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The Tall Man

2006-08-20T08:47:28Z

202.74.215.68:

[[image:tallman.jpg|right]]

A tall dark-haired man with sharp features is following the investigators. He made his first appearance after [[Dr Bartlett]] returned from Herefordshire.

First he turned up in Dr Bartlett's street, pretending to be a taxi driver, looking for the Doctor's house.

Then he appeared at Victoria barracks with a parcel for [[Captain George Withers]]. The parcel contained a house brick - and was apparently delivered purely to identify Withers' billet.

Thirdly he intercepted [[Andrew Saunders]] during a taxi ride and theatened the curator with violence if he and his friends didn't "forget all about this business'. He also said "You have no hope of stopping what these men intend, and any attempt will only result in pain." He stayed in the shadows throughout, so Saunders never got a good look at his face. Saunders reported this to the police.

Fourthly he accosted [[Nathaniel Browne]] in a bookshop and implied that he had killed [[Frederick Long]], which would appear to have required him to travel from [[Weobley]] to London in less than an hour. Browne reported this to the police and gave [[Detective Inspector Andrew Taylor]] a good identikit picture of his face.

The tall man is English, working class and apparently violent. He wears a long dark coat over a cheap suit, drives a non-descript black car (possibly a Morris) and has unkempt, greasy black hair.

In addition to these sightings, one of the suspects in the murder of [[Dr Lionel Trollope]] fits his description.

Due to information provided by [[Delia Hartston]], the Tall Man was tentatively identified as [[Coombes]], an associate of [[Lawrence Bacon]].

When [[Wilfred Gresty]] sent his second letter to the investigators hepromised to detain Coombes to prevent him from acting as a bodyguard to Bacon, and indeed when Bacon was encountered he called several times for Coombes before combat broke out.

Coombes was encountered again in the palace in [[Carcosa]], where he appeared to be using the corridors as his personal hunting ground, having killed at least one servant and pusuing [[Yolanda]]. He taunted the investigators, and at this point his identity was confirmed.

In the end, Coombes assaulted the investigators in the maze in the English Garden, which was the exit from Carcosa to the real world. There he stabbed and seriously injured Saunders, prior to a shotgun blast from Yolanda which may well have killed him. Unfortunately Saunders fell through the gate at this point, and his final fate is unknown.

The Tall Man

2006-08-20T08:45:49Z

202.74.215.68:

[[image:tallman.jpg|right]]

A tall dark-haired man with sharp features is following the investigators. He made his first appearance after [[Dr Bartlett]] returned from Herefordshire.

First he turned up in Dr Bartlett's street, pretending to be a taxi driver, looking for the Doctor's house.

Then he appeared at Victoria barracks with a parcel for [[Captain George Withers]]. The parcel contained a house brick - and was apparently delivered purely to identify Withers' billet.

Thirdly he intercepted [[Andrew Saunders]] during a taxi ride and theatened the curator with violence if he and his friends didn't "forget all about this business'. He also said "You have no hope of stopping what these men intend, and any attempt will only result in pain." He stayed in the shadows throughout, so Saunders never got a good look at his face. Saunders reported this to the police.

Fourthly he accosted [[Nathaniel Browne]] in a bookshop and implied that he had killed [[Frederick Long]], which would appear to have required him to travel from [[Weobley]] to London in less than an hour. Browne reported this to the police and gave [[Detective Inspector Andrew Taylor]] a good identikit picture of his face.

The tall man is English, working class and apparently violent. He wears a long dark coat over a cheap suit, drives a non-descript black car (possibly a Morris) and has unkempt, greasy black hair.

In addition to these sightings, one of the suspects in the murder of [[Dr Lionel Trollope]] fits his description.

Due to information provided by [[Delia Hartston]], the Tall Man was tentatively identified as [[Coombes]], an associate of [[Lawrence Bacon]].

When [[Wilfred Gresty]] sent his second letter to the investigators hepromised to detain Coombes to prevent him from acting as a bodyguard to Bacon, and indeed when Bacon was encountered he called several times for Coombes before combat broke out.

Coombes was encountered again in the palace in Carcosa, where he appeared to be using the corridors as his personal hunting ground, having killed at lkeast one servant and pusuing [[Yolanda]]. He taunted the investiators, and at this point hisn identity was confirmed.

In the end, Coombes assaulted the investigators in the maze in the English Garden, which was the exit from Carcosa to the real world. there he stabbed and seriously injured Saunders, prior to a shotgun blast from Yolanda which may well have killed him. Unfortunately Saunders fell through the gate at this point, and his final fate is unknown.

Session 9

2006-08-19T21:04:12Z

202.74.215.68: /* December 1928 */

==Session Report - Played Monday 7th August, 2006==

''(During this session, almost the entirety of the year 1929 passed by. This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929 link] contains detailed coverage of the news and cultural events of that year)''

=== December 1928 ===

Inverness, the morning after. [[Bartlett]] is hospitalised and sedated, his wife hurries to be by his side. [[Saunders]], though critically hurt, is conscious, and Jennifer and the rest of his family flock to his side.

Meanwhile, [[Browne]] and [[Withers]]. More or less intact, use their experience of such things to spin a tale to the Scottish police which convinces them that their attacker was [[Alexander Roby]], who killed [[Edwards]] with some kind of acid then stabbed [[Saunders]] before fleeing. Though there are many holes in the story, its the best the police have, and the investigators are released.

Local newspapers report the [http://www.artistmonkey.com/Downloads/19_Newspaper_Article_on_Events_in_the_Highlands.pdf deaths of a number of villagers] in Cannich on the night that Carcosa vanished

On the 14th, Browne returns to London, where his is inspired to start turning his exoperiences into short stories. He is joined a couple of days later by Withers. They still want to find [[Malcolm Quarrie]] and [[Wilfred Gresty]].

[[Browne]] sends a letter, by hand, to 'Occult Magazine', offering a book of [[Bacon]]'s to the author of the dead occultist's obituary. The next day he recieves a call from a man claiming to be the writer, and an invitation to meet that evening by [http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/east_karl_marx_tomb.jpg Karl Marx's Tomb] in Highgate Cemetary.

Browne arrives early, and Withers hides behind a nearby gravestone. It is a chill evening. A middle-aged man arrives and introduces himself, though Browne instantly recognises [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley Aleister Crowley], the self-styled 'wickedest man alive".

Crowley thought little of Bacon, and is disappointed that the book on offer is merely a copy of '[[Le Roi en Jeune]]', but he's much more interested in [[Edwards]] and [[Malcolm Quarrie]] and attempts to trade for information. He reveals that Quarrie went to Italy to seek 'Il Fratelli di Signo Giallo' ([[the Brothers of the Yellow Sign]]), a society which performs a version of '[[The King in Yellow]]' annually.

Shortly after this, Browne realises Crowley is attempting to use Mesmerism, or some other form of mental domination on him. When Crowley realises his attempts have failed he says that he must leave, but invites browne to a party he is holding the next week. As he leaves the cemetary, Crowley tells Withers 'you can come out now'.

Browne goes to the party - from which Crowley is sadly absent, and learns many things about the appetites of the rich and bored. He bathes in sin for a few hours, and returns to write more stories.

Over the next week or so, in the run up the Christmas, Withers is busy with duty and Browne with writing, so no further leads are uncovered.

Bartlett wakes from his induced coma, screaming about 'the eyes', and has a nervous breakdown.

Christmas comes. Bartlett is under sedation, Browne at his niece's, Withers is at the Windsor castle celebrations, with the King himself present, and Saunders, though hospitalised, has a family Christmas as far as is possible.

On Hogmanay, Saunders is spirited out of the hospital by his cousin and has so much fun he sets his recovery back by a month.

1928 ends.

===January 1929===

[[Browne]] finishes his book of short stories and submits them to his publisher. With [[Withers]] he visits Tewkesbury, but can trace no living relative of [[Malcolm Quarrie]].

All leads reach dead ends.

===February 1929===

[[Saunders]] is released from hosptal, returns to london and dines with his friends. [[Browne]] is delighted to reveal that his book is to be published!

Withers and [[Delia Hartston]] drift ever closer, still kept apart by social convention.

[[Bartlett]], physically mended (though badly scarred) is transferred to a private hospital in London, and his friends visit him. He starts therapy for his mental injuries.

Saunders returns to work.

===March 1929===

The Hyades dip below the horizon and with that the influence of [[Hastur]] stops dead. The dreams stop - those artists, like [[Browne]] filled with inspiration based on the Carcosa mythos feel themselves bereft of ideas - though slowly their sane, everyday muses return.

The long cold winter ends.

Browne's book is published, and sells in truckloads to all those whose dreams of Carcosa have just left them. He is a great success, and starts to enjoy this new experience.

[[Bartlett]] is released to the care of his wife. A combination of medication and psychotheraspy is slowly returning him to mental health.

===April 1929===

Spring is in full bloom, and, in the absence of further leads, the investiagtors forget about [[Malcolm Quarrie]] and [[Wilfred Gresty]] and enjoy their lives.

===May 1929===

There is talk of a US publication for [[Browne]]'s stories.

===June thru November 1929===

The events of the previous year sink ever further into memory, and the investigators meet less frequently. All seems right with the world until the middle of the month.

On the 17th, the Hyades rise, and the dreams return with a vengance. Both [[Browne]] and [[Saunders]] find their dreams of the previous year extended to dark, disturbing conclusions. Once more [[the Yellow Sign]] and [[the King in Yellow]] start to appear in graffiti, art and whispered rumour.

On October 29th, the American Stock Market crashes dramatically. It seems to mark the end of the good times.

The investigators meet and decide to start looking for clues all over again, but November is a frustrating, fruitless time.

===December 13th 1929===

Suddenly, a breakthrough. The papers [http://www.artistmonkey.com/Downloads/20_Newspaper_Article_on_Grestys_Arrest.pdf report] the arrest of a '[[Wilfred Gresty]]' for an assault on a priest in a London Church, and reveal the location and time of his appearance before the magistate, later that very day.

At long last, the game is, once more, afoot!