Book Two - The Psychogeography of Terror

[SocraticLawyer]

Is Reginald able to consult the PM for possible translations of Timothy's gibberish notes? Or the chalkboard from the basement/graveyard? Or Carcosa's notes?

EDIT: If so, Reg will attempt to do so: Consult PM Tome? (50) [1d100] = 15

[Grognardsw]

Before leaving the BOI office, the investigators are given the opportunity to interrogate Darrin McCoy. He has his lawyer Saul Rabinowitz with him. (Feel free to ask questions at this point.)





Later at the bookstore, the investigators discuss the case, comparing notes and doing the best they can at further Xacqoui translations of Timothy Carver's notebooks and the writing from the chalkboard in the basement of Club Zothique. The process is painstaking and will take some days to accomplish through linguistic study of the Pnakotic Manuscripts.

That day they do decipher the chalkboard scrawl, which reads: "Ph'ch' 'ai oltmyoi Ugthaa Tegoth." (Reflected in your success roll.) This means roughly: "He comes to reality, unknowing chattel." That last word is troubling, its multiple meanings each appropriate?

Early that afternoon the shop gets a call from Eddie Sharpe, reporter friend from the Arkham Gazette. "Reg - I went to the Dark Pharaoh Freak Show with Marius and we confronted the Dark Pharaoh himself!" he says excitedly. "He used mesmerism or something on us. Almost got killed by a cobra! From what I remember, I think he implied they were involved in the cult. How did the raid go? We need to compare notes. I'll come by tomorrow."

The investigators, knowing there was a letter from the manager of the Freak Show to Carcosa, nonetheless have a sinking feeling at the further confirmation of this from Eddie. Harold prepares his chemistry concoction for New York.

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

I have at least one question for McCoy. Anyone else have questions?

Harold asks McCoy to tell them what happened in that room with the two bodies.

-----------------

At the shop, Harold mixes two compounds together. The first is a very slick substance that should make it impossible for a normal human being to keep footing when walking across it. The second is cyanoacrylate, a sticky fast-acting substance that is designed to hold one thing to another. "Funny thing about this mess, Reg. I have an old chemistry book that keeps falling apart. Standard book glue just wasn't doing the trick. I tried to make a better book glue and got this instead. Might be something to patent one day."

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

Dreams don't disturb Isaiah - he knows that awakening will bring forth the much harsher and cruel reality. Nevertheless, the vile, dark nightmares do cause a lack of healthy sleep. He still manages to get up on time, washes his face, then heads over to the HQ. There are many new developments: a new agent (a certain Mulder; interesting, what can be his given name?), a trip to New York to chase the ever-growing cult...


Isaiah has a question to Darrin McCoy as well: does the gangster understand the language?

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald is fairly certain that the gangster won't be of much use, particularly with his lawyer there. Still, he will ask anyway, futile though it may be. "Where is Carcosa?"

Reginald is very disturbed by the chalkboard translation. As he ponders its meaning, he answers Eddie's call. "The Dark Pharoah? My goodness..." Reginald pauses briefly, remembering the Xaqloui translation, the reference to collecting heads. "Yes, we must compare notes. Get here as soon as you can. We are pursuing another lead in New York with the BOI. You and Marius must come with us!"

If Reginald has any additional free time, he will spend it in further study of the Pnakotic Manuscripts and Timothy's xaqloui notes.

[MonkeyWrench]

Harold MatthersHarold asks McCoy to tell them what happened in that room with the two bodies.

Darrin speaks in a calm tone, looking forward at all times, I went into the room to find Carcosa, instead I find two of my mates cut up and fake writing all over the place.

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man
Isaiah has a question to Darrin McCoy as well: does the gangster understand the language?

Darrin's eyes widen a fraction before he quickly resumes his normal look, speaking calmly, "Which language? I know Enlgish and the language of Ireland, Gaelic."

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald is fairly certain that the gangster won't be of much use, particularly with his lawyer there. Still, he will ask anyway, futile though it may be. "Where is Carcosa?"

Darrin looks Reginald directly in the eyes, his expression somber and almost accusatory, "That's a dumb question, you already know. Or at least knew."

Darrin then looks to the assembled agents, ignoring the people questioning him for the moment, "What charges am I being arrested for."

[Grognardsw]

Agent Mulder steps forward toward Darrin. He takes a long drawn on a cigarette.

"All right McCoy, you better come clean. We have you on endangerment of the public, firing a weapon in public, assault and attempted murder of Ambrose Carcosa. Violation of the Volstead Act in your supplying Club Zothique with liquor and possibly drugs. Resisting arrest. And you are a person of strong interest in the murder of those men in the trunk."

Darrin's lawyer Saul Rabinowitz shifts in his chair as if he's about to speak...

Mulder continues: "Now maybe you cooperate with us, and things will go better for you. How do you know Carcosa? Why were you meeting him? What role does Danny Walsh's gang play in Club Zothique's operations? What do you know of a suspected murder cult?"

Mulder leans in close to Darrin. "I think you're a murderer Darrin."

[ybn1197]

Saul Rabinowitz, Lawyer without scruples

"I'm sure you believe my client is murderer, just as I am sure you feel everyone in that seat is a criminal of some sort. However we both know that without a body you can not charge my client with murder. We also both know that you don't have any evidence worth hanging your hat on death of those other men. And your other charges are thinner than a page from the Times. Now you need to either charge my client with something substantial which I doubt you have or you need to let him go."

[MonkeyWrench]

Darrin sits quietly, letting his awesome and cool lawyer do the talking.

ybn1197!! Who knew you'd be my lawyer! I'm in safe hands now.

[Grognardsw]

I'll wait responding for Mulder to see if Kai is ready.

[Grognardsw]

Reginald, Isaiah and Dr. Matther spend time at the Charter Book Shop translating the Xaqloui writings in the Carcosa letters. The different investigative leads are discussed and the Shunned House is agreed upon as the next locale. They discuss precautions and guns to take for the trip to Brooklyn.

The men are pleasantly surprised when into the book shop walks Eddie Sharpe, Arkham Gazette reporter, and an older unfamiliar gentleman who is introduced as Marius Albertoni.

Starbeard/Marius is now joining this thread.

[Starbeard]

Marius, an athletic man with tanned skin and worn clothes, shakes hands with the three men in the Charter Book Shop. "Marius Albertoni. I live over in Arkham, and stumbled on one of the killings last month. Young lady, from Miskatonic."

He clearly looks and feels out of place in the bookshop, and stands awkwardly to one side, unsure of how properly to conduct himself in the company of men who are clearly more educated. However, as they begin going over precautionary plans he perks up and enters the conversation. "I have a few pieces I've brought with me, I can use 'em pretty well too."

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

Isaiah is clearly intrigued by the appearance of Marius Albertoni and his story. Of course, his inherent chauvinism kicks in when hearing the Italian name, but Italian is not an important concert right now, when dealing with, well, a much more infernal language...

"Please, Mr. Albertoni, tell us about that hideous murder in Arkham! And how did you meet Mr. Sharpe?"

[Starbeard]

Marius Albertoni, hunter

Marius shrugs, playing it cool. "I was out hunting—it's what I do, y'see—and just came across the body. No heads, no hands. Gruesome. We tracked down the remains of some old mill nearby, and some evidence there led us to The Dark Pharaoh's freak show circus. They travel around, I guess. Anyway, Eddie and me got together from looking into that murder and its connection to the freak show. Looks like we've got something there, too, because those fellas sure don't look kindly to us poking our noses around. Eddie almost bought the farm when we tried cornering the Dark Pharaoh in his caboose."

Marius pats his coat down and fishes out a flimsy pocketbook, flipping it open. "Here, I been taking notes on everything, since the police in Arkham couldn't seem to make heads or tails of the murder."

He explains about the carnies harassing him at his house and the blood-chilling noise the night before his goat went missing, the murdered girl's wealthy background and the P.I. Gordon Pym who's on the case for her murder, and their confrontations with The Dark Pharaoh's carnival. Just then he snaps his fingers and remembers, "Hey, you gotta telephone around here? I have to get in touch with Pym and see if he's alright."

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Harold looks over Marius' notes. "You are a very diligent note-taker. It's good to have another set of eyes on the case." He smiles. "Our agent-handler might be underwhelmed by another consultant on the force."

"I've just moved to Arkham, Marius. Perhaps after this is all over, you can show me around the city."

He starts comparing the notes to what they have on their cases.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald greets Marius and Eddie. He listens to their story, and updates them on the Providence investigation thus far.

If Agent Mulder is around, Reg will ask Mulder if the BOI will issue him a handgun for the Shunned House trip.

With whatever time is left, Reg will continue to study the spells in the Pnakotic Manuscripts.

[Starbeard]

Marius Albertoni, hunter

At the mention of spells, Marius recalls the Dark Pharaoh and becomes distinctly uncomfortable. "I dunno if I like the sound of any of this, Eddie… I'm going to go call Pym and let you all get to work."

Marius finds the telephone. "Hello, operator. Distance call, please," he says into the receiver, and relays Pym's number in Arkham.

[Grognardsw]

The investigators share information with Marius and Eddie, who are excited to join the group in their travel to Brooklyn and the Shunned House. To Reginald, Isaiah and Dr. Matthers, there is something vaguely familiar about the Egyptian-themed Dark Pharoah that Marius described. Is it something they remember, or read?

"Now why do you think they call it that?" wonders Eddie aloud about the Shunned House, his reporter curiosity aroused.

Marius calls Private Detective Gordon Pym, who was hired by the family of the murdered Arkham girl. She was a senior at Miskatonic University, an archeology major, and her family wealthy Brahmin from Manchester-on-the-Sea.

"This is Pym. Marius? Yes, from the freak show! What happened there after we split up? I poked around some. Went inside the headless woman attraction, because that seems too much of a coincidence with the murders. I pushed things a bit inside there to find out how they pulled off that trick. They do it with mirrors, pretty clever. I have a calls into the Boston and Providence police, and the BOI, to get the big picture on the case and how Dana Shirefield's murder may fit in. What are you doing next?"

Reginald studies spells from the Pnakotic Manuscripts. Then he calls BOI Agent Mulder to inquire about hand guns for the investigators. "Yes, we can supply you with pistols," he answers. The agent says the group will meet at the BOI office tomorrow at 9:00 am for a briefing, then together take the 10:00 am train to Manhattan. They will use the BOI office there as a temporary base, doing any necessary research and action related to Konstantin Chertovski, his residence (aka the Shunned House), the Church of Starry Wisdom, and relations to other aspects of this case.

That afternoon Dr. Matthers puts the finishing touches on his chemical concoctions.

- Kai hasn't surfaced yet to play Agent Mulder, so I'll NPC him until then.
- Frank, what do those chemical things do so I can put stats to them.

[Grognardsw]

The next morning, Reginald and Harold comb the Pnakotic Manuscripts, Carver's notebooks and The Testament of Selene in an effort to translate the Xaqloui cult language used in the letters. They determine:

- Letters from a Ubaid Hazrabad, from Egypt, discussing various archeology sites in Turkey. Xaqloui: "We are distributing the artifacts for the ceremonies. Mt. Latmos is the key. oh master!"

- Letters to/from Algier Joassaint, manager, The Dark Pharaoh Freak Show & Carnivale, regarding tour schedule and "unspecified favors." Xaqloui: "We will continue to gather heads."

Marius is disturbed to hear about the letter from the freak show manager.

"Can't we use that as proof?" asks Eddie.

Dr. Matthers, please make a Know. roll. Thanks.

[Starbeard]

Marius Albertoni, hunter

Harold Matthers

Harold looks over Marius' notes. "You are a very diligent note-taker. It's good to have another set of eyes on the case." He smiles. "Our agent-handler might be underwhelmed by another consultant on the force."

"I've just moved to Arkham, Marius. Perhaps after this is all over, you can show me around the city."

He starts comparing the notes to what they have on their cases.

"Thanks, Dr. Matthers. All of it seems so strange, but I figured there was more going on here that I could figure. As a huntsman you learn to keep your eye on every detail, as you never know which detail it is that puts you on the trail. Arkham's a nice place, if you stay away from the riff-raff. My wife makes a proper New England fish stew, I'll have her cook up a pot sometime."

Marius waits for his telephone call to go through.

Marius calls Private Detective Gordon Pym, who was hired by the family of the murdered Arkham girl. She was a senior at Miskatonic University, an archeology major, and her family wealthy Brahmin from Manchester-on-the-Sea.

"This is Pym. Marius? Yes, from the freak show! What happened there after we split up? I poked around some. Went inside the headless woman attraction, because that seems too much of a coincidence with the murders. I pushed things a bit inside there to find out how they pulled off that trick. They do it with mirrors, pretty clever. I have a calls into the Boston and Providence police, and the BOI, to get the big picture on the case and how Dana Shirefield's murder may fit in. What are you doing next?"

Marius speaks with excitement into the telephone. "Oh, glad to hear you're alright, Pym. We cornered the fortune teller in her tent, since I had a run-in with her before and she seemed like she knew something. She didn't have the Miskatonic ring around her neck this time, I think. Anyway, we leaned on her heavy and she pointed us to the carney leader's wagon. This Dark Pharaoh guy means business. He pulled some mumbo-jumbo and hypnotized us, then escaped after letting a cobra loose. It bit Sharpe, and the carneys chased us all the way into town trying to keep us from getting to the hospital. Talk about desperation! That's why we booked out without finding you first. Here, hold the line one second—"

He holds his hand over the phone and cranes he head to get the attention of Reginald Wilkins and Harold Matthers. "I got that private eye, Gordon Pym on the line. Says he's got calls in to the BOI and city police in Boston and Providence to connect his case on the Miskatonic girl—wants to know what I'm up to next. What should I tell him? He seems pretty straight on."