IC: Maksim, Thomas, Andrei & Caroline Drive to Harlem.

[warhammer]

"Thank you, Caroline." says Thomas with a thankful nod of the head.

"And, Maksim, I think you're being overly paranoid about these fellas. They may be crazy and determined, but they can't have infinite numbers, and they can't be omnipresent either. There's been too much speculation already, when all we really need is to cross that damn door and see what's inside."

Thomas heads for the JuJu House's entrance.

[Raiko]

[OOC: Please could the rest of you follow Thomas in your next post if you are going with him; or make it clear if you aren't going into Ju-Ju House.

At the moment I think everyone is going except Andrei.]

[coffee demon]

"I'm warning you..." says Thomas when Andrei considers getting back to the car already. "I'm going to enter the JuJu House, not later tonight, but now. If it's too much for all of you to handle, then that's okay with me, get back in the car and leave me here. I'll get back with a cab if needed. My associate could still be alive in there, but the more I wait, the less likely it will be."

Andrei turns around and hisses, "That's suicide. There could be dozens of these men. If you wanted to walk right in, why didn't we get everyone down here?"

Andrei likes to play it cautious - running in and acting without a plan seems dangerous to him, and goes against his military training. His face turns flush with anger, that he can't control these people. No one would listen to him when he was an officer either.

They think I'm a coward. Just like in the military. I'm not a goddamned coward.

"If you're really going to do this, I'll back up the rear, but I'm not going to get killed because of a poor plan. I'll follow behind you, so if you get in trouble, I can cover your retreat."

Such a waste. If we could get Timour in the pawnshop, we could have a perfect crossfire and total control of that courtyard.

Andrei turns away from them, mumbling 'I can't believe this', and maintains his distance.

[OC: Andrei will stay 1/2 block behind the others, with his gun held in his pocket. Maks' car keys are in the other pocket. He'll wait at the corner of the alley until the three enter the JuJu courtyard. Then he'll wait a few minutes and start sauntering casually up the alley towards the courtyard.]

[Raiko]

Thomas, Maksim and Caroline stroll as casually as they can down the narrow alley towards Ju-Ju House. Glancing backwards they can see Andrei arrive at the alley's entrance, both his hands deep in his overcoat pockets.

Stepping cautiously out into the small courtyard they see three winos sprawled in the far corner; two are smoking, there are several empty bottles of liquor scattered around them. They look well out of it, and their stale odour can be smelt from across the court.

There are only two doors that open onto the court. One, presumably the back door of the pawn shop is padlocked from the outside, it could probably be pushed open enough from inside to covertly view the other doorway though.

The second door is part of the store front of Ju-Ju House, the door is glass and there is a display window containing various pieces of African art, and tribal memorabilia; A sign over the storefront reads:

JU-JU HOUSE]
African Art - Est 1919

There are tyre tracks in the dirt from the car Maksim follow the previous evening.

[warhammer]

Thomas pretends not to pay any attention to the winos and just walks straight to the entrance, extinguishing his cigarette just before he enters. However, when he is certain to go unnoticed, he secretly checks out the winos and makes sure there is no telltale sign of something more sinister about them.

[coffee demon]

Andrei leans against the alley wall, watching the others move out of sight into the courtyard. He listens carefully for sounds of an argument, doors slamming, gunfire, or anything else.

While we waits, he tries to imagine what the other three are doing: Still walking through the courtyard, probably...

[Decrepit]

Caroline keeps a watchful eye on Thomas, willing to follow his lead. She tries not to look at anything in particular. She considers trying to start up a fabricated conversation but decides she'd just botch it, and if Thomas wanted her to talk, he'd tell her.

[Maksim Rukov]

Maksim Rukov saunters along, careful to try and undo what appeared to be a professional attitude from Thomas. He checked the building over as he did so, hoping that this section of the city had brick walls and not flimsy plasterboard. Judging by how dismissive everyone was of his concerns, he didn't doubt they would be willing to shoot at the slightest chance a bad guy might get hit.

Maksim pitied the neighbours. No one ever gave a thought about who else could get hurt... All that ever mattered to people was themselves. The thought depressed him and he rubbed his wrist to try and take his mind off it.

[Raiko]

Ranson Court – Harlem, New York
2:35pm – Friday 16th January 1925

Thomas glances at the three winos as he reaches for the front door of Ju-Ju House. One of them is white skinned, the other two black. Thomas doesn’t spot any telltale signs that any of the men are members of the Voodoo cult, although one of the coloured winos has obviously noticed Thomas looking at him. He doesn’t appear as drunk as the other two and stares into the lawyers eyes.

There isn’t really any way to tell whether the men are cultists or drunks, or for that matter whether any of the windows overlooking the small court conceal the watching eyes of cult lookouts.

Turning the door handle Thomas steps into the shop...

[OOC: Please note that in the dice throw that I’ve linked to I use the word ‘cultists’ rather than ‘winos’ this was honestly a typo on my part, and shouldn’t be taken as a clue. I’ve just got rather used to typing ‘cultist.’ There really isn’t any way to tell whether they ‘real’ or not.]


Ju-Ju House – Harlem, New York
2:35pm –Friday 16th January 1925

The interior of Ju-Ju House is small and cramped, only about twenty by fifteen feet, the place is dirty, dusty and piled with African tribal artefacts and bric-a-brac – devil masks, leather-headed drums, stuffed model giraffes, carved wildebeests, dull hand weapons intended for display, ivory warthogs, and so on. The shop has a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, and is poorly illuminated through the dusty display window. Glancing quickly at the display shelves as they enter the store, none of the investigators spot anything that seems related to the cult murders.

There are two customers inside the shop, a well dressed young African-American couple, the lady is chuckling at some of the tribal fetishes on display.

Behind the dusty counter stands the shopkeeper – a balding man of at least seventy years, he watches the three new prospective customers keenly over his half-rimmed spectacles. He nods to Maksim as he follows the other two into the shop.

[Decrepit]

"Darling, can we please go now?" Caroline says to Thomas in as coquettish a tone as she can muster under the circumstances. She'd meant to keep quiet, but the tension of no one saying anything was fraying her nerves.

[warhammer]

(OOC: I know the 94 result on the dice was bound to be a failure, but I hope the number I had to roll under was not my basic 10% for Hide... throwing a discreet glance at someone can't be that hard)

Thomas has a good look around the shop, and pays particular attention to the owner. (roll Spot Hidden if appropriate)

"One second, darling." says Thomas. "I want to look at this collection first. It looks amazing."

"Are you the owner?" he says towards the shopkeeper.

[Maksim Rukov]

Maksim nods back and nonchalantly looks about. Hopefully, talking to the store keeper might make these people seem somewhat human enough to Thomas that he might realise that if he starts shooting folk in the head, he might accidentally take out an innocent store clerk or shopper. The one thing Maksim didn't like about his brother was his desire to shoot first and leave the questioning to someone else at a later time.

When he hears Caroline say 'darling' he has to suppress rolling his eyes. Of course Caroline would prefer pretending to be coupled up with Thomas, he could respect that, but would she please tell him so later on rather than 'mysteriously' having two suitors she's interested in at the same time? If anyone had noticed them outside, they might just wonder. One 'darling' could be excused, but Thomas' response nailed it.

Leaving the store keeper to Thomas, though keeping an eye on the store keeper's body language, he tries to strike up a conversation with the well-dressed couple. "Fascinating stuff, huh? I've only been interested in this stuff for a short while, since my cousin got interested, actually, but I'm trying to see more. You've been in this shop before me, what's the best you've seen so far?" He'll try to gauge their response and if they seem a bit too insular, he'll excuse himself.

[coffee demon]

Andrei is still leaning against a wall, at the head of the alley.

I'm going to look obvious standing here pretty soon.

He picks a piece of paper out of his pocket and pretends it's a map, or directions, and he's lost. He looks up and down the street as though he's trying to find a certain landmark. While he does this, he tries to notice if anyone is watching him, from the alley, or from windows or doorways.

They must be in the shop by now. I'll assume the shopkeeper is in a back room, and they're snooping around before he comes out. Better to assume this will take a while. I don't want to run in and ruin a conversation just as they're about to get information.

[Raiko]

Ju-Ju House – Harlem, New York
2:39pm –Friday 16th January 1925

The shopkeeper turns to Thomas, "Yes this is my shop." He smiles and offers his hand, "Silas N'Kwane."

"So you are interested in African Art? Anything in particular, Mr....?"

Meanwhile...

The young couple look a little surprised that Maksim started a conversation, but none-the-less are happy to talk.

The man laughs, "Well I do like to have a few pieces of traditional African Art in my office, my clients kind of expect it, but..." he shakes his head, "my fiance finds them quite amusing, as you can see."

********

[OOC: I handle things like stealth with opposed rolls, your hide roll vs their spot hidden roll. If the guy outside is just a drunk then believe me his spot hidden is seriously reduced below the standard 25%. But if he's a lookout it's 25% at the very least. Your roll failed by 84%, his didn't so he noticed you glancing at him. He was looking at you at the time, so it actually wasn't as easy as you suggest.

Incidently by using opposed rolls you might have been noticed even if your hide roll had succeeded, but probably only if the guy was a genuine lookout. However the opposed roll meant that you had much more than a 10% chance of success, unless the other guy's spot hiddeen was very high.

If you've any complaints/comments to make about how I handle the rules, please could you PM me first next time, as several others have. I'm quite happy to explain my logic or my point of view, but I'd prefer not to interupt the story with it. ]

[coffee demon]

Touching his hidden revolver compulsively to make sure it's still there, Andrei continues imagining the scene in the store.

One of them must have hit the bell on the counter by now. They're waiting for someone to come from the back room. Perhaps the blackies are spying from a peephole from the back room, and delaying, getting reinforcements...

Andrei swallows hard.

Don't panic. If anything happened, I would have heard a gunshot. Unless they were ambushed, wrestled to the ground...

With these troubling thoughts rolling through his head, Andrei remains on the corner, pretending to examine the piece of paper held before him.

[Raiko]

[OOC: How long will Andrei wait before walking to the courtyard? You said 'a few minutes.' BTW: He's noticed a couple of people watching him though apartment windows, no way of knowing if they're cultists though.]

[Maksim Rukov]

Maksim flashes them a genuine smile. "Clients, eh? I'm in insurance myself. Businesses mostly. I don't know what my clients would think if I had too many of these things floating around... Very stuffy sorts. I'm hoping to branch out. So what do you do for a living? Something less monstrous then my occupation, I hope." His smile broadens and he gives a little guilty shrug.

[warhammer]

"Anderson." says Thomas, returning the handshake. "I was wondering if you had anything from Kenya? I've always been interested in Kenyan culture."

While looking at the items in the shop, Thomas also looks around to see how many exits to other rooms there are, if any.

[Raiko]

Ju-Ju House – Harlem, New York
2:39pm –Friday 16th January 1925

“Yes of course, I have a great deal of items from Kenya, including masks, shields and spears of the Kikuyu and the Nandi tribes. And a few drums and other items”

There is an door at the back of the shop, it’s slightly ajar and appear to lead to a very small storeroom. Apart from that, the front door appears to be the only way in or out of the room.

Meanwhile...

“An equally monstrous occupation I’m afraid, I’m a lawyer.”

“I mostly deal with civil cases, the fight for equal opportunities for negroes. That is why I like to display a few tradition items in my office, I feel that in such a cosmopolitan city as New York, there is the opportunity for everybody to embrace and celebrate their own traditions, while still being a part of the city’s culture.”

The lawyer’s fiancée laughs, “Actually he just thinks his clients will pay his fees if they see lots of spears and things on the walls.”

[Maksim Rukov]

"Law? That's not something we insurance agents really worry about," says Maksim with a flap of his hand. "We just throw a few clauses in there for the various laywers to chew over during disputes. I really should get out of the business while I still have some shreds of soul left... But enough about work, you said this is your lovely fiance?" At this he turns to the woman and flashes her a perfectly friendly and above board smile. "And what date is it you've had to worry over?"

He leans in a bit conspirationally. "I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for weddings and, well, if you don't mind my friend over there is in a bit of a sore mood and the more time I can speak to you two, not that this isn't a pretty marvellous conversation, but the more time I get to chat with you, the less time I need to spend dealing with him." He gives them a wink. "Just explaining myself for being so rude as to keep asking about your personal lives, me being a stranger and all."

"But please, if you can bear me a moment longer, share some of your good cheer with me."

Maksim wondered how he could attempt to tie their conversation in with the store keeper, try to bring things onto more familiar grounds and see what he could learn about the habits of the store. Hopefully, Thomas wouldn't draw his gun too soon... At the very least, if Maksim can keep himself between them and Thomas, he might be able to shoo them out the doors before they get caught in the cross fire.