Play@YSDC

Langdon spent Tuesday morning at City Hall (ostensibly working) checking various public records for information on Koslov's Art, the gallery a few doors from Hirt's apartment building where Delores had seen a disturbing painting. He met up with Dex at the New York Public Library.

Here's what he told Dex and Delores:

The building at 13 Thomas Street that houses the art gallery is owned by Burton, Eliot & Finney, Inc. It's a long-established property investment firm, in fact, I went to school with the youngest of old Finney's sons, Grandison. Hieronymus Koslov leases the building for commercial purposes, but his business license renewal is a couple of months overdue. So is his rent. Burton, Eliot & Finney have filed for eviction and seizure of assets and obtained an order, but Koslov got it stayed, claiming that the artwork is mostly on consignment, not his property, and that he's been unable to locate some of the artists to return their pieces. Burton, Eliot & Finney agreed to the stay, because they didn't want to be responsible for storing and safeguarding the art themselves. Koslov's residential address is also 13 Thomas Street. He apparently lives over the shop.

Dex had spent the morning talking to a couple Fordham professors and a librarian at the New York Public Library about the Yezidi and their 'devil worship.' Here's what he told Langdon and Delores after they picked her up at the World-Telegram:

Dr. Lavoie explained that the most troublesome sect or cult at the time of the great crusades were the Nizari, sometimes called the Hashshashins, under the leadership of Rashid ad-Din Sinan, also known as Shaykh al Jabal or the Old Man of the Mountain, based in Masyaf and controlling various districts in northern Syria. The Nizari defied both the Christian invaders and Saladin who ruled over Egypt and Syria. He said that the Yezidi are somewhat outside his specialty, being based in Northern Mesopotamia. He advised that I talk to Philip Richardson.

Dr. Richardson says that Peter Thwaite would be the best one to speak with, since his area is northern turkey and what has now become Iraq; but he's on sabbatical in Istanbul at present. Richardson nevertheless tells me a bit about the so-called 'Yezidi Devil worshippers' of Iraq. They originally came from Southern Iraq and migrated north to Mount Lalish. It is supposed by many that they are descendants of the Assyrians who sought refuge after the fall of Nineveh in the 7th century B.C.

Their original home was Eridu or Irem, an ancient city in Southern Iraq, also known as “Enkidu” and called Father Satan's city. The valley of Baten El Ghoul which is right over the buried ancient city is now known as "The Devil's Hole" and "Belly of the Beast." The Jordanians and many others consider it to be haunted. Demons have been seen by many who have spent the night there. Those who have been there for any length of time claim it has a powerful energy which people label as "evil." He stated that the people there also had stories about passages being opened to other realms full of demons and monsters, fairly standard stuff, really.

Of course all this is just superstition, the way ignorant people explain things they don't understand and demonize outsiders. Richardson seemed to recall that there was some fuss here in New York about supposed 'child stealers' and 'devil worshippers' down in Brooklyn. He had just become a faculty member at that time, but he remembers that Thwaite was consulted by the police, in particular a detective named Maloney, if he remembers correctly. I called my police contact who said Maloney is living in Rhode Island at the moment having retired from the force. He mentioned that some of these Brooklyn home-grown devil-worshippers, caused enough of a stink that there were police raids and a building that was demolished. Some society woman and her husband died, perhaps. It must have been a decade ago.

Following Dr. Richardson ‘s advice I went to the New York Public Library to look up some tomes. Oh he also mentioned that Thwaite is due back in January. He recommends Isya Joseph's 1919 volume Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz and suggests an older book, one of the first to outline Yezidi beliefs, though from a rather uninformed viewpoint, An Inquiry into the Religious Tenets of the Yezeedees by George Percy Badger, written in the mid-part of the last century.

In the library I was introduced to some sort of archivist named Tweedy. Creepy fellow if you ask me. He gave me some more information about these Yezidis. He said that the Yezidis have long been a secretive people who keep their real beliefs hidden. As a result - and because they eschew the orthodoxy of the dominant religion of their region - they have been severely persecuted. As a result they are most suspicious of outsiders.

Most Yezidis are illiterate and the few doctrines they have are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They have purposely deceived outsiders concerning their beliefs and doctrines and kept their books a mystery, which explains why there are so many conflicting accounts of their faith. And it must be admitted that they have at times referred to their deity as 'Shaitan' or Satan, though this entity is not necessarily a "devil" or "demon" as Christians understand him.

In general, the Yezidi people are forbidden to mention the name 'Shaitan' or any of his attributes. They refer to their Shaitan instead as “Melek Ta’us” or the 'Peacock Angel' because of his beauty and pride. He is the “Proud One” and “Ruler of the Earth” and they consider him an archangel.

Despite centuries of persecution by Islam and Christianity, they have clung faithfully to their beliefs. I am quite certain that, to the extent there are Yezidi in this city, they practice their ancient religion here. Certainly the Jews have maintained their faith over the centuries in the face of similar treatment wherever they have settled in the world.

Delores had been talking to Hirt's agent Guy Grenville.

Here's what she told the guys on the way to Koslov's Art:

He's read some of the stuff that Hirt was working on, and he's trying to hide from it in the bottom of the bottle. He said that Hirt had been talking about some ceremony he'd taken part in and he'd seen the moon bridge. I saw something similar in the picture in Hirt's flat, and in the shop too.

At the gallery, they were afraid Koslov would do a skip, so Dex went around back while Delores and Langdon covered the front door of the gallery and the stairs up to the flat. Dex flushed a guy who came running down the stairs with a bundle under his arm. Langdon tried to stop him and got knocked on his keister. Delores managed to trip the guy and now Dex has him covered.

No one's heard from Esposito.

I am waiting for Delores and/or Langdon to post to my thread since the art dealer seems to be waiting on them for a response.

Yeah, they're not as scary.

Dexter Ford wrote:Okay,Honestly the frustration above is both IC and OOC. I do feel we have been chasing our own tails for the last couple of months.

I understand your frustration.

I think some of it is appropriate to any such investigation, compounded by the strung-out nature of PbP. What might take a session around a table takes weeks or even months on-line, especially when RL sometimes takes players away for extended stretches, as with Langdon recently. Esposito has also been silent for some time.

I've been trying to follow the characters' leads on the investigations and use that to provide some alternate paths to certain clues. Right now I think it's time to meet at Flannigan's for another session of clue sharing and leads assessment. You three and Esposito have gathered some information today that needs to be put together. And there's something I should probably retcon.

In the end, though, I think Dex is right:

Dexter Ford wrote:"It's time to...go directly to Brooklyn."

What do I need to do to revitalize us?

Dex/Lammomedes, you've run a successful game to conclusion, any hints or suggestions?

For what it's worth (and I've only been reading my thread, not the others) we (the PC's) know something is happening. The impression I get is that we don't know where - if we knew that, it would give us somewhere to go to.

Cheers,

Phil.

I think my one piece of advice is that I tried to narrow the clues down to a limited number. Perhaps a bit more railroady that way, but as time grows on, we forget where were headed and we get lost in dead ends. In a game where you can spend four hours sitting around a table, you don't mind heading down dead ends, but in a game where that same four hours takes six months to finish, well you can see where this can bog things down. I think the other part might be more prone to any game that has been going for a year, and that might be some player burn out.

In my case, I know I have been temped to pull the module out of the garage where the rest of my ToC stuff is located just to see what the heck I have been missing, but I have resisted doing so. That means I end up despite being a private detective as a character, turning in circles and not feeling like I have access to the right set of clues. As Phil said, I know something is going on, but I don't think I have stumbled across anyone who knows exactly what is going on. Especially as I have studiously avoided reading other threads and even the OOC stuff in my own threads that were directed at other people. So after more than a year, I feel that the pauses between postings are slowing the game down to even more snail like crawl. Whether that is from busy lives or player burn out, I don't know. All I can do is speak about myself, and that is I am posting when things are moving, and you'll get a couple of quick posts, but then I have to slow down to wait for other people to catch up, and then perhaps a few days will pass by. For me that has been the biggest gripe I have had of late: the hurky-jerky nature of posting. And I am guilty of it as much as anyone else.

It might be harder to run an established module than something you come up from by yourself. When you have created the adventure, as I did in my game, I could speed the plot along, or sit back and let it develop as it needed to do, based on what the players were up to. In this case, you are in a sense stuck with the plot and pacing of the adventure.

Dexter Ford wrote:It might be harder to run an established module than something you come up from by yourself. When you have created the adventure, as I did in my game, I could speed the plot along, or sit back and let it develop as it needed to do, based on what the players were up to. In this case, you are in a sense stuck with the plot and pacing of the adventure.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw Gaffer's questions. Another difference that I saw between this and "Season" was that the New York gang has spent a lot more time split up. In "Season" we really only split up twice, IIRC, and both times very briefly. (Upon arriving at the train station in Paris, then the next morning going to retrieve our luggage after that unfortunate fire...)

FYI, I'm heading out of town this evening. I'll have access to teh Internets, but don't know how much time I'll have for posting. Next week is also dicey as I'm back Tuesday afternoon, running Delta Green Tuesday night, "working" Wed, big company party Wed night, off Thursday until... next year.

In any case, here's hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday. Look out for guys in fezzes. And for crap's sake, don't go anywhere near Red Hook. That place just ain't right.


--j

So Delores is worrying about what to wear when she's bringing a shotgun to a dance? LOL

Hey, a girl's gotta be co-ordinated, ain't she?

Does anyone have the Secrets of Japan book? Justine and I are finishing a Japan-based event for Origins. She has the book, but she's in New Haven and it's at her Mom's in Maryland. We need the stats for an Oni (Japanese Ogre).

Nope, sorry!

I leave for Origins on Wednesday morning 6/21 and returning Monday 6/27. Don't expect to be online during that span.

LOL Before I start jumping to conclusions about these two new arrivals, do I know anything about Mr Bad Breath and Two-Guns?
If its up to me to make a connection, I'll go right ahead and do so. Just don't want to step on GM toes before answering.

They're two of your fellow ex-Feds. Or you can make up other backgrounds for them.

You know they're stand-up guys in a tight situation, whatever bio you choose to assign them.

Speaking of Origins... I'll be leaving Tuesday afternoon and returning the following Monday.

In the meantime, I'm frantically struggling to finish my events, so... I don't expect I'll be posting much any time soon.

Gaffer: Any preferences on who you'd like to play in The Maltese Fhtagn? Spade? Cairo? Gutman? Someone completely different?

Love them all, even Wilmer. Let others have their pick.

Justine would be great as any of the women.

I have to tell all three of you how much I'm enjoying this game and your characterizations.

I hope we can pick up the pace a bit and gallop to the end.

Gaffer wrote:Love them all, even Wilmer. Let others have their pick.

Justine would be great as any of the women.

Wilmer didn't make the cut. Four from the movie (Spade, Gutman, Cairo, and O'Shaughnessy) and four from the Lovecraft side of things.

If this works it's going to be a blast!

If it doesn't work...

It'll still be a blast!