July 3rd, 1888 - ? - Hawthorne Hollow

Miriam Trelawney Frederick Townsend Kentigern MacFusty Mason Skeeter Clifford Goyle Thaddeus Davies Maeve Connolly Benedict Sterling

When the train pulls into the station, the conductor announces, "Stay sharp out there. It's like it knows."

And perhaps it does. The locusts have settled but crunch ominously underfoot if you step on them, the fog is thicker than ever, and there is something eerie going on. Group E is sent to the most rural of the starting points, in Hawthorne Hollow, on foot. The closer they get to the red flag marking their starting point, the hotter it gets - you may find yourself sweating as you get closer.

The marker is a hundred yards from Lake Greer; there is an odd smell emanating from the lake, which is presently hidden by trees.

---

The next 'prompt' post will be after either 48 hours have passed from the time of posting (3:00 PM EST on July 5th*) or after every member of the party has posted one time if this occurs before that deadline. Please remember that you must post within 72 hours to continue participating. :)
*Because Beanie works until 3:30 this may be later.

  

---

Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

First and foremost, Clifford was a healer. And as a healer, he believed in the power of preventive measures. So, it was his duty to enlist and maybe learn how to deal with this terrible magic-sucking fog. If left as it is, the lack of magic could result in many untreated injuries or even deaths.

Several locusts crunched under his foot as soon as he stepped out of the train. Although Clifford valued all life, he didn't falter. Some locusts were a small price to pay for a chance to save a life. Especially a magical one.

---

  

Despite the reason why they were out here, Benedict was rather excited about the idea of going in search of something. The only advantage to this accident was that Ben knew how to operate rather well without magic, seeing as he'd gone several months without knowing he had magic to begin with. Thus, he'd brought with him a few weapons of choice; a riding whip, a hoof pick (the hook could do some damage), and a few extra horseshoes that could also be chucked at someone in case they needed to escape.

He tugged on his collar, feeling the pressure mounting; they had to solve this problem and quick. Was it just him warming up? "What do you reckon?" he asked no one in particular, feeling the locusts crunch under his boots. "Left, right, straight?"

---

  

---

Meer, an Irvingly resident, had obviously not come on the train. Rather, she had met her group at the station, and found to her chagrin that it included her brother-in-law. Ffss. On her back she had a pack full of easily-kept snack, flasks of water, and a significant portion of muggle medical supplies. (Having worked at the infirmary for so long, she'd learned quite a bit!)

Once they reached the marker, she shrugged her shoulders. "I'd be interested to see what's going on at the lake," Meer said. There was something off about this atmosphere, and Lake Greer was the largest landmark anywhere near the woods.

---

  

Mason was feeling an increasing amount of oh shit why did I sign up for this as they started off. The group itself didn't look so bad, but he had to wonder just what the ministry was worried about here if they were simply willing to let a bunch of civilians loose in the woods. Fortunately for Mason he was kind of used to this. He'd done some field work, had slept in tents, his knowledge of muggle plants was almost as good as his knowledge of magical ones. He'd thought himself some kind of useful, but now he was regretting that.

"The lake seems a likely place to start." Mason had to wonder if it had even been investigated since this whole debacle had started. Rolling up his sleeves, Mason felt warm, but that could have been the anxiety. He adjusted his pack that contained the essentials, water and about every herb or plant he thought be useful in a wide variety of situations. It hadn't been easy to pack to say the least.

---

  

While Thaddeus was not the most adventurous of people, the call for volunteers had gotten him in his Achilles' heel. The need to know things, to understand how things work -- it was basically his kryptonite, and guaranteed that he would respond to the advertisement.

The uncomfortable heat made Thaddeus loosen his collar a little, feeling sweat beginning to prickle at the nape of his neck. "Approaching the lake seems like the logical option," he agreed, hooking a thumb under the straps of his knapsack to settle the weight better across his back. He had packed for essentially an archaeological excursion: plenty of water, some non-perishable food, a notebook and pencils for cataloging findings, a sturdy pair of work gloves, and a length of rope.

  

---

Avatar courtesy of Bree! <3

Frederick had only one objective in this scheme, which was to come away with a large chunk of money and no loss of life or limb at the end of this endeavor. (A distant second was being able to get out of the house for a while; he loved Sarah, he supposed, but she was home all the time now and it was a little suffocating). He almost certainly wasn't taking this as seriously as the rest of the group, but he found it very amusing that they'd all so solemnly decided on a rather mundane course of action. They probably thought this was all very important, but Frederick was less convinced. It was a lake.

"All agreed, then," he said cheerfully, starting in that direction. "Miss Trelawney ought to go first, I think; I've heard she swims excellently," he said, with a snide glance back at his sister-in-law.

  

It had probably practically been a given that Tiger would sign up for this. He was eager to do his part to get this mist done away with or at the very least do what he could to help lead things in that direction. Everyone seemed agreed on going towards the lake and he followed after the cheery bloke that was heading in that direction. For his part, Tiger had not really encountered the fog seeing as he lived in the Hebrides and worked in the Ministry. It was a curious thing, wasn't it?

  

---

Maeve Connolly had donned men's clothes for this particular adventure, and Merlin, did she love the freedom felt in her legs. Her long, red hair was tied back in a sensible braid that belied her sex even if her curves (LOL) didn't, making her decidedly not a typical picture—but since when had the auror been typical? Practicality, after all, was key, and so the Irishwoman had also brought a compass (which someone would hopefully know how to read, since she didn't), a large canteen of water, and a small kit containing bandages and salves in case anyone got stabbed potentially by her. It was good to see a familiar, useful face—Sterling—in their number, too. All in all, Maeve was confident that this would be a successful quest.

"I'll take up the lead," Maeve said with the authority of someone who was actually in charge here, even though, strictly speaking, they were all equals. Whoever suggested Trelawney take the front plainly had no idea what he was doing. Sterling, the rear. Mr. Macfusty, stick to the middle—you'll make a good marker if the back end starts to fall behind," she added with a wry smile, an expression that shifted to a grimace as a locust flew into her eye.

---

The following 1 user Likes Maeve Connolly's post:1 user Likes Maeve Connolly's post
   Elsie Kirke

---

— #PrettiesByMJ —

Miriam Trelawney Frederick Townsend Kentigern MacFusty Mason Skeeter Clifford Goyle Thaddeus Davies Maeve Connolly Benedict Sterling

The group's procession through the trees is largely uneventful - until they reach the lake. The fog hangs thin over it, leaving the lake fairly conspicuous. The water is tinged a faint pink, with a dark red circle - a circle which is expanding - hanging somewhere in the center. The air is still off - and a cracking branch somewhere behind them and a creeping sort of silence suggests that Group E is being watched.

---

The next 'prompt' post will be after either 48 hours have passed from the time of posting (2:00 PM EST on July 7th*) or after every member of the party has posted one time if this occurs before that deadline. Please remember that you must post within 72 hours to continue participating. :)

  

---

Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

Mason was more than content to let the little, yet certainly capable, Miss Connolly take charge of the situation. She barked orders like she knew what she was doing and so Mason lumped into the group accordingly as they approached the lake.

What they came across was as eerie as it was unsettling. Even the air seemed to pause, hanging there in anticipation, but the lake. The lake was decidedly not normal. Pink was not a common color for water, nor was he sure about that odd ring forming near the middle. "Suppose it's poisoned?" That was his only logical guess- though he didn't have long to ponder it as he whipped around a crack of a branch nearby. In the odd silence of the woods at the moment, the sound stuck out in increasing  contrast.

---

The following 1 user Likes Mason Skeeter's post:1 user Likes Mason Skeeter's post
   Aldous Crouch

Meer didn't like this.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up at the sight of the lake. She could take or leave the sensation that they were being observed - yeah, whatever, the fog was creepy, she'd been living with it longer than the rest of this lot - but the lake. That was the lake people here fished in, swam in. It was the lake that Meer boiled water from so it was good for drinking and cooking. She took Theo for walkabouts around it.

Mr. Skeeters words had her more nervous; she grimaced. "I'm going to check out the lake water," she said, "You all can check that out or one of you can come with me, doesn't matter to me."

That announced, she took off for the shore of Lake Greer.

---

  

She shot a don't be an idiot glance in Trelawney's direction, but it was too late—she had already taken off for the shoreline. Maeve was disinclined to follow.

"The worst thing we can do is split up," the redhead pointed out loud enough for the departing witch to hear, voice confident in spite of the fact that the hairs at the back of her neck stood on edge: something was wrong about this place.

---

  

---

— #PrettiesByMJ —

Frederick was a bit disappointed that his jibe at Miriam hadn't elicited any response, but he was used to her ignoring him whenever she couldn't think of something clever to say. The Lady Lepruchaun, however, was a new feature, and Frederick was decidedly against taking orders from her — mostly just because she had the audacity to assume she was in a position to give them, when they certainly hadn't ever gotten together as a group and voted on that.

Through both a desire to further annoy his sister-in-law and the idea that he might be inconveniencing Lady Lepruchan, he decided to follow Miriam towards the lake, leaving the rest of the group behind to deal with the noise. Probably neither were very dangerous in actuality — noises from unknown sources had become the norm when visibility only extended a few feet in front of one, and the lake... well, the lake was more worrying, but there was probably an explanation. Maybe the lack of light had caused some sort of algae to grow within the water that had turned it that color. Maybe it was full of eggs for whatever the next Biblical Plague visited upon the two towns would be. Or maybe it was poisoned, but it was hardly as though he planned on taking a bath in it.

  

The journey through the trees was uneventful and they were soon upon the lake. The fog was quite thin over it which Tiger made mental note of. The lakes contents were also suspect. Mister Skeeter voiced a theory about the lake possibly being poisoned. That seemed a good guess as any to him though he didn't even have time to respond as the sound of a branch cracking drew his attention. The feeling that settled under his skin was one of being watched from a distance. He didn't care much for being made to feel like prey but that was exactly the vibe this whole situation was giving him.

  

---

The trek was largely uneventful, but the first sight of the lake was so disorienting that Thaddeus felt his stomach knot in dread. "Poison, yes. I wonder if Irvingly residents have been affected by the water at all, or of this is a new development," he said thoughtfully.

But the crack of a branch drew (almost) everyone's attention to it: Miss Trelawney and Mr Townsend headed for the lake, and although Thaddeus was also interested in the water he chose to stay put - far be it from him to question the advice of an Auror. He hardly minded Miss Connolly's commandeering of the group, instead thinking that as an experienced Auror and (if the rumors were to be believed) practical sort, it made sense that she should lead. Thaddeus kept one eye on Maeve and the other on the expanse of forest where the sound came from, hand on his wand as he waited.

  

---

Avatar courtesy of Bree! <3