[IC]Pickman's Model Revisited[CoC]
- Thread starter bruin
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Andrew D. Gable
First Post
OOC: I'm up for movin' on as well.
bruin
First Post
OODM: Hmm, seeing a pattern here. If one of the others also says its okay to move on, I'll just update. By the way, when I said it doesn't matter who spoke with Renard, what I meant was that anyone could have chosen to be the one who made the call, and maybe have a reaction in conversation or thoughts about it; I didn't mean to block anyone from doing that. Not saying that anyone has to speak with him, though, so just moving things right along is okay too.
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apocalypstick
First Post
Chris goes to a payphone in the lobby and makes a couple of quick calls - one to his girlfriend, who doesn't sound too happy about Chris' vague "just going out of town for a couple of days, babe" explanation to her; and then to the Empty Glass, where his boss is even less pleased about Chris "calling in sick."
Chris shrugs - Like there's anything I can do about it, anyway - and joins the others in the car.
"Anyone mind if I smoke in here?"
(OOC: Fine with me to move up to Renard's place.)
Chris shrugs - Like there's anything I can do about it, anyway - and joins the others in the car.
"Anyone mind if I smoke in here?"
(OOC: Fine with me to move up to Renard's place.)
Andrew D. Gable
First Post
"It's been a few years since I've been in Arkham. Did my internship up here. It hasn't changed a bit. Nice place here, this Renard's place," Neal says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Full of rustic charm, wouldn't ya say? Hell, I've seen nicer places than this on some of my digs, and those places are 1000 years old..."
bruin
First Post
OODM: Vorlon, feel free to fill in any details you wanted John to do before they arrived next time you post. I get the feeling people want to keep rolling, since we're still in the briefing stages.
OODM: Let me know if you want any special actions or checks throughout any of this. I've done some automatically.
IDM:
As you approach the house to enter, John notices a small window to the lower right of the house near its base. It appears to look down into a cellar area of the house. Above this is a larger window, with no glass, but some sort of black veil or silk screen covering it.
Just as you approach to knock on the door, it suddenly swings open and standing there is a man with a shaved head and a long scar running down his right cheek. He is unshaved, sporting a black goatee, and he has a weird glint in his eyes. A bit further into the house, you see a somewhat larger man, similarly with a shaved head and goatee, disappearing through a door and down some steps into the cellar. Just to the right, you see a bedroom area that has no door and is covered by a black veil similar to the one on the window (the window is looking out from this bedroom).
“You are the investigators, yes? Come in, come in.” Renard leads you to the left, into a dilapidated living room area. There are some folding chairs and a makeshift table, but otherwise the room is dusty and unfurnished. Apparently they have not been here long and don’t intend to stay. “The lawyer told you of the diary, yes? We have read through it, and made a list of the important clues it holds, but we are stuck, yes. It names a Sicilian, who rented a house in the North End to Pickman, but we have had no success in discovering who this Sicilian was, yes. We need you to figure out who he was, so you can check with the City Archives to find blueprints and addresses for properties he may have owned in the North End, yes. With that, you can determine the location, and investigate the premises, though we do not know if the house itself or the cellar beneath it are still intact, yes?”
He turns his attention to the bedroom area. From behind the black veil steps out a figure wholly covered in black robes, hood, and gloves. You cannot discern a face. It steps forward, carrying a book. Renard say, “My master carries a book to us, yes? He wants you to look at it, so that you’ll be familiar with it’s design. You don’t need to know the title, as it’s written in Ancient Greek, just familiarize yourselves with the symbol on the cover, yes. The copy that Pickman possessed will be more or less identical.” The black figure holds out the book in its hands.
As the figure approaches, Neal hears a faint ambient sound in the background that he can only describe as “squishy.”
On the book, you see a symbol that looks like an asymmetrical five-pointed star, with a circle and squiggle in the center. You can also see a title in Ancient Greek. Jens sees that it is titled “On the Protective Qualities of the Elder Sign and Its Uses.”
(OODM: you can see a picture of the Elder Sign in p. 209 of your Rulebooks, or in the Play Aids section of the Chaosium p. 284).
After you’re done looking, the cloaked figure draws the book away and returns to its spot behind the veil. “My mast… my employer doesn’t like to let it out of his hands, yes. So you can’t take it with you, but you can take these…” he hands you Thurber’s diary and a handwritten list. “This list will tell you all the pertinent details we’ve read in the diary, but we might have missed something, yes. Once you have returned the book to us, we will pay you in cash, here. Do not visit the lawyer again, yes.”
“Do not attempt to read or translate the book when you find it, yes, just bring it here. It is fragile, and turning the pages may cause too much wear. And Pickman may have possessed another book, yes, also in Greek, but we do not want it. Be especially sure not to read this other book, as it has a odd reputation of driving men to madness, yes?”
John, Jens, and Neal all sense that Renard is not being entirely truthful about why he doesn’t want you to read the first book.
“Do you have questions, yes?”
OODM: Let me know if you want any special actions or checks throughout any of this. I've done some automatically.
IDM:
As you approach the house to enter, John notices a small window to the lower right of the house near its base. It appears to look down into a cellar area of the house. Above this is a larger window, with no glass, but some sort of black veil or silk screen covering it.
Just as you approach to knock on the door, it suddenly swings open and standing there is a man with a shaved head and a long scar running down his right cheek. He is unshaved, sporting a black goatee, and he has a weird glint in his eyes. A bit further into the house, you see a somewhat larger man, similarly with a shaved head and goatee, disappearing through a door and down some steps into the cellar. Just to the right, you see a bedroom area that has no door and is covered by a black veil similar to the one on the window (the window is looking out from this bedroom).
“You are the investigators, yes? Come in, come in.” Renard leads you to the left, into a dilapidated living room area. There are some folding chairs and a makeshift table, but otherwise the room is dusty and unfurnished. Apparently they have not been here long and don’t intend to stay. “The lawyer told you of the diary, yes? We have read through it, and made a list of the important clues it holds, but we are stuck, yes. It names a Sicilian, who rented a house in the North End to Pickman, but we have had no success in discovering who this Sicilian was, yes. We need you to figure out who he was, so you can check with the City Archives to find blueprints and addresses for properties he may have owned in the North End, yes. With that, you can determine the location, and investigate the premises, though we do not know if the house itself or the cellar beneath it are still intact, yes?”
He turns his attention to the bedroom area. From behind the black veil steps out a figure wholly covered in black robes, hood, and gloves. You cannot discern a face. It steps forward, carrying a book. Renard say, “My master carries a book to us, yes? He wants you to look at it, so that you’ll be familiar with it’s design. You don’t need to know the title, as it’s written in Ancient Greek, just familiarize yourselves with the symbol on the cover, yes. The copy that Pickman possessed will be more or less identical.” The black figure holds out the book in its hands.
As the figure approaches, Neal hears a faint ambient sound in the background that he can only describe as “squishy.”
On the book, you see a symbol that looks like an asymmetrical five-pointed star, with a circle and squiggle in the center. You can also see a title in Ancient Greek. Jens sees that it is titled “On the Protective Qualities of the Elder Sign and Its Uses.”
(OODM: you can see a picture of the Elder Sign in p. 209 of your Rulebooks, or in the Play Aids section of the Chaosium p. 284).
After you’re done looking, the cloaked figure draws the book away and returns to its spot behind the veil. “My mast… my employer doesn’t like to let it out of his hands, yes. So you can’t take it with you, but you can take these…” he hands you Thurber’s diary and a handwritten list. “This list will tell you all the pertinent details we’ve read in the diary, but we might have missed something, yes. Once you have returned the book to us, we will pay you in cash, here. Do not visit the lawyer again, yes.”
“Do not attempt to read or translate the book when you find it, yes, just bring it here. It is fragile, and turning the pages may cause too much wear. And Pickman may have possessed another book, yes, also in Greek, but we do not want it. Be especially sure not to read this other book, as it has a odd reputation of driving men to madness, yes?”
John, Jens, and Neal all sense that Renard is not being entirely truthful about why he doesn’t want you to read the first book.
“Do you have questions, yes?”
Dakkareth
First Post
OOC: Hehe, now we're talking business >:>
"And someone living here wants to pay thousands of dollars for a book? Mmhpf."
This is getting a little strange. Weird people in an unkempt house hiring us instead of professional PIs?
As Renard proceeds to lay out the plan Jens suspicions are not exactly quenched.
'Investigate the premises'? The house can't belong to nobody, right? And we should be *buying* the book from the current owner, right? But maybe I'm just prejudiced because of their appearance ...
But it keeps getting stranger. At the appearance of the strange figure Jens involuntarily takes a step backwards and his brows furrow.
Masquerading people? And that guy is the 'master' of this Renard? Why doesn't he speak?
His reaction to the book shown is a completely different one, though. Stepping nearer again (but not too near) he examines the book with obvious interest.
[OOC: Spot check, I assume, the book is an old one, right? Also knowledge(Ancient History/Philosophy/Greek Language) check, whether I know anything of a book related to this]
"A faksimile, I assume? Or really an original?", he mumbles not really expecting an answer.
"Must be quite a rarety."
Lost in thought Jens isn't the one to take the papers offered my Mr. Renard. The comment about translating causes him to pay attention again, though.
It would make sense, but somehow I don't think keeping the book intact is all he wants. And does he really believe, that other book could drive people mad?
[OOC: Sense Motive]
When asked after his questions Jens asks:
"What about the current owner of the book? What, if he doesn't want to part with the book or he demands more money than you offer us for bringing it?"
Or are we supposed to steal it? I will have no part in that.
"And someone living here wants to pay thousands of dollars for a book? Mmhpf."
This is getting a little strange. Weird people in an unkempt house hiring us instead of professional PIs?
As Renard proceeds to lay out the plan Jens suspicions are not exactly quenched.
'Investigate the premises'? The house can't belong to nobody, right? And we should be *buying* the book from the current owner, right? But maybe I'm just prejudiced because of their appearance ...
But it keeps getting stranger. At the appearance of the strange figure Jens involuntarily takes a step backwards and his brows furrow.
Masquerading people? And that guy is the 'master' of this Renard? Why doesn't he speak?
His reaction to the book shown is a completely different one, though. Stepping nearer again (but not too near) he examines the book with obvious interest.
[OOC: Spot check, I assume, the book is an old one, right? Also knowledge(Ancient History/Philosophy/Greek Language) check, whether I know anything of a book related to this]
"A faksimile, I assume? Or really an original?", he mumbles not really expecting an answer.
"Must be quite a rarety."
Lost in thought Jens isn't the one to take the papers offered my Mr. Renard. The comment about translating causes him to pay attention again, though.
It would make sense, but somehow I don't think keeping the book intact is all he wants. And does he really believe, that other book could drive people mad?
[OOC: Sense Motive]
When asked after his questions Jens asks:
"What about the current owner of the book? What, if he doesn't want to part with the book or he demands more money than you offer us for bringing it?"
Or are we supposed to steal it? I will have no part in that.
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bruin
First Post
Dakkareth said:
Jens doesn't know anything specific about a book related to this, but he determines that it is a folio, likely printed in the early 16th century.
"It is rare, yes," Renard replies, "Only ten were known to exist, and we have ... accounted for the others. With Pickman's, we will have ... taken care of the last one, yes."
At these words [OODM: this is before the black figure retreated to the bedroom area] the figure turns hastily to Renard. Renard cowers for a moment, as if rebuked.
"But of course, the less you know about the book, the better."
When this happens, Jens suddenly feels a vision of a mass of worms devouring a fetid corpse. [OODM: from sensitive feat, no sanity loss(barely)]
.............................................
Jens doesn't have any clue what Renards deal is. [OODM: failed check, I'm handling this separate from the opposed bluff check that he successfully made]
.............................................
"Ah, that will be become more clear once you look at the diary and our notes, yes? Pickman disappeared without a trace, and we believe it had to do with a well in the cellar of that house, which apparently was connected to an underground network of tunnels, yes? So we don't think there is a current owner of the book; the police never found Pickman or any of the possessions he had on him, yes, and they didn't know he lived at that house. We believe the book must be down in those tunnels, but getting there might be a problem, yes, if the current property owner doesn't like the idea of you rummaging through his cellar, yes? "
apocalypstick
First Post
bruin said:
Too bad these guys didn't take their own advice, thinks Chris. Man, these dudes are tres creepy. Christ tried and fails to suppress an involuntary shudder at Renard's appearance, his mannerisms, his... everything. What the f*** have I gotten myself into here?
"Greek, huh?" he finally says, trying on an easygoing smile, though it comes out as looking vaguely nauseated. "No worries there; Hell, I don't even speak Greek.
"But if this other book, the one you don't want, is 'dangerous,' we shouldn't just leave it lying around if we find it, right? I mean, think like that's gotta be worth a lot of money to someone," Chris hints.
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