Post by TheUdjat on Dec 28, 2007 11:36:25 GMT -5
[TTC – You’re right, I forgot your Dodge. Speaking of Dodges and Blocks, the current ill-defined system sort of bothers me, so I’m working on some alterations to it. Look for a post in the Handouts section with possible new rules (I’d like input from rules-savvy people like you). Anyway, consider it dodged.]
Tommy-
Tommy hurries down in the darkness, forced to take his time on the rickety fire escape – but the car is going nowhere. When he makes it to the bottom, where the dead killer lies, he sees that there is indeed no driver in the car – presumably the man that committed suicide was planning to drive it.
Tommy searches through the papers lying scattered around the alley, hoping to find whatever it was the killers were looking for. Unfortunately, most of the papers are either meaningless, useless, or damaged beyond repair. Between the blood pooling on the ground, the windy night, and leftover puddles on the ground from recent rains, much of the text is simply too damaged to make out, especially by flashlight (it is night, after all). Others are merely receipts, common friendly letters, notices, or other irrelevant documents, undoubtedly grabbed in haste. But in the dead man’s grip Tommy finally spies two papers of interest, clues obviously connected to Elias and his recent research.
They are letters. The first is an old letter, dated back in 1919 and addressed to Mr. Carlyle. How Jackson got hold of it is anybody’s guess, but it is obviously one of his leads. The second letter is far more recent, intended specifically for Mr. Elias – it refers to a book he was searching for, and the traditional Harvard stamp in the corner shows that he must have been seeking research from the university. Unfortunately, the letter doesn’t provide a specific title for this book. [See the latest Handouts post ‘Articles from Room 410’ for scanned copies of these letters.]
Joe soon joins Tommy down in the alley, and his keen photographer’s eyes catch a photograph half-hidden by the car’s tires. Moving closer, he can make out a grainy image of a harbor, with several Chinese-style ships – and behind them, an English yacht. Part of the yacht’s name is visible: the letters ‘DAR’
Tommy searches the rest of the killer’s possessions, but finds little of interest. There is the African bush knife he used as a weapon, and a couple dollars in change, but little else. There aren’t even keys to the car. A photograph in the man’s pocket shows a snapshot of Jackson Elias with pencil scrawls on the bottom reading ‘Chelsea Hotel, Room 410’. That is all.
Room 410-
Thurman hurriedly tends to Sam’s injuries, knowing time is of the essence, doing his best to recollect first aid techniques he’s heard in the past. [First aid a success, Sam recovers 2 hp.] Thurman proves a quick study, and succeeds in staunching the blood flowing from Sam’s shoulder, patching the injury up as well as can be expected, considering the circumstances. He looks to Jackhammer, but the big prizefighter soon reveals that he has suffered little more than a bad scrape.
Rebecca, meanwhile, reels from the shock of what has just occurred – killing two men, even if it was in self defense, and the horridly mangled body of her friend before her. While kneeling on the ground unnervingly close to the bed, Rebecca’s eye catches on something on the ground, strewn amidst the clutter. It is a wallet, obviously Jackson’s, with several articles scattered around the floor around it. Curiously, several bills were left by the killers, but so were two small business cards. One refers to the ‘Penhew Foundation’, and an ‘Edward Gavigan – Director’. The other card is for a company called Emerson Imports. On the back of this card, in Jackson’s hauntingly familiar handwriting, is the name ‘Silas N’Kwane’.
Were these leads in Elias’s precious research? [Again, these can be seen in the ‘Articles from Room 410’ thread.]
While Sam gets patched up by the desk, his eyes happen to stray over the desk’s surface. On it he spies Jackson’s familiar smoking pipe, and next to it a book of matches. He almost thinks nothing of it, until he notices a second book of matches beside that one. Thinking this odd, he looks at the two items a little closer, and soon realizes that one of the matchbooks is empty. Knowing that Elias wouldn’t bother to keep around such a pointless item unless he had a reason for it, Sam focuses on the matchbook’s cover. It’s from a bar, apparently – and not a local one. The bar, as near as he can tell, is located in Shanghai.
Jackson must’ve been there, and he must’ve wanted to preserve the address in some fashion. [As before, the matchbook can be seen in the Handouts section.]
Sitting heavily on the couch to inspect his possible injury, the big prizefighter also catches sight of something curious. Half-hidden beneath the soda, he spies what looks like Jackson’s daily planner lying on the ground, though with several pages ripped hastily out of it. Nestled in the back flap, however, is a little flyer – like the kind one might see handed out on the street, or pinned to student lounges at NYU. The flyer advertises a lecture to be held... at this very minute, in fact, over at NYU, by a ‘Professor Cowles’. The lecture apparently concerned a ‘Cult of Darkness’ in the Southwest Pacific. The paper looks like it was handled with care, which suggests that Elias wasn’t merely stuffing the page into his planner to get it out of the way. Was Elias planning a late arrival to this lecture, or possibly to take all of you there with him? [See the Handouts section.]
The last curious thing about the room is, of course, Jackson himself. Dead, intestines and organs ripped from his body, and with a strange marking on his forehead. Certainly, no chance scarring could have caused those marks – there must have been some significance to it. And knowing Jackson’s field of study, it isn’t hard to make a guess... [This symbol is also in the Handout.]
Before much longer, sirens can be heard in the distance, and Jeremy reappears at the room – he still looks hesitant and nervous, but is at least certain that there is no more fighting going on in the room.
The police will certainly be along soon after him, as the sirens quickly grow louder and closer.
A link to the handout thread: Go here[rand=4855859156592310343408262105524635909618262364663649962808820957]
Tommy-
Tommy hurries down in the darkness, forced to take his time on the rickety fire escape – but the car is going nowhere. When he makes it to the bottom, where the dead killer lies, he sees that there is indeed no driver in the car – presumably the man that committed suicide was planning to drive it.
Tommy searches through the papers lying scattered around the alley, hoping to find whatever it was the killers were looking for. Unfortunately, most of the papers are either meaningless, useless, or damaged beyond repair. Between the blood pooling on the ground, the windy night, and leftover puddles on the ground from recent rains, much of the text is simply too damaged to make out, especially by flashlight (it is night, after all). Others are merely receipts, common friendly letters, notices, or other irrelevant documents, undoubtedly grabbed in haste. But in the dead man’s grip Tommy finally spies two papers of interest, clues obviously connected to Elias and his recent research.
They are letters. The first is an old letter, dated back in 1919 and addressed to Mr. Carlyle. How Jackson got hold of it is anybody’s guess, but it is obviously one of his leads. The second letter is far more recent, intended specifically for Mr. Elias – it refers to a book he was searching for, and the traditional Harvard stamp in the corner shows that he must have been seeking research from the university. Unfortunately, the letter doesn’t provide a specific title for this book. [See the latest Handouts post ‘Articles from Room 410’ for scanned copies of these letters.]
Joe soon joins Tommy down in the alley, and his keen photographer’s eyes catch a photograph half-hidden by the car’s tires. Moving closer, he can make out a grainy image of a harbor, with several Chinese-style ships – and behind them, an English yacht. Part of the yacht’s name is visible: the letters ‘DAR’
Tommy searches the rest of the killer’s possessions, but finds little of interest. There is the African bush knife he used as a weapon, and a couple dollars in change, but little else. There aren’t even keys to the car. A photograph in the man’s pocket shows a snapshot of Jackson Elias with pencil scrawls on the bottom reading ‘Chelsea Hotel, Room 410’. That is all.
Room 410-
Thurman hurriedly tends to Sam’s injuries, knowing time is of the essence, doing his best to recollect first aid techniques he’s heard in the past. [First aid a success, Sam recovers 2 hp.] Thurman proves a quick study, and succeeds in staunching the blood flowing from Sam’s shoulder, patching the injury up as well as can be expected, considering the circumstances. He looks to Jackhammer, but the big prizefighter soon reveals that he has suffered little more than a bad scrape.
Rebecca, meanwhile, reels from the shock of what has just occurred – killing two men, even if it was in self defense, and the horridly mangled body of her friend before her. While kneeling on the ground unnervingly close to the bed, Rebecca’s eye catches on something on the ground, strewn amidst the clutter. It is a wallet, obviously Jackson’s, with several articles scattered around the floor around it. Curiously, several bills were left by the killers, but so were two small business cards. One refers to the ‘Penhew Foundation’, and an ‘Edward Gavigan – Director’. The other card is for a company called Emerson Imports. On the back of this card, in Jackson’s hauntingly familiar handwriting, is the name ‘Silas N’Kwane’.
Were these leads in Elias’s precious research? [Again, these can be seen in the ‘Articles from Room 410’ thread.]
While Sam gets patched up by the desk, his eyes happen to stray over the desk’s surface. On it he spies Jackson’s familiar smoking pipe, and next to it a book of matches. He almost thinks nothing of it, until he notices a second book of matches beside that one. Thinking this odd, he looks at the two items a little closer, and soon realizes that one of the matchbooks is empty. Knowing that Elias wouldn’t bother to keep around such a pointless item unless he had a reason for it, Sam focuses on the matchbook’s cover. It’s from a bar, apparently – and not a local one. The bar, as near as he can tell, is located in Shanghai.
Jackson must’ve been there, and he must’ve wanted to preserve the address in some fashion. [As before, the matchbook can be seen in the Handouts section.]
Sitting heavily on the couch to inspect his possible injury, the big prizefighter also catches sight of something curious. Half-hidden beneath the soda, he spies what looks like Jackson’s daily planner lying on the ground, though with several pages ripped hastily out of it. Nestled in the back flap, however, is a little flyer – like the kind one might see handed out on the street, or pinned to student lounges at NYU. The flyer advertises a lecture to be held... at this very minute, in fact, over at NYU, by a ‘Professor Cowles’. The lecture apparently concerned a ‘Cult of Darkness’ in the Southwest Pacific. The paper looks like it was handled with care, which suggests that Elias wasn’t merely stuffing the page into his planner to get it out of the way. Was Elias planning a late arrival to this lecture, or possibly to take all of you there with him? [See the Handouts section.]
The last curious thing about the room is, of course, Jackson himself. Dead, intestines and organs ripped from his body, and with a strange marking on his forehead. Certainly, no chance scarring could have caused those marks – there must have been some significance to it. And knowing Jackson’s field of study, it isn’t hard to make a guess... [This symbol is also in the Handout.]
Before much longer, sirens can be heard in the distance, and Jeremy reappears at the room – he still looks hesitant and nervous, but is at least certain that there is no more fighting going on in the room.
The police will certainly be along soon after him, as the sirens quickly grow louder and closer.
A link to the handout thread: Go here[rand=4855859156592310343408262105524635909618262364663649962808820957]
