At the home of Professor Irving Hahn
(Note, I am re-posting here my in-game posts, so you'll note that GM posts address the post to "you" meaning the party.)
March 3, 1930
You are taken from the train station or your residence by taxi to Professor Hahn’s central Boston townhouse. There, in an upscale street, you find yourselves entering the brick townhouse in the early afternoon.
Marcus Marconi, Prof. Hahn’s lawyer and estate executor, welcomes you in turn and guides you into the home’s library. There you are able to find comfort in an array of leather chairs while Marconi props himself against a large desk.
“Thank you for coming. I have read a portion of the will earlier this morning to various relations of the Professor’s; cousins, aunts, unlces. But the bulk Professor Hahn’s will involved the four of you, and I am hear to read it to you now.”
Marconi stands and pulls a paper from his suit pocket. He is tall, middle-aged and friendly and his suit is rather nice. Before reading, though, he turns to each of you.
“Ah, but of course, you’ve never met one another. Allow me. Here, this is Riley Grossbart, a student at nearby Miskatonic University and one who worked under Prof. Hahn’s tutelage. And here we have Philip Howard, an investigator from New York. Remind me to buy you a new tie,” he adds with a wry smile. “The young lady is Alice Hargreaves, a nurse here in Boston who was of great comfort to the Professor in his recent stay in hospital. And finally, Mr. Jim “Iron Jaw” Smith, the renowned musician.”
You think for a moment about what the four of you could have in common to have been included in the will of the Professor. Marconi unfolds the paper and begins to read, hopefully answering your questions.
“Dear friends,” he begins. “Thank you for coming today. Each of you has helped me in turn, in some way or another, and your compassion and aide have made a mark with me. I have been informed by the doctors that my life will come to a sudden end and nothing can be done. While this would normally shock a person, I find myself overcome with a sense of rest at last. But my work is unfinished.”
“As Professor of both History and Mathematics, my interests are myriad and have taken me all over the world. Last year I took a sabbatical but when I returned, I could not recall what I had done during that time; where I had been, whom I had been with, nothing. Riley, you may remember me being curt with you when you asked how the year had progressed; well now I can truthfully say I was short with you because I did not know. I simply found myself back here at my home, the calendar advanced by one year! I began to retrace my steps, locating ticket stubs, newspapers, notes and anything I could find in my house and luggage. There was a puzzle here, a map of event I might be able to reconstruct. I needed help and sought out Mr. Philip Howard, a private investigator. He has helped piece together part of the story.”
“Apparently I spent time abroad, in Egypt and even on Smythe’s recent trip to Antarctica. How or why I was visiting these places was unanswered.” At this point Marconi pauses from reading the will. His hand waves to a framed photo on the wall. It depicts a sailing vessel in the cold waters off of Antarctica.
Marconi continues. “Soon it became apparent to me that my trips and meetings during 1929 were an attempt to bring together seemingly disparate historical and scientific information together in a new research paper I would publish; as I retraced my steps with Mr. Howard’s help, I uncovered handwritten notes that I myself had penned. The subject of these notes was bizarre and at first unwelcome; a lot of incoherent or incomplete ramblings, hard to put together but forming some kind of knowledge. I uncovered 2 pages of notes but I know there are 5 such pages total. These 2 pages I sent to Riley to review, perhaps he has made some sense of them. Alas my sudden and catastrophic illness has come too early for me to complete this work.”
Marconi’s eyes look over the paper for a moment at each of you. “My bequest to you four who have helped me so much recently, perhaps in ways unknown to you, is to complete my research; locate the remaining pages of notes and have them published. Because these notes have found themselves scattered, I will need you to travel, all expenses paid of course, to retrieve them using any methods you see fit. I feel this case is strange enough to demand the different talents each of you has to offer. As compensation for your work, when all 5 pages of notes are returned to my lawyer Mr. Marcus Marconi, each of you will receive payment from my estate a sum of $400,000.”
Marconi is silent as he folds the paper into his pocket. “I have made arrangements for you if you wish to agree to Prof. Hahn’s bequest. But before you answer, please enjoy some refreshments in the hall.”
Outside the library in a wide, dark-wood paneled hall you find hors d'oeuvres and chilled wine waiting for you.
You see that Alice isn’t interested in the food; she looks at the rest of you and says, “This is very strange, what do you make of it?”
