CONTENT WARNING: Mentions of suicide.
Arrival
The group arrives at the train station in Damascus. Faisal helps the group to unload their luggage before driving his truck back to Beirut. The group, tired from their long travel and a bit disoriented, struggle to make plans. A few rather strange things happen, in rapid succession, before they are able to get their bearings.
The Beggar
Johnny and Vivian see a blind beggar across the train
station plaza. Though the beggar seems unable to see them, he approaches the
group with a single-minded determination and focus. He hands Johnny a small
piece of paper and then turns to depart, losing his focus and his seemingly
extrasensory perception. Johnny tests him briefly by shouting at him, but eventually
allows the beggar to lose himself in the crowd.
The paper seems to be the flyleaf torn from an old book. On it, in rapidly degrading handwriting, is a message asking for help. The group believes that it is a desperate message from Bryan Slim, who has recently won free from his possession by Carl Stanford. The group debates on whether or not they should help Slim.
Slim’s note states that “the drudge will know the way,” which is a phrase that the group finds both significant and puzzling.
Faram Tokamak
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| Faram Tokamak, Palm Tree Studios Liaison |
Dr. Black, and several others, note a well-dressed man in a
fez passing through the train station plaza. The man carries a sign under his
arm that reads, “Grant.” Assuming that the man is there for Liam, the group
calls him over.
The man, Faram, is delighted to meet the group and is indeed there to meet Liam and also Archie. He tells the group that he is the local representative of Palm Tree Studios and is an employee of Grant Winwood.
He explains that the picture’s filming has been halted, quite abruptly, due to the death of Eric von Varnstein, the director. Kane points out that the picture is technically, “almost finished,” since the sets are built, the costumes are sewn, and all the actors are present. Tokamak replies that von Varnstein is something of an auteur, and that there is no one else with the man’s persistence of vision to finish the project.
Tokamak says that he will take Archie and Liam to As Suwayda, where the other members of the cast and crew are currently residing. He promises to cut them both checks so that they can return home. Liam and Archie agree to this, and begin loading their things into Tokamak’s car.
The rest of the group, meanwhile, tries to get more information out of Tokamak. They learn from him that, according to the investigators from the French Foreign Legion, von Varnstein killed himself. The group suspects that, from Tokamak’s demeanor, that the man does not believe that this is the case. Dr. Black procures an area map from the train station and has Tokamak mark down where the film’s set is. It turns out it is in a canyon a short distance out into the desert from As Suwayda.
Judge Putnam offers the services of the London Group to Mr. Tokamak, explaining that they might be able to find out more information about von Varnstein’s death. Tokamak agrees to this and asks the group to come and see him in As Suwayda when they are settled. He exchanges contact information with the judge, gets in his car, and drives south back to the Palm Tree Studio regional office.
The Return of Ron Deluca
At about this moment, Dr. Black feels his ward collapse. As
a reminder, this ward was set up around a toolbox in Judge Putnam’s garage. The
toolbox contains Dr. Black’s medical bag, which itself contains the Dagger of
Nephrem-Ka. A few seconds later, the group hears “shave and a haircut” being
tapped out from inside the Gate box luggage.
The group shields the luggage from view and opens it, revealing Ron, who has a black eye for some (probably marital) reason. Ron quickly explains that he gave Vivian’s letter to her father once he returned from Cannich, and that Vincenzio Bernouse ordered him to go to Syria to protect Vivian. He decided that the Gate box was the quickest way to get to Vivian and, bingo bango, here he is.
The group asks Ron if he noticed anything amiss in the judge’s garage and ask if he saw if anyone broke into the toolbox and walked off with the Dagger. Ron denies seeing anything. Dr. Black travels by Gate box to the garage, where he finds that the lid of the toolbox has been pried open with a screwdriver, and that the contents of his doctor’s bag are strewn about. He repacks his bag and returns to Syria with it, explaining to the group that only the Dagger is missing from it.
The group is concerned.
Ron’s Letter
While the doctor is on his brief, Staten Island jaunt, Ron
realizes that he has a letter in his pocket that his wife had given him earlier
in the day. He opens it up and reads it. It is from Vito, who mentions that the
Cacciatore family in Boston and the Bernouse family in New York are no longer
allies. This is partially due to the enduring mystery of Mikey Angelo’s death,
but also due to some other factors.
Vito goes on to say that “Big Grin’s” family is trying to ally themselves with Cacciatore, and promises them a lot of cash and influence if they switch sides. This money is apparently going to come from a mysterious benefactor, once the benefactor’s assets have been unfrozen. Vito says that, with the Cacciatore family’s help, the Bianco family will unfreeze the assets, benefit their benefactor, and get paid.
Ron shares the letter with the rest of the group. Realizing that there is a mob war brewing, and that the Silver Twilight Lodge/Look to the Future is backing their enemies, they try to come up with a plan on the fly. They decide that Ron will go back to Staten Island, find Luca, and give him Vito’s letter so that he can pass the information on to Bernouse.
Ron hops back through the Gate box and does so, successfully, visiting Luca in his small apartment. During this conversation, Luca admits that he knows about the Gate box in the judge’s garage, and that he will try to leave updates and messages for the group inside of the box. Luca also notes Ron’s black eye, and tries to get him to promise to stay the hell away from Connie. Ron ignores him.
A Bit of Downtime
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| The Judge's New Car |
While Ron is back in Staten Island, the rest of the group
takes care of logistics and necessities in Syria. They check into the Tulipe
Dorée, a French-run hotel in Damascus with three floors that is built around
a central courtyard. The group all gets rooms on the third floor.
Johnny, Kane, and Judge Putnam decide to purchase vehicles for the group while they are in Syria. They are referred to a nearby used car lot run by a Syrian man with a great many children and a fairly weak grasp of English. The man has a Great War surplus truck available for purchase, which can hold the entire group (though not comfortably) and their gear. The judge also becomes quite taken with a 1924 Ansaldo (an Italian sports car) on the lot.
The group attempts to haggle down the price of both vehicles, or to at least get a few extra spare tires and petrol cans tossed in for free. The negotiations end abruptly when Judge Putnam produces the ten ounces of gold that he had purchased in Boston some time ago. The salesman is overjoyed to receive such a windfall and repeatedly shakes everyone’s hand and bows to them in a very thankful manner.
The salesman gives them everything that they want, tells them to come back again if they need repairs, and offers to drive the truck back to the Tulipe Dorée while Johnny drives the others back in the newly purchased Ansaldo.
Ron returns at about the same time as the others, and the group spends the rest of their evening recuperating, resting, and eating.
The Rebels Attack
The group is awakened in the middle of the night by the
sounds of gunfire and explosions on a nearby street. The hotel staff, who seems
fairly inured to the noise, instructs all guests to report to the courtyard
until the attacks cease.
The group learns that there are numerous rebel forces who are angry at French rule and who are attempting to throw off the yoke of their European oppressors. This leaves the Foreign Legion with no recourse except to meet violence with violence, and this sometimes erupts into gunfights and bombings. Judge Putnam discovers that such things happen, “perhaps once or twice a week.”
The hotel manager assures Judge Putnam that everything is going to be all right, however, and informs him and the rest of the group that they can speak to him about anything they need while they are in Damascus.
On their way back to their rooms after the attack, the group debates on whether or not they should hire a translator.
April 4, 1926
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| Turki Nazar, Translator |
Early on Sunday morning, Vivian goes down to the reception area of the hotel and avails herself of a copy of one of the English newspapers. She reads about the Druze, a local ethnic group that seems to be pushing the hardest against the French occupation of Syria. She learns that the Druze control a territory known as the “Jabal al Druze,” which includes As Suwayda and much of the area to the south of Damascus.
She also reads a small article about the death of von Varnstein—officially ruled a suicide—and that that the filming of his movie would be halted indefinitely.
Vivian returns to the rest of the group and shows off the newspaper. She, Johnny, and the others wonder if the “drudge” written in Slim’s note should actually be “Druze.”
Judge Putnam goes down to the reception desk himself and asks to hire a translator for the group. The manager already knows several, all of whom have been vetted by the French government, and that he will be sure to have the commandant’s office send over one of their best candidates shortly.
Shortly thereafter, the translator arrives at Judge Putnam’s room. His name is Turki Nazar, and he politely inquires as to whether or not the group would like to attend church, as it is a Sunday. Most of the group agree to this, and Turki arranges for them to attend services at a Syrian Orthodox Church.
Once church is over, the group splits up to perform various small tasks before continuing on with their investigations.
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