• BlackAndWhite

Episode 1 Episode 2

(Steve McIntyre)

Prohibition's starting to bite...

A personal accounts of the events may be found in HayesJournal.

Guest starring Donald Sutherland as MrFlanagan

Prohibition's getting more serious in Unity. A new police commissioner in Providence (CommissionerRobson) has declared war on the "alcohol menace" and has pushed for extra men to be recruited and sent out around the state to clamp down, separately to the normal officers. Special Agent JimAtkins has been despatched to Unity. There are interviews with him in the newspapers, spouting about morality and the "simple black and white choices to be made".

Almost in parallel, a new speakeasy has just opened up in Old Unity, the RochesterClub. It's started by two new Jenkin grads, CraigShearer and BobbyArmstrong, and purports to be a traditional-style music venue with jazz and dancing. They make a couple of mistakes (like trying to source alcohol from non-mob people), but after some tense meetings and a small show of force by Tony and friends they've fallen into line.

After a few weeks, the Rochester is running very well and is pulling in strong money, strong enough that the other bars in Unity are struggling to keep up. Tony ups the mob take to make sure that he doesn't lose out, but still the club is doing well.

Episode 1

Tuesday 17th March

During lunch on the 17th, Atkins was front page news again. The PCs were in the tea room discussing the man's silly ideas. Also in the news was a death. Dr RobertBlake, a chemistry lecturer from Jenkin, was found dead in the slums the night before. Early reports suggested that he seemed to have been poisoned; witnesses described his body as very very dry, almost dessicated. Blake had last been seen leaving TheWhiteHorse earlier that night, obviously drunk and causing a disturbance. Atkins was quoted again, blaming alcohol abuse.

Rebecca complained of an awful headache and Flanagan found her some aspirin powder. She'd been out late several times that week, trying out the Rochester. Their drinks were wonderful, and the place was lovely. She even remembered seeing Blake there a few nights ago, drinking heavily. Lisa had been to the club as well, and also recommended it as a good night out.

Minutes later, the PCs were shocked. Atkins turned up with his squad (including OfficerDown) and hed the temerity to raid 122 itself! Thankfully Hayes had been prepared for this day coming. He quickly and efficiently hid all traces of people drinking from the tea room, and had well-prepared anod notarised paperwork that covered his stock perfectly. Atkins was visibly angry at this turn of events, but could find nothing he could use. Even Lisa's well-timed invitation to join her and Tony for dinner couldn't lighten his mood.

Atkins and his men headed off to TheWhiteHorse for another raid. Hayes rang there to warn the staff, but they were too slow at clearing. TheWhiteHorse was shut down and several people arrested.

A while later, Down reappeared at 122, and came down into the tea room looking exhausted. He complained a little about Atkins - the guy was working his men too hard, doing regular 18-hour days in the fight against alcohol. Down was on his way home to rest, and reckoned he'd need a couple of days off to catch up on sleep. News from QuincyJones suggested that RobertBlake had been poisoned with something weird ; the body was almost empty of water. Down also talked about the RochesterClub - he was mightily surprised that they hadn't been closed yet by Atkins, despite obviously breaking the law. He even thought that the Rochester must have something to do with Blake's death, somehow.

Rebecca drove Down home, as the poor man was in no fit state to make his way unaided. At his place, he went unconscious the moment he sat down. This left Rebecca free to check around his place, but there was nothing to see.

The PCs agreed to go and pay the RochesterClub a visit that evening, to see what was happening there. They were curious as to how things were fitting together; were Armstrong and Shearer past students of Blake, maybe?

At the Rochester that night, Lisa walked straight past the queue outside, with the others in tow. The doormen were clearly not well briefed and almost tried to stop her, until Benny explained who she was. The VIP treatment came easily from that point.

The PCs had a good time, Benny especially - he met up with a young flapper who took a real shine to him. The others found a good booth where they could sit and watch what happened. For a couple of hours, the club got steadily louder and more busy; it was doing a roaring trade in drinks, especially their trademark ManhattanWhirlybird cocktail. Rebecca (specially) had several, while Eric was being boring and teetotal for the duration.

At about half past ten, the band started a drumroll. The owners came down the main stairs and made their entrance for the evening, looking very rich and eligible. The more tarty partiers were drawn to them like moths to a flame. Benny and Eric joined the throng and invited the two to come over and join Mrs Da Vinci for a chat. Of course, they immediately accepted.

Conversation was not enlightening; the two young men wre affable and charming, but offered very little information. They broke open a large bottle of champagne on the house for the group, and helped drink it. After a while, they headed back to their adoring public on the dance floor. Benny followed and was picked up by another young girl; it was definitely his night.

Rebecca and Lisa headed upstairs to "powder their noses" and to look around. On the way back, there was a distraction - the lights in the club all flicked on and off five times - the signal for a raid. Rebecca was quick-witted and used the confusion as a screen. She darted through into the private upstairs area of the club to have a look around.

Downstairs, the staff had done a marvellous job of hiding the alcohol; in just 30 seconds they had cleared up completely. Atkins burst through the front door, flanked by policmen. "This is a RAID!" Oddly, it seemed much less thorough than the raid had been at 122 earlier. Atkins strode over to Armstrong and Shearer and engaged them in quiet conversation. Three minutes later, he called his men off and left. The cursory search had turned nothing up. Five minutes later, the club was back to normal and all the drinks were returned.

Meanwhile, upstairs Rebecca a pair of wonderfully appointed apartments: very expensive furniture with rare books and art on display. Craig and Bobby were clearly very rich. She had a few minutes to look around, but could find nothing obviously incriminating. She headed downstairs, and most of the group headed back to 122 (leaving Benny behind to enjoy the attentions of his girl). They took the remains of the bottle of champagne with them for analysis. Lisa secreted her handbag under one of the benches as an excuse to return to the RochesterClub the next day.

They found FrankShort in the tea room, where he was bemoaning the state of the local force with Atkins around. Apparently RobertBlake had been arrested for drunkenness a couple of days ago, but nothing had come of the case. Then he turned up dead. Short was struggling to find any leads, and Atkins was applying pressure. The PCs handed Frank the champagne bottle for Quincy to check. He left immediately...

Wednesday 18th March

Some of the PCs met up again during the course of the morning. Short reported nothing was found in the champagne. Benny and Rebecca both turned up late, looking very ill. The two of them went to check on Down. His back door was only slightly locked, so the two walked in to check up on him. He was still asleep on the sofa where Rebecca had left him the previous evening.

The PCs headed down to Providence to try and find some background on the boys, but very little was to be found. They had both spent large amounts of money on books at the biggest Providence book dealer in the previous few months; this would explain the collections that Rebecca had seen the night before. Robson and Atkins were liked (or disliked) in Providence just as much as in Unity itself, but there wasn't much else to report.

People headed back to Unity, landing late. Benny and Rebecca went straight home, feeling ill and tired.

Episode 2

Thursday 19th March

Most people turned up at the tea room again the next morning, now including JackProctor and AlexanderGreystone. RebeccaSwarovski did not show up, however.

Benny was looking extremely ill and desperately thirsty. Alexander took him to see his doctor, but the medic was sure that Benny was fine apart from a severe hangover. This was odd, as Benny had not touched a drop on Wednesday. The pair returned to 122 and Hayes prepared one of his special hangover pick-me-ups. That seemed to help; Benny downed it and went upstairs for a nap.

Alexander and Lisa went to call on Rebecca. Her maid met them at the door, looking very worried. Rebecca was very ill in bed, displaying symptoms very like Benny. She was gasping for a drink.

In the meantime, Jack and Hayes went to see how OfficerDown was doing. They discreetly pushed the broken back door open and went in. There was no sign of Down apart from breakfast dishes in the sink - it looked like he had simply gone to work.

People got back to the Society to report what had been found. Benny was getting steadily worse, suggesting that there was something seriously wrong with him and Rebecca. A search in the library eventually turned up an anthology called GothickPoysons, specifically a potion in it called the AngerOfApollo. The potion was a mix of crushed herbs and beetles, and was described as "dessicant, highly addictive and dangerous". The listed symptoms matched exactly what Rebecca and Benny were going through; death should be expected soon! It listed where more information could be found: in an old Greek book (RitesOfTheCultOfApollo), or in an incomplete English translation. No antidote was listed in the anthology.

Jack headed straight to Jenkin to see if the University Library might have a copy of either, while Alexander contacted all the Unity book sellers for availability (unsuccessfully). The news did not go down well with Benny, on his way down from upstairs. He demanded a drink from Hayes, and it immediately made him feel a little better. He filled his hip flask; Alex took a mixed drink around to Rebecca's to see if it would help her too, and it seemed to.

After some searching at Jenkin, Jack found that the English version of Rites should be on the shelves. It was listed in the catalogue, but was not actually present in the library. The last person to have borrowed the book was CraigShearer...

Back at 122, the PCs decided to go and find the book at the Rochester as it closed. Also, picking up some more samples of the drinks there would be useful. Alexander and Jack went into the club in the early evening to collect some, and returned.

Alex headed back to see Rebecca with more alcohol, agreeing to meet the others at the Rochester later. He was shocked when he got to Rebecca's apartment - she had apparently risen from her bed, pushed past her maid and run out into the street, mumbling something about drink. He set off at speed to follow her, heading towards the RochesterClub.

At the club, Lisa went in "to retrieve her purse" while the others waited outside. Alex turned up, having missed Rebecca en route. Shortly, she arrived too, shambling like a zombie with her face covered by a hood. Alex ran to her and tried to grab her, but she easily threw him aside. He caught a glimpse of her face - she looked dried out, almost mummified. The other men wrestled with her, but with superhuman strength she broke free and continued towards the front door of the club, chanting "Drink! Drink!" Eventually Benny distracted her with his hip flask. Eric hit her over the head with his rifle, and when that didn't suffice he kicked her in the back and she fell forwards into Benny's arms. Jack and Benny rushed her to the car and dropped her off at the Asylum. They left her there with Benny's hip flask to help tide her over.

While the other PCs waited outside the club for Jack and Benny to return, Atkins and his raiding squad turned up again and again performed a perfunctory search. They were in and out in under 3 minutes! As Atkins left, it could be seen that he was looking slightly dry himself. Could he have been a victim of the potion too?

Just as the club closed, Lisa led the others in, using her handbag excuse. After some unpleasantness involving the doormen, the group walked in. Lisa grabbed one of the serving staff who was helping clean up and inquired about her handbag, asking to see the management. The waiter showed the group up to meet Shearer and Armstrong, who were waiting in Shearer's room. They looked quite surprised to see such a large number of people to collect a bag, until the situation was explained.

Eric grabbed two glasses and poured ManhattanWhirlybirds into both. Jack headed back to lock the door and prevent escape, but the waiter tried to stop him. A brawl ensued until Hayes subdued the man by threatening him with a shotgun. Jack secured the waiter with handcuffs, then he and Hayes tried in vain to find the book they were after; all the books visible in Shearer's room were Biology and Business books.

Eric and Alexander started questioning the club owners, threatening to force them to drink the poisoned drinks. Armstrong screamed and fainted, but Shearer was made of sterner stuff. Benny forced some of the cocktail down his throat and started to interrogate him. "It wasn't my idea!" he claimed - he knew the potion was addictive, but knew nothing about its fatal effects. He blamed Shearer for everything. Eric revived Shearer and forced some drink down his neck too, for good measure.

Jack and Hayes went through to the other room and again looked for the book, still unsuccessfully. Eric got Armstrong to admit that they had a hold over JimAtkins - he was addicted to their drinks early on, and they had blackmailed him. Armstrong also told Eric where the book was; the party headed en masse to Armstrong's study, where he pointed to a large Turner painting on the wall. "In the safe behind that, combination 19 - 51 - 34 - 05 - 54 - 38 - 49", he eventually admitted after coercion. Inside the safe was the English translation, as missing from Jenkin. Armstrong explained that he had found the book when studying at Jenkin, and had seen an easy way to make lots of money from addicted customers. He had convinced Shearer to join him; neither had planned anything fatal!

Eric wandered off, muttering something about feeling cold and wanting to check on the boiler. Jack checked the book he held, and sure enough there was no mention of the fatal properties of the AngerOfApollo. As Armstrong realised how much trouble he was in, he volunteered that he had also acquired a copy of the original Greek printing. He pulled another book from his library shelves, and removed a false dust jacket to reveal the book in question. This was much more useful. Jack started translating this himself, but struggled with the archaic language. Armstrong took over and was more successful; he grew increasingly pale as he went past the point where the earlier, inferior translation ended. He stopped when he got to the Greek word for "victim". As he went on, it got worse and more grisly, talking about "walking corpses". Eventually he found the description of the antidote - ingredients and method of manufacture.

Jack and Hayes went downstairs to check on the stock levels and to supervise the boys making up the first batch of antidote. They bumped into Eric heading up from the basement, where he claimed to have improved the efficiency of the boiler, he claimed.

The PCs quickly decided on the fate of the boys and the club. Shearer and Armstrong were too scared to argue. They agreed to destroy all their stocks of tainted alcohol, and to replace it with new (even more expensive) supplies from JonathanGray, this time mixing in the antidote. They had never wanted to hurt people, just to make more money. Once the potion had been neutralised, they would hand over the books to 122 and the club to Toni and leave town. The money they had made from the RochesterClub was handily stored in an account at the CornExchangeBank, so Alexander could arrange for money transfers without any incriminating paperwork.

Once the antidote was brewed, Shearer and Armstrong took the first doses. Once the PCs were happy it was safe, they passed around the bottle and took some for Rebecca. As a final note, Lisa took some for Atkins. He would explicitly not be given any by the staff at the club; once he was sufficiently desperate, Lisa suggested that she and Toni would offer him dinner and drinks at their place. A well-timed photograph showing the agent drinking with a local Mob supremo would be good blackmail material to keep him under control for the future...

<<< As I recall, Atkins did not accept the invite: we ended up waiting until he went into the "Grarrr, Drink!" phase then luring him with alcohol and having Rebecca photgraph him. Then we gave him the antidote and let him sleep it off. Benny (and possibly Hayes) will have informed Tony that Atkins has been gotten to and can be leaned on: The exact ownership of the photographs was not established: They will probably be given to whoever Tony has handle the extortion/blackmail side of things. -- Vivek Dasmohapatra >>>

<<< Forgot to say - please correct / point out any errors in the above -- Steve McIntyre >>>