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