Masks of Nyarlathotep (Inactive)

Game Master Aubster

Masks of Nyarlathotep is a Lovecraftian exercise in horror and mystery.


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Jake Westfield wrote:
Jake turned to the others and raised an eyebrow. Did we have anything else to ask Erica?

Anything else?


Male Human Investigative Journalist

"Miss Carlyle, I think you should know that we are pursuing this investigation with our minds open to the possibility that members of Roger's expedition survived. The reason I asked about Jack Brady in particular is because we have received a second-hand account of an eyewitness who knew Brady and spoke with him after the tragic events that ended the expedition. We will be trying to confirm this, and if what you said about Brady's nature remains true, it opens the possibility that Roger too has survived. I don't want to raise false hope. For all we know, Brady may have fooled everybody and betrayed Roger, he may have failed in his duty to protect your brother, or he may have seen to the burial of he fellow expedition members. In any event, he surely has the most thorough account of Roger's fate and we will get it if we can."

Wilson then adds, "I can keep you appraised of our progress if you wish."


No offense Mr. Wilson, but it sounds like you are on a fool's errand. It's been almost six years since my brother was murdered. I saw the remains of the victims myself. Erica waves her hand as if shooing away a fly and then adds, be that as it may, I do wish you Godspeed on the investigation. Please do keep me informed. Another pause as Erica thinks for a moment. The Carlyle name does carry a bit of weight in the civilized parts of the world. If you like, I will give you a letter instructing my employees and agents around the world to aid you as they can. Where will you go first do you think?


I'm assuming that you are done at the Carlyle home.

It is the night of the 4th day that you've been working together.

You make your way to your home away from (The Sweet Doomed Angel) through the chill night air of Manhattan without incident, though Murphy does draw some stares as he carries a bronze chest through the city streets.

Arriving at the SDA, you all find a booth in the back, make sure that no one is sitting close enough to eavesdrop and open the box. Inside you find the following books:

SELECTIONS DE LIVRE D’IVON: French commentary on Latin original by Gaspar du Nord

PEOPLE OF THE MONOLITH: in English, no author's name listed. The book is covered in some sort of leathery, reptilian hide.

LIFE AS A GOD: in English, a copy of a handwritten diary by Montgomery Crompton.

Dark Archive

Does anyone read French? I have a free Interest I could throw on. It's even thematic since my interests seem to be thrown at foreign languages. And have we heard of...the original that De Livre D'ivon is refering to? Is that something famous or is this trip to library time?


Male Human Investigative Journalist

I speak several languages - took the "linguist" edge. French, Farsi, Arabic, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Latin, Greek. I stocked up on stuff useful to a journalist covering WWI and its aftermath throughout Europe and into the former Ottoman Empire. Plus a couple of classics to reflect the education.


Fr. Murphy wrote:

Does anyone read French? I have a free Interest I could throw on. It's even thematic since my interests seem to be thrown at foreign languages. And have we heard of...the original that De Livre D'ivon is refering to? Is that something famous or is this trip to library time?

An occult knowledge roll would be appropriate to see if you have heard of the book

Dark Archive

Conner searches his memory for book that the French commentary is commenting on.

Occult: 1d8 ⇒ 4
wIld oCCuLt: 1d6 ⇒ 3


Male Human Bennies 4/2

Still here guys. Just Kwan is not much in the way of research. He's the muscle and observation element.

Kwan once again finds shelter at the nearest homeless shelter for the evening, and returns to the meeting place after his morning gruel. "Someday I would like to learn to read words".


Fr. Murphy wrote:

Conner searches his memory for book that the French commentary is commenting on.

[dice=Occult]d8
[dice=wIld oCCuLt]d6

You don't know the details, but you do know that the Church banned the original as blasphemous and have burned all known copies.


Feel free to divy the books up as you wish. Of course, you can swap them amongst yourselfs as things progress

Assuming that you decide to go to London, the RMS Mauretania sails from New York for Southampton in 2 days. Of course you all know that the Mauretania is the sister ship of the ill-fated Lusitania. The voyage on the fast liner only takes 4 days. First class passage is an extravagant $120, second class (or steerage) is $90 and third class is $30. You could also try to find space on a tramp steamer for even less but that would require finding a ship willing to take you all.


Virile Male Western Movie Actor SAN 46(50) | HP 12(12) | Move:8 | Status: OK

First Class for me!
When not consulting with his teammates, Jake will Schmooze with the passengers and crew. He will be reluctantly persuaded to give shooting demonstrations; fastdrawing and gunning down golf balls as they driven off the fantail.


Lets assume that you distribute the books so that each can be read during the trip by an investigator.

Africa's Dark Secrets:
Each day as you read the book, you learn more and more about the various cults in Africa. Each cult has there own beliefs, their own rites, their own rituals. However, they all (without realizing it) worship a Patheon of Deities that is not only foreign to everything you believe but is indeed contrary to anything that you had ever heard of anyone believing. the various cults in Africa. Each cult has there own beliefs, their own rites, their own rituals. However, they all (without realizing it) worship a Patheon of Deities that is not only foreign to everything you believe but is indeed contrary to anything that you had ever heard of anyone believing. You would shrug it off as the simple fantasies of backward savages except that the words you read call to you. Every day you feel as if you are beginning to see for the first time in your life the truth of the universe and man's pathetic place in it. Even more disturbingly, you now see how you could create copies of the zombies that you fought in New York if you just had the right materials and the proper sacrifice to work on...maybe the bodies of one of the others in your party would work??? You now have a Mythos Skill level of d4...unfortunately, your soul has been corrupted and you sanity damaged (add 1 to your corruption score and subtract 1 from your sanity)

The Pnakotic Manuscripts:
Each day as you read the book, you learn more and more about the universe as it really is. You realize that Manuscripts predate the origin of man. The book is about The Great Race of Yith and contain a detailed chronicle of the race's history. You learn that The Great Race are beings of enormous intellectual and psychic powers that once dwelt on the dying world of Yith. They escaped the destruction of their home planet by transferring their minds to the bodies of a species native to the Earth in the far distant past. They lived on this planet for 200 million years or so, in fierce competition with the flying polyps, whom they initially subdued. However, this enemy over time increased in number and near the close of the Cretaceous era (about 66 million years ago), rose up and finally destroyed the civilization of the Race of Yith, forcing the Yithians to flee en masse to other bodies located far in the future. The Lost City of Pnakotus (also called the Library City, The Lost City of the Archives and Pnakotis) is located in Australia's Great Sandy Desert. This primordial city is where the Great Race housed their enormous library.You now have a Mythos Skill level of d4...unfortunately, your soul has been corrupted and you sanity damaged (add 1 to your corruption score and subtract 1 from your sanity)

SELECTIONS DE LIVRE D’IVON:
Each day as you read the book, you learn more and more about the universe as it really is...The 'book' is actually a parchment bundle, 10” by 15”; 179 pages long. The pages are obviously old, and have suffered from both the elements and the negligence of past owners. The most obvious damage to the work is that the back edge of each sheet is ragged — it appears the manuscript has been torn from some sort of binding. The work is handwritten and copiously illuminated with grotesque faces, obscene marginalia, and a recurring curious sigil resembling a triskelion.The original source was written by the wizard Eibon to preserve Hyperborean religion and sorcery. It was translated from a Greek manuscript by a madman named Nathaire. Gaspar du Nord was a student of alchemy and claimed to be a pupil of the mythical wizard Nathaire...You believe that if you had long enough to study you could actually recreate and even cast some of the spells of Eibon. You now understand that Ubbo-Sathla is the source and the end. Before the coming of Zhothaqquah or Yok-Zothot or Kthulhut from the stars, Ubbo-Sathla dwelt in the steaming fens of new-made Earth. You are not yet sure what it all means but you are convinced you will figure it out.You now have a Mythos Skill level of d4...unfortunately, your soul has been corrupted and you sanity damaged (add 1 to your corruption score and subtract 1 from your sanity)

People of the Monolith:
The book is page after page of a single poem written by Justin Geoffrey. You quickly realize that Geoffrey's poem is able to rip away the blindfold that has covered your eyes and hidden the reality of the universe from you. A sample of the writing that you find yourself repeating out loud several times a day is: They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk;In dark forgotten corners of the world, And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights,Shape pent in Hell. As you read the poem, over and over, you are haunted by the desire to find something called The Black Stone as you know that all will be revealed to you if only you possessed it. You now have a Mythos Skill level of d4...unfortunately, your soul has been corrupted and you sanity damaged (add 1 to your corruption score and subtract 1 from your sanity)

Life as a God:
This book is a handwritten diary of Montgomery Compton from the time he arrived in Egypt in 1805. He documents how he became a minor priest of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. You find out the the book is actually bound in human skin. The diary narrates all manner of unspeakable acts committed for the Pharaoh of Darkness. In particular the diary mentions the Black Pharaoh’s throne room. Its angles were magnificent, and most strange; by their hideous beauty I was enraptured and enthralled, and I thought myself of the daylight fools who adjudged the housing of this room as mistaken. I laughed for the glory they missed. When the six lights lit and the great words said, then He came, in all the grace and splendour of the Higher Planes, and I longed to sever my veins so that my life might flow into his being, and make part of me a god. In the diary are graphic descriptions of murders, sacrifices, and so on, all of which mention the short, single-spiked clubs which the cult uses for ritual murders. You would put the book down to the ravings of a mad man except you find yourself believing every word and now dream night after night of the wonderful, hideous throne room. You dream of finding the room. ]You now have a Mythos Skill level of d4...unfortunately, your soul has been corrupted and you sanity damaged (add 1 to your corruption score and subtract 1 from your sanity)

Kwan:
As the voyage passes you find yourself noticing that the others are acting even more strangely than before. It is almost as if a dark curtain is being drawn across their souls.


Male Human Investigative Journalist

I had started Africa's Dark Sects, but I can switch to Selections De Livre D'Ivon since I know French.

Are there benefits to reading more than one of these? Such as raising a mythos skill to d6?


For every book you finish, your skill goes up by 1 die type, your corruption increases by 1 and your sanity decreases by 1.

Dark Archive

Oh boy! Here we go! 1) Can it be said that I cure my level of Madness during the trip? Or do I get a roll? Or is that just part of me by this point. And, mainly because I don't have any idea what these numbers mean, I'm just gonna read 'em all. :0)

Connor sits with the group, visiting Jake's sumptuous apartment, looking for any excuse to get out of his cramped shared room in steerage, taking a break from his copious reading.

"One must look to the Spanish Inquisition for our direction here. I know that may be unexpected, but hear me out. They did not look away from things too ignoble or corrupt. They went out and grasped it! Directly! No shirking of responsibilities for them. Now I see that it was wrong to ban such like as D'Ivon book. One does not quench evil by ignoring it. Indeed, it is the dark places the evil feeds upon like fire at dry tinder. Do we not say that the greatest act achieved by the devil is convincing others that he does not exist? They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk;In dark forgotten corners of the world. So, too, in these works I must take it upon myself to delve them deeply, and not shun them for being overly distasteful--no matter how distasteful I find them. If is only by charging into this enemy head-on can we hope to break its ranks.

And of course if any of you have questions as to which to read, if you must pick and choose, feel free to ask. They each of them have their own merits, but perhaps I have recommendations for your personal tastes.

Um, no offense, Mr. Westfield, but I do not think such matters are for you at all. Delve not into these works a whit, for persons of your, um...softer mind, might not take to the literary tapestry with the, ah, spirit for which it was intended."

What exactly Fr. Murphy means by that last isn't exactly clear. Perhaps purposefully so.

Connor finds the works of LIVRE D’IVON especially intriguing and spends extra time trying to recreate some of the items discussed.


Murphy can make a spirit roll to see if the sea air did him some good (you can check every 5 days). You do need to subtract -1 from the roll for the effect of your level of madness. If you roll double 1s (spirit die and wild die) your madness level actually increases by 1

After reading and then reading Livre D'ivon you believe that you could describe the runes well enough that a craftsman that could carve them correctly into a copper disk. You think the disk is the requirement for joking something called the mists of Eibon which could be used to shield you from the sight of certain ancient and horrible creatures. You are also fairly confident that if you just had an obsidian dagger and a young bull to sacrifice you could actually make contact with something that you find described in the book as: And upon dolphins' backs was balanced a vast crenelate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss… Then hoary Nodens reached forth a wizened hand and helped Olney and his host into the vast shell.


Besides reading one of the books of forbidden lore, you can just skim it. Doing that increases your skill by +1 but doesn't give you a chance to learn any spells. It also does not increase corruption and decrease sanity. If you get to +2 then you just go up to the next die (and impact corruption and sanity). So, read a book you're at d4...read another book you're at d6 and so on OR read a book to be at d4 and then skim a book to be at d4+1...the next book you skim or read will move you to d6. If you spent 20 days you could read all 5 books thatyou've found and be at d12 Mythos skill level (and +5 corruption and -5 to sanity). If your sanity goes to zero, then the character is hopelessly insane and becomes a NPC.

Dark Archive

On a calm night under a brilliant cresent moon, Father Murphy takes a long, cleansing breath. Exhaling, he feels his mind clear of a fog that he forgot he had.

spIrIt: 1d8 ⇒ 5
wIld spIrIt: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Alright, with that new information I'll just skim Africa's darkest secrets, believing that Guthrie already has that well in hand. That will give me more time to pore over the aforementioned work. sKILLS cHANGED. o.O


Male Human Bennies 4/2

Kwan stows away aboard the vessel, using the skills he learned on the way to the USA. He notes where each other member of the party stays, and counts on them to provide him food, and occasionally a place to hide. He encourages the men to spend more time on deck in the sun, and less time reading these books. He informs them that he senses changes in them after they read the tomes.

1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 Stealth

1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 WD Total of 6


January 27, 1925

The Mauretania arrives in Southhampton, England on the morning of January 27 docking almost exactly on time at 10:00 AM GMT. Jake is amongst the first of the paying passengers to set foot on English soil and easily clears customs. He has a spot of tea and nibbles some shortbread cookies as he waits for the rest of you that paid for your passage to disembark. Jake's also had time to arrange for porters to take your luggage to the noon Southern Railway train that will carry you all to London. Kwan is actually the second person to arrive in the tea room as he had skipped customs entirely mingling amongst the baggage handlers as they unloaded the ship. He slips into the tea room and takes a seat at the table next to Jake without the actor ever seeing him come in.

The five paying passenger and Kwan enjoy a quiet trip through the English countryside as they make their way to London.

About London
For generations, London and its suburbs have comprised the greatest city known to man. Approximately 7.5 million live in greater London. Not only the largest, London is also the wealthiest city in the world. In later generations, New York will overtake the sprawling city on the Thames, but just now London is queen of civilization. The Great War interrupted the rate of building, but that has since renewed itself despite labor unrest. The irregularly-shaped County of London is approximately 11.5 by 16 miles, with an area of about 116 square miles. It is ridiculously easy to hide in the swarm of streets and buildings.

The district of Soho—a locale traditional to prostitutes and advertising men, and convenient to the seats of goverment is roughly bounded by Oxford Street, Regent Street, Charing Cross Road, and Piccadilly. The wealthiest portions of the city are north of the Thames: the West End, most of Westminster, with extensions into Chelsea, Kensington, Paddington, and Marylebone. Within Westminster rest the palaces and governmental offices commonly thought of when the word London is mentioned. The most fashionable addresses include Mayfair (just east of Hyde Park), Belgravia (south of Hyde Park), Kensington (west of Belgravia), and Chelsea (to the south of Belgravia and Kensington). The actual City of London is about one square mile north of the Thames, within London’s medieval walls. It is there to which the rail terminals funnel, to the commercial heart of the British empire. Further north, the districts are predominantly artisan or middle class.

The mean streets of the East End—Stepney, Bethnal, Green, Limehouse, Shoreditch, etc.—form a distinct and abruptly contrasting poverty, a state also normal along the south bank of the Thames from Battersea to Greenwich. A writer of the time noted that “even in the richest quarters, in Westminster and elsewhere, small but well-defined areas of the poorest dwellings occur...” Further south of the Thames, the districts become progressively
more middle class and suburban.

Exiting the train into bustling Waterloo station the first thing that you see is a newsboy hawking The Scoop, flashing the front-page headline of the article below, and shouting, “Egyptian murders again!” at the top of his lungs.

SLAUGHTER CONTINUES!
Scoop Offers Reward!
AN UNIDENTIFIED FOREIGNER was found floating in the Thames this Tuesday, the 24th victim in a series of bizarre slayings.
Though Inspector James Barrington of the Yard had no immediate comment, sources exclusive to The Scoop agreed that the victim had been beaten severely by one or more assailants, and then stabbed through the heart.
This series of murders has continued over the space of three years, to the bafflement of our faithful Metropolitans. Must we hope that Mr. Sherlock Holmes, though reported by Mr. Doyle to be in retirement, will one last time rise to the defense of our majestic isles?
Readers of The Scoop are reminded that this esteemed journal has a standing reward for information leading to the capture of the fiends behind these grisly murders.

Those of you that knew Jackson Elias well will be reminded thatJackson often mentioned that his friend Mickey Mahoney was the publisher of a weekly tabloid called The Scoop.


Virile Male Western Movie Actor SAN 46(50) | HP 12(12) | Move:8 | Status: OK

Exiting the train, Jake's eye is attracted by the headline.
Egyptian murders? Could this be a coincidence?
Paying for a couple of papers, he takes them with him to be read in detail later. Out on the street he calls for a taxi to take him and his companions to the hotel.


Male Human Investigative Journalist

After a semi-comfortable trip in accommodations Wilson is used to (third), he is quite happy to be on land and into the bustle of London again.

"We don't know too much about what Jackson may have done here in London so we should start with trying to pin that down. Mahoney over at The Scoop may know something about his stay. I can't imagine Jackson would have stopped in London without at least visiting him," Wilson advises.

Reading over the tabloid, Wilson muses, Could the Carlyle Expedition have stirred up trouble in Egypt that has spread to London? Three years doesn't seem quite right, but it's close... too close?


The advantages of traveling with a movie star (even a B list star) and an heir to the Collin fortune become apparent once again as you check into your block of rooms at The Savoy. Both Jake and Spencer take suites, Kwan has the manservant's room next to Jake's and even though Hank, Guthrie and Murphy share a room it is large, comfortable and has its own en suite bathroom. After hot baths and changed into clean clothes, the team meets downstairs at 4:00 PM for high tea and to plot their next moves.

What do you want to do first? You have time to at least place a phone call to either the institute or to the tabloid before they close for the day.


Male Human Bennies 4/2

Kwan is astounded at the sumptuous quarters he is given, with no need to share. His extended family could live in this space. Given his normal reserved outlook, he decides to walk the hotel, and check exits, entrances, security etc, before joining the others for High tea... Which is something he understands and appreciates.

Dark Archive

Connor finishes with his bath first and dresses quickly. He scurries to the reception desk and asks of the employee there, "Excuse me, I'm just visiting this city for a bit, but I'd like some unique souvenirs to take back. Might there be a blacksmith anywhere in this fine city? Perhaps one that would know how to make a fine copper disk? Oh, and I greatly want to see some good English livestock. Are there any farms near by?"

A faint voice in the back of his mind observes that he might have just told a boldface lie. It bothers him...surprisingly little.


Fr. Murphy wrote:

Connor finishes with his bath first and dresses quickly. He scurries to the reception desk and asks of the employee there, "Excuse me, I'm just visiting this city for a bit, but I'd like some unique souvenirs to take back. Might there be a blacksmith anywhere in this fine city? Perhaps one that would know how to make a fine copper disk? Oh, and I greatly want to see some good English livestock. Are there any farms near by?"

A faint voice in the back of his mind observes that he might have just told a boldface lie. It bothers him...surprisingly little.

You have to be at least slightly impressed by the staff at The Savoy as the front desk seem to neither act like your questions are unusual nor have any difficulty answering them.

Yes sir, your best option would be to take care of both things at the same place. Easiest thing to do is take the Wales Limited from Paddington (the man draws you a map along with precise instructions on how to reach the station, where to buy a ticket, the price of the ticket, the departure times of the trains and their platforms). If you take the train to the third stop and get off, you will find yourself in Cocksley-On-The-Swift. Turn left out of the station, walk down the hill towards the river and you'll find Burton's Blacksmith. It has been in business at the same location for 300 hundred years or so. If you turn right out of the station and walk up the hill, you will find Louder's Farm. They often show visitors around their farm and have every kind of livestock you could hope to want to see on a English farm. If you prefer, the hotel could arrange for a car service to drive you to Cocksley. We could also arrange for a guide to show you around the village if you like.


Kwan Ho wrote:
Kwan is astounded at the sumptuous quarters he is given, with no need to share. His extended family could live in this space. Given his normal reserved outlook, he decides to walk the hotel, and check exits, entrances, security etc, before joining the others for High tea... Which is something he understands and appreciates.

You find multiple exits, none of which have security besides small signs. If someone reads one to you, you find it says The Savoy - guests only. The main entrance is the only one that is constantly watched by the bellmen but they are there to assist guests and not to stop anyone from coming and going. You do find yourself greeted multiple times by hotel employees as you wander the halls, always with a polite May I help you find something sir?


Spencer, haven't seen a post from you for a while...want to make sure that you're still playing.


Male Human Bennies 4/2
Aubster wrote:
Kwan Ho wrote:
Kwan is astounded at the sumptuous quarters he is given, with no need to share. His extended family could live in this space. Given his normal reserved outlook, he decides to walk the hotel, and check exits, entrances, security etc, before joining the others for High tea... Which is something he understands and appreciates.
You find multiple exits, none of which have security besides small signs. If someone reads one to you, you find it says The Savoy - guests only. The main entrance is the only one that is constantly watched by the bellmen but they are there to assist guests and not to stop anyone from coming and going. You do find yourself greeted multiple times by hotel employees as you wander the halls, always with a polite May I help you find something sir?

Kwan simply smiles and nods at any who address him.


Male Human Investigative Journalist

Wilson heads for a hotel phone in order to place a call to The Scoop and Mickey Mahoney. I'll start calling around, get a read on Jackson's visit to London," he tells the others.

Once on the phone, he will take a light touch with Mahoney, who may not have heard about Jackson's murder. A face-to-face visit would be preferable - tonight if possible or tomorrow.

Dark Archive

"Gents,"says Father Murphy to the group. "If you can afford to spare me for a few moments today, there are some oddities that I'd like to gather which I believe will be of some help in our crusade. They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk, and I'd like to be prepared as we advance into this conundrum we face.
Guthrie, if your face-to-face of tomorrow represents the earliest time I'll be needed, do you mind if I pop off now? I'm sure if we get started early tomorrow we can accomplish the other hunting we need to be doing."


Guthrie Wilson wrote:

Wilson heads for a hotel phone in order to place a call to The Scoop and Mickey Mahoney. I'll start calling around, get a read on Jackson's visit to London," he tells the others.

Once on the phone, he will take a light touch with Mahoney, who may not have heard about Jackson's murder. A face-to-face visit would be preferable - tonight if possible or tomorrow.

A man with an thick Irish brogue answers the phone and says The Scoop, Mahoney speaking. He listens as you introduce yourself and bring up your investigation into poor Jackson's murder. Aye lad, I heard the horrible news. Bring yourself and your friends over to The Scoop now. We'll have a proper wake for the poor man and drain a bottle of good Irish Whiskey and tell some tall tales and shed a tear or two. He gives you the address of the tabloid.


Male Human Investigative Journalist

Before he makes it out the door, Wilson catches Father Murphy. "Father, if your errands aren't going to take too long, drop by the The Scoop when you're done. Mahoney wants to meet now to give Jackson a proper wake. And with the things we've seen, I think a night of memories and whiskey might be just the remedy we need."

Wilson rounds up the rest of his investigative companions and heads out with all who want to join him. Since this is London (and he's not that paranoid yet), he elects to leave his pistol behind in the hotel room, safely stowed in his traveling trunk.


Virile Male Western Movie Actor SAN 46(50) | HP 12(12) | Move:8 | Status: OK

Jake relaxed and had a room service meal sent up for him and anyone else who wanted it.
Almost as an afterthought, he called the concierge and ordered a chauffeurs cap and jacket. When delivered, he presented them to Kwan.
"Here you go old boy! Nothing better to go into places normally barred you you; chauffeurs are practically invisible, and are often sent on errands by their employers. Just use my name if you need to; I am fairly well known if I do say so myself!"

He goes out without his pistols this time.

Dark Archive

Fr. Murphy listens intently to Guthrie's invitation, trying to do some mental-math about time-tables.

"Aye, of course that a good-n-proper way to remember someone, and I'll make it if I'm at all able. I suspect I'll just put in some orders to be picked up later and then meet you. If I'm somehow detained, I'll just fill you all in at breakfast, 'fore they say foul beings of Old Times still lurk."

Connor taps his chin, looking at Kwan. "If you don't mind, it seems a good idea...what with the recent unpleasantness, if none of us go about our business alone. Would you mind if Kwan come with me? I'm not sure how comfortable the man would be around an Irish wake, and in truth I'll be walking about in climes and neighborhoods unknown."

I'm the least capable in combat, he's the most. Seems a good pairing. =)


At The Scoop

Mahoney is a grubby Irish journalist who publishes The Scoop, a weekly tabloid. Mahoney delights in printing stories about gory murders, sex scandals, and weird happenings. He is a cigar-smoking, red-haired, 43-year-old—cynical and tough. The offices of The Scoop are on the third floor of a shabby building in Fleet Street, not far from Ludgate Circus.

Once Guthrie, Jake, Spencer and Hank arrive at The Scoop, Mahoney greets them at the door. He ushers you into his cluttered office and pours each of you a wee bit of good Irish whiskey.

Aye lads, I was greatly saddened by Elias’ death when I saw the news come over the press wires. He was a solid one, don't you know. We had some good craic when he'd pass through town. Did he ever tell you about the time we were chasing the same showgirl because we thought she was twins?

You spend the next couple of hours sharing stories and getting pleasantly drunk before broaching the investigation. Mahoney listens in fascination as you take turns regaling him with the story of your adventures to date. He seems particularly interested in the zombies you fought. Iontach boys! What a great story! Mind if I write it up for the paper? The six brave boys who beat the zombies! It almost writes itself, don't ya know.

Once your story winds down, Mahoney tells you what he knows. While he was recently in London, Elias visited Mahoney, promising a story about an evil cult operating in London. Elias hinted that the cult might be well connected. Mahoney never got the story, but would love to have it, and offers to pay the investigators up to fifteen English pounds for it. Of course Mahoney wants any sort of odd or gruesome story, and also pays well for photos of cute models in their knickers (with such accompanying stories as “Her Cornish Holiday”). A true professional, Mahoney cares about truth unless not caring brings more cash.
Elias never mentioned the name of any cult, nor mentioned anything about his evolving suspicions. Elias browsed through The Scoop’s files, and Mahoney says the investigators are welcome to do the same, but he recalls that the author seemed interested by only three stories.


The Scoop Story 1

Shocking Canvases Bring Recognition

Local Artist’s Monstrous Scenes Mock “Surrealists”

NOW COLLECTORS CAN BUY savage scenes which rival or surpass the worst nightmares of the Great War, but which are far more exotic than that grim business.
London artist Mr. Miles Shipley’s work is being sought out by collectors, who have paid up to £300 for individual paintings. This correspondent has seen dozens of the works of artist Miles Shipley, and finds them repulsive beyond belief. Maidens ravished, monsters ripping out a man’s innards, shadowy grotesque landscapes, and faces grimacing in horror repre-
sent only a fraction of Shipley’s work.

Withal their repellent content, these works are conceived and executed with uncanny verisimilitude, almost as though the artist had worked from photographs of alien places surely never on this Earth!

The artist reportedly is in contact with “other dimensions” in which powerful beings exist, and says he merely renders visible his visions. Mr. Shipley is a working-class man without formal artistic training, who has nonetheless made good where thousands have failed. Art critics say that Shipley provides an English answer to the Continental artistic movement of “surrealism,” whose controversial practicioners have still to convince John Bull that the way in which a thing is painted is more important than what is.


The Scoop Story 2

POLICE BAFFLED BY MONSTROUS MURDERS!

Inhuman Killer Shot But Still Alive?

VALLEY OF THE DERWENT RESIDENTS, shocked several months ago by two murders and a serious assault on a third victim, are still without explanation or perpetrator of the dreadful attacks.

At that time, Lesser-Edale farmer George Osgood and resident Miss Lydia Perkins were torn to shreds in apparently unrelated murders on consecutive nights. On the third night, wheelwright Harold Short was nearly killed but managed to drive off a grisly creature which he swore to be man-like but not human.

Constable Tumwell, also of Lesser-Edale, believes that he shot and killed the beast on the night Mr Short was attacked. Other residents of the region have claimed to have seen the thing since.

Reportedly, Lesser-Edale endures to this hour the bizarre wailings of the beast on nights near the full moon.

Readers of The Scoop are reminded of their esteemed journal's long-standing Danger Protocols, and are advised that the picturesque cloughs surrounding The Peak have been declared by The Scoop to be a Zone of High Danger! Residents of the Midlands are advised to remain indoors at night, and to report all mysterious happenings to the police and to The Scoop.


The Scoop Story 3

SLAUGHTER CONTINUES! Scoop Offers Reward!

AN UNIDENTIFIED FOREIGNER was found floating in the Thames this Tuesday, the 24th victim in a series of bizarre slayings. Though Inspector James Barrington of the Yard had no immediate comment, sources exclusive to The Scoop agreed that the victim had been beaten severely by one or more assailants, and then stabbed through the heart.

This series of murders has continued over the space of three years, to the bafflement of our faithful Metropolitans. Must we hope that Mr. Sherlock Holmes, though reported by Mr. Doyle to be in retirement, will one last time rise to the defense of our majestic isles?

Readers of The Scoop are reminded that this esteemed journal has a standing reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators, in an amount now risen to £24 with the latest death. Be on guard!


In Cocksley-On-The-Swift

As evening falls, Murphy and Kwan find themselves outside the train depot in Cocksley-On-The-Swift. A late afternoon mist darkens the atmosphere as they go about their errands. The visit to Burton's meets with great success as the blacksmith agrees to make the disk, including the odd engravings, as you request. It will take him two days to finish the piece and he offers to have it delivered to The Savoy.

The Louders welcome you warmly to the farm and happily show you around.


Male Human Bennies 4/2

Kwan is only too happy to don the new outfit, and shows his great appreciation at the new clothes. As he's never been in a chauffeur driven car, so he's not exactly sure of his purpose, but these are new and sturdy clothes, and people don't look at him as much... especially when he's not carrying his worn guitar case.

He is only too happy to accompany the good father, though his pattern of choices does seem a bit odd to young Kwan.


Male Human Investigative Journalist

Wilson eyes the press clippings with a slightly hazy eye considering the whiskey put away over the course of the conversation.

"Say, Mahoney, what do you know about the Penhew Foundation? Jackson probably stopped in there - at least we have a business card of his - but he didn't leave any notes about what he may have learned there. Are they reputable? Or just glorified grave-robbers?"

And, for another line of questions, the clippings:
"The newsboy was hawking the paper by calling these foreigner murders "Egyptian Murders". What did he mean by that? Is someone targeting Egyptians?"


Guthrie Wilson wrote:

Wilson eyes the press clippings with a slightly hazy eye considering the whiskey put away over the course of the conversation.

"Say, Mahoney, what do you know about the Penhew Foundation? Jackson probably stopped in there - at least we have a business card of his - but he didn't leave any notes about what he may have learned there. Are they reputable? Or just glorified grave-robbers?"

And, for another line of questions, the clippings:
"The newsboy was hawking the paper by calling these foreigner murders "Egyptian Murders". What did he mean by that? Is someone targeting Egyptians?"

Your questions put a stop to Mahoney's off-key, mournful singing of "Oh Danny Boy" in which he has substituted Jackson for Danny...

Oh, Jackson Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
'Tis you, 'Tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow

Startled for a second, Mahoney tries to pull himself together to answer your queries.

Penhew Foundation...I've not heard that they weren't reppable...Mahoney scowls and continues, I mean reputable he says saying the last word carefully. Course you know that old Lordy Penhew hisself went and got killed down in Africa. Bloke by the name Gavigan runs the place now.

A gleam comes to his eye when you bring up the Egyptian Murders. Right-O, that's been a great story for us the last few years. Twenty-four murders, all beaten to a pulp and then stabbed in the heart. I've been calling them the Egyptian Murders cause 17 of the croakers were Egyptian. You should talk to Inspector Barrington over at the Yard. He's in charge of the case. Barrington's an okay fella...I know Jackson talked to him and liked him.

With the questions answered, Mahoney throws down another shot of whiskey and starts singing Oh Jackson Boy again.

Dark Archive

While at the blacksmith, Connor also inquires about the possibility of making an obsidian dagger.
"Eh? Yes, that's right a dagger, but made out of obsidian. It's a black-ish stone, I believe, that can be made sharp along the edges if cut just right. It's all the rage with the druid-beatnik crowd and if I'm not able to get to Stonehenge I'll not be let back in the states without one. If you could have it delivered as well, please do so."

Once at the Louders farm, Connor makes his play. He's been wondering how to phrase this so that it doesn't sound crazy. The logistics of carting an animal all around an unknown city where people don't even DRIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE of the road seemed....insurmountable. Had he the resources and charisma of Jake, he might try it, but this is such a minor thing it didn't seem worth it to trouble the man. It might not even work! Well, may as well speak words and see what happens.

"Oh good afternoon my children, what a lovely farm you have here. Truly an example of good English ingenuity and hard work. I'll include you in my prayers once I get back to my diocese.
Now, I have quite an odd request for you, and I admit that it sounds quite odd, even to my ears, and I have seen and heard some strange things in the States.

But it seems my good friend Jackson Elias was a bit of a druid at heart. His dying wish was that I transfer his sins to a cow, absolve the poor animal of his sins, and then end its life, thereby cleansing Jackson of his sins in the event that he was unable to be granted Last Rites at the event of his death. Which, I am sad to say, he was not given.
Now, I know this is most unconventional, but the Lord hath given Man domain over all fruits and animals of the Earth, and in all other things I have examined it and, though quite queer, there is no sacrilege involved, since there is no praying -to- the beast and thus no worshipping of false idols.
I'm simply doing a favor for a deceased friend.

I have a little money and would pay for the animal, though I've no need of the carcass once done, and you may keep it and sell it for meat afterward.
Does this sound acceptable? I could not do it now as I've some things to accomplish in the city and some Rites to observe, but if you would be amenable when the time was right it would be much appreciated. If you even wanted me to Sanctify the house, I would do so in recognition of your generosity in the deed.
What say you?"

Persuasion: 1d4 ⇒ 4 + 1d4 ⇒ 3 = 7
wIld pErsUAsIOn: 1d6 ⇒ 6 + 1d6 ⇒ 1 = 7
Well, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--poop. 14 the hard way!


Male Human Investigative Journalist

"Jake, I think our next step tomorrow is to call on two people - Ed Gavigan and Inspector Barrington. Maybe in the afternoon once we've slept this off." Wilson shares as he drinks some more whiskey and joins Mahoney in his song.


In Cocksley-On-The-Swift

Mr. Burton pulls his hat off and twists it nervously in his hands as Murphy describes the obsidian dagger he wants. Well gov'nor, I'm a bit flummoxed about the stone dagger request. Have you asked someone at the Museum about a stone dagger? That's the kind of things that those blokes probably know about.

At the farm, the Louders stare at you in open mouthed wonder as you request one of their animals to sacrifice in a Druidic ritual. They look at you, then each other, then at you, then at their animals and then back to you. Well Sir, we do sell animals so we probably could sell you one too, but I would feel much easier in my heart if you would ask Vicar Brown his opinion about all this.


At The Scoop

Mahoney arranges for a taxi to take you all back to the hotel after you finish off another bottle of whiskey.

Dark Archive

At the blacksmith Connor thanks the man and agrees that, yes, he should ask at the museum.

At the farm he simply waits, with the attitude of one that is confounded that such a mere request should be seen as so out-of-the-world. He can feel himself getting angry, until a thought comes to him and he says, "Ah, yes, of course. I can see how another's opinion would assuage you. And where might the good vicar be found?"


Virile Male Western Movie Actor SAN 46(50) | HP 12(12) | Move:8 | Status: OK

Jake poured another for himself, adding a couple of icecubes to the outrage of the purists present.
"Agreed Guthrie! Actually, I want to pick Mahoney's brain as to what news articles were published about the expedition as well. Wish I'd thought of that before we left."

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