edge of town where the man kindly led him back to his house for some whiskey. After listening to this man's life story (what a bore), William was able to manage showing Wilfred's photo to him. This man (who he couldn't even begin to pronounce his name) seemed very familiar with Wilfred. Apparently, Willy-boy entered the forest nearby, but wouldn't give any details why. Once William met up with everyone else, he'd need to let everyone know. See if they can gather information about this forest and check it out. He was sick and tired staying in this city and missed the comfort of his own home, his cigars and his ol' gal (A rather young cat despite the name).


As William hanged a left on the next street, he was greeted with the sign of the Dragon Beach.... No wait... that's not the name... Dragoste Vechi? However the hell it's pronounced. His grasp on Romanian language was not the best, but quite honestly, with how hostile their host was at their inn, he couldn't care quite less. The sooner they found Wilfred, the sooner he just didn't have to care about this god forsaken country anymore. The intricate wooden door squeaked and whined as he drew the door open and he was greeted with a rush of warm air and the smell of alcohol and other pub-like smells. He didn't look around to see if any of his party were already inside, but knew they should be there, or be there soon as they agreed to meet in the bar around 6' o-clock. William took his hat off and left it on the cook of a coat rack and made a straight line to the bar and sat down in the cushioned stool.


"Can I get some of that- uh.... tsuica? That drink you served me last time." William asked without looking at the bartender, who he knew was none other than Augustin Stanasila. He already knew the man was frowning at him. As a glass of the Romanian spirit was slid to him, William looked up and squinted at the man who held up for fingers lazily. "Jesus, you're killing me." William groaned as he pulled out his wallet and rummaged through the banknotes before pulling out the proper amount and slapped them down on the bar top before Augustin took the money as if it were diseased or something. William looked down at his glass, sighed before taking a big gulp and releasing a loud "AH~". He looked around the room for any familiar face as the he tapped his hand on his knee while listening to the soft wailing of a woman singer on a record player that perhaps played to drive it's patrons insane.

 

[SachiGrl]

Today's Date: Friday, 10/03/1923


Location: Dragoste Vechi

​

Dearest Uncle Wilfred... Where are you? Louis thought gravely.


She was practically dragging her feet from exhaustion. The heavy garments she adorned didn't help. Crafted in a heavy knit with a touch of alpaca, which is incredibly soft, her oversized sweater was cozy enough to be worn outside. She had on a matching beige scarf with fringes. She had all her buttons closed to her neck and her long, heavy sweater draped over her thick, brown slacks.


She looked and asked all over town for the whereabouts of her uncle, but no clue has been found yet. Cluj-Napoca was the second most populated city in Romania. There must be someone who knows of her darling uncle. The sight of Romania was growing old. Spottings of castles and buildings structured as old as time has lost Louis' interest. Uncle Wilfred has got her all balled up as to why this environment has attracted him.


"If I had some rubes, I'd hire me a dick, but the crowd of professors and students will suffice for this search," she said quietly with a bit of hope.


Louis decided to ask one more person for the whereabouts of her uncle before retiring to a place that is warm and comfortable. She pulled out an aged book that translates English to Romanian, though from repetition, she knows how to ask, 'Have you seen this man,' perfectly or at least she thought so. She approached a woman in heavy, dark garments.


"L-ai.. v?zut pe.. acest om?" Louis held out shakily a picture of Wilfred.


The woman kindly analyzed the photo, but shook her head.


"Multu.. mesc," she spoke with her English accent.


Withe a long depressed sigh, she waved dismissively with her gloved hands and walked away. She felt herself sulking even more. A cold wind blew past her, causing her to receive shivers. She tugged on her brown cloche hat made of wool and hugged herself quickly after. She walked a bit aimlessly at first, then soft music caught her attention.


Ah, music... she thought with ease.


Despite, her lack of comprehension of what the song conveys, it has always relaxed her to decipher the music's time signature. Identifying the beat, tempo and such of a piece of music was equivalent to Sudoku. She delicately pushed open the wooden doors and breathed in the inviting warm air the bar kept in stored. She already heard herself humming along with the music, but mentally counting:


One-and-two-and-three-and-four-and...


She wasn't too surprise to find one of the men, who came to search for her Uncle, here. The search party was initiated thanks to this strange fellow. She recalled Uncle Wilfred speaking fondly of him; they were college buds and somehow ended up teaching at the same University, but her knowledge of Professor Chambers ended there.


She sat quietly at his side, not asking for anything in particular from the barkeep nor greeting aloud to William himself. She only gave him a small smile.

 

[TheDaftStudent]

Name: Professor Charles Dexter Ward?


Mood: Mildly amused


Location: Dragoste Vechi Pub


With: Louis & William


OOC:


@: @radiochai

Charles lurked through the village in a hooded cloak. He had only spoke to a handful of villagers and it was enough to know they weren't going to budge when it came to information regarding the missing professor. Charles wondered a loud every now and again about why the man had come here to this country. What he could have found out here that had stole him away from his life...


"What could you have found that you didn't want to tell me about, you old fool?" He asked the wind without true hope of getting an answer.


He entered the pub with a scowl on his face, removing his hood and cloak and putting them on the coat rack. He looked around and spotted William and Louis. The girl was taking up a seat on one side of the professor, and so Charles took up the other. He sat next to William and rapped the bar with his knuckles. The barman brought Charles a drink and marked down a slash on a piece of paper - a tab. Charles downed the glass easily and then groaned with the effort. He had needed that.


"This place is full of secrets. I doubt we'll get too much headway by asking around." He growled out before rapping the bar again.

 

[Charcoal]

James came to seat himself in a quiet corner of the room, somehow enjoying the bustle and the noise as it managed not to interrupt his thoughts. Though dripping wet, drenched from head to toe by the unrelenting and haunting downpour of the gloriously monotone sky, he grinned from beneath the hood of his favored coat for outings. A great thing of dark cloth with a warm interior, appearing relatively waterproof and so allowing him some degree of comfort over the sweaters he normally wore.


The note of the female singer caught his attention as he contemplated the raindrops dripping down the glass beside him, window all but opaque for the condensation that had accumulated on the damp surface. As he listened with perhaps some intent to the song weaved by the songstress, his fingers took to the childish task of drawing little images, beginnings, middles and ends of words that passed his mind as the warmth and comfort of the bustling room lulled him into a sense of security. As his pupils cast about the room and noted the many faces, he took the time to examine a few that seemed familiar to him, those whom he may have passed by during the long, slow days in the University. Why so many in Romania this time of year, it's not as if it's a holiday and. . . ah, so that was the gentleman who had organised this group. One other caught his attention, a woman, whilst the third remained unbeknownst to him as he did not take the time to examine any longer. The approaching waitress began in the native tongue, before a wave of the hand brought her into speaking using her broken but understandable English - if you had a little imagination as to exactly what she meant.


The pint of cider that was brought to him was bitter tasting and perhaps a rip off for the price, but at least it quenched the insatiable thirst that all that rain managed to put in your heart and soul. Made you mad with thirst it did, ran itself round your brain - for the English professor, all those poems that mentioned the way water was, all those things that described it so beautifully, bubbled up to the surface in a torrent of cascading beauty. Shining in the depths of his mind with that moist gleam, he took to running his finger around the top of the tall glass, and watching the rain drive itself steadily into the ground outside. His drink was consumed slowly, the taste savored on the tongue, almost as if taunting the deliciousness of the rain, all that desire for liquid that it instilled in you still heavy in his mind. Blinking, he straightened out his thoughts, and began to look again about the bar in the hopes of catching somebodies eye, that somebody being of the same origin as he was. Perhaps, he could glean a little more knowledge than the inklings and half-rumors he had gathered throughout the past few weeks. Hopefully he could make a little more sense out of this spontaneous trip he had taken half-way round the globe. Even to himself, it seemed mad to be making such a ridiculous journey for someone who could for all intents and purposes re-appear next week without a mark on his body. And yet, the fear of the strangeness of it all. . . it made him want to know what had happened to that briefly passed acquaintance.

 

[SachiGrl]

Today's Date: Friday, 10/03/1923


Location: Dragoste Vechi

​

Though Louis was among people she mildly knew, she still hummed along with the music that was mixed with loud chatter and laughter within the pub. She wasn't humming too loud as to not draw any attention from neighboring men and women. She recalled when her mother spoke of how women were scarcely allowed to leave the house and such. She was very young around that time period, but she was glad to be among this era of liberty for men and women. She watched the many faces, most reddened by the giggle water they drank the past hour or so. She particularly lingered on the rambunctious women. She was once like that, but learned that in the professional world, there is no room for fun and games especially for women! They needed to strive to be taken seriously in the man's world.


Her thoughts were stressing her out and she decided to refocus on the music the pub played. Professor Dexter entered the pub nonchalantly and sat next to Professor Chambers without second thought. She smiled briefly at him then returned to humming.


This song is composed in the key of B♭ major and set in a 4/4 time signature... she thought to herself.


Moments later, the English professor arrives. Her uncle hasn't talked of this man, but there was an aura to him that naturally attracted her to him. He was slim and had an air that he was European. She wasn't sure what attracted her so. He looked around and their eyes met for a moment. She gave him a small smile and quickly looked elsewhere.


Boy, this man has sheik... she blinked a few times before realizing what she just thought.


It was time to distract herself again. She retorted back to analyzing the song, but it was about to end. She counted the beats and so far it seemed it was at a moderate tempo of ninety beats per minute. She sighed during the brief paused as the record player transitioned to the next song. She tried to focus into the sound of the stylus spiraling around the groove engraved etch of the rotating disc within the record player. Ah, the new song finally started to play. It was the same female singer as before. The melody spans were similar to the last song ranging from B♭3 to D5, while the music follows the chord progression of B♭–Cm–Gm–E♭. She started counting the beat in her head again and hummed the new tune softly to herself.

 

[Charcoal]

The gentleman blushed at the obvious attention from across the bar, managing to smile to himself whilst turning to rifle through the bag he had left by his side - noting the way the other individual looked away, he judged the others beside her were of the university as well. Finding the volume he was looking for, he pulled it free of the small, leather confines of the bag and placed it beside the cider upon the table. He set about reading it with the occasional glance out of the window, and slight sips of his drink. It was again, a relaxing experience if he let himself succumb to it all, his mind working with no particular directive, and so he found himself in a warm daze.


As he read, the words of the song crept into his mind and though he did not take the time to analyze them in such a precise manner as the woman at the bar, he enjoyed the tune and the baser enjoyment of it nonetheless. Disrupting his thoughts, the bar maid came again and asked if he required anything more - he took the time to request the menu of the more wholesome meals, and perused this informative document with a careful eye. Nothing caught his fancy in particular, and the menu was handed back relatively swiftly. Though he was not the pickiest of eaters, this new air he found himself in left him perhaps a little uneasy, despite this relaxation. Something about this place was odd, strange; even looking at the way the people he moved and talked and walked and acted. . . something was off. Just a little, in the way they looked into each others eyes, a certain vacancy and lack of understanding that seemed to perpetually cloud them. Taking a pen, kept in the breast pocket of his shirt if ever he needed it, the young professor began to note things down, little things about the people about him. The scrap of paper was quickly covered, before napkins were quickly metabolized and turned into tiny passages of their own. Slapping his forehead, he realized he had packed a notebook for exactly this purpose and went about fishing out of the same dark confines as the other volume.





Taking it out, he made tiny sketches, not particularly informative but enough to jog his memories - of course, the words were more numerous, and outlined the vague characters in symbols and descriptions. In this way, the professor lost most of the attention he had held on other things, and began with the utmost logicality, to creating a profile of what he saw.

 

[Space Dingo]

As Louis took a seat down next to him, William turned his head to look at the younger woman. He flashed her a smile and added a wink in there for good measure. "Hey there, Doll-face." He greeted her. "Doll-face" was mainly how William referred to Louis regardless of the fact that she was his best friend's niece or the fact that there was a 14 year age difference between the two. He didn't doubt she probably hated it, but if she did or not, it wasn't a concern of his. At least she wasn't a student at their school, let alone a student, that made things highly less awkward. And then Professor Ward made his appearance and occupied the space to William's other side. He nodded his head to the man. It was one of those sort of head nods that a man would give to another man in an act of "coolness". ...Or at least William viewed it at some sort "man code" level of smoothness between men. He didn't know Ward very well, but had seen him a few times with Wilfred, so he must not be that bad of a man, right? It was weird how he just showed up one day.....


Augustin threw his cloth rag down on the bar top and shot the bar maid a sharp stare. "Silvia! Come here and watch the bar I'm stepping away for a smoke." He barked at her in Romanian. The woman jumped at the sound of her husband's voice and quickly walked away from Professor Thorold to meet Augustin at the bar. Augustin looked from Silvia to the three who sat at the bar and frowned. "And make sure those dirty Americans don't steal anything from the bar while I'm away, you hear?" He spoke in a lower voice as he talked to his wife as if not to catch the attention of William and his two companions at the bar. Though he was more than sure they barely knew enough Romanian to understand him. Silvia cautiously nodded and situated herself behind the bar and picked up the discarded cloth rag and began to wipe down the counter that really didn't need any cleaning. She watched as her husband went out the back before giving the three a wary glance before she "occupied" herself with cleaning.


And then the front door swung open loudly as two rambunctious men entered the bar, arms around each other's shoulders singing obnoxiously loud, drowning out the music playing from within the bar. If one were musically inclined, they might recognize the song. Though it was rather hard to tell through their thick Romanian accent. "Everybody's hand in hand~ Swingin' down the lane~" As they came into the bar, an elderly man glared at the two young men and grumbled. A man just a bit younger by a few decades sat with the elderly man chuckled and nudged the angry man's arm. "Nothing you can do about it, Valentin. Just let them do what they do best and they will be on their way." Valentin turned his glare to the other man, "Yes, but it doesn't mean I need to end my night with these two buffoons ruining it, Cezar." Cezar only laughed in response.


"Silvia! Silvia!" Called one of the men in the pair that just walked in. "Ue uant some of your finest liquor tonight!" Surprisingly the man spoke in English, though the accent was rather thick. "Silvia! Silvia!" The other man called. "Uheres Augustin?" Silvia kept her head down as the two young men tried to talk to her. She didn't want anything to do with them, especially as her husband disliked them, she didn't want to speak up to them, but knew Augustin hated when they entered the bar. The first man lit up a cigarette and turned to the other. "Zeo, you zink she don't like us?" The other man shook his head solemnly. "No, no, Eduard, my brozer, I zink she is playing hard to get!"


Before the brothers could get another word out, the front door opened again, and another young gentleman entered the bar. He looked to be a rather wealthy gentleman and a look of surprise crossed his face as he was met with the backs of the two Lazar brothers. "Hm?" The man looked around and tapped Theo on the should, "Excuse me. Would you let me pass, please?" The man spoke. The two brothers spun around to see who it was, then looked between each other. "Euo is zis man? He zink he can just ualk in here like he owns zis place?"


"And you don't?" Valentin commented, followed by Cezar's laughter.


With all of this going on, William just watched in confusion. He was sure he had seen these two men around before. They often showed up whenever his party were together, but they were never this obnoxiously loud. If he didn't know better, he would assume they have already been drinking. They seem to know English, albeit hard to understand, perhaps they might know what had happened to Wilfred? Ah! Wilfred! Right. He turned back to look at Louis and Charles. "Hey, uh. Yeah, I almost forgot. We need to talk about our plan of action. About anything we found today. Ah- I think I see Professor Thorold over there. Perhaps we should grab ourselves a seat over there with him? I think we're still waiting on Vladimir, but if he doesn't show up soon, I think we should start our discussion. If anything we'll fill him in later."

 

[SachiGrl]

Today's Date: Friday, 10/03/1923


Location: Dragoste Vechi

​

Louis' face reddened slightly. Professor Chamber's greeting was seemingly flirtatious. She attempted to cover her expression by removing her cloche hat very slowly and placing it lightly above her lap. This simple maneuver allowed her to regain her composure and act as coolly as she expects herself to be around men. She brushed some locks of her hair behind her ears, but the effort proved futile. Her hair's short length made remaining behind her ear impossible and as a result, it returned to its original place, slightly past the edge of her brow. Her small, polite smile never left her lips. They were painted with a soft pink and her cheeks a deep rose. She replied to Professor Chamber's greeting accordingly, as to not be rude:


"Greetings, Professor."


She glanced about the room as some ruckus seemed to be occurring. As much as she wanted to distract herself and not get involved with the native beings around her, she couldn't help to give the newcomers a watchful eye. It also intrigued her that they spoke a language she understood. It was surprising. They seemed to have accents. Why would they prefer to speak in a language other than their native tongue? She found this extremely suspicious.


Louis's expression remained charming. She did not furrow a brow nor twitch a lip. She kept her posture and image as graceful as she could despite the strange circumstance she was in. She was in a group full of men. She should be flattered to be allowed to participate in this search for her Uncle. Yet at the same time, she feels she, of all people, should be here searching for her uncle. Louis shifted her attention to Professor Chambers again as he spoke. She nodded to acknowledge his statement.


"Yes, let us transfer."


She rose from her chair with her hat in hand and walked to the nearest chair among Professor Thorold's table. She recalled how he looked away bashfully when she smiled at him earlier. She found it quite cute. Before she pulled out a chair for herself, she couldn't help but to ask if was appropriate to join a man who sat alone. He was even flustered by her stare. Perhaps, he wanted to be alone. She cleared her throat before speaking:


"Good day, Professor. Will it be alright if we join you? Professor Chambers has some important matters to discuss."


She is not usually one to lead a discussion, especially with a man, but being the first to stand and to near the gentleman, she didn't see any other choice in the matter.

 

[Charcoal]

James, took a several moments to blink at the line he had just finished setting out among his notes - it detailed nothing of importance, something concerning the two gentlemen who had just entered and the woman who was quickly approaching him. . . and as she finished nearing him, and spoke. To him. Spoke, to him. These thoughts passed around and around in a circle within his mind, echoing several times before falling silent as he looked up to meet her gaze with firmly controlled surprise.





"Erm. . . why of course madam, if that is what you are here to discuss. Please, bring the rest of the group over and we can begin such discussion at once." With a hasty few movements he brought his drink close to himself, snapping the notebook shut with one hand whilst throwing his writing instrument into his bag with the other, all the while managing to miss the cider still sitting but half a foot in front of him. He then took a moment to shuffle into one corner, moving along the cushion of the seat so that one shoulder sat against the wall nearest the window, out of which he now decided to stare with the same control over himself. A moment passed before he swiftly maneuvered the bag by his side off the chair, and down onto the floor by his feet, clasping a boot either side of it for protections sake.





"M-might as well start with names then-", he took a moment to clear his throat before turning about to continue,"-James Thorold, Professor Thorold as you know. A-and yourself?" His voice wavered only slightly as far as he was aware, and for the amount of emotional stress he was currently undergoing, he seemed streets calmer than the ridiculous thoughts bubbling up and dying away in the now raucous and quite uncontrolled confines of his mind. Mental sirens blared at the situation, despite his managing to advance the conversation bringing about a little pride in him; perhaps it was this pride that offered him the strength to raise a slightly shaken hand, to shake that of his new acquaintance, a smile materializing that managed to look relaxed enough to not be mistaken for feigned civility.

 

[papachan]

Being a gentleman was something that Vladimir Vitali Hayes tended to pride himself in. Today, he was not being a very good gentlemen, as he was running exceptionally late for something rather important. What a horrible impression he was making on himself and his family. If that wasn’t immature enough he was currently running down the street, nearly running down anyone that didn’t get out of his way, in order to attempt to get there before they left him.


Vladimir’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that they quite possibly might have already left him behind. Granted, he could always catch up with them the next day, get informed on their plans, and then do whatever they needed him to but that wasn’t how Vladdy’s brain worked. The anxious little brain in his sweating head refused to unclasp itself from around the mere thought of missing a single word that these people had to offer him. The clapping of his shoes was damped by the sound of raindrops splattering against the cold ground.


After a slight confusion as far as directions were concerned, the door to the pub was finally in front of him. Running his hands over each other he broke out into a cold sweat. Now he would have to…talk to people. He would have to apologize, make up a reason for being late, and deal with the disappointment and distrust that would ensue because of it. He would have to worry about what people were thinking, saying, innuendos, double meanings in their words.

Vladdy took a long breath.

​

‘They probably won’t even notice.’ Vladdy thought to himself, controlling his breathing. Despite finally finding a “calm place”, his pounding heart was betraying him. Another deep breath. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside as calmly as he possibly could. Looking around he finally saw a group of people, out of place almost, who seemed to be chatting with each other.

 

[TheDaftStudent]

Name: Professor Charles Dexter Ward?


Mood: Mildly worried for James' sanity


Location: Dragoste Vechi Pub


With: Louis & William & James & Vlad?


OOC:


@:

Charles sighed when the drunk men came in and started making a ruckus. He didn't like this. They made him uncomfortable. Something about them told him that he should keep his distance. They were trouble. He could spot it anywhere. When the others agreed to move tables to get closer to James he stood up and made his way over with Louis. It was clear that the professor only had eyes for her, and if she seemed to put the fear of a god into him.


Having seen enough of this he decided to interject himself into the conversation in hopes of preserving the other man's sanity. Charles reached out for the hand that had been offered to Louis and shook it himself.


"Charles Ward. Chemistry." He said in a brisk and clearly impatient and possibly amused tone.


He took a seat across from the other professor, all but ignoring Louis - he still wasn't sure why she'd come. What use would she be in this search? As he was sitting he was someone else enter - another of their party. Vlad. Charles relaxed back into his chair and watched everyone around him, including the drunk men. No one could be trusted.

 

[SachiGrl]

Today's Date: Friday, 10/03/1923


Location: Dragoste Vechi

​

Louis' eyes followed his hands' movement after he spoke invitingly, but with slight hesitation. He adjusted everything and she assumed it was because he wanted to make room. She pondered a bit before sitting in the area where he's made space for her. He was treating her strangely. He was well-mannered of course, but still off in some sense. Was it possible that he was uncomfortable around women? Was he not expecting a family member, specifically a female family member, to participate in this search? She looked back towards two Professors she was sitting next to not too long ago. She nodded towards them as to silently notify them that it was alright to sit with James. Though, there was a chance they already knew that, but she was simply being courteous. Professor Dexter seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her or simply avoiding her in general. She felt a tinge of discomfort as he approached the table. She decided to sit quickly to maintain her composure.


Finally, she sat in the chair by James' side and smiled warmly when he introduced himself then quickly inquired of her name. She fidgeted slightly with her hat as she was still uncomfortable with Charles' presence. He gave off an intimidating vibe. Before she could even speak, the man lunged his hand towards James, shaking it firmly. It seemed quite awkward. She watched as he introduces himself plainly as Charles Ward. She waited quietly until she felt it was safe to introduce herself without interrupting the men's chatter. She cleared her throat:


"I am Louis. Louis Garrod. I am a mathematics professor in Hillcroft College," she spoke softly yet proudly of her title.


"Professor McMillan is my uncle," she added to satisfy their curiosity as to why she was present.


She glanced to and from James and Charles, but found herself looking down at the hat laying upon her lap. She has worked with male professors before, but it never felt as awkward as this. She hoped when Professor Chambers joined them, it would become less uncomfortable. She recalled collaborating with her male professors when she was studying at the University of Oxford. She even participated in group studies with male students. Sadly in Hillcroft College, it was a women's only college. So, it would only be natural that she felt out of place among a group of men; it has been some time since she's worked with them.


The doors of the pub squeaked opened again and she turned her head slightly to see who has entered. She blinked a few times then recognized the gentleman who arrived. She has seen him in her uncle's university. He must be a professor or student. She waved casually to grasp his attention. Hopefully, he would realize this table was filled with professors from Miskatonic University.

 

[Charcoal]

James took the opportunity to stare at his recently shaken hand, dropping it a moment later onto his lap in a neat pile with his other. His eyes began to pan lazily around the room, stopping at various points of interest - the door, the bar, the window. . . all seemed relatively stagnant. Peaceful perhaps. Normality coating every surface and leaving all to blur into a familiar image that most village folk would find easy to recall. Exhaling greatly, his shoulders relaxed and he sagged into comfort as whatever apprehension that clung on, left in one easy breath.


"How many more are we waiting upon, or is this the fullness of out party? Either way, we have an ample gathering here to make the goal we have gathered for easily accomplished." Letting his head rest against the window sill, he began to look slowly between those at the table with a gentle smile.


"Truly, it is a pleasant thing to know that others have taken up the same goal - the Professor is not someone the academic world wants to lose in a hurry, and especially not his close colleagues, and family members. Charles, in what way is it that you know of the Professor?" He let his eyes fall upon the other gentleman at the table, remaining neutral.

 

[Space Dingo]

Sitting down with the rest of his party, William began to take a mental headcount of everyone who was in the search party currently in the bar. We had Ms. Garrod, Wil's niece. There was Professor Ward, and now they had Professor Thorold. That's good, they had pretty much everyone except- ah! There he is. Mr. Vladimir Hayes! He knew they were missing one more person, but he was more than happy that the full party was here now. William joined in the beckoning motion at Vladimir to cox him into joining them. Waited for everyone to be seated before he would speak.


In the mean time, the bar became noisy again as loud voices arose inside. It has appeared Augustin had returned from his spoke break and he was far from happy to see the two Lazar brothers. He gave them a disgusted shooing motion as he yelled at the two young men. "Eduard! Theo! Get the HELL out of my bar! I have told time and time again you are NOT welcome here! Jesus Christ! The next time you show your ugly faces here again, I WILL take violent measures to ensure that you will never come back. Mark my words, Lazars!" Augustin began to roll his sleeves up threatening as Silvia rushed over to her husband and tried to stop him. He shot his wife a glaring look as if to say "How DARE you let them in!" Silvia backed away as the two Lazar brothers drunkenly laughed at Augustin, not afraid of his threat. Then, Cezar stepped up and patted Augustin on the shoulder. "Don't worry, my old friend, I will make sure these boys make it home safely." He chuckled as he looked at Valentin and shrugged while Valentin shot him a disapproving look. "I don't care if they make it home safe, get them out of my bar!" Augustin continued to yell. Cezar nodded at Augustin and made his way over to the Lazar brothers and placed his arms behind the two brother's back. "Come on now, you heard Augustin, I'll get you two home so you can sleep your intoxication off." The two Lazar brothers didn't mind and agreed to be lead out by Cezar and started to sing that song again. If you listened carefully, you could hear that Cezar joined in with the singing, his voice much deeper than the two brothers.


Now that the Lazar brothers were gone and the bar was quiet once again, save for the music that played, Augustin returned to his post behind the bar and began to converse with his newest patron, the young wealthy man who had unfortunately walked in right after the Lazar brothers had entered. Silvia on the other hand took her place as bar maid and began to clean the various tables and chairs that had been occupied earlier.


William, wide eyed, turned his attention back to his group, hopefully everyone had been sitting by now. "Well -ahem. Well, now that that's done with, lets get down to business, shall we?" He pulled out a piece of paper from within his jacket's pocket and placed it down on the table. It had a name on it. "Hoia Baciu" scrawled and underlined several times with pen ink. William looked about the bar before leaning in towards his party. "Lets talk about your leads today, shall we? Since I brought this party together, and therefore declare myself leader, I will start." William cleared his throat again as he lowered his voice in hopes that only his party could hear. I met with this older man earlier today. He lives on the outer edges of this city, it's an alright place, sort of run down, but I might have gotten a clue today! He recognized the photo of Wil- er Professor McMillan. In fact he had spoken with this man. He said that Professor McMillan didn't seem too out of the ordinary, in fact this men just figured that our Professor was just an excite tourist. So I'm pretty sure we can rule out kidnapping or anything of that sort. This man was a little bit worried though. Professor McMillan was looking for a forest." William pointed at the piece of paper on the table. "This forest is located west of this city and isn't too big. Its only covers an area of 729 acres. This man said he hasn't seen the Professor return at all, which leads me to believe that perhaps he's hurt. So we need to act soon. I think we should leave tomorrow morning. And another thing I forgot to mention. The man I spoke with claims that this forest is haunted." William let out a disbelieving snort. "Now we are men.... er- and woman of science, I think we can figure out that there is no such thing as a haunted forest. What do you guys think? Got anything to add?"

 

[papachan]

Vladdy rushed over to the table when he saw that he was beckoned. He was relieved that the conversation immediately delved into the disappearance of the professor. Vladdy looked around nervously as Professor Chambers continued talking. He wasn’t a hopeful person to begin with, so he was not quite sure if they would be successful in finding Professor McMillan. However, if they had a location that could determine where the professor might be then they might just be able to find him.


There had to be a catch though, didn’t there? Besides the difficulty in finding The Professor, Vladdy was worried about what they would find in a forest that ate people and didn’t spit them back out. What could be in the woods that could keep The Professor from coming home? Vladdy held back a snicker when William mentioned the woods being haunted. He was, as the man said, a man of science. As much as it might pain his parents to hear, he didn’t believe in souls or spirits, gods or the like. Every belief he had was rooted in scientific discovery, hypothesis, and deduction.


A dark feeling shrouded his mind. Maybe the good professor was not as happy as people would like to think? Perhaps he did not want to be found, maybe he… Vladdy’s mind trailed off as he looked over the party again. Maybe if the professor had seen how many people would worry about him he would have never gone into the forest to do whatever it was by himself. That was another question. Why by himself? Or was he even alone?


Vladdy had kept himself in the dark when it came to the internal affairs of everyone. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, just that he was a busy student. Taking this trip was beneficial to make acquaintances in high places. Mr. Hayes never did anything for free. Even if all they did was remember his name. Professor Chambers had stopped talking and Vladdy hadn’t given much attention to what he had said past the woods being haunted. He had only arrived yesterday afternoon and, having no information to share, decided to look expectantly at the sheet of paper on the table like it had all of the answers.

 

[SachiGrl]

Today's Date: Friday, 10/03/1923


Location: Dragoste Vechi

​

Louis nodded in agreement as James spoke about her uncle. She, of all people, was definitely not in a hurry to lose her dear uncle. She loved hearing his stories. She never knew the extent of the truth in his stories, but the detail he put in them were quite incredible. She could imagine the creatures he expressed so vividly in his stories like they people from her memories. Alas, William sat down then gestured for Vladimir just as she did when he walked in to the pub. So far, everyone seemed friendly. Maybe except for one gentleman, but she'd rather not focus on the negative. She watched as Vladimir hurried over to the table. She smiled warmly at him then turned her gaze to William, but the commotion between the owner of the pub and two men snapped her head in their direction.


She placed one hand over her agape mouth as her eyes widened. Her eyes darted to and from the owner and the two men who are apparently called Eduard and Theo. She was surprised to find the owner speaking English to the two men. She did recall the supposed brothers speaking English earlier with a heavy accent. Their accent seemed Romanian. She wondered again why they didn't speak their native tongue. She imagine it was much easier and more fluent. Louis cringed when the owner threatened his own wife, Silvia was her name, openly. Finally as things calmed down, she turned around naturally, William began to speak. The room was quiet enough to hear even a whisper.


Louis smiled with a nod as their 'group leader' said, "... lets get down to business." She followed his hands movements as Vladimir did. She looked upon the paper labeled 'Hoia Baciu.' She pulled out her book of translation to translate the words written and underlined multiple times. It must be significant. She paused in the midst of her searching as William continued to speak. Her serious expression transitioned into a hopeful smile with tears welling up in her eyes.


Oh thank gawd... she clasped her hands together in a prayer like motion.


We finally have a lead! she was about to let out a relieved sigh until he spoke again.


Her face scrunched up at the mention of a haunted forest. Her uncle's stories may not be fictional after all. Perhaps he got them from the myths created here hence peaking his interests. He always loved solving mysteries. It didn't surprise her at all to find that he was drawn to such a dreary forest, let alone a supposed haunted one. She found herself crossing one arm across her chest and her other arm using it as a rest while her head laid within her palm thoughtfully. She shook her head towards William to signal him that she has nothing to add. She looked around to see if anyone else did have something to add.

 

[TheDaftStudent]

Charles was thinking of some sort of easy to believe lie regarding how he knew the professor when Will sat down. There was an intense burst of commotion between the bar owner and the drunks and then Will "got down to business". He spoke about what he'd learned and then mentioned the forest was haunted. This peaked his interest greatly and it made sense that Wilfred would come here. But only if he'd found something that made it much more believable that something existed here. This was good news.


Will made jest of the forest being called haunted and this made him frown considerably. He didn't understand men like Will. How could he call himself a man of science and not work to disprove or prove the occult sciences? To laugh at superstition so boldy without investigating was like laughing at death without knowing if it was waiting around the corner for you.


"You balk at their superstition, and yet call Wilfred a dear friend? You would readily laugh at something the man you've come to find found so endearing that he lost himself to it?" Charles glowered at Will before casting his gaze at each of the others at the table to gauge their reactions.


"Just because the thought seems laughable to you doesn't mean you should take it so lightly. Your duty, as a man of science, is to test to prove or disprove. Not make assumptions based off of your very limited world view." His voice was harsh and yet filled with some sort of sympathy that seemed to almost mock their beliefs - or lack thereof.


The man sat back in his chair and glowered more thoroughly at the table. He was trying to piece together the mystery of Wilfred's interest in these woods. He didn't care about these people. He didn't know them. He only knew Wilfred. He only knew his own interest in this missing person's case. The thought that these people would be upset about his words, but it also drew attention away from the question of how he knew Wilfred, and possibly established his own interest in this situation as well. He waited to see how this played out.