Play@YSDC

Tuesday February 26th, 1929

The Miskatonic Exhibit Museum stands across the lane from St. Mary’s Hospital. It is an odd relic, having been present since the Arkham College was revitalized in 1765. It was rebuilt and enlarged after a fire in 1902, and is in the process of being modernized and expanded by its energetic curator, George Grewe.

Opening at 10am, the investigators can enter the museum without any admission charge. The outer façade is decorated in neoclassical style, with the entrance flanked by statues of Jeremiah Orne and Stanley Hoyt, worthy figures in the University’s history.

At this time, the museum is quiet. Entering the building, the companions are confronted by the Natural History section, which contains such sights as elephants, lions, and a very large plankton-eating shark. To the side, the skeleton of a sauropod has been erected amongst a collection of fossils.

Despite the many fascinating wonders presented, the companions are here for a singular purpose.

OOC,George Grewe is quite a well-known figure around campus. Perhaps Alice and Harrison have met him? Roll Know. He might be able to help you.

Know,Knowledge 85 [dice]0[/dice]

Harrison has been here before and prepares to direct the others to the Contemporary Cultures Hall. As they begin to walk, he asks, "Do you think we should get some background on the exhibit from the curator?

"Yes, I know him, and he could be helpful," says Alice. "We'll just have to be careful what we say to him. We don't want to arouse suspicion with our questions."

OOC,Know roll (80% stat) about [b]Grewe[/b]: [dice]0[/dice]

Isadora Carmichael

"Perhaps we can go with the perfectly innocent and essentially true line: you just want to show the exhibition to me, your guest?"

"We can, but at some point we'll have to request to borrow one of the bracelets," says Alice. "If he says no, and we have to get one anyway, that could be a problem. He'll remember we asked about it."

Isadora Carmichael

"Maybe borrow it... for a portrait? You want to have your portrait painted, or a photograph taken, wearing this piece? No, no... Sounds stupid..."

Henry Glynn

"It's the best idea so far" says Henry

"That might work." says Alice. "We might want to say simply that we want to have a portrait made, not necessarily that I'll be the subject of it. Then if he presses further, we can say that we have a model arranged. That'll be Asenath, but we're better off not dropping her name if we can help it."

Isadora Carmichael

"No, we shouldn't mention Asenath. Let's say the portrait is yours, Alice.

"I'm more than happy to make a couple of sketches," she adds with a smile.

OOC,Yes, I think we are ready to approach him! Alice or Harrison should do the introduction

Isadora Carmichael

"After all, you were unofficially requested by the dean to look into this matter..."

Isadora agrees to the course offered by Alice.

"But let's just take a quick glance at the exhibit before we do that. I would like to see with my own eyes what is it that Asenath wants."

Isadora starts looking for the bracelets. How is the collection organised? Is there a "jewelry" section? Perhaps local arts and crafts?

Inside the main entrance where the companions are standing they can see a small desk containing information leaflets, including a map of the museum.

There are several exhibits and rooms listed; as well as the Natural History room which they face, there is Ancient Cultures, Geology, Ancient & Classical Arts, Contemporary Culture, the Art Gallery, a Rotating Exhibit which is currently showing items from the South Pacific collected by Professor Harold Hadley Copeland, and the Orne Collection.

OOC,You’re going to require random Luck rolls to keep from running into [b]Grewe[/b]. [b]Dr. Bricknell[/b] is the Dean of Students and has a reputation as a disciplinarian. Don’t assume that he won’t anger and decide to summon [b]Asenath[/b] to explain herself instead of agreeing to your plan. [b]Alice[/b] will need to roll Persuade to convince him.

Henry Glynn

Henry examines the map and determines the location of the Contemporary Cultures hall.

I agree with Isabella in that we should go look at the exhibit first. Perhaps we will notice something before we start to involve other people. Harrison shrugs. "But I'm quite apparently not as experienced as all of you in these matters.

OOC,About Grewe - is it a problem if we run into him? At this point, we are simply visitors to the museum.

Isadora follows Harry to the Contemporary Cultures hall.

"I think it might be better if we talk to Dr. Bricknell first," says Alice.

"I'm sure you don't need me to talk to Mr. Bricknell." Harrison says to Alice. "We won't do anything but look."

With that, Harrison heads off to the Contemporary Cultures Hall.

Henry Glynn

"I'll go with Alice"

Isadora and Harrison continue on their way to view the bracelet, while Alice and Henry leave for Dr. Bricknell's office.

OOC,I'll start a separate thread for Alice and Henry. Isadora, roll Luck.

Isadora Carmichael
Luck 65
[dice]0[/dice]

Isadora and Harrison reach the Contemporary Cultures Hall without seeing anyone. Their assumption was correct – they soon locate a cabinet of New England folk art containing the jewelry from Innsmouth.

They are of a strange metal in a pale gold colour. There is a tiara, an ornate necklace, and three bracelets. All are engraved in swirling designs and carvings of what seems to be dolphins and shells. The tiara has several figures in bas-relief; they look humanoid but have an odd batrachian or ichthyoid look.

Isadora Carmichael

"They are beautiful..." Isadora whispers, and steps closer to the cabinet. She examines the intricate details and weird shapes. Is it anything she might have seen before? She thinks back to the dozens of catalogs of folk art and ornaments she has in her home library, the thousands of pictures she has seen on exhibitions.

OOC,I'm adding a roll for uh anything that might come up: [dice]0[/dice]

Isadora Carmichael

When the mild Stendhal syndrome attack wears off, Isadora points this out to Harrison.

"Look how big those bracelets are! Clearly not meant for Asenath's elfin wrists... Why does she need them, then? Some personal or sentimental connection? I know I've asked you before, but perhaps you can remember where she is from, originally?"

Harrison shrugs. "I'm afraid I know very little about her myself. I know who she is but as you can see, she's pretty reserved and no one who is in her circle is very talkative either."

OOC,Occult Roll 30 (on the off chance I've seen something like this before? [dice]0[/dice]

He bends in to get a closer look at the designs on the bracelets.

"I'm more interested in those designs. Does it look like there is any pattern to them? Harrison continues, "And those figures in the tiara... Have you ever seen anything like that."

OOC,The others will be rejoining you soon – I might play a little fast and loose with game time, so we’ll have to imagine you’ve been poring over the exhibit for 30 minutes or so. We'll have a little conversation and then Alice and Henry will turn up.

Our heroes are interrupted by a bespectacled man in his late forties, wearing a bow tie and a rumpled tweed suit. He is hurrying towards them, a look of concern on his kindly face.

“My my!” he exclaims. “This exhibit is suddenly very popular!”

He takes off his glasses as he regards Harrison.

“You’re Harrison Matthews, aren’t you?” he asks. Turning to Isadora, he says “I’m sorry, we haven’t met – I’m George Grewe, the Curator. And the exhibit you’re regarding so intensely seems to be the subject of quite a bit of intrigue!”

He looks concerned and fascinated at the same time. “Is this a coincidence?” he asks, regarding the investigators with keen, intelligent eyes.

Isadora Carmichael

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grewe. I'm Isadora Carmichael, from Boston," she introduces herself to the curator.

She assumes that Alice and Henry's request reached Grewe. However, she doesn't know the result yet... so she plays it safe.

"This is not a coincidence. I'm sure you've been told about the circumstances. But what do you think, as the person who knows the most about these artifacts: what makes them special?"

Harrison acknowledges George Grewe with a slight bow. "I am. I had heard that there was some interest in this exhibit and I thought I would come here with my friend to see if we could puzzle out just what is so interesting about these pieces."

At this point Alice and Henry arrive.

“Ah, Miss Stanton and her friend!” exclaims Grewe. “I’m guessing you’re all acquainted with each other, then?” He winks at Isadora.

Suddenly serious, he says “Look, I’m really not very happy about this arrangement. But I agreed to go along with it. We’ve spent a long time building up the collection here, and I don’t want to start giving it away to satisfy some fanciful whimsy. So you’d better take care of it!” He sighs and wipes his face with a handkerchief.

“In answer to your questions, I guess that the special thing about them is the metal. We haven’t been able to identify it – it resembles gold but it’s something else. It comes from Innsmouth, indeed it was given to us by an anonymous donor who found it there. This is before my appointment as curator; I believe it was sometime before the Great War. My suspicions are that the pieces originate in the South Pacific, and were returned to Innsmouth by a merchant or a whaler. The style is quite unusual, but apart from that and the strange metal there doesn’t seem to be anything else.”

He takes a key from his pocket and unlocks the case. Selecting a bracelet, he produces a cloth and wraps it, and hands it to Alice.

“Please see that it is returned” he says, solemnly.

"Thank you, Mr. Grewe," says Alice, accepting the wrapped bracelet and handling it with care. "We shall."

Isadora Carmichael

"Thank you, Mr. Grewe," Isadora says.

OOC,Let's move on!

"Only one other question Mr. Grewe. Do you know of any other pieces like this anywhere else?"

Grewe shakes his head.

”I’m only familiar with the pieces we have here” he replies.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the bracelets?" asks Alice. "How and when did the museum acquire them?"

"I'm sorry" says Grewe. "I don't know anymore than what I've already told you."

OOC,Grewe has already answered these questions. If there's nothing else, I'll move to a new chapter.