The Edge of Darkness

[Greentitch]

The Edge of Darkness is the first investigation that we will try out. Let me point out that searching for this on Google will mostly just spoil the story for you. You don't need to find clues on the internet, they are all provided for your characters within the game. After all, the fun is the role-playing and the mystery.

Although it wold make more sense to send you all these messages privately, since this is our first game we’ll try to keep everything in the open. Currently your investigators do not know each other, however a common contact, Mr Rupert Merriweather, is going to bring you together. You recieve the following messages on a Wednesday morning.

Consider this the pre-game adventure; a chance to try out your roleplaying. I know some of you are busy so don't feel you have to reply. You are welcome however to make any preparations for the trip to Arkham. You should also decide how you will travel there. It is around 22 miles NNE of Boston and can be reached by road or train. You might also want to perform some research, but you don't have a lot of information to go on yet. Basically do what you like and get ready to travel to Arkham in the morning. As I said before, this part is optional and the game itself will not start until Monday afternoon when you will arrive at the hospital.

I'm still writing the introductions so don't worry if you don't have one yet. I'll get around to you. Please keep any character discussion to the other thread. This should be used for the game itself. A quick note on role-playing in the thread; you should try to post dialog (talking) in character, but you can post actions that your character is performing or what you want to do out of character. It's up to you to develop a style of posting for the game. As long as it's clear what you are doing then it's fine.

[Greentitch]

William Jennings
When you arrive at work you find a memo on your desk informing you that Mr Davis, one of the senior executives at the bank, wishes to speak with you in his office. It is unusual for a member of senior management to request you directly and it must be an important issue, either for good or bad. When you arrive at his office his secretary lets you in immediately and Mr Davis asks you to take a seat as you enter. After exchanging formalities and asking briefly about your work he takes out a cigar and leans back in his chair.
"William, you've been a valuable assest to this bank and I've heard great things about you. Not only that but you are intellegent and trustworthy. I have a delicate matter that I would like you to help me with. An old friend of mine has requested my assistance with a matter both important and confidential. His name is Mr Rupert Merriweather and he curently resides in the St Mary Hospital in Arkham. Unfortunately due to my own poor health I cannot help my sick friend directly but I promised that I would send someone who could."
"I do not know the details of Rupert's issue but I have known him for a very long time and I urge you to trust him as I do. I'm not ordering you to do this William, but asking as a personal favour to me. You will of course be given paid leave and I will ensure that your responsibilites at the bank are covered. If you accept, Rupert wishes to meet you at the hospital in Arkham at 1pm tomorow. You may take the rest of the day off to prepare and I will provide you with travelling expenses."


Henry Campbell
You receive the following letter from Braintree with the morning post which is strange as you rarely get mail at your new address.

Dear Henry,
Hope you are well. How's the big city? I'm forwarding on a letter that I received. It was addressed to Pa but I don't think he'll mind us reading it. I think you are in a better position than me to act on it. I asked around town and people do remember Mr Merriweather's accident. I think Pa would have wanted us to help him.
Your Brother, James Campbell.

There is another letter inside the envelope addressed to your father:

Mr Campbell,
Many years ago now you gave me great assistance after I had a motoring accident near Braintree. The hospitality that you and your young family offered to me was more than any man could expect from strangers. Your honesty in regards to my belongings and your wife's care of my injuries still brings a warm feeling to my heart when I think of those memories. However once I again I find myself in trouble; I am dying and I need the assistance of trustworthy men. I would ask that you visit me in St. Mary Hospital, Arkham next Thursday at 1PM. I will reimburse your travelling expenses and any boarding you require in Arkham. I remember you had a young baby when you were looking after me, I hope he has grown into a fine man like his father.
Yours Sincerly,
Rupert Merriweather

Evelyn Price
Recently you have been caring for an elderly man in the hospital named Mr Merriweather. He's polite and charming, and he's never tried to grab your bottom like some of the other patients. During your rounds on Wednesday morning he speaks to you as you change his sheets.
"Miss Price, you've been a wonderful help to me during my stay here. I think you know as well as I do that I'm unlikely to leave here again. I do however have some business that needs attended to and I would greatly appreciate your help. If you could come to my room at one o'clock tomorrow I will explain it further. I will speak to the Sister and explain that I have requested your presence which should prevent you getting into any trouble. You may wonder what help you could be, but I can see that you are an intellegent and resourceful young woman. Most importantly I believe I can trust you with the task."


Danny Howard
Looking for a new mark in Boston you find yourself in a speakeasy a few streets over from your hotel. Just along the bar from you a middle aged man is drinking heavily. He is dressed in clothes that were once smart but have seen better days. There is a letter open infront of him which he occasionally picks up, as if to read it, and then snorts as he throws it back down. Moving across to him you spark up a conversation about trivial matters. He complains about prohibition and the price of alcohol for a while before turning his attention to the letter once again.
"You have a father?" he asks. Before waiting for a reply he continues, "I do... I did I mean. Bastard he was until last week when he fell in front of a car. Good riddance I say."
He picks up the letter once again and presses it towards you.
"See this? Some cousin of Pa's who I've never met asking for my help. Well screw family and screw him. This is the last time I run errands for the old bastard!"
He finishes his drink and almost falls off his chair before staggering to the door, his letter left in your hand.

Dear James Gill,
We have not met but I am your father's cousin. I heard of his death and send my condolences. I require a man I can trust to handle a sensitive matter for me. Please come to St Mary Hospital in Arkham next Thursday at 1pm. Although I would not want this to influence your decision to assist me, I am dying and would like to see you before I go. As we have not met, please bring this leter with you to confirm your identity.
Yours Sincerly,
Cousin Rupert Merriweather

From the looks of the headed writing paper there should be a good chance of a share in some substantial inheritance. Some papers might be needed if people start asking questions but that has never stopped you before and can be organised later. A quick trip up to Arkham to see the old guy off and check you are in the will sounds like a good investment. It's better than anything else that has turned up in Boston so far.


Arthur Clarke
A letter arrives on Wednesday morning addressed to Mr Clarke and Son. Opening it you recognize the handwriting of Mr Merriweather, a client of your father's book shop for as long as you can remember. As a child you used to see him visiting your father in the shop but he has been ill in the last few years and you have had to deliver books to his home in Arkham. The letter reads as follows:

Dear Mr Clarke and Son,
I am sorry to say that I do not believe I will live long enough for you to find the book I asked you to discover. However I do have another task that I require assistance with. Although it is not directly book related I believe it may pique your interest. Please meet me at St Mary Hospital in Arkham at 1pm on Thursday. Please retain the forward I paid for the book to cover expenses.
Yours Sincerely,
Rupert Merriweather

James Attlee
One Tuesday night you are at a gallery in Boston, enjoying canopees with other young socialites. As you are admiring a work of cubist realism a familiar voice calls your name. Turning you see Ruth Holliver approaching. Ruth is a spoilt but friendly young woman with a taste for gossip of all kinds.
"Oh Darling, so wonderful to see you here. How is your latest play?" she asks.
"If you need some inspiration I might just be able to help. Do you know Rupert Merriweather? He's a sweet old man, though I must say his son is a terrible bore. Sad to say he's on his way out but he asked my Charlie for help with some matter of his. Said it was important and mysterious but he was very short on details. Anyway, Charlie couldn't help as he's out of town on business all this week. You'd be perfect for the task though and you could probably write about it if it turns out to be a jolly adventure. Oh do say yes James. I'll call the old dear tomorrow and tell them you are coming along."
Someone calls Ruth over from the other side of the room and she kisses your cheek and leaves you to realise she did all the talking.
The next morning, having almost dismissed the encounter with Ruth last night you receive a message from her.

James,
Rupert Merriweather would appreciate your assistance in place of my Charlie. Meet him at St Mary Hospital in Arkham at 1pm tomorrow.
All my love,
Ruth Holliver

[Greentitch]

All the introductions have been done. Unless you post other plans I will assume that you arrive on time for the meeting with Rupert Merriweather having traveled by some suitable means and taking with you no items out of the ordinary for a trip to the hospital.

As I have said above, he style of roleplaying you use is up to you. As long as you play your character appropriately there is no wrong way of posting. You can speak to the other players naturally as if you were having a normal discussion on the forums, but you remarks should be suitable for your character. Don't be shy about posting

[Kryten]

Henry Campbell:
After living in Braintree for just two weeks Henry was glad to see a letter from home. He'd been having trouble settling in and finding a new job wasn't exactly what he'd expected. He'd landed himself a job doing some maintenance on the old machines in one of the older linen factories. The work was by no means as hard as in the mines but then again the pay was no better and he missed his family and friends back home.

Once he read the letter Henry knew at once that he had to go and see what he could do to help in Arkham. A friend of his father's is always a friend of his family and Henry knew his father would have left in a heartbeat to help his dying old friend. He also knew James and his mother wanted him to help so that Mr Merriweather would always remember their father in the same way as he did when Henry was just a child after his accident.

Now that he knew what he had to do the only problem that faced Henry was how would he get to Arkham and how could he get away from the new job he had only just started. Since Mr Merriweather had so kindly offered him a place to stay while he tried to help out in Arkham he knew he could bring some of his things with him. Therefore he decided to tell his new boss that he had to go and try and fix a job that had gone wrong in Arkham which he had been working on before he came to Boston. The lie worked and he said he'd only be gone a week at most so would be back very soon to continue his new job in Boston.

If worst came to worst Henry always knew he could always stay in Arkham and try and find another job there since his time in Boston so far had not been very fruitful.

The next morning Henry gathered up the few belongings he had in his small apartment and jumped on the train up to Arkham to see Mr Merriweather not knowing what to expect when he arrives there.

[Commando]

William Jennings:

Though William wasn't entirely happy with the idea of breaking his usual daily routine to head off to a hospital in Arkham to work for someone he'd never met and who wasn't even employed by the bank, he also knew that when a senior executive says "I'm not ordering you to do this" you do it anyway - at least if further promotion is of any interest.
"Of course, Mr Davis, anything I can do to help."
After handing over his tasks at the bank William heads home. Belatedly realising that Mr Davis had given him no idea of what he'd be doing or whether he'd be staying in Arkham, he packs a small suitcase with a washbag, a change of clothes and a recently-purchased novel from his bookshelf. Never having been there before, he also checks the route to Arkham on his road atlas and stores it in his car. He considers visiting his brother's apartment again to see if he's returned but decides to leave it until he gets back from Arkham.

[Septih]

James returns to his apartment at 8am having been out dancing at the local club and friendly locations thereafter. He stagges over to the table and picks up Ruth's message. He shrugs and chucks it down again before collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep.

[ash]

Danny sat in his room playing with 3 bone dice. He found that they helped focus his thoughts, when trying to decide on his next move. Rolling them out onto the table, he looked at the value. 13. He smiled at how lady luck taunted him. Looking across to the letter, he picked it up and folded it into his jacket. In some ways, it was lucky that he only needed this letter as proof of identity, but he worried if anyone else would be there who might recognise him as not being the James Gill. Scooping up the dice he figures that he has nothing much to lose. Not after the last job.

Danny checks the time and realises he can still make the train to Arkham. Making a quick call to one of his associates, he thinks he can get a few identity papers in the name of James Gill if needed, and can get them delivered in Arkham tomorrow. Picking up his belongings, he walks to the station, buys his ticket and shortly finds himself getting onto the train. Looking around he notices there are still a few spare seats. Danny grins to himself as he realises how many seats are free. 13. Things seem to be looking up.

[Brechnar]

After reading the letter, Arthur goes off to the shop to find his father. When he enters the shop he finds his father rather satisfied.

"You seem happy, father."
"Yes, my boy. I've got all reason to be happy, now haven't I!
"How do you mean, father?"
"I was just on the phone with Mister Gordon, who owns a book shop in Boston. Apparently he's got his hands on that book we were looking for, the one Mister Merriweather ordered. He called right away to let me know, such a nice man!"
"About Mister Merriweather, father. Have you seen this letter yet?"

Arthur hands over the letter to his father.

"Well that changes things. I'll have to call Mister Gordon."
"What about his request though father, will we go and see him?"
"Mister Merriweather has always been a good customer. Whatever his request is, it's obviously important."
"So we'll go and see him then?"
"Well we can't both go, son. Someone needs to keep open the shop. How about you go and visit the old Mister Merriweather tomorrow, find out what he needs our assistance for."
"Of course father, I will do that."

[Greentitch]

St Mary Hospital, Arkham
Just before 1PM, Thursday

As you arrive at the hospital, the woman on the front desk will direct you to the private wing of the hospital where Mr Merriweather is staying. This part of the hospital is more lavishly decorated and reserved for those patients with money to afford the comfort. A large waiting area with comfortable sofas and chairs around a large coffee table is in the center of the room. As you enter you are asked to wait until the doctors have finished with Mr Merriweather.
Nurse Evelyn Price is also in the waiting room, finishing some paperwork at the desk in the corner of the room. You've been told to look after Mr Merriweather and make sure that the visitors do not cause him any distress. His family and doctors are concerned about him requesting so many people to visit at once, but he insisted.

I'll try and add some tips and ideas as we go along to help with the roleplaying. As you enter the room you might want to take a seat and speak to anyone else that has arrived. You will be allowed in to see Mr Merriweather when everyone is here.

[Kryten]

Having no knowledge of Arkham and nowhere else to go Henry went straight from the train station to St Mary's Hospital. After being ushered to the luxurious waiting room of the hospital he smiled and greeted the nurse sitting in the corner of the room and then sat down in the comfortable seats in the waiting room. Having never been in such a luxurious environment before and only getting away from his meagre 1 room apartment back in Boston he was happy to sit back and take in his surrounding as he looked forward to meeting his father's old friend.

Henry just sat there on his own with a smile on his face not knowing what was to be expected of him once he meets Mr Merriweather.

[Septih]

James wakes from his slumber shortly after noon. He vaguely recalls dreaming of the woman who had accosted him last night, but shrugs off any significance of it. He finds the note again and figures that he has nothing better to do. Noticing that the meeting was supposed to be imminent he hurriedly gets dressed and heads out with just his substantial wallet. He hires a cabbie who claims he should be able to get him to the hospital shortly after 1pm.

[Brechnar]

As always father and son Clarke closed their shop at noon for their lunch break. Sitting at the table together Arthur and his father discuss what could possibly be the reason for Mr. Merriweather's letter they received yesterday. After they finish their lunch, Arthur cleans up the table and does the wash up. Once finished he heads off to the hospital to go and see Mr. Merriweather.

When he arrives at the hospital the woman at the desk ushers him towards a private wing. There's a waiting room with a nurse behind a desk and a man is seated on one of the chairs. Arthur smiles politely and takes a seat.

[Commando]

William arrives shortly before 1pm and asks at the front desk where he can find Mr Merriweather. The woman gives him directions to the waiting area and mentions that two of Mr Merriweather's visitors had already arrived. William frowns a bit at this, as he had expected to be meeting the man alone.

When he reaches the waiting room he sees the nurse and two other men already seated. Neither look like they've been waiting for long, and one looks somewhat out of place in the lavish surroundings of the private hospital wing. He nods politely at each of them, then takes a seat near the more smartly dressed of the two - a tall, slim man with dark hair.

William introduces himself, discovering that the man's name is Arthur Clarke, and finds out that Mr Clarke is also there to meet with Mr Merriweather. Curious about why three people with nothing obvious in common have been summoned to meet a man in a hospital, he decides to ask Mr Clarke what he knows about Mr Merriweather and the purpose of the meeting.

[Greentitch]

William introduces himself, discovering that the man's name is Arthur Clarke, and finds out that Mr Clarke is also there to meet with Mr Merriweather.

Obviously when speaking to other player characters you can take some liberties that you wouldn't be able to with NPCs. You shouldn't assume that NPCs will react politely to your conversation. However I would suggest that you don't try to have conversations with PCs or NPCs in the way you'd find them in a novel. If you have a bunch of questions or points to make then state them all and as long as you don't intend it to sound rude, the NPC won't react that way. This saves us from having long drawn out conversations when you are speaking to people with information. Use your own judgement here. I'll correct you if for example they stab you in the face just after you introduce yourself.

[Brechnar]

William introduces himself, discovering that the man's name is Arthur Clarke, and finds out that Mr Clarke is also there to meet with Mr Merriweather. Curious about why three people with nothing obvious in common have been summoned to meet a man in a hospital, he decides to ask Mr Clarke what he knows about Mr Merriweather and the purpose of the meeting.

Arthur was slightly surprised when the man that had just entered the waiting room asked him about his relationship with Mr. Merriweather. How did he even know he was here to meet Mr. Merriweather in the first place?

"I work in my father's book shop here in Arkham. Mr. Merriweather is one of our best customers. Yesterday we received a letter in which Mr. Merriweather requested our assistance in some unspecified matter. I didn't expect there to be more people invited. Could I inquire as to what your relationship is with Mr. Merriweather?"