C-BAD-017
Barista: Travis Norris
Date: Jan-10-2020
Receipt: C-BAD-017
Subject: Omens
And that's the ███ █████, served. Another satisfied customer—though I reckon he's more a patron of the Wyrm than the Cafe. He's come back with us for drinks. Seems settled. Which is good—buys us time to figure out what the hell he actually is. But Icky was right—friendly fella if'n it ain't your time to die yet. Though he sure as hell tried to get us as close as he could. Thank God Julia came along. Not sure we'd be standing here if she hadn't.
S.O.T.
[The group had climbed the last ridge toward Dowth, boots crunching against frostbitten grass. The air was thick, heavy, every breath dragging like they were wading through something unseen. And then—silence. Below them, in a valley swallowed by an otherworldly mist, it waited.]
Travis: Hold.
[The ███ █████ stood. Still as stone. A void of shifting shadow. Its eyes burned—not red, not yellow, but white. Like the last flicker of a dying star. Its breath fogged the air, slow and steady. Like it had all the time in the world.]
Katherine: It's not moving.
Ichabod: It don't need to.
[The valley itself shuddered. The mist curled tighter, shadows twisting along the ground like ink spilled across the land. Then, the hound lifted its head.]
Julia: Oh.
[Then—the howl. Not just sound. A force. █ ██████ ████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████, ███████ ███████ ██████. ███ ██████ ███████. ███ ███ ██████.]
Travis: MOVE!
[███ █████ ████████. ███████ ████████ ████ ███ ███ █████'█ ███—███████, ██████████, █████████. █ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ███████, ██████ █████, ██████ █████, █████—███████. ███████ ███ ███ ████ ██ █████, ███████ ██.
█████████ ████ ███ ███ █████. ███ █████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ █ █████ ██ ██████, ███████ ███ ████████ ████, ████ ████████, ████ ████████—████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██, ████████ █████.]
Katherine: Bad dog!
Ichabod: Hold him, Ms. Wade! Now!
[███████ █████ █ █████ ████ ███ ███, █████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ██████—███ ████ ███████. ███ ███████ ██████, ████ ████████, ████████ ████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ ████ ████.]
Ichabod: Well, shit.
[███████ ████ ███ ███ ███████, █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ████, ████████ ██ ██████ ██████. ███████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████ █████. ███ ████ ███ ███████ ████████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████. ███████ ████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ ████ ████ █████████ ███ ██ ███ ███████.
The ███ █████ moved like lightning. ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████, ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ████, ████████ ███████ ███████. ███ █████ ███ █████—█████████ ███████, ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ █████████████. ██████ █████ ████ █████ ████, ████ ██████ █████████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ████.]
Travis: This ain't good! What now?
[Then—Julia stepped forward. No weapon. No shield. Just open arms.]
Julia: It's okay. Come here.
[███ ████ ██ ███ ███ ██████—████, ██████ ████████. █ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ███ ████. ███ ███ █████—███████. ███ ███████ ███████, █████████. ████, ██████, ████ ████. ███ ████ ██████ ████. ███ █████ ███████. And beneath their feet, something ancient rose. A barrow. The true barrow.
The ███ █████, held in Julia's arms, exhaled, slow, deliberate—contented.]
Ichabod: …Well. That was dramatic.
Travis: You're tellin' me. Hoo-wee—ain't seen nothin' like that before. Not even in November.
Ichabod: █████ ████ ███████ █████. ███ ██████████.
Travis: Mm… Jesus! Katherine, are you okay?
[█████████ █████ ███ ███████, ██████ ████████.]
Katherine: Yeah. Fine. ████… ████ ████ █████.
[███████ ██████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██ █████████. ████ █ █████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ███ ███ ███ █████████ ██████ ███ ████████.]
Ichabod: ████ ██████ ███ ███—████ ████ █ ███████.
Katherine: ██ █████ █ ███ ██ ██ ███ ████████.
Ichabod: Ain't that the truth. Say—Ms. Morningstar—what we gonna do with your new pup?
Julia: Do you think Eoin allows pets?
E.O.T.
Decaffeinate Receipt
“OGHVRDOILW.”
Cipher | 1 Word