IC-Ep 2-Breaking and Entering?(Everyone else)

[HelplessBystander]

"Let's go up the stairs, they appear, to me at least, to lead up to the entrance of the house. I've been here just a short while ago, so I think I could give some directions." Anna whispered.

[Shelfunit]

"I'm guessing some signs of our escapee" suggested Charles, peering around. "Should we turn on the lights?, I mean, the occupants have gone, and it would be a lot less suspicious than torches?"

[HelplessBystander]

“Sure. Why not?” Anna shrugged, and went to turn on the light.

[aine]

"Could you keep watch out front?" Phyllis asks the tailor. "Doris, could you and Maggie watch the front and back from the upstairs rooms?" I'll listen through the wall and let you know what's happening next door if I can."

[Mr. Handy]

Doris and Maggie took up their positions at the windows upstairs while Doris listened at the wall.

Anna found a lamp on the writing desk and flicked it on, and now they could see more clearly. The desk was an old Victorian-era piece with a rolltop. It contained writing paper, pens, ink, stationery, envelopes, postage stamps, and similar things on its surface and in its drawers. There was also a clock there, which indicated that it was 6:40 PM. The bookshelves were fully stocked, There were numerous titles on the shelves about Egypt, but they wouldn't be able to tell much about their contents without reading them, which would take quite some time.

[DrkRoxas]

Seamus started walking to the victorian desk, stopping next to it and looking at all the materials for letter that were inside.

"Maybe there's something of interest here, and there could be other things inside these envelopes, people usually hide other things in them" he said to the rest, with a crooked smile on his face.

Spot Hidden 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

Seamus found some old correspondence stored in one of the desk drawers that the Steadmans had apparently been saving. Most of the letters seemed irrelevant, but he did find one of interest. Holding it up to the lamp, he was able to read it:

"September 25, 1938
Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Dear Captain Steadman,

Thank you for showing an interest in my discovery. To be honest, I had had no idea of its value when I first found it. One finds all sorts of detritus when fishing on an industrial scale, but this is the oddest thing I have ever seen. It looks nothing so much like a tiny coffin, undoubtedly very old. I did not want to risk opening it, for fear of damaging it or its contents, but I had it X-rayed at Brown University. There is some kind of small stone within, perhaps a crystal or gemstone. They believe it to be at least five thousand years old. If you are ever in Providence, feel free to drop by and examine it, though that does not seem likely to happen any time soon considering the current political situation. I fear your country may be at war within a week, and you will doubtless be called to duty in its defense in that event. Should you wish to purchase the artifact, I will entertain your offer, though you will need to make it a good one. There has been interest in it from both Brown University and Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts.

Sincerely,
Captain Dominick Travers"

[DrkRoxas]

Seamus read the letter to his companions, looking clueless.

"Stone, coffin, gemstone? What the hell is this? This looks too weird to let slide, considering the monstrosities we've had to deal with, this Captain Steadman must've use these trinkets for the occult!" he said with indignation.

After this, he offered the letter to his companions and started gazing into the horizon. "How much could these trinkets cost? This might be a great opportunity for me" he thought, with a smirk on his face.

[yockenthwaite]

Elizabeth keeps a watch out for any police or other people coming along, hoping that the others are getting on ok in the house, and not running into trouble.

OOC,Who is out here with me? I'm assuming Story, but who else?

[Mr. Handy]

The thought of money brought Seamus's attention to a ledger in another of the desk's drawers.

OOC,Anyone reading the ledger may make an Accounting roll. [b]Story[/b] is behind the house with you, though he's hiding inside the Anderson shelter. [b]Seamus[/b] and [b]Anna[/b] went into the [b]Steadman[/b] house through the back door. [b]Charles[/b] was out front the last I checked, and I don't think he came behind the house yet. [b]Phyllis[/b] and [b]Benjamin[/b] are in [b]Doris[/b]'s house with her and [b]Maggie[/b].

[Pastiche]

Benjamin nervously paces back and forth, from time to time pausing to look through the curtains. "What on earth are they doing in there?"

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I edited the text of the letter slightly because carbon-dating didn't quite exist yet in 1938.

[aine]

"I can't hear anything, Mr Klein, it's very quiet next door so I presume they are all alright in there." Says Phyllis in a loud whisper.

[Shelfunit]

Charles was out front the last I checked

Charles is in the house with Seamus, and Anna (second post down from the top of this page)

Anyone reading the ledger may make an Accounting roll.

Charles takes a look over the ledger...

Charles Accounting:60,[dice]0[/dice]

...and discovers...

[HelplessBystander]

"Hmm...this looks like my high-school maths homework." Anna looked over the notes, and found something of interest.

Accounting 10%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

Anna and Charles leafed through the ledger, and they both soon found one unusual transaction. It was dated 31/10/1938, and it consisted of a payment of a thousand pounds, easily the largest one in the book. The notation read "To D.T." From having read the letter, they deduced that this was probably payment to Dominick Travers for the object he had mentioned in it. That was an awful lot of money.

OOC,Whoops, sorry, [b]Charles[/b], I'd missed that one. :oops:

[Shelfunit]

"So..." began Charles, voicing his thoughts in an attempt to make sense of things "...what we are looking for is either a small coffin-like object, or the gem/stones that it contained. Do you think they're likely to be hidden in this house? I don't know much about rocks, or ancient history, but I do know that people will pay a lot of money for something they think they need, and to pay that much the Captain must have really needed whatever that coffin was."

[Mr. Handy]

Elizabeth Young,I made an edit to something a while back after finding out new information. The RAF actually had several hundred planes remaining at this point, though the Germans believed they were down to about fifty or so. I'm not sure what source I used to get the figure of forty, but it was probably Wikipedia, which is of sometimes dubious reliability (though usually good enough for RPG background). RealTimeWWII on Twitter has been covering this period of time, and they tend to have better information.

[DrkRoxas]

Seamus nods at Charles's statement and puts his arm around his neck.

"Exactly, mate. So, how should we do this, wanna stay together or start searching separately? I understand miss Anna is quite familiar with the place, perhaps she could guide us?" He said with a crooked grin while looking at Anna but before looking at the antique clock nearby. "But let's hurry, time is not on our side".

[Mr. Handy]

As he spoke, the clock struck the quarter hour. It was now 6:45.