>>6094502Master Reinhold's quarters are only slightly less austere than the rest of the bedrooms. The large portrait is an obvious luxury, but aside from that everything else is just slightly... nicer than everything else you've seen. The writing desk in the corner seems well-used, and you immediately start searching through the drawers. After a moment, you find a slim journal and quickly flick through the pages.
The first entry you read describes Leigh's arrival and immediate capture. But Leigh is soon forgotten when the woman enters the scene. Reinhold mentions putting her in a room, but you searched each one – there were no signs of blood, no soiled sheets or stained bandages. It doesn't make sense.
“What's this about a great tree?” Juno wonders, reading over your shoulder. Moving back, she starts to search through the other drawers until she comes up with a simple, hand-drawn map. It's hardly a precise instrument, but it gives a few landmarks – such as they are – scattered throughout the forest, a particularly large tree amongst them.
“So this woman was leading the men to this great tree, to fulfil some kind of “promise”, whatever that means,” you muse, “The tree is clearly important, but... are you listening?”
“What? Yes!” Juno insists, her gaze snapping back into focus, “We'd better check on Leigh, don't you think?”
-
When you return downstairs, you find Ariel holding Leigh at gunpoint. The young man sits opposite her, sweat beading on his forehead as he tries not to move. “He kept pacing around,” Ariel explains, noticing your dubious look, “It was annoying. So I sat him in that chair and told him that I'd blow his brains out if he moved a muscle.”
“Listen...” Leigh whispers, “She's talking to us...”
“And he keeps saying that,” Ariel adds with a scowl, “I hope you've got a plan, or at least some good news.”
>There's a great tree at the centre of all this. We need to go there>We need to get out of here. We'll try the path again and again until it works>Give me a minute alone. Maybe I can learn something from this song>I've got a plan... (Write in)>Other