Any Given Sunday (IC Day 2)

[WinstonP]

The Reverend, setting aside his moment of panic, rises to help the stricken lady. Madame, please have a seat. You are safe here. Join me in some tea and we shall get to the bottom of things.

I assume this is a place a point spent from Psychology might be of use? If so, it is done.

[Bookman]

Harwood takes advantage of Father Poole's distracting Laura to sidle across to Carse.

To be fair to her, he whispers, I am pretty sure I just saw a man evaporate. Something odd seems to be going on - even if time itself hasn't unfolded. At the very least we should check out the place that Don Alejandro vanished. Perhaps you and the Captain could follow up on that and Wellington whilst myself and the good Reverend get to work on the book?

[Taavi]

The Reverend, setting aside his moment of panic, rises to help the stricken lady. Madame, please have a seat. You are safe here. Join me in some tea and we shall get to the bottom of things.

I assume this is a place a point spent from Psychology might be of use? If so, it is done.

For the Reverend, this is a Psychoanalysis test, difficulty 3 (That is, roll 1d6, add points from Psychoanalysis if desired to influence the roll, and get 3 or more to succeed). If you pass the test, you can spend points of Psychoanalysis to restore Stability to Laura on a 1 for 2 basis - that is, one Psychoanalysis point gains two Stability points - points spent influencing the die roll don't count. Laura looks about as shocked as Reverend Poole was.

Whether Reverend Poole passes or fails the test, being fussed over and offered tea is enough to calm Laura down a bit and get her to talk more rationally.

[WinstonP]

Reverend Poole leads Laura to the table where he had been sitting and fills one of the chipped unmatched tea cups at the table (Mrs. Grant keeps the good china upstairs and out of the hands of the staff).


Now then miss, lets take a deep breath and think back to what has happened. When did you see Mr. Harwood last?

Psychoanalysis Roll,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3532825/[/url] And I rolled a two. Rats.

I am sure you are not mad my dear. Everyone sees cannibals in London...

[Seon]

"What do you mean when did I see Mr. Harwood last, he's right bloody there!" Laura snapped. "And what kind of cannibals cut off pieces of themselves and sell them until only the arm and the cleaver is left?!"

[Quinch]

Luke looks at Harwood, then Laura, and then back at Harwood. He shrugs and shakes his head.

"Fair enough. You stay here and check out the book and I'll catch up with the Captain and find out where your Spaniard went. Laura, what was he wearing? And where was the boozer he entered?"

Luke likes nothing more than spending his time investigating the ravings of someone who is clearly off her tree.

"I think Jory has gone to Bermondsey market so I'll find this bloke on my own. See you chaps later. Don't burn your lips on the tea."

OOC,Assuming Laura tells me where I'm going and who I'm after, I'll head off. Can I stop by my house and collect a small handgun of some sort?

[Bookman]

Harwood looks over at Carse.

Don Alejandro will be wearing red. He, I think...He will wear red.

He hesitates looking slightly embarrassed.

Be careful, I think, I don't know, something very odd is going on here and I think this lot is connected somehow. Look, this might sound stupid but...

He pauses and fumbles in his pocket and hands Carse a card.

If for some reason you can't get through to the shop, get a message here. It will come to me. Meanwhile the good Father and I will try and find some clues to our mysterious medic and see if we can get to him before he...well, we'll try and see what we can find.

The card for Carse,Harwood hands Carse a business card bearing the name and details of Dr Crofton Black at the Warburg Institute. Carse's knowledge of the Occult recalls his name as a librarian there.

[WinstonP]

Recognizing that his psychiatric work was unsuccessful, Rev Poole switches gears and whispers something to Harwood -

Whisper,Your associate is not a dipsomaniac,I presume?

Assuming he answers negatively, the Reverend produces a small tin flask from his vest and empties much of it into Laura's tea.


This, my good woman, is a fine Walloon Brandy, from the cellar at the Indus Club*. I've fortified your tea with it (Like the Franco-German frontier he thinks to himself) so please, avail yourself of it, gather your wits, and relate you story to us.


He beckons her to sit as he repockets his now greatly diminished flask. He turns to Harwood-


Let us have a look at this "Wooden Book" of yours then?


*A most curious detail, as that particular club is only open to men who served in the Muslim west of India, certainly not part of the Reverend's résumé.

[Bookman]

Harwood nods and walks over to the counter, he comes back over with the book and a chair and hands the book over to Father Poole. He nods at it,

I won't say anything beyond what I told you last night, it would be good to get your first opinion relatively uncontaminated.

He adds quietly,

It will be interesting to hear her story. Might be worth doing some investigation into the history of the area where she says this happened.

He then steps back and looks over at Mr Grant,

Shall we discuss the auction then, Mr Grant?

[AndrewTBP]

Grant has been standing by the Reverend’s chair watching these alarms and excursions with a bemused expression on his face. “Hmm? Oh! yes, Harwood. Just a moment …” Grant steps over to the door, makes sure it’s locked, and returns to the counter.

“Right. That’s a bit better. Now, the Fletcher’s man was certainly shepherding the Spaniard. Took grave exception to me examining the Irving notes.” He opens the catalogue to the relevant page, and shows Harwood the annotations.

[Seon]

Laura thought about it for a second.

"I can show you where he went... Or at least try to. The path he took didn't make any sense."

[WinstonP]

Rev. Poole, while Grant and Harwood discuss the auction and sundries and while Laura gathers her wits, will begin prerusing the Wooden Book. I'll spend a point of Occult or Theology, whichever is more appropriate, to plumb the book's mysteries.

[Taavi]

“Right. That’s a bit better. Now, the Fletcher’s man was certainly shepherding the Spaniard. Took grave exception to me examining the Irving notes.” He opens the catalogue to the relevant page, and shows Harwood the annotations.

Just repeating from the other thread, for ease of reference:

Leafing through the Alhambra, Grant confirms the authenticity of the Irving manuscript, which seems to be background notes and fragmentary drafts of the various stories in the Alhambra collection. Various notations seem to indicate cross-references to Spanish archives. The most extensive draftings and notations appear to refer to "The Tale of the Arabian Astrologer". In particular, the names of some of the lead characters are given many different permutations, often heavily crossed out. Skimming the text, Grant notes that there seem to be several references to a "confidential annex" and others to a source or archive titled "Plombos".

With a one point Textual Analysis spend, Grant notes some curious jottings:
"Cf Labtayt esp. A.Glencoe Span. translation"
"Gate & key - "all locks in Spain will open to..." - if only I could tell Scott!"
The name "Hazrad" is crossed out, replaced with "Hazen" throughout. The Spanish princess character is called "Godolpho" in earlier drafts, before being nameless in the later ones.

[Bookman]

Harwood peruses the notes.

Fascinating. What on earth are they all after? We know that Don Alejandro definitely wants the manuscipt. We know that our patron wants it all. I, I also found a note, in a strange shop round the corner. I mean it was full of trash, occult but practically rotting, but there was a note in German which said to buy the fountain-pen. It seems hell of a coincidence but who knows. Being in German is odd. I think the others said there was some chap called Berg involved. They said he was American, I think, but Berg is a German name. We haven't noticed anything about him coming up yet. Then we have all this,

He waves generally at shop, taking in the sad pile of clothes and Laura.

Given the odd parallels between the Burton and the Alhambra, does any of this tie in? Any thoughts about how to focus our efforts?

[Quinch]

Luke fetches a map of London from the shelves and sits down next to Laura.

"It's probably best if you just show me on the map Laura," he says. "You're pretty shook up and the bad guys know what you look like."

They probably know what I look like too, he thinks to himself, but that's my problem.

[AndrewTBP]

“Round the corner? From here, or from Christie’s? You might want to go back there again and see if it’s vanished like Wells’ Magic Shop!”

[Bookman]

Heh, I have to admit I thought that...It was odd though, it really didn't go out of its way to seem open, and the stock looked like the aftermath of a flood at Farringdon. I do wonder if it was bought solely to justify the existence of the shop, perhaps so it could act as cut-out for a bidder at the sale? I had meant to find out where the proprieter went of an evening but,

He flicks his eyes sideways,

That might be a difficult request right now...

[Seon]

Luke fetches a map of London from the shelves and sits down next to Laura.

"It's probably best if you just show me on the map Laura," he says. "You're pretty shook up and the bad guys know what you look like."

They probably know what I look like too, he thinks to himself, but that's my problem.

Laura pointed atthe approximate location of the square. "Here, but I am almost sure that you won't reach it by normal means."
GM edit: Seven Dials square

[WinstonP]

Fearful of this mysterious "doctor", Poole decides to spend a point of Library Use to try and ascertain the identity of the Wooden Book's author...

Some time later, welcomingly sipping on Harwood's Madeira, Poole reports a little progress:

Unfortunately, after our Friar Cor, the writers do not refer to themselves by name. They do sometimes initial their work, or refer to earlier generations. The most recent writer seems to have the initials 'P.C.'

Looking in Forsythe's Bibliographical Dictionary of Great Britain - that edition is a bit foxy, just so you know - I see the name Cor and its variants Cors, Coe... yes, as in 'Glen Coe'. It means 'Marshy Valley'... where was I? Oh yes... It is old welsh for 'bog or swamp or marsh' and since the seventeenth century, has usually been modernised, either Anglicised as "Marsh" or "Moor", or Frankified as "Coslett" or some variant thereof.

I note that in entries from about 3 or 4 generations back (if your theory that this is a family book is correct) there are several locations in South London mentioned as sites where treasure was uncovered by the interrogation of ghosts. I suppose they have a rack for spirits... would that be like a wine rack? Excuse my digression. Like I was saying South London spots including Clapham, Peckham and Forest Hill are all mentioned, as is Aldershot. Aldershot, of course, is Anglo-Saxon for 'Alder Copse' and, as you should recall, prefer to grow in marshy places... nasty area, known for bandits and highwayman up until the past century... Spring Heeled Jack troubled the barracks down that way, if I recall...

From my reading, last couple of generations of authors broke away from solitary practice, and apparently supply ghosts to a circle or club or 'collegium'. There are hints of grave robbery and the collection of dead men's possessions in order to distill their essences- the book uses the Latin daimons or eidelons and I quote "for the club's entertainment and education".

Now, what were you chaps saying about a Spaniard? Also, I fear for this Wellington chap- doppelgangers only appear when the person is under extreme stress of fear. That was what happened, yes?

[Quinch]

Luke looks at where Laura points on the map.

"What do you mean that I won't be able to get there by normal means Laura?" he says. "Can't I just walk? Didn't you just walk?"