The Case of the Bloody Tongue in NYC - History
Synopsis
An old friend of ours calls for our help. Upon arrival to his hotel room, we find not only his dead body, but a number of ne'er-do-wells. With the police involved we are able to discover that a number of similar such murders have happened. During our investigation we discover evil lurking among the streets of our fair city. Madness and horror abound as we dig deeper into the investigation and discover more of the ill-fated Carlyle Expedition.
Calendar of Events
<eventCalendar> namespace = Event aspectratio = 1.3 defaultMonth = 1925-03-01 </eventCalendar>
Log of Events
1/13/1925: When Curtis receives a radiogram from his old friend Jackson Elias, he quickly assembled his friends from the The Case of the Missing Scoop, meeting at the public library. The radiogram mentions the Carlyle Expedition, so the group sets to doing some research while they wait out the two days it will take for Elias's ship to land. They dig up some old newspaper clippings on the Expedition, learning that it was searching for King Solomon's Mines. The entire Expedition went missing in Kenya and was later discovered dead. The leaders of the expedition were never explicitly found. Curtis finds a book on King Solomon's Mines written by H. Ryder Haggard published in 1885, prior to the Carlyle Expedition, that details an expedition led by one Allan Quatermain that went to an unexplored region of Africa. Elise found another news snippet that detailed the much more recent departure of the Clive Expedition that seems to be following in Carlyle's footsteps. .
1/14/1925: Victor opened the medical files of Dr. Robert Huston from the expedition. In them, Huston documents a recurring dream that Robert Carlyle was having involving a dark man with an inverted ankh on his head with a bent pyramid on one hand and Carlyle's face on the other. The man puts his hands together and becomes a great ball of light, surrounded by creatures with a mix of animal and human characteristics. Carlyle is drawn into the ball, along with the others, to become a god.
Records mention Anastasia and almost sound like Huston was being blackmailed.
Curtis is able to verify that the Ankh is a symbol of life in Egyptian myths, and an inverted ankh is probably not a good thing. Also, he's aware of an asymmetrical pyramid in Egypt that may be the "bent" pyramid.
1/15/1925: The group convenes at the Chelsea Hotel shortly before 8 pm. They pass a room of people partying on the way to room 410 - Jackson's room. Jackson doesn't answer to a knock, but the group hears sounds of movement and sounds of going through things coming from within. After a couple failed attempts to pick the lock, Jack kicks the door down and ducks just in time to avoid an axe-thing to the head! A firefight breaks out between two death cultists and a drugged-looking bimbo with them and the investigators in which the three assailants are all incapacitated, Jack taking a blow from one of the axe implements to his arm. Jack looks out the window to see a car speed away but isn't able to catch the licence plate or make of the vehicle.
The next discovery is truly terrifying, though.
The group arrived too late, and they find Jackson's body disemboweled on the bed with blood covering his forehead. The scene is ghastly and even gets to Jack. Luckily, Elise was outside the room trying to calm the revelers down the hall, so she didn't have to go through the pain of finding their friend like that. Jack and Victor search the scene, sending Curtis to find Elise and call the police. They find a package of documents that Jackson had put together as well as a mark that the death cultists carved into his head. Curtis and Elise, meanwhile, find the building bull, who already called the police. Between grief, good investigative sense, and a bit of disdain for this detective, the group gets him all balled up with many pursuits that give Jack and Curtis a little more time in the room before the real police arrive.
Lt. Martin Poole arrives investigates the body and questions the group, takes the evidence, and then takes the investigators downtown. He also reveals that this is just one of nine similar killings so far. All with the same symbol carved upon the victim's head. Hoping to get some help on the investigation he turns evidence over on the case and tells them they are free to go.
The group retires to Victor's office for the evening for some stiff drinks and a bit of shuteye.
1/16/1925: Once Curtis pulls himself together a bit, he heads to his place to get some books. He's able to confirm that the Bloody Tongue symbol carved into Jackson's head is associated with the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, and he's sure there are associations between the headdresses that the assailants were wearing and the Cult as well.
Jack contacts Jonah Kensington to learn more about what Jackson was researching and uncovers a treasure trove of letters Jackson sent back to the Prospero editor.
Elise confirms with Miriam Atwright that the Harvard University Library's copy of Africa's Dark Sects has gone missing. The room smelled of rotted meat where it had been kept when it disappeared. Miriam mentions that another source, G'harne Fragments, may be useful as well, but doesn't know where a copy may be.
Elise also called Prof. Anthony Cowles of Miskatonic University regarding his recent lecture at NYU on Dark Cults. Dr. Cowles, who also happens to be a fan of Jackson's work, explained the gist of the lecture over the phone. He went into details about a dark bat god in Australia. The god was known as the Father of all Bats and the cultists make human sacrifices to have the Father appear and conquer all men. The sacrifices are run through gauntlets of clubs with embedded bat teeth coated in poison. The cult leaders could turn into bat-winged creatures as well. The cult supposedly died out 100 years ago. There is mention in an Aboriginal song of a gathering place in Western Australia for the gods who were blown away by the Black Wind when the Father of Bats entered the world. Another mention is a tale of the Father of Bats and his fight with Rainbow Snake where Rainbow Snake traps the Father somehow. Recently, Australian explorer Arthur McWyr has released a newspaper article with a picture of blocks of stone with carvings related to the Father of all Bats and tales of current victims with tiny puncture wounds indicating a resurgence of the Bat Cult.
Victor probably did something too. Template:Citation needed
The group reconvened at 1pm to discuss their findings.
Jonah Kensington calls to inform the group that Jackson's funeral will be held in Manhattan on Monday 1/19, conducted by Rev. Lawarence O'Dell.
Jack heads off to investigate Emerson Imports
1/17/1925: The group travels to the Juju House in Harlem. The place contains some traditional components of African tribal magic among the useless knickknacks on display. By distracting the shopkeeper, Silas N'Kwané, they discover a trap door hidden under a rug behind the counter, with the distinct odor of rotted meat around it. The trap door is locked, so they leave it for now and head out.
Reconvening at the New York City Public Library, Curtis makes an appointment to visit Dr. Mordecai Lemming at 4 pm on Monday, 1/19. Victor finds some references to Dr. Lemming in the society pages.
Elise makes an appointment to see Erica Carlyle in her home tomorrow, 1/18.
Victor researches Roger Carlyle.
Curtis researches Hypatia Masters and Sir Aubrey Penhew.
Jack spends the afternoon staking out the Juju House and notes that Silas leaves at 5 pm.
That night, Jack comes back to Elise's apartment, and Jack, Curtis, and Victor decide to break into the Juju House. A car parked outside Elise's townhouse tails Victor and Curtis, who take a cab until they get out a few blocks away from the Juju House. Jack follows the car and observes it stop at the Juju House where four men get out (3 black and one white). The group forgoes a break-in for a stakeout and observe 21 total people enter the Juju House that evening, including Silas. Only 18 people leave, including Silas. Most of the people showed up around 2 am.
1/18/1925: Running the licence plate of the car seen at the Juju House through the police, the group learns that it belonged to Thomas Witherspoon who lives near the Juju House.
Curtis and Elise go to visit Erica Carlyle while Jack and Victor investigate the murders.
1/19/1925: The group heads to Jackson's funeral. Jonah gives them a telegram from Mickey Mahoney that mentions he'd just seen Jackson. Mickey works for a newspaper, The Scoop, which is a gossip paper in London. The funeral has about a dozen attendees. Rev. Lawarence O'Dell, Jonah Kensington, and Roman Harkov, another author at Prospero Press, speak, as does Curtis. A drugged-looking bimbo shows up and sits near the back. Jonah mentions that the investigators may want to speak with Inspector Barrington of the London Police if they go to London. The group approaches the bimbo who makes a break for the parking lot. There, they see the black Hudson parked with a large black man taking notes on the other vehicles in the parking lot. Jack and the others subdue the bimbo as the Hudson pulls away. The druggy says that he met the other men from the car "in a dream." Prior to coming to the funeral, he was "with the faces," which he sees once a week. He says Makunga wouldn't like him helping he investigators, at which point he chews on his tongue until it is bloody and useless. Victor removes a green lump from the druggy's mouth.
Back at Victor's office, Victor identifies the green lump as the Catha Edulis plant, commonly known as [Khat]. Curtis tries to research Makunga, but the research leads him to believe it is a person's name. The group drops the bimbo off at the police station with Lt. Poole, who informs them that Oscar Sinclair has gone missing.
Curtis keeps his appointment with Dr. Mordecai Lemming, and is disappointed to learn that Lemming is indeed the quack that Victor insisted he was.
That evening, the group heads to Silas's apartment. They find it empty, but in the bedroom, Curtis discovers a statue / fetish that resembles a bloody tongue. They head down to the Juju House, which is oddly unlocked. Going inside, they find the trap door behind the counter unlocked as well, and head down a 20' staircase into the unknown. There is strange writing on the walls, and a hallway that terminates in an oak door with iron reinforcements. Inside, they find a large room with drums and a covered well, with a mechanism for raising the heavy cover. It wreaks of rotted meat. Silas comes out a back room, along with what can only be described as zombies of Oscar Sinclair and 3 others. Jack gets bit by one of the zombies, but the rest, including Silas, are eliminated in the ensuing firefight. In the small alcove where the zombies were hidden, the group also finds a copy of Africa's Dark Sects, a Copper Bowl, a Circular Headband made from a strange, gray metal, and an African Mask. Victor identifies the teeth in the mask as being actual human teeth. Then, against better judgement, Victor decides to open the well. The sound that issues forth will be with the investigators for the rest of their lives. Curtis flees outside to get some air with Elise in tow, while Jack and Victor clean up the basement and bring the bodies upstairs for the police to deal with.
1/20/1925: Once the well is closed, the bodies positioned, and the trap door closed and covered, they call the police. Jack tries to give Lt. Martin Poole a line about why they're there, but he doesn't really buy it and takes them downtown. Everyone makes sworn statements, and they're released around 6am. Curtis and Elise return to Elise's townhouse to sleep. Curtis has a dream / nightmare about being a member of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue and becoming a great black thing that swallows living people whole. He doesn't sleep well after that.
Meanwhile, Jack and Victor buy $5 worth of gas (i.e., LOTS of gas) and return with it to the Juju House. They reopen the well and burn thing inside it. They believe it is dead now, and head back to Victor's office.
At Victor's office, they discover that Victor's secretary has gone missing. Victor locks the artifacts up in his office, and they head to the secretary's apartment to investigate. They break in, but find no real clues. They call the cops and let them deal with it for now. Jack goes to get some sleep. Victor returns to his office to look through the artifacts alone. His experience with the African Mask is particularly troubling.
Later, everyone meets up at Elise's apartment for the Carlyle's party at 6 pm. Jack plays chauffeur for the rest of the investigators. Arriving at the Carlyle's estate, Jack notes that security is surprisingly good. He recognizes Joe Cory, an enforcer for Black Hand (the Irish mob). The group leaves Jack to make nice with the other chauffeurs while they head into the party and mingle.
Elise recognizes Victoria Post in attendance and moves to "save" her from some dull conversation. Victoria is glad that Erica has stopped being so drab lately. She describes their trip to Kenya as horrible/dreadful. She also points out Raul Pinera, whom she can't believe attended. She notes that he was dating Hypatia Masters long term and is rumored to have gotten her pregnant.
Else moves to talk to Raul. He is not surprised that the Carlyle Expedition ended poorly, given its leadership, a reference to Jack Brady. He says that Brady was known to have worn a plate over his heart that had runes/dents in it. It's where he got the nickname "Brass."
Victoria Post tells Victor that Erica knew about Rodger's book and they made her very afraid.
The kitchen staff tells Jack about a break-in 3 years ago, a couple of months after Erica's return from Kenya. It's the cause of the increased security.
As the party is wrapping up, Curtis decides to break into a locked room upstairs, which turns out to be the library. He finds a hidden safe which contains the following 4 books: Pnakotic Manuscripts, Selections from Livre D'Ivon, People of the Monolith (which has an odd cover that feels weird and is gray-green), and My Life as a God (which is covered in human skin). In the ensuing escapades to slip out of the mansion with the books, everyone is caught. Curtis pleads with Erica that it was a move brought on by desperation to solve Jackson's murder. Erica tells them all to stay the night and they'll discuss in the morning. She leaves the books with the investigators.
1/21/1925: All the investigators dream the same dream. They are in the Chelsea Hotel the night of Jackson's murder, but it's different in the way dreams often are. The place is trashed / ransacked. They hear the same music that was playing from the apartment down the hall, but looking in, the people in that room are all dead and bear the mark of the Bloody Tongue. Moving to Jackson's room, they find the exterior wall broken down, and the smells of ozone, chlorine, and sulfur filling the space. There is a red sun low in the sky, and the sounds of artillery fire can be heard in the distance. Looking out, they see heaps of bodies stacked like cord wood upon which things with 2 legs that are clearly not men clamber over. Their eyes are drawn to a 3-legged titan striding toward them, clawing appendages swinging, it's head a bloody tongue. They realize the sounds of artillery fire are just the titan's footsteps. Doom overtakes them as they awaken.
Elise and Victor hear a strange whooshing sound outside and believe they see snake-like winged figure in the sky moving away. Elise tries to dismiss it.
Erica agrees to give us the books, claiming to be happy to be rid of the dangerous things. She said that she'd skimmed the Pnakotic Manuscripts and it seemed to confirm some of Roger's crazy ramblings. If the investigators uncover anything additional about Roger, she'd like to know.
The morning paper contains an article about the Prospero Press building burning down, and its proprietor, Jonah Kensington, missing / presumed dead.
The group heads by the site of the fire. Police are gruff. Curtis and Elise return to her townhouse, while Victor and Jack go to work. Curtis attempts to contact Lt. Martin Poole, but Sgt. Patterson says he's unavailable. Curtis leaves a message for Poole to call Victor's office.
Curtis and Elise spend the day skimming Pnakotic Manuscripts and Africa's Dark Sects, respectively, while Victor peruses People of the Monolith between clients. One Mr. Coleman Preston Lloyd comes to call on Elise during the day. He looks ragged and a bit druggy, and he pulls a gun on Elise. She dodges out of the room and Curtis comes down to find him sobbing. They both keep him at gunpoint for questioning. He claims Makunga sent him. He met Makunga a year ago through some friends. Makunga's group offered him booze, drugs, and sex (orgies). He's casually been present while the cult murdered people in the past. They met at the Juju House, though he never saw the faces. The group is now meeting at Fat Maybelle's, which is relatively near the Juju House. He believes the group was responsible for burning down Prospero Press. He says there are now 30 members of the cult, and they have something big planned for the eclipse on 1/24. He also confirms that the Cult of the Bloody Tongue has infiltrated the police department. After some debate about what to do with him, Elise gives him some money and buys him a one-way train ticket to San Francisco to get him out of town and to relative safety.
Another call to the police station, Sgt. Patterson tells Jack that Lt. Poole has been on leave since 1/20.
The group decides to spend the evening examining the artifacts that Silas had. Curtis puts on the African Mask and nearly loses his mind.
1/22/1925: Victor and Curtis go to the library for some research. Victor researches The Lord of the Abyss. Curtis sends telegrams to London asking after Jonah Kensington, then researches Fat Maybelle's and Pitchblende. Later in the day, Curtis visits his fiancée.
Elise spends the day reading Africa's Dark Sects.
Jack goes to the police station looking for Lt. Poole. He speaks to Sgt. Patterson and tells him the investigators are off the case. Then he stakes out Patterson and follows him home, putting his watch on Patterson's car tire so he'll be able to tell when he leaves.
1/23/1925: Victor returns to the library to research Ahja Singh, Nightgaunts, and the Book of Eibon. He also finishes skimming My Life as as God.
Elise spends the day reading Africa's Dark Sects.
Jack and Curtis head to Fat Maybelle's. It's an uninviting, rundown bar. The only windows face 289th street. There's a heavyset female bartender, presumably the eponymous Maybelle, a piano, a door marked "Private", and Jack discovers a back door in the ally behind the joint. The back door is locked, and Maybelle isn't letting anyone through the "Private" door. They leave.
1/24/1925: Elise is awakened at 2am by a phone call from Joe Martin. He saw people pushed into the back door of Fat Maybelle's by 5 other people. The group gets their belongings together and gets to Fat Maybelle's around 4am. The eclipse will occur around 3pm.
Jack skillfully breaks down the door, then Curtis makes a huge racket tripping over things and generally being a klutz. A cultist comes upstairs and escapes back down to warn the others since no one is a good enough shot to stop him. The group descends into the warehouse-like basement, where a ritual looks to be in progress. Makunga is there along with 7 other cultists. The investigators begin picking them off, careful to avoid hurting the hostages. Makunga casts a heart grip spell and an insanity spell (hemophobia - fear of blood) on Jack over the course of the fight, and several members of the group are badly injured before all the cultists are subdued / dead. Makunga claims his master's plans have progressed too far to be stopped before Lt. Poole puts a bullet through his brain. The hostages freed turn out to be Lt. Martin Poole, Jonah Kensington, Victor's secretary, and a secretary from Prospero Press. The group grabs Makunga's Scepter and Robes.
1/25/1925 through 2/18/1925: The group spends a month convalescing on Cumberland Island, GA, in the Dungeness (using Elise's rail car for travel and her family recently purchased the estate) to recover from their various wounds and reading through the tomes they've acquired. They have passage booked on the RMS Mauretania for London departing February 25, 1925. During the month, Curtis reads the Pnakotic Manuscripts, Elise reads Africa's Dark Sects, and Victor reads Life as a God.
They depart Georgia on February 18, bound for New York aboard Elise's rail car so they will arrive in plenty of time to catch their ship bound for London.
2/19/1925: The group returns home to New York.
Case File
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