Session 3 - The Locked Room Mystery Pt. 3

We retconned the end of last session for the simple reason that 100% of this session’s attendees agreed that had they not basically been asleep or out of the room, their characters would have prevented certain things from happening.

SO here is what happened at the end of session 2:

• Dr. Dallinger, accompanied by the rest of the group, attempted to break into Billington & Sons solicitor’s office with the intend of determining whether Billington was responsible for wetting up the murder of Remington, the dead poor guy.
• Dallinger’s device broke the door, so the group swiftly searched the office as best they could for information and then departed, having agreed to get some sleep and meet for breakfast in St. James’s Park.
• Rather than leave the place looking as if it had been broken into and robbed, Mr. Turnbull and a “locksmith" he knew repaired the door.
• The information from Billington indicated that
  • Sophriona Wode is a new rich client
  • The matters because she owns, among other holdings, 3 contiguous properties in Mayfair: 45, 46, and 47 Mount Street.
  • She resides in 45 Mount St. and the Spirit Communication Society meets/met in 47 Mount St.
  • Remington’s inheritance info went to Billington’s firm in Whitby before being referred to the newer, smaller London office.
  • Session3 TL;DR: Mary’s past may be resurfacing. Sophriona Wode is rich and influential and clearly connected to the murdering demon if only by proximity. The group is about to fight some monsters!

Session 3 Recap

• Mary had a “dream” in which she was in her country estate, only the color had been drained out of it. While in the dream, she also had the sense of “sleep paralysis”. Not sure I did an excellent job describing it, but basically it was as if she were in her body but not controlling it. She opened the curtains to see a landscape of twilight largely devoid of color, when in the middle distance a bolt of red lighting flashed across the sky, and when the thunder washed over her, she awakened in her current room, standing at her window, which opens onto a brick wall.
• Mary sent a morning post to the group to meet earlier in the day. Dr. Dallinger begged off because Todd was out.
• When they met, Mr. Turnbull checked her over for “magic” in addition to her normal mystical aura and found that her pineal gland had been mystically “excited” and he could sense residue as that excitement subsided. He believed that this was evidence of some kind of psychic sensory connection, like the 3rd eye opening, and that it seemed like she was somehow clairvoyantly linked to someone.
• Mary confided that she had been under someone’s control at one time but not any longer. She was hoping (?) this was related to their current investigation and not some other thing, but it seemed not to be the case here.
• Miss Croft stated that her dream of being out of control seemed consistent with people being possessed. Also, the color drained “other side” resembled descriptions of a/the where spirits reside. Miss Forsythe (and probably Mr. Turnbull) had heard similar about the spirit realm.
• Mary and Miss Forsythe (under the pseudonym of Mrs. Georgiana Stonebury) went to Billington’s under the pretense of the former needing a job because the latter, her employer, was planning to return to America and needed someone to manage her inherited assets. Billington seemed able to fulfill both purposes. [The theme of Mary wanting a job seems to come up a lot —Ed.]
• This meeting uncovered the following information
  • Billington is scared of Mrs. Wode
  • Mrs. Wode seems to be the most important of Billington’s father’s clients in Whitby. The senior Billington would know more about her than the younger. But Whitby is 10 or more hours north of London…
  • Wode does currently reside in Mayfair.
  • Wode is a widow
• Then the group went off to Mayfair, the women to meet Mrs Wode and take her measure as well as get some info, while Mr. Turnbull broke into the adjoining properties for a look around. The pretense was that Mrs. Stonebury knew Mr. Heathering and mentioned the Spirit Communication Society (SPC) to her.
  • Though played by Michelle Gomez and therefore certainly a villain, Mrs. Wode seems perfectly pleasant
  • Apparently there are 13 members of the SPC but the 13th is never in attendance
  • They meet in Mayfair but also in other places, as other prominent members like to host
  • Wode has not yet managed to commute with her husband
  • Wode has a daughter who is a medium and can call spirits
  • The seances have uneven success
• Meanwhile Mary, having been dismissed, goes to meet the house staff
  • There’s lots of turnover
  • Ellie, the clumsy maid, is super scared of the house and especially the seances. Hears noises on the roofs at night
  • The staff is never allowed to attend the seance to straightens and tidies after
  • Mary will interview for a job at the house Thursday
• And Mr. Turnbull entered #47 only to discover that it has the scent of the “demon” that seems to have murdered Remington and Heathering. It appears to reside in the basement, but uses the chimney for egress. Sensibly, he does not attempt to find the creature alone.
• The Wode family has an afternoon appointment of some kind, so Mrs. Wode apologizes and the PCs depart, meeting nearby, with a few of the house. They see Mrs. Wode and 3 young women leave in a large black carriage.
• Mary goes to the roof where she finds a stash of stuff, most notably horoscopes for Heathering, Remington, and one Joan Reed (you’ve never heard of her). Each of the 3 has a birthday on an equinox or solstice. (Spring, Summer, and Autumn are represented, but not winter; bonus points if one of you is depressed in game and wants a winter solstice birthday…)
• The group then decides to venture into the basement together. It’s dark and they go through a long tunnel, open a door, and see two humanoids gnawing bones. The creatures spring to attack...