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I still say we need to get the help of the cop we've been taunting.
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Jul 6, 2016 09:14
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Yeah it's been a while now Grab the newspapers, find out if there's been any fuss about the book, *only if so* phone our cop nemesis and see what he has to say about the matter Don't talk to him about killings and murders. We haven't before, no reason to start now. If there hasn't been fuss about the book, then let's go visit Little Red the revolutionary and see what she has to say now she's read the book I spend our skill points on whatever relates to spotting details out of place simplefish fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Jul 7, 2016 |
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Jul 6, 2016 09:26
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Updated my post above
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Jul 7, 2016 17:25
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A little investigation work. Time to do a little snooping. Louis put on his best art critic cloths and set off for the center of Paris. The gallery was easy enough to find, it lay amongst a number of other high class art galleries in the area. It bore no sign, and only a small amount of art was visible from the street. Upon entering, a man in a smart suit walked up to Louis quickly. “Good Morning Monsieur, How can I help you today” The man’s voice said that he was under the opinion that Louis was not the kind of man who would frequent a place like this. “I am Louis Dumont, I’m an art critic who works in the Paris region. I have been sent by a patron to take a look at your stock to see if there is anything here worth his time coming down in person.” “I see Monsieur.” The man’s tone went up a notch of snooty. “I have to say, we do not normally deal with intermediaries, our reputation is normally enough to bring people of, shall we say, Quality to our door.” The capitalization of quality was apparent. “In fact, I have to say, an Art Critic is an odd choice to send here. I mean, who is to say you have the refined taste to appreciate the art found here.” he motioned to a wall nearby.”I mean, do you even recognise the artist here?” Louis took a long look at the painting, it was expressionism, but not by anyone knew - and a quick look showed no apparent signature to prompt his memory. “I’m afraid I’ve not had the pleasure. It's a stunning example however, and I’m surprised I’ve not seen its like before. The use of colour is striking, similar to a Monet, but the art itself has a childlike innocence to it.” This got a grunt from the man. “It is obvious you know SOMETHING about art, but I’m afraid your patron will have to come in himself, as I said, we are not in the business of dealing with middle men.” Welp, that was a bad series of rolls. Do we - A] Attempt to barter our way in. B] Pump this pompous prick for as much information as possible. C] Come back tonight and break in. D] Slug the guy and run through the door. E] Something else.
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Jul 7, 2016 17:56
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C) Observe the place carefully during the day, then come back and enter by night. Also, bring the gun.
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Jul 7, 2016 19:03
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C. Take everything that isn't nailed down.
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Jul 7, 2016 19:50
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We're trying to be subtle and to not raise suspicion. Stealing stuff the dau after we show up from nowhere is neither.
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Jul 7, 2016 20:50
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A, mostly by saying now that we are interested in the collections ourselves, they are no longer dealing with an intermediary
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Jul 7, 2016 20:58
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E Con him into thinking we are actually One of the Nobility, this whole affair was a test, which he failed, miserably.
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Jul 7, 2016 22:15
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Tell him we are an Art critic, and our review of their collection can be quite favorable... or extremely scathing. Depending.
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Jul 8, 2016 00:00
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If there's a nice little cafe opposite go buy the morning paper and enjoy a cafe creme and a croque monsieur al fresco I'm not saying nurse a coffee for hours but breakfast isn't suspicious and it couldn't hurt to stick around a while and see if anyone swings by
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Jul 8, 2016 02:57
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Do you remember the quote about once being a coincidence, twice being happenstance, three times being enemy action? I think this counts as the third time we've crossed paths with the cultists. I don't care if we get the inspector to help, or the waiter, or our kitty. We need someone else doing some of the leg work before the cult focuses on us and heat is turned up. If it's not too late already.
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Jul 8, 2016 03:05
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E/A: Leverage our social skills and knowledge of black market art to imply that we're attending under a pseudonym (be even snootier than him and imply we're in disguise because we're too good for him and he'd better shut up).
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Jul 8, 2016 06:13
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Grognan posted:E/A: Leverage our social skills and knowledge of black market art to imply that we're attending under a pseudonym (be even snootier than him and imply we're in disguise because we're too good for him and he'd better shut up). this and pray for some decent loving rolls someday because my god, we have awful luck
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Jul 9, 2016 07:07
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Other My thinking is this guy thinks we're up to something. So we may as well pretend to come clean. "To be perfectly frank, well, I'll just tell you my dilemma. Over the course the past few months or so I've come across works by an artist, it must be the same artist because they were painted in a very particular style. But then shortly thereafter the work just disappears unacknowledged. The mystery is driving me batty. I felt oddly compelled to come to this shop and to find a particular painting by him even though I don't know what it's a painting of or who it's by. I feared you'd just dismiss me if I told you the truth but I'm being dismissed anyway so it doesn't matter."
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Jul 9, 2016 10:22
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RandomPauI posted:Other That's going to end with "sorry Monsieur, go do your soul searching somewhere else, like the art aisle of book store (awn hawn hawn!  )".
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Jul 9, 2016 23:34
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Grognan posted:E/A: Leverage our social skills and knowledge of black market art to imply that we're attending under a pseudonym (be even snootier than him and imply we're in disguise because we're too good for him and he'd better shut up). I like how this sounds.
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Jul 10, 2016 07:49
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do you know who who I am? “Monsieur.” Louis straightened himself. it was time to go for the big con. “Just because I don’t know one obscure artist does not mean I am some hobbyist trying to move up in social circles.” He stared at the man and narrowed his eyes. “My Patron is a man who you do not want to be on the wrong side of. A small place like this can easily find itself blacklisted” “Sir, we are serve an elite clientele, and it will take more than the word of an unknown art critic to cause us any harm.” “Heh.” Louis let out a humourless laugh. “You sniveling pompous toad. You think that I cannot ruin you? You are the hired help! You are nothing more than a glorified shopkeeper! I will have your job, I, I mean my patron....” The unintentional slip, sometimes it was better to let someone infer something than state it in the open. “....would buy the entire street to ruin you. He would buy your house and evict you for such an offense.” The man paled, he had taken the bait. He now thought that he was dealing with a rich collector undercover rather than an underling - and one he had just offended o boot! time to reel him in. Louis stopped talking and turned to leave, leaving the man to imagine the retribution coming his way. “Monsieur! Monsieur! Please do not go!” The man hurried after Louis as he strode towards the door. “I have to be harsh, we get so many people just wandering in, treating us as if this is the Louvre. We have to make sure that people are not wasting our time. I Will of course take you upstairs myself so you can view the proper collection!” With a grunt Louis turned once more and allowed himself to be taken up the stairs. “The Gallery is owned by Daniel Bonheur, a well known patron of the arts. He uses it to sell works of art from upcoming people - before they become street famous - that way, he can make sure that everyone gets the best deal for the new works. The price is higher than just buying from an unknown artist, but everyone involved knows that the critics will soon be talking about the new works, and their value will increase rapidly.” “Of course, I have met Monsieur Bonheur, he has many a critic in his pocket, making such praise a sure thing.” This was true, Bonheur had an ugly reputation in the art world for finding and then promoting new talent, even if the actual level of talent was above average at best. It did make people a lot of money of course.” “I would not know of such things sir.” The man said quickly, before changing the subject just as quickly as he stopped to open the door at the top of the stairs. The room beyond was well lit from skylights, and had works of art on all the walls and on both sides of central display partitions. The room was white and sparse, so nothing could distract from the works on display. They spent some time wandering the displays, some work he knew, others he did not. After half an hour Loius spotted something over in the corner - another work of art that seemed to be by the same artist. This one showed another part of the Verdun battlefield, Fort Dumont. The fort had been the scene of fierce fighting, and had seen many deaths. It was instantly recognisable in the landscape before them, it seemed to be the only thing in the painting in focus. There were shapes of men around it, and thick clouds of smoke. But there in the smoke. Was it Louis imagination projecting on random patches of darkness, or was there shapes in the smoke. Large creatures with four tendrel filled legs. Or was it just his imagination? The sight and the wonder left him shaken for a second. “What is this one?” He asked. “Oh, I am afraid that is not for sale, it is a work commissioned for the owner, and is being stored here until it can be moved to his house. I’m not sure who the artist is to be honest. Now this here is an amazing example of…..” The man continued but Louis could not take his eyes off it. “Is there any chance that you could find out who painted it, I am enamoured by the style, and would love to have a similar work commissioned.” “I am so sorry monsieur. I am not allowed to divulge information like that to non patrons of the establishment, it would go against the raison detre of the gallery. If you were to purchase a work of art and become enrolled on our books, then I may well be able to help you.” The rest of the tour continued, at the end the man looked hopefully at Louis. “So Mr Dumont. Is there anything here that has caught your eye?” So we found another work, but once more this man stands in our way. What do we do? A] distract him and try and sneak a look at their books. B] Leave and break in later. C] Buy a painting - this will be expensive, and will require us to sell the Eye of Carcosa to generate enough funds. D] Something else.
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Jul 11, 2016 09:28
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D: One advantage of the 'patron in disguise' con we're running is that we can pretend that we need to consult with the patron again. Thank the toady, leave, and surveil the place to try and see where that sanity-destroying painting is being delivered. Then we can case that joint, rather than the Gallery we so conspicuously scoped out.
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Jul 11, 2016 11:08
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Just throwing this out here. Is there anything we can steal that'd let us keep the eye, or that'd net us additional funds for our investigation? Also, I'm partial to calling the inspector to give him a heads up "I uncovered something. An individual of means has a deranged plan. I don't know his motives or many of the plans details. But to date it involves theft, murder, and the procurement of...how to put this...an army of untamed creatures. It'd be like something out of a Jules Vernes or an H. G. Well's novel. The scheme itself should be physically impossible but one of the deaths makes it personal. I'm still gathering information. Let's keep this exchange between us for now."
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Jul 11, 2016 11:35
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B/A: "While you do possess some truly interesting pieces, I'm afraid my...I mean, my patron's tastes are a bit more...particular. Do give my regards to Msr. Bonheur. I may call on you again in the future. Good day." Return and break in tonight, but don't steal anything. Try to get a look at their records to find out who's the artist behind that painting. Also try to find Bonheur's home address.
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Jul 11, 2016 13:12
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sullat posted:D: One advantage of the 'patron in disguise' con we're running is that we can pretend that we need to consult with the patron again. Thank the toady, leave, and surveil the place to try and see where that sanity-destroying painting is being delivered. Then we can case that joint, rather than the Gallery we so conspicuously scoped out. yeah, it'll be painfully obvious who did it if we broke into the same place, and we already gave this guy our real name (honestly, we need to not do that...). D. leave and watch the place closely to see where the Fort Dumont painting is going next. Maybe not break into the next place, or the place after, but... keep an eye on where it goes, and from whom to whom it changes hands. That especially will give us a lot of information as to who these cultists are.
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Jul 11, 2016 21:21
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Buy a painting. We can always sell it later to recoup losses. Better if we can steal something new to fund it and keep the Eye though
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Jul 12, 2016 01:56
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RandomPauI posted:Just throwing this out here. Is there anything we can steal that'd let us keep the eye, or that'd net us additional funds for our investigation? Its a room full of valuable paintings. You could make serious bank here. Also, a lack of consensus for once!
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Jul 13, 2016 07:30
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Grey Hunter posted:Its a room full of valuable paintings. You could make serious bank here. I'll rephrase. Is there anything we can steal from where we won't be the prime suspect?
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Jul 13, 2016 07:52
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RandomPauI posted:I'll rephrase. Is there anything we can steal from where we won't be the prime suspect? ^^^^ we should get our hands on something to pay the bills and keep funding our investigation into the cult. The Eye of Carcossa is too unique to easily sell, and we already handed over the Marx Grimoire. Go across town and steal something bland and easily fenced. edit: or we could maybe work and crap out some gallery review or another. Trash this rear end in a top hat's reputation for treating us like crap or smth. Comment on the recent spate of bizarre WWI themed paintings obliquely, but not in a way to make people want to buy them. Let Tartin wipe his paws on the copy and drop it off at the newspaper office on the way to coffee tmw morning. cat_herder fucked around with this message at 08:15 on Jul 13, 2016 |
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Jul 13, 2016 08:12
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RandomPauI posted:I'll rephrase. Is there anything we can steal from where we won't be the prime suspect? I quite like the idea of stealing one then turning up to buy one legally Ain't nobody going to suspect us for that
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Jul 13, 2016 16:22
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Well, being an art critic probably won't get us enough dosh to buy something really swell. How about we try and convince our rich, but grief-struck friend that buying a painting will be a crucial step in the investigation of who hired the thugs that tried to steal the tooth?
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Jul 14, 2016 04:32
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