(Light hearted and strongly character based roleplaying game running
in Edinburgh on Thursdays 8-11pm. Five female players and two male. Mail
Nicky for details)
More on the background of the characters can be found at
A Cthulhu
Chapbook
There's also an on-line game of
De
Profundis based in modern day Edinburgh.
Character Profiles
Chapters 1 to 15
Chapters 16 to 29
Chapters 30 to 41
Ch42 - A Horrible, Ghastly Murder... or several,
Ch43 - Dinner and Carcosa, Ch44 -
Another trip to Carcosa, Ch45 - Things go wrong for
Sr Campilioni, Ch46 - Alice Interviews a Monster,
Ch47 - Inspector Menzies' Dream, Ch48
- Curiousity Killed the Librarian (twice...) Ch49 -
A collector of Indian artefacts, Ch50 - An Unusual
Hunting Trophy
Chapters 51 to present
Hari was dismayed
to see the face of the missing
Sr Campilioni
on the front of the newspaper on the morning of September 2nd 1923. He was
further dismayed to read in the accompanying article that Mr Campilioni
and three or four unidentified persons had been horribly murdered on
Arthur's Seat the previous night. He took the precaution of adding brandy
to the breakfast tray before taking the newspaper through to
Miss Carson.
The Major was
similarly startled by the report and hid the newspaper from his wife.
Shortly after breakfast he was visited by two smartly dressed Italian
gentlemen who asked if he knew the whereabouts of Sr Campilioni. He gave
them the newspaper and then asked them to leave. A little while later the
police called on him and a young constable enquired as to his whereabouts
on the previous evening. The butler, Sergeant Major Bowyers, provided them
with an accurate account of the Major's movements and activities. The
Major then made it clear that he would take a very dim view of the police
disturbing his wife, Drusilla,
with any unpleasant revelations. The police retreated appologetically.
Jasmine was
awakened far too early in the morning by a call from her former admirer
Inspector David
Menzies, who had come to ask her about a portrait of herself which
had been found in the possession of the deceased Mr Campilioni. Jasmine
told him that Mr Campilioni had called on her a couple of weeks previously
and had said that if she didn't divorce Charlie he would kill himself.
Inspector Menzies informed her that suicide had been ruled out as a
possible cause of death and that being torn apart by a wild animal seemed
a more likely explanation. At this point Jasmine became hysterical and
ordered the Inspector out of the house saying that she wasn't going to get
involved with any more monsters ever again. Charlie consoled her.
Inspector Menzies then called on Great Aunt Abigail, who looked as if she
had been crying. She informed the Inspector that Guiseppe had "carried
a torch" for her great-neice, but that she herself had only realised
this after Jasmine's marriage, and that she had advised Mr Campilioni to
resign himself to his disappointment. She mentioned that Mr Campilioni had
painted portraits of Jasmine,
Millie,
Trevor and others
in the last few months of his life, and that he had been seen in the
company of an Irishman.
While the Inspector was there a package arrived - the address was written
in Mr Campilioni's hand and the package contained what appeared to be a
papier mache death mask which was painted yellow on the outside. The
Inspector took this as evidence. Abigail was outraged to hear that the
Inspector had told poor delicate Jasmine about the bodies being
dismembered. She herself was quite calm about the possibility of wild
animals having attacked the men, although she subsequently remembered that
actually tigers didn't live in this part of the British Empire. Abigail
was further annoyed when a uniformed officer called at the house (what
would the neighbours think?) and more annoyed still when a police car
arrived outside the door. A very appologetic Inspector Menzies retreated
from Miss Carson's household and implied to the watching neighbours that
he had come to inform Miss Carson of a death in the family.
Abigail and Hari then set off to visit Jasmine to offer support and
consolation. Jasmine did not find her Great Aunt's support particularly
supporting. The subsequent arrival of Drusilla and the Major on a similar
mission of mercy made matters even worse. It turned out that Drusilla, the
Major and Jasmine had received similar packages to the one sent to Aunt
Abigail.
Inspector Menzies, still traumatised by his various encounters with the
Carson/Hunter clan, had been informed that some more murders had taken
place in a cottage rented by Mr Campilioni outside town. One of the
victims might have been Mr Campilioni's Irish acquaintance. The time of
the murders was more or less the same as for those on Arthur's Seat, which
meant, so far as the police knew, that the same person couldn't have
committed them all.
Thomas, on the advice of his lawyer, contacted the police about a package
which had arrived at his home.
Great Aunt Abigail is wondering why there are lots of masks of
Mr Campilioni. What could they be for? Could it be a death curse like
those nasty papyruses? Is the dead person really Mr Campilioni, or could
the masks have been used to make a likeness of him in some occult fashion?
Are all the other dead people his criminal acquaintances?
She plans to offer to formally identify the body, since that seems to be
as good a way as any to get a look at it. If they only show her the face
she'll claim that he had a birth mark which she needs to see in order to
make a positive identification (and will get very, very snooty indeed if
anyone dares to ask how a respectable elderly lady knows about birthmarks
on seedy young Italians... ) She'll also offer to identify the Irish
chappie if his body is at the morgue by then.
Drusilla is off to the library to consult with
Stephen on the
subject of masks, and she may have to read some books while she's there.
Great Aunt Abigail either calls on or telephones a few people:
Hari, be so good as to see if Mr Wells-Coleman's new valet can be
persuaded to tell you about his master's itinery for the past few months.
My purse is in the desk. I think we would like to know whether Mr
Wells-Coleman received any paintings in the last several months, and also
whether he has met with any Italians at any time. Also, I think knowing
where he was last night would be sensible.
Millie, dear, have you heard the dreadful news? Terrible thing to happen.
I wonder if you could tell me when you last saw Mr Campilioni? Was it when
he painted your portrait? And do you happen to know if Mr Wells-Coleman
had seen him recently?
Alice, dear, did you receive a package from Mr Campilioni by any chance?
Would you be so kind as to check in the library and see what you can find
out about these masks. Do you know if your cousin, or your uncle or Mr
Wells-Coleman had seen Mr Campilioni lately?
Owen, would you be so good as to find out whether the current horrible
murders are in any way similar to the horrible murders of Lady Margaret
and her neighbours?
Drusilla, are you sure you should be going to the library? Is it wise for
the mother of a young child to be risking her peace of mind in such a way?
Around teatime on September 2nd, while Abigail, Drusilla and the Major are
debating tactics (or at least while Drusilla is assuring Abigail that she
is, in fact, well enough to go to the library), Rosemary sits up for the
first time. Her doting Great Aunt calls her a "very clever girl"
and hands her a peppermint as a reward. Rosemary is somewhat puzzled by
the peppermint, but it looks shiny and interesting, so she tries to put it
in her mouth. Nanny reacts quicly and confiscates the peppermint, then
explains to Miss Carson that at present Miss Rosemary only drinks milk.
Hari might remember being given similar peppermints for such achievements
as learning his alphabet, getting full marks in his exams and setting the
perfect tea table for a party during his childhood in India.
from Hari : Indeed. In fact even today peppermints give him a
certain sense of satisfaction and well being. He tends to keep a small
packet in his coat pocket.
Alice wondered why she perpetually thought of candy canes whenever
she was around Hari. The possibility that Hari might have been using the
peppermints as a mask, shall we say, for too-frequent imbibing of brandy
or sherry did also cross her mind....
from Great Aunt Abigail : No, dear, it's just that there's a
limited range of sweets which can be habitually carried around in a hot
climate without melting or going a funny colour.
Our heroines and heroes met at Major and Dr Carson's for dinner.
Thomas was late,
and Alice,
Drusilla and Abigail noticed how nervous this made Millie. They discussed
the masks, the apparent death of Mr Campilioni, the number of scary
Italians in town and other related matters.
Half-way through dinner a highly distressed Italian lady arrived at the
door looking for the Major and Drusilla. Alice and Drusilla, being the
only Italian (or Latin) speakers in the group, took her to the parlour and
fed her tea until she was calm enough to tell her story. She said she was
Guiseppe's fiancee and that he had been forced to leave Italy after a
failed attempt to elope with her. She implied that her Family would have
killed him otherwise. She said that she had received a farewell letter
from him written some three weeks ago, and had spent the previous
fortnight trying to reach Scotland. The only friends he had ever mentioned
in his letters to her were the Major and Drusilla so she had come to them,
but on the way she had seen the paper and realised that her true love was
dead. Drusilla offered her the use of the spare room for the night,
Abigail telephoned to inform the Inspector of her arrival but sternly
reminded him that it would be more gentlemanly to wait until after
breakfast to interview her. The lady spent a little time drinking coffee
and asking the assembled Friends of Guiseppe to tell her stories about
what he had been doing in Scotland. Everyone did their best to say nice
things about him for her sake.
The Inspector sent armed police to guard the house for the night and
advised everyone to stay there. Thomas and Mille had already left
(separately). Drusilla and Alice disected one of the remaining masks
before handing it over to the police as evidence. It contained a black
powder which looked a bit like coffee, but almost certainly wasn't.
Drusilla kept samples for analysis.
Meanwhile, Mr Wells-Coleman's concerned father had sent an armed private
detective to protect him. Late at night a car pulled up outside and there
was banging on the door. Mr Wells-Coleman shouted to his valet to call the
police and then fled down the fire escape and into a neighbouring flat
where he hid until he believed that the coast was clear. He heard screams
from his own flat. On emerging into the street he was threatenned with a
gun. He faked a coughing fit and managed to catch his captor off-guard
with his walking cane. He then escaped in the bad guys' own car and headed
for the Carson residence.
Drusilla, the Major and Alice found themselves in Carcosa in the company
of the late Trevor who mistook Drusilla for Thomas and insisted that a
bath was ready. No useful information was forthcoming from him. They were
just about to start exploring the hideous, non-Euclidean city in an
attempt to find a way back when the Major and Drusilla were woken by Sgt
Mjr Bowyer informing them that the police were holding Mr Wells-Coleman at
the door until the Major could confirm his identity. Drusilla rushed to
wake Miss Mills while the Major got his gun and went to hear the story of
the Italians' attack on Thomas's residence.
Drusilla and Abigail rushed to Mr and Mrs Hunter's home where they found
Charlie and Jasmine in a deep sleep with a yellow mask beside their bed.
They succeeded in waking Charlie, but Jasmine remained asleep. The sleepy
and confused Charlie was badgered by his formidable in-laws into carrying
Jasmine to the car and returning to the Carson residence with them.
Inspector Menzies, meanwhile had had his evening thoroughly ruined by the
discovery of a corpse and Guiseppe's paintings in a cupboard, followed by
the identification of another of the victims of the horrible crime as a
bridge partner of Mr Wells-Coleman's.
He was less than delighted to be woken in the middle of the night with
the news that a police constable and an Italian had been killed in an
exchange of gunfire at Mr Wells-Coleman's flat, the private detective was
unconscious and that the valet had been tortured in an attempt to get him
to reveal Thomas's whereabouts and that Thomas was nowhere to be found.
from Great Aunt Abigail : Can the late Sr Campilioni confirm
that this is a genuine Italian saying - "A friend will help you move.
A really good friend will help you move a body.." ?
from Alice : Get the Ouija board and let's find out!
from Great Aunt Abigail :Well, it would certainly help if we could
find out whether he's really dead or just pretending. Abigail and Drusilla
have formulated the theory that his evil plan was to lure us all to
Carcosa and get us involved in something related to his obsession with
Jasmine. Drusilla believes he intended to force the poor girl to marry
him, while Abigail is rather more cynical about his intentions, although,
given that she hasn't actually seen the pictures, probably not nearly
cynical enough....
By the way, suggestions for waking Jasmine up would be gratefully
received. But if anybody plans on throwing a bucket of water over her they
better not do it while she's in the guest room at Drusilla's place...
Drusilla suggests that we might have to get that poor old lady
from the Spiritualist Society who helped us with the late Walter Corbett
over for a seance sometime in order to discuss Italian sayings and other
matters with the late Sr Campilioni.
Alice is skeptical that this might work; her experience with
spiritualists has mostly involved chicanery and toying with the emotions
of those who have lost loved ones...with one notable exception, which she
will not discuss at this time. However, she would participate in a seance
if others arranged it.
While Drusilla and Abigail were trying to wake Jasmine up (using
smelling salts, burning feathers and iced water) there was a scream from
upstairs. Drusilla remained with Jasmine while Abigail, Thomas and the
Major rushed upstairs. They were overtaken on the stairs by the two
policemen. Abigail said that as they were going to a lady's bedroom she
would go first, but one of the policemen broke down the door and rushed
in. Abigail and the Major both thought this was improper and also
unnecessary since the door hadn't been locked. The Major had an argument
with the policeman, the end result of which was that the policeman was
told that he could continue to stand guard outside the house in the cold
for the remainder of his shift.
Abigail escorted a shaken Catherine down to the lounge, where Drusilla
spoke to her and discovered that she had seen an image of Guiseppe
stabbing someone with a sword. It was decided that everyone should
congregate in the lounge so as to keep safe for the remainder of the
night. Catherine was given one chaise longue to sleep on and Jasmine the
other. Drusilla went to sort out bedding for everyone else while Abigail
listenned to Jasmine's whispered story of her dream. She had found herself
on Fantari Island (a place she has never visited in real life, so far as
Auntie Dru knows...) where Trevor was offering drinks and Guiseppe spoke
to her and told her that this could all have been avoided if she hadn't "betrayed"
him. She had then sailed away in one of the Count's yachts. Abigail
advised her to simply describe the appearance of the place she had seen to
the others and to pretend that she hadn't recognised it.
Thomas was out in the hallway, apparently avoiding Jasmine, so Abigail
went to have a word with him about it. She felt that it was silly of him
to avoid Jasmine, since they had once been, as she delicately put it, such
good friends. She also wondered if there was more to his nervousness than
that, so she returned to the lounge to ask Jasmine if Mr Wells-Coleman had
appeared in her dream. Jasmine replied that he had appeared driving a big
black car and had run her over in it. Abigail's suspicions about Thomas's
homicidal tendencies were aroused yet again. She asked Mr Wells-Coleman
about the incident and he said that yes, he'd heard a scream at one point
while he was driving, but claimed that he hadn't actually seen Jasmine or
deliberately run her over. Thomas returned to the lounge, looking very
nervous, and Alice spent some time amusing herself by working out the
relationship dynamics in the room (Guiseppe had already told her about his
trip to Italy with Jasmine, and she had, presumably, also heard about her
from Millie)
Alice, Abigail, Drusilla, the Major and Thomas all went to sleep and
found themselves in Thomas's flat along with the mangled remains of his
latest valet. Alice remarked quietly that the job of valet to Mr
Wells-Coleman was not a safe one, and that she hoped his wives wouldn't
meet with a similar fate. Thomas ignored her.
A door led them to the streets of Carcosa.
A hasty check of the contents of pockets provided a means for the Major to
make a mark on a wall, so that they could gauge their location. Many
people in the party became extremely unsettled when they later found this
same mark on a wall 50 feet above them.
Alice was approached by a young girl, her blonde hair tied into pigtails
with pink ribbons. The girl held out a black six-sided die, which Alice
took. The rest of the party, seeing no one, wondered why Alice was
behaving so strangely...no matter what Alice did with the die, it kept
coming up with the same number (first one, then six). She kept the die in
her hand.
The Major eventually succeeded in leading them safely to the tower where
he, Thomas and Drusilla had previously met the Yellow King.
Alice saw waves of rose petals, and picked one of them up, keeping it with
the die. She began to hear children singing 'Ring Around the Rosy,' a song
that did not inspire her with great cheer. The party began climbing the
staircase on the inside of the tower. Great-Aunt Abigail had a
particularly difficult time.
All of the party began to hear Italian opera--specifically, a piece of
music that Mr. Campiloni had been known to sing...at the top of the
stairs, people began to notice that Thomas seemed not to be quite himself.
The Major borrowed one of Great-Aunt Abigail's knitting needles and
confronted Thomas--who suddenly realized that he was healthy, and that he
climb up the stairs had not bothered him (or his weak chest) in the
slightest. However, Drusilla noticed that he was certainly acting like Mr.
Wells-Coleman (this was not seen as a compliment) and therefore he was not
suspected of having been taken over in any way. Alice, taking the other
knitting needle, suddenly felt all of her hallucinations vanish--the die,
the petal, and the children singing. Handing the needle back did not bring
the hallucinations back. It was remembered that the door opened outwards.
Armed with Mr. Wells-Coleman's pipe knife, the Major attempted to open
the door, but failed. Drusilla took over and succeeded.
As the party entered the room, the door began to swing closed; the Major
managed to jam one of his sturdy brogues into the opening, and the door
remained ajar. The room, 200 feet long and without any visible means of
holding the roof up, without doors and windows yet somehow lit as though
by moonlight, had one feature: a huge oil painting at the other end of the
room. Most people in the party grew nervous and disturbed when they
realized that the picture was moving. The sole figure in the painting,
quickly seen to be Jasmine, was languidly drinking champagne. Alice called
out to her, and she appeared to hear; Drusilla began talking to her, but
Jasmine moved out of the painting and did not reappear.
Alice borrowed a coin from the Major, to throw at the painting; when she
reached a distance of about five feet, the painting began to exert a pull
over her, which she resisted. The coin, when thrown, merely bounced off of
the canvas. The door at the other end of the room opened, revealing four
or five shadowy men, roughly the same height, all in bowler hats. Thomas
said that yes, these looked like the Italians who kept paying him visits.
The group hung about on the landing for a short while, then kicked the
Major's shoe into the room and slammed the door. The Major retrieved his
shoe, and as it appeared to be the only alternative, the group decided to
walk into the painting. Great-Aunt Abigail's knitting was unraveled and
the string tied to a) her wrist and b) the door handle. Hand in hand, the
group walked through the painting.
Jasmine ran over to greet them, giving Drusilla a big hug, while Trevor
had a tray of roughly a dozen drinks. Alice asked him how many people were
expected, and received a noncommital answer.
Thomas, faced for the first time with his dead valet, could say only
'Sorry.'
Alice continued to wonder about the girl--perhaps she represented herself?
But she couldn't ever remember wearing pink ribbons in her hair. Still,
she did seem awfully familiar. Not until the group were through the
painting did she realise: the girl looked like a much younger version of
Catherine....
from Alice : Millie does *not* know about the existence of
Jasmine, much less her relationship with Thomas. Alice has not yet,
therefore, made any connection along those lines. She knows a) that Millie
and Thomas are secretly engaged, b) that Jasmine and Mr. Campiloni went to
Fantari Island, invited by someone named the Count, and that Hari did not
at all like Mr. Campiloni discussing this, and c) that Thomas and Jasmine
and Great-Aunt Abigail are all having secretive discussions and casting
each other odd looks. She does suspect some connection between Jasmine and
Mr. Campiloni, but at this time has nothing particular to suspect about
Thomas and Jasmine.
from Great Aunt Abigail : Alice may have overheard the discussion
as to whether Mr Wells-Coleman ran Jasmine over deliberately or not, since
she was specifically trying to listen in. Abigail's official approach to
the subject of Jasmine and Guiseppe, if it is mentioned at all, will
probably be along the lines of "Poor Mr Campilioni, he was clearly
losing his mind and suffering from all sorts of unfortunate delusions
towards the end."
from Alice : At the time of Great-Aunt Abigail's conversation with
Jasmine, Alice was across the room, and she honestly *wasn't* trying to
listen in; it was simply that Jasmine (who Alice had not previously met)
kept pointing to her, so Alice was a bit curious as to the reason
why--which turned out to be that Jasmine had, during her visit to Carcosa,
seen a picture of Alice, Drusilla, and the Major on *their* visit, but
didn't know at the time who Alice was. So Alice did not overhear anything
about Thomas running over Jasmine. Only later, when Thomas came in and
there were glances being passed from him to Jasmine to Great-Aunt Abigail,
did Alice start wondering what the real connections were.
from Great Aunt Abigail : Thomas need not worry. All the Carsons
and the Hunters know that the agreement was that so long as he paid up
nobody would *ever* suggest that he was the father of Jasmine's baby.
Young Henry's father is that nice trumpeter, Charlie Hunter. Everyone
knows that. Anyone with any doubts is advised to consult either Drusilla
or Abigail for clarification. They are also prepared to explain about the
funny tricks people's memories can play when they attempt to calculate the
time elapsed between the wedding and the birth....
from Thomas : I wonder if Campiloni was trying to die in a certain
way, so as he would end up in Carcosa and be able to change things so
everything was as he wanted it. He has lured us into 'his world' to finish
the picture. Basically, he's mad.
from Alice :But why lure some and not others? Why not Millie, or
Hari, or Catherine? He had far less contact with Alice than with Millie,
and he tried to *kill* Hari...he is probably mad, yes, but there's some
method to his madness that Alice can't yet figure out. Alice does not
particularly find it surprising, by the way, that this man who had a
lovely fiancee and an apparent obsession with a stunning lounge singer
nevertheless found the time to have an affair with a married woman. It
makes her a tad more concerned about Thomas, however, given that he too
has a lovely fiancee and seems to have some connection with the said
lounge singer.... Alice also, for much darker reasons, understands the
concept of 'dying in order to maintain control'.
from Jasmine : Yes, I wouldn't be surprised to find the unpleasant
manner of death was a sacrifice Campilioni was prepared to make to get
into his own personally designed paradise. Presumably Jasmine was supposed
to stay with him on Fantari Island, without raising subjects like
dismemberment, monsters and Charlie.
In the dreamlands Alice accepted a drink of lemonade from Trevor and
then he led the group up to the house where they were shown to their rooms
inside what looked rather like the Count's house on Fantari Island. They
went exploring and Alice tried to break into a locked room in the cellar
using one of Great Aunt Abigail's hairpins, but only succeeded in jamming
the lock, much to the annoyance of the occupant of the room who turned out
to be an Italian lawyer.
The lawyer stormed off to complain to Guiseppe about the group's arrival
at the house, and they followed him. Guiseppe was painting on the
cliff-top. He was delighted to see his old friends again and kept
repeating "I can't believe it worked!". He got very agitated
when the subject of how he'd got to this place was raised.
Over dinner the news that some uninvited guest was tearing animals apart
near the house was brought. Guiseppe asked our heroines and heroes whether
they could help sort things out and they said that they would try to. He
led them to the place where they had reached his island from Carcosa and
they joined him in a flashback to the occult ritual he, the lawyer, a
Scotsman called Arthur and Mr MacGonagal had performed on Arthur's Seat.
The ritual was interrupted by some sort of animal which killed them all. A
mumified corpse, apparently found by Arthur and MacGonagal appeared to be
the focus of the ritual and the animal might have been its guardian.
Back in the real world Inspector Menzies' policemen had succeeded in
arresting and/or shooting all eight of the mysterious Italians. They were
apparently on a mission to return Catherine to her family and to kill
Guiseppe. Two of the Campilioni brothers were among the group. The younger
brother told the police that they had two prisoners in a warehouse in
town, but when the police arrived they found one - an occult bookshop
owner - had been torn to pieces, and the other - described as 6'5"
tall, wearing a shaggy brown suit and with strange eyes - had broken his
bonds and escaped.
Another policeman had been shot by the Italians prior to their arrest and
a forensic scientist had died mysteriously while attempting to put a
papier mache mask on the desicated corpse originally found in Campilioni's
studio but then removed to the police morgue. The corpse was inexplicably
back at the studio. The Inspector noticed a quantity of mysterious black
powder inside the mask and felt very odd as a result. Various senior
police officers started taking a close interest in the case and by 4.30 in
the morning it was clear that the Inspector was not going to have a good
day.
In the dreamlands our heroines and heroes heard the sound of screams and
crashes from upstairs. Sr Campilioni curled up in the corner and gibbered
while the others bravely but unwisely rushed to investigate. They found
blood running down the spiral staircase and an amorphous, shimmery,
black-skinned creature, like the one which had killed Campilioni and
friends at Arthur's Seat, attempting to get down the stair to reach them.
At this point commonsense reappeared and they ran away, barracading as
many doors as possible behind them. Alice vanished as they were running
away
At the Carson's residence there was a crash and the sound of breaking
glass from the back of the house. Hari rushed to investigate, as did
Bowyer and a couple of constables. They found that something was in the
Major's study and was trying to break the door down. Hari and Charlie put
all the unconscious people and other innocent bystanders in a car and
Charlie started driving for his and Jasmine's house while Hari returned to
support Alice, who had refused to leave the house. Inspector Menzies
arrived at the front door. He decided to open the study door. The same
black-skinned creature was there. The Inspector told it that it was under
arrest. A constable wisely ran for his life and Bowyer shot the creature.
The Inspector ordered the remaining constable to disarm and arrest Bowyer
for assault with a deadly weapon. The creature, meanwhile, leapt out in
pursuit of Alice who was still sleepy and disoriented after waking up from
her trip to the Dreamlands. Hari and the Inspector both shot at it. In a
gap between shots Alice tried to talk to the creature and noticed that it
responded to the name 'Campilioni'. It seemed to understand a few words of
Latin and said 'Master' before running out of the house in the direction
of Campilioni's Edinburgh studio, trampling a police constable to death on
its way past.
Back in the Dreamlands the Major attempted to use the dessicated corpse
to block the door. When the creature finally broke the door down it picked
up the corpse and hugged it before carefully returning it to its place on
the plinth. Abigail and Drusilla disappeared, so the Major took advantage
of the creature's distraction to lead Campilioni out of the room and up
the stairs.
Hari, Alice and the police set off in hot pursuit. The creature
disappeared but Hari noticed a wounded man by the side of the road. He
picked him up and returned to the house while Alice hopped into the
Inspector's car to assist in the search. They were briefly interrupted by
local residents complaining about the noise. Having called the doctor,
Hari suddenly realised that the wounded man had bullet wounds suspiciously
like those he, Bowyer and the police had inflicted on the creature. He
called Alice in to talk to the man/creature again, but it reverted to
being big and black and aggressive again so Alice ran away. Hari and the
police succeeded in shooting it dead, at which point it turned back into
an old man again, much to everyone's distress.
Abigail and Drusilla woke up to find themselves in a rather crowded car
with Charlie, Jasmine, Mrs Bowyer, Nanny, Rosemary, Catherine, Thomas and
the Major. They persuaded Charlie to stop the car so that Abigail could
phone the house to find out what was happening while Drusilla and Nanny
attempted to deal with the nappy which was causing some distress to
Rosemary. Abigail, Drusilla and the Major left the others at a local
police station with instructions to find a nice safe hotel and stay there,
while they returned to the house, arriving just after the death of the
man/creature to find the Carson residence with acid burns on the carpets,
shotgun pellets in the plasterwork, a dead policeman in the hall and a
dead suspect in the lounge. The Inspector arranged for hotel accomodation
for them.
Abigail told the Inspector that the late Mr Campilioni had told her that
the way to stop anyone else getting killed was to return the corpse to its
resting place. When he asked why she hadn't mentioned this fact before she
told him that Campilioni had only told her an hour ago, and that being
dead did not necessarily prevent people who meddled in the occult from
being able to communicate with those who were still alive.
The Inspector's best guess as to where the corpse had been stolen from
was the private collection of the deceased occult bookseller, so he got a
warrant to search the premises.
On his way there he stopped off to hear Jasmine's account of her dream,
including a very accurate description of the torture of Thomas's valet,
which the Inspector couldn't dismiss as lucky guesses.
Drusilla and Alice, under police supervision, started looking through the
bookseller's collection and telephoned Stephen, inviting him to join them
there. The Inspector, meanwhile, had a coffin brought from the basement of
the premises to the evidence store where the corpse was placed inside it
again just in case Great Aunt Abigail proved to be correct in her
assertion that this would stop monsters rampaging around Edinburgh with
claws and other unpleasant stuff.
The Carson family lawyer was woken in the middle of the night to arrange
bail for Bowyer and to argue for all charges against him to be dropped.
from Alice : Hari, while on the phone to Abigail, was alerted
to the fact that the large black oily monster had grown some nasty-looking
claws and was raising his arm to strike Alice down. A butler to his very
fingertips, Hari instinctively and most politely said 'just a moment,
ma'am' *before* dropping the phone and grabbing his revolver.
Thomas, when he awoke, was shouting Jasmine's name.
Alice regretted that the monster had to be shot, but she felt that she had
made every attempt to communicate with it and to assist it in finding its
master, and if it was going to attack her then she really couldn't do much
more. As she ran out of the room, screaming for help, a brave constable
threw her out of the way of danger and charged into the room; Alice later
commended him to Inspector Menzies. (Menzies himself she had dubbed
'Inspector Genius' for his desire to arrest and/or shoot the monster
rather than let her talk to it.)
(during the time when the Inspector was listening to Jasmine): Alice left
the Carson house on her own, having found out where Campiloni's studio
was, and went over to see the corpse. She truthfully informed the
constables standing watch that she had just seen Inspector Menzies and
that she would like to view the corpse, please, though she deliberately
neglected to mention that she'd had no conversation with Menzies about
doing any such thing. One of the constables went to the nearest police
phone box to ring him, was unable to reach him, and decided that it was
all right to let Alice in. Within the studio she found...nothing at all;
even the carpets had been removed. The constables knew nothing, having
merely relieved the previous watch. Alice headed to a phone box and phoned
the Carson residence; Abigail managed to learn through subsequent phone
calls that the corpse and furnishings had been locked up as evidence by
the Inspector. Alice then made a few phone calls to booksellers she knew,
and deduced who had died. After a brief stop at her own boarding-house,
she arrived at the correct bookshop about half an hour after the Inspector
and Drusilla.
Stephen would be willing to help out, after ensuring his drinks
cabinet is well stocked.
from Great Aunt Abigail : In view of recent unfortunate
developments Great Aunt Abigail intends to call a family conference. Hari
will, naturally be in attendance, as Abigail considers his opinions to be
very valuable. Also summonned will be Drusilla, the Major and, possibly,
Jasmine. She feels that it is very unfortunate that Mr Campilioni's murder
has led to Charlie finding out that Campilioni was secretly in love with
his wife. Worse still, the case was investigated by Inspector Menzies, a
very nice policeman, but unfortunately also a former admirer of Jasmine's.
And as for Thomas... well... Great Aunt Abigail feels that urgent measures
are needed to avoid the newlyweds falling out over the issue of Jasmine's
former admirers. There have been rather a lot of them lately, and poor
Charlie could be forgiven for being a little put out. Of course all the
murders will probably have to be sorted out before the family can address
this important issue... But at least Inspector Menzies seems to be taking
the idea of returning the corpse to its rightful place seriously.
Hari in fact grabbed a shotgun, not a revolver.
from Alice : And Hari's ability to remember which weapon he
grabbed in order to shoot at the horrible big black beastie thing (which a
moment before had been a wounded old man) is yet another point in his
favour. :) Alice, by the way, at a calmer moment, will thank Hari for his
quick-thinking, and apologize for having caused him so much bother (what
with refusing to get into the car with the others). She will also ask him
to describe in great detail what they all looked like when they were
asleep but under the effect of Campilioni--twitching, or deeply asleep, or
muttering, etc.
Everyone was very tired after their disturbed night.
Jasmine eventually fell asleep in spite of having drunk almost a gallon
of strong coffee. At first Abigail decided it was best to let her sleep
since she herself had had a short nap earlier in the day without ill
effect, but when Jasmine became restless her Great Aunt tried to wake her.
Her efforts were unsuccessful and when Jasmine's temperature dropped
alarmingly she sent Charlie to fetch a doctor while she herself made a
heroic effort to go back to sleep and rescue Jasmine, but found that she
was too nervous to doze off.
Jasmine was rushed to hospital. Great Aunt Abigail and the Major decided
to try to go back to the Carson residence in search of more of the
dangerous black powder to try to reach Jasmine.
Jasmine found herself on Campilioni's island, but it was cold and
deserted apart from Trevor and a menacing black shape which pursued her
through the mists. She tried to call on Charlie to help her, but he only
appeared as an insubstantial ghost figure. She then tried to summon
Inspector Menzies, who was sleeping deeply after having been kept awake
for the previous two nights.
The Inspector found himself on the coast of the island in his swimwear.
Trevor led him to the house but failed to provide a change of clothes. The
Inspector noted the gory remains of the house's occupants but since he
knew he was only dreaming he didn't pay too much attention to them. A
scream from outside caused him to pick up a shotgun and go to the rescue.
He chased the black monster down a cliff path where it was chasing
Jasmine. After he had shot it twice it allowed him and Jasmine to escape
on the motor launch, which they approximately managed to drive. They
reached the safety of the Count's yacht where they were shown to a private
cabin, where Jasmine expressed her gratitude to her rescuer.
Abigail and the Major visited Jasmine in hospital and Jasmine told her
Great Aunt about the monster and that the Inspector had rescued her. She
neglected to mention any details of events on the yacht.
Alice and Drusilla found some interesting occult publications in a locked
cupboard in the bookshop, but it wasn't until Alice managed to remove the
back panel of the cupboard that she found a safe suspected to contain the
really important bits of the collection. Drusilla had a trip out to the
police station to search the soil on which the dessicated corpse was
resting, but failed to find anything.
Alice initially attempted to conceal her discovery from the police, but
since she couldn't open the safe herself she eventually had to let
Inspector Menzies assist in opening it. It contained an old occult book
which had some information on the corpse, two cheap paperbacks and a lot
of money.
The Inspector also found a small model in the soil under the corpses
head. It appeared to be in some way alive.
Drusilla invited the Inspector to join the others for dinner at the hotel
at 7pm.
It is uncertain how he will react when he finds out that his pleasant
dream about rescuing the damsel in distress and being suitably rewarded
was in some senses real, and that Mrs Charlie Hunter can also recall
details of the events....
Dinner at the hotel turned out to be a rather interesting affair as
Great Aunt Abigail tried to persuade Inspector Menzies of the occult
nature of his latest case and the importance of involving the Carson
family and associates in the investigation. Things got off to a rather
shaky start when she revealed to the Inspector that the details of his
dream of the island, and, more particularly, the yacht were known to other
people. He choked on his whiskey and Abigail drew her own conclusions
about what Jasmine may not have mentioned to her Great Aunt.
Ignoring the matter of whether adultery counts when it occurs in another
universe, Abigail continued to discuss the case. The Inspector revealed
the existence of the small stone to the group and Drusilla said that she
would very much like to see it in the morning. The stone spent some of the
evening giving off smoke and had to be investigated by various scientific
types who were summoned to the police station.
Meanwhile at the bookshop Alice watched the Aramaic translator who was
working on the scary occult book becoming progressively more unsettled. He
eventually left, claiming to be going to get a cup of tea, whereas in fact
he called a taxi and fled the scene.
Alice used her knowledge of Hebrew to try to read the book and got a
vague impression of its contents. She then realised that more than two
hours had passed without her noticing and that the house was terribly
quiet. Even worse, a trail of blood appeared to be dripping down the
stairs...
She found an old gladius in the curio room and proceeded upstairs to find
two policemen horribly murdered in the hallway. She telephoned the police
to request immediate assistance. While awaiting the police she heard
sobbing coming from another room. As she heard the police bells she opened
the door and found the translator covered in other people's blood and half
undressed saying "no... no... no..." He transformed into the
black creature and pursued her. She thrust her gladius into the creature's
chest and backed away from it, but was burned with acid in the process.
Two police constables arrived, armed with truncheons, and were shortly
followed by Inspector Menzies, the Carsons and Hari. The creature turned
back into the translator while the house was being searched, but then he
turned into the monster again and started chasing one of the police
constables. The Inspector and the Carsons shot it and chased it down to
the cellar where it threw itself onto the book, apparently committing
suicide to destroy the book, leaving very little of either man, monster or
book for identification.
Drusilla suggested that the Inspector should check on what had happened to
the stone - and it was found to be missing.
The Inspector then decided to pass the buck to the Commissioner of Police
who, having reviewed the evidence and interviewed the witnesses, agreed
that a cover-up was the best thing, and that any Italians currently in
custody should be charged with any crimes within the realms of reality
that they might have committed, while the case of the murder of Sr
Campilioni and his associates was to be filed as unsolved.
Alice decided to use some of the black powder which she had removed from
the Carson residence to have a Dream and to attempt to find out what
happened to Campilioni. She discovered that only Trevor remained on the
island. Unfortunately she then looked at Campilioni's portrait gallery and
when she touched a picture everything went black...
Drusilla and Abigail, summoned by Alice's landlady,
Mrs Hudson,
attempted to wake her, while Hari took tea and fruitcake with the
landlady.
Alice suffered a seizure and her heart stopped. Drusilla succeeded in
reviving her, and Hari was sent to fetch a doctor and an ambulance most
urgently. After a short time Alice suffered a second seizure and this time
neither Drusilla nor the redoubtable Mrs Hudson could restart her
breathing. The doctor arrived and managed to restore Alice's breathing,
but she appeared to be in a permanent coma.
Great Aunt Abigail telephoned Millie with the tragic news. Millie assured
Great Aunt Abigail that her father would pay for any necessary medical
treatment. She then began to worry about whether having a cousin in a coma
meant that it would be in bad taste for her to have a grand society
wedding.
Millie's immediate concern is *not* about her wedding, though
of course she cannot fail to think of it, as it has taken up most of her
thoughts for the previous four months. Given that the engagement is not
even public yet, no wedding date has been set. Millie must admit, however,
to being deeply disappointed that Alice might not be able to be a
bridesmaid. (Millie cannot think of anything--apart from being a
bride--that is quite so nice as being a bridesmaid. She welcomed the
chance to give Alice an opportunity to be less bookish and more social,
and to share in her own happiness.) Millie will establish that Alice is in
a stable condition at the hospital, then phone her parents and manage
(with some hysteria) to inform them of the situation. Barbara (Millie's
mother) will arrange to take the train up to Edinburgh immediately;
Millie's father cannot leave town at this time but sends his best wishes,
and of course authorizes Millie's mother to make any financial and medical
arrangements. In Edinburgh, Barbara will visit Alice (who remains entirely
unresponsive), speak with the doctors, then arrange to have her moved to a
private ward. She will then spend a few days looking into other options,
such as a private institution, and will consult employment agencies to
find trained nurses skilled in cases of long-term comatose patients. She
will also have a long talk with Millie about how Alice went into a coma.
There is no history of fits or seizures on Alice's mother's side of the
family (Millie's mother and Alice's mother were twin sisters); Alice's
father's family had some notable cases of heart disease, but Barbara does
not know any more than that. Barbara had not been entirely happy with
Millie's previous employment of traveling around the country looking for
black winged monsters, but sensibly realizes that a) it's a better
occupation than the drugs/alcohol/sex manias which variously sweep the
Bright Young Thing set Millie is part of in London, and b) it did lead her
to an engagement with a Marquess. Besides which, Millie seems to have
little interest in such things now, being far more concerned with wedding
plans. Barbara will send a note to Great-Aunt Abigail (who she had
previously met, Abigail having acted informally as Millie's chaperone in
the past) and arrange to meet for tea, in order to discuss Alice's
situation. If Miss Carson could send word of when she would be free, Mrs
Waller-Bethel would be grateful. Millie, in the meantime, sends a very
important note to Thomas.
Great Aunt Abigail is probably fussing around Alice at the
hospital and may well run into the family there. She'll also be fussing
around Jasmine, although Jasmine is presumably now fit to be released from
hospital. She will arrange to have tea with Mrs Waller-Bethel as soon as
possible. Her own newly extended family has been a source of much
consolation and entertainment in her old age and she imagines that
Millie's mother must be distraught at the fate of her presumably beloved
niece.
Millie will plan to be in attendance at tea. Presumably Hari will
be there. Drusilla would be welcome, should she choose, and indeed anyone
else who cares about Alice.
Drusilla didn't know Alice as well as Abigail did - having only
really met her for the first time during the Campilioni scenario, but she
is certainly concerned for Alice's welfare. She's also feeling a bit
guilty - she had no idea when she suggested that Alice assist her in the
disection of the yellow mask that it would lead to Alice doing anything so
dangerous as this. She will attend the tea. The Major probably wouldn't
attend, as there isn't anything concrete to be done and expressing
sympathy over family tragedies is usually regarded as women's work.
Drusilla will pass on his message of sympathy to Millie and Mrs Waller
Bethel, however.
Abigail suggests tea at her place - which means that Hari will
automatically be in attendance. She is certainly happy to invite Mrs
Hudson, although this may cause Mrs Hudson to worry about social
awkwardness. Before meeting Mrs Waller Bethel for formal discussions
Abigail (and Drusilla) would like to know how much Millie has told her
mother about such things as scaly monsters, dreamlands etc. On the whole
the Carsons would probably prefer to do as the Commissioner of Police
suggests and keep quiet about the occult aspects of the case. The terrible
trauma of being pursued by homicidal Italians for several days might well
have been sufficient to cause poor Alice to become ill, and she was kept
up all night due to the police investigation at the bookshop immediately
before her seizures occurred.
Mrs Hudson will be quiet as a mouse in the corner, I imagine.
She'd scarcely dare speak in the prescence of so much Quality.
Millie knows nothing of the dreamlands, having not been to any
version of it. Occult-wise, she really knows only about the black scaly
monsters; all the rest was a mad doctor sending evil letters to people.
Presumably both Millie and her mother wrote that off as some version of
evilness. As for the Campilioni scenario, Millie knows that a lot of nasty
Italians were threatening Thomas and beating up his valet, but she would
only have heard the 'official' reports about everything else. Millie
*does* know that Alice reads some very unpleasant books, and she is aware
of the existence of evil, having met Alice's uncle years before. So it
isn't that she refuses to believe any of this, more than she herself
hasn't had much direct experience with it. She suspects that the coma may
be something to do with the books, and may ask Abigail quietly about it,
but not yet.
Great Aunt Abigail : I'm afraid so, dear.
Alice never confided much in her Aunt Barbara, though Barbara
feels substantial guilt for not adopting Alice after the San Francisco
quake. She will mention to Abigail et al that Alice once let slip a
reference to 'getting her uncle back for what he did,' which disturbed her
as Alice's uncle died nearly ten years ago (of a heart condition).
Great Aunt Abigail : This is not a particularly comforting thought
for anyone, especially after the recent Campilioni related events... But
at least we'll be able to stick to the official version of events at tea
with Millie's mother.
from Millie ;Probably best. My mother is a rather down-to-earth
person (being American), but there is no need to bother her overmuch.
Vague references to the supernatural would not result in screaming or
fainting, but more than that doesn't seem necessary. [refering to
Alice's coma being caused by the sort of books she reads] Millie will
comfort herself with the reassurance that she *did* try to encourage Alice
to become a little more fashion-conscious, and invited her to a few social
events, but Alice always seemed uncomfortable there.
Great Aunt Abigail will ask Millie whether Thomas has proposed to
her.
Millie will respond, in all honesty, that Thomas has not proposed
to her.
Great Aunt Abigail makes her psychology roll and realises that
Millie is hiding something. On reflections she also realises that Millie
and Thomas have been very tense when in each other's company lately.
The resolute, and sometimes foolhardy, optimism with which Abigail has
spent her life facing fire, flood, famine, cholera epidemics, tigers,
rhinocerii, The General at breakfast, native uprisings, giant snakes,
walking statues, mad doctors, and so on temporarily deserts her.
Being from a military family she is not at all intimidated by the thought
of death or injury at the hands of an enemy. But recently she has seen too
many young people destroying their own lives. Poor Mr Campilioni, too
afraid to tell Jasmine how he felt about her until it was too late... Poor
Alice driven to seek out the occult by memories of her evil uncle...
And now Millie and Thomas, both of whom she is fond of, seem doomed to an
unhappy marriage together....
Part of Thomas's appeal to Millie is undeniably based on his title and
family connections, while Thomas himself has made every effort to be
something other than what his title and family connections require him to
be.
Thomas's family will not like Millie, and since they are not impoverished
aristocrats she will not be able to use restoring the family fortunes as a
lever in her relationship with them. The Duchess will set out to make
Millie's life a misery, and sweet little Millie, although she has shown a
lot of steel and determination in her pursuit of a titled spouse, is, in
the long run, no match for the Duchess...
Thomas might gain temporary satisfaction in confounding his parents'
expectations and in becoming financially independent of them, but
ultimately that will not be enough.
Abigail cannot think of anything she could say to Millie to persuade her
that her pursuit of Thomas is ultimately going to make both of them very
unhappy.
She sits silently, lost in sad reflections of the fates that people bring
upon themselves....
Hari too has put two and two together, with or without Abigail's
help. But I could be wrong on all counts.... Whether or not Hari has put
two and two together it will make little difference to those around him as
he will of course say nothing. Like all good family servants he is a
repository of secrets safer than a bottomless well. It is of course a
butler's business to notice everything but say nothing, and to carry what
he knows with him to the grave . . . Which incidentally Hari has no
intention of making for just yet, no matter how many unpleasant and occult
happenings insist on throwing themselves across Miss Abigail's path. He
eats another peppermint, and goes to polish the silver until teatime.
Great Aunt Abigail certainly confides in Hari. She consults him on
a wide range of subjects when they are alone, but never in front of
company.
Player comment: Except for an occasional aside in Pubjabi? :) ]
Millie is certainly aware of the advantages of having a close
retainer who not only keeps secrets, but speaks a foreign language. Of
course, French being a reasonably common language, she cannot conduct
public conversations with Ninette on sensitive issues, but she fully
appreciates the concept.
from Great Aunt Abigail : [on the subject of asides in Punjabi] Well,
yes.... but in that case Company are supposed to assume that they are
merely discussing something innocuous such as whether to bring in more
teacakes. Punjabi is, like French, a very common language. It is only
since arriving in this odd, monsoon-deprived area of the British Empire
that Abigail and Hari have been able to use it for secret discussions.
By the way, Millie dear, I think it is important that you tell me about
any dreams you have had involving either your cousin or your uncle.
Millie's engagement to Thomas was announced in The Times in September,
and Abigail attended the wedding in mid-December. She presented the groom
with a sword cane with a handle carved in the shape of a tiger's head and
the bride with a fine silver and sapphire bracelet of Indian design (even
the Duchess shouldn't sniff at the quality of the bracelet, it is an
excellent piece) Abigail advised Thomas to be kind to Millie and advised
Millie (privately) to be careful when employing young housemaids.
| [An announcement in the Times, December 19,
1923] MARRIAGES The marriage took place yesterday at St. Peter's Church, Eaton-square, S.W., of the Right Honourable Thomas Herbert Wells-Coleman, son of the Duke and Duchess of Abingdon, and Miss Barbara Millicent Waller-Bethel, only daughter of Jonathan Grover Waller-Bethel. |
from Millie : The most recent news from the Marquess and
Marchioness of Aylesbury, relayed by the Marchioness to Abigail in a
letter dated January 31, 1924, implies that they are greatly enjoying
their honeymoon and intend to remain on the continent for some time. It is
more than evident that Millie is thrilled to grasp any excuse whatsoever
to use her new stationery.
Great Aunt Abigail replies with cheerful family-related news - at
least three paragraphs on Rosemary's latest accomplishments in crawling
and talking, a brief comment that Henry is thriving (she feels it would be
suspicious to avoid any mention of Henry in a letter to Millie, but
doesn't feel that it is entirely proper to be discussing Millie's
husband's son with Millie so she's hedging a bit...) There is also a
description of a new dress Drusilla wore to a Ladies Night at the Major's
club (knowing that Millie is interested in fashion), and some remarks
about how pleased she is to see her nephew so happily settled down after
his long widowerhood. This leads into a couple of benign anecdotes about
the General's long widowerhood and thence to two pages of accounts of
tiger hunts, elephant rides and the management of tea plantations.
If Millie has ever read any romantic novels or short stories she may
recognise one of the elephant ride expeditions as being almost identical
to one described in a tragic story of lost love by a Miss V.M Wilton of
Edinburgh. The story is set in the 1870s, and, now Millie considers the
subject, the disapproving Papa in the story bears a striking resemblance
to Great Aunt Abigail's descriptions of The General...
from Jasmine : Dear Thomas and Millie, Simply thrilled to hear
you've tied the knot. Millie dear, I'm sorry we've never had the chance to
meet as yet but any girl who has managed to pin down Wells-Coleman is
obviously a lady to be reckoned with! Congratulations to you, and don't
take your eyes off him for a moment! Thomas, what can I say? I'm sure
you'll take to married life like a fish to water, I must admit I rather
relish the image! Be good, and I hope neither of you will abandon your old
friends in Edinburgh for too long! Lots of love to you both from my
dearest Charlie and myself, Jasmine (Mrs Charlie Hunter) x
from Millie : I don't think Millie has enough information to think
this is anything more than a congratulatory card from one of Thomas'
friends, although the tone might make her suspect that this woman knows a
bit more about Thomas than would otherwise be comforting. She will write a
pleasant and socially impeccable response on her lovely new stationery.
She will not be placing the Hunters on her invitation list unless Thomas
requests it. If he does, she may ask why....
Jasmine would expect nothing less. Although judging by the
communication to the family in general the girl does seem to spend an
awful lot more time writing letters than Jasmine would do on her
honeymoon.
On December 27th, 1923, after a three and a half hour labour - with the
support of her Auntie Dru, her Great Aunt Abigail, her dear friend
Gertrude
MacAllister and the midwife who had delivered Rosemary - Jasmine
gave birth to a healthy 6lb 8oz son with blonde hair. She managed not to
swear too much in the process, or to make any unfortunate remarks about
any gentlemen.
Abigail was delighted to hear that the baby was to be called Henry Charles
James Hunter, and presented him with a stuffed bear's head as a
christening gift. She, Drusilla and the Major were godparents for young
Henry. Drusilla and the Major gave a more traditional gift of silver
spoons and a cup, and were pleased that his name included 'James'.
Drusilla privately reflected that the only gentleman of Jasmine's
acquaintance who had blonde hair was Mr Edward Chitterling-Bream. Great
Aunt Abigail thought that perhaps she wouldn't be mentioning the blonde
hair in any correspondences with The Count.
Rosemary was introduced to her nephew Henry early in 1924. She
was quite impressed with his pretty, lace-covered pram but was not quite
sure what to do about the small, blobby creature residing in it. After
some prompting from Great Aunt Abigail and Nanny she managed to lean over
and kiss the baby before crawling off to play with more rewarding things
such as her wooden blocks.
Matthew MacAllister, now nearly two years old, is Rosemary's prefered
playmate as he has mastered the difficult art of walking and can reach
things which Nanny does not normally allow Rosemary to play with. On his
last visit, for example, they spent several happy minutes taking turns to
chew on a hairbrush before it was removed, and Rosemary has high hopes
that, with Matthew's assistance, she will one day reach the ornaments on
the mantelpiece.
Early the following year, Great Aunt Abigail was contacted by the agents
who occasionally sold some of the General's souvenirs from his campaigns
when she needed ready cash. It appeared that a gentleman, Dr Archibald
Winstanley, had bought an item and wished to know if she had any other
items which might be part of a set.
She arranged to meet him at a hotel and found out that the necklace she
had sold was part of the regalia of a priest of a Dark Mother cult in
India which the General and his regiment had suppressed after a native
uprising. The Doctor was researching the cult and wished to buy items
related to it. Abigail noticed that he watched her leave the hotel and was
a little suspicious.
She asked Drusilla and Stephen to check on the credentials of the Doctor
and for details of the cult, including allowing them to examine the
General's diaries. It appeared that the Doctor had had several papers
published on various fertility cults, although he was not as skeptical
about them as a good Christian perhaps should be, and it was noted that he
did not hold an academic post at the present time.
Details of the cult tended to be sketchy, and usually along the lines of "they
deserved to die for the horrible things they were doing in the temple"
which was not an encouraging thought for our brave investigators.
Abigail, meanwhile, considered where might be a safe place to store her
Indian artefacts in case the good Doctor decided to take an unauthorised
look at her collection. Once they were secured she checked the notes left
by her parents as to what items were in their collection.
Great Aunt Abigail is busy again. In addition to her duties in
advising Rosemary and Henry's respective Nannies on the lessons to be
learned from the management of waterbuffalo she also recently met a
gentleman who is interested in The General's old souvenirs from his Indian
campaigns. (Nobody should use the word "looting" to describe the
collection of native artefacts by commissioned British Officers, by the
way. It's only looting if it's done by the enemy or by the lower
ranks....) She has had occasion to sell some of the General's souvenirs in
order to raise cash once in a while. It appears that a necklace which her
agents recently disposed of was part of the regalia of a priest of a Dark
Mother cult which was suppressed in India. A Dr Archibald Winstanley
contacted her agent to ask if the rest of the set could be found, and
Abigail agreed to meet him in an Edinburgh hotel. She was sufficiently
cautious not to invite him to her home or to give him her address, but has
a distinct feeling that he may well not be content to simply wait to see
if she can find the items. She has a description of the items he is
looking for. She would like some help from Drusilla and Stephen in
checking through the General and her Mamma's papers to find out which
items came from the particular campaign in which the necklace was
acquired. In the meantime she has placed some of the smaller and more
valuable items in her collection in the Bank safety deposit box where her
Deeds, Will and other papers are kept. (This will be things like jewellery
which has an obvious intrinsic value, and which don't take up much space)
Once relevant boxes of stuff can be identified she would like to move them
to Major and Dr Carson's house for safekeeping. She feels sure James won't
object to that. She will ask her agent for more information about the Dr,
including his current address.
Stephen will be delighted to help look through such harmless
papers.
Abigail and Hari employed
Robbie Burns [a
street urchin from Fife who does odd jobs in the area] to check on Dr
Winstanley's movements for a few days. The Dr spent his time in visiting
libraries and other academic pursuits, while Robbie discovered that the
life of a great detective contained many dull bits which are not usually
described in detail in the paperbacks he liked to read.
Abigail found a jewelled belt, a knife (in use as a letter opening knife
on the hall table) and two bracelets belonging to the same set as the
necklace. She placed the knife in her own safety deposit box at the bank
and the Major placed the belt and bracelets in his lawyer's safe in town.
Abigail joined her nephew and his family for Sunday lunch as usual, and
introduced Rosemary to the delights of looking under chair covers.
(Drusilla has been dropping hints that perhaps Mr and Mrs Hunter might
invite their beloved Great Aunt for lunch at least one Sunday a month once
Jasmine has recovered from the birth).
Drusilla checked with some of Dr Winstanley's former colleagues who all
said that he had been an agreeable young man. Nobody knew where the
funding for his expeditions to India had come from.
from Great Aunt Abigail : Possibly, since Robbie was not an
entirely successful detective, Abigail might consider hiring a
professional
from Robbie : For the love of Mike! Those detective novels never
tell you about standing outside a chap's hotel for hours. Sherlock Holmes
himself would have dozed off. If I'd had the chance to sneak into his room
and find the gem he'd stolen from the corpse of a dead Siamese prince,
*then* I would have done some fancy detective work, believe you me!
from Great Aunt Abigail :Of course you would, dear.
Great Aunt Abigail investigated the donations box at St Mary's and found
a second-hand shirt for Robbie. She also decided that he should have a
bath. Hari took the precaution of locking the house doors before informing
Robbie of this fact.
After an exciting chase up and down the stairs of Miss Carson's residence
Robbie agreed to take a bath in exchange for a copy of the newly published
"Tarzan and the Golden Lion". He then sat by the fire in his new
shirt and a towel listening to tales of tiger hunts in India while Hari
bravely beat the dirt out of his jacket and trousers in the yard.
Great Aunt Abigail met with Dr Winstanley again, and showed him the
General's letters about the military campaign. The doctor was extremely
disappointed to find that there was so little mention of the cult, but
nonetheless made a copy of the relevant bits of the letters. He spoke at
length about his findings on the cult. Abigail decided that he seemed like
the sort of young man who was likely to do something foolish and get
himself killed, and that after the various incidents involving Lady
Margaret, Sr Campilioni and Alice she was not prepared to reveal to him
that she had actually found any more jewelery from the set he was
interested in. He returned to London.
Jasmine agreed to invite her great aunt to lunch on Sunday once a month,
much to Drusilla's relief.
Rosemary discovered that her pink bunnie slippers tasted interesting, and
Henry learned to blow bubbles. Great Aunt Abigail also noted that Henry
had a very strong grip and she prophesied that he would grow up to be "a
proper little soldier". Charlie looked alarmed at the prospect.
Dr Winstanley hired a slightly seedy private investigator,
Jonathan Hawkswell, to make enquiries
about Miss Carson. He annoyed the Major at his club and then spoke to
Laird James McDonald about the Carsons
in general. The Laird invited the Carsons and Mr Hawkswell to dinner, but
Mr Hawkswell declined the invitation. A pleasant dinner was enjoyed by the
Carsons. The Laird tried to interest the Major in his stockbroking and
also discussed subjects such as India and the occult with Great Aunt
Abigail.
In April 1924 Great Aunt Abigail spotted an article in the paper about a
road in Lancashire on which there had been various mysterious happenings
including strange lights and glittery people walking down the road
disrupting traffic. She drew the report to the attention of Laird James
McDonald who had expressed an interest in the occult in general. They
planned a trip to Lancashire to investigate.
Robbie was allowed to accompany them on condition that both he and his
clothing were thoroughly washed prior to the trip. He agreed with a show
of reluctance. Hari also suggested that Robbie could occupy himself by
writing a journal of events. Robbie was more enthusiastic about this idea.
The landlord of the local pub told a story that the strange happenings
around the village had been caused by a group of 'Saracens' with a serious
skin disease who had arrived in the village after the Crusades and had
been burned by the locals. He produced a medieval European sword which
Robbie thought was "really champion!".
Late that night the group spotted mysterious figures on the hill so they
took a stroll out to investigate. They encountered a local farmer running
away and shouting that the Toad Men were out there.
Great Aunt Abigail reminded the farmer that he was British, and The Laird
provided him with some whiskey. Eventually he was persuaded to lead them
to where the Toad Men could be found. There were three of them in a
clearing, one of which was about to eat a spaniel. Abigail blasted the
would-be spaniel eater with both barrels of her shotgun, he died and the
spaniel escaped. The farmer meanwhile had also run away.
Robbie was very impressed with Great Aunt Abigail's shooting skills.
Great Aunt Abigail and The Laird then managed to injure the other two Toad
Men, who ran away into a hole in the ground with water at the bottom.
Robbie was prevented from following them.
Hari fetched the car and the dead Toad Man was put in the boot of the
car.
In the morning after showing the Toad Man to the locals, and enquiring as
to the welfare of the spaniel, Abigail and Hari drove in to Lancaster
where they visited first the local paper and then the museum with the
specimen. They also picked up some poison. The museum curator did not know
what species of animal the Toad Man was. Abigail appeared on the front
page of the Lancaster Herald with her hunting trophy. She very proudly cut
out the article and pasted it in the family scrapbook next to the press
cutting from the Dehli Times of her father The General with the 24' long
crocodile he shot. Hari made sure that the rest of the family were posted
copies of the paper as well.
Great Aunt Abigail and the Laird then mustered the villagers to go and
put poison down the hole from which the Toad Men had emerged. After dinner
our heroes and heroine took a nap so as to be ready to go out on the hills
patrolling after midnight.
Patrolling that night proved to be a remarkably dull experience, but the
next morning our heroes and heroine bravely descended into the tunnel to
check whether the Toad Men were dead. They walked for three quarters of an
hour along a spiral passageway into the depths of the Earth, narrowly
avoiding being injured in a landslide, and found no signs of any corpses.
The tunnel ended in an underwater lake. Robbie threw plenty of stones into
it, but failed to stir up the Toad Men, so the party returned to the
surface.
The locals were keen to seal the entrance to the tunnel with concrete.
Great Aunt Abigail and the Laird managed to plot the approximate location
of the tunnel on an ordinance survey map of the area and handed it to the
landlord. The villagers seemed quite happy now they knew that shotguns
were an effective way of dealing with what they had previously believed to
be a supernatural phenomenon. The landlord agreed to write to Great Aunt
Abigail and report any future developments.
On the whole the group felt that they had dealt satisfactorily with the
problem.
Millie feels a bit isolated--she did get her man and her
title, after all, but her London social circle is far behind her, and she
won't know many of the people she's meeting on her travels. Meeting a lot
of new people, and being very conscious of needing to prove that she is a
suitable wife for a duke's son, can be very draining. Writing letters is a
way to keep in touch with everyone back in the UK and America, and to tell
them what she is doing. Writing to Abigail ensures that she doesn't feel
guilt for having such a lovely time when poor Alice is in a coma, and to
see whether there is any improvement in her condition. Also, the thrill of
receiving envelopes addressed to the Marchioness of Aylesbury is one which
won't wear off quickly.... I'd say that by June 1924 Millie has written
three letters to Abigail, all of them chatty and with concern for Alice.
Her most recent letter will hint at the possibility of moving to America
for a year or two. Abigail may sense that Millie will love to show off her
aristocratic husband to the girls back home. She can find no hint
whatsoever of impending motherhood, though.
Great Aunt Abigail's replies will report on Rosemary's progress,
with some mention of Henry. There will be some detail on Drusilla and the
Major's social life and any new dresses Drusilla might have acquired, a
bit about what Abigail herself has been getting up to in the way of bridge
parties and invitations to tea. Jasmine and 'dear Charlie' might be
mentioned in passing, but not in detail. Each letter will regretfully
report no change in Alice's condition. Also, since Millie is currently
outside of civilisation (ie outside the British Empire) Abigail will
kindly send her a recent copy of 'The Lady'
Links :
Character Profiles
A Cthulhu
Chapbook
Tales of
Plush Cthulhu
Cthulhu Versus the
Dread Smiley Face
De
Profundis - Edinburgh
The King in Yellow