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[IC]Pickman's Model Revisited[CoC]
- Thread starter bruin
- Start date
Andrew D. Gable
First Post
"Hmm. Tunnels eh?" Neal asks as he reaches forward to take the papers offered by Renard. "Merci, monsieur," he says as he begins to glance them over.bruin said:
OOC: Knowledge (history or archaeology) check to see if I recognize the tunnels of which Renard spoke, and I'm also keeping an eye on his reactions to my speaking French - just to make sure his "French" story washes. Also, don't think this would require a check - was the "squishy" noise coming from the robed guy or just the environment?
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bruin
First Post
Andrew D. Gable said:
Neal can't place the origin of the sound, but it seemed to coincide with the presence of the robed figure. It sounds like it comes from all directions, not just from the direction of the figure, but it escalates when it approaches and abates when it leaves.
Renard's accent sounds authentic, but his face shows no recognition when Neal says those words to him.
OODM: Staring at a natural 20 in horror
Neal knows that there was a tunnel system as early as the mid 1600's that connected various houses of those who secretly practiced various rituals in the occult. These tunnels were at times connected to various pirate and smuggler hideouts, and connected parts of what is now Downtown (where the lawyers office was) to the North End (directly northeast of downtown, overlooking the harbor). Within the North End, prominent places like the Copp's Hill cemetery were connected to secret underground lairs, and also to the sea where it was reputed that pirates, covens, and smugglers hid secret entrances right by the sea at the various wharfs around Boston harbor. The tunnels were reputed to be largely undisturbed until the 20th century, when parts of the network were destroyed by the creation of subways or by the demolition of houses which served as entrances to the network. Apparently this well Renard speaks of must be one such entrance.
Edit: sp.
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bruin
First Post
OODM: Oops, forgot Neal was looking at the documents. Neal and the others will have to wait till they leave to scrutinize the diary or newspaper report in any depth.
Neal scans through the diary and notices that the book also contains a photocopy from microfiche of an old Boston Globe article detailing the police investigation into Pickman's disappearance. This and the diary will require more than just casual scanning to be of any use.
Neal sees that the list contains the following details of what Renard and his employer have gleaned:
-Pickman owned a regular house somewhere near Newbury street
-Pickman rented a second house under the name of Peters in the North End, which he used as an artist studio
-William Thurber was the only person who ever visited the North End location, and the details of the exact location are vague
-The North End house was owned by a Sicilian, who is never named in Thurber’s diary
-One of the diary entries describes Thurber's visit to the house.
-The house wasn’t located too far from the elevated at Battery st
-They disembarked the elevated at Battery street, walked along Commercial street past Constitution Wharf, turned onto an alley, and then into another, smaller alley
-Thurber specifically said that they didn’t turn onto to Greenough Lane
-Thurber said they might have been within one or two blocks of Copp’s Hill cemetery
-Based on these details, the house could have been located anywhere within a large chunk of the North End, bounded by Commercial st on the north, Copp’s Hill terrace and cemetery to the west, Charter st on the south, and Hanover st on the east.
-Due to the expansive renovation and rebuilding in the North End over the century, it is highly unlikely that the house is still standing, though there’s a chance that the cellar area might be intact and used by the current owner as a storage space or a boiler room
-Attempts to locate the address physically have been unsuccessful, as there has been too much renovation and rebuilding in the North End to be sure which alleys they traversed
-A book Renard tried to look at while at the Boston Public library was unfortunately checked out. The book gave a general history of the renovations in the North End throughout the 20th century.
-Another copy is apparently available at the Harvard library, but Renard was unable to acquire the necessary guest permission from Widener Library to access the book stacks.
-The newspaper report mentions that Pickman went missing in the summer of 1926, and that his family and friends were worried about him as early as November of 1925, when he began to be absent from his regular house more than normal.
-Renard has also included the addresses and hours of the Boston Public Library, Harvard's Widener, and the City Archives (of the City Clerk's office).
Edit: sp.
Neal scans through the diary and notices that the book also contains a photocopy from microfiche of an old Boston Globe article detailing the police investigation into Pickman's disappearance. This and the diary will require more than just casual scanning to be of any use.
Neal sees that the list contains the following details of what Renard and his employer have gleaned:
-Pickman owned a regular house somewhere near Newbury street
-Pickman rented a second house under the name of Peters in the North End, which he used as an artist studio
-William Thurber was the only person who ever visited the North End location, and the details of the exact location are vague
-The North End house was owned by a Sicilian, who is never named in Thurber’s diary
-One of the diary entries describes Thurber's visit to the house.
-The house wasn’t located too far from the elevated at Battery st
-They disembarked the elevated at Battery street, walked along Commercial street past Constitution Wharf, turned onto an alley, and then into another, smaller alley
-Thurber specifically said that they didn’t turn onto to Greenough Lane
-Thurber said they might have been within one or two blocks of Copp’s Hill cemetery
-Based on these details, the house could have been located anywhere within a large chunk of the North End, bounded by Commercial st on the north, Copp’s Hill terrace and cemetery to the west, Charter st on the south, and Hanover st on the east.
-Due to the expansive renovation and rebuilding in the North End over the century, it is highly unlikely that the house is still standing, though there’s a chance that the cellar area might be intact and used by the current owner as a storage space or a boiler room
-Attempts to locate the address physically have been unsuccessful, as there has been too much renovation and rebuilding in the North End to be sure which alleys they traversed
-A book Renard tried to look at while at the Boston Public library was unfortunately checked out. The book gave a general history of the renovations in the North End throughout the 20th century.
-Another copy is apparently available at the Harvard library, but Renard was unable to acquire the necessary guest permission from Widener Library to access the book stacks.
-The newspaper report mentions that Pickman went missing in the summer of 1926, and that his family and friends were worried about him as early as November of 1925, when he began to be absent from his regular house more than normal.
-Renard has also included the addresses and hours of the Boston Public Library, Harvard's Widener, and the City Archives (of the City Clerk's office).
Edit: sp.
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Dakkareth
First Post
[OOC: Action, action, action ... the plot deepens, sanity gets first scratches and the bad stuff hasn't even begun ...
Ten of these books? And none available to the public? Strange, very stran ...
For a moment Jens is horrifiedly staring at the thing only he can see.
(If someone notices and asks, he answers weakly: "Nothing, I ... I just forgot to turn the stove off, when I left." [OOC: Bluff check] )
Am I now going crazy, too? Aww, as if I wasn't before. But these guys make it worse. I'm not going to stay here any longer.
"I think, that's all we need know for now. We can call you, if there are questions arising as we investigate, right?"
He looks around to see people's reactions. Regardless he continues:
"We should be on our way then, if time is indeed of essence then we should hurry so we can make first inquiries and discuss the material we have."
[OOC: Diplomacy check to convince Renard and the others, that it would be in everybody's interest, that they leave. NOW.]
Ten of these books? And none available to the public? Strange, very stran ...
For a moment Jens is horrifiedly staring at the thing only he can see.
(If someone notices and asks, he answers weakly: "Nothing, I ... I just forgot to turn the stove off, when I left." [OOC: Bluff check] )
Am I now going crazy, too? Aww, as if I wasn't before. But these guys make it worse. I'm not going to stay here any longer.
"I think, that's all we need know for now. We can call you, if there are questions arising as we investigate, right?"
He looks around to see people's reactions. Regardless he continues:
"We should be on our way then, if time is indeed of essence then we should hurry so we can make first inquiries and discuss the material we have."
[OOC: Diplomacy check to convince Renard and the others, that it would be in everybody's interest, that they leave. NOW.]
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bruin
First Post
OODM: no checks needed, I'll just assume Jens is used to covering for any psychic flare-ups he gets from the sensitive feat. As for asking to leave, I'll assume he does this a little later, after everybody asks some questions, as I don't want to rush Vorlon this round. Or he can excuse himself and say he's a little woozy and needs some air, while the others are finishing up.
Edit: oh, and can you try a brighter color than the blue when requesting the checks? I find it really hard to distinguish between the dark blue font and the grayish background.
Edit: oh, and can you try a brighter color than the blue when requesting the checks? I find it really hard to distinguish between the dark blue font and the grayish background.
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Andrew D. Gable
First Post
"Well, time to do some digging through the history books," Neal says, rubbing his hands. "Just my kind of thing."
OOC: I'm ready whenever anyone else is.
OOC: I'm ready whenever anyone else is.
Dakkareth
First Post
On the way home Jens reads the notes Neal got from Mr. renard.
As the group arrives in Boston he says:
"So ... I'd propose, that each of us does his own research and we meet again tomorrow to compare our results and make further plans. Once we have a general idea of what we face, we can organize our investigation."
***
Arriving at home Jens puts his umbrella away and goes into the kitchen. Reaching into the outermost corner of the fridge he produces a cooled flask of whiskey and pours himself a shot.
If grandpa had this kind of hallucinations, it's no wonder he went mad. Ahhrg, if it was that easy. The worst part of it is, that I know, that it's not just my weird imagination.
He downs the whiskey in one drought and shudders.
Damn all this strange stuff to hell. And now I agreed to go after a mad painter, who produced weird pictures, possessed books driving people crazy and another book wanted by the most frigging strange group of people within a hundred miles. I must be crazy, too.
He holds the flask against the light, but in the end decides not to drink any more - after all there was work to do.
Putting the flask back into the fridge Jens left for his study.
[OOC: Research on:
The tome seen at Mr. Renard's
The Elder Sign
Pickman
In that order. Jens will use his library on all things antique for a +2 circumstance bonus and after that his computer and the internet. He will at most stay up until 2 am.
As the group arrives in Boston he says:
"So ... I'd propose, that each of us does his own research and we meet again tomorrow to compare our results and make further plans. Once we have a general idea of what we face, we can organize our investigation."
***
Arriving at home Jens puts his umbrella away and goes into the kitchen. Reaching into the outermost corner of the fridge he produces a cooled flask of whiskey and pours himself a shot.
If grandpa had this kind of hallucinations, it's no wonder he went mad. Ahhrg, if it was that easy. The worst part of it is, that I know, that it's not just my weird imagination.
He downs the whiskey in one drought and shudders.
Damn all this strange stuff to hell. And now I agreed to go after a mad painter, who produced weird pictures, possessed books driving people crazy and another book wanted by the most frigging strange group of people within a hundred miles. I must be crazy, too.
He holds the flask against the light, but in the end decides not to drink any more - after all there was work to do.
Putting the flask back into the fridge Jens left for his study.
[OOC: Research on:
The tome seen at Mr. Renard's
The Elder Sign
Pickman
In that order. Jens will use his library on all things antique for a +2 circumstance bonus and after that his computer and the internet. He will at most stay up until 2 am.
apocalypstick
First Post
Heh, thinks Chris as he pulls into the chain-link parking lot behind his apartment building, back in Boston and everyone thinks I'm still out of town.
Sweet.
He walks up the four flights of stairs to his apartment, pours himself two fingers of whisky, looks at it, then sets it down on the table and drinks from the bottle. Kicking dirty clothes and porno mags across the floor, he settles down into his chair and flips on the television, looking for the Sox game.
An inning and a half later, he can't concentrate... he keeps thinking abut the money.
Paintings, paintings, paintings... who was that chick at the bar the other night... the one said she worked at that gallery? Lucy? Linda? Something that began with an 'L,' at least...
Muting the sound on the television, Chris takes another slug of rotgut and staggers over to his phone. He flips open his address book, searching for something.
{OOC: Chris is going to make some calls to his friends (Streetwise) and see if he can't find anyone who knows about artists' studios in the North End, particularly any ones owned by Sicilians)
Sweet.
He walks up the four flights of stairs to his apartment, pours himself two fingers of whisky, looks at it, then sets it down on the table and drinks from the bottle. Kicking dirty clothes and porno mags across the floor, he settles down into his chair and flips on the television, looking for the Sox game.
An inning and a half later, he can't concentrate... he keeps thinking abut the money.
Paintings, paintings, paintings... who was that chick at the bar the other night... the one said she worked at that gallery? Lucy? Linda? Something that began with an 'L,' at least...
Muting the sound on the television, Chris takes another slug of rotgut and staggers over to his phone. He flips open his address book, searching for something.
{OOC: Chris is going to make some calls to his friends (Streetwise) and see if he can't find anyone who knows about artists' studios in the North End, particularly any ones owned by Sicilians)
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