Masks of Nyarlathotep - Chapter 1: New York City
- Thread starter Yellow Sign
- Start date
Yellow Sign
Explorer
The taxi first drops Father Joe and Mr. Anderson at the New York University's Schuyler Hall. A crowd of people are filing into the lecture hall.
The taxi then speeds off to the New York Metropolitan Library. Professor Carter, Shorty, and Hamish jump out of the taxi and enter.
OOC: Thomas said a lecture so I thought he wanted to go with Father Joe. People at the library tell me what you are looking for. Even though Shorty does not have Research he can still look something up using his INT bonus. Hamish is just going to hang around and make passes at a pretty young librarian.
The taxi then speeds off to the New York Metropolitan Library. Professor Carter, Shorty, and Hamish jump out of the taxi and enter.
OOC: Thomas said a lecture so I thought he wanted to go with Father Joe. People at the library tell me what you are looking for. Even though Shorty does not have Research he can still look something up using his INT bonus. Hamish is just going to hang around and make passes at a pretty young librarian.
Yellow Sign
Explorer
Father Joe and Thomas find their seats in the crowded lecture hall. Upfront a large middle aged man with bright red hair and a beard is shuffling papers and preparing to start the lecture. He has a deep voice with a distinct Australian accent.
"Greeting, I am Professor Anthony Cowles, Ph.D. of the Univeristy of Sydney and presently the Locksley Fellow of Polynesian Escoterica at Miskatonic University in Arkham. Tonight I will speak on a little known Cult of Darkness in the Australian outback."
For the next 2 hours, Professor Cowles gives a lecture with slides.
Main Points of Prof. Anthony Cowles' NYU Lecture
I. A bat cult once existed among the Aboriginals of Australia. It was known across the continent, and the god of the cult was always known as the Father of All Bats. Adherents believed that by making human sacrifices to their god they themselves would become worthy enough that the Father of All Bats would appear to them. Once he was enticed to appear, he would conquer all men. Sacrifices were run through a gauntlet of worshipers who struck the victims with clubs embedded with the sharp teeth of bats. The teeth were coated with a sub- stance derived from rabid bats. The poison was quick-acting, but victims apparently went mad before they died. Leaders of the cult reputedly could take the forms of bat-winged snakes, enabling them to steal sacrifices from across the land. Cowles believes that this cult became dormant or extinct hundreds of years ago.
II. An Aboriginal song cycle mentions a place where enormous beings gathered, somewhere in the west of Australia. The songs say that these gods, who were not at all like men, built great sleeping walls and dug great caves. But living winds blew down the gods and overthrew them, destroying their camp. When this happened, the way was open for the Father of All Bats, who came into the land, and grew strong.
III. Cowles shows the audience a set of four over-exposed glass slides. Each shows a few sweating men standing beside enormous blocks of stone, pitted and eroded but clearly dressed and formed for architectural purposes. Dim carvings seem to decorate some. Billows of sand are everywhere. Though he did not bring the book with him, Cowles says that the discoverer, one Arthur MacWhirr of Port Hedland, kept a diary in which he records several attacks on the party by Aboriginals. MacWhirr reportedly records deaths to victims from hundreds of small punctures, reminiscent of the earlier bat-cult.
IV. Cowles tells finally of a tale he collected from near the Arafura Sea in northern Australia. In it Sand Bat, or Father of All Bats, has a battle of wits with Rainbow Snake, the Aboriginal deification of water and the patron of life. Rainbow Snake succeeds in tricking and trapping Sand Bat and his clan into the depths of a watery place from which Sand Bat can only complain, and is unable to return to trouble the people.
At the end of the lecture the crowd begins to disperse, though Professor Cowles remains in the lobby talking and answering questions.
"Greeting, I am Professor Anthony Cowles, Ph.D. of the Univeristy of Sydney and presently the Locksley Fellow of Polynesian Escoterica at Miskatonic University in Arkham. Tonight I will speak on a little known Cult of Darkness in the Australian outback."
For the next 2 hours, Professor Cowles gives a lecture with slides.
Main Points of Prof. Anthony Cowles' NYU Lecture
I. A bat cult once existed among the Aboriginals of Australia. It was known across the continent, and the god of the cult was always known as the Father of All Bats. Adherents believed that by making human sacrifices to their god they themselves would become worthy enough that the Father of All Bats would appear to them. Once he was enticed to appear, he would conquer all men. Sacrifices were run through a gauntlet of worshipers who struck the victims with clubs embedded with the sharp teeth of bats. The teeth were coated with a sub- stance derived from rabid bats. The poison was quick-acting, but victims apparently went mad before they died. Leaders of the cult reputedly could take the forms of bat-winged snakes, enabling them to steal sacrifices from across the land. Cowles believes that this cult became dormant or extinct hundreds of years ago.
II. An Aboriginal song cycle mentions a place where enormous beings gathered, somewhere in the west of Australia. The songs say that these gods, who were not at all like men, built great sleeping walls and dug great caves. But living winds blew down the gods and overthrew them, destroying their camp. When this happened, the way was open for the Father of All Bats, who came into the land, and grew strong.
III. Cowles shows the audience a set of four over-exposed glass slides. Each shows a few sweating men standing beside enormous blocks of stone, pitted and eroded but clearly dressed and formed for architectural purposes. Dim carvings seem to decorate some. Billows of sand are everywhere. Though he did not bring the book with him, Cowles says that the discoverer, one Arthur MacWhirr of Port Hedland, kept a diary in which he records several attacks on the party by Aboriginals. MacWhirr reportedly records deaths to victims from hundreds of small punctures, reminiscent of the earlier bat-cult.
IV. Cowles tells finally of a tale he collected from near the Arafura Sea in northern Australia. In it Sand Bat, or Father of All Bats, has a battle of wits with Rainbow Snake, the Aboriginal deification of water and the patron of life. Rainbow Snake succeeds in tricking and trapping Sand Bat and his clan into the depths of a watery place from which Sand Bat can only complain, and is unable to return to trouble the people.
At the end of the lecture the crowd begins to disperse, though Professor Cowles remains in the lobby talking and answering questions.
Last edited:
Shapermc
First Post
Shorty gets out of the cab with his brother and the Proffesor. He walks up to the library and motiones for them to follow him into a quiet area. He pulls up a chair around an empty table near the back. He spins the chair so that when he sits he has to strattel the back and lay his arms on the head rest. He pulls a tooth pick out of his hat and begins to flip it in his mouth. He looks around to make sure he has the attention of the others before he begins.
"Ok Teach and Hamish, I got some Ideas here. I need both of your help. First you Hamish. I need you to make a few phone calls, see. First is Emerson Imports. I need you to contact Silan N'Kwan there and tell him that your Mr. Elias's person assistant and you are calling to follow up on our order. Make sure that he does not find out your name, just that youare a personal assistant. If he actually has something waiting there, ask him if it is ready for pick up. Now after that let me know when you get finished. Me or the teach here will try to find a Ms. Miriam Atwrights's phone number at harvard u, see. Then you will call her also stating that you are Mr. Elias' personal assistant, and that you have yet to hear about the book we were requesting. Try to wiggle the name out of her about what book it is.
Now for you and me Teach. We gots us a few things to look up. First we need to see what we can dig up about this Mr. Edward Gavigan from Penhew Foundation. Next we need to find the Sail plan for the ship Darrmster (I cant read the exact name on that photo so if the GM could help out that would be great) and what, if any, relivince it has to Mr. Elias, see. Now this one is the trickiest, Look here, The Street of the Jackels in the Old Quarter. We need to figure out if this is code of some kind or an actual location. I think that it may be a historical referance to the location a street, like it was name that years ago but no one uses that name for the street anymore, see. I think that this should keep us busy for a bit. Hamish come back when you get off the phone with Mr. Silas, right?"
After answering any questions about the plan from the others he heads over to the libraian and begins to ask/convince the 'attractive' young gal to help him look something up.
"Ok Teach and Hamish, I got some Ideas here. I need both of your help. First you Hamish. I need you to make a few phone calls, see. First is Emerson Imports. I need you to contact Silan N'Kwan there and tell him that your Mr. Elias's person assistant and you are calling to follow up on our order. Make sure that he does not find out your name, just that youare a personal assistant. If he actually has something waiting there, ask him if it is ready for pick up. Now after that let me know when you get finished. Me or the teach here will try to find a Ms. Miriam Atwrights's phone number at harvard u, see. Then you will call her also stating that you are Mr. Elias' personal assistant, and that you have yet to hear about the book we were requesting. Try to wiggle the name out of her about what book it is.
Now for you and me Teach. We gots us a few things to look up. First we need to see what we can dig up about this Mr. Edward Gavigan from Penhew Foundation. Next we need to find the Sail plan for the ship Darrmster (I cant read the exact name on that photo so if the GM could help out that would be great) and what, if any, relivince it has to Mr. Elias, see. Now this one is the trickiest, Look here, The Street of the Jackels in the Old Quarter. We need to figure out if this is code of some kind or an actual location. I think that it may be a historical referance to the location a street, like it was name that years ago but no one uses that name for the street anymore, see. I think that this should keep us busy for a bit. Hamish come back when you get off the phone with Mr. Silas, right?"
After answering any questions about the plan from the others he heads over to the libraian and begins to ask/convince the 'attractive' young gal to help him look something up.
Yellow Sign
Explorer
Thomas scans the hall and the people as they leave. Most of them look to be students and teachers from the Univeristy. You don't see anyone who looks out of place or like the thugs you fought in the hotel. Though you see an attractive blonde haired girl standing beside Professor Coyles.
Last edited:
VorpalBunny
Explorer
"Sounds like a plan. I'm also still quite interested in discovering the significance of the symbol those horrifying men carved into Elias' forehead."
[OOC: It looks like the professor and Shorty have a lot of work ahead of them. Take 20 on a Research +7 check to find any pertinent info on the symbol and the stuff Shorty listed.]
Toric_Arthendain
Explorer
Joe watches the people filing out of the auditorium. "Do you think that any of what Professor Cowles said has anything to do with what happened to Elias?" he asks Thomas. "Or since Elias was a death cult expert, do you just think that this was a lecture he was interested in attending?"
"Come on, let's go talk to the Professor for a moment," Joe says starting off towards Cowles.
When an opportunity presents itself, Joe clears his throat. "Very interesting lecture, Professor Cowles. Is this cult pretty much dormant at the moment or are there signs that it is resurfacing?"
After hearing Cowles' answer to that question, Joe describes the symbol that was carved on Elias' head and the headpieces that were worn by the thugs to see if Cowles might know what they are. Joe doesn't tell Cowles what happened earlier, only describes the symbol and the headpieces and asks if Cowles has seen or heard of anything like that.
"Come on, let's go talk to the Professor for a moment," Joe says starting off towards Cowles.
When an opportunity presents itself, Joe clears his throat. "Very interesting lecture, Professor Cowles. Is this cult pretty much dormant at the moment or are there signs that it is resurfacing?"
After hearing Cowles' answer to that question, Joe describes the symbol that was carved on Elias' head and the headpieces that were worn by the thugs to see if Cowles might know what they are. Joe doesn't tell Cowles what happened earlier, only describes the symbol and the headpieces and asks if Cowles has seen or heard of anything like that.
Last edited:
Similar Threads
