OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

At long last the Stars are almost Right. Soon Nyarlathotep's plans will come to fruition. Then the world will be changed irrevocably -- but not quite yet. Pesky human investigators have learned much, but can they survive long enough to make sense of what they know?

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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

The three IC threads are all in synch with each other at the moment, so I’ll probably wait for replies in all of them before posting again – other than dice roll requests, etc.

So if you are here, please post! We’ll get this game moving again – the end of the world is coming!
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

I'll post a quick map of the situation at the spice shop if anyone needs it.
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

Grafster is busy for a few days, but should hopefully be back posting before the end of the week. :)

That should work out quite well anyway, as I need to quickly resolve what's been happening to Elizabeth and Andrei while Johnny was “doing his stuff”.


***************


Here is a quick synopsis of the current situations, and a very brief recap of recent events in London.

Will be posting the IC stuff immediately after this post. Yay!!!

LARAQUA & TRIXIE: Maks and Timour are now back in the main Soho thread, but your previous posts appeared in the private thread

After most of the investigators had their terrifying encounter with the Fog-Creature (referred to as the Chimera by Andrei) they returned to the Ritz Hotel where they met up with Johnny.

Johnny had planned to trail Edward Gavigan (the current director of the Penhew Foundation), but had instead ended up following a mysterious truck transporting crates from the Penhew Foundation to a seedy warehouse in the dodgy Limehouse district of London's docklands.

Investigating the warehouse Johnny had found both military weaponry and, in the crates from the Penhew Foundation, high-tech machine parts - possibly from an aircraft. Sailors from a freighter called “The Ivory Wind” had turned up to take away the boxes from the Foundation.

The following morning the investigators split up, Johnny, Ellizabeth & Caroline went to Scotland Yard, where they tipped off Detective Jones about the smuggling operation at the warehouse, and learned that the prisoner captured by the investigators yesterday at the Museum had “taken his own life” in the cells of Bow Street police station – the circumstances of his “suicide” startlingly similar to the attack of a Chimera.

At the museum the other investigators learned a lot (too much to post here quickly), the most exciting clue probably being a coded message that Andrei found.

After briefly gathering again at the Hotel the investigators then split into two teams yet again:

Elizabeth, Andrei and Johnny head to Limehouse to witness the police raid on the smuggler's warehouse.

The Rukov brothers, Caroline, Gwen and Nathaniel head to Soho to check out Tewfik al-Sayed's spice shop. (Tewfik is possibly related to Abdul Azeem al-Sayed the guy who “took his own life” in the cells, he was also once the prime suspect of Scotland Yard in the Egyptian Murders case).

The plan is to meet back up at around midnight outside a tude station close to the Penhew Foundation, and then to break in. Johnny thinks that there is a secret room in the basement.
Soho,Maks and Timour end up trailing al-Sayed away from the shop, he leads them to the Blue Pyramid club, where they learn that a dancer has information for them (if they meet her after closing time), before they are chased away by dangerous looking Arabs (associates of Tewfik). Meanwhile Nethaniel, Caroline and Gwen are breaking into Tewfik's shop. On the upper floor in his flat they find an “arcane mirror” which they smash as well as “ritual matterials” in a hidden drawer. As the trio are about to leave the shop Tewfik returns with a truck full of Arab thugs. He blasts poor Gwen with a spell and Nathaniel and Caroline escape out of the back of the shop – pursued by cultists.
Limehouse,Johnny, Elizabeth and Andrei witness the police raid on the warehouse. Scotland Yard round up the smugglers with minimal violence. After most of the cops are gone the trio break into the warehouse and check for clues. The cops have taken everything relating to the weapons smuggling, but Johnny finds some ledgers that appear to cryptically detail extensive shipments from the Penhew Foundation to various locations. They then move to check out the freighter The Ivory Wind. Elizabeth and Andrei wait in the car while Johnny sneaks around the ship, but just as he's located some clues he hears the sound of Andrei's gun firing...
It's currently about 6:00pm on Thursday 29th January 1925. It is dark and quite foggy.

Good luck. :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by trixie »

I think I'll have to post using my Trixie user instead of Timour as I've completely spaced on the password and it won't email me (unless you've got it sent to your own email, then pm me)

Cheers
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

That's fine, in fact I'd meant to suggest that you and Laraqua not bother with those accounts and just post from your own. :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by trixie »

Excellent! Cheers
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

I thought that as we are in the process of getting the game going again, I'd share my intentions on how I was planning to get things moving along again.

I'm kind of hoping that since it's still 6 hours of "in-game" time until the investigators are supposed to meet back up at the Penhew Foundation, and since we've had such a huge break in real life, that if they survive their current problems both groups of characters will either "spontaneously" decide to go back to the hotel to figure out what to do next, or will just lay low somewhere for a few hours before the meet-up.

So I'm hoping to reunite all the investigators by the end of next week in real-life, either at the hotel or nearby the Penhew Foundation.

I'd originally (back in 2008! :lol:) planned for the current events to be a dramatic simultaneous multi-thread, multi-location action sequence along the same lines as The Hotel Chelsea, Harlem and British Museum "battles" earlier in the campaign. Unfortunately back then it turned out that I had a lot more trouble posting than I expected, and quite a few of you were very busy in real life as well, so my plans for this bit of the game just didn't work out too well. :rolls:

So hopefully I can just manage to get most or all of you back together again ASAP so you can make fresh plans. I don't want to railroad though, your characters are free to wonder off and do whatever they like and I'll roll with it (like when Andrei dumped you all and went to a different Hotel, or when Johnny caught the train to Chicago!) PbP is great for handling the unexpected. :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Mr. Handy »

I've done action sequences like that in Zombie Apocalypse before. There was one particualarly awesome battle back in Chapter 3, and not all of the players were on the same side in that one. Laraqua could tell you about it. ;) A zombie siege is also a lot more fun when you don't know what's going on in the other rooms of the building you're trying to defend. Are those approaching footsteps your buddies coming to back you up, or have the zombies already breached the building? :twisted:
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by coffee demon »

However you like to handle it is fine with me, Raiko. I'm okay with long seperate sequences if that's what you think will work. I'm finding it a nice refresher to be rebuilding character and relationships with just a few players for a while before we're all together..
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

Fair enough. :)

Everyone just do what they think their characters would do. If the party remain split up for longer, then that's fine. I don't mind whether you're in big or small groups. There are enough characters that its unlikely that you'd remain in one group anyway. :)

I was worried that you'd be frustrated if the team was still split up after all this time. So I'm glad that that doesn't seem to be an issue.
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

By the way: It's really great to be running Masks again, and it seems that it's starting to run nicely again. Thanks! :)

I've had a busy start to the weekend, but I'll have more time on Sunday. So I'll pop back in about 12 hours or so to see if the IC threads need moving me to post.
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Grafster »

Keen to be back. My work/life schedule continues to be a bit heavy, but I'm committed to regular posting (and seeing things through).

Last post tries to avoid bogging down the game in getting off the boat, without presuming it's a given.
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Grafster »

Raiko wrote:
Limehouse,Johnny, Elizabeth and Andrei witness the police raid on the warehouse. Scotland Yard round up the smugglers with minimal violence. After most of the cops are gone the trio break into the warehouse and check for clues. The cops have taken everything relating to the weapons smuggling, but Johnny finds some ledgers that appear to cryptically detail extensive shipments from the Penhew Foundation to various locations. They then move to check out the freighter The Ivory Wind. Elizabeth and Andrei wait in the car while Johnny sneaks around the ship, but just as he's located some clues he hears the sound of Andrei's gun firing...
It's currently about 6:00pm on Thursday 29th January 1925. It is dark and quite foggy.

Good luck. :)
Assumption,Grabbing clues I had assumed Johnny attempted to grab a bunch of papers that seemed important in the map room (i.e. showed where the ship was headed). I'm not sure if that's the clue mentioned but I'm happy to roll with whatever works.
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

My weekend posting is obviously just as hit & miss as ever. :lol:

I've been able to keep an eye on the new posts though, and I'll be able to post every day this week if needed. :)

@Grafster your assumption was correct. Johnny will have a chance to look through what he's got in the car. :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Grafster »

Sorry if my post is inaccurate, as to where the car came from. I can't remember and have to go to work.

I wish I could assign someone/everyone the ability to edit my posts... (like Google wave or similar).
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

Actually your post was spot on, the car is from the hotel. :) I can't remember without looking it up whether it's actual hotel property, or whether the concierge got hold of it for Elizabeth, but either way Johnny's statement is correct.

I can edit your posts if there is ever anything that you're unsure of (that Johnny would have known), that you'd like tidying after you've posted. :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

I don't need to post anything in either of the investigator IC threads yet. Events seem to be moving ok, I'll try to post some better clue summaries for all the groups in time for you to discuss your next moves. I think we're still a couple of posts from that though, so both groups are "getting outta there!"

At least it looks like every character who's player returned has escaped from the immediate danger that they were in, so I don't need to feel guilty for begging you all to return only to kill you immediately! :)
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by coffee demon »

Hey Raiko, just looking over the London clues:

"Professor Fiennes – Scholar from Cambridge (a University City outside London) who committed suicide after studying the British Museum's copy of the Pnakatic Manuscripts. Before his suicide Fiennes removed a large number of pages form the book, but he also left a coded message that Andrei was able to partially translate."

Would it be possible for you to post the coded message that Andrei partially translated? Sorry, my memory fails me on this one. I seem to recall a bunch of arcane gobbledygook, but I can't really recall..
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by Raiko »

The posts about Professor Fiennes are in the two different threads, I've posted them here together:

These posts discuss Professor Fiennes before Andrei views the Manuscripts.
coffee demon wrote:Andrei stands solemnly and lets the locals do the speaking.
Professor Wilson wrote:“Was there a particular volume that you suspect these Egyptian Murderer chaps were after?”
Andrei looks down at the ground, then up at the ceiling. "Er.. Yes. The... Uhm.. Pnakotic Manuscripts? Something like that."

"Have you heard of it?"
Raiko wrote:Deep Below the British Museum – Bloomsbury, London.
11:20am – Thursday 29th January, 1925
Professor Wilson.jpg
“The Pnakotic Manuscripts? Yes I’ve certainly heard of them, but I fear that you may be mistaken Mister Zatisov...”

Professor Wilson reaches the bottom of the final flight of stairs; it’s dark down here and the Professor pulls down the heavy metal lever of a large electrical switch. The echoes of the metallic clunk are quickly replaced by an electrical humming, and a long row of lamps gradually illuminate a bare, white walled corridor that ends abruptly in a solid metal door.

Wilson sets off down the long corridor and resumes speaking to Andrei, “Our copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts is rather incomplete you see.”

“It is photo-static copy of the University of Sydney’s original manuscript. An unfortunate chap called Professor William Fiennes made the copy – he was convinced that he understood how to finally decipher the odd cuneiform glyphs that make up the first section of the tome.”

“Sadly Professor Fiennes’ research ended in 1921 when suffered a bit of a breakdown – the poor chap threw himself off Tower Bridge into the Thames, he was dead by the time the rescuers reached him.”

Reaching the metal door, Wilson takes out a large set of keys and begins unlocking the door’s three locks.

“Unfortunately it seems that in his distressed state Fiennes had vandalised his copy of the Manuscript, he removed several pages which were never recovered. Nor were Fiennes’ own notes.”

Professor Wilson pauses dramatically before opening the heavy door, “They say the Pnakotic Manuscripts are cursed Mister Zatisov – protected by a guardian spirit that will extract a price from any who read the pages.”

He chuckles, “Superstitious nonsense of course! But poor Professor Fiennes’ sad demise has done nothing to quash the myth.”

The door opens into another dark room, and the Professor throws another heavy switch. As they wait for the electrical lights to grow brighter the investigators smell the aroma of old books – very, very old books...

This post is when Andrei is studying the Manuscript, it compiles some in-character PMs
Raiko wrote:Meanwhile, Andrei continues feverishly making notes in his pad, appearing to the others to be repeatedly noting down random letters from the Pnakotic Manuscripts. For a long time his notes appear to be gibberish, but eventually a pattern emerges, and a grin spreads across the Russian’s face.
OOC Info For All,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC:[/b][/u][/color] Here’s a copy of the PM that I previous sent Coffee Demon– in order to give context to this post: [quote="Raiko"] [quote="coffee demon"][b]Andrei [/b]sits at a table and stares at the folder, sweating. [i][color=#8080BF]The curse he talked about, the Guardian... funny, I would have laughed that off three weeks ago. But now... Maybe I already released it, at the Carlyle Mansion. Maybe that's what attacked us on the street last night.[/color][/i] He scratches the back of his neck roughly. [color=#8080BF] [i]But, I have to learn more if we're going to escape this madness. If they can assault our very dreams, well, guns aren't going to do any good. I need to be brave about this...[/i][/color] [b]Andrei [/b]throws a hurried glance over his shoulder, positive that he feels something watching him. [color=#800080]"To hell with you"[/color], he mumbles to himself, and opens the folder. [i][OC: If nothing immediately happens][/i]: [b]Andrei [/b]greedily scans the folder, looking for any diagrams or English/French/Russian text that seems important or familiar.
At first Andrei is extremely disappointed - this photostatic copy is useless. Although it still contains most of the pages of curious dot-glyph cipher text, that Professor Fiennes guy has removed most of the useful translations. Andrei's own brief notes that he made from Roger Carlyle's copy are more complete.

Then he notices that someone - Fiennes? - has circled or underlined various individual letters and numbers throughout the tome.[/quote][/spoiler-button]

The photo-static paper is quite faded and so Andrei cannot recognise every marked character in the book, but Professor Fiennes appears to have underlined one character and circled one character on each page of one section of the book. Taken in isolation the marked characters do not appear meaningful, but when Andrei uses the underlined characters as an offset from the circled characters, and counts to locate a third character on each page – he pieces together the following fragmented message.

Unfortunately it is impossible to decipher the missing characters, although their meaning can certainly be derived from the rest of the text.
Professor Fiennes wrote:The Bro*herh*od are com*ing **r me ***. Is this t*** tru** cu*s**? Damn my ***pid*ty**I should not *av* **usted *a*****. *hey **ll n** get my not*s, I*have *osted the**to P.R.
OOC Info For All,[color=#FF0000][u][b]OOC: [/b][/u][/color] Asterisks represent unidentifiable characters – some of which may be spaces or punctuation, as such characters where included in the Professor’s cipher.
[/quote]


And this is a post from when Andrei returned to the hotel from the museum.
Raiko wrote:
imme wrote:She rises and gives Andrei a hug.
Andrei returns Elizabeth’s embrace, he seems excited and whispers, “I’ve something to show you later!”

He takes a seat next to her at the table and tries to contain his excitement, but after the first course of food he can’t wait any longer. Placing his satchel on the table, and taking care not to expose his revolver to public view, Andrei pulls out the photo-static copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts that Professor Wilson gave to him. He speaks in a whisper, but a whisper that is loud and excited enough to be heard by everyone at the table.

“This is it Ellie! The Pnakotic Manuscripts, the book that we stupidly left in Erica Carlyle’s safe. This is what they were after!”

“Well part of it anyway. Some professor, his name was Fiennes, removed lots of the pages and then killed himself, or so they say. He left a code!”

Andrei takes out his notes, several pages of scribbled out random characters are followed by a fragmentary message. “They came after him too Ellie! But he calls them the Brotherhood, they’re probably the one’s who killed him. I think he must have hidden the rest of the pages, and this is what we need to find them.”

Changing subject abruptly, Andrei puts his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders as he says, “I’m still going to this Pyramid club in Soho, it’s the only real clue that we have. Ellie can come with me, but I’ll go alone if I have to.”
OOC,[color=#ff0000][u]OOC:[/u][/color] Another copy of [b]Andrei’s[/b] deciphered message, to save linking to another thread: [quote] The Bro*herh*od are com*ing **r me ***. Is this t*** tru** cu*s**? Damn my ***pid*ty**I should not *av* **usted *a*****. *hey **ll n** get my not*s, I*have *osted the**to P.R.
[/quote]


There was also a post where Gwen asked if Professor Fiennes had any relatives, here is the reply:
Raiko wrote:Absent mindedly seeming to remember Gwen's question for the first time, Professor Wilson wanders back across to the reading table, "You know, I really don't think that Fiennes did have anyone, not in London at least. Though he may have had relatives in Oxford, that's where he lived - he was only in London for his research..."

"...I'll look up the details once we're finished down here."
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Re: OOC: Chapter 2 - LONDON, Starts 28th Jan 1925

Post by coffee demon »

Thanks, Raiko!

When you have a chance, could you mark in our clues "P.R." - Someone who Professor Fiennes in London may have sent his translated notes of the Pnakotic Manuscript to, before he killed himself."

Everyone else - do we know anyone with the initials "PR"?
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