Timeline of the Ripper Investigations

1888

February 6
Death of Sir Arthur Pellew while in court of a heart attack. He was trying the case of a mother who abandoned her baby, and had just sentenced her when he died. Upon hearing the news, his daughter Georgina is reported to have gone into hysterics, laughing uncontrollably.
Sat, Feb 25
Anne Millwood is attacked by a man who she does not know, who stabbed her repeatedly in the legs and lower region with a clasp knife he took from his pocket. She was the only witness. She was released 3/21/88, but died ten days later.
March 7
The Prince of Gwalior arrives in London with a large entourage (many of whom turn out to be involved in the ``servants'' of the Goddess).
March 20
The Isis-Urania temple of the Golden Dawn is opened.
Wed, Mar 28
Ada Wilson is threatened at the door of her home by a stranger, who demanded money and upon her refusal drew a clasp knife from his pocket and stabbed her twice in the throat. Her screams drew help, and she was sent to London hospital, to be released 4/27/88.
Tue, Apr 3
Emma Elizabeth Smith (a prostitute age 45) returns to her lodging house in Spitalfields brutally assaulted: her right ear nearly torn off, and a blunt instrument inserted into her reproductive tract. She died the following day in London Hospital.
April 4
Death of Mrs. Angelica Whitby, daughter of Sir Arthur's wife's brother. She died while in the guest bedroom of Sir Arthur's home, with her body mysteriously chewed even though the room was locked. The grisly murder was blamed on the dog, clearly a thin pretense.
April 26
John Keating's manor in the shires burns to the ground, destroying his library and researches. He suffered a nervous collapse, and continues to act erratically. His brother Paul placed him under supervision in a London house near Russell Square, Bloomsbury.
July 12
An unidentified female torso with head and limbs cut off is recovered from the Thames - time of death unknown.
Tue, Aug 7, between 2 and 4AM
Martha Tabram (a prostitute, age 39) killed on the stairwell of George Yard Buildings, Spitalfields. There were at least 22 stab wounds in the torso. Dr. Killeen states that perhaps the wounds were not all caused by the same knife.
Fri, Aug 31
Polly Nichols killed in Buck's Row alley, Whitechapel. Her throat was cut, her stomach cut open, and her private parts stabbed twice. This date was marked in Merriweather journal.
September 3
Lord Melbury's notes for the Luxor Brethren read: ``I see what Hawksmoor's plan is now. I must keep it from them.'' (after Museum reading room).
Sat, Sep 8, between 2 and 6AM
Anne Chapman is killed at Hanbury St. yard in Spitalfields. She was found lying on her back, her face bruised, her throat cut, and her torso sickeningly disemboweled. Several belongings were carefully arranged at her feet. This date was also marked in Merriweather's journal.
Sun, Sep 29
The Double Event: Elizabeth Stride's throat slashed at Berner St. around 12:45AM, and Catherine Eddowes disembowelled at Mitre Square around 1:35AM. The Ripper escapes with the police close behind, but he dodges out of their jurisdiction by leaving the City lines. This date also marked in Merriweather's journal.
Mon, Sep 30
A letter to the Central News Agency is found, postmarked before news of the double event had gotten out. It read:
I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip. You'll hear about Saucy Jack's work tomorrow. Double event this time. Number one squealed a bit. Couldn't finish straight off. Had not time to get ears for police. Thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.
      JACK THE RIPPER
Wed, Oct 3
The headless and limbless torso of a woman is found dumped in a vault soon to become a section of the cellar of New Scotland Yard.
Mon, October 8
The Osiris temple of the Golden Dawn is opened in Weston-super-Mare by B. Cox. Two days later, the Horus temple is opened in Bradford by T.H. Pattinson.
Wed, Oct 10
Insp. Grimmond is given the journal of Rupert Merriweather by Sir Arthur Holmgood at the British Museum. It contains entries with the dates of several Ripper killings. His materials have been in storage at the British Museum approximately four months (last journal entry June 4).
Fri, Oct 12
The Eddowes hearing concludes.
Sat, Oct 13
Expedition to Limehouse to trace down Merriweather. The company (Insp. Grimmond and his civilian allies) find Merriweather's boarding house and his landladies, Florence and Prunella Herbert. The company agree to attend a seance with the ladies in the evening, to contact the pharoah Sekefer-en-Ra. The seance concludes with their capture (knocked unconcious) and imprisonment in an underground dungeon.
There they eventually escape through a reproduction of the inside of a pyramid, in the process killing Flo and Pru, as well as finding the embalmed body of (presumably) Merriweather along with many others.
Mon, Oct 15
Return to Limehouse to find the Herbert house burnt to the ground, apparently by arson. Grimmond sets about digging into the pyramid to search, but progress is slow.
Wed, Oct 17
Identify binder of Merriweather's Egyptology book (by Champollion), found in his apartment. The book was bound by Erasmus Clive in April 1873.
Thu, Oct 18
The ``From Hell'' letter by the Jack the Ripper reaches the press. It was posted to George Lusk of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, and was enclosed within a small parcel containing part of a kidney. It read (including mispellings):
From Hell
Mr. Lusk
  Sir I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman prasarved it for you tother piece I freid and ate it was very nise I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer
signed     Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk
Fri, Oct 19
Identify possible original recipients of the Champollion book on Egyptology: the Pellew family of Kensington, an Oxford student named Featherstoneshaugh, or an Oxford student named Forbes-Hamilton.
Mon, Oct 22
Stumble upon the Pellew murder in the course of tracking down the Champollion book. Simon Pellew and Mrs. Prunella Agar Pellew are found dead the morning after their wedding night, just as Grimmond arrives to ask about the book.
Night of Wed, Oct 24
Stay as a company at the Pellew house, and experience hallucinations - upon breaking free of the trance, the company search the attic and eventually discover the mummified corpses of newborns in a locked cabinet.
Thu, Oct 25
Grimmond confronts Georgina Pellew with the evidence of the corpses. She suffers a nervous collapse. While the exact line of evidence is unclear, the Pellew investigation is concluded.
Sun, Oct 28
John Keating and his children disappear.
Wed, Oct 31
On their second visit to the Keating household, the company hallucinates a journey through the children's boardgame, ending in the recovery of the Keating children, Simon and Katherine. John Keating and the governess remain comatose while the children are in shock.
Fri, Nov 2
Start the investigation into the ``river torsos'' talking to Constable Snow.
Tue, Nov 6
Identify Mina Bergson as a possible suspect in the theft of a murderer's skull, which Hayward feels is linked to the ``Limehouse Golem''.

Wed, Nov 7
Grimmond's company begin to spread rumors and information linking Hayward, Edwards, and Stringham to the creation of a golem. This is primarily within Masonic circles.
Fri, Nov 9
Mary Kelly is killed around 2 or 3AM in her home in Miller's Court, Spitalfields. The circumstances of her death are truly unspeakable.
That evening, the company receives a note from Hawksquill identifying them and asking to meet, and Edwards receives an invitation from the Golden Dawn.
Mon, Nov 12
The company wander through Limehouse, armed, in search of the golem. They are threatened by a monstrous two-headed creature, which Edwards shoots and kills.
Tue, Nov 13
Stringham conducts an autopsy of the two-headed creature, which reveals it to be a hermaphrodite, with a woman's head grafted on. Both heads have a strange lens-tube attached to the forehead, and the surgical scars seems to have entirely healed away. There is evidence of glassware in the chest cavity which was broken by the killing shot.
Thur, Nov 15
Interview with Dr. Fotheringhay Phipps in London Hospital reveals that a large hermaphrodite in his ward was entrusted to Dr. Lorentz's care.
Thur, Nov 15
Dr. Stringham visits his former mentor Lorentz and is let in on the secret of his experiments. When the company arrive, Dr. Lorentz flees, falling into an underground river from the sub-basement and is lost track of.
Sat, Nov 17
Edwards is delivered a message from a ``Dr. Lo'' by a young urchin at the Explorer's Club, who subsequently explodes releasing several large African bloodworms.
Sun, Nov 18
Murder of Sir Simon Hamilton in his home. He fell or jumped out of a window, with odd marks upon his face (including a swelling of his lip as if by poison). No evidence was found for entry upon the roof or within the room. A lady journalist, Miss Violet Woodhull, begins to trail the party, in search of an interesting mystical angle on the death of Sir Simon.
Fri, Nov 23
The delivery of the casket to the British Museum, which would in two days kill Sir Arthur.
Sat, Nov 24
Murder of Sir Arthur Holmgood between 10:45 and 11:14 AM, found by his assistant and moments later by Constable Cheesewright. His death appears the result of chlorine which was inserted into an Egyptian casket shortly prior to delivery. Miss Woodhull joins the company over Edwards' and Grimmond's protests.
Sun, Nov 25
The murder of Lord Melbury. He appears to have died by poison, his face showing a kiss-shaped mark, perhaps the bite of a very large insect. His last words, according to his butler, were something like ``ziot...the red hand''. ``Zayat'' is a large red insect found in Tamul, southern India. The remainder may be ``the red ant''.
His murder is undoubtedly related to the clockwork Chinamen who surrounded his home during the time of the murder.

Mon, Nov 26
Grimmond makes a second expedition to Dr. Lo's shop in the East End. He breaks in and beats Dr. Lo (who subsequently dies), but finds no evidence as to the whereabouts of Fu Manchu.
Tue, Nov 27
Grimmond and Stringham are captured by Fu Manchu. Violet, Hayward, and Edwards are called by Lady Hawksquill and sent to rescue them. They go into a shadow Limehouse by following Hawksquill's instructions, and rescue them.
Wed, Nov 28
Grimmond, whose legs were chewed thin by rats, convalesces under Stringham's care. He turns over the notes of Sir Simon to the company, who over the next two days discover in them the Eye of Horus pattern of Hawksmoore's churches.
Sat, Dec 1
The London flat of Viscount Botevant is intruded upon by a man looking for books in Botevant's collection. He is driven off but not caught.
The company consult with Botevant on this. During this time, Hayward acts very strange, almost possessed, holding the knife dropped by the intruder to Violet's throat. Later, at a tea party for the Society for the Education of Women (SEW), Violet Woodhull is threatened by a strange voice from the possessed Amelia Edwards, demanding from her Grimmond's notes.
Sun, Dec 2
Sir Simon's will is executed, with Sarah and Edwards in attendance. Edwards is left in charge of a bank deposit box intended for Lord Melbury. Upon exiting, he is accosted by a fellow demanding Grimmond's notes (who turns out to be M. Druitt). He overpowers the fellow who escapes, leaving his jacket, which has a list of Featherstoneshaugh's books and an address. The company forthwith visit the address, which turns out to be the home of Botevant.
Mon, Dec 3
The company stay at Botevant's for a time. Edwards goes out twice: to the bank to retrieve the box meant for Melbury, and home to retrieve the notes, where he captures Druitt (who escapes, cutting Stringham's neck).
Tue, Dec 4
In early morning, the company prepare to leave to find James Kenneth Stephen in Cambridge (the author of one of the books), but they spot M. Druitt hiding and give chase. The chase leads them past Hawksmoor's St. George's-in-the-East church into Nether London, which they only narrowly escape, with the help of Druitt and an odd compass.
Wed, Dec 5
In the morning, Grimmond and company leave London, disabling Hawksquill's carriage and slipping off on their own, switching trains to discourage pursuit.
Fri, Dec 7
Arrive in Scotland at Hayward's home, to be greeted by his student, Tillie, and his elderly housekeeper.
Sun, Dec 9
Over the next six nights, guests begin having identical dreams: a voice on the moor warning ``Keep away from the Trod''.
Fri, Dec 14
In following the sleepwalking Tillie, the company walk the Trod and over the next two days they are hounded by the Selena (the Morrigan), her standing stone trolls- the Mara; and their crows and hounds. A farmer and a mysterious stranger named Hob help them.
Hob and the company surge charge to reach the cross, while Hayward and Grimmond stay behind. Grimmond later reports that Hayward was slain by the hounds, although no evidence of his body is found.
Sat, Dec 15
After staying in a magically protected island, the company awake and make a run for the cross. There they reach it and are protected, but Hob dies defending them. All evidence of the occurences disappears except for the standing stones now on the field next to from the cross.
Sun, Dec 23
Hayward's funeral. Tillie seems permanently mad. Edwards and Miss Woodhull pay for her to be put in the care of a nerve specialist, Dr. Baines.
During this time, Grimmond collects Hayward's notes as evidence and takes his leave of the party.
Thurs, Dec 26
Having contacted Hawksquill by telegram, the company return to London carefully, being met by underlings of the mysterious Mr. Eck. They are spirited away to Hawksquill's house, where [...].

1889

Mon, Dec 31
Edwards receives by post a letter from the expert hired by Grimmond to reconstruct Lorentz's notes which were damaged during the break-in. Searching through these, a list of his patients are found, who seem to correspond to the ``Afterlife Club'' which he mentioned.
Wed, Jan 2
The company break into the funeral home responsible for the burial of all of the Afterlife Club members.
Fri, Jan 4
Clandestine meeting with the embalmer responsible for all of the Afterlife Club burials. The party, in an attempt at disguise, wears the robes and masks that Hayward wanted them to wear for his ``R.O.T.A.'' ritual. Announcing themselves as ``The Chamber'', they interrogate the embalmer, who it seems has buried the bodies without clothing or embalming them -- but admits to no other wrongdoing.
Jan ?
The company break into the grave of Sir Philip Ashcroft, believed to be a member of the Afterlife Club. In the mausoleum, we find a decomposed body, which Stringham believes may not be Sir Philip. However, due to the hermetically sealed casket, the body is quite decayed and he cannot say for sure. The following morning's papers are full of the supposed graverobbing incident.
Jan ?
Talk to Sir Philip's family regarding the incident. None of his relatives bore much grief. His ownership of several distasteful ``hotels'' (i.e. brothels) near St. Mary Wolnoth is mentioned.
Jan ?
Eck's men stake out the graveyard of General Sir David Knightley. Paper investigation into the backgrounds of suspected Afterlife Club members discovered that he was wounded while in India, which would make his wounds distinctive. While hired thugs break into the graveyard (hired by the ``Chamber''), more trusted agents keep watch over this. A carriage is sighted, which disappears instantly, but was reported by the cab company to have a crippled doctor and a large man.
Jan ?
Break into Monument station to investigate the dig there. Find the excavation abandoned and, deep within, a marble hallway, temple-like, leading to a furnished room with a blind violinist and company. The company is forced back from the hallway by an electro-magnetic barrier in the aether. Rook is shocked by this, and babbles of Cairo. Another jolt releases a horde of rats which chase the party away.
Jan ? (next day)
Break into a hotel near Monument Station (owned by the late Sir Philip Ashcroft). After holding the madam at gunpoint, break into a dumbwaiter which leads down into the Afterlife Club. There find a large circular set of chambers, with a central room containing a man on wheel. Living statues and robotic child (``Biscuit?'') inhabit these. Susannah had been expecting someone named Caroline. ``It's the Egyptian, Susannah.''
The company talk with Susannah, who shows us a vision in a seeing stone: a hospital ward, seeing inside people to disease, corruption, decay. She says, ``The Beast concerns all of us... we are concerned that you have stirred him up. .. there is a balance between, a tension between two poles. You can assist on one side or the other.'' Hilda Stein, The White Lady, she says is confined to the place where she spent her adult life.
An old man then comes through a curtain, saying ``Susannah, the Conclave is not agreed.'' She replies, ``Maker, I am no longer subject to the Conclave.'' He continues: ``We will destroy you.'' The company are threatened and attacked by the old man, called Maker, and a butler with an extra set of roach-like arms, and a giant toad-thing with the pleading faces of children in place of warts.
Hawksquill psychically disrupts the wheel, while Rook (at the instruction of the violinist) places a bar in the mechanism of the turning central chamber. This causes a seeming earthquake, and Susannah gestures the party out along the hall. Though pulled, she cannot be forced through the mystic portal at the end of the hall. As it closes, Major Rook asks her: ``Where is the heart of the Black King?'' Susannah answers: ``Paradise Lost,'' just before the club is apparently destroyed. Two Tarot cards appear on the wall which was once the hall that lead to the club: The Wheel (10) and The Arisen (20).
Jan ?
Miss Woodhull receives letter, ostensibly from Jack the Ripper, threatening her and her friends: Polly Bayldon, Anne Raeburn, Martha McNeill, Elizabeth Willette, Sarah Catherine Hamilton, and Violet ``Mary'' Woodhull. Oddly, Violet's middle name is not Mary; it is Tennessee, after her mother's sister.
Sat, Jan 19, 2-3 a.m.
Andrew Clark killed in the East End. He was a sailor.
Sun, Jan. 20
Paolo Rodriguez, a fruit seller, murdered in the East End, in Essex Street. He was found clutching some strands of brown hair, 17 inches long, and a spool of thread was found near the body. As a result, the papers begin to clamor about ``Jill the Ripper.''
Tue, Jan. 22
Thomas Vernon, sailor, murdered in the East End, Chicksand St. Stringham talks with Dr. Joseph Lister, fellow researcher into anti-sepsis and the use of carbolic acid, establishing that Lorenz is alive despite his fall into the sewers.
Wed, Jan. 23
Major Rook questions Dr. Fotheringay-Phipps of London Hospital about Dr. Lorenz, who claims to know nothing about his disappearence.
A number of intruiguing articles appear in the Times; the British Museum acquires an important Jewish artifact, a breastplate with twenty-one gems in a diamond pattern, each stone bearing a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Also, digging for the Underground near Ludgate have revealed ancient Roman ruins, which will be excavated under the direction of Sir Hilary Atwood.
Thu, Jan 24
Hawksquill posts an unwieldy package to Lorenz, so that it can be used to track the nefarious doctor to his lair.
Fri. Jan 25
Stringham continutes to attend East End murder inquests. Violet investigates insane asylums in search of Polly Bayldon. Edwards calls on Amelia Hamilton, intending to call off his engagement to Sarah, but can't quite bring himself to do it.
Sat. Jan 26
Dr. Phipps passes the package for Dr. Lorenz to a carriage - license unreadable. Stringham gets reply from a Doctor in Germany about a nervous disorder specialist Lorenz worked with in 1877 - Dr. Konrad von Draffen, at the Sturnsbad prison for the criminally insane. Age: 64. Small, balding, gold pince-nez.
Mon, Jan. 28
Coroner (Sir Stephen Partington-White) requests Stringham's assistance. Dr. Rafen's grisly testimony disturbs Sir Stephen. Public spectacle. Stringham attends autopsies of East End murders. He notices that the murder wounds exhibit faint, but unmistakeable signs that they were inflicted by an aseptic scalpel. Edwards recieves letter from Jack the Ripper.
Tues, Jan 29
Hawksquill sends warning from a fictional Vigilance Committee to Violet's friends. Sarah tells Edwards that Polly Baylden is in the care of a Dr. von Draffen. Vigilante mobs in the East End lynch a midwife. The east end is full of fear and fog.
A cab with mail for Dr. Lorenz is trailed to Malbray Insane Asylum in Hackney.
Night of Wed, Jan 30
Break into Malbray Asylum to bring Dr. Lorenz to justice and rescue Polly Bayldon. In the struggle to break in, Randall fatally coshes the matron. Finding a secret basement lair, Edwards shoots Lorenz and the group guns down his ghastly Australopithecene creations, bringing away some handfuls of files, Lorenz's notes, and two strange Tarot cards, The White Lady and The Black King, that appear to have been painted by William Blake.
Feb 6
We trace Polly Baylden to Hawksmoor's Christchurch Spitalfields. Stringham, Rook, and Eck, unable to interfere, witness her grisly killing by a tall man who appears to be Jack the Ripper. Miss Woodhull and Edwards appear on the scene a minute too late. Later, Miss Woodhull is questioned by the police; her hair is brown, she has an odd lifestyle, and was inexplicably on the scene of the crime; they may believe her to be Jill the Ripper.
Sun, Feb 10
Cargill reports that Merriweather's trunk is missing from the British Museum's storeroom. The trunk is found in an unused sideroom of the stores, its contents ransacked as if the thief were looking for something rather small-- book covers ripped open, coat lapels slashed. In a false bottom of the trunk, the party discovers some notes of Merriweather's, and a drawing of a quaint Egyptian miniature sarcophagus. The notes reveal M.'s obsession with the sarcophagus and a minor pharoah named Sekefer-en-Ra.
Later, two Egyptian cab drivers follow the party, who turn and follow them. During a chase on foot, Rook is attacked by one of the cabbies. A hideously scarred beggar appears and gives him the sarcophagus and a warning: Guard it with your very life! The beggar disappears, holding up a large golden ring with a symbol on it.
Mon, Feb 11
The sarcophagus puzzle box is opened, revealing three more of the strange Tarot cards. Upon looking out of the windows of Hawksquill's house, those present see that the sky is still dark, though it should be morning. Cleopatra's Needle is glowing and immense, towering over the dark and empty streets of London. Pyramids and monoliths abound; streetsigns are in hieroglyphics. Eck refuses to believe that anything is wrong. The company travel to St. George's Bloomsbury, where they barricade themselves in. They are followed and attacked by mummy-zombies. Their guns produce large flashing explosions which destroy their attackers.
As the Long Night refuses to end, the company wander out over the Thames, and seeing the Boat of a Million Years in the water below, jump in. It is being piloted by the man in robes and the burned beggar. Passing Rotherhithe (here a giant necropolis), Set and various crocodiles attack the boat, but the company ward them off. Upon ending the journey, the pilot shows a strange symbol again and promises that we can trust anyone with that symbol.

Feb 11
This night, it is expected that Jack will try to kill Anne Raeburn -- eight days after the death of Polly Bayldon (since last year Anne Chapman was killed eight days after Polly Nichols). The company prepare for this by the following:
Major Rook will try to invoke the Beast as Hayward did last November. He will be barred in at Hawksquill's house, thus keeping the Beast from getting to where Raeburn is being guarded in the country.

The event becomes extremely mysterious, as Rook becomes the Beast within the cage on the seven pointed pentagram, representing himself as the Devil card by chaining Violet and Edwards (who see themselves as naked) to the bars of the cage. The electrified bars don't seem to work, but the hazy voices of what turns out to be the Golden Dawn can be heard and spoken to, as Violet's Hertzian Apparatus sparks to life.

Feb 12
Rook and Eck contact the Golden Dawn, who regard them with awe in light of the recent psychic contact (i.e. Violet's ``radio''). They ask for help in dealing with Charles Milverton, a notorious blackmailer who is threatening them. The company identify Milverton as the ``C.M.'' in Lorenz's notes - in other words, the Black King himself!!

50 years ago an important record book of the Luxor Brethren went missing. Around 10 years later, the Brethren seemed clueless as to their actual purpose. The book was not an English book. 1717- the first reference to the Luxor Brethren. The meeting at the Appletree Tavern (Masonry). 1735-- Hawksmoore dies.

Mathers and Westcott and Mina did something stupid- the book says they needed something to do with a murderer. Edwards drops the word "skull". They pale. The revelation: Westcott stole tissue samples from a murder victim. To do this, he forged a document to cover up the sample theft. Mina stole the skull of the Ratcliffe Highwayman, John Williams. They tried to make a golem, failed, and burned it. This forged document is the basis of Milverton's blackmail of Westcott.

Feb ??
Swinging the gate shut. We stake out Milverton's secret headquarters, a Salvation Army soup kitchen in Rotherhithe. Hawksquill's plan is to move the node at St. Alfege's to the Rotherhithe site, purifying the necropolis, rooting out Milverton, and changing the Eye of Horus into a pentagram associated with the Sun.
Rook and Randall, disguised in rags, visit the soup kitchen. Randall eats a delicious bowl of hot beef stew! But Rook notices that it is actually a nasty, viscous black goop that seems to have brainwashed everyone who eats it. Yum!

Edwards actually persuades the minister of St. Alfege's that he should bring his congregation to the Salvation Army kitchen on Sunday, with food, as a gesture of Christian goodwill. We visit Aaron Abulafia and ask him to recommend a good kosher butcher, who ends up with Edwards and the congregation and a white bull with gilded horns. The bull is sacrificed in the basement of the church.
Rook, Violet, and Randall (played by Beth Brown) sneak in a back window and ascend to the top of the building, through winding passages and a conservatory of sickly plants. Meanwhile, the kitchen catches on fire as Dr. Stringham investigates the kettles of horrid black goo. It must have been that creeping oil spell getting out of control again! As the horde of righteous do-gooders invades the building, praying and singing, the vicar is attacked suddenly by an old man, whose tongue shoots out about 6 feet across the floor and jerks him off his feet. Mayhem! Screaming! The building burns down.

Sun, Feb 17
During the night, the trap is set up for the Black King. Milverton is sent a note from the Golden Dawn, asking to meet at midnight at the central Hawksmoore church, St. George's-in-the-Eat.
In magical symbolism, this is a net or pentagram closing around Milverton as Ares (the Black King) and Hawksquill as Aphrodite (the White Lady) as they meet. The net is formed by the Golden Dawn, who under instruction come to confront their blackmailer.

The plan becomes complicated as Hawksquill enters to find five identical figures appearing as Milverton. At this point, they surround her -- while meanwhile the company meditate and approach the site on the plane of dreams. The Golden Dawn arrive, forming a dream tower/trap around them. (The Tower) As the company approach, the tower is struck by lightning and Hawksquill and the Milvertons fall into the river. The company eventually fish them out of the River. (The Star) The Beast arises from the river, a strange lobster-like creature, and the Tower is blasted away, leaving only a platform in a crater. Rook and Stringham help Hawksquill and Milverton to this platform, and then stand back, holding hands. In Rook's right hand, a knife - in Stringham's left hand, the bag. Rook puts his right hand into the sphere and says ``Deal'', offering it to the Beast to swallow up and trap the White Lady and Black King. The Beast accepts, and blackness encloses the platform, severing Rook's hand.

Mon, Feb 18
In the aftermath, Milverton and Hawksquill seem to be in shock, but it soon becomes clear that they are more or less cataleptic. Rooks right hand is in pain to him, but appears to be physically whole. Hawksquill is returned to her home, where her butler suggests that all should wait a day to see if her condition changes. Edwards calls upon Sarah Hamilton, who refuses to see him, but whose step-mother informs him that he is suitably rejected. (Sarah believes that Edwards is having an affair with Violet Woodhull, although none quite understand this yet.)

That night, Violet, Edwards, and Stringham dream of a black carriage with silver tracery wandering through London, perhaps with a woman inside. It eventually heads into the East End.

Tues, Feb 19
A mysterious Mr. Brown is introduced to us as we gather at Hawksquill's, by her butler Jarvis. Hawksquill left instructions to Jarvis that we should meet Mr. Brown if she should become suddenly incapacitated, or if she should be missing. Mr. Brown gives the impression of being quite high up in the government, though he is not a public figure-- some kind of secret service? He gives us a card with the location of the Diogenes Club, where there may be people that can help us, who are in the upper echelons of the secret service. The club is watched by enemies, however. Jarvis works at the bar there on Saturdays, his day out.

Wed, Feb 20
Frederick Smithson, a lower-class acquaintance of Edwards from India, had posted to Edwards asking for a meeting this evening - apparently asking for some monetary help. He is found strangled to death in the street near his home - just before he was supposed to meet with Edwards.

Charles Milverton is put in the care of a nerve specialist - not Dr. Godfrey Baines. Dr. Baines examines Ariel Hawksquill. The party discusses galvanic shock as a means to revive catatonics. Rook, half-jokingly, brings up the embryos in jars.

Sat, Feb 23
Stringham receives a letter from Paul Keating: apparently, Mr. Smithson had just visited Keating on Monday. Smithson was trying to sell notes from Capt. Marrish's expedition to John Keating (who was the sole known survivor of that expedition). With John Keating being indisposed, Smithson left the notes with Paul for the time being. Paul became worried when he heard of Smithson's death, and finding Grimmond on leave, posted to Dr. Stringham.

Mon, Feb 25
The company study Marrish's notes on the expedition, which contain details on King Menander's tomb, along with some jumbled raving over ``Nemi'' and ``devouring Aphrodite''. A gold ring with a small ruby was included in the notes, which had Greek lettering scratched into it, and faint Egyptian hieroglyphs imprinted beneath. Cargill translated the hieroglyphs as ``Isis of the teeth''). The next day, the group visit Sir James Frazer who translates the Greek as ``Aphrodite devouring'' and explains further the myths involved (Egyptian and Greek).

The myth: Set chops Osiris into 14 pieces. Isis gathers the pieces. Horus fights with Set (vengeance for his father's death). Thoth judges in Horus's favor. Set seeks vengeance on Isis- who goes to Horus again. Horus, with the help of the eye of Ra, the Sun, defends her. Isis devours the pieces of Osiris and he is reborn.

Wed, Feb 27
The inquest of Frederick Smithson's death. Dr. Stringham has been lambasted by the press for his suggestion that a Hindu cult may have been responsible (linking it to the murder of Hillary Blount). The coroner declares it murder by persons unknown.

That night, Edwards again dreams of the black cab in the East End. He finds it at St. George's, and sees a beautiful woman in a veil with lumiscent eyes -- she tells him ``Come to me.'' He wakes up at 4AM and goes to St. George's, where he sees the cab and follows it to the Limehouse Cut, where it disappears.

Thurs, Feb 28
Rook appears bothered by something and makes a point of talking privately with Edwards. Edwards visits Paul Keating, finding that the children, Simon and Katherine, have been acting more normally. Rook visits the Keating children, separately. Edwards reconnoiters near the barge, and speaks with a man who is fishing off it.

In the evening, the company visit a fortune teller named Madame Sossostrich, who works from a barge on the Limehouse Cut - approximately where Edwards lost the cab. There they encounter the strange woman, who enchants the party to her will. The goddess wants the drop of her blood back (the ruby), and the company agree to recover it for her.

Violet heartily agrees that Madame S. should be assisted to become a free and independent woman. She asks for her fortune, and is told that she is nearing a crucial decision point which may destroy her. Madame S. also mentions that ``The eye of the sun looks outward only - for those who look into it, it's blinding''. Presumably this means that events or people within the figure drawn by the Hawksmoor churches are in some way invisible to spies using occult means

As they leave, the company are attacked by a man driving a carriage. This coachman appears to be Marrish, who states that he is Madam S's bodyguard. Two men run out of the alley, screaming in pain, turn into hideous dog-headed things, and attack us.

Fri, Mar 1
Edwards, recovering from his wounds at home, is visited by a Dr. Chatterjee. After the conversation, he finds that he has talked quite more than he intended to. This seems to be related to some chemical fumes which were in the room (noticed by his servants later).

The same day, an ad is put in the personals looking for relatives of Smithson to pick up his effects. An address is given, the decoy apartment where ``Hayward'' is staying.

Mon, Mar 3
The company search records for Indian immigrations, looking for the inimical ``servants'' of the Goddess. They find that the Prince of Gwalior and his entourage arrived at roughly that time. Further, there was a physician named Chatterjee among the entourage. This is soon confirmed as Rook's men trace suspicious Indians keeping watch on ``Hayward's'' apartment back to a hotel where the Prince is staying.

Tue, Mar 5
Rook visits Lord Rutherford at his offices, led in by a David Perry. He explains about the situation with the ruby, and suggests a meeting with the principals in the investigation (notably Madame Sosostris whom he describes as a lady and a former owner of the ruby).

Wed, Mar 6
The company drop by the Prince of Gwalior's hotel, sending a message up to the suite asking for a talk in the lobby regarding a certain ruby. Dr. Chatterjee comes down to explain about the position of his people. He claims that his people are keeping the bloodthirsty Goddess in check, by feeding strangled victims to it - since she can be violent upon the sight of blood. They kill, he claims, only to prevent greater evil. Rook (as Kevin Knightly), blusters -- claiming that he only wants to kick troublesome gooks out of the country with a minimum of fuss.
In discussion following, Violet sympathizes with this position. She postulates that perhaps in England, convicted felons facing the noose could be quietly sacrificed rather than killed in public spectacle. Rook and Edwards are somewhat shocked at this position, and try to convince her otherwise.

Thurs, Mar 7
The company visit the Goddess at her barge on the Limehouse Cut, ostensibly to ask her to dinner at Rutherford's home, and for Miss Woodhull to fit her with proper clothes for the event. Rook makes a point to ``accidentally'' cut himself at this point to test Chatterjee's claim. The lights dim and the Goddess becomes very still, but she recovers and claims to be squeamish - which explanation Rook readily accepts.

Fri, Mar 8
Edwards, Rook, Violet, and the Goddess arrive to dine at Lord Rutherford's home. There they first introduce the Goddess over drinks. She is eccentric but fashionable, and soon Rutherford agrees to show her the ruby, checking if it is the same as hers. She grasps it and falls over in a faint as the lights go out. A young girl and a short coachman appear, seen only by the faint light of matches. The coachman takes out a lobster and then collapses in a fit, foaming at the mouth. The girl laughs and then runs from the room -- Rook pursues her to the door, but she runs faster than him and slips past his men outside.
The ruby is still clutched in the Goddess' hand, safeguarded by Violet. The lights are restored and she recovers. She releases her claim on the ruby and is kept out of further conversation. The ruby, however, has lost much of its luster -- and upon being apprised of the situation, Rutherford agrees to try to sell it to the Indians. Later, the coachman tries to escape but is caught by Rook's men outside.

Mon
Fri, March 15
The Chamber discusses, with much disagreement, their plans to form a larger secret society, to insure that they will have sucessors. This could possibly involve bringing in the Golden Dawn.
Rook and Violet investigate Monument Station. Apparently a legitimate archeological dig in progress. Eck visits Sir Hilary Atwood, posing as a wealthy dilettante. Atwood takes him to tour the Moument dig. Thought to be temple ruins, possibly an odd temple to Mithra, built to be underground, not on the surface. Not the standard soldier temple. Eck pressures Atwood. Was he really on the scene? Was the wall really there? It is a matter crucial to the Empire. Atwood confesses that Ashcroft (of the Afterlife Club) blackmailed him about his sister's unfortuate condition, asking that he delay digging for a few weeks.
Watchers are place on the Afterlife Club's possible contacts. Dr. Gotham is spotted at London Hospital. Other watchers spot a man who could be Sigerson (the ``blind violinist'').

Saturday, March 16
By Saturday we find that Gotham took a cab to a seedy boarding house near St. Anne's Limehouse. Rook questions the landlady: Dr. Gotham regularly comes and sits in the living room for a few hours, then leaves; she thinks to avoid being followed.
Rook and Violet stake out the area, and follow Gotham into an opium den. They pretend to smoke opium. Unfortunately Violet inhales, gets stoned, and passes out after amourously pawing at Rook, calling him ``Edwards.''
Rook takes her to a squalid inn. Sigerson follows. They talk. Sigerson questions whether Lorenz's death was faked or not, and says that Lorenz was a pawn of someone else. Sigerson is pursuing the conspiracy underlying the Limehouse madness. He does not react visibly to the Monad symbol.
He reveals that ``Going up Apron Street'' is a code of the underworld, especially fences with Chinatown connections. Sigerson mentions dishonesty in the ranks of the police with hatred. Grimmond has been asking questions about Apron Street. Sigerson mentions Fu Manchu, the Napoleon of crime.

Evening: The party meets at Edwards' flat. Edwards is concerned for Violet's safety as she risks her life and worse in mad adventures. Rook acts uncomfortable and Violet blushes as they remember the scene in the opium den.

Thursday, March 21
Edwards receives a letter (from Grimmond). Watchers report to Rook that Gotham left the opium den with an unidentified Chinese, tipped his hat to a disguised watcher, then walked on. The watchers are pulled.

Evening: Edwards is at Kensington Gardens for a secret meeting. Sigerson meets the rest of the Chamber at Edwards' flat at 8pm, where he reveals that Fu Manchu is behind many expensive jewelry heists. Sigerson refers to his highly placed friends. We tell him we are ``Friends of Hawksquill'', thinking that he may be a contact of Mr. Brown.
Sigerson leaves around 1:00am. Rook gets a telegram from his boss (Sec. of Foreign Office) and Mr. Brown. Grimmond has been murdered in Kensington Gardens! Edwards arrives in shock, as he was at the Garden bandstand at 12:05 to meet Grimmond. When no one was there, he left a chalk sign at the entrance gate.

Thursday, March 21
Constable Jones found the body at 1:30AM. Detective Trelawney (Div. CID man) tentatively identified it as Grimmond when he arrived on the scene. Detective Superintendent Christopher St. John (played by Mark) arrived at 2:10AM and cordoned off the area. By 2:35 when the company arrive, they are met by Sir James Monro (Chief of Scotland Yard) and Mr. Brown are on the scene. Stringham identifies the body by the rat tooth scars on the legs. Grimmond's body has been systematically beaten to a pulp, probably after he was killed by two or three massive blows to the head. Eck does not look at the body.

Footprints enter Palace Gate and continue parallel to the Broad Walk, stopping halfway to Round Pond. Stickmarks become light as if person began running. Attacked from the front in the trees north of Round Pond from several people in ambush, although a man in soft shoes was chasing him from behind. Grimmond has the powder stains of firing a pistol, but there is no blood and no one heard any shots. His body was searched by his assailants: his pistol and any identifying documents were missing, but his cash and his stick were left -- along with two oranges in a coat pocket, and another is found nearby in the grass, all squodgy, apparently prodded by thumbs. Edwards recalls that Grimmond didn't like oranges!
The medical examiner and Stringham concur that he would have died around midnight. Notes Grimmond wrote to Edwards in chalk. Marks on Gate and Bandstand. Edwards made a sign on the Gate at 12:05. Proceeded to the Gallery at 12:10.

Violet explains the poetic justice of the crime to St. John, and why she suspects Fu Manchu. She begins to go into Sir Simon Hamilton's murder, and the possible Chinese invasion of England. Thankfully, Rook suppresses her indiscretion. The company share a carriage with Mr. Brown in leaving. Violet secretly passes him a letter. We discuss Grimmond's letter, which suggested the presence of a police ``inner circle'' which could be headed by Monro (?).

Fri. March 22 1889
Grimmond's autopsy. Stringham investigates the body with St. John. Meanwhile, Rook checks into St. John's background.
Violet and Edwards wander Limehouse, in disguise, trying to pick up information. They fail miserably. Violet basically made Edwards go with her -- he thought the plan was stupid, but came along to protect her.

At 8PM, Rook meets with St. John and Monro. (Liz plays Knight of Wand on St. John for him to feel an urge to take up the mystery as a personal quest. John plays the Chariot on St. John: triumph in the mind, conquest, victorious prince.)
Rook explains that a network of advisors exists. His party is part of that, dealing with matters of the occult. Monro explains that Grimmond was convinced that the 1884 plot to blow up 3 railway stations in London with ``clockwork infernal devices'' had Limehouse, and Chinese, connections as well as Fenian connections. He suspected a government conspiracy on the highest levels, and was infiltrating Anarchist groups in London.
``We must get our hands on those notes!''
Monro says one of his superiors must be a traitor, unthinkable as that is. Rook tells Monro about Grimmond's letter to Edwards.

Sat. March 23 1889
Rook and Edwards later realize that the oranges must have been a message, and that Hawksmoore built...the Kensington Orangery! They manage to recover, in a fireplace at the Orangery, a key to a safe deposit box at Brighton Bank.
Edwards and Rook go to the bank. Only Edwards was on Grimmond's list of people permitted to access the safe deposit box. He examines the huge boxes of files, including:
Maroon box: Hayward's and Sir Simon Hamilton's notes.
Black box: Grimmond's notes. Edwards removes and hides files on himself and the other members of the Chamber.

Small box: Two books, leather, old, handwritten. Two envelopes. One book is De Automatis by John Dee (1589) and includes sketches of clockwork and hydraulics. The other, De Occulta APhilosophia, seu de arte architectonica... by Agrippa (1532) and has incredible engravings by Albrecht Durer, tipped in.
(Note: Durer also had engravings in Merriwether's books including St. Jerome, Melancholia, and others.) The envelope has two cards, The Beggar (0) and The City (XXI). The second envelope has a note to Edwards - ``Read file DC first and God Save the Queen''.

File DC is the Diogenes Club! Edwards take the DC and AH files. Later the Chamber reads the files on DC. Many details of the Diogenes Club history and leadership. The Luxor Brethren split in 1865. (more details will be added later.) The books were taken by Grimmond from Hamilton's notes and held in secret. Apron Street refers to a smuggler's route, not a place.

Saturday, March 23
Rook goes to meet Mycroft Holmes. They agree to meet later at 221B Baker Street at 8:00 tomorrow.

Sunday, March 24
During the day, Victoria Woodhull (Violet's mother) offers minor information on Francis Hockley, who was mentioned in the files. He was a nudist... but not a Marxist. Weird naked seances.
At 8, the company arrive at 221B Baker Street to meet with Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes along with Dr. Watson. Items of discussion include the all-important mole as well as speculation concerning Fu Manchu -- What is his intent? What is he waiting for? Also, the relation of the Luxor Bretheren is discussed.

Monday, April 1
Woodhull, Edwards, Rook, Eck, and Sussex-Ipwich leave Southampton on a trip to the continent via the Orient Express. They plan to visit Trieste and there talk to the elderly Sir Richard Francis Burton regarding the history of the Diogenes Council. They leave Southampton by train at 11:30. Arriving at Dover, they leave on the ferry at 5:15PM. At Calais, they embark for Paris at 6:55PM, arriving early the next morning (2:17AM).

Wednesday, April 3
The Orient Express departs from Paris at 10AM sharp. Various social interludes are made on board. That evening, the train leaves Strasbourg at 8:04PM. The guests gather for a seance run by ``Madam Arcana'' (perhaps strengthened by the presence of Miss Sussex-Ipwich).

Thursday, April 4
The Express arrives at Stuttgart early in the morning (7:15AM). Socialities continue through Ulm (12:30) and Augsburg (9:00PM). Late that night, Edwards follows the beautiful Andrea Stefania to her room -- only to be saved from assassination by Ronald Lakeby. A rooftop fight ensues between Lakeby and the Cosa Nostra assassin Stefani -- soon aided by the rather tipsy Edwards.
Miss Woodhull stops the train at the disturbance.

Friday, April 5
The Express arrives at Munich early in the morning 4:17AM.

Saturday, April 6
Arr. Salzburg 11:47, Ljubjiana 19:45

Sunday, April 7
Arr. Trieste 11:10 by local first-class train