The first delivery of requested research arrives via FAX. From the diary/records/photos they can see that in 1923 the Carcosa Diamond was present at a séance held by Lady Euphemia Hamilton in the Sitting Room, kept inside a box. The CHRONOS readings suggest this whole event is an anomaly, created by Stepanov, so a team needs to go to 1923, retrieve the diamond and collapse the anomaly.

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A copy of Lady Euphemia (Effie)'s diary  confirms she took a gem from Aleister Crowley that could have been the Carcosa Diamond, and took it back to Buckland House where she became obsessed and terrified by it, eventually summoning a medium to come and try to 'cleanse' it. 

An issue of the Picture Post gives background information

on the Abbey of Thelema, while an article on Madame Rosakov identifies the medium. The current older Lady Hamilton told players on Friday night that she once held a séance in the small drawing room and a letter from 1923 from Edward Webb confirms the date as having been the Vernal Equinox and the time as 'after lunch'.

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Madame Rosakov has died, but the team have found a radio interview with her where she talks about how exactly she carried out the summoning.

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The Tailor has supplied the 4-person travel team with 1920s outfits (we asked all the players for their measurements before the event on the basis they might need 'disguises' and then Amanda did amazing work so we had multiple eras worth of costumes ready and hung up on rails, while she did her best impersonation of the harried period clothing expert from St Marys crossed with Edna Mode), the calculations are complete, the rooms which will be within the travel field have been cleansed and sealed. The CHRONOS team provide them with a ‘clicker’ that will activate their extraction as well as a special camera that will send live images of the mission back to their waiting colleagues (a repainted babymonitor!) The Medical, Psych and Continuity team establish their baselines and it's time to go.

 

After a excitingly complicated, noisy and dangerous time in the tunnel, the players step into the 1923 set-dressed area where music is playing on a gramophone, as Lady Hamilton's butler welcomes them and ushers them into the sitting room where the séance is already beginning. They are seated next to Lady Saffron, who seems to be bemused but entertained by the whole process.

 

"The ritual began with Madame performing a Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram with candles etc, before moving onto a summoning of great power, during which the room became suffused with a red light’. The box was then opened and the ‘demon’ addressed, at which point the room was plunged into darkness - and

could not be lit – doors were locked, electric switches would not move, the candles refused to burn, matches refused to strike – the darkness was absolute and terrifying. Strange awful noises were heard and the participants began to scream in utter terror with a sense of staring into the void of space”

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Despite the utter and unexpected terror of the séance, the team manage to carry out their plan and steal the diamond from the centre of the séance – realising they have become exactly the people described in Madam's recollections. Scrambling to get out, they make it to the doors, activate their clicker and return via CHRONOS to

1969, suffering terrible Timeshock. Only to discover the diamond they stole has somehow not returned with them.

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