The Stars Are Right: The Irish Rose

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This campaign started as a new group in 2012, although several players had played in other campaigns in the world.

Set in Detroit in 1932 - our oddly matched group of characters continue to balance gangsters, a mysterious medical condition, an odd preacher and his sister and a state hospital scandal - all in an effort to figure out the complicated workings of the under classes.

Detroit in 1932

Downtown Detroit, 1932

Detroit - like all of urban America - reels under the crushing grip of the Great Depression. With the crash of the stock market in February 1930, the economy has been in a progressive tail-spin.

The largest employers in the area - the automobile manufacturers - have been hardest hit. Ford, Cadillac, Fisher, Buick, Packard, and the Detroit Electric Car Company have all curtailed production and let go thousands of workers. Auto factory jobs once thought to be a life-time guarantee of employment, have sadly become run by mere skeleton crews.

Now, two years into the crisis, with production of goods at a stand still, in a city of approximately 1.5 million people, over 225,000 are unemployed. Men who are unmarried have an easier time of it - they have no wives or children to worry about. Those who are married struggle on as best they can - knowing that each day without a job means another day they must find some method to feed the ones they care for.

There are a few rays of hope. The Mayor's Commission provides boxes of apples for men to sell on the street corners at 5 cents per apple. The Capuchin Monks feed 800 per day through the Catholic churches. The idle Fisher Auto Factory has become the City Municipal Lodging House, with heat, lights, showers, and meals for unmarried men - provided by donations from the Fisher brothers. The White Towers restaurants serve free lunches once a month.

Clark Park has been set up as an emergency camp for evicted families. Private citizens and the National Guard have donated tents. The women have created sewing circles, while the children used the playgrounds and the men looked for work. Thrift Gardens have been planted along the outskirts to help with feeding the poverty-stricken. Physicians donate free medical care under the auspices of the Medical Relief Committee.

For those who have a few coins to rub together, prohibition is playing out its last gasp the best way it knows how - by letting the liquor flow through thousands and thousands of bars and taverns. Most operate openly with little interference from the police, serving up a mixture of poor grade liquor, gambling, worn and desperate women - and if a high class joint - a piano player working for tips.

Characters

Clark, Lila

alias Rosie

(Played by John)

A 30-or-so woman moved to Detroit working as hostess at the Irish Rose speakeasy owned by Daniel Macklin. Friends with Katie Flynn.

Ecker, DeWitt

(Played by Scott)

A thin balding man in his 60s, Dr. DeWitt Ecker is more accurately called an ex-doctor, as he appears to have been disbarred for ... sketchy practices. He is well-educated and is known to have a poor bedside manner. He started to become involved when he encountered some strangeness at the Irish Rose, August 1, 1932.

Grayson, Victor

alias Quiet Vic

(Played by Robby Bullis)

An athletic man in his 20s, Victor has abandoned his (oh so bleak) fate as a farmer, and makes his way in the world gambling. Victor has had some boxing success, fighting in the Middleweight division. His luck with dicing has improved in this Age of Miracles. He started to become involved when he encountered some strangeness at the Irish Rose, August 1, 1932.

Lovejoy, Frank

(played by Andrew Cole)

A reporter for the Detroit Evening Times.

O'Keefe, James

(played by Eric)

An ex-cop in his 40s, O'Keefe has fallen on hard times. He seems to be some sort of private investigator. He started to become involved when he encountered some strangeness at the Irish Rose, August 1, 1932.

Walters, Obediah

alias Doc

(played by Stephen Cole)

An alcoholic doctor who makes his living performing odd jobs for the Purple Gang.

Williams, JT

alias Wheels

(Played by Keith)

JT is 25 years old and appears to be some sort of bootlegger. He is a auto enthusiast. He started to become involved when he encountered some strangeness at the Irish Rose, August 1, 1932.

Drifter Joe

alias The Wall

(Played by Andrew B.)

A huge drifter, former WWI vet working as a bouncer for room and board at the Irish Rose speakeasy.

Non-Player Groups and Characters

Flynn, Katie

alias Heather Flynn

A waitress at the Irish Rose. Living with Danny Macklin (deceased). Infected with strange blood parasites.

Macklin, Danny

(deceased)

Proprietor of the Irish Rose. Was living with Katie Flynn, whom he beat regularly. Killed by person or persons unknown.

The Purple Gang

The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, is a mob with predominantly Jewish members of bootleggers and hijackers operating out of Detroit.

Locations

The Detroit Evening Times

131 Bagley Street

Purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1921, the Times is the fastest growing paper in the city.

Herman Kiefer Hospital for Communicable Diseases

1151 Taylor Street

A hospital currently embroiled in a series of corruption scandals, including bribery of public officials. Also under investigation for performing illegal abortions. Control of the hospital has been given to the state while matters are being settled.

The Irish Rose

A speakeasy operated by Daniel Macklin.

Timeline

August 1932

Monday, 1 August

Dr. DeWitt Ecker, JT Williams, James O'Keefe, and Victor Grayson find themselves thrown together at the Irish Rose speakeasy in Detroit, owing to events relating to "Katie" Flynn. Katie Flynn is severely beaten by her boyfriend, speak owner Danny Macklin. She is taken to Ecker's apartment for treatment for several broken ribs and other injuries. She begs the four men to retrieve her belongings from the Rose. They discover a hidden box which contains personal letters in French, a map of Los Angeles, and a medical journal. Dr. Ecker reads through the journal, which details a strange infection, with which Ms. Flynn appears to be inflicted.

Tuesday, 2 August

Led by O'Keefe, the group goes looking for Reverend Scott. Dr. Ecker, JT, and O'Keefe visit the Herman Keefer Hospital for Communicable Diseases, where Dr. Ecker has an old score to settle with Dr. Philips. The four men locate a 5th letter belonging to Ms. Flynn, which has already been translated to English. The letter raises more questions than it answers, with allusions to Weiss, Steele, Petit-Jean, Fae, Communion, Flynn, and Gautier).

Wednesday, 3 August

The group locates Reverend Scott at Clark Park. There is something peculiar about the way his sister paces behind the small group of people he is haranguing. They follow Mr. Scott, and he and his sister appear uncomfortably close. The group also follows Dr. Philips from the hospital. They steal some strange vials he has hidden in his car. JT sets up a meeting with the Purple Gang for Thursday.

Thursday, 4 August

The four men meet with the Purple Gang at an Italian restaurant.

Friday, 5 August

• The four men meet in the Irish Rose to consider their next move. Williams recruits Drifter Joe and Dr. Obediah Walters. Ecker, Joe, Walters and O'Keefe break into the Herman Kiefer hospital to investigate Dr. George Phillips, an old co-worker and rival of Dr. Ecker. They find a modified patient file on Vivian Cooper-Levitt. Frank Lovejoy, a reporter for the Detroit Evening Press, is there interviewing hospital staff regarding an ongoing corruption scandal at the hospital and witnesses the four men leaving in an unlicensed car. He attempts to tail them, but loses them outside of the redlight district.
• Meanwhile, Victor and Lila secretly go to talk to Katie (a.k.a. 'Heather') Flynn, who is sick.
• Daniel Flynn is murdered, and left hanging by his heels from the ceiling of The Irish Rose. Frank Lovejoy is assigned to cover the story on behalf of the Detroit Evening Times. He, O'Keefe, Ecker and Walters are all admitted to the crime scene by the Detroit police.
• That night, James and JT stake out Dr. Phillips. They see a rich car drop by and Phillips exchanges a small object for an envelope. The car goes back to Vivian Cooper-Levitt's mansion, so this was probably her family buying a vial of the serum.

Saturday, 6 August

• Ecker, Williams and Joe kidnap Dr. Phillips as he leaves from his golf game, and discover details about the Fae blood condition (without that name).
• Lovejoy interviews Grayson and Clark in an attempt to determine the identities of the two mysterious doctors seen at the murder scene.

Sunday, 7 August

No one can find Rev. Frank Scott that day. (Lila has a dinner date with a boring cab driver Ralph.) That night, Lila Clark has the journalist Lovejoy meet with Katie/Heather, bringing a discreet doctor with him - who turns out to be none other than Dr. Walters! He gives her the injection of serum that Lila supplied from Dr. Ecker. Lila reciprocates by giving an interview with Lovejoy.

Detroit Evening Times

The following articles appeared in the Detroit Evening Times in August, 1932.

• Saloonkeeper Slain As Gang War Erupts - August 5, 1932
• Irish Rose Medico A Mystery - August 6, 1932
• Second "Doctor" In Rose Murder Identified - August 7, 1932