From lev at rpgreview.net Wed Oct 10 11:32:03 2012 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:32:03 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Beyond Lausanne Message-ID: Having journeyed to the beautiful Swiss town of Lausanne, some of the investigators found themselves in a parallel medieval dream-world where their protagonist engaged in a horrific and mad court case against the taxidermist who claimed knowledge of the Scrolls and Simulacrum.. Well, next stop is Milan. What could possibly go wrong there? Oh, seeming it's gone, just a taste of the sort of thing that people get up to at The Asylum. http://levlafayette.com/files/spirited1.jpg http://levlafayette.com/files/spirited2.jpg http://levlafayette.com/files/spirited3.jpg Yeah, it's like that. See you all tomorrow night for more journeys into madness and horror - on one of the most beautiful train-trips of human history. Lev From lev at rpgreview.net Sun Oct 21 12:41:29 2012 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2012 23:41:29 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] (no subject) Message-ID: <9a8008cd40d61d623c2ecb0a2cd1a8b5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Monday, January 1st, 1923. London. ---------------------------------------------------------------- It is magnificent to be here, despite the bitter cold, for today is a special day! Ah, most people think it is special because it is New Year's Day, but New Year's Day happens every year, and I have many already. Today is a special day because this evening I shall attend The Challenger Lecture, where my good friend Professor Julian Smith will be speaking. It was such a delight to receive his invitation last month; he has been most useful in the past in uncovering the various tricks used by criminal minds to suggest supernatural events. I am also very pleased to receive in his missive that some of my old investigative friends, the German archaeologist Eva Weismuller, who joined me once on the Nile, the doughty Canadian engineer, Donald Frazer, from the terrible investigations after the Great War in Belgium, and the stage magician friend who goes by the name "Sergio Garcia", who assisted me in the strange disappearances in the East London theatres, will also be joining us. It is with some regret that my old Australian friend, the most elegant and beautiful Lillian St. John is in a clinic in Lausanne due to her particular medical afflictions. Like New Year's Day The Challenger Lecture is also an annual event, but this will be the first that I have attended. Funded by a trust fund, the reputation is excellent, with excellent and unusual lectures of great scientific and technical importance. Curie and Marconi have provided lectures in the past, as hs Count von Zepplin and Edison - magnificent that Professor Smith is to be included in such company! I am also looking forward to the opportunity to visit the Imperial Institute in South Kensington where the lecture shall be held [1]. [1] See: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47529 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_Institute.jpg Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Tuesday, January 2nd, 1923. London. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Professor Smith's lecture was indeed most surprising. He did, of course, present in his gregarious and amusing fashion on the many attempts by the criminal or merely superstitious to appeal to supernatural events. Certainly his rigorous mind has been strengthened through his study of histories, of which he is a great expert. But then, Professor Smith surprised me, and surprised everyone present, with photographic and film evidence he presented, most soberly, evidence of paranormal events he called "epiphenomena", which he could not explain. We all managed to engage in a brief conversation with our old friend after his lecture before he was taken up in conversation by the many and varied individuals who had come to see him. Eva mentioned that she particularly noticed the Professor having a conversation with what she described as "a man in his late thirties, with a swarthy complexion, and a foreign moustache". I dread to think what she considers of my moustache! The following morning over breakfast we noticed some strange and terrible news in the papers. Firstly, I noticed in The Times, that the Professor's House had burned to the ground. The second was noticed by Frau Weissmuller in the less reputed Scoop, that three men each with identification of Mr. Mehment Makyrat had been found dead, an issue even more important than her concerns of the status of the Mark. Both reports gave details of contacts at Scotland, and at least one of the names Inspector Fleming, I recognised. Our visit to this man was somewhat revealing, as we discovered the address of the M. Makryat, and that each of the corpses carried the same telegram from Paris, and each was partially flayed. Returning from the Scotland Yard a card was addressed to us at the hotel, showing all the indications to be from the good professor, although it gave an address at Cheapside [2]. We visited the address, a small apartment in a grimy block. Professor Smith's faithful servant, M. Beddows, answered the door at let us into the dark and nearly bare room. Professor Smith had suffered terrible wounds from the fire, but raised himself from his bed and recited a tale of an occult artifact which he claimed had evil powers. The Sedefkar Simulacrum, dismembered by Comte Fenalik, and lost just prior to the French Revolution. The Professor had tracked down the last known place of many of its parts; Paris, Milan, Venice, Trieste, and Sofia. Professor Smith and M. Beddows were attacked in their home by Turks, who set their place on fire, whom he believed were after his notes on the Simulacrum. After a while he could speak no more and passed out unconscious. Beddows took us aside and provided us one thousand pounds sterling; Professor Smith had planned to travel the Simplon-Orient Express to recover the pieces and begged us now to continue his master's work. We left the hovel and swore that we would do so, and purchased the requisite tickets on the Simplon Orient-Express. It is now late at night; I must rest for on the morrow we shall investigate the shop from which this Mehment Makryat operated from. [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheapside Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Wednesday, January 3rd, 1923. London. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Prior to visiting Mehment Makryat's antique store we visited the Turkish embassy, who provided us information most conflicting concerning our quarry; they argued that M. Makryat's age was a great deal younger than the man whom the descriptions provided; indeed it matched the age of the man whom we witnessed at The Challenger Lecture. Most unsurprising was the claim from the embassy that the additional passports reported were forgeries, not duplicates, and therefore a problem that arises from British criminals, rather than Turkish incompetence. Makryat's store was in Islington. We were visited by a neighbouring accountant, M. Jones, who gave some description of the normal activities that had occurred within, but it was a meeting most fortunate. After investigating the thoroughly normal store, we noted the lack of luggage and clothing, but more importantly we discovered the books of accounts. But with the aid or M. Jones, there was one entry most incongruous - the purchase of a train set from the estate of Randolph Alexis sold to M. Henry Stanley of Stoke Newington. Frau Weismuller recognised the name of Alexis as a person of some note in European esoteric circles and we wondered a great deal why an antique dealer would be purchasing a train set. We travelled most quickly to visit M. Stanley, but when we arrived we were directed to the morning's newspapers, which indicated that M. Stanley, a noted member of the London Train Spotter's Association, had literally disappeared from his room. The papers noted that the room was full of smoke, possibly from a fire caused by the train set, and the paper speculated it was a case of spontaneous human combustion. Visiting the house, we were introduced by his landlady, M. Constance Atkins, an enterprising woman who charged a shilling to "See the Death Room". Our investigations reveal that there was no signs of exit from the room, but Frau Weismuller did note that there was soot on the ceiling and smudges on the floor, which were the width of a train track. We hurried to the local police station, as the train set had been taken for investigation. The inspector reported that it showed no electrical faults and insufficient voltage to cause electrocution. Nevertheless, it had been given to the London Trainspotter's Association for their expert opinion. We went to the Association president's home in Camberwell, the abode of one M. Arthur Butter. Taking us to the basement he showed us the train set and mentioned it depicted the line and set of an 1897 crash, resulting in a great loss of life, and the disappearance of two carriages. We also received an invitation to the Association dinner that evening. What happened next was an event most - I must use the Professor's term - most epiphenomenal. M. Donald Frazer started up the train set. After it had made a number of circuits of the board, the room itself was shrouded in a mist most unusual and we heard, and then saw, a ghostly train come out of the ether. A number of passengers, with vacant stares and clothing that was the fashion of the 1890s approached us and beckoned us to come on-board with them, but we would were not agreeable to this proposal, except M. Frazer. As the train journeyed into the ethereal world, the room returned to its normal state, but M. Frazer was missing! You cannot imagine how difficult the dinner was that night. Our minds were full of the strange events that we had witnessed as well as fear for our lost friend. For their part, the Trainspotter's Association were extremely interested in their chosen field of expertise. We learned a few items of what to expect on the journey, and that an association member, M. Walter Partridge, would be travelling simultaneously with our planned journey. But now we had a spare ticket! This day, it has been most exhausting. Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Thursday, January 4th, 1923. London. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Another most remarkable day. Although it was difficult for us all to rest, we eventually managed to acquire a few fitful hours. Imagine our surprise however that upon our breaking of the fast, that M. Donald Frazer joined us in the hotel dining room, albeit looking a little worse for wear. He gave us a story most remarkable, of how the passengers turned upon him, and he was rescued by none other than Randolph Alexis himself. It appears that he had M. Alexis had contrived some magical spell which transported the carriage from 1897 and retained it in this journey for many years, like the story of The Flying Dutchman, non? With, two gunmen, and the missing Henry Stanley in one carriage and a great number of these aggressive walking dead in the other Monsieur Randolph was attempting to recreate the train track with body parts that he had acquired from the corpses. However, it was M. Frazer who pointed out that the original set was of a three-dimensional shape, whereas the entrails that Alexis Randolph had laid out was but in two. With the addition of new ramps & etc., the occultist was able to complete the spell, and transport the two carriages - missing since 1897 to their locations - alas, right in front of an oncoming locomotive. All leapt from the carriage as a great crash appears. Most sensibly, M. Frazer decided to escape the scene. I am very uncertain on how to explain this event in legal terms, which is most interested in exacting notions of space and time. With a few hours remaining before embarking on the train to Dover Frau Weissmuller expressed an interest in visiting the British library to discern whether there was any information concerning the Sedefkar simulacrum. There was indeed a reference to the location of scrolls for the item being held in Topkapi Museum in Constantinople. Very soon after Frau had made this discover, a corpse slumped over the Reading Room, the body flayed. Attached to the body in the Turkish language was the warning: "The Skinless One Will Not Be Denied". As much as I am enjoying the beautiful countryside of Kent, I am most mentally exhausted after the events of the past days and I am afraid I must rest early tonight. Bon soir cher journal, et bon r?ve. From lev at rpgreview.net Sun Oct 21 12:42:22 2012 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2012 23:42:22 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: <9a8008cd40d61d623c2ecb0a2cd1a8b5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> References: <9a8008cd40d61d623c2ecb0a2cd1a8b5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Message-ID: <60540d1dfbf219c63b97b678e647df83.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Monday, January 1st, 1923. London. ---------------------------------------------------------------- It is magnificent to be here, despite the bitter cold, for today is a special day! Ah, most people think it is special because it is New Year's Day, but New Year's Day happens every year, and I have many already. Today is a special day because this evening I shall attend The Challenger Lecture, where my good friend Professor Julian Smith will be speaking. It was such a delight to receive his invitation last month; he has been most useful in the past in uncovering the various tricks used by criminal minds to suggest supernatural events. I am also very pleased to receive in his missive that some of my old investigative friends, the German archaeologist Eva Weismuller, who joined me once on the Nile, the doughty Canadian engineer, Donald Frazer, from the terrible investigations after the Great War in Belgium, and the stage magician friend who goes by the name "Sergio Garcia", who assisted me in the strange disappearances in the East London theatres, will also be joining us. It is with some regret that my old Australian friend, the most elegant and beautiful Lillian St. John is in a clinic in Lausanne due to her particular medical afflictions. Like New Year's Day The Challenger Lecture is also an annual event, but this will be the first that I have attended. Funded by a trust fund, the reputation is excellent, with excellent and unusual lectures of great scientific and technical importance. Curie and Marconi have provided lectures in the past, as hs Count von Zepplin and Edison - magnificent that Professor Smith is to be included in such company! I am also looking forward to the opportunity to visit the Imperial Institute in South Kensington where the lecture shall be held [1]. [1] See: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47529 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_Institute.jpg Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Tuesday, January 2nd, 1923. London. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Professor Smith's lecture was indeed most surprising. He did, of course, present in his gregarious and amusing fashion on the many attempts by the criminal or merely superstitious to appeal to supernatural events. Certainly his rigorous mind has been strengthened through his study of histories, of which he is a great expert. But then, Professor Smith surprised me, and surprised everyone present, with photographic and film evidence he presented, most soberly, evidence of paranormal events he called "epiphenomena", which he could not explain. We all managed to engage in a brief conversation with our old friend after his lecture before he was taken up in conversation by the many and varied individuals who had come to see him. Eva mentioned that she particularly noticed the Professor having a conversation with what she described as "a man in his late thirties, with a swarthy complexion, and a foreign moustache". I dread to think what she considers of my moustache! The following morning over breakfast we noticed some strange and terrible news in the papers. Firstly, I noticed in The Times, that the Professor's House had burned to the ground. The second was noticed by Frau Weissmuller in the less reputed Scoop, that three men each with identification of Mr. Mehment Makyrat had been found dead, an issue even more important than her concerns of the status of the Mark. Both reports gave details of contacts at Scotland, and at least one of the names Inspector Fleming, I recognised. Our visit to this man was somewhat revealing, as we discovered the address of the M. Makryat, and that each of the corpses carried the same telegram from Paris, and each was partially flayed. Returning from the Scotland Yard a card was addressed to us at the hotel, showing all the indications to be from the good professor, although it gave an address at Cheapside [2]. We visited the address, a small apartment in a grimy block. Professor Smith's faithful servant, M. Beddows, answered the door at let us into the dark and nearly bare room. Professor Smith had suffered terrible wounds from the fire, but raised himself from his bed and recited a tale of an occult artifact which he claimed had evil powers. The Sedefkar Simulacrum, dismembered by Comte Fenalik, and lost just prior to the French Revolution. The Professor had tracked down the last known place of many of its parts; Paris, Milan, Venice, Trieste, and Sofia. Professor Smith and M. Beddows were attacked in their home by Turks, who set their place on fire, whom he believed were after his notes on the Simulacrum. After a while he could speak no more and passed out unconscious. Beddows took us aside and provided us one thousand pounds sterling; Professor Smith had planned to travel the Simplon-Orient Express to recover the pieces and begged us now to continue his master's work. We left the hovel and swore that we would do so, and purchased the requisite tickets on the Simplon Orient-Express. It is now late at night; I must rest for on the morrow we shall investigate the shop from which this Mehment Makryat operated from. [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheapside Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Wednesday, January 3rd, 1923. London. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Prior to visiting Mehment Makryat's antique store we visited the Turkish embassy, who provided us information most conflicting concerning our quarry; they argued that M. Makryat's age was a great deal younger than the man whom the descriptions provided; indeed it matched the age of the man whom we witnessed at The Challenger Lecture. Most unsurprising was the claim from the embassy that the additional passports reported were forgeries, not duplicates, and therefore a problem that arises from British criminals, rather than Turkish incompetence. Makryat's store was in Islington. We were visited by a neighbouring accountant, M. Jones, who gave some description of the normal activities that had occurred within, but it was a meeting most fortunate. After investigating the thoroughly normal store, we noted the lack of luggage and clothing, but more importantly we discovered the books of accounts. But with the aid or M. Jones, there was one entry most incongruous - the purchase of a train set from the estate of Randolph Alexis sold to M. Henry Stanley of Stoke Newington. Frau Weismuller recognised the name of Alexis as a person of some note in European esoteric circles and we wondered a great deal why an antique dealer would be purchasing a train set. We travelled most quickly to visit M. Stanley, but when we arrived we were directed to the morning's newspapers, which indicated that M. Stanley, a noted member of the London Train Spotter's Association, had literally disappeared from his room. The papers noted that the room was full of smoke, possibly from a fire caused by the train set, and the paper speculated it was a case of spontaneous human combustion. Visiting the house, we were introduced by his landlady, M. Constance Atkins, an enterprising woman who charged a shilling to "See the Death Room". Our investigations reveal that there was no signs of exit from the room, but Frau Weismuller did note that there was soot on the ceiling and smudges on the floor, which were the width of a train track. We hurried to the local police station, as the train set had been taken for investigation. The inspector reported that it showed no electrical faults and insufficient voltage to cause electrocution. Nevertheless, it had been given to the London Trainspotter's Association for their expert opinion. We went to the Association president's home in Camberwell, the abode of one M. Arthur Butter. Taking us to the basement he showed us the train set and mentioned it depicted the line and set of an 1897 crash, resulting in a great loss of life, and the disappearance of two carriages. We also received an invitation to the Association dinner that evening. What happened next was an event most - I must use the Professor's term - most epiphenomenal. M. Donald Frazer started up the train set. After it had made a number of circuits of the board, the room itself was shrouded in a mist most unusual and we heard, and then saw, a ghostly train come out of the ether. A number of passengers, with vacant stares and clothing that was the fashion of the 1890s approached us and beckoned us to come on-board with them, but we would were not agreeable to this proposal, except M. Frazer. As the train journeyed into the ethereal world, the room returned to its normal state, but M. Frazer was missing! You cannot imagine how difficult the dinner was that night. Our minds were full of the strange events that we had witnessed as well as fear for our lost friend. For their part, the Trainspotter's Association were extremely interested in their chosen field of expertise. We learned a few items of what to expect on the journey, and that an association member, M. Walter Partridge, would be travelling simultaneously with our planned journey. But now we had a spare ticket! This day, it has been most exhausting. Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Thursday, January 4th, 1923. London. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Another most remarkable day. Although it was difficult for us all to rest, we eventually managed to acquire a few fitful hours. Imagine our surprise however that upon our breaking of the fast, that M. Donald Frazer joined us in the hotel dining room, albeit looking a little worse for wear. He gave us a story most remarkable, of how the passengers turned upon him, and he was rescued by none other than Randolph Alexis himself. It appears that he had M. Alexis had contrived some magical spell which transported the carriage from 1897 and retained it in this journey for many years, like the story of The Flying Dutchman, non? With, two gunmen, and the missing Henry Stanley in one carriage and a great number of these aggressive walking dead in the other Monsieur Randolph was attempting to recreate the train track with body parts that he had acquired from the corpses. However, it was M. Frazer who pointed out that the original set was of a three-dimensional shape, whereas the entrails that Alexis Randolph had laid out was but in two. With the addition of new ramps & etc., the occultist was able to complete the spell, and transport the two carriages - missing since 1897 to their locations - alas, right in front of an oncoming locomotive. All leapt from the carriage as a great crash appears. Most sensibly, M. Frazer decided to escape the scene. I am very uncertain on how to explain this event in legal terms, which is most interested in exacting notions of space and time. With a few hours remaining before embarking on the train to Dover Frau Weissmuller expressed an interest in visiting the British library to discern whether there was any information concerning the Sedefkar simulacrum. There was indeed a reference to the location of scrolls for the item being held in Topkapi Museum in Constantinople. Very soon after Frau had made this discover, a corpse slumped over the Reading Room, the body flayed. Attached to the body in the Turkish language was the warning: "The Skinless One Will Not Be Denied". As much as I am enjoying the beautiful countryside of Kent, I am most mentally exhausted after the events of the past days and I am afraid I must rest early tonight. Bon soir cher journal, et bon r?ve. From everyonelse58 at hotmail.com Tue Oct 23 11:50:59 2012 From: everyonelse58 at hotmail.com (Martin Tegelj) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:50:59 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: <60540d1dfbf219c63b97b678e647df83.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> References: <9a8008cd40d61d623c2ecb0a2cd1a8b5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net>, <60540d1dfbf219c63b97b678e647df83.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Message-ID: Thanks for the story review Lev, it came out really well. Enjoyed reading it! Martin. > Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2012 23:42:22 +1100 > From: lev at rpgreview.net > To: nyarlathotep at rpgreview.net > Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. > > > > Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Monday, January 1st, 1923. London. > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > It is magnificent to be here, despite the bitter cold, for today is a > special day! Ah, most people think it is special because it is New Year's > Day, but New Year's Day happens every year, and I have many already. Today > is a special day because this evening I shall attend The Challenger > Lecture, where my good friend Professor Julian Smith will be speaking. It > was such a delight to receive his invitation last month; he has been most > useful in the past in uncovering the various tricks used by criminal minds > to suggest supernatural events. > > I am also very pleased to receive in his missive that some of my old > investigative friends, the German archaeologist Eva Weismuller, who joined > me once on the Nile, the doughty Canadian engineer, Donald Frazer, from > the terrible investigations after the Great War in Belgium, and the stage > magician friend who goes by the name "Sergio Garcia", who assisted me in > the strange disappearances in the East London theatres, will also be > joining us. It is with some regret that my old Australian friend, the most > elegant and beautiful Lillian St. John is in a clinic in Lausanne due to > her particular medical afflictions. > > Like New Year's Day The Challenger Lecture is also an annual event, but > this will be the first that I have attended. Funded by a trust fund, the > reputation is excellent, with excellent and unusual lectures of great > scientific and technical importance. Curie and Marconi have provided > lectures in the past, as hs Count von Zepplin and Edison - magnificent > that Professor Smith is to be included in such company! I am also looking > forward to the opportunity to visit the Imperial Institute in South > Kensington where the lecture shall be held [1]. > > [1] See: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47529 and > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_Institute.jpg > > > Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Tuesday, January 2nd, 1923. London. > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > Professor Smith's lecture was indeed most surprising. He did, of course, > present in his gregarious and amusing fashion on the many attempts by the > criminal or merely superstitious to appeal to supernatural events. > Certainly his rigorous mind has been strengthened through his study of > histories, of which he is a great expert. But then, Professor Smith > surprised me, and surprised everyone present, with photographic and film > evidence he presented, most soberly, evidence of paranormal events he > called "epiphenomena", which he could not explain. We all managed to > engage in a brief conversation with our old friend after his lecture > before he was taken up in conversation by the many and varied individuals > who had come to see him. Eva mentioned that she particularly noticed the > Professor having a conversation with what she described as "a man in his > late thirties, with a swarthy complexion, and a foreign moustache". I > dread to think what she considers of my moustache! > > The following morning over breakfast we noticed some strange and terrible > news in the papers. Firstly, I noticed in The Times, that the Professor's > House had burned to the ground. The second was noticed by Frau Weissmuller > in the less reputed Scoop, that three men each with identification of Mr. > Mehment Makyrat had been found dead, an issue even more important than her > concerns of the status of the Mark. Both reports gave details of contacts > at Scotland, and at least one of the names Inspector Fleming, I > recognised. Our visit to this man was somewhat revealing, as we discovered > the address of the M. Makryat, and that each of the corpses carried the > same telegram from Paris, and each was partially flayed. > > Returning from the Scotland Yard a card was addressed to us at the hotel, > showing all the indications to be from the good professor, although it > gave an address at Cheapside [2]. We visited the address, a small > apartment in a grimy block. Professor Smith's faithful servant, M. > Beddows, answered the door at let us into the dark and nearly bare room. > Professor Smith had suffered terrible wounds from the fire, but raised > himself from his bed and recited a tale of an occult artifact which he > claimed had evil powers. The Sedefkar Simulacrum, dismembered by Comte > Fenalik, and lost just prior to the French Revolution. The Professor had > tracked down the last known place of many of its parts; Paris, Milan, > Venice, Trieste, and Sofia. Professor Smith and M. Beddows were attacked > in their home by Turks, who set their place on fire, whom he believed were > after his notes on the Simulacrum. > > After a while he could speak no more and passed out unconscious. Beddows > took us aside and provided us one thousand pounds sterling; Professor > Smith had planned to travel the Simplon-Orient Express to recover the > pieces and begged us now to continue his master's work. We left the hovel > and swore that we would do so, and purchased the requisite tickets on the > Simplon Orient-Express. > > It is now late at night; I must rest for on the morrow we shall > investigate the shop from which this Mehment Makryat operated from. > > [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheapside > > > Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Wednesday, January 3rd, 1923. London. > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Prior to visiting Mehment Makryat's antique store we visited the Turkish > embassy, who provided us information most conflicting concerning our > quarry; they argued that M. Makryat's age was a great deal younger than > the man whom the descriptions provided; indeed it matched the age of the > man whom we witnessed at The Challenger Lecture. Most unsurprising was the > claim from the embassy that the additional passports reported were > forgeries, not duplicates, and therefore a problem that arises from > British criminals, rather than Turkish incompetence. > > Makryat's store was in Islington. We were visited by a neighbouring > accountant, M. Jones, who gave some description of the normal activities > that had occurred within, but it was a meeting most fortunate. After > investigating the thoroughly normal store, we noted the lack of luggage > and clothing, but more importantly we discovered the books of accounts. > But with the aid or M. Jones, there was one entry most incongruous - the > purchase of a train set from the estate of Randolph Alexis sold to M. > Henry Stanley of Stoke Newington. Frau Weismuller recognised the name of > Alexis as a person of some note in European esoteric circles and we > wondered a great deal why an antique dealer would be purchasing a train > set. > > We travelled most quickly to visit M. Stanley, but when we arrived we were > directed to the morning's newspapers, which indicated that M. Stanley, a > noted member of the London Train Spotter's Association, had literally > disappeared from his room. The papers noted that the room was full of > smoke, possibly from a fire caused by the train set, and the paper > speculated it was a case of spontaneous human combustion. Visiting the > house, we were introduced by his landlady, M. Constance Atkins, an > enterprising woman who charged a shilling to "See the Death Room". Our > investigations reveal that there was no signs of exit from the room, but > Frau Weismuller did note that there was soot on the ceiling and smudges on > the floor, which were the width of a train track. > > We hurried to the local police station, as the train set had been taken > for investigation. The inspector reported that it showed no electrical > faults and insufficient voltage to cause electrocution. Nevertheless, it > had been given to the London Trainspotter's Association for their expert > opinion. We went to the Association president's home in Camberwell, the > abode of one M. Arthur Butter. Taking us to the basement he showed us the > train set and mentioned it depicted the line and set of an 1897 crash, > resulting in a great loss of life, and the disappearance of two carriages. > We also received an invitation to the Association dinner that evening. > > What happened next was an event most - I must use the Professor's term - > most epiphenomenal. M. Donald Frazer started up the train set. After it > had made a number of circuits of the board, the room itself was shrouded > in a mist most unusual and we heard, and then saw, a ghostly train come > out of the ether. A number of passengers, with vacant stares and clothing > that was the fashion of the 1890s approached us and beckoned us to come > on-board with them, but we would were not agreeable to this proposal, > except M. Frazer. As the train journeyed into the ethereal world, the room > returned to its normal state, but M. Frazer was missing! > > You cannot imagine how difficult the dinner was that night. Our minds were > full of the strange events that we had witnessed as well as fear for our > lost friend. For their part, the Trainspotter's Association were extremely > interested in their chosen field of expertise. We learned a few items of > what to expect on the journey, and that an association member, M. Walter > Partridge, would be travelling simultaneously with our planned journey. > But now we had a spare ticket! > > This day, it has been most exhausting. > > > Le Journal De Hercule Poirot, Thursday, January 4th, 1923. London. > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Another most remarkable day. Although it was difficult for us all to rest, > we eventually managed to acquire a few fitful hours. Imagine our surprise > however that upon our breaking of the fast, that M. Donald Frazer joined > us in the hotel dining room, albeit looking a little worse for wear. He > gave us a story most remarkable, of how the passengers turned upon him, > and he was rescued by none other than Randolph Alexis himself. It appears > that he had M. Alexis had contrived some magical spell which transported > the carriage from 1897 and retained it in this journey for many years, > like the story of The Flying Dutchman, non? > > With, two gunmen, and the missing Henry Stanley in one carriage and a > great number of these aggressive walking dead in the other Monsieur > Randolph was attempting to recreate the train track with body parts that > he had acquired from the corpses. However, it was M. Frazer who pointed > out that the original set was of a three-dimensional shape, whereas the > entrails that Alexis Randolph had laid out was but in two. With the > addition of new ramps & etc., the occultist was able to complete the > spell, and transport the two carriages - missing since 1897 to their > locations - alas, right in front of an oncoming locomotive. All leapt from > the carriage as a great crash appears. Most sensibly, M. Frazer decided to > escape the scene. I am very uncertain on how to explain this event in > legal terms, which is most interested in exacting notions of space and > time. > > With a few hours remaining before embarking on the train to Dover Frau > Weissmuller expressed an interest in visiting the British library to > discern whether there was any information concerning the Sedefkar > simulacrum. There was indeed a reference to the location of scrolls for > the item being held in Topkapi Museum in Constantinople. Very soon after > Frau had made this discover, a corpse slumped over the Reading Room, the > body flayed. Attached to the body in the Turkish language was the warning: > "The Skinless One Will Not Be Denied". > > As much as I am enjoying the beautiful countryside of Kent, I am most > mentally exhausted after the events of the past days and I am afraid I > must rest early tonight. Bon soir cher journal, et bon r?ve. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Nyarlathotep mailing list > Nyarlathotep at rpgreview.net > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/nyarlathotep_rpgreview.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Wed Oct 24 05:12:42 2012 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:12:42 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: References: <9a8008cd40d61d623c2ecb0a2cd1a8b5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net>, <60540d1dfbf219c63b97b678e647df83.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Message-ID: <9c16cb9455483734e6f33fb927cb6995.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> > > Thanks for the story review Lev, it came out really well. Enjoyed reading > it! Glad you enjoyed it Martin... Just a reminder for all, we have another session on tomorrow night at the asylum. Bwahahaha! I mean, you should be in Venice soon. What could possibly go wrong? From mcole222 at yahoo.com.au Wed Oct 24 05:19:55 2012 From: mcole222 at yahoo.com.au (Michael Cole) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:19:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: <9c16cb9455483734e6f33fb927cb6995.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Message-ID: <1351055995.10125.YahooMailClassic@web160102.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> --- On Wed, 24/10/12, lev at rpgreview.net wrote: > Just a reminder for all, we have another session on tomorrow > night at the > asylum. Bwahahaha! > > I mean, you should be in Venice soon. What could possibly go > wrong? > It sinks? From mcole222 at yahoo.com.au Sun Oct 28 00:48:53 2012 From: mcole222 at yahoo.com.au (Michael Cole) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 11:48:53 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: <1351055995.10125.YahooMailClassic@web160102.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <1351055995.10125.YahooMailClassic@web160102.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <508C80F5.1010109@yahoo.com.au> On 24/10/2012 4:19 PM, Michael Cole wrote: > > --- On Wed, 24/10/12, lev at rpgreview.net wrote: > >> Just a reminder for all, we have another session on tomorrow >> night at the >> asylum. Bwahahaha! >> >> I mean, you should be in Venice soon. What could possibly go >> wrong? >> > It sinks? > > I was obviously being conservative... From lev at rpgreview.net Wed Oct 31 08:39:53 2012 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:39:53 +1100 Subject: [Nyarlathotep] Horror on the Orient Express: Chapter One, London. In-Reply-To: <508C80F5.1010109@yahoo.com.au> References: <1351055995.10125.YahooMailClassic@web160102.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> <508C80F5.1010109@yahoo.com.au> Message-ID: <91a6356ef5a9d08a9e68f2abf454ab77.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> >>> I mean, you should be in Venice soon. What could possibly go >>> wrong? >>> >> It sinks? >> >> > I was obviously being conservative... > You could destroy a town monument, get on the wrong side of the head of police and the ruling Fascist Party, have three characters driven insane, and be stalked by a vampire with superhuman strength? Yeah, more like that, actually.