Haydrian Cindel

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

amen to that, sorry guys, had a weird week, had to get tested for the virus, etc etc. I'll have a new post up soon! I really like everyones work so far, the characters are really starting to fill out, and interactions are feeling good. Keep up the good work!

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

Ferd Smith

Ferd could see the tension in the lines of everyone's faces as he demanded identification. Well that wasn't exactly what he'd been going for. He'd wanted to take control of the situation, not inspire tension and distrust. What was with people these days? Mafia members he could understand getting itchy trigger fingers around authority figures, but why did both of these men look ready for a fight?

Val's comment about starting a freak circus nearly broke Ferd out of his character. Forget crime, the man should have been a comic with that mouth on him. Ferd felt a small amount of relief when Val more or less backed up his act. He'd been worried the man was going to ignore him completely.

Then the detective looking fellow spoke up. Ferd resisted the urge to nod in admiration of the man. He was showing a great deal of observational and diplomatic skill. On top of that, from the way he was keeping his cool in what had become a tense situation, it was clear he'd been in his fair share of tight spots. Ferd had to wonder where that experience came from. He didn't show the aggression most military men did, and as he'd observed earlier, criminals didn't take well to authority figures normally. Police service perhaps? Ferd was further intrigued when it became clear that he'd noticed that Val was carrying, and proceeded to make it known via several small non-threatening gestures that Val wasn't the only one with a pistol in his pocket.

Ah, and there it was. the comment about a police boxing match, and the lighter with the NYPD badge etched into it sealed the deal. Former police then, apparently turned private eye. Ferd shelved questions as to why for the time being.

He looked at the identification the man had produced. No letter. That was a small problem, without that the man could just be pretending he had a reason to be there so he could spy on whoever Harry had called upon. However the man clearly had no intentions of producing any further documents. To bad. Then the man warned them that if he were killed here there was a cop in Boston who'd make them very sorry. Ferd raised an eyebrow. What was WITH THESE GUYS? Did he really look that threatening. Then Ferd thought to look over at Val. Ah. He turned back to the street, deciding that between Val and himself the two men might have legitimate cause for concern. They didn't look particularly friendly, and unfortunately Val's appearance didn't lend any credence to Ferd's fabricated authority. Whoops.

The large man who was apparently named Ambrose Tull then spoke up, surprising Ferd with his educated speech patterns. Not often you ran into a giant, bimbo of a boxer who could count without using his hands, forget about sounding educated. Ferd couldn't keep himself from raising an eyebrow at the mans attempt to disrespect Ferd's false authority as politely as he could. Didn't deserve any ID? And an implication that he'd be willing to fight over it? Not the behavior he expected from common citizens, especially educated ones. Honestly, had it recently become standard practice for people to brawl with police over something as simple as a request to see some ID? Ferd did feel an involuntary shiver go down his spine at the sound of the umbrella creaking under the man's grip. Just how many poor inanimate objects had been tortured by those ham-fists? Ferd didn't envy any man who'd faced this boy in the ring.

Ferd stood silently, as the men finished speaking. Best not to give them the idea that their demands had any real power over him until he had a better idea who he was dealing with. Better to appear unfazed he'd thought. Now that they'd wrapped up and he knew that one used to be a some sort of professional boxer with a stubborn streak, and the other a gumshoe to match his appearance Ferd wasn't sure what to do next. Plus there were the guns to throw into the mix. Though Richard had been forthcoming, he'd also made his preparation for any kind of fight to go down more than clear. And Tull had basically just glared at Ferd and verbally spat all over his supposed authority. Now what? They both had asked for Harry and Jeremy, but neither had deigned to explain their reason for inquiring after them. Though it did strike him as odd that they would ask after Jeremy when anyone here about the letters should have known the man had been missing for quite some time. That was a tad unsettling. Then Val spoke up.

Ferd turned his head to look over the letters Val was going through. He felt a wave of relief roll over him. It appeared Val had found an envelope containing a list similar to the one Harry mentioned in his letter, along with papers describing Jeremy's relationship with each individual. So at the very least, men with names matching the ones just given by the two newcomers had likely been sent letters asking them to come. It did cross Ferd's mind that it was possible those letters had been intercepted, but he decided to shelve that for later as well. For now it seemed best to take the out and wait.

He let his body relax, and he put his hands back in his pocket, letting his relief spread across his face slowly. He glanced over at Val as he handed the letters to him and finished speaking, clearly concerned that the others might still want to fight. He choked back a smile at Val's attempt to seem non-threatening. It wasn't that it wasn't successful, it was just that Ferd was fairly certain he detected a degree of discomfort in the mans face, as though he wasn't accustomed to being the peacekeeper in a group.

Allowing his body to re-enter it's customary slouch, Ferd spoke to the two on edge men, "Sorry for the confusion there fellas, but you read the letter's Harry sent out." He shrugged with a small twinkle in his eye, "Can't be to careful. For all I knew you coulda been those shadowy blokes that did this to Jeremy's door, and assumedly the rest of the house." He looked at Richard and chuckled guiltily, taking his hands out of his pocket and shrugging. "As for a badge, I haven't got one. Not these days anyway." He reached into his pocket again and gently took out his wallet, showing his drivers license, and pulling his own letter out as well. "I do have these though. You can look em over if you want, after all turn about is fair play and all that." The inspection of his ID coming to an end Ferd turned and walked back into the house, pocketing all of the papers in his hands, and waving everybody in.

"Listen guys we've got a lot to talk about, and we might as well do it out of the rain." He stopped and turned, waiting for everyone. "The couches have gotten a bit moldy though, so I don't know if I'd recommend sitting in them." He kicked idly at some rotted wood on the floor, "Val and I will fill you in, though I don't think we know much more than you since we only got here about a minute or two before you. We haven't even figured out where Harry is yet." Or if he's even still breathing. Ferd thought to himself.

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

In related china movies also check out big trouble in little china. Has Kurt Russell, it's a good time.

@thegreenleafe

isn't that the one that's sort of a comedy? It's got mortal combat esq dudes runnin around and what not?

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

The date is April 14, 1925, a Wednesday.
Letters from Harry Everfield were posted on April 6, 1925, a Monday, and should have been received within a week of posting.
Old Jeremy Tarfelt went missing two years, three months, and five days ago. (Anyone who stops to do the math would know the date was January 1, 1923, a Monday.)

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

@ONL Dude I just can't figure out who Richard's pictures are of. I feel like I need to see whatever show/movie he's from. I could use a good detective film!
Haha yeah that's fair, I could see why Richard would resent that. I'm excited to see how those two play off each other.

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

Alright I made some minor edits, the posts should sound a little more coherent now!

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

@ONL Actually I was thinking he'd know Ferd by reputation only, not enough to recognize him on site. I'm open to them having actually met or something, but im ok with keeping it at a reputation level.
Haha it's great you say Ferd isn't an investigator cuz I do imagine that's how Richard would feel about him, even though the only thing that makes him not an investigator is that he only takes potentially paranormal cases (and is viewed as clinically insane by many) :'D ah poor Ferd. I doomed him a little when I based him off of Fox Mulder.

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

@ONL Actually I was gonna mention the same thing to you about Richards and Ferd. Since they both do detective work I wondered if one or both would have at least heard of each other.

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

Hopefully my post is coherent! I'm a little out of it right now, but I wanted to get it up quick, so I'll edit it later on when I can actually comprehend what I'm reading again. XD

The Rain In The Cycolpean City. (H.P. Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos Roleplay)

Ferd Smith

Ferd raised an eyebrow as the two newcomers nearly spoke over eachother. The large man, who Ferd could now see was balding, had answered first, but he had only barely finished when the other one spoke up. Ferd did a slight double take when he noticed the second mans appearance. If the term "gumshoe" could have taken on a life of it's own, then it would have looked like this man. He stifled back a laugh. True the man might not be a private eye, but it'd sure be a shame if he wasn't.
Ferd addressed both men, "No paint on the outside huh?" He tapped his foot for a moment, walking all the way out of the living room and leaning against the doorframe. "That sure is strange." He bit his lower lip, about to slip away into deep thought, when he remembered the newcomers had asked him some other questions, and that the detective looking one was still approaching the front door.
Ferd felt a sudden chill. He suddenly felt very aware of the crumbling house around him, remembering that the symbol in the window had to have been put there by someone, probably the same people who had somehow caused the inside of the house to undergo nearly a century of rot within a matter of days. His eye's darted back and forth between the two strange men standing outside the home. He realized he'd been assuming that they had been called here by Harry as well, and he'd nearly welcomed them in without a second thought. But what did he know about them? They could easily be responsible for whatever was going on here. They could be hostile. He felt a shiver go up his spine as without warning his mind began to imagine what men with the power to age a house by a hundred years could do to a human body.
He straitened up, putting his hands in his pockets. This was no time to be sloppy, sloppy men were dead men and he didn't plan on dying just yet. He called over his shoulder to Val, "Hey Val, come on down." Looking back at the strange men, he said louder, "We've got a situation." It crossed his mind that he wasn't really sure he could trust Val, but he figured that if Val was his enemy it would be better not to let the man know that Ferd was suspicious of him. Keep your friends close and enemies closer as the saying went.
Alright. He took a long shallow breath. Show time. With that he dropped into survival mode, his face and body losing all forms of expression, becoming blank slates for him to write on. What did he need right now? Should he appear naïve? No that left to many variables. Should he be forward and tell everyone his suspicions? No that could provoke a head on attack if they were hostile. No the best thing right now was to obtain as much control of the situation as he could.
His eyes became steely, his posture commanding, and his voice took on a tone of authority.
"I don't know who you two are, but you'd better not come any closer just now." If Val could be trusted, then Ferd knew if it came to a fight he could really use whatever firepower the man had with him. Hoping Val was on the stairs and was watching him by now he spread his hand wide behind his back and waved ever so slightly. He then used it to pat at his coat pocket, pretending he was looking for something. He hoped Val got the message. The last thing he wanted was for the man to come out guns blazing, so hopefully he understood that Ferd wanted him to have whatever gun he had at the ready. Just in case.
Turning his attention back to the strangers, Ferd used the hand he'd used to signal Val and jerked a thumb behind him, gesturing towards the stairs he hoped Val was descending. "My partner and I have a developing situation on our hands." Folding his arms he glared down at the both of them, "I'm sorry to say it but right now we are going to have to ask anyone we find nearby this house to produce some proof of identity, and a damn good reason for being here. " He paused for dramatic effect and raised an eyebrow, "We don't have enough information on this case to put anyone above suspicion."