IC 3f: Back together again

[BenTheRat]

Location: Boston Museum of Art
Date: March 21, 1921, 1:00 PM

You show up to your scheduled meeting in the order you post. They had said it would get above 80, but it is already well past that. Crazy for March. There are cars in the parking lot and the Museum is obviously open with people coming and going. You go around to the back and down the steps to the office.
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A small sign hanging loosly on the door says Please Come In. As you enter Ms. Patton is there going through some boxes, many of the boxes from last night are no longer in the office with her.
"Good afternoon, I've laid out a small lunch for you, please help yourself," as she escorts you back to the lounge area you were last night.
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The room looks the same as last night except its been cleaned, the liquors are replenished, and a long table with food is on it. There is 2 loaves of bread, 1 white, 1 rye, with a bread knife. Some sliced ham and roast beef. 2 blocks of cheese, swiss and cheddar, and a cheese knife. Along with a variety of fruits and vegetables on the table. At the end of the table was a pitcher of tea, punch and a bowl of jello cubes.

[BenTheRat]

OOC,I just want to say congrats, you guys did extremely well in the first part. Really looking forward to where you guys take it from here. I'm setting this thread up for roleplay, compare notes, make a plan for the next step and move forward. Feel free to post any important information in the important information thread so it doesn't get lost. You guys learned a ton in that first section even if you don't know what it all means yet. I'll be available as Ms. Patton in case you need anything. Its a holiday weekend for me, but I'll still be here.

[Priest]

Warren Kaine

By the time we arrive back at the museum my stomach is grumbling loud enough to cause a disturbance. Throwing my hat and coat onto a chair I make a move towards the table of food.
"Mrs Patton today the Macario guy was spouting some kind of poetry about lakes and things. Now I'm no expert but I'm guessing that either you or the Doc would know someone who is?"
Unable to resist the food any longer I begin putting together a sandwhich

[BenTheRat]

Ms Patton, finished making herself a cup of hot tea. "Poetry, oh I just love poetry, but I never understand a word of it. I'm sure the Doctor would, but I hate to bother him unless its an emergency. Maybe the others will know about it, or know where you could go locally."

[Yigcredible]

"In this world you either work or starve," grumbles Harrison as he walks into the lounge, throwing his hat onto a rack. "Or in the case of writers and poets, you combine the two." He chuckles at his own joke and makes a straight trip to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a stiff drink of whiskey. "It must be 5 o'clock somewhere. That's some good hair of the dog." He loosens his tie as he walks over toward Warren. "I wish Sonny and I could lay claim to a poetry reading. We staked out the haunted house last night and had a run-in with the albino. We chased him but he got away, did a number on the boy's arms. Went upstairs, and..." He pauses and takes a deep drink. "Well, someone or something threw a bed at Sonny. If the boy hadn't dodged out of the way..." He shakes his head. "I don't know how the Oxford dictionary defines 'haunted,' buddy, but I can tell ya that place ain't right."

[Priest]

Warren Kaine
Halfway through preparing a roast beef on rye sandwich, with lots of mustard, I look up at the aproach of Harrison.
"So I take it you entered the house then?"
I pick up the finished sandwhich and take a bite feeling the strength of the mustard in my mouth and the tell tale trickle of excess down my chin. I quickly wipe it away with a folded napkin, "Sorry about that...hungry" I laugh, although with a mouthfull of sandwich speech let alone laughter is difficult.
With a definate swallow I finish the mouthfull. "Well, meeting the Macario's was an interesting experience. If you can call talking to a woman who keeps on about shadows with red eyes, cutlery and plates attacking the husband and being 'nice' to a ghost, and her husband who just stares into nothing and quotes obscure poetry, interesting"
I take another bite of the sandwhich and despite having a mouthfull I add, "Oh, and it seems the missing albino has been around there too, only now he's calling himself Tom Law and pumping the Macario's about a knife"
I take the folded paper from my inside pocket and put it on the table with the indentation of the knife plainly visible, "And before someone suggests the old rubbing with a pencil trick, I know that one I was just waiting for a suitable time."

[Papa Gateau]

Sonny moves over to buffet and starts loading a plate. "Yeah, we entered the house, when we got there we saw someone inside - seemed like it was going to be a simple case that the house wasn't haunted - just some guy setting up tricks and stuff. Anyway - we'll tell all when everyone get's here - no point repeating ourselves. Man I'm hungry!"

[BenTheRat]

As each of you filters in and gets food and drink, some of the stories start flying around. Ms. Patton says, "Oh I love this part." Then she seems to notice the large welt on Sonny's arm. "Oh dear, has anyone looked at that. It may not seem like much, but trust me I've seen people ignores such things and wish they hadn't later, well in your new line of work."
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She goes over and pulls out an ice pack and fills it with ice and puts it on the arm, "Now hold that on there, it should help with the swelling."
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Then she sits down with a pad and pencil as all 7 of you eventually come in. "Now please tell me everything, oh how I love this part."
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After etching out the image on the pad it looks like this:

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And Sonny and Henderson can draw out the house parts they were in.
Ground floor:

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Top floor:

[Occigon]

"Well," says Charles, "you gentlemen certainly have seen some strange things today." He helps himself to a handful of grapes. "Luckily for us, Michael and I had a far more boring time at the library. It was not, however, uninformative."

Taking out his notebook and flipping through the pages, Charles begins to summarize what they found. "Let's see. The house was built by a Dr. Joey Anderson in 1835. He fell seriously ill months after moving in. His brother blamed the illness on the house and sold it to a Mr. Walter Corbitt, who by all accounts was quite a strange figure. In 1852, Corbitt was sued by his neighbors, who wanted the courts to force him to leave the house, on account of unspecified habit and behavior. Apparently, they didn't get their way, because he was still living there in 1866, when he died. His will stated that he was to be buried in the basement of the house - which led to another lawsuit by the neighbors, trying to stop that from happening. Quite the litigious bunch those neighbors. I'd be surprised if a law firm hadn't done pretty well out of Norman Street a few decades back."

"Anyway," he continues, taking up the tale again, "the will left the house to a Reverend Michael Thomas, pastor of the Chapel of Contemplation & Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets, who was also the executor of the will. I'm afraid we didn't have time to look a little more closely into what that Chapel actually was. Isn't any church I've ever heard of."

Charles pauses to pour himself a glass of water, takes a sip, and continues. "We don't know what happened to the good reverend either, because there's a bit of a gap then. About fifty years later - in 1914 - a Mr. Abraham Torres killed himself in the house with a kitchen carving knife. Did quite a job of it too - stabbed himself seven times, including in the face, then slit his own throat. They actually thought it was murder at first, then settled on suicide. His family packed up and left. One strange thing though - Torres' brother in law, a Jonathan Brady, was arrested on attempted arson. Brady insisted that Torres had been murdered by the house - whatever that means."

Closing his notebook, he shrugs. "Sounds absolutely normal to me," he finishes, with a touch of sarcasm.

[Priest]

Warren Kaine

With the final mouthful of the sandwich finished and a cup of java, hot and strong, appropriated, I open my notebook while looking at the drawing of the house. I tap the room at the top of the stairs," According to Mrs Macario, Gabriella, this is the room she refers to as...it's...Whatever 'it' is"
I glance down at my notes, or at least the scribble that I refer to as my personal shorthand,, "She said, and I quote, his was the 1st bedroom when you go up the stairs. You can tell its his. You can hear 'em in there walking around, moving about.. She also said some stuff about shadows with red eyes and something attacking her husband, Vittorio, with plates and knives."
I look up at Sonny, "Harrison said that something threw a bed at you, was it in this room? It seems to be the same room she identified."
I sip the coffee, "Other than that we didn't get much, beside the fact that the albino, now calling himself Law is still on the scene and hunting for a knife." I point at the drawing, "This one...Vittorio was a complete bust all the guy did was stare blankly and recite a poem like some kind of kid in prep school. I wrote down the poem, in case one of you gentlemen recognises it. Not sure if it has any relevance, but Kaine's first rule of investigative journalism is discount nothing"
Clearing my throat, I read from my notes,
"Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen.
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is Lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die though, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa"
With a shrug I close my notebook and take another sip from my coffee. "At first I thought it was from Hiawatha...but I don't recall ever hearing of a place called...Carcosa

[DrVendetta]

Richard taking in all of the conversations while making himself a sandwich and pouring himself some punch speaks up "Well it seems our friend Tom Lawrence is the major player here. I believe he rented the house because of its background. A gentleman by the name of Corbitt had purchased the house about 80 years ago and lived in it a fairly long time. He actually wanted to be buried in it, at one point the local people tried to sue Corbitt to get him out accusing him of practicing witchcraft in the house. I did not manage to get any other information on this Corbitt gentleman." Richard takes a bite of the sandwich he fixed and a quick gulp of his punch then continues "Now our friend Tom Lawrence, who was originally a half Albino is now a full albino, not sure what he did to cause this change but I am sure it involved his involvement in occultist activities. As it turns out he frequented a fairly large Occult shop down the street to buy many items. As I am not into the occult I can not tell you what this means but this is the sign that was outside the Occult Store shop" Richard shows everyone his sketch of the Occult store sign.



Richard takes a few more bites of his sandwich and another drink while everyone takes in the sketch of the Occult store sign then continues "I am curious of what the symbols of the sign mean but we can get back to that. Our friend the Albino was just in this occult store three days ago. He actually freaks the store clerk out because Tom is into the very hardcore occult stuff. The store clerk noticed that he is a full albino now and he keeps his face covered now. He usually purchases some candles and incense but had originally wanted alot of items that the store did not carry, which shocked me because this store seemed to have virtually every thing someone in to the occult could want. According to the store clerk Tom had wanted" Richard looks down to the list from the clerk and reads to everyone "Carrageenan, which is from a seaweed extract. Carminic Acid, which is gotten from crushing a certian type of beetle and boiling them. Xanthan gum which is created by rotting vegetables, then skim the slime that forms and boil it, this is normally used as a thickening agent. And the last item I cant pronounce but here it is" Richard rights it down on a piece of paper for everyone to see.
Polycdimethylsiloxane "not sure how this is made but it is used as a binding agent"Richard says as he closes his notepad.

Richard continues "Tom had wanted all of these items over a year ago when he first moved into the house, the occult store could not provide him with these items. According to the shop keeper Tom wanted these items to do some type of ritual to some king, he couldn't remember exactly but thought it might be the Yellow King or something like that"

Richard finishes the last bites of his sandwich and drains his glass. Then looks to the others and says "So that is what I have so far"

[Priest]

Warren Kaine

I listen intently, if in mystification, to Richard's account, "Who, or what, is the 'Yellow King' and what's with all this occult hokum?"
I shrug and begin to turn back to the table of food. Then with a start I swing back, "Something Mrs Macario said that didn't register until now, She said 'them'...You can hear 'em in there walking around, moving about... Not him or it but 'them'."
I turn to Sonny, "You went into that room at the top of the stairs. What exactly did you see?"

[Papa Gateau]

"Well we didn' really see much, more a case of what happen' to us"

"Probably best if I go from the beginning. We left here and headed straight over to the house, it was pretty quiet at first and then 'bout midnight I see someone moving around inside the house. Me and Harry decide to go take look see - seemed like our mysterious haunted house was just a joker and we catch him in the act or someone was helping themselves to things that weren't theirs.

We goes to the front door and we open it, we see the burglar trying a door at the bottom of the stairs. He sees us and skiddaddles - heading for the open window. We chase him but boy this feller is quick - he's through the window and it's all I can do reach through and grab an armful of his clothes. Anyway, I just about have him when he turns and slams the window down on me, which hurt so bad that I let go and he was gone. I'm tellin' you, that boy sure is quick!

Oh yeah - nearly forgot! our intruder is the 'bino feller - Tom Law or Lawrence.

So now we're inside the house and Harry and me decides to see what was so interestin' for Tom 'bino. We go check the door he was at, now this door has 3 bolts and lock on it - not the sort of door you'd expect inside a house, it's the kind of door for keeping people out.

Anyway, before we can see what's behind the door we hear footsteps from upstairs. I'm thinkin' maybe Tombino has a friend upstairs, so we heads up there to try and grab him and maybe do a better job of it this time.

The noises are coming from the room at the top of the stairs and I can see through the window someone climbing onto the roof, though in all the excitement it might have been a reflection, even my own. I race to the window, wanting to grab the boy but get this, the window is nailed shut! how in hell did that boy get up there through that window?

I just catch some movement outta the corner of my eye and I think the fella is behind me and about to attack me - so I throws myself to the ground and just in the nick of time too 'cos it weren't no fella but a bed! I'm telling you it made a helluva dent in the wall and woulda made a bigger dent in this nigger!

I'm thinking I musta seen a reflection and the fella threw the bed but there weren't no sign of no-one in that room 'ceptin me and Harry said no one ran out. That's spooky man!

We looked, see if there was some kind of trip wire or mechanism or something but there weren't nuthin'.

Now I'm from New Orleans and I seen some freaky stuff but I ain't never seen a bed come flying at me across a room! I decides I has had enough for one night and maybe we should just get back to the car and watch the house. Which is where Dicky-boy found us this mornin'

So we knows some stuff - that Tombino is still around and is huntin' around the house and that he's wants to see whatever is behind that door with all the locks on it and that spooky things that this poor southern boy can't explain happen at the house"

Sonny pauses after recounting their night's adventures and looks to Warren "So like I says - we didn't see much and we certainly didn't see no them in the room with the flying bed."

[Priest]

Warren Kaine

"Hmm, interesting. So a door inside...possibly to a cellar...with 3 bolts and a lock." With a final gulp I finish the last of my coffee and start heading to the pot, "If the bolts and lock were inside then I guess they were to stop someone using the cellar, if one exists, as access to the house."
I pour myself another cup and nonchantly stir in a couple of spoonfulls of sugar, "If our friend Tom is looking for that knife he asked the Macario's about, he probably thinks it might be behind that door and if he can't get in you can bet it's still there."
"Okay, listen up, does anyone know if there is an odd key available, as I'm presuming that we have a set of keys for the house?"

[Papa Gateau]

"I dunno - the locks look more like to stop someone coming in from the cellar or outside, not to stop someone from going there - the bolts are on the inside.'

"Harry and me locked the place back up before left - the window that Tombino came in by, the door with all the locks and the front door. Harry has the keys doncha Harry?"

Sonny helps himself to another plate of food.

"Why don't we finish eatin' our lunch and then go look around the house again? See if we can find this knife or maybe a key to the cellar/back door - Harry, how many keys are on that key ring? Think there might be one to fit that door with all the locks on it?"

[Priest]

Warren Kaine

I nod at Sonny's suggestion and fresh cup of coffee in hand return to the food. But before fixing another sandwich I glance around,
"Sounds like a plan. Eat first, investigate after. So who are we waiting for?"

[BenTheRat]

Harry pulls out the keys, there are 3 on there. "I know this big one is for the front door, not sure on the 2 smaller ones."
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As Warren looks around, the whole group is there, just a couple haven't spoken up yet, Michael and Jordie.
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OOC,Michaels been on vacation and should be posting soon, but Charles already covered what they found at the library. Not sure about Jordie, but its only been 3-4 days. But Warren covered her info. So you have everything. At this point if you want to make a plan and we can push on to chapter 4 if you want, or you can just talk some more. Up to you guys.

[DrVendetta]

Richard speaks up " Well it sounds like the house dosen't become active until after dark so we have some time. I would like to know more about the knife, the ritual to the 'Yellow' King, the ingrediants that Tom was after, and maybe the symbols on the occult store sign. I am not sure if the symbols play into this but the knife, the ingredients, and the ritual have to be connected."

edited to add content

[Mouchinator]

Michael has been sitting quietly, smoking and nibbling at some bread. He nods his head through most of what Charles reports in terms of their findings and throws Sonny a weird glance as he describes a bed flying at him.

"My man Charles has the right of it, in terms of what we found at the Library. This whole Church of Contemplation has me straight puzzled though. Who were they? What did they do with the house? Now I'm not saying I'm starting to believe in any of this mumbo jumbo, but flying beds, strange churches, men asking to be buried their basements, people stabbing themselves in the face? This is starting to raise the hair on the back of my neck!"

Michael takes a few more puffs and crosses the room to pour a drink.

"I wouldn't mind popping by the Boston Police Department headquarters and see what else we can find. I used to be Boston PD so I could see if some friends might do a quick look see for me. Never know if this Church or Corbitt or anything else comes up in their archives. Otherwise I'm not sure what else we can do with the information we have."

[Papa Gateau]

"Whoa, whoa Mikey - who been stabbin' theirselves in the face, I musta missed that bit?

OOC,can I make some occult rolls to see if I know anything of: 1. The Yellow King 2. The ingredients 3. The Occult Symbols