January 10 - Lausanne - Edgar´s study

[robertod]

Felicity and Clarence go back to Edgar Wllington´s place. They reunite with Andrew and Archie, who had decided to keep an eye on Wellington. As they get to Rua St. Etienne, Felicity and Clarence find that the shop is closed and there is no trace of their companions all around. Indeed, Andrew and Archie have broken into the house. While searching Egdar's office, the two investigators look through the window every now and then, to check if someone´s coming. At some point, they spot Felicity and Clarence by the side of the road. In short, the group meets again inside the house, in Wellington's studio on the upper floor.

After passing throught the ground floor Felicity and Clarence get upstairs. The upper floor has a kitchen and two bedrooms. The kitchen is a crowded room with a kitchen table and six chairs. Four of the chairs are piled with books. One bedroom is plain with a bed and a bookshelf with a selection of well-read classics. Edgar´s brother, William, is sleeping on the bed. He has a fresh needle mark, one among many in the left arm.

The other bedroom, is narrow and has writing desk. Most likely, this Edgar´s study. Edgar lies in the bed of this room, asleep. There are some objects on the desk. An empty morphine bottle and below, an emptied syringe and a green bottle, mostly full, on which is a label, ‘Ishara’. The container is about the size of an ink bottle. The contents looks remarkably like muddy water. Holding it up to a strong light, one can detect tiny silvery particles suspended in the dank fluid. A spoon, soiled with the liquid of the bottle, is also on the table.

Andrew and Archie have been inside Edgar´s for one hour, more or less. They have been reading Edgar´a diary and searched the study. Aside from the diary and the mysterious bottle, the room, and the house in general, doesn't seem to have much else to offer for the investigation. Some books have been arranged a little hidden away, they are occult texts, but nothing very unusual. Very general texts on witchcraft and black magic that any interested beginner would find in any bookstore.

Much of the diary seem to chronicle the pain that Edgar felt in his everyday life. Most entries are short. The diary shows that the Duke interested Edgar in the occult, and provided him with a kind of dream drug, initially saying only that it would combat insomnia. Edgar relates how he visited a strange place called Ishara in his dreams, and how anything he clutched in his hands as he slept would go into the dream with him. He hid the scroll for safe keeping in Ishara.

From the Diary of Edgar Wellington:
November 3, 1920 — It would have suited our family better if we had died in the war. Dead heroes are more convenient than the broken living.
March 5, 1921 — Now we are in Switzerland. Here we can live in peace.
September 17, 1921 — The Duke’s conversation is without peer. When I listen to him, I forget my own memories.
November 10, 1921 — The books the Duke loaned me have opened my eyes. Perhaps that old Arabic scroll of mine holds mysteries as yet unknown.
February 2, 1922 — I have received the translation of Malon’s scroll. I wonder if this “Sedefkar Simulacrum” yet exists?
June 25, 1922 — The trail ends in 1789. I have written to the owners of the Comte’s house. I would go there, but I cannot leave William alone.
October 3, 1922 — The Duke has given me something for my insomnia. I slept deeply, and had a most vivid dream in a strange village in a kind of other world.
November 12, 1922 — Two nights ago I held a brass button in my hand as I slept, and set it down in Ishara. When I awoke it was gone. The next night I fetched it back in my dream, and woke with it clasped in my hand.
January 1, 1923 — I hold no hope for this New Year. My researches lead nowhere, and soon my habit will cost us our shop. Where will William live then?
January 5, 1923 — I fear I must sell the scroll. The Duke would be interested, but I need another bidder to drive the price against him. I have hidden it in Ishara for safekeeping.

[Mr. Handy]

"So he didn't keep the scroll in a bank vault after all," says Felicity. "Smart man. Never trust a bank. He's keeping the scroll in this Ishara place, and he's gone to get it now."

[SaintMeerkat]

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Archie followed along with Felicity, and then shook his head. "Ishara?" he spoke softly to Felicity. "I've never heard of an Ishara. Have you?" Then after a pause, "Do you think it's a real location? Or something that only exists in his dreams?"

Archie holds the filled syringe up to his eyes and take a closer look at the silvery particles trying to identify them. Then he delicately takes a sniff of the opening before touching his finger to it and then to his tongue.

OOC:   Can I identify the metal? What about the taste?

[Mr. Handy]

"Apparently, it only exists in a dream," says Felicity. "The only place I'd heard of it is in this diary and on the bottle here. Careful with that. This probably isn't the best place for us to take a nap."

[aine]

Clarence looks at the sleeping man, “I think he is being used by the Duke for something.” He turns to Archie and Andrew.
“Miss Hayward and I followed the Duke to a house, we saw a bluish light upstairs very similar to the pool of light we found under the asylum.
I think the Duke is very powerful and very dangerous. And knows exactly what he’s about.”

[Mephistophilis]

'At the very least we need to protect Edgar while he's sleeping. It wasn't hard to break in and if someone else had more unpleasant motives...'

[Mr. Handy]

"Should we post a watch outside, then?" asks Felicity. "He might take exception if he awakens to find us inside his home."

[robertod]

Archie sniffs the strange substance and winces a little. The smell and taste is that of a narcotic compound, based on alcohol. The suspended particles are not identifiable, they look like a chemical precipitate, but more information requires a laboratory. After tasting the substance, Archie seems to lose his strength. He braces himself against the chair to avoid falling. His eyes begin to close slowly. In less than a minute, he slumps across the chair and desk, falling asleep.

[SaintMeerkat]

doctor.png (27.27 KiB) Viewed 343 times

As Archie starts to weaken, he hurriedly puts the syringe into Felicity's hand. Then he silently mouths the word, "sorry," before his head hits the desk.

While he has never been able to successfully do it, Archie is familiar with the concept of "active dreaming," and just as his head hits the desk, he starts actively thinking the name, Ishara...Ishara...Ishara... over and over, hoping it will continue into his sleep.

[Mr. Handy]

"Oh, dear," says Felicity. "I suppose we'll have to carry him. And most people think I'm the most likely to fall asleep in a strange man's home."

[aine]

“Good lord! Just one sniff is all it takes.” Clarence is alarmed. “Archie you silly fool, jeopardising us like this. If Edgar finds us here he will lose all trust in us, but we still have to protect him when he wakes.”
He looks at Andrew.
“Do you think we can manage Archie outside whilst Miss Howard guards Edgar, perhaps?”

[Mephistophilis]

'I think Miss Hayward is right. We should watch from the outside. Let's get that fool outside. Maybe he can guard Edgr in the dream world is such a thing is really possible.'

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, he did put a bit on his tongue, too," says Felicity, "but I still wouldn't go sniffing that stuff either." She helps to lift Archie, being stronger than she looks.

[aine]

Clarence grudgingly admits, only to himself, that Felicity is probably stronger than he is. He leads the way back downstairs and checks the coast is clear before they bring Archie out.
“I hope the Duke can’t materialise wherever he wants to.” He mutters.