[NYC/FRIDAY] Thread for 19 December

[Jjason]

For those of you who've forgotten, like I did, we last heard about Anwell from the article we got at the NYC Party.
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WHO IS SAINT FENLINE?

"We remain convinced that this is the best defensive posture to adopt in order to minimize casualties when the Great Old Ones return from beyond the stars to eat our brains." - from The Concrete Jungle by Charles Stross

[Dante]

It's also worth noting that Peter told us that Anwell died in 2005.
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don't tempt the mayhem

[Dav Flamerock]

ERRATA: Before I have to bounce, I just had a chat with Johnny and learned two VITAL things:

ONE: Dr. Jakub U, aka eXu, introduced himself as such, chatted with the Sentries for a while, gave a whole long schpiel or whatever, and never identified himself as Anwell Barierascu. He is Jakub U, NOT Anwell.

TWO: Anwell Barierascu came from the letter that Jakub instructed the Sentries to give to a Chorazos agent whom they would meet at the Druid's pub. The contents of the letter are to come--while the letter was delivered properly (to the Sculptor, no less!), Bridget made a hand-copy and Johnny got a recording of Rowan reading the letter aloud.

This was an awesome day, guys. MAJOR props to those who braved the snow in the city, and let me say I had a blast speculating and discussing with Mapmaker, Ender/Unknownwarrior, and others. Hopefully we learn loads more when Rowan and Johnny post their stories, recordings, and video!

PS: I'm disturbed to discover that Johnny apparently was sending me pictures during the event. I never got them. I guess my new phone can't receive picture texts, even though it can send them
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~Dav Flamerock
"There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the only patient reader, for my aim is merely self-expression." ~H.P. Lovecraft

I think this means something, but it's going to take a little more digging. ~ Eddie Pope
(Smith, Tessla, GreenieXIII, Anaru, KyubiKiitsune)

[Deltachange]

Sorry I dropped out of the chat. I called back but it wouldn't take the access number. I really appreciate mapmaker and Dav's help with explaining the beginnings of this whole thing.


/threadjack
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"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so." Belva Davis

Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions. ~Edgar Cayce

"The ground is my ocean, I am the shark, and most people can't swim." ~Machado

[Johnny The Hack]

http://blip.tv/file/1596773

Download all 563MB.

EDIT: I seems to work better if you download it rather than stream it. When I tried, it started out saying 9 hours, but after about 10 minutes, it said only 20 minuted left.

EDIT part II: I've taken this down and put up two smaller videos that cut to the chase faster.:

http://blip.tv/file/1603449 - (Cylinder Handoff)
(When you hear "Not it! Not It!", that is Mr. Sunshine's response when they were trying to decide who got to take the cylinder and continue with the gatekeeper).

http://blip.tv/file/1603544 (Encounter with Exu/Jakob)

[Johnny The Hack]

More video: http://blip.tv/file/1597897

The the streaming is working much more smoothly this morning.

I didn't figure out until sometime after this that cell phones made Captain Mascara ill.

[Dante]

So, I know that our Sentries are still recovering from their grueling day o' running around, but here's hoping that eventually we will be able to reconstruct a semi-coherent account of the day's activities, because I know that I, for one, was very confused most of the time -- and I like understanding what was supposed to happen
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don't tempt the mayhem

[Johnny The Hack]

I was a little vague myself, at least up until the end.

Here's a "Just the facts, mam" recap. I'm sure Rowan will be able to provide more context:

Sentries arrive at "Eagles and Prey" to find Captain Mascara, Mr. Sunshine, the Pajama Connoisseur and Laughing Boy.

My first impression was that Bryce was chummy with Laughing boy, but I may have misinterpreted Bryce's wandering attention for friendliness.

Laughing Boy claimed to be a friend of Art's, but Art spent most of the day denying that he knew who he was. (I think Art sort of consented to knowing him as an agent of Forsythe, if only thru silence, later at the Shades of Green).

We walked over to a Starbucks where, Laughing Boy and the Connoisseur trailing behind. (During this walk I suffer some equipment failure). Rowan and the Capt. worked on a puzzle on a piece of telephone directory. We left while Laughing Boy was ordering a coffee and walked to Tavern on the Green to use the payphone so rowan could call in.

Taped to the bottom of the payphone was the first symbol. When proceeded by bus to a web camera on 49th & 7av to display said symbol.

We then, loosely based on sentry advice, went to the 42nd st. Library. In front of it, a fella' in a sky mask (whom I suspect, but am not sure, was The Gatekeeper) handed us a flyer.

Mr. Sunshine didn't want to have his bag, which contained the hot potato, checked by library security; the Capt. took him across 42nd st. to a Cossi, because there wasn't a Starbucks in our line of sight. (Did I mention that she really likes Starbucks? I was starting to wonder if she had a sponsorship deal).

Rowan notices the Connoisseur in front on the library. I spot Laughing Boy inside the library and have a little chat in which I learn that he has never played for the Washington Redskins. (He only explicitly stated that he was never their starting kicker, but I inferred from his tone that he didn't play for them at all).

The flyer leads Rowan to a book on the shelves in the reading room, in which we each leave a memory scribbled on a piece of paper.

We head back out followed by Laughing Boy. Rowan and Cathy go meet Mr. Sunshine and the Capt. while I play footsy with Laughing Boy. I follow him, then he follows me... I try to ambush him around a corner, but he never rounds the corner. I don't see him, so I stop by radio shack to replace a broken microphone.

Then I regroup with the others at the Cossi and we have lunch. Laughing Boy and the Pajama Connoisseur mysteriously wander in and out of the joint while we eat.

Another phone call near another webcam, a cab ride down to 81 Irving, a note leads to Shades of Green, Laughing Boy is waiting for us, & Bryce wanders in too.

Laughing Boy elbows his way into our booth and presents some vague arguments to dissuade us from our vague plan, because, and this is the kicker, if we do, he suggest something vague will happen.

I was actually kind of sympathetic. I kind of felt we were blustering along our current course for reasons that no one seemed able to articulate, but Laughing Boy (who declined to provide a moniker, hence Laughing Boy, although he never Laughed, but Grinning Boy doesn't roll off the tongue as well) seemed unwilling to articulate arguments to the contrary.

And so we blundered on. If it was just me, I might have taken a different course, but Rowan seemed to have a better grasp of what was going on. And, while I was a little concerned that her judgment might be colored by affection for the Capt, I wasn't knowledgeable enough to argue. I also wanted to see what was going to happen, regardless of the outcome, because the details might be critical for damage control.

The Connoisseur gave us a napkin with a symbol on it. We set off to Sheridan Square to show it to a webcam. I've already sent it to Mapmaker (or Dav, I don't remember), but Bryce was apparently coming with us now, and had wandered off, so it is decided to go anyway in hopes that he'll find us.

From Sheridan Square Rowan calls the outpost, which directs us to the statue of the doughboy, where we find a note that we muddle over because the handwriting is so bad. I'm thinking Salvation Army headquarters, because it says something about giving socks to needy strangers, and 14th st, which is where it is located, but the captain has a vision of a castle.

I suggest Beldvere Castle or the Cloisters. She seizes upon the cloisters, and we take a train up there where we are intercepted by a mysterious figure that calls himself "The Gatekeeper" (To which Rowan identifies herself as "The Keymaster").

See previously video for following events.

On the ride down to the Druids bar, BA transcribes the letter and Rowan Photographs it.

Caffeine break at another Starbucks. BA has a moment of despair. I resist the urge to take pictures of her crying.

At Druids, we find the Sculptor drinking a glass of red wine. He claims to be a courier for Spukhafte Fernwirkung. He seems genuinely surprised to see me and has almost forgotten about the canceled exhibition he invited me to just under a year ago. He takes the letter suggests we enjoy a drink, and excuses himself. We decline to have a drink, and go home.

The End.

[Unfictionrose]

thanks for this summary. You did a great job Johnny on making the videos and keeping us informed. Thanks for going along with BA, Rowan and Sifaka to help keep them safe.

Next time we get together, I'm buying you dinner.
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Servers aren't part of the collective unconscious. ~HPHack

DC had us give B.A. the finger. I don't think you can get much more explicit than that! ~Y2K

[Unknownwarrior33]

Good work, everyone, both in New York and in the conference call. I hope our little special edition of Providence Radio was helpful (yay for finals week).

[Jamescarson]

so why did Bryce take the shiny silver object and art ran home to his big brother and ohh drummer boy lead you to miss sexy psychic but where does that lead/take us?