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The Journey through: Boston Massachusetts, Rosses Crossing Massachusetts, London England, Paris France, up to Poissy France where the game went on break.

4 years before The Challenger Banquet

Scenario Edge of Darkness

A British scholar named Professor Smith contacts Camilla Moretti in the Summer of 1919. He asks her to investigate the story of the preternatural as he is only in the states for a very short time. He came to the States to visit the Society for Exploration of the Unexplained (SEU).

The young Camilla Moretti is the Heiress to her father’s crime family. Her father, Vigo, sees no harm in letting her look into the situation and later to go to chase down mysteries in Europe. Some day she will be called on to lead and Vigo Moretti sees it as an opportunity for her to learn. Her interest in the occult and scholarship is a main driver for the campaign.

The investigators

Still, he sends his men to protect her. They are led by the well read mob surgeon Scotty “Doctor Doc” Musoliny (played by Chanse). The locksmith and muscle is the ever useful “Dr. Hands” (played by Steve and not a doctor). The criminal lawyer Frank “Slim” Miskatoni (played by Nacho). The backup muscle is Hank “The Face” Braddock.

Rosses Crossing Massachusetts Events

Camilla drags the begrudging mobsters to meet with Dr. Merriweather at the behest of Professor Smith after they meet in a cafe. The jolly walrus of a man has a pleasant meal with them before rushing off. This is just 3 months before his wife Edith dies. Upon meeting Merriweather at the hospital, he shows the investigators a golden sarcophagus a foot long with Voorish Script inside. They vaguely recall that the Voors were a supposed malevolent race from pre-history that worship dark gods like Old Worm and The Skinless God

She agrees and she takes her fathers men to protect her. This is only months before Professor Smith’s wife Edith dies.

They contact the man, Merriweather, who suddenly dies after giving them some clues. They retain a curious golden sarcophagus about a foot and a half long with Voorish Script inside. They also have the address to a house where Merriweather and his friends long ago practiced “magic”. One of the investigators vaguely remembers that the Voors where a malevolent race from pre-history that worship dark gods like Old Worm and The Skinless God.

Scotty, Hands and Frank along with NPCs Camilla and Face entered the town of Rosses Crossing. They went to the house that Merriweather owned and scared off a hobo that was stying in the basement. Down there they found an old trunk with laughable cultist robes and a “magic” tome which contained a spell to banish a Djinn. Later they found a local dead woman nearby whose heart was missing. Paying no heed to the odd nature of her death, they waited for the police to truck her off while they settled in to perform the ritual at midnight to banish Djinn “gin”. At 10pm they hear a loud scream and rush of air that to modern ears would sound like a jet passing close overhead. Suddenly, the boring night babysitting the bosses daughter became very real. The invisible being they called a gin spat acid at them, sent undead minions, and taunted them but to no avail. They succeeded in banishing it while “Face” primarily fended off an undead bear and squirrels.

Afterwards, the investigators decided they likely imagined the whole thing and went on with their lives.

4 years later; London

The Challenger Banquet

After their experience, Camilla kept in touch with Professor Smith and when he invited her to The Challenger Banquet, a meeting of scholars interested in the paranormal. She dove at the chanse and Victor Moretti sent the same group to protect her.

At the banquet, Smith gives a well regarded speech about bringing scientific rigor to the psychic and paranormal. The whole affair is to bring together likeminded individuals. Afterwards he tells the investigators that he believes the skills of the mobsters would likely be very valuable in a new endeavor he is undertaking. He is tight lipped about it but promises to meet with them later in the week to make them aware.

Unfortunately for Smith he never gets the chance to make that meeting. Unbeknownst to the investigators or Smith, there is a Turk named Mehmet Makryat at the banquet and he has other plans. One of the investigators notices him staring at Smith before bowing out of the party.

The Doom Train (scenario)

The investigators spend some time exploring London while waiting on the call from Smith and read two mysteries in the paper. One, that 3 Turks, all named Memeht Makryat all were killed in the same hotel room in a gruesome fashion. Two, that a man had spontaneously combusted in his room.

They found no leads on the 3 dead men but the trail of the spontaneous combustion led the group to find that the man had bought a model train from Mehmet Makryat and it could open up a gate to a ghost train.

Upon activating the model train in the basement of the local train club, Camilla was abducted onto the train by soul sucking ghosts. The rest of the party jumped on to her rescue. They found themselves trapped on the train with the ghostly previous victims of the train and with a mad sorcerer who had built it.

The man was clearly mad and was trying to remake the train set that opens the gate with the organs of the unlucky people who entered this place, including his own son. Here Frank used a human heart to mimic the train and gated them back to reality. The train stopped and they narrowly avoided a head-on train collision for the unwitting London rail network did not expect a new train to be where it was. They avoided suspicion and the crazy old sorcerer turned to dust.

They retained the Doom Train Set and could unleash it again

All seemed well in the world at that point.

Dancers in an Evening Fog (scenario)

Meeting with the Professor

After they returned to London, they lost contact with Professor Smith. They then learned that his St John’s Woods home had burned to the ground and that his butler Beadows had been seen fleeing the scene. They got a message some hours later calling them to Cheapside to meet with Smith.

They found a burnt husk of a man. Gone was his jolly red face and walrus like mustaches. With his extensive burns and the lack of hair, Smith almost looked like a different person. He seemed to have trouble talking so he essentially begged him to aid him on his quest for a Eldritch Artifact known as the Sedefkar Simulacrum and then broke into a coughing fit. Clearly he had smoke and heat damage to his throat and lungs.

Beadows, who got through the night attack with mearly burned hands was able to give them the scoop from what he knows and a few written notes from his master:

1. The artifact was broken apart in the 18th century. And scattered across Europe.
2. Beddows and Smith were attacked in their home by Turkish madmen who want the Simulacrum for foul purposes
3. All the notes burned up unless the Turks have them
4. A list of clues and locations are given
5. They get 1000 pounds sterling in 5 pound notes to help with expenses
6. The professor’s burns are extensive and Beddows knows of a rural hospital for vets he will take him to for a while. Hopefully Smith can be of use researching in the future once he is well enough to do research.
7. Beddows dodged a knife attack from a Turk at the front door but he fended him off. He locked the door but then the madmen set the whole house ablaze.
8. Smith wishes to sequester or destroy the artifact

The meeting ends with the professor all but whispering: “Go. Go quickly. God help you.”

London Research

They found Memet Makryot’s shop and confirmed he was the man at the banquet that was staring at Smith and them. They searched his shop in a semi-legal fashion and found his ledger which showed he sold the Doom Train. They also found some notes about Professor Smith and also Smith’s account of THE BLOODY RED FEZ (scenario that we skipped).

Then they shipped out to Calis to head to Paris. They got a brief glimpse of the luxury of the Simplon Orient Express here but actual service doesn’t start till Paris.

The Bloody Red Fez (40 years ago) reveals:

A cult named the Children of the Blood Red Fez and their leader Nisra were killed and their terrible Fez destroyed.

A separate cult called the Brothers of the Skin led by a Selim Makryat (maybe he and Mehmet are kin?) The held an ancient fort in Scutari (part of Constantinople now Istanbul)

Several of Smith’s friends were killed in the confrontation with the Children of the Blood Red Fez. A good amount of the journal covers their deaths, the funerals and the aftermath both spiritually, physically, and legally.

Les FLeurs Du Mal (Paris Scenario)

As soon as they arrived, the well read gansters began searching records at the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal for information. They found out that the last time the Simulacrum was in one place was with a Comte Frenelik. They found that he was having “wild parties”. So wild that the queen sent her royal guard to capture him and Comtess Frenelik. The guard captain noted the depravity of the scene and hopes that the Comte and Comtess see justice but they may receive mercy and end up in the Charenton Asylum instead.

Strangely, none of that surname exists in records of the time before the Count and neither his or his wife’s names seem to have been recorded.

The location of his villa is known to be in the village of Poissy. Though it was torn down. Its exact location is not listed.

During the research, Dr Hands took Miss Moretti to the opera where they saw Tosca, a french opera about passion and jealousy. They had a guest aira by the famed Caterina Cavollaro who is an Italian pop star of the day. Though Dr. Hands did not appreciate the arts he did appreciate Itallians excelling at anything. It was said that her performances always bring the audience to tears as her voice is too divine.

They also visited the Paris underground where Miss Moretti and Dr Hands broke into a side area and stumbled into what looked to be a walking corpse. Miss Morretti was the only witness and said the creature let out a wail (which was heard by the gangsters) and waddled off. Into a side passage. This creature, a ghoul named guillaume, would later aid them in the dreamlands.

The asylum

After meeting back up, they ventured to Charenton Asylum. It is discovered that one of the wayward orderlies found a hidden cell in the basement. A mummified body of a man without markings was found with a starved woman. The orderly was found in the same cell with his hand nearly ripped off at the wrist. The head doctor attempted to treat the woman and at some point after the last electroshock was due to take place, the director died and the woman disappeared.

The party met a disgruntled orderly that let them in a side door to do some snooping. Down in the basement they found the male body and a mark where the woman’s body would have been. The man was thoroughly wrapped in chains and bonds. On the way out they heard “Sloppy-Joe” stalking them (or thats what they called it). They heard the meat slaps of feet and the jingle of teeth in his bag. He was pleased to see them. They didn’t allow him the chance.

At some point Doctor Doc awoke in the night to a porcelain skinned woman with orange eyes and black hair whom they would later identify as the Comtess Frenalik with her hand over his chest in a caress. The woman spoke in french which he did not know well. He knew only a little French and the woman became frustrated. He was thrown against the wall and narrowly managed to not take a major injury.

Poissy

The group arrived at the small town of Poissy France to find Frenelik’s estate.

The game went on break of several months just as the train rolled into Poissy.