Mythos (02%)
Sanity (Currently 30 out of 40 Max.)
Colt can't seem to take his eyes off the paintings. Does the artist look familiar? Are the paintings signed"
Finally he realizes that Sylvia had been talking to him... "What? Oh yeah I wouldn't want to be too obvious at this time... but this is disturbing on so many levels".
Colt takes out a notepad, and begins to sketch the contents of the room noting their location.
You are able to read the titles of the 3 books:
Equinox Divise is written in French.
Book of Dyzan is written in English. The author is unknown. It is an account of the wise and venerable words of those most exalted High Masters of Shamballah. It describes generational transformations of consciousness beginning on a planet called Vellarros and ending on Earth. Enlightened beings of flame are said to have 'raised' humanity when the lands of Hyperborea and Atlantis were young.
Liber Ivonis is written in Latin and was translated in the 9th Century. It is a discussion and record of experimentation (spellcasting) with elder geometries, the primal matter of existence and natural philosophies, interspersed with commentaries and accounts alleged to come from a being named 'Saccoche.'
The Latin scrolls you find all seem to be praising a creature known as the 'Bloated Woman'.
Are you taking anything from the basement?
Sylvia quickly jots down a few notes regarding the content of the books and scrolls, making particular note of the 'Bloated Woman'. "We should probably go as soon as you're done. Jake is buying us time, but there's still a chance of getting caught if we linger." She glances around to make sure everything in the room is in the same condition it was when they entered, then heads to the door.
"Yeah let's get out of here".
He takes the jar of strange dust with him, trying to hide that fact from Sylvia. Not sure what skill that is, so I'll just roll and let you decide.
Random Conceal Object
[i]Colt is easily able to hide the jar containing the dust in the pocket of his trench coat. Sylvia and Colt then head back upstairs, out of Gavigan's office and into the reading room. They manage to sit down just as Kinneridge comes down the stairs with Jake.
Kinneridge stops at the door and shakes hands with Jake.
"Well I hope that was useful, as discussed previously we would like to see the final film before it goes on general release."
Jake grinned and shook Kinneridge's hand heartily.
"Of course of course! Mind you, I haven't finished principle photography yet. What with location filming, research and all that, it might be as much as a year before I have even a rough cut.
"But I will complete it, never you fear!" He said reassuringly.
You leave the Penhew Foundation and head to the nearest tea room to discuss your discoveries.
Jake sprang for a bottle of expensive single malt scotch with ice (to the disapproval of the bar tender) for all around and lit a cigarette.
Leaning back with a sigh, he looked at the others.
"You all look like you've seen a ghost. What did you all find?" He asked aloud.
Sylvia glances around to make sure no one is near enough to overhear. "Gavigan has a secret entrance in his office to a small...study?" She shivers. "Artwork similar to that of Shipley, and a number of books and scrolls that remind me overly much of the Ju Ju House. Not to mention sacrificial daggers. At least, that's what I presume them to have been."
She rubs her forehead. "The artwork and even the daggers I suppose could be explained away as nothing more than artifacts collected by the Penhew Foundation. But combined with the books, and that he felt the need to hide it all in a secret room...I fear we've stumbled upon another cult. Or perhaps the same one, just in a different location."
"I didn't want to open any of the crates or spend too long exploring, for fear of being caught. But it seems Gavigan is using a place called Limehouse to ship various artifacts to China. I'd like to go there when we have a change; see if there's an opportunity to learn more about exactly what he's up to."
"And this was also there". Colt exclaims putting the jar on the table. Not sure what it is, but maybe not having it will slow them down some"?
"...But it seems Gavigan is using a place called Limehouse to ship various artifacts to China. I'd like to go there when we have a change; see if there's an opportunity to learn more about exactly what he's up to."
Jake nodded.
"Yes indeed, that would be our next step." He nodded."And this was also there". Colt exclaims putting the jar on the table. Not sure what it is, but maybe not having it will slow them down some"?
Jake squinted at the jar.
"But, what IS it?" He asked.
As far as you can tell the substance has the appearance of ashes, although ashes of what you are unsure.
Deciding to head to the Limehouse docks you find that Limehouse is a grim and dirty part of London, with an unsavoury reputation for gambling, derelicts, opium addicts, exotic restaurants and crime. Sailors loiter around. There are various warehouses and ships in the area.
"Wait, you took something?" Sylvia's clearly shocked. "I thought we were going to leave everything the way it was, so Gavigan didn't realize we'd been snooping." She looks like she wants to say more, but then just sighs and rubs her forehead. "What's done is done, I guess. Maybe he won't notice it's gone for a while and won't connect its disappearance to our visit."
Sylvia does not look happy when they see Limehouse for the first time. The three of them stick out far too much for her comfort. "Keep an eye on your wallet, Jake," she murmurs. "Bound to be pickpockets in a place like this."
"So, we're looking for 'Ropemakers Fields,' whatever that is. According to what we found, that's where Mr. Puneet Chaudhary is storing things for Gavigan before shipping them on the Ivory Wind." She looks around. "I guess we can ask a local? Maybe one of the sailors? Or just wander around for a bit, see if there are any signs anywhere?"
Asking the locals you find out the following:
Many trucks come and go all the time, loading and unloading onto ships in the docks.
A Ferris and Sons' truck has been through here in the last day or so. It stopped and unloaded some big crates at a warehouse in Ropemakers Fields
Mr Chaudhary has a goods warehouse on Ropemakers Fields. He imports and exports around the world.
Some unusual hours are kept by Mr Chaudhary and his workers. Sometimes you can hear them moving goods in the dead of night. Hos workers are lascars and very tough customers.
"It sounds like we need to be careful. Watch the place for a while to see if it's empty before breaking in." Sylvia looks down at her clothing and grimaces. "And maybe get clothes that don't stick out quite so much. Cheap laborers' outfits that are deliberately ripped and stained, that sort of thing. What do you all think?"
You can head to a nearby pawnshop and pick up a set of dirty old clothes that can are just about wearable.
Chaudhary's warehouse is dark and dingy, although there appear to be Lascars around at all times.
Colt tries to keep from coughing as they observe the warehouse.
Stealth (25% Skill)
And not only does he cough, he lapses into a coughing fit, and stumbles into a large trashcan.
Jake and Sylvia just manage to duck out of the way. As Colt stumbles into the trashcan some of the Lascars look menacingly in his direction, they take no actions at present but you can see that they are armed and watchful.
Colt quickly grabs a bottle off the top of the trash can, and pretends to drink it, stumbling around a bit, before finally collapsing with his back against the wall, and pretending that he finally succumbed to whatever he'd been drinking.
The Lascars watch Colt for a few moments and then dismiss him as a drunk and go back to patrolling the warehouse.
Hiding behind the trashcan Colt had bumped into, Sylvia watches warily as the Lascar's finally move on. "They already know you're here. Any chance you could distract them while Jake and I make our way inside? Moaning,'drunken' hallucinations, something like that. Just enough to make some noise and draw their attention."
With Colt making several drunken noises the Lascars' attention is distracted and Sylvia and Jake are able to sneak into the warehouse.
Jake listened at the door briefly before sliding in.
Jake you make some noise, but fortunately the Lascars are distracted by Cot's 'drunken' antics. You find various crates in the warehouse, some of which are open and contain opium, illicit firearms and a crate of explosives.
In one large corner of the warehouse you can see a large number of crates that have shipping orders to the Ivorty Wind, headed to Shanghai. You hear several of the Lascars speaking to presumably sailors from the Ivory Wind as they start to slowly pick up these crates and load them on a truck. It appears that they are taking the crates on board the Ivory Wind which is berthed in the Regent's Canal Dock nearby.
Jake you hear some of the workers in the warehouse mention to the drivers that Gavigan wants the goods loaded onto the ship tonight as he is worried about people sneaking around. He will be staying at the Misr House for the next day or so, making preparations for a ritual that will take place at the end of the month, and then he will be back at the Penhew Foundation or his Mayfair flat until the end of the month.
Colt, although you are out of sight of the warehouse you do manage to work through the streets until you get to the Regent's Canal. Here you can see from a distance a ship called the Ivory Wind. It is an older merchantman (7000 tons) designed to haul general cargoes. The crew appears to be made up of Norwegian, African and Chinese hands. It has a Chinese registry and its home port is Shanghai
Colt finding his "Drunk Vagrant" act working so far, will try to find a place near the gangway of the ship, and pass out drunk, hoping to overhear any conversations, or notice any unique individuals.
Sylvia's eyes widen at the sight of all the illegal goods. "Do you think Inspector Barrington would be able to do anything about this? We can hardly fight the Lascars, but allowing these shipments to reach their destination seems unwise." Her shoulders slump. "Although he'd probably need more than our word to do anything."
She pauses for a second as a thought occurs to her. It's reckless, stupid, and entirely unlike her. Then again, she's definitely not the same Sylvia that had received Jackson's telegram just a couple months before. Maybe it's not so unlike her after all.
"If I get caught, run."
Waiting for a moment when the Lascars aren't looking, she tries to take a couple of the smaller illegal firearms and conceal them on her person.
It's not proof, but it might be enough for a warrant. Hopefully I don't get arrested myself...or worse!
Sylvia you manage to take a small gun from one of the open crates before the crate is moved by the Lascars. Fortunately you and Jake manage to drop back into the shadows. You hear the sailors say
[b}"That's the last load for tonight, I think Mr Gavigan said there'd be some more in a few days. Oh by the way there was some guy acting odd earlier, I think he was drunk but you can never be too careful, if he comes near, take him in for questioning. We'll keep an eye on him at the Ivory Wind in case he's with that group of investigators that have been snooping around."[/b]
With that they drive off, Jake and Sylvia you can sneak out if you want.
Meanwhile, Colt you manage to get behind a stack of crates on a pallet. Ducking down between them you suddenly find that a crane rope is attached and the pallet with the crates is taken into the hold of the ship. No one seems to have spotted you hiding between them, the crane rope is disconnected and the hold is closed. There is some dim illumination coming from some electric lights.
The hold is full of boxes and crates, labelled "Cairo Museum, Egypt, however you can see that this label covers another slightly older label which reads "Ho Fang Import/Export, Kaoyang Street, Shanghai, China."
Sylvia inclines her head towards the exit, not inclined to test their luck any further. Once they're outside, (and she's sure they're alone), she breathes a sigh of relief. "Don't think I'll ever get used to that. Don't know if I ever want to get used to that."
"Overall though I'd say it was a successful trip. We have a little evidence that might get this stuff seized, we know where Gavigan is, and we know that he knows we're snooping around." She pats her side near where the gun is hidden. "What do you say we find Colt and get out of here? Hopefully Inspector Barrington will believe us."
Heading out of the warehouse you look around for Colt although you can find no immediate sign of him.
Walking around the streets you eventually encounter some urchins who tell you that a man matching Colt's description sneaked aboard a ship called the Ivory Wind.
Oh boy! I've stepped into it now. Colt begins to frantically search for another way out of the hold.
Colt you manage to find a side door which leads up on deck, fortunately the deck itself appears to be deserted and you manage to sneak off. Heading into the back streets, you run into Jake and Sylvia.
"Whoa!" Sylvia grabs hold of Colt's shoulders before he can literally run into her. "Don't worry, it's us!"
Once in a bit more private of a location, she shares what they've learned. "I think this gun might be enough to get the police to search this place, at least if we can convince the good Inspector to believe us. Meanwhile Gavigan is apparently preparing for a ritual at the Misr Estate. What did you find out?"
Colt heaves as he tries to catch his breath. "I almost got caught on their ship. I was trying to listen, and the platform I was hiding on was picked up and lowered into the ship. Thankfully I was able to find a side door, and sneak my way off. Most of the crates had labels on them. Cairo Museum, Egypt, however you can see that this label covers another slightly older label which reads "Ho Fang Import/Export, Kaoyang Street, Shanghai, China
"This is big. Real big. I don't know where to turn next".
"The inspector." Despite everything they've seen, Sylvia still hopes that the proper officials can make it all go away. Or at least this particular problem, anyway. "There are far too many people here to try and do anything ourselves. We'd just get ourselves killed."
"Hopefully the gun plus our testimony will be enough to convince the good inspector of the need for a raid on this place. We need not do it all ourselves. Then, perhaps, we can see what Gavigan is up to away from London."
Hailing a taxi you quickly arrive at Scotland Yard, where you just manage to catch Barrington before he leaves for the evening.
[b]"Well, well this is certainly an interesting development. This may tie in to the Egyptian murders. I will raise a small group of officers and proceed to this warehouse and to the ship and we'll see what we can find. As a reward I will let you view any items we recover as they may be germane to your ow enquiries."
Without further ado Barrington summons up a squad of around 20 policemen who head out in a squad of police cars back to Limehouse.
As you are leaving Scotland Yard you see an old, deformed woman sitting at the visitor's desk, she appears to be staring at you closely but when you look again she appears to have disappeared.
The following morning there are 2 letters and a telegram for you at your hotel.
The first letter is from your newspaper contact in New York. It reveals that one of the Carlyle Expedition, Hypatia Masters had previously become pregnant out of marriage and had a secret abortion but that the experience caused her to have a nervous breakdown until she met Carlyle and took up photography and subsequently joined him on the expedition.
The second letter is from Sylvia's historian friend who was examining the Pnakotic Manuscripts. The writing starts out rationally but grows increasingly more disordered and wild in nature. At the end it reveals two what she calls 'spells' - Contact Winged One and Contact Mind of the Observer with detailed notes on how to cast these spells (see spell section in the rulebook). There is a note added to the letter from her research assistant advising that her behaviour became increasingly wild and dangerous to herself and others, she kept muttering something that sounded like "Nyar". She has been declared legally insane and has been committed to a local asylum.
Finally there is a brief telegram from Inspector Barrington revealing that he raised the warehouse and the Ivory Wind which have both been impounded. They have recovered the cargo but unfortunately Chaudry got away.
Jake wants to spend the next day relaxing and going over the clues uncovered so far in England.
"Well it's either off to Cairo, or off to Hong Kong. Any preferences"?
Jake spent most of the next day poring over the notes and clues about what they had investigated.
"Mmm, Cairo'd be my pick." He said. "That's following in the Carlisle Expeditions footsteps. And something big happened there I think." Jake replied absently.
Lighting another cigarette, he rubbed his eyes tiredly as smoke drifted from his lips in a gentle waterfall.
Looking over the notes from their Penhew Foundation adventure, he paused at another note.
"Say fellows, what is this about a photograph you found? A house labeled "Misr House". That's Gavigan's country house; right?" He asked aloud to his companions who actually saw it. "If his town home was a bust, what about his country home? All isolated and private?"
Barrington leads you into the evidence room as promised where you find the following:
Oddly crafted valves, struts, strange electrical boards covered in wires and monstrous and baffling radio tubes.
A two foot tall statuette of a bat winged creature carved in sandstone. The figure is leaping forward, its wings unfurling behind it. Instead of a face, it has a single bulbous eye, within which are three bulbous lobes.
A large statue if an Egyptian pharoah seven feet tall carved from a single piece of obsidian. The pharaoh's face is obscured by a mass of squirming worms all intricately sculpted
A small statuette of a horned Devil-like figure 6 inches tall carved in rosewood dressed in the garb of a highwayman. The face is an unsettling cross of man and god.
A 12 inch long knife with an extravagant wavy blade which appears to have corroded and dulled with age. Inscribed along the length of the blade are strange symbols.
An exotic conch shell approx 18 inches long.
Skin from two human feet. The skin appears to have been cured and is durable and pliable. Both feet are impaled onto a brass ring.