Play@YSDC

OOC Info for everyone,I sent PMs to Coffee and DSIGFUSS after their characters' skill rolls. I'm waiting for one of them to post before carrying on. Jtull hasn't been online since I PMed him,so I'll NPC [b]Gwen [/b]for the moment.

What Maksim learns,Written in 1916 & 17 by the English author [b]Nigel Blackwell[/b], [i]Africa’s Dark Sects[/i] was eventually published in January 1924. It details [b]Blackwell’s [/b]investigations into several alleged African [i]Death Cults[/i]. The one of the largest chapters of the book details what he learned of the [i]Cult of the Bloody Tongue [/i]during his 1915/16 visit to [i]British East Africa [/i](renamed Kenya in 1920). [b]Blackwell’s [/b]investigation uncovered dark allegation and suspicions among many outlaying villages in the Nairobi region: tales of abductions during the night, and of the beheadings or ritual mutilations of any who dared cross the feared cult’s path. In all cases the skin of the victim’s forehead would be inscribed with the Cult’s rune. An illustration of the Cult’s rune is almost identical to the one carved into Jackson’s forehead by his murderers. Although he doesn’t witness any violence, or victims firsthand, Blackwell writes that he was taken to the scene of a recent murder – that of a local religious leader who dared stand up to the Bloody Tongue Cult. The body of the victim had already been cremated, but Blackwell wrote that the scene of the attack itself still bear the stains of the poor priest’s murder. The murder took place right in the centre of the village – a sign of the Cult’s power, and of the villagers’ fear. There is a large amount of information about the Kenyan cult in the chapter, although a great deal of it is conjecture, born out of the superstitious fears of the tribal villagers. The chapter also often tries to draw parallels with topics already discussed in other chapters, but [b]Maksim [/b]does not have time to cross-reference things or to read the entire book. There is doubtlessly more information to be learned from this book, if only he had a week to study it. While discussing the dark rumours about the Cult, [b]Blackwell [/b]makes no mention of the “great winged” creatures quoted in [b]Jackson’s [/b]Nairobi notes, but he does often refer to the Bloody Tongue Cult’s god as the [i]God of the Black Winds[/i]. He also states that the British Authorities, preoccupied with their own conflicts against the German forces of [b]Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck[/b] from neighbouring German East Africa have no interest in dealing with what they call “tribal infighting.” The final section of the chapter refers to a trip made by [b]Blackwell [/b]in February of 1916. [b]Blackwell[/b], accompanied by several native guides from the [i]Kikuyu [/i]tribe, journeyed deep into the Rift valley, north of Nairobi. And into the foothills of the mountains that overlooked the valley. His tribal guides bravely promised to take him to a ritual site of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue. Fortune was with the author, for a rite took place on the very night that he visited the site: [quote="Africa’s Dark Sects"] [i]“As the priestess whirled around the fire-lit circle, chanting dim words from an ancient spell, the cult executioners busied themselves with their screaming sacrifices. As the blood flowed, a chill wind sprang up, and I felt a flash of fear: the wind had become visible, a black vapour against the gibbous, leering Moon, and slowly my terror grew as I comprehended the monstrous thing taking form. The corrosive stench of it hinted at vileness beyond evil. When I saw the great red appendage which alone constituted the face of the thing, my courage died, and I fled unseeing into the night.”[/i] [/quote] These are the last words of the [i]Bloody Tongue [/i]chapter. Notably the [i]Cult of the Bloody Tongue[/i] appears to be the last such cult investigated by [b]Nigel Blackwell[/b].

Cthulhu Mythos roll,Cthulhu Mythos roll : rolled a 51 : fail http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1743091/

OOC Info for all,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC:[/b][/u][/color] I’m preparing a handout detailing what [b]Nethaniel [/b]and [b]Gwen [/b]find out from [i]Praesidia Finium [/i], but I’ll save it until a little later – I’ve assumed that this whispered conversation occurs early during your couple of hours in the [i]Black Library[/i] I also need to double check how big a bonus the book gives to [i]Cthulhu Mythos [/i]rolls, to see whether [b]Nethaniel [/b]gleaned additional information. [i]Praesidia Finium [/i]gives +8% skill, but I can’t remember what you multiply that by when the book is at hand. Depending on the multiplier Nethaniel may have passed the roll. Finally I’m waiting until I let home, or until someone makes a Mythos roll for [b]Gwen [/b]for me. She doesn’t speak/read Latin so she can only help [b]Nethaniel[/b], but if she makes her roll then she’ll provide an additional bonus to [b]Nethaniel’s [/b]Mythos skill.

OOC,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC:[/b][/u][/color] For information: this underground room isn’t all that big (not compared to the main reading room above anyway), it’s about 50-60 feet long, but is quite narrow (15-20 feet). I tried to find a suitable photo when you first came down here, but didn’t find anything that looked right (most libraries have windows ;)) It’s certainly big enough for Nethaniel’s plan to work though. Make an [i]Occult [/i]roll for Nethaniel, and a [i]Fast Talk[/i] roll. Unless both rolls are failures it’s unlikely that Wilson will so through the ruse. [color=#FF0000]Please make another IC post as well, to start the diversion.[/color] 8-)

OOC Info For All,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC:[/b][/u][/color] Here’s a copy of the PM that I previous sent Coffee Demon– in order to give context to this post: [quote="Raiko"] [quote="coffee demon"][b]Andrei [/b]sits at a table and stares at the folder, sweating. [i][color=#8080BF]The curse he talked about, the Guardian... funny, I would have laughed that off three weeks ago. But now... Maybe I already released it, at the Carlyle Mansion. Maybe that's what attacked us on the street last night.[/color][/i] He scratches the back of his neck roughly. [color=#8080BF] [i]But, I have to learn more if we're going to escape this madness. If they can assault our very dreams, well, guns aren't going to do any good. I need to be brave about this...[/i][/color] [b]Andrei [/b]throws a hurried glance over his shoulder, positive that he feels something watching him. [color=#800080]"To hell with you"[/color], he mumbles to himself, and opens the folder. [i][OC: If nothing immediately happens][/i]: [b]Andrei [/b]greedily scans the folder, looking for any diagrams or English/French/Russian text that seems important or familiar.[/quote] At first [b]Andrei [/b]is extremely disappointed - this photostatic copy is useless. Although it still contains most of the pages of curious dot-glyph cipher text, that [b]Professor Fiennes[/b] guy has removed most of the useful translations. [b]Andrei's [/b]own brief notes that he made from [b]Roger Carlyle's [/b]copy are more complete. Then he notices that someone - [i]Fiennes?[/i] - has circled or underlined various individual letters and numbers throughout the tome.[/quote]

OOC Info For All,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC: [/b][/u][/color] Asterisks represent unidentifiable characters – some of which may be spaces or punctuation, as such characters where included in the Professor’s cipher.

DSIGFUSS & Jtull,[color=#ff0000][b][u]OOC:[/u][/b][/color] I’ll PM quick details of what you learned from the Roman book tonight. I’ll post them into the actual forum as soon as I’ve tidied them up – I meant to write up a partially diary of some ancient goings on, but haven’t had time yet. Suffice to say that [b]Nethaniel[/b] has found a possible connection between the fog creatures and the attacks in Derbyshire, a connection that dates back to the 2nd Century. He might need to risk collecting a book from his shop though, in order to cross reference the locations.

Praesidia Finium,The codex [i]Praesidia Finium (Frontier Garrison)[/i] was written by [b]Lollius Urbicus[/b]. A Roman Governor at that time shared the same name, but this appears to have been written by someone else – probably either a high ranking soldier or a scholar. In either case they lived in the city of [i]Eburacum (York)[/i] eastern [i]Britannia (England)[/i] during the mid-second century AD. The codex details many mysterious happenings during this period, particularly with regard to the [i]Legio VI Victrix (the 6th ‘Victorious’ Legion[/i]). The section that [b]Nethaniel [/b]finds most interesting dates from the winter of a year that he and [b]Gwen [/b]estimate to be around 154AD – exact translation of Roman dates to the modern calendar varies from difficult to impossible. At that time most of the Legion were garrisoned in York, but they also spent much of their time north of [i]Vallum Hadriani (the Wall of Hadrian) [/i]working on the new defensive wall [i]Vallum Antonini (the Wall of Antonius)[/i]. The York garrison have been suffering “mysterious” nocturnal attacks, resulting in the deaths of several sentries, and the stealing / sabotage of weapons and supplies. The attacks seem ghostly in nature and mutiny is in the air amongst some of the superstitious Legionaries. [b]Urbicus [/b]suspects that the attacks have been perpetrated by survivors of the [i]Druid cult[/i], infiltrating from [i]Caledonia (Scotland) [/i]north of the wall. He also blames the Druids and their “dark arts” for the mysterious disappearance of the [i]Legio IX Hispania [/i]two decades earlier – the 6th were moved into Britannia to replace this lost legion. [b]Urbicus’[/b] suspicions are borne out when one of the mysterious druids is captured outside the garrison after a fresh attack. The prisoner is interrogated and, before his death, he reveals that the [i]“fog spawn” [/i]are hatched from eggs collected near an isolated hamlet in the highlands. The hamlet located “[i]North of Derventio” (a Roman Camp, in the location of modern day Derby)[/i] and [i]“West of Lindum” (Lincoln) “and the Rykneild Way” (a Roman Road)[/i]. This location would seem to tie in with the site of modern day [i]Lesser-Edale[/i], the location of attacks by the so called [b][i]“Derwent Monster.”[/i][/b] [b]Urbicus [/b]reports that a full Cohort of Infantry (approx 500 men, roughly a tenth of a Legion) have been dispatched to the hamlet to suppress the Druids. Later he reports that the operation appears to have been initially successful – with all of cultists being either killed in battle or captured and subsequently crucified. Several nights later however, while the moon was at its fullest, all contact with the Cohort was lost. The rest of the Legion was dispatched to investigate, and they found that the missing detachment had been slaughtered to a man, and the hamlet itself abandoned. [b]Urbicus [/b]reports that the cursed hamlet has been burned to the ground, lime strewn on all lands within a mile, and all historical record of the settlement destroyed.