June 13th, 2018
A press pass can get you pretty far when you flash it in just the right way. I was able to get into the holding cell for Pryce Bigsly. After a brief interview with him I’m pretty sure this is something that’d interest me.
See he was pretty well put together, all things considered, and didn’t strike me as someone who’d spin the yarn that a mummy tackled, strangled, and opened his friend’s throat. The exsanguination line in the news article that grabbed my attention was an exaggeration, but I might not’ve caught this one if it had been wholly accurate.
Anyways. He said they were out hiking the local hills, a dusty sunken balls of earth, when a husk dropped onto his friend. At first he thought it was a prank given how dry the body was, but it quickly turned deadly.
I won’t blame him for running. Most people would. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to really do a lot to get him out of trouble.
In the same trip I was able to secure a copy of the autopsy report. There’s more redacted than I’d like, but not everything can be easy. It lines up with what Bigsly relayed to me: the victim, Chris Conrad, was strangled and something brutally ripped his throat out.
June 14th, 2018
I took to walking some of the trails after hitting the local history was a bit of a bust. If I can find something out here to give me a further clue, it’ll help. Can’t fight something if I don’t know what it is and if it’s haunting the hiking trails, it’s only a matter of time before another victim crops up.
That’d be good for Bigsly, but bad for everyone else. And I don’t do this to help someone out of jail by sacrificing someone else.
Anyways. Time to rule some things out: this doesn’t feel ghosty to me. Ghosts are almost universally incorporeal. Sure, they can kill people but it doesn’t usually leave a mark. There’s also no real tragic events that might tie a wandering spirit to the hiking trails
that I could find. Bigsly’s description doesn’t match a werewolf or wendigo, it was too small,
and a vampire wouldn’t likely be out in the sun. Come to think of it, werewolf is out too since this happened during the day.
Sun got to me. Probably should’ve brought more water.
More speculation tomorrow.
June 16th, 2018
Dehydration headaches are no joke. I’m definitely not suited to this clime and walking out in the sun for extended periods of time. That being said, I did learn something new: this thing’s definitely a physical being.
I was out hiking a new trail (cops weren’t helpful in identifying just which one starred in the news article) and came across a scrap of cloth all tangled up in a tree. I took it back to my motel room. Looks old, but not ancient like what I’d expect a mummy to be wrapped up in.
Time to take a couple pictures and see if Dan is worth his salt.
June 17th, 2018
Okay. So Dan wasn’t directly helpful, but did lead me in a good direction for research. In South American folklore there’s this undead being called a Dry Body. They rise from incredibly selfish, cruel, and ruthless individuals. The kind of people who prey on others in life and come back in death to keep up the practice.
The corpse claws its way back out of the grave
in a desiccated form. The first legends of these things say that the church, likely Catholic, took one out onto an island and left it there because it couldn’t cross water. I don’t think that’s a solution here since this place is pretty arid. Another had the church delivering the body to a cave where it was trapped to call to on passersby.
I may need to make a trip to the local church. The assistance of a holy man may be in order and it probably won’t hurt to check the obituaries.
Maybe salting and burning is the path to salvation in this situation as well.
June 18th, 2018
DAMN IT.
Victim two has cropped up. Fortunately, I’ve been able to fully narrow down the trail I should be hitting up next. Thing is, I still don’t know how to beat this thing. Trail is a little hot with the cops right now so it, unfortunately, gives me time to read.
June 19th, 2018
Talking with the priest at Saint Mary’s church shared a story with me. In this story, involving a Dry Body, a friend of the Dry Body took it with him into exile to get it away from society. Every time the corpse attempted to attack the man, he beat it off with a stick.
Some things are vulnerable to wooden items. A vampire becomes inert, for example, if stabbed in the right spot. So it’s not inconceivable a Dry Body might suffer greatly from repeated exposures to a wooden object.
June 20th, 2018
Going out there tonight. I’m packing:
My iron knife
Accelerant and zippo
Silver knife
A wooden baton
And my trusty pistol
And more water than likely will be necessary. I’m hoping to find and beat this thing. Hopefully, the worst that happens is a level of exhaustion from an overnight hike.
June 21st, 2018
Who’d’ve thunk that a fancy stick would be the key to something? A wooden club is probably the earliest form of weapon mankind created and it’s still effective.
Found the Dry Body lurking in a tree. If I didn’t know what to watch for, it might’ve quite well gotten the drop on me. The wooden baton lived up to the hype in the legend and I was able to keep it at bay with it. A few minutes of pounding and the Dry Body’s desiccated skull was cracked open and the whole thing immobile.
I waited until dawn to verify that it wasn’t going to get up again. I also left my number with the local priest to call me back if anything of the like starts again.
Lessons learned: bring a longer stick next time.
Used in this post is a newspaper template from The GooDocs
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