Babes in London: Act Two, Scene Three A (Anika’s House, Part 2: Second Floor)

SCENE THREE A: INVESTIGATING ANIKA’S HOME:

SECOND FLOOR

HALLWAY: There is a long, low cabinet lining one wall. The telephone sits atop it underneath a picture of a white horse carved into a hill. There is also a picture of a forest-framed stream and waterfall, but nothing else. Nothing appears to have been disturbed here and the china in the cabinet is all in one piece. There are five doors leading off from this corridor and a set of steps leading down to the rest of the house. (NOTES: There are no clues in this room.)

PARENT’S ROOM: This room is a mess. The bed clothes are flung back, and one of the bedside tables has been knocked over. A lamp and a pair of reading glasses lie on the floor near the bedroom window. Both are shattered. The curtains on the window are drawn. The mirror on the dressing table at the end of the bed is cracked, and a perfume bottle has been overturned. A jewellery box stands, apparently untouched, in the center of the dresser. You have just walked through the only door leading into this room. The doors to the wardrobe are closed. (NOTES: This was where Anika’s mother was captured. She was sleeping when the Servants struck. There is a small array of jewellery in the box and nothing seems to be missing.)

ANIKA’S ROOM: This room is also a mess. It is a child’s room, probably a little girl’s room, judging by the pictures of unicorns, fairies and dragons stuck on almost every available surface. The bed has been turned on its side, and the wardrobe doors opened. The curtains that once covered the window have been swept to the floor. In one corner is a small desk with a drawer on one side. The chair that once stood in front of the desk has been flung back almost a metre and lies on its back in the center of the room. There is a large picture of a unicorn standing beside a stern-looking woman in almost see-through robes above where the head of the bed should be. It is hanging slightly crooked. (NOTES: PCs making an Earth: Senses TH4 test realize that all the areas that have been disturbed would have provided a hiding place for a young child and that there does not appear to have been a struggle. This is a clue that Anika was not here when her parents were taken, but let PCs make their own deductions. PCs who investigate the picture and who make a Knowledge: Art test learn the following:

TH3: This picture is slightly familiar. You think the artist can be found in the North London art scene;

TH4: This picture is a copy of the original work which hangs in a gallery in Islington. Some art critics say that the work is a banal interpretation of an age-old theme but there are rumours that the unicorn and the woman within the picture move. The artist was one David Markovin who has a studio in Camden.

PCs investigating the overturned bed must make an Air: Senses TH4 test to find the Setite identity disc dropped in the sheets. Once the disc is noticed, read or paraphrase, the following: There’s something familiar about the symbol outlined on the disc. You’re not sure what it is, but the sight of it has drawn your companions’ attention. As you reach for it, light slides across the surface of the disc and for a moment you are blinded by a brilliant flash of light. When you can see again you find yourselves in a completely different room and, possibly, a completely different land. GO TO SCENE 3C: FRIENDS OF KREDAK.

PCs investigating the desk notice (Air: Senses TH3 test) that the drawer is locked. There is no test to notice this if they try to open the drawer – it won’t open because it’s locked. The drawer, if opened, contains Anika’s Book of Law. If PCs do not open the drawer then use the following description when they investigate the desk: On the desk itself are several books, and a space where one really thick book, or a few thinner books might have fit. There is no dust in the space. This is where Anika’s Book of Law sat. She could not fit it into her bag and hid it in the drawer, intending to sneak back and collect it, later. Any PC opening the drawer can find it. If they pick it up for a closer look they see the title, The Book of Law, and trigger the flashback in Scene 3B. When the book is handled, read or paraphrase the following: This is no book for a seven-year old, yet it appears to open at your touch, drawing your eyes to the neat, carefully formed script. It reads: LAW 101: Sabotage leading to the foreseeable chance of death for another is murder and the saboteur shall be tried as a murderer. The penalty for all murderers shall fit the crime. As your eyes fall on the word ‘crime’ the book is no longer in your hands, and you are no longer in Anika’s room.

GO TO SCENE 3B: HOUNDS OF THE LAW

GUEST ROOM: This room is immaculately tidy. There are two double beds, neatly made, two night stands, each of which has a lamp and a box of tissues standing on it. A double wardrobe standing against the inner wall, and a sewing table tucked away in one corner. The curtains are drawn. (NOTES: There is nothing but coat hangers in the double wardrobe, and nothing at all in the drawers of each of the two nightstands. One lamp has a blown bulb, and neither of the tissue boxes has been opened. The sewing table has a half finished skirt (child-sized) sitting next to the sewing machine, but contains items to do with sewing and nothing else. There are no clues in this room.)

BATHROOM: Vanity, mirror-fronted cupboard, toothbrushes, toothpaste, rubbish bin, bath mat, slightly damp towels hanging over racks, soap, shower over a bathtub—this room is obviously a bathroom. (NOTES: There are two adult toothbrushes, but no child toothbrush (Air: Senses TH3 to notice), but all of the towels are slightly damp. One of the face flannels is missing (Air: Senses TH3). These are the only clues in this room and they indicate that Anika’s disappearance is separate to that of her parents, since hers is the only toothbrush missing. Let PCs draw their own conclusions about this. There are no bath toys (and never were, but, again, let PCs draw their own conclusions).

TOILET: It’s obvious what this room is. Toilet, toilet brush in its own stand, spare paper at the back near the wall, curved rug to keep your feet warm while you wait. Nothing appears to have been disturbed here. (NOTE: There are no clues in this room.)