The beginning.
Philip goes to work, as usual. It’s raining, as usual. People are annoying, as usual. Nothing changes. Except when he gets back home: one of the doors in the hallway, one that is always closed, is now open. Just a bit. He cannot see inside, but he can see that the lock has been busted. That’s strange. Intrigued, he tries to push the door, softly.
Does it budge? Random Event (PC Positive) and No. I interpret it as a handyman opening it from inside.
It seems to be blocked by something. After a grumbling sound, a dirty worker opens the door, with a confused look.
What does he tell him he’s doing? Adversity Cold Friendship. Is the guy part of the building? Yes. How does the room look? Enthusiastically Simple. What is odd or creepy about it? Quarresolmely Abnormal.
He’s his neighbor, he lives in the 4th floor. This room seems to be a communal tool storage room. Another neighbor’s heater has broken down and this guy, Chester, is going to fix it. The room is completely empty and fairly clean, except for rows and rows of small tools, possibly more than a hundred, hanging on the wall. Surprisiginly, there are no toolboxes nor large tools. With his curiosity satisfied, Philip enters his flat, to rest. Jupiter greets him, as usual.
Now, I want things to start already, so… do they happen during the evening, at night or in the early morning? I roll 1d3: in the early morning. I use the Solo Investigator’s Handbook Dice Roll events: “Investigators harassed by suspicious cop, possibly related to mystery or just an asshole cop.”
At 5:30 AM, three loud knocks on his flat’s door wake him up. Groggily, he opens it, to find…
UNE: despondent superior.
A guy in his sixties, possibly, dressed hastily and with puffy eyes. He identifies himself as Leighton Francis, a captain or some kind of officer in the Police.
Has there been a crime? (Possibly): Random Event (PC Negative) and Exceptional No. What does he want? gift, carve, freeze, seize.
‘Would you please step aside, put your hands on the wall and let me search the apartment? I have been notified that a stolen antique has been seen in this building.’ ‘Well, most certainly not, agent, not at least without a warrant. Do you have one?’
debate, amaze, frustrate, frame.
The agent gets frustrated and threatens, subtly, to frame Philip with some crime in order to get one fast.
I will spend one of Philip’s stress to invoke my trouble, after all, he is not the first person to come to my home to threaten me. I have a camera.
Philip points to his back. Close to the ceiling, a red light signals that a camera is recording everything they say. The policeman storms out.
What a strange man. A stolen antique? Here?
He gets dressed and goes to work.
Is the door open? No. The lock is fixed again. Does anything strange happen at work? No. What happens when he gets home? Dice Roll. Random Event Table: “You find a bunch of notes, or they are mailed to you. What is the nature of them? Refer to random verb table for direction. They could be a few hastily-scrawled passages from a Mythos tome.”
When he comes back, he checks his mailbox. Apart from bills and some cheap flyers from restaurants, there is…
Calmly small
A small, cream-colored envelope, addressed to him, with his name handwritten with stylish penmanship. He opens it immediately.
tease, carry, rob, annihilate.
‘Mr. Rosencrantz, for your own good and the good of those that surround you, forget anything you saw inside the storage room.’ What the…? Okay, so in less than one day someone has tried to enter his home and now he’s been threatened. The room has something more to it. He goes upstairs, passing next to the door…
Is it open? No.
Even with the lock intact, walking by the door makes him feel uneasy now. At home, he ponders his options:
As always, this is not the game I had in mind, but an interesting one nonetheless, and I already have four different trails to follow! I’m dying to see how this goes.