Play@YSDC

Location: Boston Museum of Art
Date: March 20, 1921, 7:00 PM

OOC,I'm going to make this generic for everyone, feel free to post your version.

As you step in front of the Museum on this muggy March night, you wonder if you are doing the right thing. It's March 20th, 1921. The Red Sox are in spring training. You wonder if they'll do better than the 5th place finish they had last year. Figures as soon as they sold Ruth, he becomes a sensation in New York. Damn bad luck. And the heat, what is up with the heat. It got almost to 80 today and the news is saying it will break all heat records for March tomorrow.

You saw an add in the Boston Globe. It wasn't much and you aren't even sure why you read it. Its not like you usually read the personals. You didn't read any of the others, but this one caught your eye, like you were drawn to it.

"Ever wonder about the strangeness that goes bump in the night. The knowledge most men never dare to admit exists. Come take a peak behind the shadows, into a world that will change your life. 7 PM, March 20th, The Museum of Fine Arts on Huntington. Around the back, room 105b."

You notice most of the lights are off and the museum appears to be locked up. As you make you way around to the back of the building you see a small stair that leads to the basement of the museum. A dingy small sign with the numbers '105b' visible in the dim light.

You descend the stairs and you hesitate in front of the door. It is worn and weathered and the door handle is rusted and unkempt. There are words painted on the door that are barely legible in the dark. "Dr. Karl Chambers: Do Not Disturb". It looks old and has probably been there for years.

A light is visible through the cracks in the door frame that doesn't quite fit. Shadows can be seen moving about inside the room.

All players,This is where you jump in, feel free to fill in what led you from reading the paper to drawing you to this doorway at the bottom of a stair in the back of the Art Museum. And what you do next.

Harrison took a deep drag on his cigarette as he stared down the stairs to the basement. He felt like a sap for doing as the personal ad instructed, but he had hit hard times... Well, harder times than usual. He owed his publisher another "weird tale" in less than a month but he hadn't yet written word one on his typewriter. For some reason, the words had dried up in his brain, and no matter how much he saturated himself with cheap liquor, Harrison could not break free of the block. He had to do something to trigger some inspiration. He had ransacked the library, going over books on cults and mysticism, but nothing was working. Truly desperate, he had seen the ad in the newspaper while drinking his morning coffee (with some Irish whiskey mixed in) and decided to see if this was anything more than horse manure.

He walked down the basement stairs and flicked his cigarette over his shoulder. He knocked on the basement door and hoped that this wacky Dr. Chambers actually remembered his own ad. The "Do Not Disturb" sign seemed to suggest otherwise. Then again, how inviting could a museum basement be?

Charles sighed as he made his way towards the museum. There was really no reason for him to be here - but lately, reasons to do anything at all had been lacking. The advertisement had seemed strangely compelling and held out a vague wisp of hope of something that would jolt him out of the relentless ennui that he had been feeling for months now.

It occurred to him that this could be dangerous - the ad might have been a coded message pertaining to a criminal enterprise of some sort. The idea of danger did not seem to perturb him, however - again the ennui. As he reached the top of the stairs leading down to the door, he saw someone at the bottom knocking at the door. "Good evening," he called. "I imagine we're here for the same reason?"

As Charles started down the stair, he sees someone else at the bottom of the stair knocking on the door.

Charles,feel free to edit your above post.

Startled by the crash on the other side of the door, Harrison almost doesn't hear the invitation to enter. He puts his hand on the knob and is about to turn it when he hear someone speak behind him. Again surprised, he lets out a curse under his breath as he looks up at the stranger. "Well, I ain't here to fix the furnance," he grumbles over his shoulder. Without further introduction, he opens the basement door and walks inside.

As Harrison opens the door and Charles comes down the stairs, they can see into a small room with a desk and one other door on the back wall.
A lady is putting some boxes up on a stack of another set of boxes. The whole room appears to be hastily piled with boxes and crates.



On the ground next to her is a wooden crate marked "Africa" on it. The lid has been knocked loose. Probably the most likely sound of the crashing noise Harrison heard.

"Sorry about the mess, Dr. Chambers said to expect visitors tonight, but to be honest, I didn't believe him." Then in a deeper voice she continues, "Clean out the sitting room for our guests." Then back to her normal voice. "Can't put stuff in storage or his room, so in my office it goes. Oh how rude, I'm Ms. Patton. The doctors secretary. Please come in."

OOC,Both of you make spot hidden checks.

Charles steps forwards and "stumbles". "Shoelace," he mutters apologetically, kneeling to "retie" his laces and trying to catch a better glimpse of what's in the box.

Sonny decsends the stairs and pauses, listening to the muffled voices coming from the other side of the door. He taps lightly on the door before opening it and stepping through.

He quickly surveys the scene and seeing a women in the room, tips his hat to her "Good evening, ma'am" and then nods to the other 2 men in the room "and gents".

He quietly shuts the door behind him, places his trumpet case by the wall "Can I help you with those boxes, ma'am?"

Charles was kneeling by the box to get a better look inside. He is trying to be subtle, but that was never his strong suit.
He reaches for the box lid to move it aside. Another young man walks into the office, and this distracts Ms. Patton for a second, and Charles luck holds.

He picks up one of the fuzzy balls. Its about the size of his hand, and as he turns it over in his hand he realizes its a human head. A shrunken human head.


You had seen some in pictures before but never in person, or held one so close.

Charles,make a Sanity 0/1 check. If you pass you lose nothing, all is good. If you fail you lose 1 point, still no big deal but it pretty much disgusts you. Role-play appropriately.

As Sonny walks in and speaks, Ms. Patton seems to have been caught off guard. You had seen this before outside of the speakeasies, and your own neighborhood. But you keep hoping things will change. It's only for a second, then she seems to snap out of it. "Why, what a delightful accent. Where are you from sir?" No need to help with the boxes. Now the doctor will have to deal with them. Let me show you gentlemen to the lounge."

That is when she turns and notices Charles holding the shrunken head in his hand. "Oh my, put that down, doctor Chambers wouldn't want you going through his things."

Sonny steps further into the room, trying to get a better look at what the man on the floor is holding.

He speaks whilst moving "I'm from New Orleans ma'am and only recently arrived in Boston. My name is Sonny Goodman, I'm a musician, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Sanity Check,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4172913/]Sanity Check for 55 passed[/url]

Charles drops the shrunken head back into the box, muttering a vague apology and brushing his hand vigorously against his coat sleeve. Seeing Sonny looking at him, he shakes his head in warning.

"Into the lounge then?" he says, moving towards the door.

Ms. Patton walks over and puts the lid back on the box and stacks it with some of the other. "Follow me," she says as she opens the door at the rear of the room.

As the 3 men follow they enter into a hall, that ends just to the left. A door opposite the one you just exited has the word office on it.

To the right the hall goes about 25 feet where you see a curtain hanging across the hall. On the same wall as the office door is an opening. There are more crates and boxes lining the hall. There are names of dozens of countries written on the boxes. Africa, Egypt, China, Japan, Brazil, Venezula, Peru, S.Africa, Congo, Ukraine, Antartica, and more.

Ms.Patton leads you into the opening where you see a plush lounge.


There is a bar that seems fully stocked (despite prohibition). There are several portraits up on the walls. Most are young men and women. Names and dates are below them. You don't recognize any of them though. There is also a humidor by the bar.

Besides the entry way, there is another entrance on the wall that would lead to the "Office". It has a cheap folding door that slides to one side, and it doesn't seem to close all the way.

"Please make yourself comfortable, and have a drink or smoke. I have some water boiled and can offer coffee or tea also. Dr. Chambers said to expect a few more, so it will be a few more minutes." Ms. Patton says, then walks over to the bar where a small kettle sits.

Sonny walks over to the bar and pours himself a healthy measure of bourbon. He takes a sip "That's a mighty fine sipping whiskey" he beams.

He slowly walks around the room, taking in the decor and portraits on the wall, as he casually angles towards to the office 'door', adjusting his trajectory to allow him the best view through the gap where it doesn't quite close.

Harrison follows Ms. Patton wordlessly, visibly perturbed that she did not expect anyone to actually come tonight. He is also somewhat put off by the unexpected appearance of a Negro, but other than that, he doesn't say or do much. He keeps his fedora and coat on as the woman leads them into the lounge, where his eyes widen and a smile forms upon his lips. Even before he gets permission from Patton to do so, he heads over to the bar and starts pouring himself some whiskey, neat.

He takes a big sip and then throws his hat casually on one of the sofas. He plops down next to it as he looks over the two men with him. "Well, boys, what's the rumpus? What do you think are the chances that this Doc Chambers fella is full of applesauce?"

Sonny finishes his short tour of the lounge and ambles over to Harrison

"Applesauce? Why would a learned man, a doctor no less, be full of applesauce? I'm sure he'll be along shortly to tell us all about it - I mean, we all chose to come here tonight. Maybe it's us who is all full of applesauce!" he drains his, glass holds it up and nods at it, smiling at his joke and heads back over to the bar.

"Ma'am, I don't remember catching your name but if I may just have another little drop of this rather fine bourbon..." he leaves the question hanging as he pours another generous glass before moving to the humidor and extracting a corona. He sniffs it along its length "Hmmm-mmm, now papa would have loved a fine cigar like this, would surely reminded of him of home". he replaces the cigar and ensures that the humidor is properly closed.

He turns to Ms Patton again "Ma'am, as I already said, I'm new to these parts and the good doctor is unknown to me by deed or reputation, maybe you could tell us a little about his activities and areas of interest? "

Ms Patton turned towards Sonny, "Oh I'm sorry I thought I told you, but you know it might have been before you walked in. I'm Ellisa Patton, Dr. Chambers secretary. And let me tell you Doctor Chambers may be a lot of things, but full of it, isn't one of them." She takes a breath and glances over at the doorway. Then a bit more of a hushed tone. "He won't say it, but he has saved the world at least a half-dozen times. He is a great man. All these pictures around this room," She pauses to look around. "They are what the doctor would call retired. Too many of them, I was always sure Karl would join them, but he kept coming back. He can tell you more, but for now, relax and get to know each other better. Your lives may depend on it. Welcome to Maps."

Sonny tries to keep the humour out of his eyes as he says to himself, barely audibly "Saved the world, huh? Our lives may depend on it? Sonny boy, what have you walked in to?"

He turns and faces the other two men in the room, speaking normally he says "I believe I wasn't present when you you made your introductions earlier. I'm Sonny Goodman, musician up from New Orleans, though you probably already know that. Who might you good gentleman be and what brings you to this little gathering tonight?".

Listening to the secretary speak, Harrison does a poor job hiding his amused expression behind his glass of whiskey. He closes his eyes and snickers to himself as he knocks back more of the hard stuff.

When Sonny approaches, Harrison tilts his head to the side and cocks an eyebrow. "My name's Harrison, a rummy who finances his drinkin' by writin', 'ceptin' I haven't done much of the latter lately." He takes another drink. "That's why I'm here. Like a rube, I answered the Doc's ad in the paper about a 'peak behind the shadows,' on the chance it might be somethin' worth writin' about. Figured I'd be here with a bunch of dopey grad students and wonder-lovin' grandmothers listenin' to some lecture on witch cults or Atlantis, not drinkin' whiskey with a cocoa kid and an accountant. No offense." He grins his halfway grin a little wider, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette. He sets the whiskey down, retrieves a lighter and ignites his smoke. "I don't know nuthin' about no 'maps' or savin' the world, but like I said, until I see what the ole Doc has to show us, I reckon it's probably nuthin' but applesauce."

Ellisa looks a little perturbed at the snickering. "Laugh now young man, I've seen things that would turn your shit white. Now if you'll excuse me I need to let in the late arrivals."

With that Ms. Patton walks out of the room and back towards her reception area.

OOC All,I'll give you guys time to relax and talk in game for a bit while the others hopefully catch up. There are supposed to be 4 more coming, and I've heard from all of them as late as today or last night still confirming their intentions to play. So I'll give them till tomorrow afternoon, then I'll get the ball rolling. After that they will just have to play catchup.

Charles take a closer look at the names and dates below the portraits. "Tea would be fine," he tells Ms. Patton. Turning to the others, he says, "Applesauce doesn't pay for all this leather. I'm Charles Francis, by the way". He has a slightly distracted air, as if his mind is elsewhere. "I confess that I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here. Needed a change, I guess."

Ms. Patton gets you the tea just as she is leaving. "I'm sure the doctor wouldn't have called you hear without a purpose."

Setting his whiskey aside and taking a drag on his cigarette, Harrison shrugs and folds his hands behind his head. He reclines on the sofa, stretching out so his legs are fully extended along the floor. "White shit, huh? I think I read somewheres that white stool is a sign of hepatitis." He smiles at the others as Ms. Patton leaves, especially at Charles when he mentions the niceness of their surroundings. "This place is spiffy, no doubt, but in my experience applesauce can pay especially well. Hell, I write applesauce for a living, so pimply kids with no friends can bury their noses in cheap paperbacks about ghosts, goblins and things that go bump in the night. How did Warren G. Harding get elected? Talkin' phonus balonus on the campaign trail, sure enough. And there were a few dames who almost got me to slip on a ball and chain by talkin' nonsense into my ear. Rest assured, malarkey will get you farther in this world than the God-honest truth." He clenches his smoke between his lips, slips off his coat and folds it across the chair next to him. "Okay, so Charlie here had nothing better to do tonight, so that's why he's here. Sonny, how 'bout you? Why do you wanna 'peak behind the shadows,' whatever that means?"

Sonny looks at Harrison and decides to overlook his earlier racial slur, he'd heard and been called a lot worse. in fact he was more shocked by Ms Patton's vulgarity.

"New boy in town, don't really know no one, don't have a job yet, so don't have the spends. Tonight seemed like a good night to pass some time somewhere dry and warm and meet some people, for free" he looks around the place again and grins as he says "can't say I'm disappointed so far".

Remembering that he left his trumpet in the first room "Excuse me, I'll be back shortly, just gonna fetch my trumpet, don't like to be apart from her too long".

Sonny leaves the room and checks the corridor is clear.

OOC,Sonny wants to take a look at what is behind the curtain at the end of the corridor. If the corridor is empty as he leaves the lounge then he will do so then. If not then he will collect his trumpet first and then try again on his return.

Sonny walks into the hall and looks both directions. There is no one in sight.

Charles and Harrison,Roll a spot hidden check if you care what Sonny is doing. If not feel free to ignore.

Sonny,The coast is clear. You try and sneak down to the curtain, not sure if either of the others saw you. It wasn't like there was anything to hide behind. You simply turned the wrong way. Boxes are stacked on either side of the hall up till the curtain. It looks old. As you reach and pull the curtain back enough you see a hall that goes as far as you can see and disappears into darkness. About every 20-30 feet there are doors on opposite side. The one closest to you is labled [i]Storage Room 1A[/i]. On the floor about 3-4 feet past the curtain is this: [img]http://imageshack.us/a/img89/2060/w96n.jpg[/img] On the right wall is this: [img]http://imageshack.us/a/img534/481/b50h.jpg[/img] On the left wall: [img]http://imageshack.us/a/img834/2456/k7ei.jpg[/img] And on the ceiling is: [img]http://imageshack.us/a/img801/8673/j7fn.jpg[/img] The symbols do not appear to be static, but instead are moving. They are drawn in a black chalk with bits of brown or red in it. The scorpion in the floor symbol seems to be moving towards you. Make a sanity (0/1) check for me.

Michael crumples up the newspaper article, after reading it for the third or fourth time, and tosses it into the waste bin outside the museum. He runs a hand through his sweaty hair and second guesses the leather jacket in his heat. The splash of a car driving through a puddle forces the man to turn and take notice of a Boston police patrol car moving down the street. His eyes narrow as he watches his former employers roll off into the night. He stuffs a cigarette into his lips and strikes a match off the sidewalk. He brings his hands up to light the smoke and notices the two days of growth on his face. 'You're a mess Michael' he spits as he walks up towards the museum.

The thoughts of the last day roll through his mind as he strolls. After waking up in 'whatever-her-name-was' bed somewhere down by the docks, he skipped out on saying his goodbyes and headed over to the diner to get some grub. He then headed over to his apartment-slash-office for a change of clothes and something a little stronger than coffee. That's where he saw the paper, sitting in front of his door. A quick read on the can revealed an ad asking for some God-knows-what kind of meeting in a museum back room. He should have paid it no mind, but after receiving no messages on feelers he had put out for work and his cash supply running short he figured that he should at least check it out. There are leads to cash paying jobs everywhere and even some creepy librarian in a musty cellar might need something found or someone investigated. An empty liquor cabinet, a bare fridge and no desire to pay another call to what's-her-name further sealed the deal. He packed his job-bag, threw on his leather jacket and headed out.

Michael takes a long drag from his smoke when he gets to the museum entrance and then tosses the butt to the ground. He navigates the halls and walks down the stairs to where he can hear conversation emanating from the listed office. Not bothering to knock, he opens the door and steps into the room, further following the chatter to the lounge. He leans against the door frame and raps on the wooden door and addresses those within. "Yeah, I'm responding to an article in the Globe, something about shadows or what-have-you? This the place?"

Richard looked down the stairs at the door. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see if it looked like anyone else would be coming. He had been watching from a distance and had seen 3 men enter before he approached. He always wanted to know what he would be walking into before he walked into anything. This type of add was not his usual mark but it had clearly called out to him. It had continued to stir thoughts of his mother ever since reading it. Strange emotions had been swirling in him ever since reading it. It had clearly called to him as if his mother was beckoning to him from beyond the veil of life. He had always wanted to know what had driven his mother to dabble in the occult. He had always taken it as her grift, she was very good at using it for that, but he could never understand what had driven her to the rituals that eventually backfired and had taken her from him and had left him scarred with burn marks from that fate full out of control fire. Something about this add wanted him to be here tonight, like it or not he was going to find out what it was that had subliminally spoken to him in that add. Not seeing anyone else approaching he walked down the stairs and opened the door.

Sonny retrieved his trumpet and re-entered the lounge. Soon afterwards Michael enters the room without Ms. Patton.

OOC,Sonny you still need to do your check and both of you can role-play this out. But I wanted to get this moving.

As Richard walks in Ms. Patton has just re-entered the room. It has a small desk with a type-writer on it, and the whole office is cluttered with boxes and crates.

"Oh welcome, if you will follow me, I can show you to where the others are waiting." She leads you through a door and into a hall. To the left the hall ends. Across the door you entered is a door with the word 'Office' on it. To the right about 20' down is a an opening on the same side of the hall as the office door. And about 10 feet past that is a curtain covering the hall.

As she steps into the entry way she says, "Please make yourself at home, have a smoke or drink and the doctor will be right out. Oh, I'm so sorry sir," speaking to Michael. "I didn't see you come in. Also, please make yourself at home, it won't be but another minute." Richard notices there are 4 other men in the room.
And she finishes by once again saying, "Welcome to MAPS." She then walks out of the room.

Richard takes a long glance at what was being typed on the sheet in the typewriter, and or any other papers lying out on the desk as they walk by it.
As Ms Patton turns to leave "Excuse me Ms Patton but what is MAPS?"

"Don't worry, Doctor Chambers will explain everything." She says as she walks off.

Richard walks to the bar pulls out a glass and pours himself a double shot of tequila. As he glances around the room he takes in the looks of the other four mens faces to read them to see how they react to his facial scars. He also glances at the sliding door that appears to go to the office to see if he can spot anything or anyone behind it.

As you walk over there, it is not difficult to see beyond the door.

Richard,You see this: [img]http://imageshack.us/a/img199/4421/py0q.png[/img]

OOC: I am going to leave this thread open so you 5 can continue to role-play as you wish with introductions or what you like before the doctor shows up.

You can even post on both threads just realize this is happening before the next thread.

When you are ready you can go here..

OOC: Sorry - didn't see this thread develop, I didn't receive any email notifications.

Sanity check[55]: 43 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4175584/

So Sonny is a bit shaken, but he's seen weirder stuff in New Orleans.

Never one to pass up a drink, Michael helps himself to a few fingers from the rapidly depleting bourbon and mumbles about offering his kingdom for some orange zest and a few dashes of bitters. He takes a sip and surveys the room and the people within. After a moment he introduces himself. "Evening gents, name's Michael O'Connor of O'Connor Investigations. Maybe you've heard of me, I'm what you might call an independent contractor in the investigation business. Criminal, personal, industrial, you name it. So what brings you all to this place?" Michael takes a look at Richard. "What happened to you mac? Nick yourself while shaving?"

Richard doesn't flinch when he hears Michael mention that he is an investigator, "The names Richard, Richard Rahl. As for my face I was involved in a severe fire in my teens which left me these burn scars. As for what brings me to this place I assume the same thing as you, the ad from the Globe."

As he continues his conversation with Michael, Richard turns to take in the other two men in the room "So what brings an investigator to show up to an ad like this? Do you know something about who placed the ad that we don't?"

Locking this thread.