Play@YSDC

Koslov's Art

A sign hanging in the front window says CLOSED (and probably reads OPEN on the reverse). Several works of are are displayed in the window. The ones that don't look amateurish seem weird - melting clocks, blue sheep, people with two noses and three eyes, landscapes of places that couldn't really exist. Peering through the glass door, you can see a pile of several days' mail.

Beside the shop door is a stair to the second floor with a buzzer and a small card that reads: J. Koslov. A narrow space between this building and the next probably leads to an alley in the back.

Delores looked up and down the street. After the recent events in the apartment, she was somewhat apprehensive but lightning couldn't strike twice, could it?

She looked up the street again then glanced down the alley. It was quiet so she stepped back to the examine the card next to the buzzer. Delores shrugged. Nothing ventured, nothing gained so she reached out and pushed the buzzer.

After a couple of minutes and a couple more tries of the buzzer, Delores concludes that no one is going to respond, though she thinks she can hear the buzzer sounding upstairs. And just maybe the curtain in one window twitches as she looks up.

Glancing over the shop window again, she notices a painting in one corner that seems similar to the one in Hirt's apartment.

Delores pauses a moment studying the window where she thinks she had seen the curtain twitch. There is no further movement so she looks away and moves closer to the shop window to look at the picture that has caught her eye.

The painting is somewhat larger than the one in the apartment. It looks down from a height upon part of a city. A broad canal is crossed by numerous high bridges and flanked by wide promenades with tall towers fronting them. At the horizon a dark sky glitters with pinpoints of stars. You cannot make out the artist's signature.

The appearance of the city is totally alien to anything you have seen or read about or seen in paintings or photographs. There is something Arabian about some of the details, but others -- especially the bridges -- seem a combination of Renaissance styles and modern influences. The sky is utterly cloudless and seems somehow... empty.

As you stare at the painting you pick out more and more disturbing details. There is a suggestion of grotesque figures promenading along one broad avenue and across a bridge near the lower edge. There are hints of winged figures flitting about the tops of the towers and dark bateaux gliding on the canal. Near the center of the painting, you can make out a vast necropolis with -- somehow unseen -- creatures among the mausoleums. Or perhaps you are merely imagining that.

[Stability check: 4 difficulty.]

As the street lamps come on along Thomas Street, you become aware that it's almost seven o'clock and you have been staring at the painting for over two hours.

Delores gasped and pushed herself away from the window. Forcing herself to break eye contact with the picture she staggered down the street, hanging onto the wall. Her breathing was harsh in her ears.

She shook herself and sat down on the stair next to the shop. She pulled a press card and a pen from her shoulder bag and with a shaky hand, scrawled her desk number and a short message on the back of the card - "Call me about Alphonse Hirt". She quickly wedged the card between the door and the jamb and retreated down the stairs. Walking swiftly down the street, her shoulders hunched against the cold she felt, she raised her hand when she saw a taxi cab, hailing it to take her home.

When the taxi pulls up in front of your rooming house, it's almost seven o'clock. You've missed supper.

[OOC - Let me know the result of your Stability check, including any spend from your Stability pool. Roll D6 and add spend points (these are lost regardless of the result).]

As you reach the front door of your boarding house, there's a honking sound behind you. Pulled up at the curb is Langdon's snappy auto. Dex Ford (his left arm in a sling) gets out of the passenger side, steps to the foot of the stoop and looks up at you. "Excuse me, Miss Brown, would you care to have a bite to eat with us? Detective Esposito will be joining us and we can discuss what we've learned and our next steps."

Once you're settled in the back seat, Dex says, "We're going up to Flannigan's for a steak and a beer."

[OOC - Still awaiting the result of your Stability check, including any spend from your Stability pool. Roll D6 and add spend points (these are lost regardless of the result).]

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2628250/]Delores' stability check, spending two points. (1d6+2=8)[/url] I rolled '8', although I'm not really sure what that means. :?

Delores glances at her wrist watch, taking a second or two to work out that she had missed supper. She really didn't fancy a lecture about wasting food (although she was sure the male lodgers would have made sure it wasn't wasted for long) so she nods in agreement and climbs into the car. She sinks down into the seat and tries to relax. She looks at Dex properly for the first time. "Hey, how's the arm?"