IC: Johnny Stakes Out the Penhew Foundation

[Raiko]

Piccadilly, London - Outside the Ritz Hotel
5:10pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Johnny steps outside the Ritz Hotel onto Piccadilly. The street is crowded now with omnibuses, taxis and private automobiles, while the bustling pavements are full of pedestrians. Clearly the evening rush hour is every bit a busy in London as it is in New York.

The sun has almost set now, and the thickening fog has eliminated any trace of twilight. The streetlights are on now, illuminating the fog eerily.

Dover Street tube station is adjacent to the hotel, a short distance along Piccadilly, Elizabeth and Caroline used the tube to travel to the Penhew Foundation on Tottenham Court Road, changing trains at Leicester Square station.

[OOC: You could take the tube, or a taxi, or you could walk]

[Grafster]

Finally Johnny thinks to himself as makes his way down the steps. It's been a long time since San Francisco and he finds himself listening for the rings of the trolley cars.

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
5:40pm, Wednesday 28th January, 1925


The Penhew Foundation

Johnny boards a double-decker tram heading to Leicester Square, then after a few minutes wait, a second that takes him along Tottenham Court Road into Bloomsbury. The English trams are a little different to the streetcars of San-Francisco, but only superficially so, and the journey brings back fond memories although the second tram is very crowded.

As the tram passes the elegant building of the Penhew Foundation, Johnny rings the bell and steps off the tram at the next stop, about fifty yards further up Tottenham Court Road. The pavements here are still busy, with office and store workers rushing home from work for the evening. Johnny should have time to look around the outside of building with little chance of being noticed for the time being.

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
5:40pm, Wednesday 28th January, 1925

As he approaches the Penhew Foundation building, Johnny can see that the front gate is closed now, a brass plate is attached to the iron railings next to the gate:

Open to the general public:
Monday to Friday
8:30am to 5:00pm

Director - Mr Edward Gavigan

A uniformed doorman stands by the front door on the other side of the railings, he look bored and ready to leave. A few lights are still on inside the foundation, but it appears that most of the staff have already finished for the day.

The front door opens and two ladies, office workers perhaps, walk out. They wave to the doorman as they walk down the front steps, fastening their overcoats tightly and bracing themselves against the cold air.

The front gate isn't locked; the two ladies close it behind them as they walk out onto Tottenham Court Road. They then turn left and walk north along the foggy road, passing by Johnny without so much as a second glance.

[Grafster]

ooc
I'm assuming that Johnny doesn't see anyone else loitering around the building or following him. If he does he'll proceed very cautiously (and scrap the plan below).

Johnny pushes his hat up and looks up at the building as he approaches. This Penhew was either rich or very successful. Or he was doing more than just poking around in caves looks for old bones.

Shivering the he pulls his hat down and observes the office workers leaving. Gavigan probably hasn't left yet.

He continues limping slowly down the block on his cane planning making a quick circuit around the building. As he passes the front door he shoots a quick look into the entryway. Guard looks bored. That's a reasonably good sign.

ooc
Johnny will "case" the building, looking for alternate entrances, open windows, etc. The picture doesn't show an iron wrought fence (which was mentioned in the taxi ride) or does that refer to the littel stone thing that's encircling the building?
Is that a park next to the building or just an artistic touch?
It looks like there's a gap between the little stone thing and the building proper, in some buildings that would mean there are windows there, to allow a bit of light into the basement. If someone left one open it might be a good way in for a little man (though the little man has a bum leg so he's not to interested in getting acrobatic).

Generally speaking, if Johnny sees anything truly inviting he'll try a break in, otherwise his plan is to shadow Gavigan back to his house (or the club or wherever he goes after work)

[Raiko]

OOC: Oops, I meant to say in my post that the railings are there, but missing from the drawing.

It's actually a painting of a real building, rather than the fictitious Penhew Foundation, it's the Athenaeum Club which is the only real-life London building that I could find that closely matches the description of the Penhew Foundation, believe me I tried to find the perfect match.

I used a painting of the building rather than a photo as most photos show the third floor that was added later (the Penhew Foundation has two floors). Older photos tend be from the 1800's or the early 1900's and show horse drawn carriages, so the painting was the best that I could do for now.

Sorry, the picture's good enough to help visualise the building's architecture and general appearance, but don't read too much into it. It was fine for Elizabeth and Caroline as they just walked up to the building and entered through the front door, but I'll provide something more useful from Johnny's point of view (see below).

Here's some useful details:

1) There is a wrought iron railing around the building, it runs close (2ft) to the walls along both sides of the building; there's about ten feet between the railing and the front of the building; and it surrounds a larger 'loading area' at the back.

2) There is a basement/cellar with small windows.

3) There is a small park on the left-hand side of the building, outside the railing.

4) There is a side road along the right-hand side of the building, indeed the foundation building and the small park are surrounded by roads of varying widths.

I'll post a more detailed in-character description later of what Johnny sees as he cases the building and waits for Mr Gavigan to appear. You're mostly online after I've gone to bed, so I'll make sure that I post again before bedtime.

In place of the painting I'm hoping to post a Google Sketchup image of the building, providing I get time to make it. If I don't get chance then I'll at least post a simple 2d map of the surroundings.

I'm planning to use sketchup a lot in the future, both for online and tabletop rpgs, so it's not as much hassle as it sounds.

[Grafster]

ooc
Cheers for the RSS link!

The building is very awesome. I was imagining something completely different (something smaller, and probably what americans call victorian) so seeing it was a big help. And it looks so safe and inviting...

If it's really not a hassle then that would be awesome. Of course, since this is all just an innocent misunderstanding we won't really need any detailed drawings.

[Raiko]

OOC:

Sorry, I've not quite had time to write a new IC post for Johnny, I'll do it first thing tomorrow:

Here are four views of the Penhew Foundation Building. The model matched the floorplans in the book, rather than the painting that I used before (click on the thumbnails for a larger view).


Front


Rear


Right



Left

My IC post will describe the building correctly, here's a quick run down:

There are five visible entrances to the building:
1) A large double door at the front.
2) A Smaller backdoor / fire exit at the rear.
3) A metal goods entrance at the rear.
4) A Cellar / Basement door around the left of the building
5) A Coal Chute at the rear

All the windows are large 'French windows' approx 10' high.

Some of the windows are blacked out (not reflected on the model yet).

There are small basement windows, I've not added them in yet. Some of these are bricked up (all in the right/read of the building).

Sorry this took linger than expected as I've got rusty with sketchup & had a busy weekend.

I'm started work on some other buildings immediately, so the models for those should be available as soon as they appear in the game.

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
6:10pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Johnny takes his time walking around the Penhew Foundation building, noting all the entrances, all the windows, and any people that he can see.

The foundation is surrounded on three sides by roads, with a small tree-lined park against the other side. The six foot high iron railings completely enclose the building, and are only broken by the small front gate, and by a larger gated entrance into the loading area at the rear.

All of the first and second floor windows (ground and first floor to these Brits) are large rectangular French-style casements about ten feet high. None of the windows have been left open and most of the foundation is now unlit, although there are still one or two lights on in downstairs offices. The largest looking office has three windows, Johnny spots a tall fair haired man working inside who matches Elizabeth's description of Edward Gavigan.

Smaller windows at ground level along the sides of the building reveal the presence of a basement, these look to narrow to gain entry through and the rear most two on the right hand side of the building have been bricked over.

Other than the front door, most of the obvious entrances into the building are around the back: two doors lead inside from a cargo platform in the loading area, one is a wooden back door, probably a fire exit, and the other is a sliding metal goods entrance. There is also what looks like a coal chute built into the front of the cargo platform.

When Johnny passes by the rear of the foundation building the goods entrance is open - it appears to lead into an elevator, with another sliding metal door on the inside - several boxes are stacked inside the elevator. Five men are hanging around the loading area; the group is a mixture of people of Indian and Middle-Eastern ethnicity. They look shifty and watch all passers-by -- including Johnny -- suspiciously.

Johnny notices a handgun concealed inside the jacket of one of the Indians; he hastily continues walking past, turning into the park -- the thick fog works to Johnny's benefit now, as he is soon out of sight of the group of men.

From the park Johnny can see the final entrance to the Penhew Foundation, a short flight of stairs running along the side of the building from the loading area descend to a wooden door leading into the basement.

Arriving back around the front of the Penhew Foundation just after six o'clock Johnny sees that the doorman is no longer outside the front door. A few minutes later he emerges again, accompanied by the tall man and the last few office workers, all ladies, a second uniformed watchman is visible inside the entrance. The ladies wave goodbye while the tall man -- presumably Gavigan -- and the doorman lock up the front door and the gate. The doorman walks away north along Tottenham Court Road while the tall man heads south towards the city centre.

As Johnny prepares to follow Mr Gavigan he notices that the lorry that is turning down the side road alongside the Penhew Foundation is driven by another Middle-Eastern man -- through the fog Johnny can see it turn around the rear of the building, this truck must be what the shifty looking men were waiting for!

[OOC: I made an OOC post late last night that included Stetchup pictures of the building, that post is right above this one ]

[Grafster]

OOC:
Here are four views of the Penhew Foundation Building. The model matched the floorplans in the book, rather than the painting that I used before (click on the thumbnails for a larger view).

You sir, have done a bang up job! This is really fantastic! That looks professional level to me. I should figure out how to do that for my own games.

Johnny Johnny spots a tall fair haired man working inside who matches Elizabeth's description of Edward Gavigan.

"Good evening Mr. Gavigan, I'll be your shadow this evening." Johnny thinks to himself as he watches the man working.

Smaller windows at ground level along the sides of the building reveal the presence of a basement, these look to narrow to gain entry through and the rear most two on the right hand side of the building have been bricked over.

Johnny looks sourly at the bricked up windows. He feels like their presence is some sort of affront. Like a woman teasing him by wearing a tight dress.

When Johnny passes by the rear of the foundation building the goods entrance is open - it appears to lead into an elevator, with another sliding metal door on the inside - several boxes are stacked inside the elevator. Five men are hanging around the loading area; the group is a mixture of people of Indian and Middle-Eastern ethnicity. They look shifty and watch all passers-by -- including Johnny -- suspiciously.

Johnny notices a handgun concealed inside the jacket of one of the Indians; he hastily continues walking past, turning into the park -- the thick fog works to Johnny's benefit now, as he is soon out of sight of the group of men.

Johnny keeps moving robotically. But his mind is elsewhere, swarthy men, lurking about... The fog is cold and for a moment Johnny imagines that he could just pass into it. Disappear forever from the world, which seems infested with something dark.
The feeling passes though and Johnny completes his rounds.

Arriving back around the front of the Penhew Foundation just after six o'clock...while the tall man heads south towards the city centre.

As Johnny prepares to follow Mr Gavigan he notices that the lorry that is turning down the side road alongside the Penhew Foundation is driven by another Middle-Eastern man -- through the fog Johnny can see it turn around the rear of the building, this truck must be what the shifty looking men were waiting for!

Johnny looks at the departing Mr. Gavigan's back. It looks like we'll have to dance another time Mr. Gavigan. I'm afraid someone else is demanding my attention tonight.

Johnny works to find a good view point, to observe the men without being spotted. Insofar as it's possible he'll try to note details about the man and the vehicle.

OOC
Are there a lot of taxis around, so that Johnny could get in one if he wanted to follow the van?

[Raiko]

Johnny works his way around the building to get a good (and safe) view. When he get's around the back he sees that the truck driver is out of his cab talking to one of the Arabs. Johnny can't make out what they are saying, but it seems to be Arabic anyway.

The one of other Arabs and one of the two Indians work loading the crates into the back of the lorry.

Meanwhile the remaining two men seem to be standing watch, Johnny doesn't think they've spotted him.

[OOC: If the lorry leaves, Johnny could head back to Tottenham Court Road and easily hail a taxi. Hopefully the lorry won't get too far]

[Grafster]

Johnny works to stay out of sight and unnoticed, while eying the distance from his spot to some place he could catch a cab.

I'm just watching some immigrant laborers. Hard working chaps like my grandfather come over to Amer... or the West anyway," Johnny corrects himself "to make a better life for themselves."

He fingers the heavy weight of his pistol in his pocket. "I'll follow you gentlemen, who are probably moving paperwork, or some boring old native art, to the dull warehouse, just to be sure."

"Maybe the british take their art, or whatever, very seriously. That's why you've got two men standing watch. Nothing unusual."
Johnny scowls blackly.

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
6:20pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

The men finish loading the boxes into the truck, and close the tailgate..

Most of the men walk straight back into the Penhew Foundation building, through the goods entrance; one of the Arabs remains outside talking to the lorry driver for the moment, meanwhile one of the ‘sentries’ gets into the lorry’s cab on the passenger side.

It looks to Johnny like the lorry will be moving as soon as the driver finishes talking to his friend.

**********************

OOC:

Spoiler:

Johnny might have time to return to Tottenham Court Road and hail a taxi before the lorry even leaves if he goes now. This would require a successful Luck Roll, success means you get a taxi before the lorry goes. An ordinary fail would mean that the lorry leaves, but the taxi catches up easily. Rolling 96+ means that it takes ages, Johnny would have to guess which way the truck went to stand any chance.

Alternatively he could wait a see if anything else happens, and then hope he can get a cab quickly enough t catch up the lorry. This would require a Luck roll again, passing means the taxi catches up easily, failure means the lorry is long gone and Johnny has to guess.

Or, if you’re into Splinter Cell / Metal Gear Solid type ninja action, and if his leg’s up to it, Johnny could possibly scale the railings from the park side and enter the back of the lorry without being seen. LOL! This would likely require a successful climb(x2) roll (railings are easy after all), a sneak roll, and a Luck roll (the sentry in the passenger seat has turned his head away for now).

[Grafster]

Spoiler:

As absolutely and absurdly tempting as some ninja action would be its not Johnnys style. And hes not quite that desperate yet. He will push his luck a bit, and wait to see if anything happens before rushing over to get a cab.

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
6:23pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

The driver and his friend talk for a few more minutes; although he knows that they are speaking in Arabic, Johnny tries to listen in, hoping to catch the occasional name of a person or a place in English.

The distance is too great though, try as he might Johnny can only overhear the odd word from the conversation, and none of them are English words.

After waiting patiently until now, the 'sentry' in the passenger seat of the lorry leans out of the window and shouts to the driver, again he speaks in Arabic, but Johnny is sure he hears the word "Gavigan."

The driver and his friend clap shoulders and go their separate ways, the driver climbing into his cab and starting the engine, and the other man walking into the Penhew Foundation building.

*********************************

OOC:

Spoiler:

The lorry is going to leave now, if you want Johnny to get a taxi, then please make a Luck roll.

[Grafster]

Johnny hobbles as quickly as he can down the street to try to hail a taxi. Wonderful Wong. That was very informative. Fortunately he is in luck.

Spoiler:

Chapter 2 - Luck (65%) - Outside the Penhew; hailing a taxi in time to easily follow the lorry (1d100=43)

[Raiko]

Outside the Penhew Foundation - Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, London
6:26pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Luck is with Johnny tonight - not only does he quickly manage to hail a taxi, but the truck drives straight back out onto Tottenham Court Road after leaving the Penhew Foundation’s loading area. It passes Johnny’s taxi as he climbs inside, driving south along Tottenham Court Road towards the interchange with Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road.

Once Johnny is seated inside, the black-cab driver asks, "Where to gov?"

[Grafster]

Johnny leans over to the driver. "Please follow that truck. I would appreciate it if you could keep some distance."

[Raiko]

Limehouse - London Docklands
7:00pm - Wednesday 28th January, 1925

The truck heads east into the heart of London’s rough Eastend, eventually making it way towards the notorious dockland district of Limehouse.

Oddly Johnny doesn’t feel too out of place here, as Limehouse is the home of London’s small Chinatown.

The fog gets much thicker as the taxi follows towards the river, and the driver is forced to follow much more closely than Johnny would like, but the occupants of the truck don’t seem to have noticed yet.

[Grafster]

At least a Chinese bumping about in a cab won't seem to out of place. Johnny thinks to himself as he eyes the area around him.

Seems like there was an importer we were looking into in NY. A connection would be too convenient... We haven't been that lucky so far.

Out of habit he scans the area behind his cab in the reflection of his obessively polished cigarrette case looking for any tails.