To: Ouija Board of Directors
From: Mr. Opfer (Vacation Planner)
Re: Scouting Locations for Summer Retreat (Wendigo)
It is that time of the year again! Gather 'round agents, leave your assignments, notebooks and eccentricities behind and let's go out on vacation.
I know our last three retreats were not as a smashing a success as we intended. How was I to know that the Stanley Hotel in Colorado has its own haunted history? Blame it on Stephen King and later Stanley Kubrick, for making the Overlook larger than life and giving it all a nice coating of fiction. Last summer in New Orleans was not particularly safe either, though both voodoo loa and vampires were quite satisfied after we signed on the Lafayette #1 treaty. Don't start me with Ipswich, Massachusetts. Some of our amateur astronomers/Lovecraft lovers got a bit more than they bargained for when trying to find the location of Innsmouth. Let's say there are plenty of other states from which we can watch the gibbous moon...
But let's bring this train of thought back to the station. The idea of a holiday is always exciting and I have found us this wonderful place in the northern woods of Minnesota. (Mental note: The BBQ here is excellent! The guy who looks over cabin rental just got me a plate of this delicious marbled meat. It is medium rare, a little drippier than I usually take it, but darn it, I can't avoid a second helping!)
Where was I? Oh yeah, Minnesota woods. It is like visiting another planet. Can't believe we can still find places with minimal industrial footprints. I've never seen skies so blue and nights so stunning. So lively it is that it never grows really dark. Nights are indigo showered with stars as far as the eye can see and there is this constant call of wind rushing through the trees that sounds like howling. (Just another note for fun's sake. This you might like because you know, you are a little weird and all. Hmm... for the last couple of nights I have seen shadows in the clear around the cottage. Has to be the trees. Though most are pine, natural light plays around with it all. I have found myself guessing what I'll see next. Sometimes those shadows look like a man, sometimes a deer or a stag. Once in a while couple of stars shining through the canopies remind me of a wolf during a stalk. I actually enjoy playing guess the shadow. Though one thing has nothing to do with another, the more I give myself onto this game, the hungrier I get.)
As I was saying, the woods are full of game and wildlife, for those of you who like to hunt or simply watch nature in all its glorious display. There are pathways and trails that go around the campgrounds. (Though lately, I have been exploring by myself, off the beaten path. I have found an amazing number of unmarked caves. I know that some of your agents enjoy spelunking. These are fairly undisturbed chasms that connect to water springs below. And I say fairly undisturbed because there are paintings in these caves, quite amusing, by the way. They chronicle beings as tall as trees and thinner than woodchips that move about unseen, devouring everything in their path, be man or beast. One must congratulate the natives on their imagination. Who would have thought about shadows cleaning a man to a bone?)
And yes! I even found out a way to encourage the nerdiest of your agents to be "outdorsy". There's still Chippewa natives living around the adjacent lands. They are very warm people, given to share stories. I bet they will welcome your book worms and their questions. They don't seem to be too fond of Mr. Deekanibal, the proprietor of these cabins. But then, who am I to interfere with little neighbor scuffles? (Oh, dear God! This is so unprofessional, but this meat is real good! Finger licking stuff. Not as gamy as venison and a bit firmer than pork, but I am pretty sure that a raw serving will bring out the flavor even more...Wait up. I thought this was pork loin but it has bone... a couple of bites and there's stringy muscle and... I think this is an ulna, a human bone hidden within all this delicious meat. It is funny, I should be gagging, but actually, I just want more. No problem. I have started to notice the more I eat, the greater crave rises, the more weight I lose, so there is always room for another bite.)...
From: Ouija Board of Directors
To: All Available Agents
1. It is hereby decided, that in the future, all civilian vacation planners subcontracted by our organization must be accompanied by a trained agent when scouting locations for our summer retreats.
2. Hope you enjoyed the 4th of July weekend, because as of this moment all vacations are recalled. We are heading to Minnesota and this is our target:
Locate and contain a human soul that has shifted into the spirit world by means of magic. It can be anywhere in the range of ten to fifteen feet tall, however pay mind to your surroundings; the apparition is only perceivable if there is a face to face encounter.
Being so thin, it can easily blend in or walk by without minimal interference with the landscape. Look for glowing eyes, elongated yellow fangs and overtly long tongues. Our target can present both mange and raw skin. There are variations that sport dried patches of yellow flesh and tufts of hair. It is in a constant state of hunger and will resort to violence when locking a prey and by prey we mean anything that moves, including you.
Unfortunately, Mr. Opfer is no longer with us. Our attempt of vacation has become a Wendigo hunt. We are looking for both the creature and the witch that turned our beloved travel agent into a monster.
