IC - 13 - Day Trip to Oxford - Jocelyn & Simon

[Mephistophilis]

2pm Friday 12th March 2010, African Studies Centre, Oxford

Over nineteen hours since Regina Balfour was abducted.

Jocelyn calls Giles Munro, 'Jocelyn darling, I'm afraid Africa's not really our area. All we have is what we got from SIS. I suppose the Foreign Office might know more about this Red Trumpet but I'm not sure how you'd go about finding out. Are you sure this is relevant to your investigation?'

OOC,Jocelyn can do a Credit Rating roll to see if she has any contacts in the Foreign Office.

-----

Simon thinks he might know somebody who can help give them more information on the Red Trumpet. Professor Annabelle Brock, formerly of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, she has recently taken up a chair at the newly created African Studies Centre in the University of Oxford. She is a social anthropologist by background, rather than a historian, but her knowledge of East Africa is unparalleled, and Simon knows her quite well.

They take Simon's car, with the notorious Oxford traffic it takes about an hour for Simon and Jocelyn to arrive at the African Studies Centre in North Oxford. After quite a few minutes struggling to find a roadside parking space they get out the car into the chilly air. The sun briefly breaks through the dappled cloud cover and warms the skin.

They identify the centre among the tall Victorian houses that line the street. They buzz on the door and are let in, Simon has called ahead and they are expected. They are greeted by a thin middle aged woman dressed all in black, with unruly curly hair and large glasses. Her voice is deep, almost manly.

'Simon old man, what brings you out here? You sounded quite...eh, enthused on the phone.'

She takes them up narrow stairs to a small office that is in a state of some disarray with papers and books scattered over the desk and various wooden sculptures and other curios crammed into every nook and cranny.

[Mr. Handy]

Unfortunately, Jocelyn doesn't know anyone in the Foreign Office. "I won't know if it's relevant or not until I find out more about it," replies Jocelyn to Giles. "It may speak to the kidnappers' motivation, in that they believe that they're trying to protect Regina Balfour from her parents' apocalyptic cult that seems to be derived from Red Trumpet. I think it's a lead worth pursuing. It could help with hostage negotiation."

OOC,Credit Rating roll (20% skill) to have a contact in the Foreign Office: [dice]0[/dice]

"Thank you, Professor," says Jocelyn when she enters the office, holding out her hand. "I'm Jocelyn Leigh."

[Silver Priest]

"Hello Annabelle," Simon sniffs. "I'd thank you to remember that I'm not even 40 yet." His age appeared to be a bit of a touchy subject.

Once they settle in, he regains his professionalism. "Ah, quite. Have you been following that girl that went missing yesterday, Regina Balfour? I'm assisting the police on bringing her home; Jocelyn here is also assisting in the investigation." He's not sure if she wants to reveal who she works for yet so omits it.

"The short of it is the girl's father, John Balfour, is the reverend of an extremist church that has triggered a few keywords. He believes the world is due to end next Tuesday. He apparently traveled to Kenya frequently and has some sort of connection with a group called Red Trumpet. This is apparently the reason for his flagging, but no one is sure precisely why. Would you be able to tell us anything about them??"

[Mephistophilis]

'Wow, okay, that's more serious than I was expecting. What have you got yourself mixed up in?' says Professor Brock. 'So, what do I know about the Red Trumpet? Not a lot to be honest. I've heard the name, they're from Western Kenya if I'm not mistaken. The name is quite similar to the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, more of a legend than a real religious group but the stories come from the same area, associated with the Nandi people, they might be connected.'

[Mr. Handy]

"Balfour's Church of the Passover Angel may be derived from their beliefs," says Jocelyn. "I'm not sure on the connection between those and the Passover Angel, which was in Egypt. That's a bit away from Kenya. Perhaps Balfour is clothing another figure from this Bloody Tongue cult as the Passover Angel, to make it more appealing to Christians and Jews."

[Silver Priest]

Simon frowns, somewhat dismayed-- and frustrated-- by the lack of information.

"I see. I was hoping you'd know more, honestly. There has to be a reason this group got Balfour on the naughty list. We'll have to do some more research on this Cult of the Bloody Tongue. Red Trumpet would not be the first group to take their inspiration from myth. Do you know anything about the legends behind them, or suggestions as to where to look?"

[Mephistophilis]

Annabelle looks rather nonplussed at Simon's comments. 'Well we can't all be experts on everything Simon, you know that.' She sits back in her chair for a few seconds, staring out of the window, seemingly thinking deeply. Then she sits back up sharply and says 'I can't help you with any more on the Red Trumpet but I think there's something about the Bloody Tongue in Blackwell's "Africa's Dark Sects". The man was an inveterate colonialist if course, but there could be something useful there. I might have a copy somewhere...'

She starts searching among the piles of papers and books.

OOC,Someone roll Luck

[Silver Priest]

"Of course," Simon responds with what he hopes is smoothness. "It was more dismay on my end; you're the most knowledgeable woman I know about these particular issues, so if you don't have any leads we are truly at a dead end."

Luck 50%,Since Mr.Handy's is only 1 point higher than mine, I'll go ahead and roll. If we get a 51 I am truly sorry. [dice]0[/dice]

[Mephistophilis]

Annabelle continues to search her office, eventually she disappears under the desk and emerges a few seconds later clutching a book.

'Aha, I knew I had a copy. From the turn of the last century, Nigel Blackwell's "Africa's Dark Sects"'.

She starts leafing through the book, 'Here we go, that's what I remembered, "The worshippers of the Bloody Tongue hold their most important rituals at the Mountain of the Black Wind, situated in the Aberdare Range. Every five years, a great ceremony is held at the mountain during which they believe the Bloody Tongue appears and sends out great storms to ravage the nearby lands.".

Blackwell gives an acount of a cult ritual he witnessed while hiding in a tree, describing orgiastic rites which frankly seem more to do with by his particular preoccupation with African sexuality than any religious practices I've ever heard of'.

[Mr. Handy]

"Every five years," says Jocelyn. "Did he say which year this happened, and what time of year? I wonder if it's scheduled to happen again on Tuesday, and if the previous failed predictions of the end of the world line up with when this ceremony was scheduled to take place."

[Mephistophilis]

'Um, well, I'm not sure. Let's see, it was published in 1921 but it looks like he conducted his fieldwork in, hmm, in 1915 and 1916. So I suppose conceivably, if it was 1915 then 2010 could be a year of the ritual. He doesn't say when he visited East Africa so I'm afraid I can't help you with the time of year.'

Annabelle pauses.

'We haven't really proved a connection between the Red Trumpet and the Bloody Tongue, apart from the name. There's a lot of very specific stuff here about ritual knives and masks, feather robes, have you seen any evidence of these? I'm just...well it doesn't sound like anything a Christian minister would be connected with and the rather lurid details supplied by Blackwell don't exactly add to his credibility.'

She flicks through the book a little more.

'It does talk about human sacrifice and the belief that the god who inhabits the mountain will unleash a black wind which brings pestilence, famine, and death in its wake. I suppose that does have some Biblical resonance. But, ah yes, this doesn't quite fit. It seems it was 1916 when he made his trip to observe the ritual in what is now Kenya. So the five year cycle wouldn't be until next year.'

OOC,The previous predictions from the Church of the Passover Angel are for the world to end two years ago and five years ago

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Professor,' says Jocelyn. "Balfour is the connection to Red Trumpet. He spent a good deal of time in Kenya and was no doubt influenced, but he clearly included other concepts as well when he founded his cult."

[Silver Priest]

"I read through Balfour's text before it unfortunately got damaged. Rather interesting stuff, and I've already ordered a few copies-- both due to come after the end of the world unfortunately." He remarks dryly. "One thing that stood out is they were word for word reprints of Genesis and Exodus, with the exception of Exodus 11:6, 'And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more'. Balfour believes another plague will consume the world.That could be the connection between these myths and his faith. He cites a few papers for support of the theory, by a Siro Igino Trevisanato and J.S. Marr and C.D. Malloy. I don't suppose you're familiar with either?"

"The last two world ending predictions were two and five years ago, I believe. But consistency is never any of these types strong suit. Thank you for your assistance, Annabelle, I owe you a favour. There seems to be some evidence to suggest a connection, but it's hard to determine for sure. Oh, I almost forgot-- the book of the Passover Angel Balfour sells seems to have a coded message. Studying the typesetting of the text showed a sequence of twenty six numbers hidden in variant characters, though I was not able to piece it together before my text was ruined by an errant raindrop. I also had the feeling Balfour was trying to communicate something to the perceptive reader, but it proved frustratingly difficult to comprehend. Could just be the rantings of a madman, I suppose. But I intend to study the text further when I get the chance."

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,Prof. Brock Know roll 80% [dice]0[/dice]

'Trevisanato and Marr and Malloy, I've heard of them, stuff about scientific explanations of the Biblical plagues' says Prof Brock

OOC,Roll Occult or Know (EDU) to know about these books

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, I think I've heard of them too," says Jocelyn.

OOC,Know roll (70% stat) about the books: [dice]0[/dice]

[Mephistophilis]

'What I suppose is interesting there is that these books, speculative nonsense as they are, still take a decidedly material and non-supernatural approach to the plagues of Egypt.' says Prof Brock

Anyone passing Occult/Know,Both these books are in the genre of speculative attempts to give a scientific explanation for Biblical stories, the plagues of Egypt in this case. You can't recall the details but it's things like a volcano triggering a cascade of plagues or stuff about algal blooms dyeing the waterways red and then poisoning things.

[Silver Priest]

Occult 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

"Interesting. Not what I'd expect from a so called 'man of God.'" Simon offers, pondering the information.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, the authors tried to present a scientific rationale for the events surrounding the plagues of Egypt rather than a supernatural one,' says Jocelyn. "They were merely speculating, of course, as there's no way they could know what had actually happened. They believed that a volcano could have caused some of the plagues, and that algae blooms could have turned the waters red. Of course, Balfour isn't truly a man of God. He may have been reading those books because he was looking for a scientific way to reproduce the plagues of Egypt, in order to gull his followers. Perhaps the phenomena we've observed that seem to mimic the plagues were actually his doing somehow. He could have gathered and unleashed insects in the local area, for instance. The rashes and the animal illnesses we've seen may be a low-grade chemical or biological weapon."

[Silver Priest]

Simon's face goes pale as he listens to Jocelyn. "That makes a disconcerting amount of sense. It's also possible Balfour is a true believer, though one who believes he has to 'help' God's plan along and spread a plague. I don't want to believe it, but what are the chances that one verse is missing from his translation of the bible and the small scale outbreaks we've seen? Lewiston and his cat could have been exposed to it!"

He struggles to calm down. "Still, we cannot get ahead of ourselves. We must be calm and gather evidence lest we seem as mad as Lewiston did. Hopefully Detective Sapru will find something we can use as well. And of course, none of this gets us any closer to locating Reginia Balfour, but if her father is planning something along the lines of a bio attack..." He trails off, unable to even finish the thought.

"Thank you Annabelle, once again. This is a rather deep rabbit hole we've fallen down, I am afraid. As soon as I receive a copy of Balfour's manifesto I will mail it to you; I suspect you'll want to take a look at it as well."

[Mephistophilis]

'Did Simon tell you we were graduate students together, here in Oxford?' asks Annabelle.

'I sometimes wonder whether it shouldn't be you here Simon, with a professorial chair back at your alma mater. Maybe if you spent a bit more time doing proper research and a bit less playing Robbie Coltrane in Cracker...'

OOC,If you're finished here where would you like to go? You haven't had any lunch by the way