IC: CH2 - LONDON - First Thread

[imme]

Elizabeth's eyes go wide as they travel around the room, and are pulled back to the bloody tongue painting. It horrifies her to see such a clear depiction of those damned headdresses, and the creature is more than disturbing, but her gaze remains locked on the scene. It's like a giant clue waiting to be unwrapped.

She nods in response to Timour's question.

[Raiko]

[OOC: Oops! I almost forgot, the creature rising over the Mountain is the same one that you saw in the dream, the one that attacked Timour!
SAN Checks everyone please. (Sanity loss is 0/1d4)]

The Shipley's House - No.6 Holbein Mews, London
6:53pm, Wednesday 28th January, 1925

Miles walks towards the first stack of paintings, with the painting of the woman and the bed of snakes that Caroline is examining, "I... don't... know really. The scenes... just... come... to me"

"Would... you... like to look... through... the... rest of... them?"

Mrs Shipley stands in front of the padlocked door, she smiles in delight as she says, "Yes you must look through them all, Miles is so talented! I'm sure that there will be something to interest your friend."

[imme]

[I was surprised that these paintings didn't challenge our sanity, but I wasn't about to ask for a roll. Chapter 2 - San check for creature in painting (75) (1d100=63, 1d4=3) Wow, has Elizabeth really not lost any sanity yet?]

Elizabeth can't help herself. She nods and moves over to where Miles is ready to show more of these disturbing, and amazing, paintings.

[Timour Rukov]

[O.C. The bloody tongue is really creeping Timour out....he is losing sanityfor sure. And funny that you forgot Raiko....I laughed at that! Timour loses 2 sanity]

Timour hops from one foot to another uncomfortably and averts his eyes from the painting of the bloody tongue. Somehow, it was haunting him, this depiction of his worst nightmare. He could see the costumes as plain as the day he experienced it firsthand. He cleared his throat, put a hand on the back of his neck, and shifted again.

He begins to move the one in front of the stack of two to see the one behind.

Keep it together....this is nothing to go crazy over....the women will wonder if you start to sketch out....c'mon man....!!!!

[Decrepit]

[OOC: Caroline fails her San check (70) with a roll of 74. San loss is 2 points.]

Caroline, entranced, says, "Yes, I very much would like to see what happens next to that poor, lovely, pale thing." She moves to flip to the next painting, feeling an almost overwhelming desire to do so.

Somehow, though, the rational part of her mind speaks, even as she looks on the next works, "Oh, Miles," she says, touching his hand, for some reason no longer finding him repulsive, "you simply must be honest with me, though, about your inspiration. Our ... our friend ..." She finds it a bit difficult to get the words out, even to form them in her mind. "Our friend has particular tastes, if you know what I mean. This person likes art that ... that means something."

[Raiko]

The next painting that Caroline reveals shows a Castle on a moor. Mutilated bodies are impaled on its ramparts. Things that are not quite birds circle overhead, silhouetted by the setting sun.

Our friend has particular tastes, if you know what I mean. This person likes art that ... that means something.

Miles freezes, unsure how to answer, his mad eyes are fixed upon a point on Caroline's forehead that seems to utterly distract him.

After standing unmoving for a few seconds, he snaps out of his trance and mumbles, "I don't... know... what you... mean. Won't he... like my... paintings?"

Miles glances at his mother, he looks scared. "Won't... he... like this one?"

Miles shows Caroline the next painting in the stack. Two men kneel before a massive tree. The fruit of the tree is rotten and filled with maggots. The maggot’s faces are strangely human. In the background are dark trees with intertwining trunks and sinuous branches.

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

He begins to move the one in front of the stack of two to see the one behind.

The painting shows a large room in a museum, the room contains Egyptian exhibits - sculptures and statues - a young woman's body lies in a pool of blood. Two men stand over the body, one seems familiar. Andrei Zatisov flees from the scene - holding a revolver. He's running towards something insubstantial that lurks in the shadows, Timour tries to see more clearly what it is, but Miles has painted it in such a way that he just can't make out any details.

Timour realises that the familiar figure standing over the woman's body is his brother Maksim, viewed from behind.

[Decrepit]

[ooc: Oh sh*t!]

Caroline finds the new painting still rather mesmerizing as she tries to place the creatures she sees flying ahead, almost moving to touch one, then stopping. She hears the panic in Miles's voice and attempts to soothe him by sidestepping his question, no longer so much perversely charmed by him as hoping to diffuse a potentially explosive situation.

"Oh, Miles, your art is ... wondrous. I'm sure anyone with a true eye for genius would recognize your gifts."

Then she pushes the gambit just a bit. "Everything looks so ... so vivid. So lifelike. But of course it's all fantastic."

She glances to see how Timour is reacting, sensing something has happened.

[Timour Rukov]

Timour stares at the painting momentarily, his eyes widening and feeling as though they'd surely bore holes in the very canvas with their intensity. What is this I'm seeing? It can't be...it couldn't be.....

The room swims, and he takes a step back, managing to choke out a "Oh dear god!" before hanging his head to rub his temple vexatedly. Why have I come here? This is not what I wish to know....is it? I don't want to see these paintings, this curious mix between horror and a possible future? Is this what will happen? Is this a sign of things to come?

He flashes a pained expression at Caroline, and motions for her to come closer. He can't help but close his eyes and shudder though, as the same cold finger traces his spine and the chill runs up his back and over his very skull.

We've got to get out of here......soon.

"Wha....what....have you painted..... here in the corner, Miles?" Timour asks weakly, spinning on his heel to find the painter. He points to the spot that Andrei is headed for, and looks at him curiously.

[Decrepit]

Caroline drags herself away from the painting she'd been looking at, seeing the pain on Timour's face. Then she sees what Timour saw and gasps as well, her hand going to her mouth. "Uh, yes, Miles," she finally gets out, "what does this one represent?" She's unsure what she or any of them can get out of Miles and his mother. She knew already there was something Miles wasn't telling her, but now her worst suspicions seem--somehow, impossibly--confirmed: Miles is somehow painting things that are real. Would actually buying one of these horrors draw Miles out? Surely they couldn't convince those two that they shared their ... beliefs, could they? Would any of them make it out of here? Her thoughts raced at lightning speed.

[imme]

Having been prepared for something shocking by her companions' reactions, Elizabeth manages to keep her mouth firmly shut as she leans in to view the painting. Nevertheless, the image sends shivers up her spine. Her face drains of color and her hands clench into fists at her side. The present? The future? Neither seems like a good option, but the painting is so life-like that it must mean something. And how could Miles have painted Andrei so faithfully, almost surely never having seen him before? And why was she wondering that anyway when there was obviously something horrible at work, based on all the other paintings she could see? Elizabeth remains silent.

[Raiko]

Miles studies his painting curiously, as though he'd never seen it before.

Eventually he says somewhat ambiguously, "I think... the thing... in the corner... represents... the character's... future."

"He... flees... from this... scene, but... straight towards... something... far darker."

He smiles "Do... you... like... this one?"

While everyone else gathers around Miles' painting of Andrei, his mother remains by the padlocked door studying everyone silently, she looks quite predatory.

[OOC: I think everyone should make another SAN roll, seeing Andrei in the painting must be fairly mindblowing - again the loss is 0/1d3]

[imme]

[OOC - Chapter 2 - San roll for seeing the painting (75) (1d100=23, 1d3=1) Elizabeth's sanity remains invincible! ... for now.]

"Mmm, maybe. Two more to go ..." She moves the second painting to see the fourth.

[Decrepit]

[OOC: Caroline blows it again with a SAN loss of 1 this time.]

[Timour Rukov]

[O.C. Sanity check passed....amazingly enough! ]

Timour tries hard to shake off the chills running down his spine, and looks back at Miles peculiarly.

"Wait, he runs to something else? Something darker? Did you paint a series? Do you have more depicting this man?" He points to Andrei in confusion.

It's so strange....how could he paint him without knowing him? Or is this man tracking us? Or perhaps the cult he follows is....

[Raiko]

Miles stares at Timour, clearly irritated that the Russian misunderstands his work, “No... there’s no... series.”

He points to the shadowy entity that Andrei is depicted running towards, “This... is the character’s... dark future.”

“His future... is... uncertain, so you... cannot clearly... see the... entity.”

“I... expect... he’ll... die.”

Miles shrugs, “But... it’s only... a painting.”

Miles’ Mother laughs loudly.

[imme]

At Miles' words Elizabeth forgets the other paintings. She spins around and glares at his mother. "Tim ... Timothy will be expecting us back soon, I suspect. Max? I think we've seen enough. We need to go. Now."

[Decrepit]

Caroline nods assent. She'd really like to get to the bottom of what these two people are hiding, but they're all in a rather vulnerable state, both physically and mentally right now.

[Timour Rukov]

Timour looks at Elizabeth in alarm, rather shocked at her abrupt change in behaviour. "Uh....alright....uh....ok then. But....are you sure you wouldn't like to take a painting home tonight? This one.." he motions to the one of Maksim and Andrei..." well, it's struck a peculiar fancy with me. I'd hate for someone else to buy it....you know.....before we have a chance to tell.... Timothy about it..." He furrows his brow in confusion, hoping she'd catch his drift. Would it be wise to leave it here...to fall into the wrong hands? Surely Maks and Andrei wouldn't believe our stories of these paintings without seeing it firsthand...especially Johnny...seemingly the doubting Thomas...he'd never give them the time of day...

[Raiko]

The flickering light of the kerosene lamps causes the shadows in the garret studio to dance and flicker, but just for a moment as Elizabeth stares at Miles' elderly mother she thinks that she sees a shadow cast on the door behind her not from a frail old lady, but from some reptilian creature of nightmare.

The hairs on the back of Elizabeth's neck stand on end as she realises why the strange aroma of this house seems so familiar. She remembers days spent in Central Park Zoo with her parents as a child, and most of all she remembers the smell and the dry heat of the Reptile House...

Mrs Shipley's predatory gaze shifts from Elizabeth to Timour, "Yes, yes that is an excellent piece, one of Miles' best works, and a bargain at only one hundred pounds."

[imme]

"Hmm, well, if we bring this one, at least he will have a good sample of the work, in case he should be interested in purchasing more." As in, please let us leave intact. We might return bringing money. At this point, Elizabeth just desperately wants to leave.

Spoiler:

How much is Elizabeth carrying? If it is 100 pounds, she will accept the price and buy it on the spot. If she does not have that much, she will try to bargain down to what she has. (Notice how I carefully avoid apostrophes ... stupid bug.)