The Language at the Threshold

[Grognardsw]

Eddie's evening of reunion with his parents was nearing its end. He had been able to dodge most questions about why he showed up all of a sudden, without warning, in Providence. He had told a not-quite-a-lie about a news story he was researching, but he remained vague about the details. In his own mind, he could not say for sure if it was from force of habit - never leak details about a possible scoop - or if it was to protect his old Mom and Pop from... whatever it was he was writing about.

Finally agreeing to at least spend the night in his old room and share a breakfast with them, Eddie resolved to head over to the offices of the Providence Journal first thing in the morning. He needed to put in a call to his editor and convince him to let Eddie stay at least another day in Providence before returning to Arkham. He also needed to check if the bookdealer or someone from Brown's archaeology department had tried to reach him. But that was for next morning. First, he hoped to get a good night's sleep.

August 12, 1925, 8:30 am
Providence, Rhode Island


The next morning Eddie makes a few calls. His editor at the Arkham Gazette listens to the reporter's suspicions.

"This sound big. Let's scoop the Boston Globe! Stay another day."

Eddie also has two messages. One from Isaiah Bartlett, offering to have lunch today at the Biltmore Hotel

with him and book dealer Reginald Wilkins in follow up to their conversations yesterday.

The other message is from the secretary at the archeology department at Brown. The copy boy reads it over the phone: "I'm sorry Mr. Sharpe, the professors and teaching assistants are not familiar with you. They did mention that Dr. Raymond Randolph, very recently... retired from Brown, held a new interest in exotic books. He can be reached at P.O. Box 236, College Hill branch, Providence."

The reporter checks his notes of leads: Reginald and Isaiah's information, Baines and the BOI, the same murders in Arkham and elsewhere, Hepcats of Ulthar, Club Zothique, hunter Marius Albertoni, Dark Pharoah Freak Show.

He imagines an expose on a murderous cult with drug connections on the East Coast. Maybe a Pulitzer and job at a big daily. But the journalist considers the more important aspect: helping prevent more deaths.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

The following morning Isaiah Bartlett returns to Reginald's shop. He probably finds the book dealer surrounded by reference books and dictionaries, busy deciphering a hideous manuscript.

"Good morning," he greets him. "Any luck? Or do we have to turn to your university colleagues? To be honest, I'm not keen about drawing other people into our investigation. Agent Baines might be right about the importance of keeping a low profile. That is, unless you trust your friends in Academy to regard these... translations as a purely scientific endeavor."

Old Isaiah looks definitely better now than last night. He managed to get some sleep and a good New England breakfast.

"Say, Mister Wilkins, how about I meet up with the journalist, what was his name, Eddie Sharpe. And you try to track down that Mister Randolph. Or should we rather stick together, just... just in case?"

Nice job on the Linguistics roll!

[Grognardsw]

August 12, 1925, 8:00 am
Charters Book Shop
Providence, Rhode Island
Reginald Wilkins, book dealer, and Isaiah Bartlett, old man


The next morning Reginald greets Isaiah at the book shop. Though Reginald knows some Greek, it is a bit rusty. Something this important needs complete clarity. He calls upon Belknap Long, an old professor friend at Brown University who specializes in Greek. Reginald, Long and a graduate student delve into the Pnakotic Manuscripts text.

"There are bibliographic notes in the beginning," says Professor Long. He smiles and gives a little chuckle. "The Pnakotic Manuscripts claim to predate the origin of man. The original manuscripts were in scroll form and were passed down through the ages. A "Great Race of Yith" is referenced - perhaps a tribe or cabal with delusions of racial superiority? It is claimed they produced the first five chapters of the Manuscripts, which, among other things, contain a detailed chronicle of their history."

"Interesting, I have not heard of such things before," admits the professor. "Perhaps related to Atlantis?" He continues: "The Pnakotic Manuscripts were originally held by the people of Lomar, who studied them diligently. Later, they were passed to Hyperborea and translated into the language of that land. Here the manuscripts were added to by the Voormi. The Manuscripts survived into historical times and been translated into Greek in this version known as the Pnakotica."

There are several fanciful illustrations and line drawings.

"Well, we'll need several days to dig into this. I must admit, it seems more a tale of fiction. And these pictures, quite shocking. I've not heard of these peoples."

As he reads, Reginald has a growing feeling of... unsettled discomfort. He has dipped into rare volumes of the occult before, for many tomes pass through the book dealer's hands. His curiosity gets the better of him sometimes.He wonders if the tales and "spells" are the ravings of madmen or have some inkling of truth. Since his college days he's dabbled in such things, but the realities of making a living and following a "proper" career path dissuaded Reginald from fully pursuing this unhealthy interest. Would he end up like Isaiah? But Carver, these murders, a possible cult... Reginald shivers, wondering if the blasphemous rumors and rites in these books are utterly true.

Isaiah arranges a lunch for he and Reginald with Eddie Sharp, the reporter. Perhaps the aid of someone with the power of the press could be turned to their advantage. People who buy ink by the barrel can have quite a reach in the public discourse.

The above is from initial skimming of the book this morning. It will take a week of concentrated study to read and absorb the book and understand its dark secrets.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

Isaiah arranges a lunch for he and Reginald with Eddie Sharp, the reporter. Perhaps the aid of someone with the power of the press could be turned to their advantage. People who buy ink by the barrel can have quite a reach in the public discourse.

It is likely that Isaiah has to go and meet Eddie alone, because Reginald might be tied down with his Pnakotic studies. Or maybe he will join Isaiah and Eddie later?

Isaiah arrives to the Biltmore Hotel on time. He doesn't really like such places, but it seems good as a neutral ground, where they can meet and discuss the awful matters undisturbed. He takes place at a table in the lobby, opens his small Bible. But he is merely staring at the pages - his mind is occupied by other thoughts.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
"Fascinating...." says Reginald, staring at the unsettling drawings in the manuscript. He is excited, nervous, and afraid at the same time.

When Isaiah comes in, Reginald says, "I'm afraid I can't join you and the reporter for lunch today. I'll need to devote some time to this tome ... er... book." He pauses, thinking. "At least several days. Possibly a week. I'm sorry, but learning this information is vital to our cause, and unfortunately it is not easy to get through...." Reginald is lost in thought for a moment. He shakes his head briefly, and looks again at Isaiah. "Please convey my regrets to Mr. Sharpe."

OOC: does Reginald need to spend the week with his professor friend, or does he now have a translation to work from?

[Anders Molin]

Eddie Sharpe, reporter

Eddie glanced at the clock in the lobby of the Biltmore as he strode hastily through the front doors. He was running a few minutes late, the reporter noticed. Luckily, the old man from yesterday's encounter at Robert Angell's apartment was still there, thumbing an old book. Old books, seems to be a running theme in this story, Eddie noted, storing the observation away mentally for future use.

"Mr. Bartlett, how good of you to meet me here. I take it you have seen the note I left for Mr. Wilkins and yourself?"

[Grognardsw]

OOC: does Reginald need to spend the week with his professor friend, or does he now have a translation to work from?

You can read it alone after a few days. It doesn't need to be literally all day, you can take breaks to do stuff.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

"Mr. Wilkins might join us later, he has some errands to run. Yes, I have seen your message," acknowledges Isaiah. "We haven't told anything to agent Baines about it, as you requested... But you also have to understand, that the agent is right about one thing: it's crucial that no information gets out to the public."

He closes the small book and places it in his pocket.

"You mentioned in your note some information about the Arkham case."

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald will spend as much time with Professor Long as he reasonably can, going over the Pnakotic Manuscripts. When it is convenient to do so, Reginald will take a break to contact Mr. Randolph. If there is a phone at Brown, he will use that, otherwise he will use a payphone.

"Mr. Randolph, hello. This is Reginald Wilkins. We met the other day at Charters bookshop. You had enquired about certain esoteric works. As it happens, I may have a book or two that you might be interested in. I'm afraid I'll be swamped the next few days, doing, err, some research, but I can spare an hour if you're still interested."

I'm assuming Reginald does in fact have a collection of esoterica at the shop.

[Grognardsw]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
"Mr. Randolph, hello. This is Reginald Wilkins. We met the other day at Charters bookshop. You had enquired about certain esoteric works. As it happens, I may have a book or two that you might be interested in. I'm afraid I'll be swamped the next few days, doing, err, some research, but I can spare an hour if you're still interested."

Mr. Randolph answers the phone. His voice is unsteady, ancient. "Yes, I would be interested. This afternoon?" He coughs violently then recovers. "About 4:00?"

[Grognardsw]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

"Mr. Wilkins might join us later, he has some errands to run. Yes, I have seen your message," acknowledges Isaiah. "We haven't told anything to agent Baines about it, as you requested... But you also have to understand, that the agent is right about one thing: it's crucial that no information gets out to the public."

He closes the small book and places it in his pocket.

As Isaiah closes the small book, he notices the phone message note he received this morning. The Arkham police left a message, wanting to find out how his investigations are going in his capacity as "consultant." The old man makes a mental note to give them an update, as well as inquire if there are any new developments in the Arkham murders case.

[thesniperknight1]

Gwen Baines - BOI

Baines wakes up after a long earned sleep, he says goodbye to Ezy and promise him to meet him back on the office in a couple of hours.

Baines heads to the office, takes a cup of coffee and puts his feet on the disk. He takes out Carver's ntes which seem to be all the rave these days and examines them once more, just to be sure that he didn't miss anything.

[Anders Molin]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

"Mr. Wilkins might join us later, he has some errands to run. Yes, I have seen your message," acknowledges Isaiah. "We haven't told anything to agent Baines about it, as you requested... But you also have to understand, that the agent is right about one thing: it's crucial that no information gets out to the public."

He closes the small book and places it in his pocket.

"You mentioned in your note some information about the Arkham case."

Eddie Sharpe, reporter
"Indeed I do, Mr. Bartlett," Eddie said, "but let me get back to that." The reporter sunk deeper into his chair. "First of all, I want to say that keeping things from getting out to the public isn't normally my top priority," he added with a wry smile, "but in this particular case I'm starting to see your point." Demonstratively, he put his notebook away in a suit pocket and leaned in.

"A couple of days ago, a hunter made a macabre finding while walking in a forest outside Arkham. He found a female body, with her head and hands cut off, and no sign that she had been on that spot. After calling the police, they managed to follow tracks leading to an archaeological dig site - an old mill built on top of an old Indian trading post - in which they found two heads and four hands. The thing is, they haven't identified either of the victims, or found the second body for that matter." The reporter made a brief pause, looked around, and continued, "Since I came to Providence, I have been in touch with this hunter who claims he heard strange noises outside his house - a high-pitched cry like from an animal, but none he could recognize. In the morning, he noticed a goat was missing, but no tracks to be seen anywhere. That last bit seemed to really spook him."

"One of the few hard leads to be found along with the body was a ticket stub from the Dark Pharaoh Freak Show, a travelling band of carnies with all sorts of weird stuff on display. The hunter went to their show in Innsmouth, as did I. We found nothing solid, but a fortune teller acted kinda strange when the hunter pressed her on where she had gotten hold of a Miscatonic University ring - the very university who had conducted the digs at the old mill." Eddie pulled himself up and added, "When I last checked in with the hunter, there were people snooping around his house - a midget was rifling through his mailbox. I can't know for sure, but I have a strong feeling it's one of the carnies." With that, Eddie rested his arms on the table and added, "So that is what I meant by an on-going situation up in Arkham. I'm afraid the hunter has drawn unwanted attention, and I am very curious indeed as to what the Freak Show's role in this really is. I feel I have stepped into a puddle only to find it deep as the ocean. I do not know what to make of the information I find, and at this point I'm not even sure I'm chasing a scoop any more - I just want to find the truth behind all the smoke and mirrors."

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
"Mr. Randolph, hello. This is Reginald Wilkins. We met the other day at Charters bookshop. You had enquired about certain esoteric works. As it happens, I may have a book or two that you might be interested in. I'm afraid I'll be swamped the next few days, doing, err, some research, but I can spare an hour if you're still interested."

Mr. Randolph answers the phone. His voice is unsteady, ancient. "Yes, I would be interested. This afternoon?" He coughs violently then recovers. "About 4:00?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."
Reginald will continue working on the Pnakotic Manuscripts at Brown for as long as he and Professor Long reasonably can do so. He'll leave with enough time to grab a quick bite to eat and meet Randolph at his shop by 4.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

Isaiah sits there, his eyes widening with every new piece of information. When Eddie finishes, Isaiah clutches his hands in a prayer and tries to get to terms with the things he's just learned.

"Mister Sharpe, first of all, I have to be honest with you. At first, I thought you were just a hack, out hunting for some saucy story. But you have proven to be not only a real professional investigator, but also showed a more... humanly approach by not writing about it straight away. Thank you, and please, forgive me my ill presumptions."

"The conspiracy widens... All kinds of people are involved, from low-life street urchins -even a Freak Show!- to well-off young people. I admit, that I'm overwhelmed by it all as well. I have an assumption on the nature of the force behind the scenes. I'd rather not talk about it right now," he says, wiping his forehead.

"Because you would think me crazy," he thinks bitterly.

"In the days of my youth, there was a similar incident in my hometown - Ipswich. It went unnoticed by the officials, mostly because..." he pauses and glances around. "Because most of the officials were part of the conspiracy. I'm not sure about the current cases. The police are investigating, the BOI too. Agent Baines (I hope he didn't ruin your photographic apparatus completely!) might have harsh manners, but he's genuine about getting to the truth.
He obviously doesn't trust you - but he didn't trust me either in the very beginning. Comes with his line of work. I will try to slowly soften him up, because I honestly think that the investigation would really profit from us working together."

"What do you plan to do next? Mr. Wilkins is currently looking into some weird, questionable books we found at, uhm, at the apartment of one of the suspects of these crimes," he pauses for a second, then continues, thinking that he might as well open up a bit too. "Agent Baines didn't lie when he talked about connections to drug rings and the criminal underground. Does the name Carcosa ring a bell to you?"

[Grognardsw]

As Isaiah Bartlett and Eddie Sharp talk over lunch, the reporter can't help noticing at the next table someone is holding up and open today's Providence Journal. Screaming across the top of the big broadsheet is the startling headline:

"Federal Agent Beheaded at Langham Hotel!"

Eddie almost chokes on his soup.





Reginald Wilkins, book dealer, does further contextual research and perusal that afternoon, aided by Professor Long and graduate student Mr. H. West. The core text of the Pnakotic Manuscripts, Pnakotos, was written in 4th century AD (Hellenistic or Koine) Greek by (alledgely) Hypatia herself, who recalled extremely accurately the libraries in which she studied while a resident of Pnakotos. It is hinted that she was under the influence of the oracle-mists of Selene the moon goddess. It has been supplemented and revised by 'Great Race' scholars and their 'victims,' and also by comparison with apocryphal texts said to have descended from the Great Race in historical time. It also includes many of the texts Hypatia saved from the Pnakotos 'disaster' (not identified) as appendices. These are mostly texts of Greek and Egyptian mystical philosophy and Alchemy. There are fantasistic claims of spells and rituals connected with Time, the Great Race, and Greco-Egyptian neo-platonic and alchemical mysticism. Reginald is curious if such spells would work. Mr. West jokes that they should try them.

The study continues.

Reginald notes thematic reference between the Pnakotic Manuscripts and another Carcosa book, the Testament of Selene. As noted before, several archeology books show a pattern of interest in ancient worship sites of moon gods and goddesses. Astrology books reflect an interest in Pluto and speculations of distant stars beyond. 

You may want to collect all book related research into one post in the Investigators Noteboke, and update as new revelations arise.

[Anders Molin]

"Carcosa? That name actually does ring a bell, but wha - yes! A friend of mine mentioned that name - isn't he the manager of a jazz band, the Hepcats of Ulthar?"

Looking up and noticing the Providence Journal headline, Eddie almost chokes on his soup. "Ack! Ergh! Look, Mr Bartlett!", he manages, pointing towards the newspaper.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

"Yes, that very man - turns out he is also connected to this hideous business and WHAT!?" Eddie Sharpe's sudden outbreak startles Isaiah. He looks around, grabbing a fork, awaiting at least a thousand mad cultists come bursting through the front door, he can almost feel the stench of stale fish and salty water fill the lobby...
Then he finally sees the newspaper. At first his old eyes don't focus on the headline and he thinks the young journalist just feels personally hurt when he sees someone reading the competition's daily rag. But then he notices the headline - and for a second he wishes for a thousand fish-eyed cultists instead.

He stands up, legs almost shaking, and walks over to the gentleman:
"I'm so-so-sorry, can I take a look at that article? Or c-c-can you tell me where can I get a newspaper nearby?"

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer

Reginald Wilkins, book dealer, does further contextual research and perusal that afternoon, aided by Professor Long and graduate student Mr. H. West. ... There are fantasistic claims of spells and rituals connected with Time, the Great Race, and Greco-Egyptian neo-platonic and alchemical mysticism. Reginald is curious if such spells would work. Mr. West jokes that they should try them.

Reginald laughs nervously at West's joke, although secretly Reginald does wish to learn more about the spells in the book. He continues his studies with Professor Long and Mr. West, until the time comes to meet Randolph.

[Grognardsw]

Gwen Baines - BOI

Baines wakes up after a long earned sleep, he says goodbye to Ezy and promise him to meet him back on the office in a couple of hours.

Baines heads to the office, takes a cup of coffee and puts his feet on the disk. He takes out Carver's ntes which seem to be all the rave these days and examines them once more, just to be sure that he didn't miss anything.

It is about 9:00 am when BOI Agent Gwen Baines sits down in the office with his coffee and reviews Carver's notes. The notebooks are right next to the pile of letters taken from Carcosa's apartment.

Baines looks at the gibberish writing in Carver's notebooks. He strongly suspects it is the same language he heard those in the Hepcats of Ulthar show at Club Zothique. The drawings, including the severed heads... are these stories of Carver's murders? Instructions on how to carry it out? Lyrics to a Hepcats song? The new drug is behind this. Must shut down the operation, coordinate efforts in other states of suspected users or dealers. And - the phone rings.

It's the Providence police. They have found Ezy Smith murdered in his hotel room, head and hands missing. They want to talk to Baines right away.