The Sluagh

Ugh... The Sluagh aren't exactly a piece of cake, boss... and while some may think that only seeing one is a good thing?  I don't think so.  Everything I've been able to dig up says that they are part of THE Wild Hunt.

They feast on the souls of the dead.. and the Park is full of that.  That thing's been sucking at the Park like a child on a teat, and it's been glutting.  The Sluagh are nightmares when they have to share... what the hell is this thing gonna be like after it's been devouring the dead alone for who knows how long?

It got away from us, Boss... it's able to fly.  What if this thing can get past the fog?  What if it gets to the mainland?  

The shit is going to hit the fan if this thing calls its kin... we need to track the bastard down. Do we really want the Wild Hunt called down in the middle of New York?  ~Agent Sanders, CoV Harrier Investigations

Chamberlain

The history buffs among you may remember the story of Joshua Chamberlain.  Others may have had to pull out their devices to access google.  But it becomes clear, very quickly, that the 'riddle' this wisp gave was perhaps the most literal.

Chamberlain was a General who fought with his men at the battle of Five Forks - April of 1865 - despite having been severely injured in June of 1864.   He died 50 years after his wound, from complications OF his wound.

It fits the riddle perfectly.

And of course, you remember where he was last seen.  Your intelligence report shows that he has been seen haunting the tracks of the Roller Coaster, and you had caught a glimmer of a ghost there earlier.

So to the Roller Coaster you go again.  The weight of being watched has lifted, a little... but the air still feels heavy... it still feels different from how the air usually feels in this little slice of purgatory.  

The riddle said to 'free the knife', and so you assume that you must remove some sort of spectral blade from the ghost of this General in order to break the hold of whatever has taken the Park... or at least, some of you think this.

But these thoughts are interrupted as you hear the most hair-raising scream you have ever heard.  Wendigo cannot compare to the agony that ripples in the air... from above you.

There, on the tallest point of the Coaster Tracks, you see something devouring the ghost you had been meant to free.  Its shadowy maw opens, and bit by bit it shoves chunks of that ghostly essence into its gullet.

Joshua Chamberlain is truly gone before any of you can think to try to take action.  And the thing... sees you.  With a graceful leap it jumps from the tracks, plummeting towards the ground.  Before it would hit, shadowy wings lift, breaking its momentum to allow it to hit the ground on all fours and hiss at your collection of exorcists.

It does not attack you.  It screams at you, and for a moment, you feel the urge to run.  Something primal in you recognizes that this is something that will do more than kill you... you will cease to exist.

But it does not attack.  It twists about, taking great leaps towards the fence... towards the cliff...and then it is gone.

---

No sooner has someone brought up trying to find the Boogeyman to ask what the hell has been haunting his Park does he show up, his strange waddle and twisted gentlemanly appearance truly disturbing in its gaiety this time.
  He doesn't try to kill you. There is at least that much.
  "Such a pleasure to have such chivalrous 'knights' defending the homestead... let me give you a hint, sweetlings..."

  Come in from the West to steal the dying - to make brother fight brother and bring on the crying.
  Come in from the Night to feast on the bones, so rarely spotted yet so rarely alone...
  Beware little bee for I will be blunt... they rideon the winds of the great Wild Hunt!

He leaves you, his creepy laugh echoing in the wind as he blends with fog and mist.  The Boogeyman controls his home again.

Sideshow Alley

Pride goeth before the fall - and Pride was the answer to the riddle of the Octotron.  There is only one wraith left... and the fact that Ayn Rand is the Wraith of Pride makes so much sense it makes your teeth ache.  

The information that is reported to you makes it clear she may be extremely dangerous.  There is no clear delineation of safety within the rows of booths... being anywhere near them may actually cause trouble.  But she haunts the booths, flickers of movement and sound being the only clue as to where she might be.

You need to find her to exorcize her... and you need to survive the finding.  Even as you think of this, you see the rush as she slides through a zombie, its essence trailing after her as she fades into the walls of another booth.  

Good luck.

---

Rand was a bitch.  She flit from booth to booth, avoiding you with all the ease of the wind for quite some time.  It took teamwork to pin her down and force the tie to this world to break, and she refused to give you so much as a glimmer of satisfaction in sound. There was no scream, no wail, no begging or bargaining.  She went out in death as she lived in life - with unapologetic pride.

That weight of being watched is almost crushing you, your heart hammering.  For a moment, you almost wonder if you are setting something free... or if it has decided to come for you for daring to remove its toys.

But the thought is broken by the appearance of a wisp, its voice stronger than the others.  This poor little spirit must have been newly shackled.

Free the guide who won the Five Forks.

Remove the knife that ended the life a jubilee later.

The Octotron

Envy... You have begun to put together the theme of these riddles... they speak to the sins of man.  Upon the review of your information, you realize that there are only two wraiths left... and the only Wraith that could be truly envious would be Eddison.  He stole his ideas from apprentices, he tried to ruin Tesla.. 

He haunts the Octotron.

He doesn't just haunt it.  He sets it to running and he rides it.  He rides it, and lets his scythe sling out to take the heads from the various zombies that shuffle through.  And as he rides, their anima is sucked into the octotron, gathered for some unknowable purpose.  

It becomes clear that you will not be able to get too close... not if you like having your head on your shoulders.

---

Eddison did not go easily either.  He fought his exorcism with slashes of his scythe and a machine that spins faster, faster, faster!  Ever faster and harder until you almost feared that one of the cars would fly off and crush you beneath its momentum-fueled flight.  That wasn't hte worst of it.  The worst was actually when the exorcism succeeded.  He laughed.  He laughed as if it were the grandest joke to have ever graced the air.

That laugh slid down your spine and curled in your gut.  The sensation of being watched has increased, and it is actually making your palms sweat.  Nausea roils through you as the expected wisp rises and speaks its riddle in tremulous whispers..

Though some would gladly show this to their very worst foe, 

most would sooner lose their sons than ever let it go.

The Shed

The wisp spoke of greed.  It spoke of a void that can never be filled, and upon approaching the shed it may be unclear as to why it would suggest such a thing.  True enough, the Wraith that haunts the shed is Frederick Vanderbilt, son of the infamous historical William Vanderbilt... but why would such a creature be haunting such a slapdash shed?  

From your right, you hear a scream as one of the few survivors on the island runs screaming from one of the larger and obscenely muscular zombies.  She sees you, and races towards you hoping you can rescue her - help her!  But despite you trying to wave her off... she runs straight through the strange ground surrounding the shed.  She does not make it far. 

The ground churns, her legs sinking into the mud.  Her screams will echo in your ears, as will the sound of the crunching and gurgling that she makes as the wraith slices her into pieces... and bits of anima seep from the wounds to enter the wraith's essence.  The Zombie suffers the same... but at least it does not scream...

---

Vanderbilt does not go easily.  He rises from his nest of gore-covered soil, trails of anima wisping after him as he races towards you.  But he is drawn up short, as if he has run into a wall.  He circles, faster and faster trying to find some way out of his cage... but you are able to finally subdue him.  

Your heart pounds in relief as you see an absurd amount of anima explode from his exorcized shape before he fades... 

And then your heart sinks when you see yet another wisp of green hue rise from the remains of the woman's throat, blinking and growing as its voice trembles through your skull...

Always there, never here... Live to love, hate to live.

Feed on passion, always hungry! Ever seeking, never finding..

Wait.. Wait... always too late...

The Roller Coaster

You've followed the clue.  The blue wisp spoke of a Knight, and who better to represent the knight than General Custer himself?  According to your reports, the General haunts the Roller Coaster... and here it stands in all of its glory.  As your gaze looks over the twists and turns, the dangerously-close branches from untrimmed trees, and the constant miasma of fog and cloud cover... you spot a shimmering ghost trailing along one of the uppermost tracks.  

But that ghost is not your target.  Your target is the Wraith of the infamous General Custer.  He stays so still he almost seems a statue.  The wind blows leaves across the platform, but his robes do not move.  The cars are quiet.  Actually, everything near the coaster seems to be quiet. There is no gurgling of Zombies or shuffling of feet.  There is no sound save for the faint whisper that begs for you to come closer...

come closer child...

Even with no face, this Wraith seems to be staring at you.  Daring you to come within his territory and put yourselves at his mercy.

I will protect you...
.. I will shield you...

---

Your first exorcism in this place resulted in a wailing and screaming as the Wraith faded away... but General Custer does not wail.  He does not scream!  He simply... fades, as his body is discorporated by the attacks from all angles.  And from the ground where he stood, there rises a green wisp that flickers as if it is about to twinkle out of existence.  Thin, and weak, its voice whispers out into your ears.

But despite Custer's wraith having left this world, you feel as if the pressure of being watched has increased, not faded.  You feel as if you have gained something's attention.

The sensation makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end...

An empty void where all the gold in the world may be thrown..

Yet never shall I be filled.  

I am within everyone... release me... to find peace...

The Bumper Cars

Welcome to the Park.

Upon arrival it becomes clear that the Park is a creepy, haunted place. If the walking dead weren't enough to tip someone off, the shimmers of movement that disappear when you look at them would be enough to set teeth on edge. But some of you have been here before. You know the feel of it. You know the oppressive weight in the air - and this is different. If the Park had a soul, Nathaniel Winters was it. And that soul, from the sensation of the air around you... is afraid. Not of you. No. Winters was too arrogant to ever be afraid of anyone. Not the Illuminati. Not the Phoenicians... not the Bees that all sides try to bring to their folds. No, this is something different. This air is tinged with a new Malice. A new hunger.

The investigative reports given over by Orochi were, as always, not detailed enough.  This should have been noted.  Surely someone lived long enough to notice this new air in the Park? 

But now you are here, Visitor... and you have a job to do.  Turn your eyes to the Bumper Cars, for their lights are lit and the cars are humming.  Obviously, something knows you are here... and it is inviting you to dinner.

~Buzzzzz~

Yeah.  Park is creepy, I get it.  And yeah, I've heard that some people can almost hear a new voice on the wind whispering to them.  The trick, kids, is to remember that YOU can control your sanity.  Let the place trip itself up on your heads... just remember the old tried and true techniques.  Deep breath, center... and keep your footwork steady.  Keep an eye out for the wraith.. they don't always look like you'd expect.  ~Agent Erica Sanders, Council of Venice Investigations

*Last minute Identification: Sitting Bull

---

The wailing screams of the Wraith as it died away was expected.  The slight pressure built in the eardrums and the 'pop' afterwards was not. Whatever experience you may have, the glow of something else rising from the place where the Wraith seemed to anchor itself is surprising.

The blue light of the Wisp is radiant, lighting the Bumper Cars in a fashion that almost brings the place back to the innocence it must have once held - it brings a touch of hope, and nostalgia.  But the riddle it left you with... that is what catches your attention.

The wraiths that have attached themselves to this Park are not part of old Winters' original plans.  The place is a whirlpool of death, and perhaps that could explain a few wraiths coming in... but the knowledge that one of them was intentionally silencing a spirit?

The fact that spirit had a riddle to leave for your ears?  This can't be coincidence.  What new dark plan is taking shape here in the Park?  Could it have consequences for the world, or will it just make this little slice of doom and death a little worse?

I stand beside the Holy Man

The monarchs fear my wrath.  

None may move the way I can, 

Ever the Crooked Path.