Event:1925/04/22 Meeting Carl Stanford
We all go to Ho Fong Imports after breakfast for the meeting. It's a large brick building on the north bank of the Whang Poo River. A portion is built on wooden pilings of a pier, and a tile roof fends off the rain. Five sets of large doors along the side of the building give access to a high ceiling storage area. Two stories of low ceiling offices face the street. All windows are at least 7' off the ground and covered with iron grills that look especially sturdy. There are about 30 workers around. We are greeted by a woman (the one we talked to previously) who introduces herself as Sun Ch'unhua. Elise introduces us and gets us in. We go through the main warehouse, a large storage area supported by wooden pillars. We see many types of typical goods about illuminated by dim overhead lights. We are led up to the second floor to Ho Fong's office. It's a utilitarian space with simple furnishings. Filing cabinets seem very full. A stocky, rotund gentleman introduces himself as Ho Fong. Elise negotiates some basic business practices and establishes why we're here[1]. Quinn explains why he and Victor had been by previously[2]. Ho Fong says they work with 3rd party ship owners and some owned by Ho Fong Imports directly. We go on a warehouse tour. Quinn notices a step creak loudly on the way down to the warehouse floor and thinks it is loose. We notice many boxes from London, but we don't see any terribly familiar boxes. Quinn notes that there is a sizable space near the stairs that doesn't seem to be accounted for by what they've seen on the tour that would be rather large - the size of the reception area. Quinn excuses himself to the bathroom while everyone else goes back to the office, trying to get to the squeaky stair. Ho Fong sends a receptionist to lead him back though, and he doesn't have time to check anything out. Elise notices[3] that Ho Fong has many Catholic items, and offers to show him her old bible over dinner. We're invited over to his house tonight. The secretary gives us his address - it's in the French Concession. We leave.
We go to the Seaman's Club. Elise[4] and Quinn[5] note that water seepage / erosion was not the cause of the damage. Quinn talks to some of the locals and is directed to Wang Yong who saw what happened. He swears that, even though he was drunk, he saw a walking fish, a human-sized horrifying walking fish creature: bloated stomach, bulging eyes, sharp teeth, human hands and feet but covered in scales. He says they came out of the ocean and undermined the structure. He's unsure how many of them there were, at least several, really strong and really horrifying. Jack questions the staff. They say one of the regulars is missing - an american... maybe John Smith - who was staying in the room where the wall shattered. The description of John Smith matches Jack Brady.
We go back to the Astor House Hotel to freshen up, pick up the bible, and then head to Ho Fong's house. His mansion is a compound with 13' high walls topped with spear points and broken glass worked into the tops (this isn't uncommon). A maid takes us into a luxurious sitting room where we're offered tea. This is fancy to Elise, so it's REALLY fancy. There's a guard behind a screen who smiles and bows when looked at, but he doesn't speak. Ho Fong comes and gets us and leads us to the dining room. Someone else is already there - we're introduced to his good friend and house guest Carl Stanford. Carl is cooking the meal this evening as a special treat and heads to the kitchen. Elise shows Ho Fong the bible and they discuss it a bit, but she carefully avoids discussing where she got it[6]. She then moves the conversation on to what rare books he has. Jack focuses on the surroundings. He notes the house is remarkably quiet, aside from our group and the noises of a single person cooking in the kitchen[7]. He also notes that there are guest quarters through a garden outside, and he knows that there are large vents that run underneath the house for heating and cooling[3]. Carl wheels out a cart with the meal - Beggar's Chicken - and he explains the history of the meal. Quinn remarks on the meal and asks how long he's been in Shanghai. Carl doesn't provide a specific answer but it sounds relatively recent. The others note that Carl's accent sounds Bostonian. Ho Fong asks about our origins, and reveals that Holy Trinity Church is his parish when Jack mentions being found there. We make a bit more small talk over the meal. Jack asks about smoking, but Ho Fong asks him not to smoke in the house. Then, Jack asks about the facilities, and Ho Fong gives him some directions. As dessert is brought out, Elise suddenly starts drowning on seawater bubbling up from her lungs. Ho Fong says that she dies if we do anything. Carl Stanford stops using his power on her, and they lead us through the garden (where Elise, Quinn, and Victor spot corpses with liquefied eyes with plants growing out of them[3]) to a room with a shrine to Buddha. Jack shoves Ho Fong into the room and shuts the door[8]. Carl Stanford freezes Jack in place with magic. Quinn punches Carl but doesn't think he even left a mark. Elise stabs Carl with her coin sword, which cuts him, but he doesn't bleed. Victor remembers Quinn telling them that Carl Stanford is immortal[9], an trying to think of a way to counter Carl's power, Victor says "Nodens, guide your spear!" and vanishes. Carl freezes Quinn in place and is still holding Jack, and Elise, seeing no way out of this predicament that doesn't leave her enemies power over her mind and body, cuts her throat saying, "My knowledge dies with me!" Ho Fong comes back and has a brief conversation with Carl in which they decide to move the two of us they've captured. Moving through the Buddha, we enter a shrine to The Bloated Woman. In a glass, multi-compartmentalized, coffin-like chamber, we see a woman - Choi Mei-ling - with rats in another compartment over her face. Carl and Ho Fong leave, and we are released from Carl's power. Jack manages to pick the lock[5] on the glass coffin to free Choi Mei-ling. Quinn attempts to comfort her while Jack pries the grate off the vent system. Jack checks out the tunnel while Quinn looks through the room quickly. Quinn opens a teak cabinet carefully[5], which is good because he manages to avoid a needle trap. Inside is a copy of an ancient text with a strange cover and 4 scrolls. He grabs them and then focuses on bandaging Choi Mei-ling's feet, noting that her feet are infected and she is suffering from blood poisoning which requires urgent medical attention[10]. We all sneak out through the vent system[11].
Outside the house, Choi Mei-ling says that she knows a safe place, and we let her lead us to an abandoned steel mill. Getting close, we recognize some members of New China Firm Action Faction who recognize her and usher us inside. We call the Astor House Hotel and tell Li Wen-cheng to grab everything he can from our rooms and head to a safe house location provided by the Firm Action Faction. Chu Min, the English-speaking man who had us abducted before, finds us, tells us Choi Mei-ling has been handed to medical care, and that Jack Brady would like to see us.
Brady cuts to the chase and gives us a detailed overview of the Carlyle Expedition events and how he came to be in Shanghai. Brady believes Roger Carlyle is still in Hong Kong in the asylum he left him at. Asking about Anastasia, Brady says her real name was M'weru and she has power, real power. She's an African woman. She's from Kenya. She left the group when they were in Egypt. She left before the Red Pyramid incident. The Red Pyramid is the same as the Bent Pyramid. Brady's been running from the group since they left Kenya. He thinks they only discovered where he was fairly recently. Warren Besart was a purchasing agent for Roger in Cairo. He did accompany the group while they were in Cairo. Besart was too addicted to hashish to be of much use. Brady believes Aubrey Penhew is in Shanghai currently. Penhew first had unkempt white hair and wily eyes, but when Brady saw him last, he looked like a man half his age with no wrinkles and darkened hair. He was a brilliant man and seemed more dangerous than the rest. Brady feels Penhew had the brains and ambition to do whatever he set his mind to. Brady has started to piece together their great plan. There are three points of a triangle where they must open the way that will let their god come through. Brady believes the triangle points are the Red Pyramid in Cairo, Grey Dragon Island just off the coast of Shanghai, and maybe the Mountain of the Black Wind in Kenya. When we mention Darwin, Australia as a point, he says Huston talked a lot about Darwin, Australia at the end. Jack starts asking questions. Jackson Elias met Jack Brady at the Stumbling Tiger bar. Brady says that Elias was shaken when they first met and seemed like he was beginning to crack up and have horrible dreams, kind of like Roger, when he left. Jack asks him about Nyarlathotep, and Brady references several cults - Order of the Bloated Woman, Cult of Sand Bat, Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, and Cult of the Bloody Tongue - that he thinks are all linked to Nyarlathotep. Brady says there are more cults in India, Japan, South America, Polynesia, and everywhere that are also related. When Grey Dragon Island is mentioned, Brady says the Firm Action Faction will accompany us there for an assault. He quickly shows us his brass plate with symbols and signs carved into it that was given to him by his mother. Brady learned about Ho Fong's involvement in little pieces from working with the Firm Action Faction. He knew Edward Gavigan and didn't like him. We tell him Gavigan is dead. Asking about Hypatia Masters, he says she was there to be the photographer. She seemed sweet and naive. Roger told him that she'd gotten pregnant by some fellow, but he had it taken care of. He thinks she had a lot of guilt from that as she'd always wanted kids. She was all in on crazy town with the rest of the group. She was growing ill though and felt nauseous often. Asking about what needs to be done before going to Grey Dragon Island, Brady says he's found the ritual to seal the locations. It's being translated currently, but will take another week. Brady says Aubrey Penhew had visions of some engine of destruction. Brady met Clive at the Penhew Foundation and knew that he was deeply involved with Aubrey Penhew and Edward Gavigan. Brady believes Aubrey Penhew is likely the Pale Viper. We can get in touch with Brady through the Firm Action Faction, someone should be here to help us if needed. We ask a bit about Choi Mei-ling, and Brady says she had disappeared about a week ago. He tells us to check in at the Stumbling Tiger in a week. If we can track down Isoge Taro, do it; he may be helpful too. He suggests going to Hong Kong for the week, saying that we still need to be careful, but it may be easier to hide out there. The Firm Action Faction supplies a safe house for us - the Jin Jiang Guest House - in the International Settlement, but advises us to leave Shanghai as soon as possible. It's a really quiet inn. We sleep.
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