Statement 3: Tea at the Folly

[jp1885]

Nightingale frowns at Leo’s admission.

“That is most unfortunate DC Dansby. You took an oath to keep the secrets of your fellowship, did you not? Perhaps I should ask you to repeat that oath back to me now, hm? To remind you of your responsibilities?”

He sighs, taking a sip of his tea.

“Still, at least you have owned up to your mistake, which is the correct thing to do. You will find that most people will not believe in the existence of magic, or will wilfully ignore things they don’t understand; however it is extremely unwise to assume this is the case every time.”

Dunking a biscuit, it appears the matter is dropped.

“I concur: researching the building’s history should be your next step. This dome could well be a significant feature Dr. Schneider.”

“So; while DC Dansby and Dr. Schneider begin their research; what do the rest of you intend to do?”

[Snapper]

"Well, some quick research on my phone while we were there threw up that the building is Georgian. From the layout, the basement and ground look like they originally only opened to Garrick St. The section that opens to New Row is a more recent addition, I'm guessing."

"The building is Listed," Skipper uses air quotes. "So I want to jump on the internet and find the List of Listed Buildings. I'm hoping the List might indicate something of its history or importance."

"Planning wise, after I do the internet search, my preferences would be to just watch the place from outside. Bit of eyeball surveillance."

"Also, Saffron has just moved the children's section upstairs and the cookery section downstairs. Possibility might be that someone objects to the little kids no longer being brought down with their parents? Which sounds creepy now I say it out loud."

[jp1885]

"That is indeed creepy..." Nightingale replies with a worried frown.

"I'm reliably informed that the 'tech cave', across the rear yard above the garages in what was once the coach-house, has a computer with access to the internet. I'm sure you can surf the web, or whatever it's called. Perhaps someone with access to the police HOLMES2 database can assist, and see if anyone has reported anything regarding children in the area - sadly not all monsters are magical."

[Trivun]

"Let's hope it isn't that sort of monster that we're dealing with." Izzy sighs, as she looks across at Leo. She's glad he told Nightingale himself about the slip-up with Saffron, not that she would have said anything anyway, but at least he owned it. She then glances at Nightingale upon his mention of the tech cave, knowing full well his own proclivity for sitting in there with a beer any time the England rugby team were playing. She's looking forward to using the same space herself for the upcoming Six Nations, in fact.

"It might be worth finding out if anyone else from the Folly has ever encountered anything similar. I'd be happy to join in the research in the Folly library, have a read through the archives. I don't think this is a ghost, not the traditional kind, but it was definitely feeding off my werelight. Do we have anything like a rose jar that we could trap the entity in, and safely remove them from the store? Even if we release them elsewhere, somewhere they can't hurt anyone."

[Philulhu]

”Wot’s a rose jar?” Des blurted out, despite herself. She hasn’t intended to speak so had caught even herself by surprise.

[Mr. Handy]

Jordan is wondering this too, and he listens attentively for the answer.

[jp1885]

“In a nutshell, Rose Jars are jars that have somehow been used to trap ghosts. We found some a while back, and they are securely locked away. Unfortunately we don’t know how they are made.”

Nightingale smirks.

“And in anticipation of your next question: no, you cannot take a look at the ones we have. I have yet to assess the dangers they may or may not pose.”

“So - you have narrowed down your research. What else do you intend to do? Consider the scientific method as laid down by our founder - what is your hypothesis?”

OOC:   If you want to do some research, please state what you’re researching and how, then make a Research roll.

[Trivun]

"My hypothesis... this 'ghost' isn't a ghost. In which case, what is it? If I can find similar cases in the archives, anything that previous members of the Folly have recorded in their own studies, then I can compare the behaviour observed thus far with recorded behaviour of similar entities, and hopefully draw a conclusion on what this thing may be."

Izzy speaks as if she's talking to a teacher or a university lecturer, and in a way, she is, since Nightingale is her mentor in the ways of magic...

Research (30%):

1d100

[SaintMeerkat]

DC Leo Dansby.jpg (16.73 KiB) Viewed 530 times

"You know, Izzy's got a point. There are a lot of other things out there that could be doing this, some that we might not be familiar with. We can do some digging about that, as well. I guess we all have some homework."

Spoiler:

Research

Previous uses of the building:

Research (60/30): 1d100

[Philulhu]

”I guess I could ask aroun’. See if anyone’s heard anyting,” volunteered Des.

[jp1885]

Please make a Social roll to represent you asking around your manor.

[Philulhu]

Des - Social (30%) 1d100

Des ventured out, hoping to find a few familiar faces to talk to but without success. She found Black Paul and Andy but they’d had a good day begging and neither were sober enough to hold a sensible conversation. She’d always been wary of Andy, an ex-soldier who had lost some of friends in Afghanistan, as he could get lairy when he was drunk. He was well on his way, so Des ducked out as soon as she could.

Sorina and Bill were nowhere to be seen. One of the support workers said she’d heard that they gone south of the river where they’d heard there was a squat available, and when she texted Lacey, she told Des that she’d got herself pregnant and had accepted a hostel place down in Hastings, having been told by the Council there was no chance of getting anywhere closer to London.

[Snapper]

Skipper heads for the tech cave and an internet search for London's Listed buildings...

OOC:   Research or Computer roll?

[Mr. Handy]

Jordan goes to the library and researches the history of the bookshop and the site on which it stands, trying to find out what used to be there. "I had thought it might be a poltergeist, which the victim had mentioned," he says. "They are supposed to be able to throw objects through force of will. But all I know about them is from that old movie. I'll defer to the experts."

Spending 10 Luck to make an INT roll (70% stat) instead of Research:
d%
Nuts! Can I spend 3 Luck to make that roll succeed, and then a further 10 to pick up the Research skill at half INT?

[jp1885]

Research please.

Research is a common skill, so you’ll already have that at 30 at least (I think Jordan’s is at 60). You can only use the Try Your Luck option (spending 10 luck to roll at half your INT) if no-one in the scene has the skill. So alas your roll is a fail (the good news is you get your 10 luck back). However, you can push your roll if you like.

[Snapper]

Skipper politely finds a free computer and goes searching for the reason the building is listed.

1d%H60%

OOC:   Success.

[Mr. Handy]

Thank you. In that case, I'll just take the failure. Research isn't listed on my character sheet, though.

[jp1885]

Re-check the file titled ‘pregens.pdf’ in our Discord chat mate, Jordan’s character sheet is there in full. He’s got 60% In research I think

OOC:   Some nice rolls there folks. I’ll update the results sometime today

[jp1885]

Skipper, Leo and Jordan spend a few hours either searching online in the 'tech cave' or perusing the books in the Folly's Mundane Library.

Between them, they find not only a register of listed buildings in London, but also a few histories of the Covent Garden area. There's plenty of interesting facts, but what really piques their interest is that several sources state how the domed building off New Row was once notorious for cockfighting. In fact, during the eighteenth century it was one of the - if not the - most famous cockfighting venue in London.
No-one is 100% certain, but it is thought that the glass dome is the only surviving architectural feature from those days.

Further research reveals that cockfighting was once a highly popular - and very lucrative - spectator sport in London and elsewhere in the UK. Historically speaking, its roots go back over 6000 years, though it first became really popular in England during the Tudor era. By the 18th century, the blood sport was at it's height, with all levels of society indulging in the heavy betting that accompanied each match. Upper class venues, like the Royal Cockpit (whose last remaining traces are Cockpit Steps by Birdcage Walk), charged a hefty admission fee to keep the riffraff out,

It took around two years to fully train a fighting bird. Due to the amount of money required for that training, and the size of the wagers on fight days, this blood sport was tightly regulated - more so than any other sport at the time. It was finally banned in England and Wales in 1835 under the Cruelty to Animals Act.

Izzy's research in the Folly's Magical Library quickly roots out an account of a similar book-stacking event that took place in the British Library in 1896, which was linked to poltergeist activity. Frustratingly, the account does not mention how the case was dealt with, nor if an actual poltergeist was found to be the culprit. Intriguingly, there is one sentence which says how the night watchman's guard dog would go beserk at certain times, but became placid following the investigation.

Des' trip around her old haunts yields little of use. Black Paul reckoned a mate of a mate reckons there are ghost cars racing around Guildford, but he's hardly a reliable source of information, even in the rare times he's sober.

No doubt tired from a good few hours' research, you gather once again in the atrium, awaiting Nightingale's return. Knowing him as you do, he will expect you to have reviewed everything you've discovered, formulated a plan and come up with a suitable strategy - all in the noble tradition of Newton's scientific method and today's modern policing procedures!

[Snapper]

"What on earth did cock fighting actually look like, I wonder? Birds killing each other for punters' fun seems Moby Dick."

"But on a more urgent note, what is this scientific method Newton thought up? I have no clue except the bit about the apple."