Expedition 1x01 - New York, New York

General Summary

In early 1932, the Starkweather-Moore Expedition began recruiting for a venture to the southern tip of the world. It's leaders hope to retrace - and exceed! - the path laid out by the failed Miskatonik Expedition, led by William Dyer two years ago.

James Starkweather and William Moore begin interviewing and recruiting a number of specialists in polar survival, aeronautics, geology, and many other disciplines.
Among the members of The Expedition are:

Brick Bricksky - pugilist and Russian.

Theodore "Monty" Montgomery - adventurer

Maeve Kelley - palentology grad student under Morehouse Bryce

Mossberg - Pilot, world traveller

By September, 1933, the Expedition members have arrived in New York City, and set up in the Amherst Hotel. The accomodations are very fine, and a welcome change afterdays or weeks of travel to New York City. After a meeting where Starkweather gives a rallying speech and lays out the broad strokes of the expiditionary plan, Professor Moore hands out a number of assignments.
Brick, Frank, Maeve, and Monty find themselves all tasked with verifying the integrity and condition of the expedition supplies.

While doing so, they find a number of serious problems with the supplies. A crate of sardines contains not cans of fish, but cans of sardine oil, which would make for a very poor meal indeed. A number of missing items, broken items, incorrect items are idenified and replacements arranged. It is unclear if the reason for these issues is sabotage, coincidence, or incompetence.

At this time, Mossberg goes along with Miles (an aircraft mechanic) and Halperin - Starkweather's pilot - to inspect and retrieve the airplanes for the trip. Three Boeing 247s are checked out and procured by rail, in addition to the Fairchild FC-2 that is already aboard the SS Gabrielle.

"Get Me A Woman!"

On September 4th, the Explorers awake to the sound of Starkweather raving in the hall at William Moore's door. Eventually, Starkweather simply bashes the door in, all while clutching a copy of the morning paper.

It's her, Moore! All the time it was her! I should have known! Who else could it have been? The conniving witch! I should have suspected her hand in things from the beginning! Blast it, Moore, listen to me! How else could she stop me? Who else would have switched those cans of fish with oil? Who else has the money to spy on us? To throw things in our way? Ruin our goods! Sabotage the dog cages! Delay our trains! Poison the minds of trusted employees! To bring, to steal to throw barricades before us, for her own spiteful little reason!
I won't allow it, Moore! Not this time! She won't get the upper hand this time! I'll prove to everyone that's she's nothing more than a-"

Starkweather stops in mid-sentence. He looks around, still breathing heavily, suddenly aware of the watchers in the hall, and visibly makes a decision. Throwing the newspaper down with a snap in front of the disheveled professor, he says, in a terrible steely voice,

"Advance the schedule, Moore! We're leaving on the 9th. The 9th, Moore! See to it!"
"And Moore... get me a woman!"

And so, in time for the evening editions, Starkweather announces to the media not only the name and profile of Maeve Kelley, but the addition of Charlene Whiston to the expedition.

The Matter of Captain Douglas

Previously, Monty had been asked by Starkweather to be a personal escort for Captain JB Douglas, the former ships' Commander of the Miskatonic Artic Expedition of 1930. He has asked the Captain to join the expedition, a fact which he announced to the press, in a bid to further increase the Expedition's profile and create more media attention.

Monty escorts Douglas to his hotel, and has a terse conversation with him. He seems less than eager to accept Starkweather's proposal. Contrary to Starkweather's assumption, Douglas has not come to Captain the SS Gabrielle, but instead to convince Starkweather to abandon the expedition entirely. Before he gets his chance to speak to Starkweather, he is found face down in the Hudson.
The media descends on the Amherst Hotel, and are badgering any and all members of the Expedition they can. Starkweather and Moore are essentially confined to their rooms by all the attention.

The Explorers (PCs) are interviewed by Detective J.J. Hansen of the NYPD. Hansen asks them if they knew about Douglas, or knew of his whereabouts. Monty offers the Detective the address of the hotel where Douglas was staying. The detective thanks them, and has no further questions.

Further Inquiries

Over the weekend, the Explorers find themselves with a few days of liberty - no new pressing duties take up their time. Having recieved an unusual note, they decide to look into a few matters. They seek out the surviving members of the Miskatonic Expedition, hoping to shed some light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding both that failed journey, Captain Douglas' death, and the strange note.
Unfortunately, Professor William Dyer's location is unkown. He had taken an extended leave of absence from Miskatonic University in 1932, citing mental fatigue. The Explorers were, however, able to meet with both Professor Frank Pabodie and Arthur McTighe, formerly of that same expedition. Both men offer warnings, but few details that are not public knowledge.

"I will never go back. Ever. Nothing in the world could persuade me to set foot down there again-and I cannot explain in any way that you would understand. Oh, the poor, poor men, my friends, the fools...It is not a place for us. Mankind was not made for such a place."
-Frank Pabodie

McTighe, as the expedition's base radio operator, was responsible for transcribing and relaying much of what made it into the news from the McMurdo base. He has somewhat more to say on the matter.

"The Mountains of Madness. That's what Dyer called them. I guess they call them Miskatonic Mountains now. Incredible things-God in Heaven! Like hallucinations-they reached up so high, impossible peaks and spires. And evil. They looked evil."
"I think they were."
-Arthur McTighe

On Lake's discoveries, he says:

"Professor Lake... all of us... we were so excited. You should hafve heard Lake, talking so fast I could hardly keep up. Those things he found-like weird kelp, or big starfish-millions of years old, and he wanted to take them apart to see what was inside. He went on, and on, wilder and wilder. You should have heard the things he said. Crazy stuff. Most of it made no sense. I think, by then end, they were all going mad."
-Arthur McTighe

And lastly, on the subject of the other survivors:

"Danforth's the one I felt sorry for. Not that I ever liked him much, the snotty bastard! But God! How he cried! Screams and moans, and curses in weird languages... We had to tie him down, all the way through the pack ice. I thought the crew would murder him so they could get some sleep." "Mountains of Madness. Yeah-and they got one victim good, at least. You heard they put him in a rest home? He needed a lot of rest..."
-Arthur McTighe

Report Date

03 Mar 2022

Secondary Location

Arkham, Mass.

Related Characters

• Maeve Kelley