His hands turning over seemingly meaningless ornaments and papers, Tommy frowned. He was making no progress, and worse as Rosaline swung the safe open he saw its yawning emptiness.
Were they in the wrong place?

Frustrated he returned to Vincent.<small> "The office is a dead end. Make sure I missed nothing, then I say we check the store room.".</blue>

Moretti nodded at Cotton's assessment. As the reporter replaced him at his post, he walked back to the office, halting in the doorway to observe the room as a whole, pausing to study the walls, the position of the safe and furniture, and the furnishings themselves.

As he did, he allowed his true self to take hold. Not the college educated importer who could make polite conversation over cocktails, but the criminal he had been since his teens, the man who stole, schemed, and hurt people. I am a thief. Where would a cautious person hide their valuables, to prevent one like me from finding them?

He made a slow circle of the office, checking the paneled walls and shelves, looking for the hidden, rather than the obvious. He perused the desk, examining the length and depth of each drawer, feeling about for concealed switches. He studied the safe, half persuaded that the exposed money suggested there was nothing to find, but equally convinced that the funds could be mere bait to satiate someone who was in a hurry. Lastly, he went through each of the closets, inspecting the walls as thoroughly as the contents.

18:31, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 47 using 1d100 with rolls of 47.  Spot Hidden - Spot Hidden 60%.

Over the course of Vincent's careful examination of the room, as he is investigating the center closet in the back wall of Gavigan's office, his hands find a latch. A slight amount of pressure causes the back of the center closet to pop open into the room behind this room - an old storage room. Inside, there were many boxes and crates, old furniture, and so on. He could also make out an empty mummy case in poor condition laying there.

Rosalie wasn't at all surprised that Vincent discovered the hidden latch.  His talents ranged in that direction and she was ever in awe of the skills he'd appropriated during his career.  Peering through the hidden door, she arched a brow.  "This looks far too large to be a hidden room full of private antiquities."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Thu 12 Jan 2017.

Moretti peered at the concealed door with curiosity. "You're right. I think this is the same storage area Tommy saw just a few moments ago," he said. "I just wonder why Gavigan would want to have a secret means to access it from his office?"

Stepping over to the office door, he motioned for Cotton to join him and Rosalie.

Returning his attention to the storage room, Moretti stepped inside. Cupping his hand over the top of his flashlight, he shone the muted beam over the room's contents, looking for any crates that appeared new, or that bore markings that seemed unusual, as he made his way to his post at the door that opened to the central hallway.

00:08, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 40 using 1d100 with rolls of 40.  Spot Hidden - Spot Hidden 60%.

Seeing Vincent motion for him to follow, the reporter slid away from his post at the hallway door to re-enter Gavigan's study.
A secret panel, how very fun.
Intrigued Tommy followed the others in to it, running his fingers along the wall with interest
as they entered the adjoining room where he began to aid carefully examining the crates that lay within.

Quietly he hissed to Vincent.
"How do I close it?". If the guard came prowling it wouldn't do to leave signs of their exploration. For now though they still had time.
Hopefully.

ooc: 14:10, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 23 using 1d100 with rolls of 23.  Spot hidden vs 70.

Rosalie began prowling through the storage room, searching for anything that could be he size and shape of the mirror described in her historical study.  Trying to be careful not to disturb anything, she covered as much as she dared.


21:41, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 23 using 1d100 with rolls of 23.  Spot Hidden (55).

Walking in through the closet into the storage room, Tommy, Vincent, and Rosalie got a better look. The room was dusty and mostly filled with boxes, crates, and old furniture. The only thing that stood out in the room was an old mummy case in rather poor condition laying in the back of the room. 

Further examination of the mummy case revealed that it seemed set apart from everything else by itself, and as they shone their flashlights on the floor around it, they could see that there was a circular section on the floor surrounding the sarcophagus, and that this area was noticeably less dusty than other parts of the room. There also seemed to be something odd about the eyes on the mummy case, as if they had been altered from the original. 

---

OOC:

Time Check:
5 minutes until next Stealth check
50 minutes until next guard patrol

Recognizing that Cotton was right to be cautious, Moretti stepped back through the concealed door into Gavigan's office. He quietly pushed the false back to the closet closed and secured the latch. Stepping away, he glanced over the closet's contents, making certain that nothing appeared out of place as a result of their passage.

Once he was satisfied, he moved back through the office to the secretary's area, looking out into the hallway, checking to be sure that the watchman was still in his place and the corridor was free of activity. Once he was satisfied, he moved through the hall and entered the storage area, joining the others to examine the mummy case.

Rosalie squatted for a closer look at the mummy case, wondering about the alterations in the eyes.  She searched for a way to open it or a latch that might reveal something hidden.  The circular area also made her curious.  She pushed on the case to see if moved freely or was on a hinge.

Pushing against the sarcophagus, Rosalie found that it wouldn't budge. Even a woman of her strength should have been able to move it, but it seemed strangely fixed in place.

---

OOC:

Give me an Idea roll.

22:42, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 46 using 1d100 with rolls of 46.  Idea (75).

PM

Reaching for the eyes on the case, she put her thumbs on them both and pushed.

After Rosalie depressed the eyes on the sarcophagus, she could hear a muffled humming sound coming from below her. It wasn't loud, though in the quiet of the night, it might have seemed so for a moment, though it was short. The mummy case slid outward at an angle, and the light from their flashlight revealed a narrow set of stairs that led below.

"In sospeso, Rosalie," Moretti whispered as the staircase was revealed. Though he had never told her as much, and likely never would, Rosalie's sharp intellect was one of her qualities that he deeply admired, and was mildly intimidated by.

Gazing down the narrow steps, his thoughts immediately went to Harlem and whatever unknown horror had resided in the covered pit, hungry for sacrifice. He couldn't know what might await them in the dark, but he was certain that they had to investigate. Many hands had gone to great trouble to conceal the place, which meant that whatever was below was well worth keeping secret. Suddenly, the concealed entrance to the room from Gavigan's office made sense. It allowed the curator to access this stairwell at his leisure.

Certain that Cotton was as aware of the low hum from below as he, Moretti exchanged a look with the reporter. He tapped his own chest and nodded toward the open door to the hallway, signifying that he was going to go check to see if the sound had attracted attention. Moving quietly, he stepped over to the doorway and peered out into the adjoining corridor.

Venturing over to the hallway, Vincent could see that all seemed quiet. The crinkling sound of turning newspaper pages could be heard, as it seemed the guard was flipping through them at a pace, then stopping. Still, there was no indication of anyone moving towards them or that they had attracted any attention.

Moretti returned to the newly revealed staircase. Switching his flashlight to his left hand, he drew his handgun. He looked at Rosalie and Cotton, his expression thoughtful.

"If neither of you objects, I'll take the lead," he said softly, "It might be best if the two of you hung back a few paces, in case anything...unexpected happens."

He shook his head. "I'm not questioning your courage. I know how brave you both are. And I'm not playing at being a hero."  He grinned. "No one who knows me would believe it anyway. But my experience has made me practical. And if there's a situation down there that's honestly dangerous, it's vital that someone gets out, so they can tell the others what they saw."

"It goes without saying, you're both very important to finding out the truth about Jackson."

He checked the ammunition in the pistol. If there were no objections, he began his descent down the narrow stairs, keeping the beam of his flashlight low.

As they moved down the spiraling staircase, Vincent at their lead, they saw a small button along the rail near the bottom of the stairway.

They found themselves in a room that was as large as the storage room, and perhaps half of Gavigan's office as well. There were several small, not well disguised connections into the room for above, including what was clearly an electrical cable that lead to a light fixture, as well as a switch on the wall, and additionally hot and cold water pipes and other vents that lead in from above. Despite the cold winter, this room seemed as reasonably well heated as the rest of the building.



The room in some ways was a small gallery of art - ancient icons, statues, and paintings dotted the room. The paintings were mainly on masonry and stucco-like surfaces carefully separated from the original walls. The paintings depict strange creatures. One depicted hybrid winged beings that their eyes couldn't fully grasp, and their minds couldn't fully remember as their eyes moved onto the other works of art in the room. Another depicted a huge, scaly, birdlike creature with batlike wings, slimy skin, and two strong talons. As their eyes moved from painting to painting, each seemed somewhat more disturbing than the next.

Several small wooden crates were stacked about the room, and all but two were open and empty. On the left wall, there was a fine walnut bookcase with several glass protected shelves of books and scrolls. Along the right wall, there was a desk with a comfortable chair before it and a book set on top, with some papers, a stoppered inkwell, a fountain pen, and some handwritten documents nearby as well. On the back wall, there was another table against the wall with some papers on it, as well as a small ornate chest and a small stone jar.

Rosalie followed Vincent, pulling her Luger from her satchel and keeping it ready in case it should be needed.  She inched carefully down the stairs, shining her light downward to illuminate the steps below.  When she reached the bottom of the rail and saw the small button, she pressed it, shining her light back up the stairs to see if it closed the sarcophagus door above.

Moving away from the stairs, she threw a glance at the paintings, but found something about them unsettling and didn't pause for a closer study.  Gravitating toward the desk, she studied the objects atop it, curiously shifting the handwritten papers and looking through the book.

As the three of them entered the room and Rosalie pressed the button, the door above them closed, leaving them in the secret room in the basement of the Penhew Foundation.

The desk had three drawers and a comfortable sitting chair before it. Looking to the handwritten papers, she could see that they were written in a very neat, precise Arabic script, addressed to someone named Omar Shakil. The book on the table is written in medieval French, and seems to consist of what appear to be stanzas of poetry.


OOC:

In my rush to throw that post together, I forgot to ask you guys to make a Sanity roll, as the artwork is so unsettling.

So let's do that now!

Also, I'm waiving Stealth rolls in this basement room, since it's underground and tucked away, unless you guys do something obnoxiously loud. Until you get back up, period stealth checks are waived.

Time Check:
45 minutes until the next guard patrol

Taking a seat, Rosalie began to read through the papers and tried desperately to forget the nauseating paintings she'd passed.  The letter was in Arabic, so it took her a few minutes to puzzle through the words she didn't know.


21:35, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 84 using 1d100 with rolls of 84.  Sanity (78).

Once they had all descended and he had taken in the contents of the room, including the unsettling paintings, the images of which prompted a dull throbbing in his temples, Moretti moved to the stack of crates, inspecting the pair that were unopened.

22:38, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 90 using 1d100 with rolls of 90.  Sanity - Sanity 68%.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:15, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

OOC:

Rosalie and Vincent, you each take 1d3 Sanity loss.

The letter is written to a man named Omar Shakil, and seems to have been written very recently. It alludes in vague terms to the death of a spice merchant, and that the writer would be consolidating the two branches of the Brotherhood under the writer's own control. The writer speaks of this as a net gain, as the spice merchant was sloppy and attracting the wrong kind of attention to the Brotherhood.

The writer makes note of his people noting two American men lingering around the spice shop, and suspects them of the deed. The writer suspects these men of association with another pair of Americans, a man and a woman that visited the writer earlier, and that were related to a third man that was taken care of in New York by Mukunga. The writer assures Omar Shakil not to worry, and that the writer is certain of seeing the interlopers disposed of before the next ritual, which is coming soon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:38, Tue 25 July 2017.