<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/18/Eldersign34.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>GM POST</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>55 Beacon Street</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> All of the PCs, Frank Walker, Dominic</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Meet and Greet</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/>It is October 16th, 1925. It is unseasonably cold for Boston, the leaves having started to abandon their reds and golds leaving some trees already bare. A crisp wind blows through the nearly empty streets. Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Senators in Pittsburgh to win the 22nd World Series. Sharing the front page of the Boston Globe is news that Germany and France have both signed the Locarno Pact, ensuring that the dreadful violence of the Great War will never again be repeated. Truly it seems there is cause for optimism in the world, a feeling at odds with the uncertain chill that each of you feel as you approach 55 Beacon Street.<br/><br/>Frank Walker’s prestigious home looms above you. The lights in his neighbors’ houses are dark, and the street is nearly deserted. This is an evening to be out celebrating on the town, perhaps, but Frank has chosen instead to invite you to his home for a small, informal dinner party. He is opening a photographic exhibition next week, he has said, and would like all of your impressions to help him select which pictures to display. It can be surmised that he is interested in a true cross section of humanity, as certainly your company bears few common ties save for your friendship with the genial and generous man.<br/><br/>You are each greeted at the door in turn by Frank himself and made to feel at home in his sitting room with your choice of tea, coffee, fruit juice or spring water. Dinner has been catered from Martin’s, a local seafood restaurant of good renown, and the smell of clam chowder wafts into the room. A roaring fire in the marble fireplace paints the room with flickering light, eclipsing the tastefully downplayed electrical fixtures.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">AnneMary Walker</div><div class="spoiler_body">You arrive early, and over Frank’s protests help to prepare the house for guests. Your brother seems mostly at ease, perhaps a bit nervous at having to make so many introductions this evening between his disparate circles of friends. He is cagey about the guest list, mentioning that he has a surprise for you. A surprise which is later revealed to be one Markus Smith, invited without your knowledge.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Allister Cooper</div><div class="spoiler_body">You are next to arrive. Frank easily falls into the easy pattern of conversation from your school days, sharing incidents designed to mildly embarrass each other in front of MaryAnne. He is careful to touch only lightly on the events of the previous year, since he last saw you in Boston, perhaps sensing that such matters are best discussed privately. He does quickly take you aside with a quick firm handshake, though, and tell you that “If you ever need anything, even just to talk...”<br/><br/>Your practiced agent’s eye may note that the house is not particularly secure. There are no decorative iron bars on the ground floor windows, unlike some other homes in the district, and the lock on the front door is perfunctory at best.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Maggie Delaney</div><div class="spoiler_body">You arrive third, and are quickly introduced to AnneMary and Allister. Frank seems very happy to see you, as his previous two attempts to meet you for dinner since your return to the country have fallen through due to his erratic travel schedule. Your intuition tells you that Frank is currently without a lady in his life, though he mentions nothing overtly related to the point.<br/><br/>He is happy to talk to you about England, a country he has travelled to on many occasions.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Harrison Cartwright</div><div class="spoiler_body"><br/>You arrive next, almost simultaneously with Maxine White, for whom you obviously hold the door open. You recognize Maggie, of course. You feel your ever present reporter’s pad inside your jacket pocket, though of course nothing newsworthy is likely to happen this evening. The smell of the food from the next room takes you back to the rare special occasions when such fare was served in your home growing up.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Maxine White</div><div class="spoiler_body">You meet Harrison Cartwright on your way in, as both of your taxis arrive at nearly the same time. When you arrive Frank is eager to show off to you his newest acquisition, a Victor Orthophonic Victrola, which he has obtained through family connections before they are available to the general public. He seems especially proud of his collection of five “electrically recorded” discs of classical music, and as he demonstrates the operation of the machine to you, you sense that he’s trying to tell whether or not you’re impressed.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Markus Smith</div><div class="spoiler_body">On your arrival Frank hands you an envelope which you later find to contain two expensive tickets to the Charlie Chaplin film The Gold Rush, playing at the Nickerbock Theatre. It’s a luxury that you don’t often engage in. To your surprise Frank’s sister AnneMary is already present, along with three other people to whom you’re quickly introduced. Through a doorway from the sitting room you see Frank’s extensive library, though he has never struck you as a particularly literary sort. It may be that most of the leather-bound volumes are more for show than for edification.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Jonathan Hellyer</div><div class="spoiler_body">You are the last to arrive, to find a small gathering already in swing. The food is nearly ready to serve, classical music is playing from the phonograph, and you are somewhat surprised to see Maxine. It comes to light quickly that Frank had no idea the two of you were acquainted, but he does his best to make sure that both of you are comfortable, rearranging the seating at the dining table slightly to put space between you. In private Frank compliments you on the last case of rye whiskey that you obtained for him, and promises that there will be a chance to sample it after dinner.<br/><br/>For entirely different reasons from Allister you also note that the building is not very secure. It would be relatively easy for a burgler to break into this place, which could be worrisome given the obvious richness of the furnishings on display.<br/></div></div><br/>With the last of the guests arrived, dinner is soon served. The caterers have left the various dishes on steam trays in the kitchen so that a single server, Dominic, can attend to all of you. Dominic will leave after dinner is completed. Frank has no permanent staff living with him.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">All</div><div class="spoiler_body">Okay, that’s a bit of a read. Please go ahead and begin posting. There is no set posting order.<br/></div></div>