- Mon, Dec 31
- Edwards receives by post a letter from the expert hired by
Grimmond to reconstruct Lorentz's notes which were damaged during
the break-in. Searching through these, a list of his patients
are found, who seem to correspond to the ``Afterlife Club'' which
he mentioned.
- Wed, Jan 2
- The company break into the funeral home responsible for the
burial of all of the Afterlife Club members.
- Fri, Jan 4
- Clandestine meeting with the embalmer responsible for all of
the Afterlife Club burials. The party, in an attempt at disguise,
wears the robes and masks that Hayward wanted them to wear for his
``R.O.T.A.'' ritual. Announcing themselves as ``The Chamber'',
they interrogate the embalmer, who it seems has buried the bodies
without clothing or embalming them -- but admits to no other
wrongdoing.
- Jan ?
- The company break into the grave of Sir Philip Ashcroft, believed
to be a member of the Afterlife Club. In the mausoleum, we find
a decomposed body, which Stringham believes may not be Sir
Philip. However, due to the hermetically sealed casket, the
body is quite decayed and he cannot say for sure. The following
morning's papers are full of the supposed graverobbing incident.
- Jan ?
- Talk to Sir Philip's family regarding the incident. None of his
relatives bore much grief. His ownership of several distasteful
``hotels'' (i.e. brothels) near St. Mary Wolnoth is mentioned.
- Jan ?
- Eck's men stake out the graveyard of General Sir David Knightley.
Paper investigation into the backgrounds of suspected Afterlife
Club members discovered that he was wounded while in India, which
would make his wounds distinctive. While hired thugs break into
the graveyard (hired by the ``Chamber''), more trusted agents keep
watch over this. A carriage is sighted, which disappears
instantly, but was reported by the cab company to have a crippled
doctor and a large man.
- Jan ?
- Break into Monument station to investigate the dig there.
Find the excavation abandoned and, deep within, a marble hallway,
temple-like, leading to a furnished room with a blind violinist
and company. The company is forced back from the hallway by an
electro-magnetic barrier in the aether. Rook is shocked by this,
and babbles of Cairo. Another jolt releases a horde of rats
which chase the party away.
- Jan ? (next day)
- Break into a hotel near Monument Station (owned by the late Sir
Philip Ashcroft). After holding the madam at gunpoint, break into
a dumbwaiter which leads down into the Afterlife Club. There find
a large circular set of chambers, with a central room containing a
man on wheel. Living statues and robotic child (``Biscuit?'')
inhabit these. Susannah had been expecting someone named
Caroline. ``It's the Egyptian, Susannah.''
The company talk with Susannah, who shows us a vision in a seeing
stone: a hospital ward, seeing inside people to disease,
corruption, decay. She says, ``The Beast concerns all of us... we
are concerned that you have stirred him up. .. there is a balance
between, a tension between two poles. You can assist on one side
or the other.'' Hilda Stein, The White Lady, she says is confined
to the place where she spent her adult life.
An old man then comes through a curtain, saying ``Susannah, the
Conclave is not agreed.'' She replies, ``Maker, I am no longer
subject to the Conclave.'' He continues: ``We will destroy you.''
The company are threatened and attacked by the old man, called
Maker, and a butler with an extra set of roach-like arms, and a
giant toad-thing with the pleading faces of children in place
of warts.
Hawksquill psychically disrupts the wheel, while Rook (at the
instruction of the violinist) places a bar in the mechanism of the
turning central chamber. This causes a seeming earthquake, and
Susannah gestures the party out along the hall. Though pulled,
she cannot be forced through the mystic portal at the end of the
hall. As it closes, Major Rook asks her: ``Where is the heart of
the Black King?'' Susannah answers: ``Paradise Lost,'' just before
the club is apparently destroyed. Two Tarot cards appear on the
wall which was once the hall that lead to the club: The Wheel (10)
and The Arisen (20).
- Jan ?
- Miss Woodhull receives letter, ostensibly from Jack the Ripper,
threatening her and her friends: Polly Bayldon, Anne Raeburn,
Martha McNeill, Elizabeth Willette, Sarah Catherine Hamilton, and
Violet ``Mary'' Woodhull. Oddly, Violet's middle name is not
Mary; it is Tennessee, after her mother's sister.
- Sat, Jan 19, 2-3 a.m.
- Andrew Clark killed in the East End. He was a sailor.
- Sun, Jan. 20
- Paolo Rodriguez, a fruit seller, murdered in the East End, in
Essex Street. He was found clutching some strands of brown hair,
17 inches long, and a spool of thread was found near the body.
As a result, the papers begin to clamor about ``Jill the Ripper.''
- Tue, Jan. 22
- Thomas Vernon, sailor, murdered in the East End, Chicksand St.
Stringham talks with Dr. Joseph Lister, fellow researcher into
anti-sepsis and the use of carbolic acid, establishing that
Lorenz is alive despite his fall into the sewers.
- Wed, Jan. 23
- Major Rook questions Dr. Fotheringay-Phipps of London Hospital
about Dr. Lorenz, who claims to know nothing about his
disappearence.
A number of intruiguing articles appear in the Times; the British
Museum acquires an important Jewish artifact, a breastplate with
twenty-one gems in a diamond pattern, each stone bearing a
different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Also, digging for the
Underground near Ludgate have revealed ancient Roman ruins, which
will be excavated under the direction of Sir Hilary Atwood.
- Thu, Jan 24
- Hawksquill posts an unwieldy package to Lorenz, so that
it can be used to track the nefarious doctor to his lair.
- Fri. Jan 25
- Stringham continutes to attend East End murder inquests. Violet
investigates insane asylums in search of Polly Bayldon. Edwards
calls on Amelia Hamilton, intending to call off his engagement to
Sarah, but can't quite bring himself to do it.
- Sat. Jan 26
- Dr. Phipps passes the package for Dr. Lorenz to a carriage -
license unreadable. Stringham gets reply from a Doctor in
Germany about a nervous disorder specialist Lorenz worked with
in 1877 - Dr. Konrad von Draffen, at the Sturnsbad prison for the
criminally insane. Age: 64. Small, balding, gold pince-nez.
- Mon, Jan. 28
- Coroner (Sir Stephen Partington-White) requests Stringham's
assistance. Dr. Rafen's grisly testimony disturbs Sir
Stephen. Public spectacle. Stringham attends autopsies of East
End murders. He notices that the murder wounds exhibit faint, but
unmistakeable signs that they were inflicted by an aseptic
scalpel. Edwards recieves letter from Jack the Ripper.
- Tues, Jan 29
- Hawksquill sends warning from a fictional Vigilance Committee to
Violet's friends. Sarah tells Edwards that Polly Baylden is in the
care of a Dr. von Draffen. Vigilante mobs in the East End lynch a
midwife. The east end is full of fear and fog.
A cab with mail for Dr. Lorenz is trailed to Malbray Insane
Asylum in Hackney.
- Night of Wed, Jan 30
- Break into Malbray Asylum to bring Dr. Lorenz to justice and
rescue Polly Bayldon. In the struggle to break in, Randall
fatally coshes the matron. Finding a secret basement lair,
Edwards shoots Lorenz and the group guns down his ghastly
Australopithecene creations, bringing away some handfuls of files,
Lorenz's notes, and two strange Tarot
cards, The White Lady and The Black King, that appear to have
been painted by William Blake.
- Feb 6
- We trace Polly Baylden to Hawksmoor's Christchurch Spitalfields.
Stringham, Rook, and Eck, unable to interfere, witness her grisly
killing by a tall man who appears to be Jack the Ripper. Miss
Woodhull and Edwards appear on the scene a minute too late.
Later, Miss Woodhull is questioned by the police; her hair is
brown, she has an odd lifestyle, and was inexplicably on the scene
of the crime; they may believe her to be Jill the Ripper.
- Sun, Feb 10
- Cargill reports that Merriweather's trunk is missing from the
British Museum's storeroom. The trunk is found in an unused
sideroom of the stores, its contents ransacked as if the thief
were looking for something rather small-- book covers ripped
open, coat lapels slashed. In a false bottom of the trunk, the
party discovers some notes of Merriweather's, and a drawing of
a quaint Egyptian miniature sarcophagus. The notes reveal M.'s
obsession with the sarcophagus and a minor pharoah named
Sekefer-en-Ra.
Later, two Egyptian cab drivers follow the party, who turn and
follow them. During a chase on foot, Rook is attacked by one of
the cabbies. A hideously scarred beggar appears and gives him the
sarcophagus and a warning: Guard it with your very life! The
beggar disappears, holding up a large golden ring with a symbol on
it.
- Mon, Feb 11
- The sarcophagus puzzle box is opened, revealing three more of the
strange Tarot cards. Upon looking out of
the windows of Hawksquill's house, those present see that the sky
is still dark, though it should be morning. Cleopatra's Needle is
glowing and immense, towering over the dark and empty streets of
London. Pyramids and monoliths abound; streetsigns are in
hieroglyphics. Eck refuses to believe that anything is wrong.
The company travel to St. George's Bloomsbury, where they
barricade themselves in. They are followed and attacked by
mummy-zombies. Their guns produce large flashing explosions which
destroy their attackers.
As the Long Night refuses to end, the company wander out over
the Thames, and seeing the Boat of a Million Years in the water
below, jump in. It is being piloted by the man in robes and the
burned beggar. Passing Rotherhithe (here a giant necropolis),
Set and various crocodiles attack the boat, but the company ward
them off. Upon ending the journey, the pilot shows a strange
symbol again and promises that we can trust anyone with that
symbol.
- Feb 11
- This night, it is expected that Jack will try to kill Anne
Raeburn -- eight days after the death of Polly Bayldon (since
last year Anne Chapman was killed eight days after Polly
Nichols). The company prepare for this by the following:
Major Rook will try to invoke the Beast as Hayward did
last November. He will be barred in at Hawksquill's house,
thus keeping the Beast from getting to where Raeburn is being
guarded in the country.
The event becomes extremely mysterious, as Rook becomes the Beast
within the cage on the seven pointed pentagram, representing
himself as the Devil card by chaining Violet and Edwards (who see
themselves as naked) to the bars of the cage. The electrified
bars don't seem to work, but the hazy voices of what turns out to
be the Golden Dawn can be heard and spoken to, as Violet's
Hertzian Apparatus sparks to life.
- Feb 12
- Rook and Eck contact the Golden Dawn, who regard them with awe in
light of the recent psychic contact (i.e. Violet's ``radio'').
They ask for help in dealing with Charles Milverton, a notorious
blackmailer who is threatening them. The company identify
Milverton as the ``C.M.'' in Lorenz's notes - in other words,
the Black King himself!!
50 years ago an important record book of the Luxor Brethren went
missing. Around 10 years later, the Brethren seemed clueless as
to their actual purpose. The book was not an English book. 1717-
the first reference to the Luxor Brethren. The meeting at the
Appletree Tavern (Masonry). 1735-- Hawksmoore dies.
Mathers and Westcott and Mina did something stupid- the book says
they needed something to do with a murderer. Edwards drops the
word "skull". They pale. The revelation: Westcott stole tissue
samples from a murder victim. To do this, he forged a document to
cover up the sample theft. Mina stole the skull of the Ratcliffe
Highwayman, John Williams. They tried to make a golem, failed, and
burned it. This forged document is the basis of Milverton's
blackmail of Westcott.
- Feb ??
- Swinging the gate shut. We stake out Milverton's secret
headquarters, a Salvation Army soup kitchen in Rotherhithe.
Hawksquill's plan is to move the node at St. Alfege's to the
Rotherhithe site, purifying the necropolis, rooting out Milverton,
and changing the Eye of Horus into a pentagram associated with the
Sun.
- Rook and Randall, disguised in rags, visit the soup kitchen.
Randall eats a delicious bowl of hot beef stew! But Rook notices
that it is actually a nasty, viscous black goop that seems to have
brainwashed everyone who eats it. Yum!
- Edwards actually persuades the minister of St. Alfege's that he
should bring his congregation to the Salvation Army kitchen on
Sunday, with food, as a gesture of Christian goodwill. We visit
Aaron Abulafia and ask him to recommend a good kosher butcher, who
ends up with Edwards and the congregation and a white bull with
gilded horns. The bull is sacrificed in the basement of the
church.
- Rook, Violet, and Randall (played by Beth Brown) sneak in a back
window and ascend to the top of the building, through winding
passages and a conservatory of sickly plants. Meanwhile, the
kitchen catches on fire as Dr. Stringham investigates the kettles
of horrid black goo. It must have been that creeping oil spell
getting out of control again! As the horde of righteous do-gooders
invades the building, praying and singing, the vicar is attacked
suddenly by an old man, whose tongue shoots out about 6 feet
across the floor and jerks him off his feet. Mayhem! Screaming!
The building burns down.
- Sun, Feb 17
- During the night, the trap is set up for the Black King.
Milverton is sent a note from the Golden Dawn, asking to meet at
midnight at the central Hawksmoore church,
St. George's-in-the-Eat.
In magical symbolism, this is a net or pentagram closing around
Milverton as Ares (the Black King) and Hawksquill as Aphrodite
(the White Lady) as they meet. The net is formed by the Golden
Dawn, who under instruction come to confront their
blackmailer.
The plan becomes complicated as Hawksquill enters to find five
identical figures appearing as Milverton. At this point, they
surround her -- while meanwhile the company meditate and approach
the site on the plane of dreams. The Golden Dawn arrive, forming
a dream tower/trap around them. (The Tower) As the company
approach, the tower is struck by lightning and Hawksquill and the
Milvertons fall into the river. The company eventually fish them
out of the River. (The Star) The Beast arises from the
river, a strange lobster-like creature, and the Tower is blasted
away, leaving only a platform in a crater. Rook and Stringham
help Hawksquill and Milverton to this platform, and then stand
back, holding hands. In Rook's right hand, a knife - in
Stringham's left hand, the bag. Rook puts his right hand into
the sphere and says ``Deal'', offering it to the Beast to swallow
up and trap the White Lady and Black King. The Beast accepts, and
blackness encloses the platform, severing Rook's hand.
- Mon, Feb 18
- In the aftermath, Milverton and Hawksquill seem to be in shock,
but it soon becomes clear that they are more or less
cataleptic. Rooks right hand is in pain to him, but appears to
be physically whole. Hawksquill is returned to her home, where
her butler suggests that all should wait a day to see if her
condition changes. Edwards calls upon Sarah Hamilton, who refuses
to see him, but whose step-mother informs him that he is suitably
rejected. (Sarah believes that Edwards is having an affair with
Violet Woodhull, although none quite understand this yet.)
That night, Violet, Edwards, and Stringham dream of a black
carriage with silver tracery wandering through London, perhaps
with a woman inside. It eventually heads into the East End.
- Tues, Feb 19
- A mysterious Mr. Brown is introduced to us as we gather at
Hawksquill's, by her butler Jarvis. Hawksquill left instructions
to Jarvis that we should meet Mr. Brown if she should become
suddenly incapacitated, or if she should be missing. Mr. Brown
gives the impression of being quite high up in the government,
though he is not a public figure-- some kind of secret service?
He gives us a card with the location of the Diogenes Club, where
there may be people that can help us, who are in the upper
echelons of the secret service. The club is watched by enemies,
however. Jarvis works at the bar there on Saturdays, his day
out.
- Wed, Feb 20
- Frederick Smithson, a lower-class acquaintance of Edwards from
India, had posted to Edwards asking for a meeting this evening -
apparently asking for some monetary help. He is found strangled
to death in the street near his home - just before he was supposed
to meet with Edwards.
- Charles Milverton is put in the care of a nerve specialist - not
Dr. Godfrey Baines. Dr. Baines examines Ariel Hawksquill. The
party discusses galvanic shock as a means to revive catatonics.
Rook, half-jokingly, brings up the embryos in jars.
- Sat, Feb 23
- Stringham receives a letter from Paul Keating: apparently,
Mr. Smithson had just visited Keating on Monday. Smithson was
trying to sell notes from Capt. Marrish's expedition to John
Keating (who was the sole known survivor of that expedition).
With John Keating being indisposed, Smithson left the notes with
Paul for the time being. Paul became worried when he heard of
Smithson's death, and finding Grimmond on leave, posted to
Dr. Stringham.
- Mon, Feb 25
- The company study Marrish's notes on the expedition, which
contain details on King Menander's tomb, along with some jumbled
raving over ``Nemi'' and ``devouring Aphrodite''. A gold ring
with a small ruby was included in the notes, which had Greek
lettering scratched into it, and faint Egyptian hieroglyphs
imprinted beneath. Cargill translated the hieroglyphs as ``Isis
of the teeth''). The next day, the group visit Sir James Frazer
who translates the Greek as ``Aphrodite devouring'' and explains
further the myths involved (Egyptian and Greek).
- The myth: Set chops Osiris into 14 pieces. Isis gathers the pieces.
Horus fights with Set (vengeance for his father's death). Thoth
judges in Horus's favor. Set seeks vengeance on Isis- who goes to
Horus again. Horus, with the help of the eye of Ra, the Sun,
defends her. Isis devours the pieces of Osiris and he is
reborn.
- Wed, Feb 27
- The inquest of Frederick Smithson's death. Dr. Stringham has
been lambasted by the press for his suggestion that a Hindu cult
may have been responsible (linking it to the murder of Hillary
Blount). The coroner declares it murder by persons unknown.
That night, Edwards again dreams of the black cab in the East
End. He finds it at St. George's, and sees a beautiful woman
in a veil with lumiscent eyes -- she tells him ``Come to me.''
He wakes up at 4AM and goes to St. George's, where he sees the
cab and follows it to the Limehouse Cut, where it disappears.
- Thurs, Feb 28
- Rook appears bothered by something and makes a point of talking
privately with Edwards. Edwards visits Paul Keating, finding that
the children, Simon and Katherine, have been acting more normally.
Rook visits the Keating children, separately. Edwards reconnoiters
near the barge, and speaks with a man who is fishing off it.
- In the evening, the company visit a fortune teller named Madame
Sossostrich, who works from a barge on the Limehouse Cut -
approximately where Edwards lost the cab. There they encounter
the strange woman, who enchants the party to her will. The
goddess wants the drop of her blood back (the ruby), and the
company agree to recover it for her.
- Violet heartily agrees that Madame S. should be assisted to become
a free and independent woman. She asks for her fortune, and is
told that she is nearing a crucial decision point which may
destroy her. Madame S. also mentions that ``The eye of the sun
looks outward only - for those who look into it, it's
blinding''. Presumably this means that events or people within the
figure drawn by the Hawksmoor churches are in some way invisible
to spies using occult means
As they leave, the company are attacked by a man driving a
carriage. This coachman appears to be Marrish, who states that he
is Madam S's bodyguard. Two men run out of the alley, screaming
in pain, turn into hideous dog-headed things, and attack us.
- Fri, Mar 1
- Edwards, recovering from his wounds at home, is visited by a
Dr. Chatterjee. After the conversation, he finds that he has
talked quite more than he intended to. This seems to be related
to some chemical fumes which were in the room (noticed by his
servants later).
- The same day, an ad is put in the personals looking for relatives
of Smithson to pick up his effects. An address is given, the
decoy apartment where ``Hayward'' is staying.
- Mon, Mar 3
- The company search records for Indian immigrations, looking for
the inimical ``servants'' of the Goddess. They find that the
Prince of Gwalior and his entourage arrived at roughly that
time. Further, there was a physician named Chatterjee among the
entourage. This is soon confirmed as Rook's men trace suspicious
Indians keeping watch on ``Hayward's'' apartment back to a hotel
where the Prince is staying.
- Tue, Mar 5
- Rook visits Lord Rutherford at his offices, led in by a David
Perry. He explains about the situation with the ruby, and
suggests a meeting with the principals in the investigation
(notably Madame Sosostris whom he describes as a lady and a former
owner of the ruby).
- Wed, Mar 6
- The company drop by the Prince of Gwalior's hotel, sending a
message up to the suite asking for a talk in the lobby regarding
a certain ruby. Dr. Chatterjee comes down to explain about the
position of his people. He claims that his people are keeping the
bloodthirsty Goddess in check, by feeding strangled victims to it
- since she can be violent upon the sight of blood. They kill, he
claims, only to prevent greater evil. Rook (as Kevin Knightly),
blusters -- claiming that he only wants to kick troublesome gooks
out of the country with a minimum of fuss.
In discussion following, Violet sympathizes with this position.
She postulates that perhaps in England, convicted felons facing
the noose could be quietly sacrificed rather than killed in public
spectacle. Rook and Edwards are somewhat shocked at this
position, and try to convince her otherwise.
- Thurs, Mar 7
- The company visit the Goddess at her barge on the Limehouse Cut,
ostensibly to ask her to dinner at Rutherford's home, and for Miss
Woodhull to fit her with proper clothes for the event. Rook makes
a point to ``accidentally'' cut himself at this point to test
Chatterjee's claim. The lights dim and the Goddess becomes very
still, but she recovers and claims to be squeamish - which
explanation Rook readily accepts.
- Fri, Mar 8
- Edwards, Rook, Violet, and the Goddess arrive to dine at Lord
Rutherford's home. There they first introduce the Goddess over
drinks. She is eccentric but fashionable, and soon Rutherford
agrees to show her the ruby, checking if it is the same as hers.
She grasps it and falls over in a faint as the lights go out. A
young girl and a short coachman appear, seen only by the faint
light of matches. The coachman takes out a lobster and then
collapses in a fit, foaming at the mouth. The girl laughs and
then runs from the room -- Rook pursues her to the door, but she
runs faster than him and slips past his men outside.
The ruby is still clutched in the Goddess' hand, safeguarded by
Violet. The lights are restored and she recovers. She releases
her claim on the ruby and is kept out of further conversation.
The ruby, however, has lost much of its luster -- and upon being
apprised of the situation, Rutherford agrees to try to sell it to
the Indians. Later, the coachman tries to escape but is caught by
Rook's men outside.
- Mon
-
- Fri, March 15
- The Chamber discusses, with much disagreement, their plans to
form a larger secret society, to insure that they will have
sucessors. This could possibly involve bringing in the Golden
Dawn.
Rook and Violet investigate Monument Station. Apparently a
legitimate archeological dig in progress. Eck visits Sir Hilary
Atwood, posing as a wealthy dilettante. Atwood takes him to tour
the Moument dig. Thought to be temple ruins, possibly an odd
temple to Mithra, built to be underground, not on the surface. Not
the standard soldier temple. Eck pressures Atwood. Was he really
on the scene? Was the wall really there? It is a matter crucial
to the Empire. Atwood confesses that Ashcroft (of the Afterlife
Club) blackmailed him about his sister's unfortuate condition,
asking that he delay digging for a few weeks.
Watchers are place on the Afterlife Club's possible contacts. Dr.
Gotham is spotted at London Hospital. Other watchers spot a man
who could be Sigerson (the ``blind violinist'').
- Saturday, March 16
- By Saturday we find that Gotham took a cab to a seedy boarding
house near St. Anne's Limehouse. Rook questions the landlady:
Dr. Gotham regularly comes and sits in the living room for a few
hours, then leaves; she thinks to avoid being followed.
Rook and Violet stake out the area, and follow Gotham into an
opium den. They pretend to smoke opium. Unfortunately Violet
inhales, gets stoned, and passes out after amourously pawing at
Rook, calling him ``Edwards.''
Rook takes her to a squalid inn. Sigerson follows. They
talk. Sigerson questions whether Lorenz's death was faked or not,
and says that Lorenz was a pawn of someone else. Sigerson is
pursuing the conspiracy underlying the Limehouse madness. He does
not react visibly to the Monad symbol.
He reveals that ``Going up Apron Street'' is a code of the
underworld, especially fences with Chinatown connections. Sigerson
mentions dishonesty in the ranks of the police with hatred.
Grimmond has been asking questions about Apron Street. Sigerson
mentions Fu Manchu, the Napoleon of crime.
Evening: The party meets at Edwards' flat. Edwards is concerned
for Violet's safety as she risks her life and worse in mad
adventures. Rook acts uncomfortable and Violet blushes as they
remember the scene in the opium den.
- Thursday, March 21
- Edwards receives a letter (from Grimmond). Watchers report to
Rook that Gotham left the opium den with an unidentified Chinese,
tipped his hat to a disguised watcher, then walked on. The
watchers are pulled.
Evening: Edwards is at Kensington Gardens for a secret meeting.
Sigerson meets the rest of the Chamber at Edwards' flat at 8pm,
where he reveals that Fu Manchu is behind many expensive jewelry
heists. Sigerson refers to his highly placed friends. We tell
him we are ``Friends of Hawksquill'', thinking that he may be a
contact of Mr. Brown.
Sigerson leaves around 1:00am. Rook gets a telegram from his boss
(Sec. of Foreign Office) and Mr. Brown. Grimmond has been murdered
in Kensington Gardens! Edwards arrives in shock, as he was at the
Garden bandstand at 12:05 to meet Grimmond. When no one was
there, he left a chalk sign at the entrance gate.
- Thursday, March 21
- Constable Jones found the body at 1:30AM. Detective Trelawney
(Div. CID man) tentatively identified it as Grimmond when he
arrived on the scene. Detective Superintendent Christopher
St. John (played by Mark) arrived at 2:10AM and cordoned off the
area. By 2:35 when the company arrive, they are met by Sir James
Monro (Chief of Scotland Yard) and Mr. Brown are on the scene.
Stringham identifies the body by the rat tooth scars on the
legs. Grimmond's body has been systematically beaten to a pulp,
probably after he was killed by two or three massive blows to the
head. Eck does not look at the body.
- Footprints enter Palace Gate and continue parallel to the Broad
Walk, stopping halfway to Round Pond. Stickmarks become light as
if person began running. Attacked from the front in the trees
north of Round Pond from several people in ambush, although a man
in soft shoes was chasing him from behind. Grimmond has the powder
stains of firing a pistol, but there is no blood and no one heard
any shots. His body was searched by his assailants: his pistol
and any identifying documents were missing, but his cash and his
stick were left -- along with two oranges in a coat pocket, and
another is found nearby in the grass, all squodgy, apparently
prodded by thumbs. Edwards recalls that Grimmond didn't like
oranges!
The medical examiner and Stringham concur that he would have died
around midnight. Notes Grimmond wrote to Edwards in chalk. Marks
on Gate and Bandstand. Edwards made a sign on the Gate at
12:05. Proceeded to the Gallery at 12:10.
- Violet explains the poetic justice of the crime to St. John, and
why she suspects Fu Manchu. She begins to go into Sir Simon
Hamilton's murder, and the possible Chinese invasion of
England. Thankfully, Rook suppresses her indiscretion. The
company share a carriage with Mr. Brown in leaving. Violet
secretly passes him a letter. We discuss Grimmond's letter, which
suggested the presence of a police ``inner circle'' which could be
headed by Monro (?).
- Fri. March 22 1889
- Grimmond's autopsy. Stringham investigates the body with
St. John. Meanwhile, Rook checks into St. John's background.
Violet and Edwards wander Limehouse, in disguise, trying to pick
up information. They fail miserably. Violet basically made
Edwards go with her -- he thought the plan was stupid, but came
along to protect her.
At 8PM, Rook meets with St. John and Monro. (Liz plays Knight of
Wand on St. John for him to feel an urge to take up the mystery as
a personal quest. John plays the Chariot on St. John: triumph in
the mind, conquest, victorious prince.)
Rook explains that a network of advisors exists. His party is part
of that, dealing with matters of the occult. Monro explains that
Grimmond was convinced that the 1884 plot to blow up 3 railway
stations in London with ``clockwork infernal devices'' had
Limehouse, and Chinese, connections as well as Fenian
connections. He suspected a government conspiracy on the highest
levels, and was infiltrating Anarchist groups in London.
``We must get our hands on those notes!''
Monro says one of his superiors must be a traitor, unthinkable as
that is. Rook tells Monro about Grimmond's letter to Edwards.
- Sat. March 23 1889
- Rook and Edwards later realize that the oranges must have been a
message, and that Hawksmoore built...the Kensington Orangery! They
manage to recover, in a fireplace at the Orangery, a key to a safe
deposit box at Brighton Bank.
Edwards and Rook go to the bank. Only Edwards was on Grimmond's
list of people permitted to access the safe deposit box. He
examines the huge boxes of files, including:
Maroon box: Hayward's and Sir Simon Hamilton's notes.
Black box: Grimmond's notes. Edwards removes and hides files on
himself and the other members of the Chamber.
Small box: Two books, leather, old, handwritten. Two envelopes.
One book is De Automatis by John Dee (1589) and includes
sketches of clockwork and hydraulics. The other, De Occulta
APhilosophia, seu de arte architectonica... by Agrippa (1532)
and has incredible engravings by Albrecht Durer, tipped in.
(Note: Durer also had engravings in Merriwether's books including
St. Jerome, Melancholia, and others.) The envelope has two cards,
The Beggar (0) and The City (XXI). The second envelope has a note
to Edwards - ``Read file DC first and God Save the Queen''.
File DC is the Diogenes Club! Edwards take the DC and AH files.
Later the Chamber reads the files on DC. Many details of the
Diogenes Club history and leadership. The Luxor Brethren split in
1865. (more details will be added later.) The books were taken by
Grimmond from Hamilton's notes and held in secret. Apron Street
refers to a smuggler's route, not a place.
- Saturday, March 23
- Rook goes to meet Mycroft Holmes. They agree to meet later at
221B Baker Street at 8:00 tomorrow.
- Sunday, March 24
- During the day, Victoria Woodhull (Violet's mother) offers minor
information on Francis Hockley, who was mentioned in the files.
He was a nudist... but not a Marxist. Weird naked seances.
At 8, the company arrive at 221B Baker Street to meet with
Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes along with Dr. Watson. Items of
discussion include the all-important mole as well as speculation
concerning Fu Manchu -- What is his intent? What is he waiting
for? Also, the relation of the Luxor Bretheren is discussed.
- Monday, April 1
- Woodhull, Edwards, Rook, Eck, and Sussex-Ipwich leave Southampton
on a trip to the continent via the Orient Express. They plan to
visit Trieste and there talk to the elderly Sir Richard Francis
Burton regarding the history of the Diogenes Council. They leave
Southampton by train at 11:30. Arriving at Dover, they leave on
the ferry at 5:15PM. At Calais, they embark for Paris at
6:55PM, arriving early the next morning (2:17AM).
- Wednesday, April 3
- The Orient Express departs from Paris at 10AM sharp. Various
social interludes are made on board. That evening, the train
leaves Strasbourg at 8:04PM. The guests gather for a seance run
by ``Madam Arcana'' (perhaps strengthened by the presence of Miss
Sussex-Ipwich).
- Thursday, April 4
- The Express arrives at Stuttgart early in the morning (7:15AM).
Socialities continue through Ulm (12:30) and Augsburg (9:00PM).
Late that night, Edwards follows the beautiful Andrea Stefania to
her room -- only to be saved from assassination by Ronald Lakeby.
A rooftop fight ensues between Lakeby and the Cosa Nostra assassin
Stefani -- soon aided by the rather tipsy Edwards.
Miss Woodhull stops the train at the disturbance.
- Friday, April 5
- The Express arrives at Munich early in the morning 4:17AM.
- Saturday, April 6
- Arr. Salzburg 11:47, Ljubjiana 19:45
- Sunday, April 7
- Arr. Trieste 11:10 by local first-class train