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===THE HAND OF THE DEMON=== | ===THE HAND OF THE DEMON=== | ||
− | [[Image: | + | [[Image:Demonhand.gif|thumb|288px|Cover for "The Hand of the Demon"]] |
* '''Part 1 - Graves in the Mist''' <br> Their investigation in Vienna over, our [[Intrepid Explorers]] briefly part ways to work on private projects. [[Dr. Bermuda]] and [[Lord John Stevens]] return to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London London], where the former holes up in his lab to finalize plans for the rocket plane he and [[Dr. Henri Coanda]] had begun working on while the later gives a series of short (and poorly received) lectures on [[Animals world wide|animal rights]]. [[Charles "Charlie" Desgrange|Charlie Desgrange]] visits [[Helga Dietrich]], the young wife of his enemy [[Rheinholdt Dietrich|Reinholdt]], in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin Berlin] to see if she can shed light on the German air ace's current activities. Though she tells her paramour everything she knows, Charlie finds his best information from a series of photos of Rienholdt and friends and a flight log-book in the man's study. Meanwhile [[The Rabbit]], acting on his growing suspicion of [[The Lazarus Trust|his employers]], begins to track down some of the men who've worked for them over the years and since left, meeting with mixed results. Finally, [[Brendan Lewis Cook]] heads for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople Constantinople] where he gets in touch with several acquaintences to pave the way for the next leg of his and his friends' journey. <br> Their individual exploits complete, the group gathers together in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania Romania], where they hope to meet with [[Ruthven Vaneko]], a man that Rabbit met at [[Joseph Dippel|Dippel's]] party in hopes of learning more about Dippel. Though Ruthven is easy to find and makes the group welcome in his home, it's clear that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyar boyar]is a little... off. Our heroes meet him first in his family cemetary, kneeling at the foot of a massive angel statue that marks the grave of his parents. Nearby is a second grave, this one open, that Vaneko explains is waiting for him. As Vaneko leads the investigators back to his manor, a clock strikes midnight, even though it's only half past eight. Vaneko reveals that the clock was his fathers and later elaborates that it was broken the night his parents were murdered and he leaves it in that state as a reminder of the impermanence of time. <br> Things get no more normal once inside Vaneko's manor, where a heated iron mud-grate at the entrance seems to open onto a pit that serves as a kennel, judging by the sounds of the howls (even though Vaneko claims to have no pets), a rear hall contains the reconstructed bones of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranosaurus_Rex Tyranosaurus] (labelled Dracul, or "Dragon") and our heroes meet Vaneko's five adopted orphan children (3 boys, 2 girls, aged 8 through 16, all with black hair and hollow eyes). In the hour leading up to dinner, Vaneko is happy to talk about his past association with Dippel. He had provided Dippel with abundant amounts of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur sulfur] from his mines in exchange for the Doctor's promise that he would find a way to raise Vaneko's parents from the dead. When Dippel seemed to have abandoned this project, Vaneko cut off his sulfur supply, to Dippel's rage. Vaneko now believes that Dippel wants him dead. <br> Dinner over, Vaneko excuses himself to take care of business, promising to collect the investigators the next day for a tour of the mine. Meanwhile, he says, they can have the run of the house. John Stevens takes him at his work and attempts to pry loose the mud-grate in the main hall. He strains his arm, however, at the thing's weight and gives up for the evening. | * '''Part 1 - Graves in the Mist''' <br> Their investigation in Vienna over, our [[Intrepid Explorers]] briefly part ways to work on private projects. [[Dr. Bermuda]] and [[Lord John Stevens]] return to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London London], where the former holes up in his lab to finalize plans for the rocket plane he and [[Dr. Henri Coanda]] had begun working on while the later gives a series of short (and poorly received) lectures on [[Animals world wide|animal rights]]. [[Charles "Charlie" Desgrange|Charlie Desgrange]] visits [[Helga Dietrich]], the young wife of his enemy [[Rheinholdt Dietrich|Reinholdt]], in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin Berlin] to see if she can shed light on the German air ace's current activities. Though she tells her paramour everything she knows, Charlie finds his best information from a series of photos of Rienholdt and friends and a flight log-book in the man's study. Meanwhile [[The Rabbit]], acting on his growing suspicion of [[The Lazarus Trust|his employers]], begins to track down some of the men who've worked for them over the years and since left, meeting with mixed results. Finally, [[Brendan Lewis Cook]] heads for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople Constantinople] where he gets in touch with several acquaintences to pave the way for the next leg of his and his friends' journey. <br> Their individual exploits complete, the group gathers together in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania Romania], where they hope to meet with [[Ruthven Vaneko]], a man that Rabbit met at [[Joseph Dippel|Dippel's]] party in hopes of learning more about Dippel. Though Ruthven is easy to find and makes the group welcome in his home, it's clear that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyar boyar]is a little... off. Our heroes meet him first in his family cemetary, kneeling at the foot of a massive angel statue that marks the grave of his parents. Nearby is a second grave, this one open, that Vaneko explains is waiting for him. As Vaneko leads the investigators back to his manor, a clock strikes midnight, even though it's only half past eight. Vaneko reveals that the clock was his fathers and later elaborates that it was broken the night his parents were murdered and he leaves it in that state as a reminder of the impermanence of time. <br> Things get no more normal once inside Vaneko's manor, where a heated iron mud-grate at the entrance seems to open onto a pit that serves as a kennel, judging by the sounds of the howls (even though Vaneko claims to have no pets), a rear hall contains the reconstructed bones of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranosaurus_Rex Tyranosaurus] (labelled Dracul, or "Dragon") and our heroes meet Vaneko's five adopted orphan children (3 boys, 2 girls, aged 8 through 16, all with black hair and hollow eyes). In the hour leading up to dinner, Vaneko is happy to talk about his past association with Dippel. He had provided Dippel with abundant amounts of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur sulfur] from his mines in exchange for the Doctor's promise that he would find a way to raise Vaneko's parents from the dead. When Dippel seemed to have abandoned this project, Vaneko cut off his sulfur supply, to Dippel's rage. Vaneko now believes that Dippel wants him dead. <br> Dinner over, Vaneko excuses himself to take care of business, promising to collect the investigators the next day for a tour of the mine. Meanwhile, he says, they can have the run of the house. John Stevens takes him at his work and attempts to pry loose the mud-grate in the main hall. He strains his arm, however, at the thing's weight and gives up for the evening. | ||
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* '''Part 4 - Secret Gardens''' <br> As Rabbit, Charlie and company prepare to leave Sengul's ranch, the turk hugs the steel detective close and whispers in his ear. "Please pursue your researches no further, my friend," he says, "for Allah's soldiers are the spirits of air and flame, and I would hate for you to get burned." Rabbit, for his part, uses the moment of intimacy to form a mesmeritic, if temporary, bond between the two - one that will allow Rabbit to know of Sengul's movements for a short while to come. The group continues on to their next desination, Cyprus, after a quick stop at a local British army base for some faster transportation. <br> Meanwhile, in Georgia, Dr. Bermuda examines Ivanov's lab. He discovers an insemination schedule for the apes and a series of strange artifacts. There's a bit of [[Steviomium]], previously unseen outside of the hands of John Stevens, that may come from Siberia, some Nutriwheat, some sulfer and a wall map with three locations marked and noted. One of these are a set of coordinates that correspond with Tunguska (marked as a possible "aperture"), another is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevsky_Prospekt #32 Nevsky Prospect] (marked with the note "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Room Amber Room] - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy zero-point] aperture?") and the third is a series of coordinates - 9° 21' N, 12° 46' W - in Africa (marked simply "Oliver's city?" Attached to the map near this last mark are two pictures, depicting a medical theater and people encased in strange metalic tubes with glass viewports. Stranger than all of this, though, is the discovery of one of the [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Terra_Occulta#Journals_of_the_Lazarus_Trust Journals of the Lazarus Trust], dated to the Spring of 1913. Dr. Bermuda reads a story there, written by one [[Michael Oliver]], about a supposed "city of simians" in Africa, a story penned by [[Jean Paul Renaud]] (who our investigators last saw on the Orient Express, claiming to be a Gendarme) and a story of a strange drought in the [[Three Nagas Valley]], among others. With all of this information in hand, the Georgia team departs. <br> Owing to Cook's travel prowess, he and the rest soon catch up with the Cyprus team to continue that half of the investigation. After a day of trailing the rare rose dates, grown only on Cyprus, that Sengul had served at his ranch, the group arrives at an enclosed monastery. That night, Aleksandra carries Rabbit inside to explore while the rest of the group waits for a signal of danger from without. The explorers quickly discover that all is not as it seems; though ostensibly a monastery, the place lacks and of the appropriate iconography, scripture or study rooms and the supposed monks travel armed and as if on guard. It's soon clear that these aren't monks at all, but simply Janissaries in clever disguise! <br> Rabbit takes down one of the janissaries to advance deeper into their lair, where he and Aleksandra soon discover a hidden cove beneath the monastary and, waiting offshore, a cargo cruiser. This discovery is not without its price, however, as the pair attracts the attention of the janissary guards and their bullets. <br> However, the prone body soon attracts the attention of several wandering guards and the entire monastery jumps up to arms. Seeing the monk's consternation, Charlie, Doctor Bermuda and Anya spring into action, laying down fire and driving the revealed janissaries into the shadows. However, something about the monastery interferes with Maria's mystic powers and she hides, defenseless, behind a tree. Regardless, most of the janissaries are soon either dead or under cover, but as the group outside turns to decide what to do next, they discover a group of janissaries holding Maria at knife point! | * '''Part 4 - Secret Gardens''' <br> As Rabbit, Charlie and company prepare to leave Sengul's ranch, the turk hugs the steel detective close and whispers in his ear. "Please pursue your researches no further, my friend," he says, "for Allah's soldiers are the spirits of air and flame, and I would hate for you to get burned." Rabbit, for his part, uses the moment of intimacy to form a mesmeritic, if temporary, bond between the two - one that will allow Rabbit to know of Sengul's movements for a short while to come. The group continues on to their next desination, Cyprus, after a quick stop at a local British army base for some faster transportation. <br> Meanwhile, in Georgia, Dr. Bermuda examines Ivanov's lab. He discovers an insemination schedule for the apes and a series of strange artifacts. There's a bit of [[Steviomium]], previously unseen outside of the hands of John Stevens, that may come from Siberia, some Nutriwheat, some sulfer and a wall map with three locations marked and noted. One of these are a set of coordinates that correspond with Tunguska (marked as a possible "aperture"), another is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevsky_Prospekt #32 Nevsky Prospect] (marked with the note "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Room Amber Room] - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy zero-point] aperture?") and the third is a series of coordinates - 9° 21' N, 12° 46' W - in Africa (marked simply "Oliver's city?" Attached to the map near this last mark are two pictures, depicting a medical theater and people encased in strange metalic tubes with glass viewports. Stranger than all of this, though, is the discovery of one of the [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Terra_Occulta#Journals_of_the_Lazarus_Trust Journals of the Lazarus Trust], dated to the Spring of 1913. Dr. Bermuda reads a story there, written by one [[Michael Oliver]], about a supposed "city of simians" in Africa, a story penned by [[Jean Paul Renaud]] (who our investigators last saw on the Orient Express, claiming to be a Gendarme) and a story of a strange drought in the [[Three Nagas Valley]], among others. With all of this information in hand, the Georgia team departs. <br> Owing to Cook's travel prowess, he and the rest soon catch up with the Cyprus team to continue that half of the investigation. After a day of trailing the rare rose dates, grown only on Cyprus, that Sengul had served at his ranch, the group arrives at an enclosed monastery. That night, Aleksandra carries Rabbit inside to explore while the rest of the group waits for a signal of danger from without. The explorers quickly discover that all is not as it seems; though ostensibly a monastery, the place lacks and of the appropriate iconography, scripture or study rooms and the supposed monks travel armed and as if on guard. It's soon clear that these aren't monks at all, but simply Janissaries in clever disguise! <br> Rabbit takes down one of the janissaries to advance deeper into their lair, where he and Aleksandra soon discover a hidden cove beneath the monastary and, waiting offshore, a cargo cruiser. This discovery is not without its price, however, as the pair attracts the attention of the janissary guards and their bullets. <br> However, the prone body soon attracts the attention of several wandering guards and the entire monastery jumps up to arms. Seeing the monk's consternation, Charlie, Doctor Bermuda and Anya spring into action, laying down fire and driving the revealed janissaries into the shadows. However, something about the monastery interferes with Maria's mystic powers and she hides, defenseless, behind a tree. Regardless, most of the janissaries are soon either dead or under cover, but as the group outside turns to decide what to do next, they discover a group of janissaries holding Maria at knife point! | ||
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* '''[[The First Fantastic Feature!]]''' - THE SEED of MADNESS | * '''[[The First Fantastic Feature!]]''' - THE SEED of MADNESS | ||
* '''The Second Startling Story!''' - THE HAND of the DEMON | * '''The Second Startling Story!''' - THE HAND of the DEMON | ||
− | * '''[[The Third Terrific Tale!]]''' - | + | * '''[[The Third Terrific Tale!]]''' - |
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[[Terra Occulta]] | [[Terra Occulta]] |