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==<span style="color:#21610B">Thursday, December 31, 1964</span>==
==1965==


[[File:Lisa_Chan_NYE.jpg|200px|thumb|left|New Years Eve, 1964, at the Alden House]]I was invited to a so-called New Years Eve party at the estate of one [[Magdalena Carter]] in the Hollywood Hills. Mrs. Carter lives in the [[Alden House]], a place built decades ago by the famous architect, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_lloyd_wright Frank LLoyd Wright]. The house is interesting, incorporating elements of Mesoamerican architecture, and quasi-occult symbology engraved into the reinforced concrete. I could tell soon after entering that the ambient mana in the place was unusual.
[[December 31, 1964 - January 2, 1965]]


I was driven to the party by a man named Holmes. Along the way we picked up an actress, Kit, whose connection to Mrs. Carter and the Prometheans I still can't figure. She seems entirely mundane in nature, with no real interest or knowledge in the occult. We were the first to arrive at the party. The house was beautiful, with exquisite grounds and interior design, and an amazing view of [[Los Angeles in the 1960s|Los Angeles]]. The next guest to arrive was a man named Kuranes.
[[January 3, 1965 - January 9, 1965]]


[[Kuranes]] struck me as a bit of an eccentric, but I like eccentrics. I later came to find out that he was a truly talented magician, with a command of a wide variety of incantations. I think it is unusual for one so young to be so skilled. I believe he is a prodigy, an up-and-coming master of the arcane. I hope to be able to learn a few things from him. Ever since my days with Wei in San Francisco, I have been without anyone to study with or learn from.
[[January 10, 1965 - January 16, 1965]]


The next guests to arrive were [[Elaine Baxter]] and [[Jonathan Angel]]. Much like Kuranes, they seemed eccentric and in many ways lost in their own worlds. We did not do much mingling, to be honest. They kept to themselves, engaged with their gadgets. Elaine had a few cameras, one of which appeared very unusual, and was photographing everything in sight. I got the impression that she was not interested in the architecture, either. Jonathan had some sort of scientific instrument that he was using to... well, I don't really know what it was for. It was some kind of electronic device. Both Elaine and Jonathan have some paranormal gifts, but I do not believe they are schooled in magic. Jonathan exhibited an ability to sense things in time, both past and present.
[[January 17, 1965 - January 23, 1965]]


It was not long after Elaine and Jonathan arrived that we had found ourselves in trouble. Kit left with her husband, Steven, as soon as he arrived with the scientist. She was upset about him for something, and we did not see them again that night. What did happen, though, was that Elaine found an old radio from the 1920s and started messing with it. I don't know why she did that, but suffice it so say, if she gets an idea in her head she acts on it. She does not seem like the type to wait around. It turns out the radio was not as it seemed, and housed an elaborate magical device. When Elaine turned the knobs, a thunderous sound boomed out, and the chatter of a thousand voices in a thousand languages reached my ears. It was nonsense as far as I could tell. Shortly thereafter, a more sinister voice spoke out, announcing that at last it had escaped and at last we would serve it. The sinister voice and the situation with the radio caused us more than a little distress. Elaine pulled a gun and shot the thing. All this did was make a hole in the radio.
[[January 24, 1965 - January 30, 1965]]


It was at this point that the final guest arrived with a ring at the door. I answered, and looked up at the largest Indian man I had ever seen. His name was [[Genda]], and he was a quiet and reflective seeming fellow. I think he was about four times my size! He came inside and made immediately for the sandwiches at the bar (and kept going back for more).
[[January 31, 1965 - February 5, 1965]]


Jonathan and Kuranes kept studying the radio. Through some means, Jonathan was able to discern a network of crystals embedded in the radio. Kuranes determined the crystals bore powerful enchantments, and after Kuranes and Jonathan studied the device further, they determined there was dangerous magic at work. Elaine ran outside for some reason and we heard another gunshot. We went to see what had happened, and found that the entire premises had been enclosed in a glowing purple dome, a magical barrier meant to prevent anything from passing. It was evidently bulletproof.
==???==


[[File:Alden_House_Pool.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Pool at the Alden House. What is hidden here?]]We went back in and set about finding a solution to our predicament. Kuranes analyzed the radio. Elaine worked on developing her photos, and I cooked some food for the seemingly insatiable Jinda (the various weapons hidden around the kitchen were an interesting decorating choice as well...). Kuranes determined the magic in the crystals was going to transport the entire house to another plane after about another hour or less. Elaine discovered via her photographs that there was a spirit housed in the painting of [[Calvin Alden]] that was watching us. Genda was able to use his psychic powers to communicate with the spirit. He indicated to us that the device had been constructed by [[Xavier Hellestromme]], a powerful mage who had been banished sometime ago, whose fate was unknown. It is entirely conceivable that he had been inadvertently freed by Elaine when she manipulated the radio. Whatever the case, we knew we had to figure out a way to halt the ensorcellment that was upon us.
[[??? - ???]]


After some deliberation, we decided to pool our strength and try to counter the plane shifting spell on the crystal. We came together in a magical ritual, and through an exhausting effort, we were able to destroy the spell. The magical barrier outside dissolved soon after, and we were clear. Holmes, who had been spending his time operating the [[manastat]] to assist us in our magicking, told us that we had been selected to be the New Prometheans, to work as investigators, troubleshooters, and general problem solvers for the Promethean Foundation. We all gladly accepted, and some of us even moved into the guest houses on the grounds adjacent to the Alden House. I chose the house next to the one where Kuranes was already staying. I look forward to learning more about the foundation, its history and resources, and to some fruitful study of magic, and I think this bunch could all use some home cooked meals.
==Darkstar==


==<span style="color:#8A0829">Friday, January 1st, 1965</span>==
[[4523 Prologue]]


I have lived in America for over 30 years, but I still do not consider January 1st the New Year. It makes this whole time of year seem surreal to me, the way I am out of step with everyone else when it comes to having that feeling of starting along the cycle again, with new goals and hopes. For me, it's just the middle of the winter, though that only means so much in Los Angeles.
[[4523]]


[[file:Crane6r.jpg|99px|thumb|left|Fujian White Crane]]I started the day with a bicycle ride to the park, and a training session. Today I worked on some of the forms of Luohan Quan, one of the components of Five Ancestors Fist. I will admit that Luohan Quan is probably my weakest area. I started decades ago by studying Fujian White Crane, and have added the other four styles over the years: Da mo, Taizu Changquan, Monkey Fist, and lastly Luohan Quan. I am still by far the most adept at the Fujian White Crane, but in time I believe I will master all of the Five Ancestors Fist, as long as I maintain my studies.
[[4524]]


After my morning training session and some breakfast, I got in touch with Holmes, who was kind enough to help me move my things from my efficiency in West Hollywood to the guesthouse at the Alden House. On the way back, we managed to find a few stores that were open, and I got a new leather jacket. If I'm going to be a Private Investigator, I will need to have some new wardrobe options, and I think a leather jacket is a nice addition. My new place is far more spacious, and I am excited to work with the Promethean Foundation, to collaborate with and learn from the talented people they have selected. It is actually quite an honor to have been invited to join them. I was told from a very early age, first by my parents and then by Wei, that I had great potential, with a strong connection to the arcane. It will be nice to finally put this to the test.
==See Also==


After moving in, I spent several hours on thaumatological studies and work, followed by another training session in the early evening, again focusing on Luohan Quan. I can see myself getting into a nice routine of training and study.
[[Lisa Chan]]


So, all in all, today was a lot less eventful than yesterday.
[[New Prometheans Campaign Log]]
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Saturday, January 2nd, 1965</span>==
 
Today was exhausting. I woke up early and took a bicycle ride around the hills, to familiarize myself with my the area around my new home. I found a park with a beautiful view of the city, and I stopped for a couple of hours of Da mo training. Da mo is the component of Five Ancestors Fist that teaches breathing exercises. In some ways, this is the most difficult. It requires great attention to form, and total focus on the moment.
 
I returned to my new home at midmorning, had a quick breakfast, and spent the rest of the day at work practicing my incantations. I lost track of time, and when I at last stopped, the Sun had already set. My energy was drained from the study, but I went ahead and got a light workout in. I did some cardiovascular conditioning, and went through a few [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taolu#Forms taolu] for Luohan Quan. I am going to sleep well tonight.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Sunday, January 3rd, 1965</span>==
 
Today was another exhausting day of magical training. Prior to commencing, I practiced some Monkey Fist in the yard and had some breakfast. With the magical effort that lay ahead of me, I did not feel like I had any time for a bicycle ride, so I just stayed on the grounds of the estate to train. For the rest of the day, about eight or nine hours, I was doing nothing but practice the motions and incantations of magic, breaking intermittently to meditate and breathe. I felt that it was important that I take this opportunity to practice before my work with the Promethean Foundation begins. Who knows what is in store for us, or when we'll next have time for study and improvement? Following my day of theumatological practice, I went through two complete Luohan Quan taolu, three times apiece. Tomorrow, Magdalena Carter returns from wherever she has been, and I and the others will commence our work. Things should get interesting...
 
==<span style="color:#21610B">Monday, January 4th, 1965</span>==
 
I am busy getting started learning Persian, but I feel that it is important that I document today's events for posterity. Today was the greatest day of my life. It started with a training session then breakfast with Magdalena Carter and my fellow Prometheans. We learned about [[Pasadena Mystery House|a mansion in Pasadena]] that warranted investigation by the Promethean Foundation. It had been owned by a magician named Jacob Jansen since the '20s when he moved in, until January, 1964, when he passed away. He was survived by his wife, who passed some months after him. There were others with some connection to the property whose lives ended mysteriously, but after my great discovery, all of that seems inconsequential.
 
Jacob Jansen was rumored to be in possession of a Persian magical text called The Book of The Gates, though Mrs. Carter and others were skeptical. I think they were incorrect to doubt this, for I found this very tome in our exploration of the house in Pasadena. My discovery of this book may, in fact, be the most important turn of events in human history. It is clear that the late Mr. Jansen attempted to make use of it, but perhaps he was too much of a dabbler or charlatan to be able to use it properly. In fact, the house was haunted by a spiritual entity that he had inadvertently summoned. While it is a crime that he held the book for so long then locked it away to sit in a safe, unused, for nearly a year, it is fortunate that I came upon it when I did. Not only will I be able to return this entity in the house to its place of origin and rid our world of its dangerous presence, but I will be able to do so much more.
 
From what I have gathered in my studies thus far, this book is the most important development in the history of our entire planet. It contains the deepest, most complex secrets of the most powerful, far-reaching magic known in this or any universe. With it, I will be able to right all of the wrongs that plague our civilization, and hasten us toward greatness. Unfortunately for me and the rest of humankind, it is written in Persian, so I must first gain fluency in this language. This is a small hurdle, but a hurdle nonetheless, and I must focus all of my effort on mastering Persian so that I can begin to unlock the infinite benevolences kept within The Book of Gates. 
 
I feel that I must bear the burden of using this book alone. Perhaps in due time I can call upon other mages to assist me, but to allow others direct access to The Book of The Gates would be a mistake. It is clear that I was destined to be the one to take possession of this book. Too many coincidences had to fall into place for it to be otherwise: I had to come from China to America, I had to run afoul of the Hells Angels in Oakland to end up in Los Angeles, I had to meet a student working on a grant from the Promethean Foundation, and I had to be sent on my very first task by them to this very house in Pasadena where this book had been awaiting me, after it had made an even longer, more circuitous journey across time and continents. All that said, I believe the others have a sense of the gravity surrounding the book. Elaine offered to pay for a Persian tutor to speed my learning. Deep down, she knows this book is the answer, and she senses that I must undertake this task. She is ready to do whatever it takes to see this through, and for now that means helping me understand it. I think her commitment and loyalty will be greatly rewarded by the blessings this book will bestow upon us.
 
Kuranes must also know the book is as important as it is. He, too, saw it sitting in the safe at Mr. Jansen's house. He, too, must feel how powerful it is, but he also knows it was meant for me. He did not try to take the book when we found it, and he has made no attempt to get in my way since I took it. He must be patient and be ready to do whatever I need him to when the time comes for me to put the book to use. Like Elaine, he too will share in the infinite benisons the book has in store for us and the rest of humankind. Truly, this is the beginning of a great revolution. Let it be known that January 4th, 1965 was the day humankind began its ascension through the miracles held in The Book of The Gates.
 
It remains to be seen what role the others will play in my quest to make use of The Book of the Gates. Perhaps destiny has sent them to be my assistants, or perhaps they are the pawns of forces that would oppose the enlightenment of humankind that the book offers. I will be wary, but I honestly cannot spend much time thinking about them. Whatever they are meant to do, it is insignificant compared to me understanding the book itself, so that is where my efforts will lie. Tomorrow and for the foreseeable future, I will be learning Persian. It is the first of many steps, and I must not hesitate or falter. I have heard that Persian is a difficult language, but no easy journey was ever worth taking, and there could be no more important or worthy journey than understanding everything held within The Book of The Gates.
 
==<span style="color:#21610B">Tuesday, January 5th, 1965</span>==
 
[[File:PersianDiagram.jpg|thumb|240px|left|Copy of a diagram from The Book of The Gates]]Today was a long day. I worked on deciphering The Book of the Gates as soon as I woke up, but I was repeatedly interrupted, first by Holmes and then by Elaine. They were overly concerned with me eating breakfast and just would not let it go. Apparently the apple I had was insufficient. Shortly after the interruptions, I was pulled away from my studies to return with the other Prometheans to the Pasadena Mystery House. I thought it would be a good idea to look around Mr. Jansen's study for more information about the book, so I agreed to the excursion. When we finally got around to loading up for the trip, I met [[Ryan Keaton]], a scientist who has had a long association with Mrs. Carter and the foundation. They have known each other since the 1920s, though Keaton does not look much older than 30. He is a scientist, but there is clearly something magical about him as well. From what I have heard, he has had many encounters with mages and the occult, though he has no actual magical ability of his own. I can only surmise that his relentless studies of the arcane have rubbed off on him in some way.
 
We arrived at the house in the early afternoon, our sluggishness in getting there thanks to a truly horrific batch of traffic. I went straight to Mr. Jansen's study and looked over his notes. Kuranes went to the library and was busy looking around for something there. I don't know what. The only item of interest I found was a receipt for The Book of The Gates for $895. It did not specify where the receipt was from, but I knew that Jonathan could figure that out. I went to find him with the others in the observatory, but I did not broach the subject of the receipt with him. I planned to wait until we were back at the Alden House to get him to investigate its origin. Regardless, I think the $895 price tag was an incredible bargain. Despite his chicanery and buffoonery, at least Mr. Jansen was able to identify a great deal when he saw it.
 
The others were busy wasting time in the observatory. They were insistent upon communicating with the entity there again. I did not see the point; we know that it wants to go home, and I know how to send it there, but they just would not listen. They were also doing some scientific analysis on the magical device the observatory housed, some sort of gate-opening telescope. I did notice some Persian inscriptions along the dials of the device, and I'm sure its design was a product of Mr. Jansen's study of The Book of The Gates. That said, such things are unnecessary to conduct magic for someone who has training, so the device was only of passing interest to me. Maybe it would be useful, and maybe not. After they had squandered the bulk of the afternoon tinkering about and needlessly brainstorming, I finally convinced them that the best course of action was for us to return to the Alden House and let me get started unlocking the secrets contained in the book. We headed back.
 
Just as I was about to take Jonathan aside to get him to examine the receipt, he realized that there had been a secret government agent watching the Mystery House. He suspected that a man he saw near the premises was with the [[Office of Scientific Intelligence]]. It was a little unsettling to hear that the OSI was interested in the house, because I just knew this was not going to end well. This agency may have been responsible for the disappearance of a previous team of Prometheans years ago, and Mrs. Carter considered them something of an adversary to the Promethean Foundation. We all mostly agreed that we should go back to the Mystery House and try to prevent them from ruining the place and taking everything there that might end up being of value. I also felt that the entity in the observatory would pose a serious threat to their lives. I do not know these OSI agents, but even gifted, well-trained people could easily be overcome by the Mind of the Mystery House. I wanted to prevent a fate worse than a few bruised ribs from happening to these people, if I could.
 
When we arrived, we snuck through the house and found an agent in the observatory. He used psychic powers to obfuscate himself from us, and to attack our minds. It seemed that we were in a dire fight, but after we subdued him we all realized he was actually a really good guy and did not pose a threat. I didn't think he posed a threat to the entity, either. I believed he and his team would find a way to do what's best for the entity and for the people of the United States. We still decided to take most of the paintings by Austin Osman Spare that Mr. Jansen had collected. They were made with magical paints, and could contain secrets or powers that we cannot yet discern. I doubt they are of any great importance or that they will be of any help in my study of The Book of The Gates, but it is possible that Mr. Jansen collected them for a good reason, and that the reason is related to the book.
 
We left and returned to the Alden House. I am not sure what to think about our encounter with this OSI agent. I think the agent himself is a good, well-meaning man, but I cannot be so sure about his bosses or colleagues. I have gotten mixed reports about the OSI, and Jonathan in particular seems to have little good to say about them. As long as they do not try to interfere with my study of The Book of The Gates, then I don't see what harm they pose.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Wednesday, January 6th,1965</span>==
 
I woke up with a strange impression of yesterday's events. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but something happened to us in our encounter with the OSI agent in the observatory at the Pasadena Mystery House, and now I am left feeling somewhat ambivalent toward him. I will be interested to see how he reacts  to us if we run into him again.
 
Today I began my studies with [[Alexander Tophet]]. He is an accomplished magician in many areas, namely Gate magic, which is where my interests lie at present. He is a good teacher, patient and knowledgeable. He also has an intense intellectual interest in thaumatology and the occult; I can tell magic is a true passion of his, much like it was for my old teacher Wei in San Francisco. Our lesson today was limited to the basics of Gate theory, the interconnectedness of mana with space and time. I had not been exposed to Thaumatological Relativity before, and it is interesting to see the metaphysical equations that shape it. It even explains the more subtle aspects of some incantations of Movement magic. With luck, these lessons will help in my understanding of the diagrams in The Book of The Gates. Time will tell.
 
Following our lesson, I was exhausted. I decided to get in an hour of Da mo training, to help ease my mind. The breathing exercises helped me regain my focus, so I spent some time paging through The Book of The Gates. Even though I cannot yet read it, I enjoy looking at it. The text itself is beatiful, penned by a master's hand. I expect the words and incantations will be too. In fact, The Book was in my dreams last night. It is now clear to me that it will be integral to restoring magic to the way it is supposed to be, to the way it was.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Thursday, January 7th,1965</span>==
 
I woke up early today and trained for about two hours before breakfast. Today I went through a series of White Crane defensive routines, my favorite. I love the hard blocks of the White Crane. It never ceases being fully engaging for me to practice them. I was told this is because they can never be truly mastered, especially since clever opponents will always be thinking of new ways to slip past them. In fact, this is very much the style in American martial arts today, with the rising popularity of Jeet Kune Do. Local practitioners of martial arts are learning about quick thrusts aimed at bypassing defenses, generally timed so that attacks occur simultaneously with the opponent's attacks, the idea being to strike first and stop their attack. I find that if I thrust with extended fingers toward an opponent's neck or shoulder, I can quickly break off in a downward block. Or, if I am quick enough, I can strike, unbalance my opponent, and block down and transition to a wristlock. These defensive methods have proven effective at countering the modern stop-thrusts, but I can always stand to get better at them.
 
My morning workout was invigorating and prepared me for the long thaumatological lesson with Mr. Tophet that followed breakfast. Today we moved beyond theory and into the realm of incantations. The syllables of gate magic comprise three primary elements: temporal, spacial, and transdimensional. These are interwoven with syllables to shape mana to produce the desired result. Combining all three is arduous, and will remain outside my ability for a long time. In fact, this may not be within my ability until we have used The Book of The Gates to help undo the repression of mana that currently afflicts this world. Just combining two, say to move through space and time simultaneously, requires substantial power. Even a short trip is something I can barely muster under the best conditions. If I am ever going to be a competent user of gate magic, I will need to engage in more exercises to improve my mental energy and stamina. Fortunately, Five Ancestors already helps in this area.
 
I can feel my connection with The Book of The Gates growing as I learn these magics from Mr. Tophet. I looked over a few more pages tonight after another quick session of Da mo.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Friday, January 8th,1965</span>==
 
I started the day with a jog up through the hills to a park on Mulholland Drive, where I practiced Taizu changquan. There was an Indian man in the park doing yoga as well. This was a fun coincidence, as changquan techniques involve flexibilty and balance, and here is this Indian guy also improving his flexibilty and balance, albeit in completely different ways. Following my training, I ran back down the hill and had some rice porridge, fruit, and an egg for breakfast. I saw Holmes in the kitchen and we had a brief chat about cutlery, of all things, and we showed each other different methods for slicing fruit with a paring knife. There is something to be said for days that start on such a mundane note; they can be rather relaxing.
 
My magic lesson did not start until the afternoon today, so I spent the rest of the day reading about the Persian Empire of antiquity. I read some encyclopedia entries, but I found [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histories_(Herodotus) The Histories] by Herodotus to be much more interesting and engaging. It occurs to me from reading it that there may be hidden occult messages within it, but I would need to be able to read it in the original Ionic Greek to know for sure. As far as I know, Herodotus was not a magician, but I suppose it would be easy enough for the only historian at the time to keep something like that out of the history books!
 
My session with Mr. Tophet was shorter than the previous two, and will be my last one for a while. As per my request, we focused on temporal manipulaion. This is the area of gate magic that interests me most. It is also among the most complex and will require patience to learn. I am happy to have been expsed to he basics, though. I doubt I will be making practical use of it anytime soon, but they say every journey begins with a single step. Indeed, when I first began to learn the White Crane, I could barely hit the broad side of a plank.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Saturday, January 9th,1965</span>==
 
We had breakfast with Mrs. Carter today, and I must say I found it a little odd. She kept asking me about Tibet and Tibetans. I don't know very much about them; I'm from Guangzhou, not exactly close to the Himalayas. Yet she would occasionally steer the conversation back to them. I thought for a minute she might be one of these Americans who thinks all Asians are the same, but I know she is more cultured than that. [[file:Mulholland_view.jpg|200px|thumb|right|View from the park on Mulholland Drive]]Tibet is a mystical place, so perhaps she was just seeing what I knew about it that might interest the Prometheans.
 
Mrs. Carter was gracious enough to hire a Persian speaker that I could magically borrow the ability to read Persian from. The woman she hired, Laleh Salehi, was ostensibly hired to teach Holmes Persian cooking. I sat at a table in the room near the kitchen and read The Book of The Gates, at last beginning to comprehend it. It was quite taxing to read the book this way. I would read for fiifteen minute intervals, then rest for a half hour to recover. It was slightly distracting overhearing the cooking lesson going on in the kitchen as well, because I have developed a taste for Persian food since I moved to Los Angeles. This process went on for about eight hours.
 
The Book of The Gates is dense with information. I learned a bit about its origin. It was evidently penned by a man named Sayed Ali Muhammad Shirazi al-Djinn from the city of Hama. He describes the mathematics and astronomy he learned in Shiraz, presumably in the time of King Ardashir (2897 - 2914) of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassanid_Empire Sassanid Persian Empire]. This tells me that this man was a time traveler or that he led a long life and eventually changed his name, neither of which is unsurprising for someone so adept in gate magic that he could pen this book, because Muhammad was not born until 3243. In fact, the Muslims conquered the Sassanid Persian Empire in 3324, bringing an end to Persian dominance of the region. Within the first few pages I had uncovered a mystery!
 
The author went on to discuss Mazdaism that he learned under the mystic Kartir Hangirpe in Parsa. Kartir went to work for Ardashir's successor, King Shapur, and Sayed went on to study Zurvanism in Bakhtar. In due time I would like to visit these times and places, but I have so much work to do before I will be able to. I still have much to learn regarding gate magic before I can even begin to contemplate such journeys. Not to mention, I don't know how they're going to react to a Chinese woman there! Probably not well.
 
After reading through the book, I was mentally exhausted. It was the perfect opportunity to spend a couple of hours practicing Da mo, to recenter myself, because I have another session to look forward to tomorrow.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Sunday, January 10th,1965</span>==
 
[[File:MagicPortal2.jpg|thumb|230px|left| Where does the gate go? Where did it come from? When was this?]]I had strange dreams last night. I was in a forest, in another time, in another place. I had taken a look at the thaumatological equations of temporal mana conversion before bed, and I think they somehow crept into my dreams. The leaves on the trees were gray and rubbery, the bark scaly like a lizard's scales. Walking on the dirt felt like walking on piles of hay. There was a haze lingering in the air, blue-gray in color, obscuring my vision. I came to a stone retaining wall built along the base of a steep hillside. There were etchings on the wall. I think they were etchings in the Tongue Man Was Not Meant to Know - the Mythos Tongue - but I only thought that because of a vague sense of dread that crept through my mind when I looked upon them. The characters had unsettling lines and horrific curves, telling a story of desolation and despair. I could not read them, but I could feel them in my mind. I turned away from the wall and saw streams of light in the haze, spiraling from a hole in the fabric of reality. Where is this place my mind took me last night? It felt so real, the horror, yet it recedes from me even now just as all dreams do.
 
I got off to a slow start this morning. I jogged out to a copse of trees a little ways down the hill from the compound. I practiced hard strikes against the trees, using the strikes of the iron monkey. I moved through the steps, still in a mental fog, and only emerged back into the moment when I felt my knuckles throbbing. I looked and saw that I had beaten my hands raw against the trees. It's not the first time I have pushed my limits striking wood. I'll be fine tomorrow.
 
I started in on another session reading The Book of The Gates with the "help" of Mrs. Salehi. The menu today was fesenjan - one of my favorites. The smells coming from the kitchen were glorious. I learned from the book that Sayed had figured out a way to summon forth his "spirit twin" from another dimension. This entity taught him strange mathematics, I believe it was something like what we now think of as differential geometry, maybe topology. It is clear to me that I will have to work on my math skills prior to being able to comprehend the diagrams I have encountered in the book. This is not going to be easy, but I'm sure Wei will be happy to learn that I'm taking math more seriously, "like all good girls from Guangzhou should do." Numerous pages of the text remain a mystery to me, magical in nature and otherworldly in scope. I will not be able to unlock the secrets in The Book of The Gates this way; I will need to study Classical Persian and mathematics more seriously before I am able to understand it. I will also clearly need to become more competent at gate magic to ever be able to make use of it.
 
On that note, I have formulated an idea. I looked over some of my notes from the sessions with Mr. Tophet again today, upon the conclusion of Holmes's cooking lesson with Mrs. Salehi. I do believe understanding the book is a matter of time, a lot of time, but time is something a master gate magician has in abundance. I have decided I will focus my efforts first on the temporal aspects of gate magic, to buy myself some extra time to work on the book. With enough effort I may be able to go visit Sayed himself! Who better to learn from?
 
I finished the day with another session of Da mo to relax my mind. I seem to be doing that a lot lately, but I think it's good for me.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Monday, January 11th,1965</span>==
 
I had another odd encounter with Mrs. Carter at lunch today, again about Tibet and Tibetans. Basically, she wants me to be some sort of liaison between the Promethean Foundation and their Tibetan contacts. I'm fine with that. I don't speak Tibetan and Tibetans don't generally speak Cantonese, so we'll be communicating in English just like anyone from the Promethean Foundation would, but I guess me being Asian and being adept with chopsticks is worth something in terms of our cultures not seeming so alien to each other. I agreed to assist Mrs. Carter in what ways I am able regarding the Tibetans. I am actually curious about Tibetan mystical traditions, because I believe they share the same origins as Chinese traditions. Somewhere along the way they diverged, and I wonder why.
 
Mrs. Carter also informed me that the foundation had purchased subscriptions to <i>Sing Tao Daily</i> and <i>China Times</i>, the two most significant Cantonese newspapers in America. <i>Sing Tao Daily</i> originated out of Hong Kong and made its way to America in recent years, and is probably the most widely distributed Cantonese newspaper in the world (definitely in America, from what I have learned). <i>China Times</i> is actually older, founded in San Francisco, but has a much smaller circulation. Mrs. Carter has asked me to read them over on a regular basis and look for anything out of the ordinary - in a way that would be of interest to the Foundation. I presume this means unexplained phenomena, strange coincidences, and possibly even accounts of the supernatural. I guess it can't hurt to stay informed!
 
Before lunch was over, I asked Mrs. Carter to schedule two more sessions for me with Mr. Tophet. My first foray into The Book of The Gates has left me with some questions, and I think I could use some extra practice with gate magic. It's obviously important that I learn as much from Mr. Tophet as I can if I am ever going to make use of the book in my lifetime.
 
After lunch, I went through half a dozen White Crane taolu. That wore me out. I arrived back to my cottage this evening to find that Quin had left me a ring, with a note about it penned in Cantonese! The ring will help me recover my energy faster - a useful device when I am out in the field making heavy of magic. Sometimes there just isn't time to sit and engage in Da mo to recuperate, so this will be nice to have.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Tuesday, January 12th,1965</span>==
 
After an early session of White Crane, I took the bus down to Chinatown this morning to visit Weng Du's tea shop. I ran out of oolong, and I don't think it's possible to get good oolong anywhere close to the Alden House. I was fortunate; he had a fresh supply of Bai Ji Guan, one of my favorites. Weng was well today, but he talked me into helping his cousin. Apparently his cousin, recently in from Shenzen, is in need of interpretation help at the immigration office later this week. He is trying to relocate from China to America and is going through the citizenship process. Of course I agreed.
 
[[File:TimePortal.jpg|thumb|220px|right|A Luminous-ring Timeportal]]I returned in time for the afternoon lesson I had scheduled with Mr. Tophet. I informed him of my particular interest in temporal metaphysics, so we started there. I feel that I have an aptitude for it, though it is exhausting to learn. I learned about how transdimensional and temporal travel intermingle, how they can often be mistaken for each other. For instance, even something as simple as timeporting back a year then forward a year can land the traveler in an alternate universe, though he will never be any the wiser to what has happened. There are a lot of theories as to why this is, but if it weren't that way, perhaps the multiverse would be unsustainable, and the metaphysics have simply evolved this way. Another theory holds that in the realm of all existence, there are infinite parallel worlds, each less separated by precisely 5.39106 x 10^-44 seconds: the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_time Planck time]. Mana can lift someone from one such world and place her in another, and even alter the history and future of each stream to account for the traveler. One theory holds that timeporting is just an exercise of moving between these parallel worlds. So, while teleporting moves through three spatial dimensions, timeporting moves through the other dimensions, however many they may be, yet preserves spatial coordinates relative to the point of departure. It's all very fascinating stuff!
 
I was both energized and exhausted by today's lessons. The possibilites that lie before me seem limitless, especially when I consider how I will be able to use what I learn today to unlock the potential of The Book of The Gates in the coming years. I finished the day with some wall pushups. I can't do many, yet, but I am getting better. I have heard tales of Five Ancestors masters doing one-handed wall pushups, without a wall!
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Wednesday, January 13th,1965</span>==
 
All of this gate magic business is giving me the weirdest dreams. I was walking on the seafloor. It was cold and dark, though there was a peculiar purple light emanating from nowhere in particular. My hair was floating above my head, and while I could not breathe, I did not need to breathe. I was climbing a sandy rise; strange, tentacled sea creatures drifted in the dark waters around me. The sandy rise gave way to bare rock, that curved upward to a cliff face awash in purple light. I could see shadows dancing along the top of the cliff face. They swayed and undulated, as if cast by great sea oats swaying in the breeze, but the source remained out of my view. I tried to scale the cliff face, but I kept slipping back down. I could not swim up. I was bound to the floor by gravity. I heard a low rumble behind me. I turned and peered into the dimness of the formless, watery void. Terrible thoughts plagued my mind, driving me down to my knees. I sobbed, my own salty tears streaming into the endless ocean that now oppressed me, forcing me down to my hands. I struggled not to lose consciousness, and looked up into the nothingness. For a mere instant before I awoke, I saw a great fish eye peering back at me from the black waters, as a macabre hymn in a perplexing tongue arose from the depths.
 
I was unsettled for hours after waking. Much as with the previous dream. I played some records to drive the twisted hymn from my mind. In time it was washed out by the more palatable tones of Etta James. I decided against training this morning, as I was too shaken up by my dream, and the last time I trained in that state I ended up with bloody knuckles. Those scabs are gone now, but I don't need fresh ones.
 
After a light breakfast of rice and bok choy, I met with Mr. Tophet for our final session. We picked up where we left off last time, the rough syllables for temporal mana infusion. We then sent a scrap of paper a minute into the future as practice. It was my first success in temporal magic, and it left me wiped out. If I had the vastness of Kuranes's mind, perhaps I could do this more than once at a time, but for now, I cannot. It is too taxing. Mr. Tophet assures me that with practice it will all come easier. I have no reason to doubt him, as that is the way with all things. This is just harder than anything I have done yet.
 
After my session I called Weng and set up a time to meet his cousin, Mr. Tsui, at the immigration office in tomorrow morning. Afterwards, I spent a couple of hours familiarizing myself with Old Persian script. I have been paging through a text on the subject off and on over the last week, trying to decide how to approach familiarizing myself with it. I've picked up a few things, but this is obviously going to take a long time.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Thursday, January 14th,1965</span>==
 
Tsui must be Weng's older cousin. He looked about 65, with a long gray beard, and bushy gray eyebrows. I greeted him outside the immigration office. It turned out that he just needed me to go over his forms and to look over some documents he had to sign. This was no trouble. Tsui himself seemed very unfriendly. He did not speak to me except when necessary, and he tended to ignore me. He is accustomed to the traditional ways, and I must seem like something very strange to him - an independent Chinese woman who is unmarried and has no children, who wears the clothes of a westerner. While he was unkind, there was a certain charisma about him, hidden beneath a sense of urgency to his immigration. I feel like he is fleeing something, and while I did not think to check his aura amidst the bustle and seemingly endless forms of the immigration office, I got the impression that he is no mundane old man. He has seen things, done things, and <i>knows</i> things, and some of that might be catching up to him. When we parted ways he asked me for directions on how to get a bus to Chinatown. Before I could tell him goodbye, he turned and left abruptly.
 
I returned to the guesthouse to find that Mr. Tophet had left me a folder with a few extra notes in it. Homework, of a sort, and what seemed like an evaluation. He told me where I was weakest, where I needed the most work in my manipulation of mana through gesture and syllables. That is helpful. I practiced some of the phrases he suggested and, before I knew it, the hour had grown late. I took an evening stroll down Glendower Ave, down into some of the neighborhoods of Los Feliz. Fog had started rolling in in the afternoon, and now it was heavy in the air. I made my way back up the hill. I heard coyotes yelping out in the hills as I arrived back.
 
I enjoyed a cup of tea over a few passages of Middle Persian script with annotations and instructions on reading it, then practiced some Da mo to close out the day.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Friday, January 15th,1965</span>==
 
After a session of luohan this morning, I ran across Kuranes outside his guesthouse. He informed me he would be joining me for some breathing exercises in the magical library tomorrow and the next day, for extended sessions. I made the offer last week to teach people what I knew, so I agreed. Even though he didn't actually phrase it that way. He's an odd one.
 
I went to the library today to look at what the Promethean Foundation had available on advanced mathematics and differential geometry. It has been a long time since I cracked a math book, so I will admit that the texts I found seemed daunting. I don't know if they have enough for me to get started working toward understanding The Book of The Gates. Perhaps when we get another break I'll get started on that. I also found some rudimentary texts on Middle Persian. I put the math books back on the shelves and instead got back working on understanding the Middle Persian script. Middle Persian is actually runic in the way it looks, kind of like Thai. I wondered when I was reading it if the script itself had a magical origin. Of course, the same has been said about Chinese, that mages helped devise the brushstrokes in ancient times. I don't know if there is any truth to that.[[File:MiddlePersian2.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Persian script in the Sassanid period]]
 
Just thinking about the magic inherent in script gave me a flashback to the dream from several nights ago where I saw that terrible writing inscribed on the wall in that weird, gray forest. I remember it so clearly when I think about it, almost as though the experience were real. Somewhere in the multiverse, at sometime in its existence, someone had those memories and they somehow found their way to me. Maybe they were my own, from another dimension. Maybe they were someone else's. Whatever the case, it's something that both terrifies and intrigues me. Part of me wishes I could un-remember it, but part of me wants to know more.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Saturday, January 16th,1965</span>==
 
Kuranes and I began our Da mo sessions this morning, working primarily on posture and relaxation. I find that when the posture is sorted out first, the breathing comes easier. Many people focus on the mechanics of the breathing first, but, in some ways, when you achieve good posture, the breathing takes care of itself. The session went smoothly. Kuranes was distant, as always, with little to say. Perhaps he was in the moment but just did not show it. It's hard to say with him, as his mind is vast and he lives within it.
 
The session lasted all day. I had time for little else, though I did read through some Middle Persian manuscripts. Mostly poetry, though there was also a boring account of grain allowances under Yazdegerd II. It was useful for practicing numbers. I also read up briefly on Persian history during the Sassanid period. I remember thinking how strange I would seem to them, but it turns out that assumption was wrong. The Silk Road flourished under the Sassanid kings from the time of the Jin dynasty to the Tang dynasty in China. There was some cultural exchange, and even military cooperation against the common enemy of the barbaric peoples in central Asia. Persians traveled to the Chinese court, and Chinese traveled to the Persian court. It's funny to think that, when all of this is said and done, I would be better at communicating with the Persians of that time than the Chinese.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Sunday, January 17th,1965</span>==
 
I rose early this morning, and I could swear I saw Quinn. I was just arriving at the main house, and I caught a glimpse of the sole of a shoe as someone went around the corner. It was definitely a man's shoe, and not any I had seen before. I rushed to catch up, but by the time I looked around the corner, he was gone. Maybe there is a way to get Elaine to snap a photo of this guy, but we might have to trick him out into the open to do that.
 
Kuranes is a quick study. His posture is already very good, and he picked up on proper inhalation and exhalation fast. I think he may have studied this before, perhaps in the context of meditation. Conscious breath control differs from traditional meditation in the way the mind is focused. Meditation starts by contemplating the breath, its regularity and immediacy. It's presence in the moment. But, as soon as the meditator is relaxed, her focus turns inward, to her mind. She goes on a journey of sorts. A "conscious breather" as it is called in Da mo (well, the translation isn't perfect) does not wander from the act of breathing. It is ironic in that it is a great effort in relaxation and recuperation. It seems paradoxical at first, but with practice I have learned a great deal. I just have to remain vigilant that I do not stray into the realm of meditation; that is the primary challenge, and impressing this upon Kuranes was today's primary instruction. He may be able to do both at the same time, though. He has demonstrated an aptitude for things like that, for dividing his focus without diminishing his efforts. I have heard of ancient masters who could do the same, but Kuranes would be the first person I have met who can simultaneously breath consciously and meditate through an entire cycle of each.
 
I perused my first copy of <i>Sing Tao Daily</i> today. So much of it was focused on the impending New Year celebrations. The newspaper was rife with recipes for traditional dishes and information about events around Los Angeles. I'm sure the porridge will be flowing any day now! The funniest part was the discussion of what numerical year this Year of the Snake will be. It's an amusing reminder that China can hardly be considered one cultural entity when you consider that people can't even agree on what year it is. According to my own family's tradition, the first year was in the western year of 2637 B.C.E., but you can probably get a different answer for when the calendar began in each province of China. I can think of a way to discover the truth, but my skills at temporal mana infusion are not up to the challenge yet.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Monday, January 18th,1965</span>==
 
I ran into Genda for the first time in a while. He told me he had been out on a movie shoot. With his size and charisma, maybe he has a shot at making it in the film business. He's definitely out of the ordinary. He, Elaine, and Kuranes were tasked by Mrs. Carter to look into some items that had been part of some man's estate, that had been auctioned off. It sounded interesting, but I had more pressing matters to attend today. Namely, getting further along in my studies.
 
I did some research on Sayed and The Book of The Gates in the occult archives. I get the impression from reading about it that the book I have is definitely the original, but it seems to be missing pages. Perhaps the part that is missing is just obscured somehow, but there are definitely sections discussed in the reference material that don't appear in the book itself. It's mildly alarming to discover this, but it doesn't change what I need to do right now. I need to press on with acquiring the tools essential to understanding the book. This meant more study of Middle Persian (I now know the book is really called Kitab al-Babi), and a several hour review of my notes from the sessions with Mr. Tophet.
 
[[File:StahlHouse.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The Stahl House]]I finished the day by cycling up Cahuenga to Mullholland, back down Laurel Canyon, and up the hill to the Stahl House, to see the beautiful view of the city there. I found a secluded spot nearby, ran through a few White Crane transitions, then headed back home. It was an exhausting day; I think I will sleep well tonight.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Tuesday, January 19th,1965</span>==
 
[[File:DimMakAd.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A newspaper ad for Dim Mak training]]I read today's <i>Sing Tao Daily</i> over a breakfast of vegetable congee. I made a huge pot and left most of it in a container outside Genda's door. I hope he enjoys it. It seems that Bruce Lee's demonstration at last year's Long Beach International Karate Championships and rise to celebrity in general have created a large number of mimics, if the advertisements in <i>Sing Tao Daily</i> are any indication. Most of these are surely charlatans, but some may be real. I find it discouraging that so many of the advertisements focus on claims of being masters of Dim Mak; kung-fu is about the breath of life, not the touch of death. I feel that these so-called sifu who wish to capitalize on the sensationalism surrounding kung-fu by offering to teach such things do a disservice to the history of the art. Bruce Lee is often decried for teaching kung-fu to caucasians, but surely teaching white people in a responsible way is better than what these men are promoting in Chinese newspapers. My ancestors in China, if they heard of this sort of practice, would have traveled to the schools and challenged the masters. It was their way of discrediting charlatans and stopping the real masters from spreading dangerous techniques to hotheaded youth. With the rise of the Tongs and Triads and the violence they bring, these things are particularly deadly now. Some of these teachers recruit young people with a taste for violence for those organizations.
 
After breakfast, I cloistered myself in the library for more study. I practiced making some Persian calligraphy. I think it helps me remember, the way they say both singing and speaking can make you remember the same phrase in two different ways. I believe calligraphy does the same when it comes to learning a written script. I know it works that way for Chinese. It's not easy to memorize so many characters just by writing them down. You truly learn them when you understand the art inherent in the strokes, and only focused calligraphy can teach you that. At least, that's the best way I have found. I'm thankful to Wei for all of the countless hours he let me spend creating signs for him that could have been done in a matter of minutes.
 
Things have been quiet around the Alden House with the rest of the New Prometheans out on assignment. The quiet has let me get a lot of work done.
 
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Wednesday, January 20th,1965</span>==
 
My foray into Persian calligraphy has led me to conclude that I do not have the appropriate tools for the trade. I can use my Chinese brushes and pens, but I guessed that there were better options. I took a quick bicycle ride down to an art supply store on Sunset Boulevard. The guy behind the counter there was not the greatest help, but I browsed the aisles and found what I was looking for. As I was paying at the register, I heard loud rumbling noises outside on the street. I looked out the window and saw what must have been twenty burly men on motorcycles ride by. I caught a glimpse of their patches as they cruised by, and I'm sure I saw the death's head of the Hells Angels. My bicycle was on the sidewalk out front, but I still went out the back door, despite the cashier's protests. I waited in the alley until the rumbling subsided, rushed to my bicycle, and rode off toward Hollywood Boulevard. I don't know if the chapters don't here in Southern California know about me, but I'm not taking any chances. I almost got shot the last time I ran across them. While I can protect myself against bullets, given enough time, twenty armed guys on motorcycles is not something I want to deal with, not now, and especially now while I'm carrying something as valuable as the Kitab al-Babi around.


I got back to the house around noon and spent the afternoon studying. There is something odd about The Book of The Gates, now that I examine the lettering more closely. It almost looks to have been penned by two different hands, though the differences are so subtle, that it could just represent different periods in the same man's life. Most people retain the same strokes and stylistic leanings throughout their lives, but some people like to switch things up. In fact, I feel that learning about Persian calligraphy is somehow going to influence the way I do Chinese calligraphy. It is unavoidable that the things you learn in one area creep into everything you do, from kung-fu, to magic, to art. It is all interconnected. Sayed's life was a tremendous journey, so it would not surprise me if the things he learned guided his hand right down to stylistic lettering choices but, still, it <i>is</i> interesting that some of the lettering could have been done by a copycat.
[[Lisa's Galactic Timeline]]


[[Darkstar Campaign Log]]


[[File:ZoroastrianCalligraphy.jpg|center|Zoroastrian Calligraphy]]
==<span style="color:#21610B">Thursday, January 21th, 1965</span>==
I met with the rest of New Prometheans at breakfast with Mrs. Carter today. I got an update about their recent activities, tracking down items from the estate of Benton Tuttle. The auction took place several months ago, and the items of interest had ended up scattered. The most noteworthy items were a golden raccoon that had been acquired by a member of an organized crime outfit at the behest of "The Scarlet Woman," a Polynesian mask that was passed down to one of Tuttle's relatives, a Hollywood makeup artist named Bill Tuttle, a potentially dangerous occult book that ended up at Bixby's Books in Hollywood, a curious book said to grant magical instruction to those not naturally endowed with the gifts of magecraft, and a collection of maps that were purchased for a store downtown called Anaximander's Maps.
We decided that the most important item to investigate first was the Red Book, the occult text that had wound up at Bixby's Books. There is a variety of lore surrounding the Red Book. First, is that there are actually three of [[The Red Books]]. Second, the books are demonological in nature. They are said to possess instructions for bringing forth particularly odious demons, as opposed to merely average demons. I hope that these books are not, in fact, pieces of the Grand Grimoire, the "Red Dragon." The Grand Grimoire is said to grant the ability to summon Lucifuge Rofocale himself. Indeed, that would be a particularly odious and immensely dangerous demon to summon. Current occult lore suggests that these volumes are also known as The Books of Pain and are unrelated to the Grand Grimoire, having been printed this century in Central America, not dating back to medieval times or earlier. Whatever the case, a Red Book is clearly a dangerous item, and best sequestered in the Foundation's vaults, or maybe even sent to Tibet to be kept with the forbidden texts.
We arrived at the bookstore in the midmorning. The proprietor was, well, what one would expect from a bookshop owner in Los Angeles. He was introverted and awkward, but nice enough. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he purchased the Red Book. He was not a mage, nor did he seem particularly knowledgeable about the occult. In fact, the book had been stolen from him right after he bought it. He said he never even got a chance to unpack it and look at it. It was taken from his wall safe in the middle of the night. He had no idea who took it, or why. We asked to examine the safe, and I checked it for any signs of magic. In fact, there was an envelope that glowed brightly and chaotically, not unlike the aura of Kitab al-Babi. I asked to have a closer look, and he agreed. What lay within was better than I could have hoped. It was a few missing pages from the book! Obviously, we could not leave them there. So, we negotiated with him. It turns out that Jansen had given him the pages months prior to have them appraised. We let him know that Jansen was deceased, as was his next of kin, and that, in fact, we had been contracted by the insurance agency responsible for overseeing the estate. We gave him our names and he gave us the pages.
We were not so lucky in the rest of our efforts. Anaximander's Maps turned out to be a curious place, utterly devoid of magic, with an odd, yet knowing proprietor. He knew we were after occult objects, but he would not give us any information, except to say the two "interesting" maps from the collection had been purchased. Genda was able to use his spiritual powers to determine a date of sale, and that the items sold were a map of Hyboria, and a map of the Dreamlands. We formulated a plan to return to both the bookshop and the map store late at night to use magic to see who had been there on the dates in question and acquired the items. Keaton seemed extremely interested in the electromagnetic radiation in the map shop, and asked repeatedly and in several different ways, if he could bring some scientific equipment to study it. Anaximander was not interested in allowing that, and was as uninformative as possible on the matter.[[File:AnaximanderMap.gif|300px|thumb|left|Anaximander's map of the world. Where is China?]]
With about half of the day left, we elected to make the trip to San Diego to track down Arther Godel, who had purchased the primer that allegedly allowed the uninitiated to make use of magic. I'm skeptical of this book though, knowing what we now do about how the natural order of mana is currently out of balance, if that balance could be restored, such a book - if it were legitimate - could be of considerable use. Through a series of mishaps with a public telephone, we finally learned that Arthur Godel was some sort of derelict living near the beach in the Golden Sands Motel. We concocted a plan to get his room number from the front desk. I posed as a massage therapist and made use of Kuranes's acting skills. The clerk bought it and gave me the room number. We staked the room out and waited for him to return. Genda and Kuranes were able to discern a few details about the room while we waited, namely that it was a bit of a mess and that Godel was keeping cash there.
Godel finally returned, and I went and knocked on the door. Genda waited around the side, near a window, in case he tried to make a getaway. Godel was under some pressure from debt collectors, and we did not want to spook him. Hence only I went, as few men are intimidated by a small Chinese woman, and no debt collector would send someone who looks like me. He was paranoid at first, but ultimately let me in. He informed me that he had been hired to purchase the book by a man named Frank. He acquired the book then sold it so some tycoon who lived in a rural estate near the Mexican border. It was too late in the day to pursue this lead and be able to make it back in time to investigate the bookshop and map store, so we headed back to Los Angeles.
Our investigation into the identity of the thief was successful. We entered the shop unnoticed and without setting off any alarms. Kuranes was able to summon forth images of the past that let us view who had opened the safe. It was a pale, utterly bald man, who did not even have eyebrows. He was tall, perhaps as much as six feet. He moved to the safe, entered the combination on the dial, took the Red Book, closed the safe, then left. It's lucky that he did not take the pages from the Kitab al-Babi, but he was obviously after the Red Book. We tried a similar approach at Anaximander's. To our surprise, he was there at 3:00 in the morning. What kind of strange man is he? We performed the ritual outside, but, perhaps we were too nervous about trying to go quickly and not be seen by pedestrians or passengers on streetcars, that we failed to invoke the spell. It was not very long before Anaximander came out, opened the door, and started making comments about our persistence. Kuranes at last completed the spell, but all that was visible was an image of Anaximander himself, frozen in some sort of loop. The image looked left, then right, then repeated. Anaximander made some smug remark about getting back to him when we figured it out. It was late, and I was at my wit's end. I shook my fist at him and told him he needed therapy. What sort of mage hides in a shop with no mana all day and all night? What sort of ethical man would hide the identities of people who might be dangerous?
We went back to the Alden House. Kuranes had cast a spell to grant him and myself wakefulness, so I will stay up all night and get ready to help Genda tomorrow. He has an audition with a movie producer, Jim Stone, who is working with Bill Tuttle. I'm going to pose at Genda's personal assistant so that I can inspect the area for magic.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Friday, January 22nd, 1965</span>==
Elaine drove Genda and me to the studious in the new Mercedes sedan the Foundation is letting us use. Nice wheels. We arrived in the studio in the late morning, and waited for Stone and Tuttle to show up. They arrived within an hour. The meeting went well for Genda. He got the part without even trying. Stone was perhaps even more interested in me. He came onto me a few times during the meeting, and even told me to get in touch with him if "I wanted a job" in movies. Well, I don't want a job! There was no magic in stone's office, nor did we find any in Tuttle's workshop on the premises. We followed him home, and there we did find the mask. It was in his garage, or whatever it was he had converted his garage into. We considered taking it then and there, but instead we went back to the Alden House.
We met with Mrs. Carter to discuss our findings. First, she was very unsettled by our description of the man who stole the Red Book. The color drained from her face as we told her, and she informed us that it was none other than Xavier Hellestromme. She contended this was impossible, that he had vanished decades ago. But, knowing what I now do about gates and the nature of metaphysical reality, I can attest that it is very much possible. If this is true, we are doubly lucky that he did not take the pages of Kitab al-Babi that were there! Getting those from him would be a challenge. Though that does make me nervous that he is trying to outmaneuver us. If he is as wily as the stories say, he could have left those as bait, or as a way to track us down to the rest of the book. Kitab al-Babi would do what it can to prevent someone such as Hellestromme from coming into possession of it, I think, but if he could track us, he could track it indirectly. I am now torn about whether I should consult with Quinn about this matter. I'll have to think it over. For now, I will just do what I am able to look for any undesirable magics connected with these newfound pages.
Keaton had been researching who the tycoon near the border could be, and had narrowed it down to three possibilities. Mrs. Carter was familiar with the names, and even knew one of the people personally, one Agnes Wallace. She said that Mrs. Wallace (the widow of an oil tycoon) does have a passing interest in the occult, maybe a dabbler of sorts. If the primer were effective, that would be precisely the sort of person who could benefit from it the most. The other possibility was a Mr. Daniel Van Landingham, who Mrs. Carter indicated came from old money, probably a wealthy eccentric of sorts. Mrs. Carter seemed to believe that Mrs. Wallace was a decent sort, but the account that Arthur Godel (for whatever it is worth) gave us of the purchaser seemed far more sinister. Even to a Hellestromme level of sinisterness. I have not ruled out that both purchases are somehow connected. We will find out.
We elected to leave the Polynesian mask in the hands of Bill Tuttle for now. Mrs. Carter said the Foundation will reach out to him to acquire it, but we all agreed that if Hellestromme wanted the mask, he would have already taken it. That's logical to conclude, though Hellestromme's game could have many steps, leaving the mask with Tuttle being one of them. We will not know until we learn more.
Our next order of business will be tracking down the Scarlet Woman. Mrs. Carter identified her as Marjorie Cameron, a high-ranking member in a magical order. Her title of Scarlet Woman is like an official rank within that order. Mrs. Carter informed us that Ms. Cameron lives at a hotel called The Ambassador and tries to enjoy a posh, leisurely lifestyle. It is no surprise she would want a golden raccoon that allegedly has the power to instill added value onto jewels, letting the possessor generate wealth.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Saturday, January 23nd, 1965</span>==
[[File:AmbassadorHotel2.jpg|thumb|330px|right|The Ambassador Hotel]]Today was an interesting day. We started by doing a little research into [[Marjorie Cameron]], the Scarlet Woman, and then went to go snoop around the [[Ambassador Hotel]] to learn more about her. Lunch at the hotel was nice, though Genda should have the final say on that matter. I think he sample at least one of everything he could eat from the menu, including several desserts and more coffee than seemed appropriate. His enthusiastic enjoyment of the meal was ideal, though, because before we were finished, Marjorie and her entourage arrived. We first noticed what seemed to be guards appear at the restaurant's entrance from the lobby. They were there just keeping an eye on the place, then several men in suits and Marjorie came to dine. We kept tabs on them during their meal and afterwards. Kuranes used his creature to get more information, and Genda communicated with spirits to learn more. Marjorie had a peculiar magical aura. Not like a mage, but not quite like a being of pure magic. It seemed to share similarities with both, as though she exists at the juxtaposition of being a mage and a magical being.
Our cover was almost blown when Elaine was noticed by some of her bodyguards. Fortunately, they thought she was paparazzi, and did not figure out who we really were. I took over as the spotter in the lobby after Elaine had to leave. The hours crawled by slowly, so I read the newspaper while I waited. I noted that for the second time in two months and actor had taken a suicidal leap off of the roof of a building in Los Angeles; I also saw that a man the others had been in contact with about the Tuttle Auction had passed of unknown causes out in Malibu. After a while, Marjorie and two guards emerged from her room and went to the valet and to get their vehicle. I moved close to the door and got a good look and made note of the license plate. They left, heading west on Wilshire. I went back to the parking lot to join the others in the Mercedes. Genda tried to catch up to them, but was unsuccessful. So, instead, we turned to the arcane and used a spell of seeking to find their car. It was somewhere in Santa Monica. When we got closer, I was able to cast a spell of tracing to locate its exact position.
We found it parked near a building with art studios. This was unsurprising, as Marjorie is a known dabbler in art. Genda communicated with the spirits to find where she was in the building. Kuranes and I found a back entrance, out of view of her bodyguards, and made our way up to her studio. We knocked, were let in, and had what I consider to be a very frank talk. We told her we were looking for the Red Book. We asked her about the auction, but she seemed fairly apathetic. We asked if there was anyone she could put us into touch with about the book. She told us to meet us later that night at the [[Blue Lotus]] downtown, at 9:00.
I made preparations for the event. I hadn't gotten my hair done in a while so I took this opportunity to do so. I had Genda help me select an appropriate dress. Elaine and Genda also came to the Blue Lotus, but in a separate vehicle, and they did not interact with us. When we arrived we told the hostess who we were meeting, and she escorted us to Marjorie's table, in a semi-private room off of the main room. It was immediately apparent to me as we made our way to the Marjorie that the band on stage was phenomenal. I took a closer look, and I could see that it was Miles Davis! I almost abandoned our mission right then and there to go watch, but I decided to wait. I took an even closer look and noticed that Miles had a magical aura. I wasn't surprised in the least.
[[File:BlueLotusCocktail.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The infamous Blue Lotus Cocktail]]We met with Marjorie and her entourage. It was actually "Mr. Licata's party," and Nick Licata was there. The meeting was somewhat fruitful, as Mr. Licata indicated that he was in the business of trading in occult items. The only problem was that he had no particular interest in books. Nor did he seem to know anyone with such interests. After a brief introduction and conversation about acquiring occult items, Marjorie had Nick and his men excuse themselves. Marjorie seemed incredibly apathetic to our mission. It dawned on her who we were when we mentioned that we wanted to sequester the Red Book, to keep it out of anyone's hands who might put it to nefarious use. She made a few comments about Mrs. Carter, generally unflattering, and indicated that she would not help us very much if Mrs. Carter did not pay up. She said Mrs. Carter would know the precise payment details. When we explained our concerns that the book had been acquired by Xavier Hellestromme, she still remained largely apathetic, but also dismissive, indicating that it was impossible that Hellestromme was alive on our plane of existence. She said it was more likely that a group known as the Red Hand had sent someone in posing as Hellestromme to acquire the item. The Red Hand is a covert organization of thieves and assassins, specializing in the theft of magical items and the assassination of mages. They themselves employ mages.
I am skeptical about this Red Hand. Marjorie said she has a contact who can put us in touch with them, but only if we are serious about wanting to hire them. Not only do I not want to hire them, but I am unconvinced that Marjorie is right about them. Maybe it was them, but maybe not. What she doesn't know is about the incident with Hellestromme's radio on New Years Eve. Some entity was released from some form of imprisonment in that event. While it is true that the theft of the Red Book from Bixby's Books happened prior to the incident with the radio, I can't help but feel that they are somehow connected.
But, enough about all of this cloak-and-dagger business. The most important event of the evening was after our meeting with Marjorie. I met Miles Davis! When the band took a break, I went backstage and found them and their friends enjoying some reefer. I joined in, but didn't see Miles. He was in his dressing room, relaxing. I went back and found him, and he was definitely very... relaxed. He had a half-smoked joint that we finished together. We spoke briefly about music and jazz. He went in and out of a haze, but was clearly enjoying himself. I noticed that not only was his aura magical, but so was his horn's. I didn't get a chance to take a closer look, but there was something special about it. I'm not even going to mention that one to Mrs. Carter or the Promethean Foundation. I think it is in the right hands. The real danger would be sequestering it away from an arist like Miles. When it was time to go back on stage, I "handed" Miles his horn and he told me I reminded him of his grandmother. I'm pretty sure that's a compliment. Even better, we got seats right upfront for the rest of the night, and Miles even said, "this next one is for my friend Lisa." What an amazing evening at the Blue Lotus. What could be better?
The rest of the night was less exciting. We were in Malibu, then the Hollywood Hills. We investigated the death of a private investigator somehow affiliated with the Tuttle Estate auction, then went to a huge mansion in the hills where we presumed a party was going on. It turned out the party was over, and what was happening when we arrived was a Thelemic initiation ritual for three people in Marjorie's coven. Genda was able to communicate with spirits that told us what was happening, but we were not permitted to enter the premises. Some of Marjorie's thugs stopped us at the door and would not let us in. When we tried to convince them otherwise, they tried to get rough (unsuccessfully, I might add).
We made it back to the Alden House late. I'm not sure where this leaves us, but I feel that Marjorie is going to be difficult. Her apathy toward what we're trying to accomplish is a hurdle that can only be overcome through bribery, or maybe personal favors.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Sunday, January 24nd, 1965</span>==
We met with Mrs. Carter for breakfast to discuss our findings from yesterday. It's clear she is not a great fan of Marjorie anymore than Marjorie is of her. She indicated that the price to get Marjorie's help would be enormous, such as the power stone that powers the mana-stat here at the Alden Compound. An artifact of that magnitude is priceless. It is integral to the work we do, so obviously it's not something we can exchange for information about the Red Book. Kuranes was very direct and accusatory in asking about the Red Hand and whether Mrs. Carter had withheld information from us. I suppose it's best to get all of that out in the open, but I think it's obvious that Mrs. Carter is in many ways in over her head. She is not a mage and, while she does have some experience with mages and weird elements, she is not exactly an expert on magic or well-connected to every magical group out there. She knows a few powerful people like Mr. Tophet, but she cannot be expected to know about every magical group that comes and goes over the years.
Mrs. Carter did seem disturbed by an aside that Kuranes and Marjorie had during our meeting last night. Marjorie indicated that she had successfully created a magical child with Jack Parsons some years ago. Mrs. Carter takes that to mean that she has created some sort of astral entity that gives her a special sort of domain over our universe. I don't know about any of that. I will be interested to investigate that more after I have learned more on the nuances of space, time, dimensions, and how our reality is truly ordered. Despite her reservations about Marjorie, she does think that she could be a useful contact. Maybe, but her apathy seems to be a difficult barrier, especially when the only things that motivate her carry such a high price.
It felt like our options were getting narrower, and that we're running out of time to track this book down before something bad happens. We decided we will investigate the suicides starting tomorrow. If that doesn't pan out, we may need to do some traveling to find more good leads, or we may need to put the matter of the Red Book aside to look into other items of interest. We'll see how it turns out.
After our meeting, I went back to my guesthouse, smoked a joint, and listened to my <i>Kind of Blue</i> album. I spent most of the rest of the day studying Persian script in the library. I am slowly but surely becoming competent at this. It's going to take a while, but at least I can start to feel the progress I'm making. Kitab al-Babi is always in the back of my mind. I know that much of my other activities are distractions from it, but I will come to understand it in due time.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Monday, January 25th, 1965</span>==
I had strange dreams again last night. I had gone to sleep exhausted and felt like I was floating as soon as I hit the bed. I slipped into sleep almost instantly, my arrival into the realm of dreams heralded by a trumpet playing above a low, electric hum. With each note, a blue spark flashed before me. Each spark illuminated a small portion of what appeared to be a skeleton hovering in front of a vertical wall of gray sand. But, it was no human skeleton. It had two ribcages. Its spine diverged into two columns below its neck then converged again at the waist. It appeared to have three clawed thumbs on each hand, and three toes on each of its cylindrical feet. At one point a spark flashed right in front of an eye socket, but it did not fade like the others. It persisted. At once I heard a chant emerge from the electric hum underlying the music. The chanting crescendoed, deep and throaty like songs from the Mongols of the plains. Seconds later, the other eye socket was illuminated by a spark. The blue glow persisted in both sockets, and the frequency of the chanting lowered, deepening into a horrifying undulation of alien sounds. The eyes shifted color, turning green, then yellow, then orange, then at last red. They stared into my mind, unraveling my thoughts and amplifying the terror brought on by the alien madrigal.
I awoke in a sweat, my sheets torn from their corners. I could see the morning light starting to creep in through the window shades. I was happy to be awake. I don't understand the recent dreams. They are not frequent, and they don't seem to interrupt my sleep the way some people's nightmares do, but I have not had strange dreams like this since I left China as a child. Why have they come again?
Today was another long day. We met for breakfast and decided that we would go out to investigate the suicides. Just prior to breakfast I set up some magical beacons to assist with magical travel through space-time. The beacons would let me more easily transport home if need be. I think I will set these up on a regular basis. They will be useful for getting home safely from almost anyplace and anytime.
Our first stop was at the newspaper to speak with the crime reporter who had written the story about the recent suicide at the Roosevelt Hotel. It seemed like a good idea when we left the house, but by the time we arrived, it seemed like a bad idea. I though that we could circumvent this by making use of magic. But, for some bizarre reason, I had agreed to this idea. Kuranes and Elaine spoke with the reporter. I think there was something off about her. I can't put my finger on it, but I just didn't like her very much. They found out that the suicide victim, Ms. Johansen, had been a bit of a loner, but really didn't get much great information. We were at least able to find out the name of the detective who worked the case, and managed to track him down to the LAPD central office. Detective LaPierre. We called ahead and went to wait for him to arrive for lunch at the station. He was more helpful than the reporter. He told us that Ms. Johansen had been staying in room 404 at the Roosevelt. Prior to her suicide in the morning, there had been reports of shouting coming from her room at about 3:00 a.m. It was not clear from the report if she was arguing, but apparently no other shouting voices were heard, just hers. I was suspicious about that.
[[File:roosevelt.jpg|thumb|right|350px|The Roosevelt Hotel]]Kuranes and Elaine went to investigate the room, and I went to the roof. There were no useful clues on the roof. Kuranes and Elaine ran into someone in the room, apparently the director of the theater company Ms. Johansen was in, and had a brief conversation with him. He confirmed that Ms. Johansen was a loner, and he let them look through her affects that he was packing up. There were no artifacts of particular interest. We next went to examine the alley below where the body fell, to see if there were any other clues, or if someone had come by the body and taken something. We did see that when she fell, multicolored glass shards flew out upon impact. She was apparently carrying a glass. I thought it made sense that she would have been drunk when she died.
Kuranes and Elaine went back to the room, and I went to the lobby. I spoke to one of the people there, but he knew nothing about Ms. Johansen. In fact, he didn't even know there had been a suicide. He was a bit put off to learn about it and started giving the manager at the front desk a hard time. I took the opportunity to read a little of Kitab al-Babi. My Persian is getting better, but I still can't really tell what the text says. I have managed to piece together a passage here and there, but it still involves a lot of laborious translation. I am not thinking in Persian yet. They arrived back from the room with an ashtray that matched the glass Ms. Johansen had been carrying when she jumped. It was rather ugly. When we got back to Elaine's van, Kuranes just tossed it in amidst her things. Of all the things to take... why that ugly thing? It did not have a magical aura, as far as I could tell.
It was getting on into the late afternoon, but we decided to followup on our only other lead. We went to the apartment building where the previous suicide had happened about a month prior to Ms. Johansen's death. The victim was also an actor, and also jumped from a high building. When we reached the address, I attempted to sense if there were any magical things there. There were not, but I did feel a magical presence coming from a pawn shop across the street. We decided to investigate. The proprietor was a black man of Genda-like proportions, a loud and boisterous guy named Emperor Jones. Did it really say Emperor on his birth certificate? Maybe. I guess I could find that out later. We looked around the shop, and there was a collection of glassware that had the look of the ashtray and the goblet Ms. Johansen had when she plummeted to her death. Besides that, there was mostly just a lot of junk, none of it magical. Whatever was magical was hidden behind the counter somewhere. Emperor Jones was a bit hostile to us when he realized we weren't normal customers (or whatever passes for normal at a Pawn and Loan on Sunset Boulevard). He accused us first of being con artists, saying that he himself was a con artist and that we would therefore not be able to con him, and then he accused us of using voodoo. I impressed upon him that Chinese people did not use voodoo, but then he just accused me of using whatever voodoo it is that Chinese people do. I tried to get back to where I sensed the magic, but he halted me and then told me to leave. Kuranes came out a few minutes later.
I was ready to stake the place out then and there. Elaine and Kuranes wanted to go investigate the scene at the apartment building, but I felt like whatever magic was in there was what we were after. What else could it be? But, we went ahead up to the roof anyway. We met the woman in the penthouse apartment who had been throwing a rooftop party the night of the suicide. She was a producer, and the lover of the deceased. She indicated that just prior to his death, he had developed a drinking habit and had taken up a fascination with glassware. Ugly glassware. The description matched the piece that Ms. Johansen had when she died. This could not be a coincidence. I felt that someone had used the Red Book to curse glassware and that the glassware was leading to suicides. Though, in hindsight, I must say that this conclusion makes no sense. I don't recall reading anything about the Red Book being used to manufacture such items. It is a book devoted to the necromantic act of demon-summoning, not to the practice of creating cursed objects. These are two very different things, though the results for the victims can be the same.
We were all in agreement that the pawnshop had to be staked out, and that we would either snatch the item when Emperor Jones left, or, if he took it, follow him to his destination and get it. I went around back to the alley and the others stayed on the street to watch the front. A couple hours after sunset, Emperor Jones left the shop. He was carrying the item with him in a bag. He got into his car and drove off. I joined the others back at the van and we followed him to an apartment in West Hollywood. I watched him go in and up some stairs, and we saw which lights came on. We saw Emperor Jones in the apartment. He looked outside, then drew the curtains closed. We decided that we had to go get whatever it was he had. We snuck up to the apartment and unlocked the door. Kuranes sent his companion Kielu in to investigate. Evidently, Emperor Jones had gone to the bedroom in the back of the apartment and was engaged in some sort of ritual. We went in to confront him. We snuck into the bedroom, but he was nowhere to be seen... until he leapt from the shadows to grab me! Fortunately, I dodged out of the way just in the nick of time. I think if he had gotten ahold of me, it would have been tough to get free. He was just so big.
We sparred briefly. Emperor Jones was surprisingly spry for a man of his stature. He dodged away when I tried to sweep him to the floor, then dodged a volley of electrical bolts that Elaine fired from some pistol-like device she had. He came at me again, but I dodged and countered with a shot to his throat. He staggered slightly. Elaine unleashed more bolts at him. They hit, but didn't seem to slow him down one bit. He tried to rush past Elaine and Kuranes. Somehow, Elaine managed to grab at him and stop him. At that instant, Kuranes overcame him with a mental attack, dazing him where he stood. We quickly searched the room and found that Emperor Jones had a magical golden bowl rimmed with a strange, arcane script. It had been sitting in his desk during the altercation. I bade Kuranes help me with an incantation, then quickly hurled the bowl through the fabric of space to the beacon I had set up at the Alden House. The bowl vanished!
When Emperor Jones came to, he did not remember anything. We explained that he had fallen, that we had heard him from outside the door, and came in to check on him. He was friendly when he realized we weren't there to cause him any trouble. He seemed to have no recollection of the bowl or of us, only a vague sense of having seen us before. We told him to get some water and try to relax, that it looked like everything was fine. He said he felt alright, just a little sore.
We made it back to the Alden House as fast as we could. The bowl had arrived safely. I used some basic magic to levitate the bowl down to the temple below the house. That was the safest place we could think of to store it. Kuranes stayed to further secure it with a pentagram and conduct some research on it. I felt like we should return to collect all of the glassware we had seen in the pawn shop and at Emperor Jones's apartment that matched the goblet and ashtray associated with the suicides, but Kuranes thought that with the bowl secure, that the glassware was not currently a threat. That was good enough for me. We can deal with collecting all of the individual pieces of glassware later, if need be. It was late and I just wanted to head to sleep as soon as possible.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Tuesday, January 26th, 1965</span>==
We met for breakfast this morning and I, for one, felt that our options were narrowing. We discussed the value of contacting David Van Landingham about his purchase of the Primer. We agreed it was best to follow up on that, just in case. Near the end of breakfast Kuranes at last decided to tell us about some dreams he had that he considered "prophetic." Kuranes seems to be something of a dream traveler, so I thought it best not to ignore what he had seen.
We discussed and researched the possible meanings of the images he shared with us from his dreams. Much of it unequivocally pointed to a woman living in Glendale who we believed, after some research, to be the daughter of a Miskatonic-educated occultist named Mr. Manton. We decided to get in touch with her and try to arrange a meeting, to perhaps learn more about her father. Kuranes believed this was all worthwhile, as it may pertain to a key somehow associated with the Dreamlands (coincidentally, a map of the Dreamlands was purchased from Anaximander's shop by an unknown party). She agreed to come to the Alden House tomorrow afternoon.
We decided to use the rest of the day to follow up on Mr. Van Landingham. We learned that he had an office in Santa Monica, that he was involved in real estate. Genda phoned him and set us a meeting time in the afternoon. I felt fortunate that he had time to see us right away, seeing as how he is a busy millionaire. We made a few preparations then took the Mercedes out to Santa Monica, Genda at the wheel.
Mr. Van Landingham was eager to receive us. He seemed enthusiastic about meeting some agents of the Promethean Foundation. We exchanged pleasantries, and Kuranes and I verified that Mr. Van Landingham was, in fact, a mage. He had little skill and no training, but he did have the aura of a minor mage. He seemed mainly like a dabbler, not serious enough about magic to fully commit himself to the practice. It made perfect sense that he would be interested in the Primer, because, in many ways, it represents a shortcut for the dilettante. He confirmed that he had it, but he wanted to keep it for himself, to use it. We determined that there were no other magical artifacts present, and Mr. Van Landigham <i>seemed</i> like a decent enough person, so we decided to let him keep it. We warned him that we weren't the only parties who may take an interest in it, but he wished to keep it nonetheless. I gave him my card and let him know that if he ever got more serious about wanting to learn magic, we might be able to arrange some private instruction for him. Better to have multi-millionaire magies on our side, I say.
We got home in the early evening. We talked over our plans. We decided we would have our meeting with Manton's daughter then make a return to the Pasadena Mystery House to see if we could learn anything new, and just to see what OSI had left behind. I spent the rest of the evening studying Persian, and took another glance at Kitab al-Babi.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Wednesday, January 27th, 1965</span>==
I spent the morning continuing my studies. Noon came and went, and still we had not heard from the woman Kuranes dreams had pointed us to. Eventually we called her, but she was suspicious of us and not interested in coming by. She said that the types of things we wanted to know would be better uncovered at a library, looking through Miskatonic yearbooks and the like. She did inform us about some of the people she had met at her father's funeral, and indicated that a couple of them had taken possession of any relevant documents and artifacts that her father still had upon his death. In other words, anything that would be useful to us was already taken.
Our trip to the Mystery House started off on the complete wrong foot. Genda took us who knows where. I think we may have been in Alhambra at one point, but we eventually found our way to Pasadena. We approached the house carefully, from down the street. We didn't sense anyone surveilling it, and it appeared abandoned, so we let ourselves in. We looked around the premises and discovered, as we expected, yet still to our dismay, that the OSI had taken everything of value. Interestingly enough, the sealed double pentagram chamber was still there. We determined further that some entity was trapped inside, though it seemed largely indifferent to our existence. We were not able to establish any meaningful communication with it, but sensed that it was powerful, and perhaps dangerous by way of this power alone, even if it had no specific malevolent intentions. We considered the option of freeing it and helping it return whence it came, but we ultimately decided that would be too dangerous. We thought it would be wiser to learn more about it first. Mrs. Carter can have the foundation purchase the house, and we'll have plenty of time to ascertain what it is and how to send it away. I think Kitab al-Babi will be very useful for that.
After poking around the house, we made a quick stop in Glendale on our way back to the Alden House. We located the residence of Mr. Manton's daughter, and Genda communicated with the spirits to investigate it. We determined she was in possession of a few items that her father had left her, but that she was probably right, that we could find the information contained therein just as easily from publicly available sources. Plus it occurred to us that the foundation had purchased a great deal of materials and information from Miskatonic University. So, we decided to leave her in peace and return home.
Our research into Kuranes's dream via Manton and his Miskatonic connections proved at once fruitful and disturbing. He had, in fact, been in an astronomy club at the university with a number of other people who had appeared in Kuranes's dream. Furthermore, a map and poem that Kuranes had seen, in conjunction with what we could glean from the Miskatonic materials pointed directly to the [[Choronzon Club]], a potentially dangerous cult with ties to Xavier Hellestromme, [[Marcus Kane]], and the cosmic entities known as Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath. What's worse, the stanza from his dream pointed toward the potential involvement of Yog-Sothoth, and perhaps something much worse - an attempt at waking an even more powerful, more dangerous entity. In some ways, this is not a surprise, as Yog-Sothoth may be connected at a very basic level to the fluctuation in mana in our plane of reality.
We had no good leads into the Choronzons, and we were not keen on contacting Marjorie Cameron, so I got in touch with Tophet to see if he knew anything. He was disturbed by our findings, but curious as well. He mentioned that he may have further information about the Choronzons, and that he would get back in touch with me about it.
[[File:Yog1.jpg|thumb|left|350px| An interpretation of Yog-Sothoth]][[File:Yog2.jpg|thumb|center|280px| An interpretation of Yog-Sothoth]]
==<span style="color:#8A0829">Thursday, January 28th, 1965</span>==
After an early training session brushing up on some Five Ancestors Fist form transitions, I had a huge bowl of noodles then spent the rest of the morning studying Persian. The others left to go investigate something or other out of town, but I felt it was best to stay and meet with Tophet, to see if he had any information for us about the Choronzons. I believe my decision was justified, because Tophet brought a wealth of information, including photographs, names, and some descriptions of the key players involved in the L.A. C.C.C.
It seems from the information Tophet provided that the C.C.C (which poses as a chess club in Hollywood) is dangerous only by way of their recklessness, and perhaps the ethos of certain members. Most concerning is the man named Graves, who, beyond being a trained magician, is also naturally gifted at teleportation. I have heard of such people before (there are many Chinese folk tales about people with these powers), but I have never met one. Someone with a natural grasp of teleportation, who does not need to rely on the heuristics of incantation, could be formidable and, if nihilistic in his methods, more than a little dangerous. He evidently studied under Tophet at some point, but Tophet had few kind words to say about his character, though he acknowledged that his magical ability was unquestionable.
I suppose the others will not be returning today. Tophet left for the airport, and I finished out the day studying more Persian.[[File:CCC.jpg|thumb|right|330px| Caissa Chess Club C.C.C.]]
==<span style="color:#21610B">Friday, January 29th, 1965</span>==
I woke up to some distressing news this morning. The others arrived home sometime in the small hours, and Genda informed me there was an uninvited visitor to the Alden House. Or so the spirits had indicated to him. Genda and I had our breakfast, and he filled me in on their trip out of town. They had encountered some mages who were evidently up to no good. There was a brief skirmish, but one escaped... via teleportation. That instantly made me suspicious that they had encountered Gardner Graves and other C.C.C. members. Shots were fired in the skirmish, but everyone survived. The team managed to bring back a box full of trinkets, which Kuranes was already busily studying in the temple. After breakfast, Genda and I went to the temple so that he could investigate the spiritual aspects of the trinkets, and so that I could show the photograph of the C.C.C. members that Tophet gave me to Kuranes. Kuranes confirmed the man they had seen was, in fact, Gardner Graves.
Kuranes was too absorbed in the analysis of the items they had found to do anything else for the time being. I had Genda figure out the approximate time and place that our visitor had come and gone. He had most recently been in the study, sometime around 3:00 a.m. I summoned forth images of the past to see where he had been and what he had been up to. Sure enough, it was Gardner Graves, lounging about in the room, smoking a cigar. The remains of the cigar were still in the ashtray. He exited by simply teleporting out. I decided to go back and have a closer look, and figure out where he teleported to. I shifted in time back to the moment right after he left, then traced his destination. He ended up in an apartment nearby, a few miles away somewhere in Hollywood. I returned to meet with Genda and determined via a trace that he was currently at the Cassia Chess Club, playing chess, also nearby in Hollywood.
Kuranes had no interest in doing anything other than studying the items they had found, and Elaine was still asleep somewhere. Genda and I decided we would go dig around for more information about Gardner Graves before then come back for lunch. We went to determine if Graves had any property in Los Angeles County. It was a quick trip downtown, and the woman at the office was very helpful. She told us that Mr. Graves owned an apartment building and was the actual owner of the building where the chess club was as well. It fit with the model of the C.C.C. membership that Tophet had explained to me, that the members were generally men of wealth. Clearly, Graves had money if he was buying up buildings in Hollywood.
We returned to the Alden House and took our lunch with the others. Elaine was up and about now, and Kuranes finally emerged from the temple. We decided that we would go check out the chess club, so we loaded up in the van and headed over. The chess club was in a building that appeared to be registered to the Church of Scientology. That was a bit disconcerting, but we pressed on. We took the elevator upstairs and found the club. It was little more than a series of rooms and offices, some of which were occupied by chess players. We checked around but saw no sign of Graves. Genda determined via communication with spirits that Graves had been there within the last few hours, but left. The apartment building he owned was nearby, so we headed over there. The building was typical of the neighborhood, and it appeared he lived in the unit 101, the manager's unit. A few other names listed by the buzzer were names that I recognized from the photograph Tophet had given me. This was no surprise.
The others decided to head in to meet with Graves, but I went outside into the bushes to scope the scene through a window. They spoke at length, but I don't know precisely what about. I learned later that they neglected to ask a bunch of key questions, such as what he knew about the Red Book or the maps from Anaximander's, but they at least got a little bit of information. It was Graves's opinion that the Red Hand had been tasked with the job of assassinating or kidnapping Magdalena Carter (the Iron Lady, as he called her), and that he suspected Marjorie was the one who put out the hit. He also invited Kuranes to join his club, and Kuranes accepted! We made our best effort to reach Mrs. Carter via magic and telephone, but we had no luck. Holmes was on the way home, but Mrs. Carter had apparently decided to go to Paris instead of return to Los Angeles. I only hope she is one step ahead of the Red Hand and has some safe house there that she's going to. I wouldn't want her to get unwittingly ambushed on the streets of Paris.
Kuranes left later that night to go to his induction. These C.C.C guys were fast! They invited him to join in the afternoon, he accepted, and he was on his way to their ceremony that same night. I tried to use a trace to establish where the ceremony was taking place. The car they sent for him went up into the hills, but another mage interfered with my spell while it was in transit, so I don't know where it ended up. I do know it wasn't the same part of town where Marjorie and her coven had performed their induction ceremonies; it was in a different part of the hills.
After Kuranes left, the rest of us gathered at the table in the Alden House to discuss what we would do next. We decided that a return to Cave City was a reasonable idea, because if we didn't do something about this hungry ghost that Freddie Gumm had let possess him, who would? We did not have any great plan to deal with it, or even any idea of the specific nature of this particular hungry ghost, but Genda thought the best course of action would be to restrain it and try to drive the ghost out from Freddie Gumm's body. He said this could be accomplished by pouring hot oil down its throat. I am a bit skeptical about this method (though I do believe I have heard of such practices in old folk tales), but it's something to try!
I finished out the evening with a few more hours of Persian study.
==<span style="color:#21610B">Saturday, January 30th, 1965</span>==
I woke up to find Genda in the kitchen, scrounging around for food. He told me that he had received a call from the studio informing him that he needed to come in today. He said it was unusual for them to call actors in on the weekend but, given the nature of the movie and his role and the work that needed to go into the costume and special effects, it wasn't totally unheard of. We also read the distressing news that the plane that Holmes had been on had apparently gone down mid-flight over the Atlantic Ocean. In light of all of this, Genda wanted me to accompany him as his personal assistant once again. Keaton and Elaine arrived to the table soon, and they agreed to tag along as well.
We made our way up to the studio. Traffic was heavy, and it took longer than expected to get there. We were about thirty minutes behind schedule. The gate guard had not been informed that we would be arriving. He was hesitant, but he recognized Genda and me and let us in. We walked through the lot to Mr. Tuttle's workshop. We found Tuttle and a few others there working on the costume. It did not look at all like a dinosaur, but rather like a demon, with grotesquely clawed feet, and a vaguely humanoid yet monstrous face. It was quite repulsive, and I do wonder where Tuttle had the idea for such a creation. It happened that neither Tuttle nor anyone else there had sent for Genda. It was starting to feel like someone had tried to set him up. We stayed to chat with the movie people, then headed back off the lot. Elaine and Keaton had left! I guess they were feeling impatient, but it would have been nice to know they were just going to drop us off ahead of time. We could have brought two cars. Anyway, since Genda is simply too large for me to easily shift him through dimensions, we did what most people would do and called a cab. The cabbie got us back fast.
We arrived back to the house to find Mycroft Jones's car parked outside, with Mr. Jones and his associate, a Mr. Banks, inside. Jones and Banks had come on account of the plane disappearance, and apparently also had business concerning a reporter's visit to the house and the way he had been escorted off premises. Jones informed us what would be happening if it turned out Mrs. Carter had died, and just wanted us to all be up to date on foundation policies and what we would need to know going forward. He left shortly thereafter and headed out to the Palisades for some golfing with his associate.
==See Also==
[[Lisa Chan]]
[[New Prometheans Campaign Log]]
[[Category: GURPS Dark Jazz]]
[[Category: GURPS Dark Jazz]]
[[Category: GURPS Darkstar]]

Latest revision as of 19:14, 10 June 2016

1965

December 31, 1964 - January 2, 1965

January 3, 1965 - January 9, 1965

January 10, 1965 - January 16, 1965

January 17, 1965 - January 23, 1965

January 24, 1965 - January 30, 1965

January 31, 1965 - February 5, 1965

???

??? - ???

Darkstar

4523 Prologue

4523

4524

See Also

Lisa Chan

New Prometheans Campaign Log

Lisa's Galactic Timeline

Darkstar Campaign Log

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