Session 6: Deep One Étouffée & Swamp Jazz Report
General Summary
Saturday Evening April 7, 1923 - Tuesday Evening April 10, 1923
We depart for New Orleans, but have some train troubles and end up arriving the day after Jackson's press conference. As we settle in, inclement weather has us hurry into the house of Arnaud "The Count" Cazenave where we will be staying for our trip. It's a little bit strange, and Monte notices some staff whispering about the main butler having drank a good amount of The Count's alcohol. We also notice that Count Cazenave and Jackson Elias aren't anywhere to be found. Looking through books in the library, there are a number of architectural and medical books. Monte finds a creepy sketch of some creature in the tunnels beneath the city. Booker finds an extremely old book in French that catches his attention, the title being L’anatomie Empyrée (Divine Anatomy).
Christopher walks around and checks the place out briefly before settling down to rest and convalesce. Of note, he picks up a smell of magnolia and jazz coming from a pink room full of lace and crystal. There's a woman in there who seems to be the Count's daughter, Germaine Cazenave. They exchange small talk, Monte passes by briefly. She tells us that her dad and Elias didn't come back from a show the night prior, a scandalous show by a musician/performer named Tristan Torne. As we make our way to dinner, Booker finds one of the invitations, and a letter that says the show started off with the imbibing of absinthe. We meet The Count's wife, who seems slightly irritated and worried that her husband hasn't returned yet.
The night continues and we decide to offer our services in tracking down the two men. We are told by the butler that they are probably at The Absinthe House, so we brave the storm brewing and head there. The place is fairly empty and neither men are in sight. We ask the bartender about their whereabouts and he tells us that The Count has been asleep since the barman showed up. The bartender is also slightly annoyed that the absinthe they drank was brought by the performer, and that there is a brown sludge with bits in it at the bottom of the bottle. We make our way to the room and meet The Count, who doesn't remember much about the event, as he left early. We still aren't sure where Jackson is, but we're told to look for Terrance "Tarantula" Jones, who might be able to help us locate him. As we make to leave, Christopher notices the candles lit by the piano are spreading a strange haze throughout the establishment. He tries to pocket one under pretense of tipping the pianist, but is caught and gives up.
We arrive at the Café Épreuve, only to find that it's not yet open. We ask about Elias and Tarantula and are permitted to enter to inquire about the previous night. Tarantula tells us that the location the band was to meet with Torne was The Old Cigar Factory before they were turned away. He also mentions that the pianist that was hired in his place was the same guy playing the piano in the Absinthe House. We try to go back and talk to him, but he has left, apparently through the back which leads to the sewers. We decide to prioritize finding Jackson, so we leave the Absinthe House and look for the Old Cigar Factory.
The storm is getting nearly unbearable, but we arrive at our destination (which isn't a factory, but an old, fancy manor). The door is slightly open, and we enter the old dilapidated building. Monte and Christopher notice a lever that, when pulled, raises a cardboard structure/shape on a stage. There's a piano there, but the keys are made out of bone it seems. The candles on the piano match the ones from earlier and we notice the same brown sludge is in various cups and such. After closer inspection, Christopher realizes that the sludge is actually mushrooms. Gathering little else from the room, we decide to go back to the Absinth House and delve into the sewers. However, we aren't able to pursue after them due to the water level and flow, so we reevaluate our options. We decide to go visit the Count to see if he can provide us with some materials to allow us to get through the sewers as we get more and more desperate to locate Elias.
We show up in our bedraggled state, and the maître' d tries to turn us away. We do manage to confirm our connection to the Count and are admitted to see him, while he dines with Irina Martin (who owns the location the symposium is being held, Le Petit Arcane). She's also able to identify the weirdness behind the candles, which are laced with black orchid (a poor quality though). She eventually asks us to try and convince the Count to return the Divine Anatomy to her. We eventually convince her to give us a crypt key to the cemetery where we think they may have brought Elias (as reports have linked this place with Tristan). She escorts us there and we prepare to go after him.
Jack . Anderson
Botanist Jack Anderson
( 31 / Male ) from
Brisbane
Leviticus Harrison Mann
Dilletante Leviticus Harrison Mann
( 24 / Male ) from
Arkham, Masschusetts
Montgomery Papadopoulos
Smuggler Monte Papadopoulos
( 38 / Male ) from
Thessaloniki, Greece
Christopher Ericson
Explorer Christopher Ericson
( 24 / M ) from
London
Solomon Carlisle
Big Game Hunter Solomon Carlisle
( 64 / Male ) from
Boma, Belgian Congo
Booker Williams
Clergy The Reverend Booker Williams
( 33 / Yes, please ) from
Harlem, New York
Report Date
19 Oct 2023
Primary Location
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