One month ago, Helen Mussida (the late Jack Ciccote's assistant*), helped the two of you break out of an insane asylum, where the doctors repeatedly told you that you hallucinated the events that led up to the explosion at the Union Theatre, in 1931. Max was seriously wounded during the breakout, but Eddie escaped and hijacked a truck at a farm. Helen was likely apprehended by the police. (*Jack Ciccote was Eddie's brother, and Max's partner in a Private Investigation firm. Helen knows both of you well.)
During their time in the asylum, Max can recall lying sedated on a table with doctors and suited men standing above him. The suited men were asking Max about a carved cross. Max recalls grabbing this strange cross in the basement of the Union Theatre. It was an upside-down cross, made of some dense wood, and covered in intricate depictions of tentacled beasts. These incidents felt like odd dreams that contradicted the story the doctors were telling him. Max doesn't recall whether he admitted to seeing the cross or not.
...
After the breakout, Max woke up in a hospital in downtown Chicago He was attended by an undercover police officer (Tom Brown) who eventually admitted that he was there for Max's own protection. Officer Brown seemed to be operating under different orders than the rest of the police force, and told Max not to trust the police. Brown -did- call his superior at one point to let him know you were awake, though. Whether that superior was another police officer or not is uncertain.
Max also learned that Jimmy Collins had become mayor sometime over the last six years. Jimmy Collins was a powerful mob boss during the events of King of Chicago, and you previously believed that he summoned the (entity/phenomenae?) at the Union Theatre in 1931.
Eddie helped Max escape from the hospital. As they left, police officers were chasing them. In the lobby, some men in plain clothes may have been watching the events unfold, and stared at Max intently. Or did he just imagine this? Perhaps more than one party was interested in the whereabouts of Max and Eddie...
...
After finally escaping the police (including Tom Brown), Max and Eddie reunite with Helen Mussida. She takes them to her family's cottage in Wisconsin, far from the excitement of the city and hopefully away from prying eyes until things cool off.
The cottage is small and simple. Bees buzz in the flowers outside, there is comfortable shade under two huge maple trees, and a long hill behind the cottage leading to a copse of trees and a brook. From that height, you can see Lake Michigan, and you can almost hear laughter from the beaches along the lake.
Helen comes on the weekends to deliver you news from the city. Two weeks ago, she handed you a newspaper article that read:
MAYOR TOM COLLINS VACATIONING IN ASIA
Mayor Tom Collins has left for his extended vacation in Asia. While
constituents are concerned that a one-month leave is not befitting
of the Mayor, he has assured everyone that he is able to return quite
quickly if the need arises. Collins informed the public that he will
be traveling using his own funds, and not those of taxpayers. He will
be taking Pan-American Airways' Transpacific Flight - leaving San Francisco Bay,
and travelling to Shanghai after stopovers in Hawaii, Midway Island, Wake Island,
Guam, Manila, and Macau. Pan-American Airways has only been flying across the
Pacific since April, but there have been no accidents since the flight began, and
we can be assured that the Mayor will be in good hands until his return.
OOC: Before we get into the action, let me know what Max and Eddie have been doing for the last month. Feel free to talk to each other about what you want to do next, etc. I will be springing something on you almost immediately, but lets get a picture of the characters first. |
