traveling to Newport:
Nigel sent the group off te Newport, Oregon. They stopped over in Eugene where they partook in the open air market of odds and ends. Kerrigan, naturally assumed it was all bunk.
From there the group meandered up the coast to Newport.
The Grand Victorian
The group was able to check in the Grand Victorian, a BnB turned rental property where their contact lived; one Melanie de'louis. A classic new age / mystic / airhead. Apparently she makes her living selling new agey knicknacks out of online or out of her basement apartment, with a sideline of tarot and palmistry. Needless to say, she was not taken too seriously.
The group were given several 'missions'; check out the lighthouse and find out what was up with the local Wendego population.
The Trouble With Ley Lines
The group headed a bit east, and introduced themselves to the local Yaquina tribe. There they met the Sweetwater family, most notably one Rebecca. After talking for a while the party decided to hire Rebecca as a local guide. She took the rest of the day off from her job as Sentry Market teller (provided so nicely by dear old dad) and head off into the wilderness of the coast range.
The group meandered for a bit, and was eventually ambushed, surprised by some Wendego at the summit of a mountain, where a shaman type was doing something or other in a Fairy Ring. Much shooting and panic later, the shaman died, somehow setting off a 'disturbance' in the local ley line network - causing only a minor earthquake downstream in LA.
This got the locals rather riled, so the group ran like hell to the Jesuit 'Recluse' where they stayed for a bit to rest and recuperate.
A day later when the group left? A running battle with the Wendego biker gang who had decided to ambush them. The leader was notable for his ability to summon and dismiss a Harley on command. This trick did not serve him to well when Kerrigan took matters into her own hands and backed over him twice while the rest of the group fought off the rest and worked to clear the dead fall across the road.
From there they ran to Yaquina, which had been fortified based on the groups cell phone calls back in the Mission. A fun little battle was had, and the group decided to retire back to Newport for a hot bath. After, of course, Kerrigan managed to run over the Death Head bikers once or twice with the Van – accidentally on purpose. Of course, he survived.
The Lighthouse
For something completely different, the Ghost Hunter team decided to investigate a rumored haunting. You see, Newport has this lovely Lighthouse. Its a rather important tourist attraction, with 'light' shows every dawn and dusk. There's just something idyllic about a lighthouse with a 10,000 candle bulb firing off its beam at sunset.
It turns out that there have been several reports over the years to strange goings ons out on lighthouse island, from priests trying to perform an exorcism going mad, to a winter caretaker slaughtering his family around the turn of the last century, to stories of the Yaquina tribe exiling criminals there to die. All sorts of potential negative psychic emanations, to quote Melanie.
In any event, Rebecca was able to borrow one of the families fishing boats to take the team out the island of said lighthouse – a featureless slab of rock generally home to Seals.
Soon enough the group was clambering rocks and traversing the 'path' to the lighthouse. Never mind that the isle was obviously not set up for visitors. And never mind that the door was locked. In spite of all of these obstacles the group - with a little help from Kerrigan and her 'doors are optional' skillset - was able to enter the building without incident.
The group traveled up and down the four levels, looking for clues. There were some odd stains on the wall, and the third floor held some sort of small computer system; the automation system for the light, but nothing obvious jumped out at them. So they took some scrapings of the 'odd stains', set up some monitoring equipment and meandered off.
That night Simon was seen being sociable and talking pleasantly with a woman in the bar, and Kerrigan was brought in by the local police for streaking on the main street.
Obviously something was very wrong.
So Rebecca and Steve gathered up the other two and took them to the hospital for a once over. This lead to a few akward questions about hallucinogenic substances and other activities, which were luckily answered to the satisfaction of the hospital staff. Form there the group dropped off their 'stain sample' at the Oregion Health Sciences Institute in Portland, and review the footage with Melanie. Her opinion? Some sort ... entity? or Wisp? was inhabiting the electronics in the lighthouse. Not long after the group took a call from a Dr. Ellis LaMont, who let them know there was something distinctly off about the fungus in the 'stain'. Perhaps necromancy? Overall she wasn't completely certain though.
Armed with this information, Melanie made the group some sort of 'exorcism toaster' device, with a crystal jammed into one of the sockets wrapped in aluminum. Don't ask.
And so the group returned to the lighthouse, and plugged in the toaster which started to glow a bit. Simon, being ever helpful, decided to 'supercharge' the deivce by hitting it with a stun rod. The effect was immediate: whatever was in the computer attacked them, and some sort of 'distortion field' centered on the toaster began to rapidly expand. The end result was the group ran for their lives, sort of defeating the entity while avoiding getting sucked into the doodaad.
A few days later the group got a call that something was 'seriously' wrong at the lighthouse. So they went back to investigate. The light house was filled with some sort of 'acidic' goo. So, a quick run to the hardware store to load up on bleach, baking soda, and Molotov cocktail material! This time Grandpa Sweetwater piloted the group out to the island himself on the tribe fishing boat. Never mind his penchance for wearing a yellow parka and sneakers. And not a whole lot else.
The group decided to 'take a peek', with Kerrigan approaching from the top floor thanks to a bit of climbing gear. They opened the main door went inside a bit, and yep! There was said goo. They poked at it. A pseudopod poked back. Hard. Needless to say, the end result of this was a very scorched lighthouse.
As it turns out, the electrical entity had created their own balanced ecosystem somehow. The entity was either supressing the growth or feeding on the fungus. Removal of the one? Total Chaos.
Team: 1
National Historical Monument: 0
Such is the life of a Ghosthunter.
Agate Beach vs. The Death Head biker Gang
Meanwhile, just a bit up that coast at Agate Beach, there was still the Wendego problem to deal with. The group had been in contact with Nigel and he pointed them towars an Alfred Gowan (aka Ayyef McGowan), just your typical couple mellinia cold gaul who happens to own a book and curiosity shop in Agate Beach. You see, what promped this line of inquery was the fact that the group did a bit of digging in between the lighthouse assualts. They put a 'tracking' spell on a bunch of rubber ducks and mapped the caverns under Agate Beach leading to Devils Cauldron. They then were able to find a group of Wendego guarding a cavern up on a mountain. Combat! Excitement! Giant acid spitting lizards! The group managed to survive, and amongst the bodies they cound a book with odd celtic markings on it. A bit of research later, and poof in the shop of Mr. Gowan.
He did not claim knowledge or ownership over the activites of the Wendego, saying they were a transient gang that had settled in recently. A few leads later, the goup was off to talk with the local Wendego tribe near Stiles, Oregon. Long story short, they found one Miss Berulah, in all Mumu covered 400 pounds of glory sitting in a rocking chair on her porch. She told them, in her own pecular broken english, that the newcommers had displaced them from the sacred sites, and were stirring up danger. Oh! and the group should not go wandering around in the dark near Bear Lake, Idaho.
So armed with this info, and the blessing of Nigel, Alfred (Ayyef) and Berulah, the group decided to assualt the underground Wendego lair. A bit of spelunking here, a little sneaking there, adn the group came to the 'guard post' of the underground structure. Which, if anyone has failed to pointed out, was definitely some sort of temple dedicated to Morrigu and the Green Man. In the Pacific Northwest. At least 2000 years old....
Moving on then! What followed was your classic 'sceak up and surprise' plan turned into 'scream and leap' when it all went south. The most notable thing? The tribe leader shooting at the group from across the cavern with his Desert Eagle, while dessicating his friends with some sort of temple inorder to regenerate. Oh and there was a Raven swarm as well.
But hey. The group got a nice Harley out of it....