apocalypsehowcomm | Headline News #5

Entry tags:

Headlines

Like most cities of a certain size, Gloucester gets its daily news from its local paper. Stories concerning local matters are printed side by side with national and international stories aggregated from other sources. For the most part the news is what one would expect in a mundane modern world: business openings, politics, crime, and human interest stories. Every so often, though, something pops up that could be more significant...or might be nothing more than what it appears on the surface.

The following headlines are items of potential interest that appear in the paper throughout February. Summaries represent one or more articles, editorials, press releases, or letters to the editor on a particular subject. Players are encouraged to incorporate these items into their characters' understanding of current events as well as use them for plotting. If you would like your character to perform deeper research or investigations, please pose any questions to the designated mod comment. Players are welcome to use this post for IC discussion and threads related to these news items, or to create their own posts or messages for that purpose.

➥ Headstone Manufacturer Six Feet Under
(cw: fire-related disaster)

The workshop of Grave Matters, a small manufacturer of custom gravestonesin Cambridge, Massachusetts , went up in flames in early February. Despite the macabre headline, none of the dozen employees were harmed. The fire destroyed most of the business's specialized equipment and it's unlikely the company will recover. The fire is thought to have been sparked by faulty electrical wiring, though management protests that the building was definitely up to code.

➥ Traffic Jam on Gloucester's Information Highway
(cw: widespread socioeconomic disaster)

January's extended, disastrous internet and network outage in Gloucester and the surrounding area continues to reverberate through regional and national news, with no cause yet identified for the sudden loss of services, nor their sudden reinstatement. Various internet and phone companies have identified internal scapegoats to fire over the incident, but the vague explanations provided are notably flimsy for anyone with a basic understanding of how such services work. It seems no one wants to lose face by admitting that they have no idea what happened or how to prevent it from happening again.

➥ Voracious Worms Take the World of Nematology by Storm
(cw: worms)

Step up your game, Bigfoot: across the globe, a creature of legend has come to scientific life. Actually, though, once one gets past a few hyperbolic headlines, it turns out the newly minted "Mongolian Death Worm" is, well...a worm. It's an unusual worm, certainly, considering it lives in the Gobi Desert and is apparently carnivorous, feeding mostly on insects, but the new species is not much larger than the common earthworm. It's named for a creature of folklore much more akin to a serpent; the legendary version of the animal could spit acid and electrocute its prey, while the real one doesn't appear to do either. All available photos and videos of the creature are strikingly poor quality, however, making it difficult to make out just what you're looking at.

➥ Life Science Imitates Art

News from New York: starting at the end of February, the Buffalo Museum of Science will host a new traveling exhibit titled "Seeing the Unseeable: Where Science Meets Art." On display will be a series of dizzyingly intricate scientific images alongside equally dazzling artwork, both old and new. The exhibit is sponsored by a generous gift from millionaire Michael Etcher, who has also loaned several pieces from his own art collection for the exhibit. Following a six month installation in Buffalo, the exhibit is slated to travel on to Chicago and then Denver.

➥ Eye Spy
(cw: vandalism; illness; xenophobia)

A spate of odd acts of vandalism has seen tourist attractions and psychic shops attacked. The common thread seems to be that all the shops sold Evil Eye amulets, bright blue stone or ceramic depictions of eyes said to protect the wearer. In each case, the vandals have destroyed the shops' stock of amulets; those caught in the act claim that they were acting in self defense. The perpetrators claim to have been cursed, and that they must destroy the eyes in order to lift that curse. Complaints from those claiming to suffer from the curse range from loss of appetite, excessive yawning, and hiccups to insomnia, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and depression. The string of attacks has even reached Gloucester, with an entire display case smashed and much of its contents destroyed in the local shop Things of Beauty.

➥ Echoes of a Haunted History
(cw: social inequity; historic sexism)

Despite ADI's efforts to silence reports of unexplained phenomena in and around Dogtown, the park continues to garner interest from local journalists lamenting the prolonged, apparently unjustified closure of public lands and the lack of communication from officials regarding when it will reopen. One such complaint and speculation about the goings-on is paired with a shallow history dive regarding Thomazine "Tammy" Younger, one of the last residents of Dogtown in the 1800s--also known as "the Queen of the Witches." It seems Tammy was among several widows who remained in Dogtown after most of Gloucester's population moved closer to the harbor. She was accused of cursing wagons that passed her home on Fox Hill (now an overgrown patch of woods adjacent to the parking lot) and demanding payment in goods in exchange for removing her curses. Of course, she was likely just a destitute old woman getting by how she could, right? But maybe Dogtown's spooky history has something to do with its spooky present state.

↬ Main Navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ooh, would Eda find anything interesting if she digs into the history around Tammy?

Could you give us a max of three specific questions Eda would want answered about Tammy?

heck I kept meaning to get back to this!

I think IC the biggest thing Eda would look for is anything that could point to her being a boiling isles witch, since she's still hoping there are other ways in and out of this dimension even if I assume that's a dead end. But for specific questions:

-She'd look for Tammy's family history, whether it seems like she had a lot of connections or might have been an off-worlder of any kind.

-She wants details on the supposed curses and what evidence people would have presented at the time, basically with an eye for anything that stands out as specific/familiar enough to point to any kind of real powers or feeding a specific entity.

-She might also be curious if it's known exactly how/when Tammy (presumably) died

1. Tammy's history is... well... history! She seems to be from a very long time ago. Eda would be able to find information about her online from sites like this.

2. The 'curses' seem to be spoiled goods for those who weren't paying the appropriate toll. Evidence is entirely hearsay accounts from people in old newspapers claiming their supplies were ruined when they refused the old witch. The basic gist of the complaints would lead one toward the Corruption, probably, but it could also have been merchants making excuses for poor-quality stock.

3. Tammy died in 1829. There aren't any reports on the cause of her death, but local legend says her body was swallowed by the earth in Dogtown just as soon as it was brought out of the house.

Edited 2023-03-19 19:10 (UTC)

1. Would poking around Fox Hill/the site of Tammy Younger's former home count under the Dogtown search mechanics (slash should I post a comment on that ooc page)?
2. If not, consider this me officially asking if Hickey would find anything if he went tromping through the woods around Fox Hill.

Despite how hard Hickey searches, there just doesn't seem to be any specific location information for Fox Hill! Plenty of reliable sources seem insistent it was once found in Dogtown, but that was long before it was shut down. Hickey would need to continue to search in Dogtown (using the search mechanic) to try to find the actual place. Happy hunting!

What are the scientific images about? Would Rodney notice anything interesting or unusual about them?

From what Rodney can find on the web, the images are primarily biological in nature and depict anatomical drawings of various flora and fauna, DNA and RNA, and the structure of cells. The images are sometimes in multi-media and employ many different types of materials. There's a display that seems to be an aquarium that's in the shape of a double helix that's filled with crabs, which is probably the largest display in the exhibit, if he finds any of that interesting or unusual.

If Steve were to poke around Grave Matters (or what's left of it), might he be able to catch an employee or two that he can ask about the fire?

If so, he'd want to know:
1) if they really think it was faulty wiring, like the company claims
2) if they or any of their coworkers ever talked about those flaming drinks that were all the rage a while ago

Steve will be able to find a couple of employees after some digging ~~and stalking~~.

1) The employees do generally seem to believe the faulty wiring story. At least, they didn't notice anyone or anything else amiss that would have resulted in the fire. One of them will tell Steve that it's probably for the best the place burned down, anyway. They were working there because it was a job, but the tombstones they were making were sometimes... weird. Disturbing. The employee never asked or pried, but they think it's probably better that production has stopped. They do not, unfortunately, know anything further than that as they specifically made a point of not asking questions/looking into it.

2) A few of the employees are aware of the flaming drinks, but the older man he speaks to about it gives Steve a 'you're cute, son, but no' sort of look. He'll let Steve know alcohol was not permitted on the premises, and even if it was, people know you blow out the shot before drinking it.

1) Is there anything specifically disturbing Steve can get the employee to talk about? Was it just the sayings/designs that maybe seemed in poor taste, or something else?

2) Yes, of course. But were those drinks popular among the staff? After hours and in the bars, of course!

1.) The employee is reluctant to go into many details, seeming to prefer not to think about it. Steve will get out of them, though, that the company provided a surprising number of gravestones that didn't seem to be for traditional use based on their engravings. They made some that seemed like morbid jokes; others with death dates in the future. The employee seems really shaken by the memory of seeing those, beyond what would be expected based on what sounds like mundane (and expensive) jokes in poor taste.

2.) The older man shakes his head and shrugs over the question; he doesn't seem to recognize the flaming shots as anything significant. They weren't the kind of staff who got together for drinks at the bar after hours.

ok I've got a couple questions about the exhibit, as Jeff will be doing a bit of snooping because it's piqued his interest.

1. If one were to snoop around on social media (twitter, instagram, reddit, etc), looking out for pictures taken at the exhibit and reading people's reviews/experiences at the exhibit, and specifically dug into posters' accounts to check out (unrelated) posts/updates made after visiting the exhibit, would there be any strange or unusual updates, comments, red flags that one looking out for weird shit may pick up on?

I feel like I wrote that totally incoherently, so FOR EXAMPLE: tedward23 posts some pics from the exhibit to instagram, captioned "had a great time! cool art!" something totally innocuous and normal, but then the next day tedward23 posts to twitter complaining about a headache, then three days later tedward23 posts some semi-incoherent screed to reddit filled with typos, etc etc.

Or another example: Jeff (or... lbr he'd probably ask Tim to do it for him) checks out the hashtag for the exhibit on twitter, and notices the same account responding to every tweet related to the exhibit, or a bunch of seemingly separate and unrelated accounts all making the same comment, or anything like that. Little digital red flags!

2. Is it possible to find out which pieces were donated by Etcher, and are pics of them readily available, or is that something that can only really be determined by actually visiting the exhibit?

3. Can any info be found on the person/people who may have curated the exhibit? How are they doing? :)

BONUS: I know it's a long way from Gloucester, but is it possible for characters to take a some time off and road trip or take a bus/train to Buffalo to check out the exhibit in person? FOR SCIENCE. Is it something the ADI would sanction if a trusted veteran field agent (or character who's been around and proven themselves trustworthy) accompanied characters, or would it be absolutely off limits and considered a waste of resources? If an ADI-approved trip wouldn't be sanctioned, would characters be able to book their own bus tickets and go on their own, anyway?

(I know this one's a total long shot because Jeff only just returned and the ADI isn't happy with him, so I totally get it if the answer is "absolutely not and you better not leave our sight or there will be consequences, you little jerk")

Edited 2023-02-21 10:37 (UTC)

Sweet, ty! and RIP Roger 😔

Caitlyn will definitely be looking into this whole Evil Eye amulet situation.

1. Would it be possible to find out which other towns have experienced vandalism and google the phone number of the police stations in those towns? And if Caitlyn were to do that and call them and lie about being a cop investigating the vandalism in Gloucester, would she be able to get any leads on where the amulets came from or on tracking down any of the vandals? And what sort of trouble would she get in lol (especially since she's not a very good liar)

2. If Caitlyn were to investigate Things of Beauty and question the staff, would the staff know where the amulets came from, and would she be able to find any clues as to the identity of the vandals?

3. If the above panned out and she were able to track down some of the vandals, would she notice any patterns or learn anything that pinged her Entity radar if she were to ask when they first noticed symptoms of the curse and what they were doing immediately prior to the onset of symptoms? And were the symptoms actually alleviated by smashing the amulets?

1. Through some digging, Caitlyn could easily find out the towns hit are all local: Haverhill, Lawrence, and Salem have all reported similar instances of vandalism. Calling the police of each city is also easy enough, but getting anyone to talk to her in depth is impossible. Through various internal lines of communication and processes meant to protect the details of a case that are known to those who are supposed to know, she'll be stonewalled no matter how good (or bad) she lies. One of them will even helpfully remind her that pretending to be a cop is a federal offense. A bad idea on a traceable line...

However, through the news, she could potentially find the names of the shops hit and try to ask them questions about it directly. They'd each be able to tell her they get the amulets from various nearby or far afield manufacturers with little to no overlap.

2. Things of Beauty's proprietor, Kahlil, is likely to be a little nervous around Caitlyn and her questions, but he'd be able to tell her that he's had his stock of eye talismans for a couple months now since coming across them at a street market event the next town over, they just hadn't sold as well as he'd expected. As to the vandals themselves, his cameras are largely for show, what little bit could be seen on the one that works was no better than a grainy shot of someone in a hoodie.

She might want to enlist the assistance of someone with some good social media/internet savvy skills to see if there might be a different way to go about things via, say, platforms like Nextdoor or reddit.

A few questions about Grave Matters:

1) How long had they been in business prior to the fire?

2) Is it possible to find images of their stock (in particular, of any maker's mark they might use)?

3) What sort of basic information can be found about their owner? (Name, maybe a photo, any professional certifications, did they also catch fire?)

1) It's been in business about 2 years. It's not a Big Name in the industry, but seems to be a well-regarded boutique shop. Or it was...

2) Googling around will net some photos, including a maker's mark. It appears to be a stylized GM.

3) The owner, Matthew Yeats, is comatose after a brutal attack in mid-February that seems to be wholly unrelated to the fire. There's speculation that it was one of his wife's ex-boyfriends; though, the suspect is still at large. From his photos, Matt is a young entrepreneur with a definite goth theme. He has a Master's degree in Business, but nothing else in terms of trade certifications. His degree is from a university that seems to be fairly prestigious and receives a lot of money from a name that's popped up elsewhere: Michael Etcher.

Hello hello friends a couple things:

1. Since Beau has researched Etcher and the effects before, has there been any reports of people getting sick or lost after visiting there? She's gotten better at internet searches (and may enlist friends) to try and check some people who bought tickets and what happened to them in the ensuing week.

2. If Beau were to check in on Things of Beauty, how is Kahil doing? What does he have to say about the robbery?

3. Martin would regularly be checking on Reyes so I have to ask- how is Reyes doing since the last time they talked? Anything on their mind?

4. Similarly, Beau would have asked Bonnie after the outages if she was part of the group who showed up in 2020 and what Happened at that time- she has a running theory that the information going missing last month was related to their arrival and would ask if Bonnie had any ideas there.

1. It seems that a number of people who visited the exhibit just didn't post anything after the visit. It's not everyone, of course, only some people. And really, that could be anything. Maybe they just aren't chronically online and embedded in social media! Probably. Possibly... Some of them just can't be tracked down, but a few will turn up as missing persons or those who have died tragic, unexpected, but seemingly natural deaths.

2. Things of Beauty's proprietor, Kahlil, is pretty shaken up, but he'd be able to tell her that he's had his stock of eye talismans for a couple months now since coming across them at a street market event the next town over, they just hadn't sold as well as he'd expected. His only working camera shows a grainy video of someone in a hoodie.

3. Reyes seems to be less around than usual, to the point that their attendance at work has been an issue. They seem to be acquiring a number of Unfortunate injuries they're doing a poor job of hiding if Martin comes to call on them. If asked, they will tell Martin they're struggling a lot with not feeding right now and being around people makes it harder to avoid giving in. But they're working through it. The injuries they'll wave off as being misguided forays into Dogtown to try to help with figuring out the mystery there. They don't have much to show for their efforts apart from scratches, bites, and grazes from bullets.

4. Bonnie was, indeed, part of the original group who turned up. She'll provide a brief account of about 20 people showing up randomly throughout ADI HQ all at once, and then sporadic arrivals throughout the next few days and onward up until now. They were locked up by ADI and interrogated at length about how they got there, who they were, and what Entity they served. It was not a Great Time. Especially when they struggled with communication for some until Pam Ruan came up with the idea of exposing people to the page that everyone sees during their intake. Reyes was able to finally negotiate for the release of everyone and the status quo as they know it now slowly took form. She's not sure what any of that has to do with the info going missing, though. Possibly whatever caused their arrival did... something to the missing information, but that seems far-fetched to her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Headline News #5

QUESTIONS

Re: QUESTIONS

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: QUESTIONS

no subject

Life Science Imitates Art

no subject

Re: QUESTIONS

no subject

no subject

no subject

life science (oops now posted to the right place)

no subject

no subject

Re: QUESTIONS

no subject

Re: QUESTIONS

no subject

no subject

no subject