Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: September 9th, 1935

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 4th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

The Party Is Over

After Oren and Oliver Gardiner leave Elsa Hower’s coming out party in a rush Detective Keegan decides to delay their return to the Kingsport Yacht Club (KYC). He calls a friend in Arkham police dispatch and has them send a patrol car to waylay the Gardiner car. After making the call to the station the Detective and Professor Peaslee follow in his roadster. They catch up with the Gardiners as their car is in the process of being searched by two uniformed officers. At this point the Detective convinces the officers to let these fine gentlemen go after vouching for their character. Before the Gardiner car leaves Detective Keegan knifes their tire. He then heads to the KYC with the Professor for a “drink”.

Kingsport Yacht Club Shenanigans

While the other PC are distracting the Gardiners Professor Cuttling and Archie are breaking into Oliver Gardiner’s office to crack his safe. First the pair sets up a motorboat to make a fast getaway. Then they break into a window and enter the office. They can hear the KYC chef and host, Laurent, speaking in the kitchen but they do not appear to be paying attention to Oliver’s office. Archie opens the tricky safe in under 5 minutes. Inside he finds some legal paperwork and a packet of papers bound in a leather portfolio. After quickly examining the papers Archie decides that they are important enough to keep and takes the entire bundle.

As Leo and Archie start to leave they see a black limousine in the parking lot that was not there before they broke into the office. Outside of the limo is a large man smoking a cigarette. As this man has a view of their escape route the pair decide to return to the office to plan a different route. They decide to carefully cut open the window pane in the office. Outside the terrain is a rocky cliff. Archie decides to carefully sneak over the roof and down the far side of the building. Professor Cuttling decides to look for an underwater tunnel that might lead to the KYC. After doing a perfect jack-knife into the turbulent waters Leo finds a dark underwater tunnel! The dark tunnel leads to an underground pool that appears to be under the KYC main rotunda. As he enters the larger pool he spies a large shape quickly move by his side out of the tunnel! With that he enters the main pool and take refuge behind a large boulder that provides some cover. While waiting behind the boulder Leo hears two men enter the room. He peaks up and spies two men wearing dark gray robes. One is Elihu Smallridge! The other is a large man with a Texas drawl. Also in the room on a stone altar appears to be Diamond Walsh! He is naked and tied up with seaweed.

When Professor Peaslee and Detective Keegan arrive at the KYC they find Dora Smallridge and two of her goons at the front door speaking with Laurent. Apparently Dora wants to see Oliver immediately. She is quite irate. As the PC approach Detective Keegan calms down the argument then asks Laurent to let them in to have a drink while they wait for Oliver. He relays that he passed Oren and Oliver on the road on the way here. Reluctantly Laurent agrees to let them wait for the Gardiners to return.

As Archie reaches the motorboat another car pulls up. Oren and Oliver grab a suitcase from their trunk then head into the KYC. Oliver politely tells the PC and Dora that they are closed and asks them to leave. After some tense conversation the PC and Dora leave the KYC but Detective Keegan stands with Professor Peaslee immediately outside of the main veranda while he finishes his cigar. After speaking to each other quickly Oren and Oliver enter the walk-in cigar humidor with the suitcase. With that Detective Keegan returns to his roadster and grabs his weapons. Archie runs up with a wrench from the motorboat to join them. The trio calls over Laurent and after Detective Keegan flashes his badge the door is unlocked. At this point the trio heads to the humidor to find it empty. Now knowing that there must be a secret door Professor Peaslee searches the humidor shelves carefully. He finds a secret latch and flips it. This open a hatch in the floor allowing the PC to descend.

Ritual Interrupted

As Detective Keegan, Professor Peaslee, and Archie descend the damp stone stairway they can hear chanting in broken Chinese and English. They emerge in a rocky chamber with a stone table on one side tilted at a sharp angle. At the stone altar a man in a dark gray robe, Oliver, pulls a sacrificial knife and moves toward Diamond Walsh! Detective Keegan acts quickly firing a shot that hits Oliver Gardiner in the stomach. Quickly Professor Cuttling jumps out from his hiding spot behind Oliver pushing him into the water. At this point Archie rushes forward using the shotgun from Detective Keegan as a club. He strikes the large Texan, who Detective Keegan knows as Samuel Watson, in the head sending some teeth flying! At this point Elihu knifes Detective Keegan and Watson knifes Archie. Gathering up his courage Professor Peaslee enters the room and shoots Oren Gardiner in the back as he tries to knife Diamond Walsh from the other side of the altar. This gives Leo a chance to wrest the knife away from Oren Gardiner. Archie then throws Samuel Watson into the water. To the surprise of the PC they hear a gurgling sound coming from the water! They see a humanoid figure with long claws and black glowing ooze grab Oliver and pull him under the water in a screaming cacophony! As the creatures start to pull themselves out of the water Detective Keegan cuffs Oren Gardiner and leads him out of the room. Professor Cuttling grabs Diamond Walsh then the group makes their escape. As they leave the KYC they see several of the strange creatures emerging from the water.

Back At Miskatonic

It is late at night when the PC get back to Miskatonic with Oren, Diamond, and the contents of the KYC safe. Once they arrive Professor Peaslee starts treating the physically and mentally wounded. When he finishes the group decides to examine the papers they took from the safe and to speak with Oren Gardiner and Diamond Walsh.

There are three groups of papers in the leather portfolio from the safe:

Group #1 – Handwritten text on browning paper. Appear to be ripped out of a larger notebook. There is an entry dated October 4th, 1900. It contains the following text:
October 4th, 1900 – I’m sure most kids have normal birthdays but they are not part of a family like mine. After returning from a late night at Pacheo’s Place (aka a high-end bar in Arkham) father asked me to join him in the study. I was expecting a lecture but that is not what I got. Father told me a very strange story from his youth. When he was just 17 he was a hand on the Capricorn. The Capricorn was returning from a plentiful fishing run when they got caught in a ferocious storm. As the storm pounded the ship the mast split in two and dropped on him. When he awoke the storm had subsided but the rest of the crew were gone. Father thanked the oceans for seeing him through the storm. To his surprise the ocean churned and spoke back! It told father that he survived because the “ocean” had intervened on his behalf. The ocean told Father that if he listened and followed instructions he would be granted wild success in all his ventures! Father thanked the strange entity and asked his name…the ocean replied with “Dagon”. Over the years Father has followed directions from Dagon…no matter how dangerous…and he has had nothing but success. I’m not sure what to believe…maybe Father has had a bit too much to drink.

Group #2 – Handwritten text on clean white note sheets. Lines and columns are drawn. The second and last columns appear to be in some type of code. Leo deciphers the code without too much effort.

• First Column – One or two Chinese (Mandarin) characters. – Increasing numbers running from 1 to 43. Leo knows that the Mandarin number “44” is symbolic for water. (It is a very important number in Chinese mythology.)
• Second Column – Code – Names. Archie and Detective Keegan recognize the names as members of the Walsh Mob. Archie will see his hotdog stand contact listed three times. The last entry dated two days ago lists this contact with a currency value of $150.
• Third Column – Dates – Various dates ranging from 1925 to 2 days ago.
• Fourth Column – Currency – Various dollar amounts mostly ranging from $50 to $200.
• Fifth Colum – Code – Locations. The locations appear to be various loading docks, back alleys, and deserted roads.

Group #3 – Handwritten text on water stained white paper. Shows various chants in Mandarin. Some are loosely translated to English. First pages appear older and some are water stained. After getting some pages translated Doctor Armitage suggests that it is a summoning spell of some type. (At this point none of the PC have decided to read these pages in detail.)

After analyzing the papers from the safe Doctor Armitage informs the inquiry team that another set of papers have appeared under his desk blotter. At this point the PC need to speak to Oren and Diamond then analyze this new set of papers from Doctor Armitage…

Date At End Of Game: September 9th, 1935

-== What is it? ==-

Mushi-Shi is an anime TV series marketed by FUNimation. Mushi-Shi originally aired from October 2005 through June 2006. Hiroshi Nagahama is the director on the TV series. Voice actor Travis Willingham does the acting for the main character in Mushi-Shi (aka Ginko).

The series focuses on the travels of a Mushi Master known as Ginko. Mushi are ethereal spirits that are in touch with the primal forces of nature and the essence of life. Most people cannot see Mushi at all. Ginko can see Mushi and even attracts them if he stays in one place for too long. Since Mushi can be dangerous Ginko is often on the move. His uses his considerable Mushi knowledge to help people deal with Mushi that they may be encountering. Mushi-Shi is set in ancient Japan. The exact time period is not defined.

Mushi-Shi is a hard anime to classify. I think I would classify it as a drama with horror elements. The episodes are primarily episodic in nature. There is really no overarching plot in the series. Some of the memorable side characters make appearances more than once in the series but even this is kept to a dull roar. Ginko is the only character that shows up in every episode.

There is no nudity in Mushi-Shi and very little violence. Any violence in the series is performed off screen or with shadows. There are some adult themes but even these are scarce. Mushi-Shi is rated “14+” at RightStuf.com and I think that rating is actually a bit high.

I purchased the standard edition Viridian Collection version of the DVD set. Mushi-Shi is comprised of 26 episodes that cover roughly 625 minutes of content.

-== What I Like ==-

The stories are the star of Mushi-Shi. They are well paced with nice twists at just the right moments. Each episode shows an extreme attention to detail. Characters and subplots will venture into and out of an episode at precisely the correct times.

The animation in the series is fantastic. Character animations in Mushi-Shi are exquisite. Clothing is detailed yet not overstated. The field of expressions shown by the characters is kept simple. It really works for the series. As Mushi are creature of life a lot of care is taken with background, weather, and shadows. The backgrounds in the series are lush and really draw you into the world. More than once I paused the DVD on a shot of the environment. Shadows in Mushi-Shi are intricate and reflect a lot of depth. As some episodes have a horror theme there can be a lot of dark scenes. This is some top notch animation.

The music in Mushi-Shi really adds a lot of depth. The opening credit piece is lilting and haunting with a vocal feel that reminded me of Tori Amos. The end credit music different for every episode! This allows the director to convey emotion that really sticks in your mind well after viewing. The effect makes one ponder what was just watched.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The biggest drawback to the collection are the extras. There are only extras on last DVD in the set. Here is a list of the extras in Mushi-Shi with some comments.

• Commentary On Last Episode – Instead of a commentary on the last episode this is really an interview with Travis Willingham. Although mildly interesting the commentators do not talk about the episode at all really. It is a poor implementation in my opinion. I would much rather have had them conduct a live interview for 20 minutes instead of calling it a commentary.
• Manga Page – The original artwork and manga pages are fine.
• Studio Tour – The Mushi-Shi studio tour was VERY strange. None of the employees are smiling. For some reason they are all very serious and stoic. Another strange thing is that their animation studio was in an old house that looked like a cave. I actually felt sorry for workers after watching this extra.
• Director Interview – The interview with Hiroshi Nagahama is also kinds of bizarre. The director explains that the world of Mushi-Shi is the highlight of many stories. He goes on to talk about the music. During the entire interview he never smiles! He also speaks in very soft tones. I actually felt that this interview made me NOT want to watch the show.

The extras are the only reason Mushi-Shi is not getting 10 out of 10 paws. Believe it or not I might have liked the series even more is there were NO extras at all! 🙁

-== Summary ==-

Repeat some buzz words that define this series for me. Serene. Exquisite. Touching. Enchanting. These are not common when describing media of any kind let alone anime. If you are looking for stories to feed your id then look no farther than Mushi-Shi. I cannot recommend this series enough.

You can get if for $17.93 at Amazon at this URL. RightStuf has it for sale at this URL for $17.99.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

Date At Start Of Game: September 6th, 1935

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 3rd session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

Following Up On Leads In The Walsh Case

After discussing the clues that the group uncovered at the Walsh Estate the PC decide on their next course of action. Detective Keagan decides to follow up on the bodies that were dumped under a local bridge. On his visit to the coroner he meet Officer William Arnold and Officer Chad Gee. They are discussing the bodies in hushed voices when the Detective approaches. After a brief conversation he moves into the morgue to speak with the coroner, Dr Thomas. Dr Thomas shows the Detective two bodies. One is a 60 year old man and the other is a 20 year old man. Both bodies have been stripped of their clothes and personal effects. Their hands and feet are tied tightly with seaweed. On their chests is a pentagram with the star point facing the ground. Their throats have been slit from ear-to-ear and appear to have been drained of most of their blood. Based on the amount of bruising on the wrists the coroner is under the impression that they were bound then slain. The body of the older man is bloated much more than the younger man. Dr Thomas guesses that the old man has been under the bridge for about 2 weeks. The younger man has been there roughly 3 to 5 days.

While at the station Detective Keagan examines the police report on the death of Diamond Walsh’s last wife. Her maiden name was Amanda Bell. She is actually Walsh’s third wife. (Dora Smallridge is Diamond Walsh’s fourth wife.) The coroner’s report from Dr Thomas says that she died of an overdose of arsenic. She was being prescribed arsenic by her physician, Dr Peter Smoot, for nerves. Detective Stanley was the officer on the case. (Detective Keagan has strong verbal evidence that Detective Stanley is being paid off by Diamond Walsh.)

The rest of the PC go to the library and newspaper offices to research Dora and Elihu Smallridge. There is very little to find on Dora Smallridge in the library or newspaper. She is the only child of Elihu and Beatrice Smallridge. There are several newspaper articles on Elihu. For many years he has been involved with “cooking” books for various illegal operations. Although Elihu has never been convicted his ties to illegal business dealings are fairly well established. One newspaper article has a picture of the small balding man shielding his eyes from a camera behind Diamond Walsh as they emerge from a courtroom.

Dilettante Leads

At this point the PC decide to also start researching Austin Kittrell and the Hower’s. Austin Kittrell appears in many society papers. The articles claim that he is from a wealthy family in New Orleans.

The Hower’s recently moved into an Arkham estate that was previously owned by a railroad tycoon who has fallen on hard times. The patriarch of the family, Robert Hower, wanted to move to a place where he could be considered one of the elite in the area. The Hower fortune would not have been enough to merit attention in New York so he decided on Arkham.

Robert Hower is a banker who came into money through his father Perry McGill Hower. Under his leadership the Hower’s have nearly doubled their holdings. Other businessmen think Robert Hower has a knack for making investments in speculative areas at just the right times. People who know him personally say that he can be unforgiving to those that don’t perform. Robert Hower has a penchant for symbols of power or authority from various cultures. He has an entire room in his estate devoted to his collection. While digging in a set of archeological journals Dr Peaslee finds an article about a trip that Robert Hower took to Africa. During that trip he recovered what was reportedly an ancient box that was used by shaman of the Ticho-Ticho tribe. This tribe has woman shaman of great power that hold spiritually significant phallic talismans in these boxes. Reportedly anyone who opens the box that is not a Ticho-Ticho shaman will be rendered sterile. There is only one other of these boxes known to exist. (It is in a museum in Cape Town, South Africa.)

At this point the PC come up with a plan to get Oliver Gardiner out of his office so that they can break into his safe. Tredge creates a forged invitation then the PC send it to Oliver Gardiner. They want to make sure he will be in attendance. The plan is to have Cuttling and Archie break in and open the safe while the PC are with Oliver Gardiner at Elsa Hower’s coming out party.

The Coming Out Party

The night of the party the Hower Estate is decked out in all of its finery. There are banners across the four while marble pillars on the front steps and black tie waiters walking the event with champagne. At first the PC mingle with Robert Hower. (Elsa has not yet made her appearance.) Robert is holding court with other important men of Arkham. Robert Hower is a well built tall man with a blond handlebar mustache and a strong personality. He moves with care and efficiency suggesting to Detective Keagan that he has military training.

After a brief time Elsa Hower makes her entrance. She is a 16 year old blonde girl with a big smile. After meeting the PC they find her to be charming. Austin Kittrell appears to have captured her attention as she gravitates to him after meeting all of the party guests.

At this point Robert Hower invites the men to join him in his museum. He shows the PC and several others into a room full of glass cases. There they find a focused and deep collection of artifacts. Robert’s prized items are a set of 12th century samurai armor, a blade rumored to be owned by Richard The Lion Hearted, and a Spartan helmet. In a glass case along one side of the room he has a red box on display.

Dr Peaslee moves over to the box so that he can examine it in more details. The red box is roughly 12″ wide x 4″ high x 6″ deep. It is hinged on the short sides and parts in the middle. One the covers of the box are what appear to be African fertility symbols. It is in immaculate condition based on its age. Dr Peaslee suggests that it must be at least 600 years old. When Robert Hower notices Dr Peaslee looking at the box he approaches and comments that the Dr has good taste. He then explains the information that the PC already know about the Ticho-Ticho woman shaman.

At this point Oren Gardiner approaches Oliver and whispers in his ear. Oliver gives his drink to a waiter and the pair immediately head out of the party towards their car leaving the PC worried that Archie and Cuttling have run into trouble…

Date At End Of Game: September 9th, 1935