Case of the Silver Tablet-A Joe Diamond Mystery

[Old Dwarf]

The Silver Tablet

Arkham,MA. Sept.23,1933-9:30AM

The Tick-Tock Club Bar

Joe,early in the day for you... what will it be?-say you ..you look like Hell!

Whiskey ,a bottle & hey I got an excuse for my looks,what's yours?

Rather testy tonight aren't we.Anything you want to tell your favorite Bartender?

Fred you would not not believe me if I told you it's too weird,just give me the damn bottle.

Look Joe that bottle isn't going solve whatever has you so spooked you need to get it off your chest.
I've been tending bar here for 15 years so I've heard a lot of weird stuff ,it's Arkham the
whole damn town is weird & most people just manage to ignore all the strangeness. The place is
dead this time of day so just tell me about whatever it is that's eating at you.

Maybe your right Fred ,just remember you asked for it.Well it all started normal enough, this guy had
lent a valuable item-some sort of Silver Tablet to a fellow employee & now she has disappeared along
with the Tablet.He's in a jam as the Tablet belongs to his employer & he was having an affair with
the woman he loaned it to so getting the police involved wasn't an option.Either scandal would ruin his
career.He hired me to get the Tablet back on the QT & fast even offered a bonus, as he could not keep
the fact the Tablet was missing from his employer for much longer. The guy says the woman is renting the old
Deptford Mansion about 4 miles out of Arkham so I drive out right away to have a look/see.I remember the place
when old Doc Deptford was alive he hired me for security at his daughters wedding.Guy was paranoid had me spend
the day in the Kitchen to make sure the catering service didn't steal the silverware.Even had me check out the
guests coat's once the maids put them in the Coat Room.

Here's where it starts to get weird,I'm nearly there when a dog jumps out in the road and I serve off the
road to avoid hitting it right into a shallow ditch. I get out cursing my luck & the dog when a man runs
over & thanks me for not hitting his dog & offers to help me push the car out of the ditch.He's thin but
stronger than he looks & we manage to manhandle my car back on to the road.It was hot work so I open
my flask & offer the man a drink which he refuses .I also offer him a dollar for helping but he also turns
that down.I feel that I owe the Guy so I tell him I'm just going a little ways up the road but I'll be glad
to give him a lift or that I'm just going to check out a house & if he wants to wait I'll be glad to give
him a ride back to Arkham on my way back.

He accepted the ride so we got in the car including the dog & started off .He told me his name was Pete
& the dog was Duke & that he was a drifter finding work where he could.I told him I was just a Gumshoe
going check on a house for my client & that ended the small talk.

When I pulled up in front of the Deptford Mansion I bid Pete & Duke a good journey but he said he recognize
that house from a dream & that's why he was in the area. There was an evil presence in that house that needed
to be exorcise & he needed to lay it to rest.

Now I'm thinking what the Hell am I going to do ?Pete seems sane enough & I can see he's dead serious & God
knows I've run into evil entities & related weirdness but my job isn't paying me to lay anything to rest.
Pete is obviously not going to walk away from this so I make it clear I'm looking for a Woman & a Silver
Tablet if he doesn't interfere with that he can come with me.

So we go up to the Front door I notice it wide open we go in there's like a weird Alter in the Mud room but
what really stands out is that as we go into the Mansion its been ransacked. Furniture is toppled over looks
like a tornado hit the place. We get to the Dining Room & at this point stealth be damned & I start calling
the woman,her name is Wolcott. Pete just says I can feel that she is here but so is something evil.Which makes
me reconsider my judgement on Pete's Sanity but then I notice Duke has his hackles up.Then comes the Sound of
shattering glass followed by a thud like something heavy fell over.Pete thinks it might one of the heavy pews
that we saw when we walked through the Chapel.

I start for the Chapel but as I head for the side Hallway power fails & the room goes dark.I make it to the doorway
but it's blocked by a cabinet that has been pushed in front of it.I push the cabinet aside & enter the Hallway.
Pete follows me & looks around the Hallway but finds nothing.Then we both hear footsteps in the Mud Room.

Ignoring the footsteps Pete & I move into the Chapel.The window is broken,bedsheets are tossed about ,blood is
everywhere & a feather pillow is caught in the broken window frame .Upon inspection Pete finds a small Brass Key.
Suddenly I'm pushed to the far end of the Chapel,I'm not liking this, there's some unseen force at work.

I figure something is trying to keep me away from something important so I run in the opposite direction back
into the side Hallway.Pete runs after me & goes to the Mudroom but finds it padlocked but he jimmies it & enters.
The Cultist he runs into Attacks him giving him a nasty wound.A 2nd Cultist appears & also Attacks but but misses.
The Mud Room then goes Dark.This seems to set off a chain reaction the smell of ozone fills the house & some
wires begin to fail,lights flare & I can hear bulbs popping back through the House.Pete is startled but stays focused .

I'm able to see from the light in the side Hallway a Cultist move by the Mud Room door & fire but with the tricky light
my bullets hit the floor in front of the Cultist.Pete attempts a flying kick on the other Cultist but misses & lands
hard stunning himself.One of the Cultist leaves the Mudroom & comes toward me in the side Hallway but hesitates
when he sees my guns..

I fire & wound the Cultist & Pete grapples with the Cultist in the Mud Room & takes him down.
He then looks around & finds a torch & comes back to the side Hallway.Suddenly a demonic howl fills the House,
Pete says"Something Evil is Here".

The Cultist in front of us however,demand our attention.I fire but miss.Pete punches the other Cultist & takes him out.
Noise in the Mud Room tells us another Cultist is on the way.

Pete & Duke then attacks a Cultist & wounds him.I Fire on the Cultist but trip & graze myself.We can hear another
Cultist enter the Mud Room & then the Cultist comes into the Side Hallway to attack,we both are filled with Horror.
The Cultist tries to catch Pete off guard by appearing submissive but Pete isn't fooled & laughs at the attempt.
The other Cultist also lunges at Pete but he pushes him off.

I riddled a Cultist with my bullets & this time don't miss & he goes down to stay.Pete headbutts the remaining Cultist
it hurts him but he wounds the Cultist.However,another Cultist is now in the Mud Room & the wounded Cultist begins a
strange incantation & I reconize & brace myself but still feel the Horror.

Pete eye gouges the remaining Cultist & takes him out.Suddenly the side Hallway is freed of Cultist.Pete moves to
the Dining Room it dark but with his Torch he sees his way in.I follow look around & find a vile of something called
Capsules of Tranquility.Behind me in the side Hallway the lights go out & on the far side of the house we hear
shambling sounds.

Pete moves into the Master Bedroom & sees a big locked Cabinet but notices the lock looks like the Brass Key he found
would fit.On a hunch he tries it & opens the cabinet inside is piles of papers .Rummaging through the clutter he finds
a silver key shaped like a snowflake on a chain .Oddly it's engraved word the word Storage.He yells out his find to me
& I tell him I think there is a Storage Room off the Kitchen.I head for the Kitchen to make sure but upon entering my
Luck ran out.In the corner was crouched a lean creature vaguely canine shaped creature.I kept it together but then some
force pushed me back into the Dining Room.

Pete came back to the Dining Room & I cleared my mind a fired through the door at the dog thing .I hit it dead center but
it didn't seem to effect it.Then the damn Thing snarled & came at us in Dining Room ,both Pete & I felt the Horror of it's presence.

I let the dog thing have some more hot lead but again it doesn't seem to effect it.Pete takes the opportunity to evade
the monster & slip into the Kitchen & goes to the Storage Room .It has a weird Runelock which Pete goes to work on.
I'm alone in the dark as Pete has the torch.Then we hear laughter & another one of those dog things materializes in the
corner of the Dining Room.

Pete gets the Storage Room door open & comes into the Dining Room waving a star shaped pendant & both of the Hounds are just sucked
out of the room.Pete then pushes a cabinet against the side Hallway door to make a barricade.I do a quick look around now that
I have some light & find a strange razor sharp dagger.But then one of damn Hounds returns & manages to squeeze through the
barricaded door we both recover from the shock .Then the Hound goes for Pete gnawing his shoulder doing damage & Pete yells
I'm Cursed.

I fire on the Hound but my hands are shaking & my shots go wild.Pete shows the Elder Sign & the Hound is again sucked out of
the room & Pete again puts the cabinet back in front of the side Hallway door.We're both out of ideas as to where to search next
but the only way out of the Dining Room is into the Master Bed so Pete heads toward it.Then a violent scratching on the Barricade
& it gives way & the Hound enters.Pete doesn't flinch but I'm rattled by the horror.The Monster screeches & my whole body trembles
I manage to fight off the full effect but I take a wound & it hurts deep inside me.More steps in the Mud Room which meant another
Cultist has arrived.

I gulp the contents of the vile promising Tranquilty & do feel better .I then Evade the Hound & make it to the Master Bed Room.
Pete also Evades the Hound & runs through the Master Bed Room into Dr.Wolcott's old operating room & is shocked by a couple of Zombies.
The Zombies however just stand there & don't attack.

Pete Evades them & goes for the Freezer Door at the end of the room.Its locked but he tries his Silver Key & it opens but it hold
only old coats & rats which Pete brushes aside & returns to the Master Bed room.We're stumped but then I think where did those
Coats come from the Freezer wasn't a logical place for them.I then guess maybe they were taken out of the Coat Room & that's
down the Hallway on the Right Side of the House.I tell Pete we'll have to go back to the Operating Room & get past the Zombies
to get to the Hallway.Just then a Terrible Scream cuts through the house & Pete says"Wolcott is dead the Hounds got her & the
Evil is gone".We hear thuds & look into the Operating Room to see the Zombies have collapsed & hear running footsteps from
as the Cultist were fleeing the house.

Pete tells me the house's Evil has been put to rest ,I still need the Silver Tablet so we go to the Coat Room .The door is
shattered & I notice on a table a square burned into it's top the size of the Silver Tablet my client had described. Pete
then tells me the Tablet was probably was etched with a Summoning Spell for the Hounds & was destroyed along with Wolcott.

Joe that is some story,what did you tell your client as you didn't get the Tablet.

Well Fred, when we left the house Pete said although the Evil was gone the house was a focal point for Cultist & needed
cleansed & took the Torch & threw back into the house.The old placed burned quickly.I offered Pete & Duke a ride back to
Arkham but Pete said he & Duke would be moving along.We shook hands & they left.

OK Joe but getting back to your client ,he must be pissed, no Tablet what's he gonna tell his employer.

That was easy Fred.I told him that the Wolcott woman was dead & the Tablet had been destroyed, so all he needed to do
was to report to the police that the Wolcott woman had stolen the Tablet.Both are gone forever so no one else knows
about the affair & his employer will lay the blame on Wolcott.He was mad about the Tablet being destroyed & said no bonus.
But then I reminded him that & no one else not knowing didn't include me.So he got real nice and gave me a nice bonus.

That's great Joe so I can expect you'll pay off your bar tab?

Dam Fred I said a nice bonus not a great bonus & oh my bottle is empty. Give me another & to show you my hearts in the right
place I'll pay cash.

[samuraitrev]

Great story, I read it in it's entirety. I like the writing style of switching between the bar to past events to relate the story.

[Old Dwarf]

Thanks Sam,it was a struggle.I had not played MoM for several years so I had to reread but not well enough)
the Rules & I decided to play an Expansion & thought the Silver Tablet fit in with Joe Diamond.

So I played a few turns had a question & went to BGG & discovered the Set Up rules were misprinted as to
what Cards went in what room.Iwas lucky the Investigators had not visited them yet so I just made the changes.
Then when I got to the very last phase of the final turn (that Scenario is timed via Event Cards) I realized I
had played the entire Game wrong as to the Keeper Cards.

I had been doing the Session Report as I went along so I had to delete the report up to Joe going into the
bar & start the entire Game & Session Report over.

OD