Alexa's history is hidden from her friends. Her moment of Inspiration came when Japan invaded China, resulting eventually in her arriving in the United States and joining the Aeon Society due to winning a wager about what was faster - her car or an aeroplane.
Her car is built from a Rolls Royce frame, but shares nothing else in common. It's been customised to go significantly faster (more than twice as fast as the original car), more manoeuverable with concealed armour and improved fuel economy. She appears to be working on other changes.
Perfectly aware that the car is rather attractive to others Alexa has worked in a number of simple security measures (beyond the fact that it would take another Wheelman to be able to drive it without killing themselves). The simplest of which is the fact that the gearstick is designed to be removable. It uses a simple bayonet fitting (not unlike that on a modern lightbulb), with the collar on the stick itself, making it pretty much impossible to jury rig a replacement.
The game will open in the Aeon Society in London, on the evening of Tuesday April 30 1935, shortly after a pleasant black-tie dinner (cue joke about whether the black ties were properly cooked...). The PCs will be relaxing in the lounge area with after-dinner drinks.
The Aeon Society lounge is an oak-panelled room with an open fire to ward off the chill. Various paintings decorate the walls; as well as the usual ones of famous members, there are some that illustrate famous events in the lives of those members. A few other mementoes, such as tribal spears, decorate the walls. The room has a selection of armchairs and couches, and a well-stocked drinks cabinet and humidor.
PCs should think of how they're attired (DJs for the men, possibly rented; simple evening gowns for the women) and, for those not based in London, why they're visiting the London branch of the Aeon Society.
The weather has been clear but chilly.
For the occult-minded, April 30 is Beltane.
In the last episode of Adventure!...
It opened at a dinner at the Aeon Society, attended by Edward Champion, Alexa Henderson, Sophia Zarnesti, and John 'Mac' MacLean. After much small talk, over dinner and then over drinks afterwards, they all decided to stay the night. Edward went out to tell his driver, Giorgio, and discovered that a thick smog had descended.
Not long after Edward returned, there was a hammering on the door. When the club steward opened the door, a body stumbled in. He looked very ill, and exhausted. Edward carried him to a chair, while Mac told the steward to call a doctor. As Edward was looking at the body, he noticed a small insect bite on the man's neck.
Searching the man's pockets revealed his name (Clifford Jenkins) and his address (Flat 5, 17 Canary Row, Wandsworth - cheap but not too run down). There was the usual detritus of receipts (confirming his name), scraps of paper (mostly shopping lists, but one listed an address near the Aeon Society with the note "6.30"), and a bus ticket (today's).
The steward announced that the doctor will try to come round, but the smog will make things difficult. Mac and Edward chose to stay awake and guard the body, while the others retired to bed. When asked, the steward said the doctor was a Dr Martin.
During the night, Clifford suddenly sat bolt upright and screamed, the died. Too late, Dr Martin arrived. Mac examined Clifford's clothes, and could confirm that he hadn't become exhausted through running a long distance. Dr Martin agreed to send Edward the autopsy report.
The next morning, the group exchanged addresses, and Alexa took Sophia back to her hotel to change. Meanwhile, Mac and Edward investigated the house mentioned in the note found in the dead man's pocket.
When a grocer's cart came by, Mac questioned the driver, and learned that the property is a town-house owned by Sir Arthur Billingsby. He has an account with the grocer, but doesn't order much, since he only stays there occasionally. He did have an unusually large delivery yesterday; he may have been entertaining [This is an addition to what was said at the time]
Edward returned to the Aeon Society to meet with the ladies, while Mac headed for the library.
The next morning, it was still smoggy. Mac went to the nearest public library to look through old newspapers for anything on Sir Arthur Billingsby, or articles written by Clifford Jenkins. Sir Arthur is often mentioned in the society pages, and seems to be just another well-off man-about-town, attending the right number of charitable balls, going to the correct functions, etc. He owns a country house in Hertfordshire, and is often mentioned in association with Sir Charles Carrington, a captain of industry.
Clifford Jenkins wrote articles for many newspapers. He typically exposed scandals of one sort or another, though his articles came across as much better researched than ordinary scandal-mongering.
Meanwhile, back at the Aeon Society, Champion checked the Society's bookshelves (Who's Who, Debrett's, etc) for information on Sir Arthur. He'd travelled a bit, doing the Grand Tour and the like, but nothing really out of the ordinary - although he did spend some time in Africa in his younger days. The entries are otherwise fairly bland, noting his career as an officer in the British Army. If anything, the entries are interesting for what's not there: his terms were short, and he doesn't seem to have achieved quite as many decorations as would be expected. There's a hint of a scandal in what's missing, as if he's often been persuaded to move on, and subsequently to leave the army.
Everyone met up around lunchtime, and headed out to investigate Jenkin's flat. This proved to be little more than a bedsit in a converted house, with a suspicious landlady living on the premises. Champion induced the landlady to let them look around the room, which was on the first floor, but someone had beaten them to it: the room had been searched thoroughly, and something had been burned in the grate.
At that point, Champion carelessly broke a vase. Sophia headed the landlady off, though she was clearly suspicious of her.
Mac sifted through the ash in the fireplace, and found a half-burnt
membership card that had fallen through the grate. The only
intelligible words on it were "Witching Hour", and Sophia suggested it
might represent some sort of club. Champion examined the card, and
determined that the card once read "
Champion said he could smell a faint perfume, an expensive one.
Mac was lifted by Champion to search the top of the wardrobe, and found
a
cardboard box - which turned out to contain shirt collars. Possibly
more usefully, he took the ribbon from Jenkin's typewriter. Further
searching up the chimney produced only soot.
Sophia used her powers on the landlady to learn more about the other
tenants. They were a Terence Smith ("crook"), a Bernard Creel
("suspicious foreigner"), and a Jane Reeve ("parties and drinks too
much"). She also discovered that the police were plainclothes officers,
and a woman was in charge.
Back at the Aeon Society, Sophia examined the half-burned card and
determined the last letter of the missing word might be a 'd'. Champion
asked the steward about printers, and learned that the printer's mark
belonged to Bodmin and Shanks, a local printers.
Alexa drove Mac down to his place on Lord Pennington's estate to pick up
some clean clothes.
Champion and Sophia walked to Bodmin and Shanks. As they crossed a park in
the smog, Champion spotted figures in the fog waiting for them, and more
moving in behind. After a tense few minutes hiding behind bushes, they
managed to evade them, but not before learning that some of them were
German, and they were led by a beautiful woman.
At Bodmin and Shanks, they learned that the cards were produced for a club
called "The Brotherhood of the Witching Hour", set up by Sir Arthur
Billingsby. As far as the printer knew, it was just some sort of wild
social affair, perhaps a bit like the old Hellfire Club.
On their way back from Lord Pennington's estate, Mac and Alexa dropped
in on the Red Lion, Clifford Jenkins' old pub. Mac chatted with the
landlord, while Alexa's peculiar costume drew a few comments.
Meeting back at the Aeon Society, everyone swapped what they'd learned.
Mac made a few phone calls, and learned that Scotland Yard currently
had only one female detective of any seniority, 53 year old Hilda
Carruthers, who didn't sound like the woman Champion had seen in the
park. Champion arranged for Sophia's and Alexa's luggage to be
transferred to the Aeon Society.
Once everyone had washed and changed, they headed to Sir Arthur's
house...
Mac decided to hang back from the visit to Sir Arthur Billingsby's
place, so he wouldn't be recognised later.
Sir Arthur's servant opened the door, and showed the others into a small
library. It was comfortably furnished, with a couple of armchairs and a
desk, and the walls were lined with books. The books didn't look
particularly well-read; while there were a few occult volumes amongst
them, they were all popular treatments.
Sir Arther entered, and they told him about the mysterious arrival of
Clifford Jenkins the other night. Sir Arthur claimed not to know any
Clifford Jenkins. Sophia asked him if he knew what Clifford, a scandal
journalist, might have wanted; he said he had no idea, but she sensed
something about the Brotherhood of the Witching Hour... oh, and about
five love affairs, which disconcerted Sophia somewhat. He suggested he
might visit the Aeon Society more often.
Meanwhile, Mac noticed two men lurking in the fog, watching the house.
When the others left to return to the Aeon Society, the two men
followed them, and Mac followed the two men. When they got closer, one
of the men peeled off and headed in a different direction; Mac followed
him.
After about a mile, the man entered a pub named 'The Hanged Man', which
should have been closed at this hour. There, Mac saw him meet with a
woman.
Mac settled back to watch the place, and was surprised by a quiet German
voice behind him, and the barrel of a gun pushed into his back. He
span, drawing his knife and plunging it deep into the German's gut. The
man fell, and Mac put the boot in, before grabbing his gun (a luger)
and leaving.
As he got closer to the Aeon Society, he saw the first man still
watching the place. Sneaking up on him, Mac attacked, only for the man
to twist out of the way. He began to ran, and Mac brought him down with
a flying kick.
Mac dramatically entered the Aeon Society carrying the unconscious man,
and dropped him and the gun on the floor. A search showed that the man
also carried a luger, but no spare clips. Mac recounted his adventures,
as Alexa took the two lugers and disabled them.
As Mac went to clean himself up, Champion woke the man and Sophia
started to question him. His name was Tomas Werner, and he worked for
Schattenwurf (German for 'casting a shadow' - literally, 'shade throw')
and the lady. Champion shattered a table in front of him, and Mac
threatened him, but the man discovered a bit of backbone. "Do your
worst", he said, so Mac broke his arm.
He was asked what it was the lady wanted: a notebook. He didn't know
anything about the Brotherhood of the Witching Hour. He had been a
baker in Germany, but had also done a lot of marching.
There was then some discussion about the moral implications of killing
him. In the end, Mac knocked him out and carried him upstairs.
Meanwhile, there was a knock on the door, and the steward let in Sir
Arthur. Champion spoke with him, but he didn't seem to have heard of
either Shattenwurf or the lady. Champion had just asked him to join
them for dinner when the doors of the club were blown in by an
explosion!
The dust from the explosion had hardly settled, when a gunman appeared
in the doorway of the Aeon Society.
"I'm sorry, old chap, members only" yelled Champion.
At the sound of the explosion, Mac KO'd his prisoner and ran downstairs,
while Champion pushed Sir Arthur behind a table for his protection.
Alexa drew her pistol, and shot the gunman in the hand, sending his
pistol flying. More gunmen began to push their way in, and Champion
haymakered one of them. Alexa fired again, bringing down another gunman.
Sophia had got hold of the first gunman's dropped gun, and downed one of
the intruders. Mac entered, just in time to see Champion grab one of the
men and throw him across the room. The rest of the gunmen fired on
Champion, but failed to do more than make work for his tailor, while Mac
strode across and felled another gunman with a kick.
Then the leader of the gunmen came in, sighted Alexa, and opened up with
a submachine gun. Alexa went down, covered in blood. The gunman then
inexplicably dropped his gun, and was kicked backwards by Champion. At
this point, his nerve failed, and he and the rest of the gunmen fled.
Sophia collected Champion's medical bag, while Mac searched the bodies,
then Champion and his driver Giorgio took Alexa to Dr Martin.
Fortunately, Alexa wasn't as badly hurt as it first appeared, one of the
bullets causing a minor wound that bled badly.
Meanwhile, Mac questioned Sir Arthur, but learned nothing more. He
followed him when he left, but Sir Arthur just went back to his own
house. The police came, and took away the prisoners and their guns.
Alexa returned, wearing her strange leather costume, and began knocking
back brandies as if Prohibition was about to start in Britain.
Now that everything was quieter, Champion examined the typewriter
ribbon, and learned that Clifford Jenkins had also used the name James
Featherstone. It was now very late, and everyone turned in -
surprisingly, for an undisturbed night.
The next morning, Mac went to see his Aunt Mary, an occultist and a
fortune teller at the circus. Champion called Julius Quest and arranged
some lab space and a workshop for Alexa, tipping him off that he might
want to look at Alexa's interesting car. Alexa then went to visit
Julius, while Sophia and Champion called on Sir Arthur.
Alexa was directed to Lab 13b, where she dismantled one of Champion's
rifles and started work on it.
Mac's Aunt Mary had heard the name Zarnesti, but couldn't provide any
useful leads towards "Shadow Thrower".
Sophia and Champion learned that Sir Arthur wasn't up yet, and were
shown into the library. They overheard his servant knocking on his door
with increasing agitation, and went up as the servant went in and found
Sir Arthur had died in his sleep. Sophia fetched Champion's doctor's bag
(again!); Champion found a small insect bite on Sir Arthur's neck.
Sophia spoke with the servant, and learned that Sir Arthur had arranged
to meet someone secretly later that night, and had also sent his servant
away on the night Clifford was killed [OOC: This is a change from what I
said at the time - my mistake].
Champion dialled the exchange and pretended to be a DI Rappaport to get
the number dialled, which was Southall 2371. This was traced to a George
Wilson, of 21 Curie Street. Champion searched the study, and found an
address book.
Meanwhile, back at Julius Quest's place, Alexa showed off her car to
him. He was impressed.
Everyone met back up at the Aeon Society.
This episode:
Sir Arthur's address book had a lot of names in it, including James
Featherstone (though the address matched Clifford Jenkins'). On the last
page were a list of letters, which turned out to be the initials of a
number of people in the phone book:
Nathalie Bourget
Amanda Lyons
Sir Charles Carrington
Doktor Heinrich Kaltenbach
Greta Kaltenbach
Theresa King
Professor James Radcliffe
Major Geoffrey Richardson
Reverend Hilary Spencer
George Wilson
One pair of initials, JC, didn't appear in the book, but Champion
recalled that Sir Charles had a son, John Carrington, a pilot in the
RAF.
A bit of research identified some of the names on the list. Amanda
Lyons and Theresa King both had small entries in Who's Who, thanks to
their parents, and could fairly be described as young, idle and
rich. Professor Radcliffe "does something for the military", according
to Mac. Finally, a skim through the society pages revealed that Nathalie
Bourget was a torch singer, currently appearing at the Serenity Club.
[OOC: a torch singer sings 'torch songs' - songs about disappointment in
love. Not always mournful ones: Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love
You" would be a modern equivalent, as would Gloria Gaynor's "I Will
Survive".]
Dr Martin came back with the post mortem on Clifford Jenkins. Based
on damage to the internal organs, he probably died of some sort of
poison, but toxicology tests for the usual suspects (arsenic, prussic
acid, etc) have all been negative.
Alexa drove everyone to George Wilson's place. Mac watched from a
distance, leaning on a convenient lamppost (sadly, he had neglected
to bring a ukulele, or else he could have anticipated George
Formby). The house was a good house in a not-so-good area; since it
was early evening, the curtains were already closed.
George Wilson answered the door, but was immediately suspicious
when Champion initially refused to identify himself. He denied
any knowledge of the Brotherhood of the Witching Hour, and
Sophia found him hard to read. He said Sir Arthur's phone call
had been about financial matters, as he's an accountant.
The others left, but Mac stayed behind to watch the house. George left
and drove away in a small car; Mac took the chance to turn his house
over. The house was obsessively neat and tidy, and the books on
the bookcases confirmed he was an accountant. Mac concluded
there was something odd about George Wilson's desk, but if there
was a secret drawer he couldn't find it.
As he was returned to the Aeon Society, Mac realised he was being
followed by a man in a fedora and trenchcoat. He ambushed his
pursuer, and learned that the Lady wanted the notebook. Mac
offered to make a deal, and told the man to send a message to
the Aeon Society tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the others were changing for a visit to the Serenity Club.
Sophia and Alexa argued about dresses. They arrived at the club
well before Mac, though he joined them just as the lights dimmed,
and the next singer was announced: Nathalie Bourget...
Nathalie Bourget began singing; Sophia appeared stressed, fiddling with
a coin. Mac, suspecting trouble, slipped out back.
Champion learned what Nathalie Bourget's favourite drink was, and
heavily tipped a waiter to ensure that only his card was delivered with
it. He was invited to her dressing room. Unfortunately, they didn't
exactly hit it off. [OOC: Don't you just hate botches :-)] She was
dismissive of the Brotherhood of the Witching Hour as just a bit of
fun, with 'meetings' held in Sir Arthur's basement. Champion warned her
of the danger she was in, but she laughed it off.
Everyone returned to the Aeon Society to change, ready to burgle, err
investigate, Sir Arthur's town house. The Aeon Society sported new
doors, replacements for the ones that were blown in.
All was quiet at Sir Arthur's. Again, Mac hung back, while the others
tried the bell pull to see if anyone was home. There was no response.
Alexa tapped the door in the right place, and it swung open.
The door to the basement wasn't hidden exactly, but it was so discreet
that it was easy to overlook. Down the stairs was a chamber decorated
in occult style, with a pentagram painted on the floor. On a lectern
was a leather-bound book, which suddenly flew from the lectern to
Sophia's hand. It was called the Liber Maleficus.
Mac relieved Champion at the top of the stairs, and he searched the
room, but nothing significant was found. Mac then searched the rest of
the house, finding a strangely-carved stone in the bedroom. Alexa
determined that the carving on the stone was recent. Mac finished off
by pocketting several silver spoons. Everyone returned to the Aeon
Society for a nightcap.
The next day, the plan was for Sophia and Mac to take the leather-bound
book to his aunt's, before looking up the addresses of the other
members of the Aeon Society. Meanwhile, Alexa and Champion would go to
the airfield, then on to Oxford.
Sophia and Mac were driven to Mac's Aunt Mary by Giorgio. When the two
arrived together, Aunt Mary drew the obvious conclusion that they were
romantically linked. She examined the artifacts brought by the two
young lovers...
The leather-bound book was cheap trash. The carved stone was... also
cheap trash, a crude modern knock-off - done in the style of something
pagan, but really with random occult symbols carved on it. She said it
was the sort of thing used as window dressing.
Aunt Mary and Sophia seemed to hit it off and were soon discussing
family life and reminiscing, somewhat to Mac's discomfort. She made
arrangements to see Sophia's uncle's stage show.
When they returned to the Aeon Society, a telegram had arrived for Mac,
and didn't appear to have been opened. The telegram was from the Lady,
and suggested a meeting to "discuss trade" at pier 14 of the Prince
Albert docks at midnight. Mac went to scout the docks and find a
vantage point overlooking them.
In the afternoon, Alexa drove Champion to Oxford, and to Doktor
Kaltenbach's rooms in the Queen's College. Champion introduced them as
"Richard Savage and Miss Lemon", and proceeded to break the news of Sir
Arthur's death rather abruptly. He claimed to be investigating for the
insurance company. Doktor Kaltenbach spoke of the Brotherhood as a
social club, which he'd really only gone along to because his daughter,
Greta, was sweet on John Carrington. They learned that the next meeting
would have been next Tuesday.
Discussions turned towards the Doktor and his family. He was a lecturer
in Mathematics, and he and his family had fled Germany about a year ago
after "that madman" came to power. Greta has her own flat in Oxford.
Champion left him the number of the Aeon Society, and warned him he was
in great danger.
Back at the Aeon Society, Sophia discovered that the usual servant could
pronounce Latin, even though he couldn't understand it - he was a
Catholic, and had sung in the choir as a child. She got him to read
extracts from the book, and was able to use her mystical abilities to
translate it. The book only contained overblown occult nonsense, a
modern publication sold to bilk the gullible.
Then the police arrived, looking for Champion. They wanted to ask some
questions about a lady he knew, and felt he could help them with their
enquiries..
Sophia then worked out how Jenkins could have hidden the notebook: he
could have posted it to himself. Seizing the opportunity, she had
Giorgio drive her to Clifford Jenkins home.
Champion and Alexa returned to find Sophia gone, and a message asking
him to contact the police. From the police, Champion learned that
Nathalie Bourget had been brutally murdered. Mac returned, warning that
the only decent high vantage point on the docks was on a crane.
Perhaps to everyone's surprise, Sophia wasn't kidnapped :-) She reached
the boarding house safely, and after some discussion with the landlady
she returned with Jenkins' mail. That mail included a package, which
contained a notebook.
Champion skimmed the notebook, noting the last entry said "Led us in a
chant", followed by some scribbles that could have been an attempt to
render the chant phonetically, followed by "Unusual". He gave it to
Alexa to read. He then examined the leather-bound book, and determined
there was something hidden under the binding.
Under the binding was another sheet of leather, slightly smaller than
the front cover of the book. It was written in a strange script, with
an ink that could have been blood. Further examination revealed that it
was mirror-writing, in Latin. Sophia used her trick with the servant to
find out what it was: the writing was a long prose poem about praising
and worshipping a being called Galgaroth.
Sophia and Alexa studied the chant; their tentative conclusion, based on
a lot of guesswork, was that it might be backwards Latin, but it was
unreadable.
Champion went to the police, and had a curious interview with a DI
Craddock. He pretty soon realised that, despite apparently being the
last person known to have been with Nathalie Bourget, he wasn't a
suspect. They were interested in the knowledge that she'd had German
friends at the club, and mentioned that things had been carved on her
body, but then clammed up [OOC: Another bad time for a botch :-)]
The party left the books, stone, and notes in the Aeon Society's safe,
and knocked up a fake package that looked like the notebook to take to
the rendezvous.
Pier 14 was strangely quiet (docks not being known for shutting down at
night), the reason turning out to be that there was no ship docked. The
party arrived too early to put someone up a crane: there was already a
small group waiting in the middle of the brightly-lit pier. One was
recognisable as the Lady, another was unknown, and there were 4 thugs
guarding them.
Champion took up a sniper's position on the car roof, while Alexa stayed
at the wheel. Mac and Sophia went forward. But the moment the Lady
learned they had the book:
"Kill them."
Lights came on on the ships docked on either side of pier 14, their
railings lined with heavily-armed men. Mac and Sophia faced certain
death as they prepared to fire...
CLIFFHANGER!
The next morning, the adventurers decided to visit the Rev Hilary
Spencer. Mac tipped the desk clerk a quid to tell him about any queries
and not to answer them.
The Rev Spencer lived out in West Wycombe. Sophia and Champion went to
his door, and introduced themselves. Rev Spencer was in his 40s, with
greying hair, and showed them inside his plain, painfully middle-class
townhouse.
He seemed a bit over-friendly with Sophia, which Sophia confirmed when
she first read his mind! It was quite clear why he'd been defrocked.
They warned the Reverend there was a plot against him, but at first he
didn't believe them.
They questioned him about the meeting the previous Tuesday. He denied
anything had happened, but Sophia picked up that he was worried it had
something to do with the 'new chant'. Further questioning gave her the
image of the meeting, where George Wilson gave Sir Arthur the new
chant. It also confirmed that Greta Kaltenbach wasn't Helga Braun.
Sophia, a bit frustrated at his constant denials, shocked the Reverend
by bluntly telling him about the killings. All resistance went out of
him; he agreed to stay with a cousin in the north of England, and also
gave Sophia a letter of introduction for talking to the others.
Champion told him to contact Richard Savage at the Aeon Society if he
had any news.
After giving the Reverend Spencer a lift to the station, during which he
ogled Alexa (to which she was completely oblivious), the adventurers
discussed visiting the professor. Mac warned Sophia not to use her
abilities to pry unnecessarily.
Professor Radcliffe's address turned out to be a country house. There
were no obvious armed guards, but the main gate was locked, with a man
on it. At first, they were denied access, but it was granted grudgingly
when they showed the letter of introduction. The house itself looked
secure, with reinforced windows and doors, and another man waiting at
the door; in addition, several of the grounds staff looked suspiciously
like guards. Sophia was shown in; Champion listened from outside.
She was shown into a lounge near the front door, and shortly afterwards
the professor entered. He had the slightly dusty look of a manic school
teacher, with both his sports jacket and his hair in need of a good
brushing. He was impatient to get back to his work. When Sophia told
him that Germans might be after him, his first thought was about his
work, which Sophia picked up. He thanked her for the warning, but
insisted the authorities should handle it.
The adventurers returned to the hotel, with Mac scouting ahead to make
sure they weren't being watched. London was still slightly smoggy,
which was getting a bit much even for London! Sophia went for a bath,
while Champion checked in with the Aeon Society and Mac took advantage
of room service. The others went down for dinner a bit later.
Champion led the way through the trapdoor and down the stairs into the
dark basement, closely followed by Mac, Alexa and Sophia.
Electric torches illuminated a strangely-decorated corridor, with doors
on the right and at the end, and what appeared to be two Egyptian
Mummies on the left-hand side. Suspicious, Champion examined the first
Mummy closely, and realised it was a fake. He punched it in annoyance,
regretting it instantly when he discovered the Mummy's bandages
concealed a stone statue!
Unwinding the bandages from around the Mummy revealed a stone statue in
the rough shape of a man, with a hollow in his stomach containing a
wooden box.
The door on the right opened onto a small toilet.
Champion examined the second Mummy and unwrapped it, revealing a second
wooden box. This one wasn't as well sealed, and he could smell the
gunpowder inside it!
Gingerly, the boxes were taken out and left in the toilet area, dampened
to prevent any explosions.
The group moved to the door at the end of the corridor. Champion
listened, and could hear faint sounds of movement, and light around the
edges of the door. Barging through the door, he stopped just before
ploughing into a wine-rack.
"Stop! Police! Drop your weapons!" yelled a voice from up ahead. Two men
with guns were covering them.
Champion asked the erstwhile policemen to show their warrant cards,
whereupon they opened fire, slightly wounding him. With a titanic
heave, he pushed the wine-rack over, knocking over a second one and
burying both gunmen. Mac made sure they were thoroughly KO'd, and
disarmed them.
The wine-cellar had an impressive set of double doors on its right-hand
side. They were locked, until Alexa examined them, whereupon they were
unlocked.
Beyond the doors was a room with a pentacle etched on the floor, a few
expensive cabinets, and a goldfish-bowl of glowing red dots on a table.
Both Sophia and Mac noticed movement. There was a single door on the
far right; Alexa headed towards it, and a loud buzzing began to emanate
from the goldfish bowl.
"Alexa, down!" yelled Champion, with a sudden inkling of what the bowl
contained. Alexa dove to the floor as Champion sprinted across the
pentacle and threw his jacket over the bowl.
Inside the bowl were a number of curiously-glowing insects, quite
possibly the same creatures that had killed Clifford Jenkins, Sir
Arthur Billingsby, and others. Mac poured a bottle of wine through the
jacket into the bowl, and Sophia topped it up with brandy, until there
was a goldfish bowl of assorted alcoholic drinks, one very ruined
jacket, and a lot of dead insects that glowed no more.
Sophia checked the cabinets, and found them full of occult
paraphernalia.
Alexa checked the door. It was locked, so she unlocked it. Beyond was a
robing room, with several wardrobes; a set of robes lay discarded by a
small hatch in the floor. At that, Alexa turned and sprinted upstairs,
heading for her car.
Champion opened the hatch, and regretted having remarkable senses as he
smelled sewage. He climbed down, with Sophia and Mac following, and
they found themselves walking along a sewer. Mac spotted some signs of
their quarry, and they followed the sewer into a larger one, before
hearing a distant clang.
Upstairs, Alexa was just in time to see Wilson heading for the other
car. It wouldn't start, thanks to Alexa's ministrations earlier. As he
began to walk off, Alexa stepped out and coughed.
Back in the sewer, the others found the hatch their quarry had gone
through. Sophia went first; Champion followed, but slipped on the
slippery rungs; fortunately, Mac caught him before he suffered a
sartorial catastrophe at the hands of the sewer.
They burst out of an outbuilding just in time to see Alexa asking Wilson
to stop. He ran, so she jumped into her car and chased after him. Mac
also went after him; Wilson dodged out of his grasp, and gave a Wilhelm
scream as he fell under Alexa's wheels...
At first, they thought he was dead, but Mac checked and found he was
merely unconscious, with his leg broken in several places.
Now it seemed to be merely a matter of tidying up. Champion went back to
the basement and retrieved a couple of the dead insects for
examination, then proceeded to search the place. Above ground, a fog
suddenly began moving in, and Mac carried Wilson downstairs. He
mentioned the scroll; Sophia had it.
Mac lit candles on the five corners of the pentacle. Wilson was coming
round, and Sophia began questioning him. He was elated by the sight as
the fog began seeping under the door; all she could make out was 'read
it'.
Sophia began reading from the scroll, as Mac fought to plug the gap
under the door with robes. The fog grabbed him, and he had to pull
away. Sophia finished reading the scroll as the fog flowed over
Champion... before dissipating.
Now it really was all over. Sophia burned the part of the scroll with
the summoning ritual, keeping only the dismissal. Mac went back into
the wine-cellar to retrieve some bottles.
Sophia questioned Wilson, and was able to learn the truth about the
murders. Jenkins had been the sacrifice, whereas Sir Arthur merely knew
too much. He'd killed Nathalie Bourget and mutilated her body with
swastikas to throw them off the scent, a plan that was foiled thanks to
Champion falling out with DI Craddock before the detective had passed
on the important information!
Wilson also mentioned an organisation called "The Byzantine Order", but
managed to resist giving away anything more, even when Champion
squeezed his broken leg until he collapsed. Mac examined him, and found
he must have fallen on something sharp: he was dead.
Using the gunpowder, they blew the cellar up, producing an impressive
pyrotechnic display that guaranteed the rest of the house would be
condemned.
The books were sent to DI Craddock, with an anonymous note of
explanation. Mac asked his family about the lady they'd captured, Helga
Braun, only to learn she'd escaped.
Champion then invited everyone else to his chateau in Switzerland, along
with Professor Julius Quest. They boarded the Lady Arabella, and headed
East.
Our heroes discussed the Byzantine Order. Mac telephoned Professor Braithwaite. After the usual interminable time getting a connection through international operators, with a few mis-routes on the way ("Allo, allo, zis iz Zagreb, who iz zis?") he eventually got through. Professor Braithwaite gave him a potted history of Byzantium.
The group decided to relax for the day. Alexa got to work making Champion's pistols more accurate, then Mac taught her a bit about knives, before going climbing. Professor Quest went into town.
By late afternoon, Professor Quest still hadn't returned. Now worried about him, the others went into town. The tiny local police station was closed, with a note to seek the policemen in the tavern opposite; they found them eating dinner, but they hadn't heard anything.
The group started asking around hotels, and Mac got into a fight with a couple of locals who decided they could rough up the foreigner. They were wrong.
Sophia learned that Professor Quest had been seen in the car of a hotel guest, a blonde woman named Helga Braun. He'd been sitting rather stiffly in the passenger seat of a two-seater. Helga Braun had then driven off with him, towards the head of the valley.
Mac immediately suspected a trap. Champion followed the tracks out of town, where they eventually ended at a small cluster of buildings: a garage, a store room, a house, and a cable-car station. A man in the house came out and hailed him suspiciously when Champion approached with a gun in his hand.
The man, Hans Grendel, and his family looked after the Chateau Belfort, further up the mountain. The chateau had been taken for the season, and Hans recognised the description of Helga Braun as one of the people who'd taken it. Hans agreed to operate the cable car so they could visit the chateau, but was troubled to find the telephone line to the chateau was down.
The group prepared for trouble. Alexa removed the gearstick from her car to make it harder to steal. Then everyone piled into the cable car. After the sliding door on the side was pulled closed, the cable car gave a lurch and began its journey up the side of the mountain.
Mechanical men were discovered and escaped from, Zeppelins were found and boarded. Plans went horribly wrong.
As they led him back to the control room, Sophia suddenly went white. She'd overheard a faint German voice above the hatch:
"No! Don't try shooting the hatch, you imbecile!"
There was gunfire from above, the sound of ricochets, and then the sound of a colossal explosion...
* * *
Mac grabbed a parachute from behind one of the flight crew's seats and sprinted for Helga's room, booting the door in even as he felt the pressure of the explosion thrust him into the room.
Alexa, meanwhile, had torn open the floor hatch leading to the small auxiliary biplane and dropped into the pilot's seat, closely followed by Sophia and Professor Quest.
"I'm, er, awfully sorry about this", remarks Professor Quest, as he and Sophia are forced to share the small seat for the observer. He begins concentrating on Diophantine Equations to take his mind off things...
Champion was desperately struggling with the zeppelin's Captain and crewmen, who'd jumped on him in a moment of distraction. Alexa looked up desperately as the orange blossom of fire started to burst through the gondola, and pulled on the lever to release the biplane. In the same instant, Champion struck the Captain with a perfect uppercut, hurling him back into his crew, and dropped through the hatch... only to be brought up short as his rifle caught across it.
Meanwhile, Mac grabbed the semi-conscious Helga with one hand, as the explosion tore the gondola apart and threw them into the empty sky. The same explosion tore Champion's rifle from his shoulders, and he dropped down to grab the struts of the biplane as it started to dive clear.
Mac then had a crash course in how hard it is to get into a parachute harness in mid-air... while attempting to hold on to someone who's just woken and is now struggling in terror. The ground rushed closer and closer, and he slammed the last catch home and pulled the ripcord in almost the same motion.
Two people on one chute, opened at low altitude, meant they were still falling fast when they hit. The 'ground' yielded, as they tore through the roof of a hay barn, and fell into deep hay, Mac cushioning Helga's fall. For a moment, they just lay there.
"You saved me ....but why?", asked Helga, "I tried to kill you."
"There a shortage of beautiful women who have a fondness for weapons in the world," replied Mac.
They embraced. Meanwhile, overhead, the overloaded and unbalanced biplane was doing its famous impersonation of a ruptured duck.
"I thought you could fly this thing," remarked Champion, clinging to the wing.
"Feel free to lighten the load anytime," retorted Alexa. Sophia chose not to watch what happened next. Professor Quest moved on to Riemannian Tensors.
The plane spiralled down; Alexa successfully fighting to maintain some control. With twice as many people on board as it was designed for, the biplane was not capable of maintaining level flight.
Just as the plan seemed certain to plunge vertically into the field below, Alexa hauled back on the stick. The biplane pulled up and slowed, sat in the air for a moment, and stalled neatly downwards into a deep snowdrift. The undercarriage didn't survive, but the rest of the plane would be salvageable once it was dug out. Of course, first the pilot and crew would need to dig _themselves_ out...
At about the same time, Mac noticed Lord Pennington receive a telephone message, and return looking grey and haggard.
Episode 1 - morning of day 1
Champion met with the others, and explained the situation. Sophia and Mac decided to talk with the professor's family, while Champion and Alexa visited the government laboratory.
* * *
The laboratory was hidden beneath Darnet Fort in the Medway estuary. Champion and Alexa took a RN launch around the island, and learned that the guards change at 0800. They landed and questioned the officer in charge, who informed them (rather late) that the lab assistant was also missing.
* * *
Sophia and Mac spoke with the professor's wife; his children were at boarding school. The professor had seemed worried, or perhaps excited, but not much more than usual. The housekeeper checked, and confirmed some clothes were missing, including his best suit. There was nothing suspicious in his room - suspiciously so, in fact, since it was clear someone had tried to make sure no evidence was left behind. He'd made some phone calls shortly before his disappearance. His wife confirmed he'd had previous mysterious trips, and hadn't said where he was going. When asked about other trips, she said he'd occasionally visited friends, and had had holidays in Cornwall and Normandy.
Going through his paperwork, it was clear that he'd taken his bank books; he banked at the Capital and Counties bank. Mac and Sophia went to visit the bank and the telephone exchange.
* * *
Champion and Alexa proceeded to examine the laboratory. It was a grisly sight: a guard lay dead on the floor, his body shattered as if made of weak stone. There were no notes, but Champion could determine that two others had been in the room - one was the lab assistant, John Reeve, but the other was a mystery.
* * *
Sophia and Mac spoke with the bank manager, and learned that the professor had made a substantial withdrawal a couple of days ago.
The telephone exchange said that the professor had called a Whitehall number. The operator on duty at the time, a Miss Edwards, would be back on duty that evening.
* * *
At this point, Mac and Sophia joined the others at the fort. Mac asked for all personnel records, especially for the lab assistant, and questioned the other guards. Sophia got a migraine, and had to retire to a quiet room.
Episode 2 - afternoon and evening of day 1, morning of day 2
Mac continued to question the officer in charge, who explained that he received sealed orders to pass to the professor. It was likely around high tide when the guard was killed.
Searching the island, Champion and Mac found the place where a small boat landed. Champion observed green and black paint flecks, and the footprints of someone with smaller feet than the lab assistant. The person had been wearing rubber boots.
The launch in the evening had returned with a sick soldier. The commander confirmed that none of his men had gone off sick. Sophia was able to discover that the 'sick' guard had been tall and blond, in his late 20s, with a strong south London accent.
* * *
The party returned to shore, and Mac and Sophia went to the telephone exchange. Champion and Alexa examined the professor's car, which was left at the docks. They found a couple of theatre ticket stubs for the Garrick, dated 3 days ago.
* * *
Miss Edwards was able to confirm the phone call the professor had made: Whitehall 5656. A man's voice had answered, but she didn't listen to any of the conversation.
* * *
The party stayed overnight in Rochester. The next morning, Champion went to question John Reeve's wife, Edna. They lived in a small house in Hammersmith, and had been married 5 years. She was about 7 months pregnant, and had 3 other children. She didn't know where her husband was. They didn't have a car; Reeve travelled by train.
Mac did some searching, and found Reeve's local, the Rose and Crown. Talking to the barman, he learned that a tall blond Scotsman had been making friendly enquiries for Reeve. When the man was described to Edna Reeve, she recognised him as a man from the council who'd been round, though he definitely spoke with a local accent.
Mac then visited the Whitehall exchange, and determined that 5656 belonged to a Mr Meredith Brown of Jamison Court. The party then headed for the Garrick, where they confirmed that the ticket stubs were for Box C, which had been taken by "Professor Brown", and his young wife. Sophia got an image of the wife, and it wasn't the professor's real wife. He'd arrived by cab, and had ordered drinks freely. They'd been served by Sally, who would be on duty again tonight.
Episode 3 - afternoon and evening of day 2
Champion searched Box C, but could find nothing. They waited and spoke with Sally. She remembered the professor; his wife was called Dagmar. The only bit about their conversation she could recall was that Dagmar had complained she got airsick; Sophia pulled 'Croydon' from her mind.
Mac received a message about a family emergency, and left.
Champion made enquiries with the local police, and learned that a body had turned up in the early hours of yesterday morning. The party went to view the body: it was Dagmar, and she'd been stabbed numerous times. Sophia paled, while Alexa was sick.
The body was found on the route to Croydon. Her hair had been dyed, and her handbag was missing. Alexa said she appeared to be dressed for travel. She was about the right size to be the person who left boot-prints on the island.
Champion sent Giorgio to the Aeon Society to phone around the hospitals for any recently admitted unidentified patients. Meanwhile, Alexa drove them to Croyden aerodrome quickly and safely. Champion got a list of flights and manifests up until midday that day. After starting to go through the manifests, he narrowed it down by asking about passengers who missed their flight. This quickly identified a flight to Paris which was supposed to have a Professor Brown and his wife. When given the description of John Reeve and the blond man, he didn't recognise either of them.
Alexa wondered what the professor was planning to live off.
They returned to the Aeon Society. Giorgio then reported that the Prince Albert hospital had an unconscious patient. Everyone raced round there, and found that the comatose patient was John Reeve. The report said he'd been beaten up and left by the main road, but the location he was found was close to the spot where the Rochester-London railway line crossed the road.
By now, it was getting close to midnight. Champion and Sophia elected to stay with John Reeve, in case he should wake, while Giorgio and Alexa returned to the Aeon Society for some sleep.
* * *
Meanwhile, Mac had learned that one of his relatives was missing.
Episode 4 - Day 3
The next morning, Mac met Alexa at the Aeon Society, then went back out. He kept calling the Aeon Society every couple of hours to stay in touch; Giorgio relayed the calls. By the time he was finished, he'd found the professor's wallet, with a blank piece of paper stitched into the lining, and learned that a tall blond cockney had been asking questions.
Champion drove to visit Meredith Brown in Jamison Court. This proved to be a reasonably well-to-do townhouse, and the door was answered by a maid. Champion was allowed in to visit Meredith Brown, who turned out to be a teacher at a public school.
After some stern questioning, Meredith's nerve broke. He'd last seen the professor about a week ago, with his mistress Dagmar, to hand over the passport and tickets he'd arranged. He could give them the professor's London address.
Around lunchtime, Mac joined him. They went to the professor's house in London, a quiet house in a quiet street, and Mac opened the door. There were signs of rushed packing in the house, confirming that plans had gone awry. They found a blank notebook that still carried the faint impression of a map, which Champion was able to determine was a route to Croydon airport along back-roads. Dagmar's body was not found on the route.
Mac called Lord Pennington to ask if any other agencies have been tasked with finding the professor - they haven't.
They returned to the hospital, and passed the blank piece of paper to Alexa; Alexa used Champion to get access to a laboratory. Meanwhile, Sophia started to get flickering, disorientated images from Reeve, corresponding to being thrown from a train. She had the faintest glimpse of a face, but could make out no details.
Champion had Reeve transferred to a private sanitorium run by the Aeon Society. Then he, Mac and Sophia drove along the professor's route from London to Croydon to spot anything out of the ordinary.
They found skidmarks, where someone had been forced off the road. It was about 10 miles from where Dagmar's body was found. Both cars were subsequently driven away.
A farmer at a nearby farm witnessed the incident from a distance, and described it. Sophia was able to get a fair description of the car, and could confirm that the blond man wasn't with the party. The farmer said there'd been an argument, but no real struggle.
Episode 5 - Days 4 and 5
The next morning, Alexa made some simple thermite and phosphorus grenades, then took a look at the 'blank' paper. Sophia gave a description of the blond man to a police sketch artist, then returned to the sanitorium. Mac, meanwhile, hit the streets again.
Sophia tried John Reeve's mind again, and was rewarded with a clear image of the blond man, grinning as he pushed Reeve from the train. He slowly regained consciousness.
Alexa was eventually able to read the invisible writing on the paper. It was a complicated chemical formula, labelled GX-35, but she knew something was wrong with it: about mid-way through, the mixture would explode. There was also the scrawled name of a camping shop in north London, Mallory's Mountain Supplies.
Sophia questioned John Reeve. He'd been working late, but had left early in the evening. On the train home, he'd abruptly been attacked by the blond man. The rest is a blank. When asked about GX-35, he said he could create the gas, but only with the professor's notes.
Champion passed Sophia's artist's impression to some contacts of his, and also got the police to start looking for him - wanted in connection with the murder of Dagmar.
Alexa tested the new rifle she'd developed for Champion.
The next day, Mac returned with the description of a black car, including a partial license plate. Champion passes the information to the police, in the hope they can trace the car.
When Alexa produced a piece of paper with the formula on it, Champion immediately burned it - before reading the address! Fortunately, it was a copy. He called Julius and asks him to secure the formula.
Alexa went to collect Sophia from the sanitorium, while Mac and Champion took a look at Mallory's Mountain Supplies...
Episode 6 (15/4/08) - Day 5
Alexa and Sophia went to see John Reeve. Alexa questioned him, and he was able to reveal that the hidden note was a trap: the professor kept the real formula in his head. They headed back to the Aeon Society.
Meanwhile, at Mallory's Mountain Supplies, Champion and Mac waited for the shop to open. A man of about 40, with salt-and-pepper hair, turned up to open it. He explained that, as well as supplies, he also rents lockers for people to store their climbing gear out of season; the professor had rented one about a week ago.
Champion collected some water, just in case, then they gingerly opened the locker, finding a rucksack inside. Mac lowered it carefully to the floor and opened it; inside was a length of rope, a grappling hook, a thermos flask, and a map of Epping Forest (see attached). On the map were six crosses; that there were six rather than five suggested that the locations had been chosen before one flask was broken during the theft.
Champion left his card and asked to be called if anyone came asking about the locker, then they met up with the others at the Aeon Society. Everyone made preparations for a visit to Epping Forest; Champion procured a hamper full of pillows to transport any flasks that were found.
They drove fast to Epping Forest, but it quickly became clear that their enemy was ahead of them: three black cars were parked by the main road. Alexa disabled them, just in case.
Mac took the map, and they set off into the forest. Sophia managed to step into a hidden stream.
At the site of the first cross, they only found a hole, dug within the last hour by about a half-dozen people. For the second flask, they chose the furthest away flask they could, in the hope it had not been dug up yet; Mac navigated straight to the site, and carefully dug the flask up, placing it in the hamper. The hamper was then hidden, with a thermite grenade attached as a booby trap. The party shared the grenades around and set up an ambush, while Mac circled around.
They didn't have long to wait. Six men approached, speaking quietly in German and clearly armed; they were joined by two others. The party attacked when they found the looted site.
There was a short and vicious battle, swiftly moving from guns to hand-to-hand fighting (a transition encouraged by Sophia using her powers to eject magazines, and Champion's gun jamming). By the end, Champion was looking slightly the worse for wear after being shot several times, and all the Germans were dead except for their leader (Mac having disposed of the wounded). Unfortunately, the blond man wasn't among them.
Episode 7 (22/4/08) - Also Day 5 (starts whistling The Longest Day)
The party questioned the leader, Otto Mainz. There were a total of 12 Germans, which meant four were left, led by the blond man, known to him only as The Executioner. As far as the man knew, they'd found one flask, which had been transferred to the other group, but he didn't know if the other group had found any. The hostages were not with them.
Mac and Alexa approached the cars. At a distance of 150 yards, they spotted the cars; the blond guy was just closing the bonnet and jumping in. Alexa tried to shoot the driver's head, but missed, shattering the windscreen.
Alexa's own car had a bullet-hole in the radiator. They followed anyway, the engine's temperature quickly climbing to dangerous levels, as the car headed roughly north-east, in the direction of Braintree. It finally entered the grounds of a large manor house near the village of Willow's End. Alexa and Mac made it as far as the village petrol station, where her car finally broke down. Alexa arranged for her car to be towed, and called Georgio; Mac summoned his family, who'd be there by the evening, then scouted the house.
The house guards carried shotguns, though there's something odd about them. The grounds were surrounded by a high wall, but there were enough trees around that this wouldn't be much of an obstacle.
Mac went to the local post office, and discovered that the manor belonged to Lord Rotherham. He then tried the village inn, the White Hart, and learned that his lordship's guests had been there more than a month. He was put in touch with one of the gardeners, who provided him with a rough map of the grounds, and a former housekeeper, who provided a rough plan of the house. There was about a hundred yards of open lawn between the edges of the property and the house.
Georgio collected the others, and brought them to the village.
By now, it was late afternoon. Champion knew that Lord Rotherham was known for his right-wing views - he was an admirer of Moseley - but he wasn't publicly a fascist.
The party made plans. Fire engines were unlikely to be much help, since they were likely to be a quarter of an hour away. Instead, Professor Quest was asked to provide a large tanker of water. Mac's family arrived in a couple of lorries.
Mac went in first, with the others to follow in a half-hour.
In the grounds, Mac encountered three dobermans, and despatched them. The house was in darkness as he approached, but an alarm went off the moment he opened the window, and floodlights came on to illuminate the house. Mac went inside anyway.
The half-hour passed, and the rest of the party followed, Alexa driving one of the lorries at speed towards the house. Suddenly, the truck was engulfed in a tremendous explosion as it triggered a mine...
CLIFFHANGER!
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