IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

The Big Apple - a booming city in the grip of a bitter winter and the excitement of an upcoming eclipse.
A close friend returns home a changed man; the fate of the world is now in his hands, but it may already be too late.

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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by Cearlan »

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Irene D. Turner
Irene hurriedly throws some clothes on and ties a robe over the top then heads towards the door after Gerald.

"Wh ... what's Happening Ger?" I peer over his shoulder at the chaotic scene in the corridor.

"Oh my!" I exclaim to nobody in particular as my hand goes to my mouth.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

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Room 410, Hotel Chelsea

Even before they reach the suite's large bed Clark and Jordan can see that the body on the bed is that of their good friend Jackson Elias. It looks like Jackson was probably in a bad way already - before these hoodlums got hold of him - his hair is unkempt and knotted, his face gaunt, unwashed and unshaven. Such things are trivial now though compared to the brutal savagery of Jackson's death; the author has been disemboweled, his abdomen hacked open and his intestines dragged out across the blood-soaked bedsheets. Also a strange curved symbol has been carved into Jackson's forehead - this wound has bled profusely, suggesting that it was done before he died. Finally Jackson's throat has been cut almost deeply enough to decapitated him.

DL and James enter the room behind them, James with his gun held ready.

The room has been ransacked, drawers and cupboards are open, clothes tossed out onto the floor.

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Jackson Elias head wound

Outside Rooms 409 and 410, Hotel Chelsea

Gerald and Irene arrive in the corridor and see that the adjoining door leading to Room 410 is open. Just inside the doorway lies a body, apparently dead from a gunshot wound - the corpse in wearing a most hideous wooden tribal mask featuring an obscene red tongue made from thick leather over a foot long.

Gerald's acquaintance Jackson Elias often stays in Room 410 and he's sure he spotted Jackson in the hotel yesterday, but the author is nowhere to be seen. Inside apartment 410, beyond the corpse and just inside the main bedroom the couple can see a man with his back to them holding a handgun.
OOC:   The gunman is James.  
The Staircase, Hotel Chelsea

Amy rushes headlong down the Hotel Chelsea's beautiful iron staircase, never has it's beautiful design seemed so irrelevant. As she reaches the second floor level she is sure that she can hear screaming coming from the third floor - which is strange as Jackson's room is up on the fourth. Below her though, she can now see the reception desk in the lobby as well as the payphone mounted on the lobby wall.

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Hotel Chelsea Staircase

The balcony, Room 310, Hotel Chelsea.

Tremayne climbs down to the balcony below Jackson's with Anderson following right behind him. The door into room 310 has been smashed open, a well dressed man is on his knees clutching uselessly at a deep machete wound to his neck and chest - blood sprays between his fingers. Behind him a middle aged woman is screaming and beyond the couple, not one but two masked assassins are fleeing back into the hotel towards the apartment's entrance.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

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Amy races for the phone and snatches up the receiver. "Operator, I need an ambulance at the Chelsea Hotel, Room 410!" she cries. "Hurry, he's hurt bad! And send the police!"
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by Dave Syrinx »

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Seeing the PI holding his ground with a pistol, Gerald asks, "Oy, is Elias all right?" He steps over the shot assailant and unmasks him, to see what kind of thugs Jackson Elias had got tangled up with.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by andyw666 »

Tremayne takes a quick look for a split second at the injured man and decides to keep chasing the thugs. "Stop!! Murder!! Police!! Stand and face me, blaggards!!" He continues after them as fast as his legs will carry him.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by DrPeterson »

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Jordan is stopped in his steps as he recognises Elias's body.
Damn it, Elias, this is no way to go...

He recomposes himself quickly, having lost many friends in the Great War, and to more terrible weapons than machetes. He rummages through his pockets with purpose and pulls out his hipflask, unscrewing it and taking a hefty swig.

'There is no dignity in death, and only in life can a man prove his worth. And yours was of great worth!'

He then thrusts the flask into Clark's hands.
"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it. We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it."
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by royya »

Clark drops his bag with his precious trumpet on the floor
Oh...no..Jackson ... why?

He says in agony but keeps his nerves. This is not the first time the black man saw a body. He than catch the flask, take a swig, nods and eyes Jordan
should we cover him ?


Clark eyes run across the floor and bed for any clues before he picks up his bag and goes to the dead assassain. He don't want to stay in the room, the first suspect is always the black dude.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by DrPeterson »

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'No, covering him would be disgraceful. You cover a tea pot or a typewriter, not a man.', Jordan says decisively.
'We should look for his journal, or any indication why those savages massacred him. And best finish before the police get here.'

Jordan takes another good look at the face of his friend, at the carved sigil and a cold rage fills his heart.

'I will find out what led to this, Elias, and we will bring it to light in your stead. That is what I swear here and now.'

He then looks around the room for Elias's journal or anything that might help.
Spot Hidden 25%,[dice]0[/dice]
"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it. We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it."
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by kabukiman »

Anderson continues running to try to get at least one of the murderers (with one caught, it's easier to get the second he thinks to himself).
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

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Room 410, Hotel Chelsea

James looks back at Gerald and shakes his head grimly before continuing to the balcony. Leaning over he can easily hear the commotion from the room below, he holsters his revolver and shouts, "They're on the third floor!"

He then begins to carefully lower himself over the balcony to the floor below, but cannot get down safely and, frustrated, clambers back onto Jackson's balcony.

*** ***

When James shouts from the balcony DL sprints from the room towards the hotel's main staircase, heading for the third floor.

*** ***

Jordan and Clark look quickly around the room, but it appears to be pretty well ransacked, there are no obvious items such as journals visible.

*** ***

Pulling the hideous mask from the assassin's face Gerald reveals a black man with thick unkempt black hair. Well built, his skin tone is very dark and his features are unremarkable, other than a small scar on his chin.

The knife that the man carried is unusual, it appears to be basically a large machete, but the blade bends at almost a right angle in the middle, similar to a boomerang.

Rifling quickly through the killer's jacket Gerald finds three items:
  • A letter, addressed to Roger Carlyle. Dated 3rd Jan 1919
  • An elegantly engraved business card for the 'Penhew Foundation' in London
  • An empty matchbox, labelled: Stumbling Tiger Bar, 10 Lantern Street. "Shanghai Fun & Friends"
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Handouts,[img]https://i.imgur.com/IrcYv6I.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/qqXXyis.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Dg5aWen.png[/img]
3rd Floor, Hotel Chelsea

The two fleeing assassins open the apartment door and run into the corridor before either Tremayne or Anderson can catch them. They turn right, running towards the laundry room and the fire escapes, rather than left towards the central staircase.

A man stepping out of his room cowers in terror as the two machete armed men barge past him, and with nobody else in the way the first man makes it through the window and onto the fire escape. The second man doesn't have time though, as the investigators have almost caught up, he turns with a snarl waving the huge knife wildly, the red leather tongue appendage of his grotesque masks swings about madly.

Through the eye slits in the assassin's mask both investigators can see that his eyes are filled with the berserk fury of a drug fiend or a madman.
OOC:   You cannot see the face of this second assassin due to the mask, but the skin of his hands is white.  
The Lobby, Hotel Chelsea

It seems to take an eternity for the operator to answer Amy, but when she does she speaks calmly, "Ok miss, don't panic, I'll get help to you straight away. Room 410, Hotel Chelsea? Are you safe?"
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by HelplessBystander »

Irene looked at the horrendously mutilated body on the ground, and tried not faint. "Oh dear, what should we do?"
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by andyw666 »

Tremayne briefly thought it ironic that earlier in the day he had been in the boxing ring at the gymnasium. He quickly adopted the approved boxer's stance, balled fists in front of his face, elbows in close to his torso.

He took a deep breath and roared, "Stillman's gym!"
OOC,Let me know order of battle and Tremayne will throw a punch at the assassin.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by Mr. Handy »

Image

"Yes, thank you," says Amy, speaking quickly in her desperation. "I'm safe, I ran back down to the lobby to use the phone, but Jackson Elias and my friends are still up there! There were at least two strange men in the room when we arrived to see Jackson. I could hear them through the door, rummaging through things and speaking to each other in an African language, and Jackson wasn't answering. My friends had to break the door in, and one of the men came out. He was wearing an African headdress with a horrible tribal mask, and he had a machete. There was blood on it...and...flesh..." Amy gulps. "Jackson..." She begins to sob, her heart twisted in a knot.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by kabukiman »

Anderson will pretend to make a move to see if he can distract the killer, so Tremayne can punch him.
"Hey, ugly face, why don't you fight someone of your size?"
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by andyw666 »

Punch,Tremayne's Punch is 70% and he rolls... [dice]0[/dice]
Tremayne dances forward and lets fly with a right jab to the gut.
Damage,[dice]1[/dice] + [dice]2[/dice] Total 5 hp damage unless he dodges.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

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Third Floor, Hotel Chelsea

The berserk assassin makes no attempt to avoid Tremayne's expert punch.

The jab hits the masked man solidly in the gut, but the raging assassin barely flinches in his efforts to hack Tremayne apart with wild swings of his machete. He appears to be untrained, but his uncoordinated swings could still be deadly.
Assassins Attack,Roll to hit [dice]0[/dice] And damage if it hits [dice]1[/dice] [ooc]The attack will hit for 4 damage unless you dodge or parry. This attacker actually has quite poor skills, so I will allow unarmed parries without the chance of taking damage anyway.[/ooc]
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

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Room 410, Hotel Chelsea

As soon as he's safely back onto Jackson's balcony James sets off running after DL, drawing his revolver again as he runs, "They're still in the hotel, can't let them get away!"

With that he runs past Gerald and Irene, heading towards the hotel's staircase.
OOC:   You can assume that Irene, Jordan and Clark have all at least glanced the three clues that Gerald retrieved.  
The Lobby, Hotel Chelsea

"Try to stay calm Miss," replies the operator, who sounds a little disturbed by Amy's description herself.

"A patrol car will be there in a few minutes and I'm arranging the ambulance as well. Please remain where you are until the officers arrive."
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by HelplessBystander »

Irene saw the few snatches of the documents, and realised that something is afoot. The fact that wild murderers are lurking in the hotel disturbed her severely. She picked up a small knife-like object from the room to defend herself and followed. Determined to be able to contribute to the arrest of those maniacs in any way possible.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by Mr. Handy »

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"Thank you," says Amy, "but I have to go back. I may be the only one who can keep him alive until the ambulance gets here." She hangs up before the operator can try to talk her out of it and races back up the stairs.
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Re: IC - Chapter 1 - New York, January 1925

Post by andyw666 »

Unarmed Party,Tremayne's First is 70% and he rolls... [dice]0[/dice]
Tremayne blocks the incoming machete attack with a well timed sweep with his left arm.
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