1-on-1 Sessions: Expeditions in the last four years

Crew in the hospital: Admitted on January 15th - needs a week to attempt to remove the major wound (January 22nd)

Jan 19th, afternoon: Reading of Elias' will

• Takes place at Carlton Ramsey's Office
• Attendees: Carlton Ramsey, Willa Sligh, the investigators
• 124th and Lenox, Harlem
• Has handout Carlyle Papers America #3, Carlyle Papers America #5, Carlyle Papers America #10
  • #3: Matchbook from the Stumbling Tiger Bar—empty
  • #5: Business card: for Emerson Imports, printed on ordinary stock (Carlyle Papers America #5). Elias has written the name “Silas N’Kwane” on the back of the card.
• Events:
  • Ramsey fetches a bottle of good bootleg bourbon out of a cupboard and offers everyone a drink.
  • For all the sadness of the occasion, Ramsey is happy to have other friends of Elias around.
  • Ramsey mentions that Elias visited him the day before his death and updated his will.
  • Ramsey believed that he (Elias) was in fear of his life and wanted to make sure his affairs were in order should the worst happen.
  • Important points of the will:
    • Elias has given full power of attorney to Ramsey, who has complete authority to liquidate his assets.
    • Ramsey is instructed to use these assets to create and manage a fund.
    • Elias requests that any friends of his who attend the reading make use of this fund to continue his investigation of the Carlyle Expedition.
    • Ramsey will make disbursements from the fund to pay for travel, accommodation, living costs, equipment purchases, legal bills, and medical expenses. Participating investigators should make sure they acquire the necessary receipts and send them on to Ramsey in a timely fashion.
    • Ramsey is also to act as a central point of contact for those involved. If the investigators split into multiple groups, he will coordinate communications between them. He will also assist with recruitment if the investigators need to hire people with special skills or to bolster their numbers should any of them be unable to continue.
    • When he visited Ramsey the previous week, Elias also left a note to be read to the investigators in the event of his death (Carlyle Papers America #10)
  • Elias’ total value of assets $50,000 ($867,305 in today’s money)
  • Ramsey is not a fool and will not just hand over large sums of cash without the necessary receipts
  • He is also prepared to argue the point if he believes the investigators are frittering Elias’ money away on unnecessary expenses in their pursuit of the Carlyle Expedition.

Carlton Ramsey

• Ramsey speaks quickly, often appearing to lose track of what he is saying before he reaches the end of a sentence. His speech is punctuated with asides and digressions, some of which are complete non-sequiturs. Despite appearances, he has a sharp intellect and a sound knowledge of the law, and those who underestimate him because of his eccentric manner risk being caught off guard

1. (Nervously, eyes darting) "Jackson was the bee's knees, the real McCoy. It's a tough break, him being gone and all. I still can't wrap my noggin around it."
2. (Quickly, losing track mid-sentence) "Now, about that contract... Oh, did I tell you about the time Jackson and I went to that speakeasy? No? Well, anyway, the contract... or was it a telegram?"
3. (Defensively, touching his hair) "What? Oh, the hair? It's the latest style, see? All the big cheeses are doing it. Keeps the ol' dome looking sharp."
4. (Eagerly, fidgeting with a pen) "You flappers and sheiks need some dough for your travels? Jackson wanted his work to continue, and I'm here to make sure it does. Just let me know what you need."
5. (Suddenly serious, leaning in) "Don't let my jittery ways fool ya. When it comes to the law, I'm the cat's pajamas. Cross me, and you'll find out the hard way."
6. (Distractedly, looking around) "Jackson's notes? Oh, right! I've got a heap of them somewhere here. They might be the berries for your investigation."
7. (With a hint of sadness, sighing) "Every time I think of Jackson, it gives me the heebie-jeebies. We were thick as thieves, y'know? It's a real bum's rush, him not being around."
8. (Excitedly, waving a handout) "Found this in Jackson's stash. Thought it might tickle your fancy. He always had a nose for the big scoop."
9. (Stoically, looking directly at the investigators) "Jackson trusted me, and I won't let him down. If you're on his side, then you've got me in your corner, too."
10. (Frantically, shuffling papers) "Hold your horses! I've got that document here somewhere. Jackson always said I had a memory like a sieve, but I'll find it."

Remember, the key to roleplaying Ramsey effectively is to capture his nervous energy, quick speech, and occasional digressions. Despite his eccentricities, he's sharp and dedicated to honoring Jackson Elias' legacy

Willa Sligh

• neat, tidy, and resourceful, she has a sensible head on her shoulders for one her age, although (like her uncle) she can talk the hind legs off a donkey if given half the chance.

1. (Warmly, with a hint of sadness) "Uncle Jackson always had a tale to tell. He'd bring me the swankiest trinkets from his trips. It's the berries remembering those times."
2. (Confidently, straightening her jacket) "One day, I'll have my own joint, a legal firm that's the cat's meow. But for now, I'm here to learn from the best, my Uncle Ramsey."
3. (Slightly exasperated, looking down at her outfit) "I know this get-up ain't the latest rage, but Uncle Ramsey insists on it. Between you and me, I'd kill for a flapper dress."
4. (Eagerly, leaning in) "If you're looking for Uncle Ramsey, he's probably lost in a pile of papers. But I can help you out. What's the big idea?"
5. (Chatteringly, with enthusiasm) "Oh, speaking of contracts, did I tell you about the time I found a loophole that saved our client a bundle? It was quite the hoot!"
6. (Sincerely, looking directly at the investigators) "Uncle Jackson meant a lot to us. Whatever you need to get to the bottom of this, just whistle. We're on your side."
7. (With a playful smirk) "You think Uncle Ramsey talks a lot? Give me a cup of joe and watch me go!"
8. (Professionally, handing over a document) "Here's what you asked for. Everything's in order. If there's anything else, just let me know."
9. (Dreamily, looking into the distance) "Sometimes I dream of the big city lights, the jazz, the dances... but duty calls. Maybe one day I'll let loose."
10. (Reassuringly, placing a hand on the investigator's shoulder) "We'll get through this. Uncle Jackson wouldn't want us moping around. We've got work to do."

To roleplay Willa effectively, focus on her youthful energy, her professional aspirations, and the balance between her respect for tradition (as embodied by her uncle) and her own modern desires.

Prospero House

• Lexington Avenue and 35th
• Attendees: Jonah Kensington and the investigators.
• Kensington believes that the police theory of cult murder is correct; after all, Elias was always infatuated with blood cults.
• He also thinks that either some old enemies at last caught up with the courageous author, or else that Elias’ new project was even more important (and dangerous) than Elias himself had believed.
• Elias, he says, had been persuaded that a blood cult had massacred the Carlyle Expedition but that not all of the principals of the expedition had been killed.
• Has Carlyle Papers America #11, Carlyle Papers America #12, Carlyle Papers America #13, and copies of Carlyle Papers America #2, Carlyle Papers America #6, Carlyle Papers America #7
  • #2: Business card: for Edward Gavigan, elegantly engraved
  • #6: Typewritten letter: without envelope, from Miriam Atwright, a Harvard University librarian, addressed to Elias in care of his publishers (Carlyle Papers America #6).
    • Miss Atwright, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has helped Elias with past research. She can easily be found for an interview, called on the telephone, or written to in care of the university (Meeting Miriam Atwright, page 136).
  • #7: It is an ordinary handbill, to be posted publicly or passed out on the street, advertising Prof. Cowles’ guest lecture at New York University.
  • #11: The Elias correspondence file. The letter states clearly that members of the Carlyle Expedition may be alive and that Elias managed to dig up evidence contradicting the testimony admitted during the inquest and trial in Kenya.
  • #12: Evidence contradicting the testimony admitted during the inquest and trial in Kenya
• Elias then sent him a wire from Hong Kong to say his inquiries were proceeding nicely
• After that, Elias was not heard from until the middle of last month (December 16, 1924), when he wired from London.
  • Elias’ telegram was very excited and a bit crazy sounding. He said he’d been in London for a few days, where he’d dug up a lot of stuff. Elias said he’d seen unbelievable things and mentioned a plan or conspiracy of monstrous, worldwide proportions. He said that there was a timetable and that he needed to find the missing pieces—he mentioned needing to go to Australia—but wouldn’t or couldn’t explain more. The wire ended, saying that he would soon be in New York
• Elias took passage on a freighter, the Phalarope, the next morning.
• Elias then left more notes with Kensington, Carlyle Papers America #13:
  • They were so bewildering and fragmentary that the editor concluded that either Elias had gone over the edge and needed six months in a sanitarium, or else that the author so little trusted anyone that he’d hidden all the data in his head so that it would be undetectable.
  • Kensington is not eager to show these later notes to the investigators, because he believes that their strangeness reflects poorly on Elias’ sanity and upon his integrity as a writer, and potentially upon Prospero House.
  • Kensington may let someone who is not a writer or an editor see the material— since his embarrassment for Elias will be correspondingly less if the reader is not a peer—or if the investigators succeed at a Hard Charm, Fast Talk, or Persuade roll (against Psychology 75%)
  • Alternatively, the investigators might decide to break in and steal the notes (which are in the same Elias correspondence file); a simple matter in this unguarded building, where editors and authors come and go constantly, as well as working at odd hours.
  • The pages are folded and stitched together to form a small quarto volume of 40 pages. Frequently a page—or a dozen or more—are blank; sometimes a single word is repeated for several pages. Most entries are written with agitation and can barely be read. All the words, however, are clearly in Elias’ hand.

The New York Times

• 229 West 43rd Street
• Attending: Rebecca Shosenburg and investigators
• They are directed to the news department’s crime section and to Miss Shosenburg’s neat and orderly desk.
• About the ritualistic murders: