Event:1925/04/21 Dark Mistress Arrives
Over breakfast, we receive a parcel of research from Anthony Chang. In addition to info we already have, he provides a transcript of a police interview that says Pau Wu-kung was last seen at Ho Fong's house. The police concluded he ran away. Anthony also notes that The Dark Mistress is often seen in the harbor. He talked to someone at the docks who's seen The Dark Mistress who swears that he's seen it going 40-45 knots, even though that can't possibly be true for a wind-powered Junk.
Elise has Li Wen-cheng pen a letter to Ho Fong Imports asking to do business.
Victor and Jack go to the Shanghai Library. Jack researches the Esoteric Order of Dagon, but finds nothing of interest failed check[1]. Victor researches Alfred Penhurst and finds nothing as well successful check[1] reveals nothing at all.
Quinn goes to the Shanghai Courier to talk to Anthony Chang. He provides some backstory on London and asks about the Pale Viper, Aubrey Penhew, Alfred Penhurst, and possible connections to Ho Fong Imports. Anthony suspects that Ho Fong is involved in criminal activities, but that's pretty par for the course for imports / exports businessmen. He advises Quinn to get hard proof before taking on Ho Fong, or it could be deadly. Shipping info is questionable at best and not worth researching. They end up looking into Esoteric Order of Dagon, but find nothing. Anthony has heard of The Order of the Bloated Woman - he thinks they're a gang and dismisses the legends surrounding it.
Everyone gathers back at Astor House Hotel for lunch. Elise opens a new package from Madam Lin Yenyu and discovers it's a bible from 1611. There's a note inviting Elise to work for her in curating and caring for her library of old books such as these. Jack has a note from the harbormaster saying that The Dark Mistress has been spotted. Quinn and Victor go to check on Mister Lung while Elise and Jack go to the harbor.
Victor, Quinn, and Li Wen-cheng arrive at Mister Lung's place. Repeated knocking at the door is unanswered, so Quinn tries the door and finds it open. A bad smell issues from within. They enter and find his body. Victor notices that all the books and scrolls have been rifled through[2], and finds Mister Lung's body. Checking it over[3], he discovers that a sword went through his chest (all the way through) killing him. Defensive wounds are present. He's been dead for about a day. Quinn feels that this was professionally done, no tracks[2]. Quinn performs last rites. It's hard to tell if anything is missing, but Victor searches through the books in the mean time and sees some Occult-looking books[2], though everything is written in Chinese. We look through the house, but don't find anything else in particular. Victor grabs a couple books, including a copy of the I-Ching. We leave, and have Li Wen-cheng call the police from a public phone on the way back to the hotel.
In the mean time, Jack and Elise arrive at the harbor. Checking with the harbormaster, he says The Dark Mistress just got in, and that he believes the captain was seen on deck. They ask him to keep an ear out for stories from the Indian Ocean. When they arrive at The Dark Mistress, they notice someone disembark. Elise sees that he has a rubbery debauched look, a partially eaten away nose, his bulbous eyes have yellow-ish veins, and he has bald patches in his greasy, dark hair, and he's wearing a medallion, the same as they found on The Ivory Wind[2]. Elise memorizes the creepy features to discuss with Victor later[3], and she believes that the description matches the information given by the Firm Action Faction. They trail the fish-man to a local flower girl house. Then, they head back to the boat and casually walk aboard. It's trim, well appointed, 90' long, and matches the picture we have. Jack thinks it could go 8-12 knots at max; the idea that it could go 40-45 knots is ridiculous. There is no visible exterior damage. They head below deck. It's made of polished mahogany wood and has few windows (i.e., it's very dark). They find themselves in the engine room, and it's made of metal. It is full of technology that they don't understand: buttons, tubes, shining lights. Elise uses magic to detect life and senses an additional 6 humans on the boat with them. They open a metal door in the engine room and find a fire box and coal laying around the room, but there was no smell of fire and the ship doesn't have a smoke stack. Then they leave.
Back at the Astor House Hotel, Elise tells Victor about the look of the person, and he remembers[3] an article from US Radium Corporation about female factory workers using Radium getting very ill. Ho Fong's secretary, Sun Ch'unhua, has replied that we can meet tomorrow morning. Li Wen-cheng looks and says these are basic astrological books that we took from Mister Lung's house. We use them to determine that Fomalhaut is currently not visible.
We all go to the Stumbling Tiger. Fergus "McChu" has some faded bruises and no longer wants to talk to us. It's an uneventful evening.
Skill Checks