The sign of the Scarlet Moon

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Matsui
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The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Matsui » Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:03 pm

The earth shook ... The world is changing ... the Warp of the Story is being formed ...

The place in Fabule is for six people ...
The plot is waiting for its main characters ...

Come in if you are not afraid ....
The sun does not abandon the moon to darkness.

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Oneia
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Oneia » Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:50 am

The lazy silence was broken by the intrusive chirping of my cell phone. The tall man with a pale bluish complexion, staring at the glowing computer screen, winced in disgust - he was so close! The ancient Mayan text still held many secrets to be resolved - despite the efforts of scientists, some phrases were still ambiguous, vague, unclear. New York's computerized Public Library offered very quick and convenient access to its items. The reading room, open until late, captivated with its silence and emptiness - on Friday evening, few people were interested in sitting down and looking at endless sequences of letters, especially so old and long forgotten by people. So Devyn felt great in this place, especially when no one was interrupting him. And now...

"Hello," he said, not very politely to the phone.
"Hello, Devyn," came the distinctive slightly screeching voice of Fred Morden, a journalist from World Review, "I hope I'm not disturbing you?"
"A little," Devyn grunted, "why do I owe your call?" After all, as far as I remember, I recently told you what I think about you and your travel department ...
"Come on," the voice in the receiver changed slightly, dripping with carefully balanced remorse now, "it's not my fault that the editor didn't like your text on Turkestan." If it were up to me ...
- Don't vat me, just say what's going on - Devyn tapped his fingers on the table top - because somehow I find it hard to believe that you are contacting only out of the goodness of your heart ...
"Well ... no," Morden admitted reluctantly, "I don't like talking to you either, but sometimes you have to do something against yourself, especially in a case like this ..."
- What case? What happened?
- We need you. We have some very old pages, remnants of some book, and want to do a full-length report on them before we hand them over to the museum ... the problem is, they're written in some bizarre ancient language - experts have noticed a slight resemblance to ancient Sumerian. I admit with shame that we do not have anyone in the editorial office who would know such linguistic nuances so well ... and this is where we come to you ...

The voice in the earpiece is getting quieter ... your thoughts suddenly start racing, as if by themselves, without your participation ...

Ancient Sumerian ... is it ... is it .......?

Pages from the Book of Nod ...?

Where did they come from? How did the editorial office come into possession of them?

You have to check it immediately ... right?

Morden says something on the phone, but you don't understand his words, you feel excited ...
You feel a thrill of excitement ... yes ...

An intrigue begins for you.
Dopamine Addicted

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Rincewind1
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Rincewind1 » Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:56 am

- You know what, I'll call you back. Devyn said to the receiver carefully hiding his excitement and hung up. Without a trace of his previous passion, he looked at the terminal monitor. "Well, the Mayans aren't going anywhere so far ... And if that bubek from Review is close to the truth in a quarter, then these pages are priceless." he decided, stroking his cheek thoughtfully. He put the floppy disk in its case, turned off the computer, scooped the notes into a threadbare leather bag, and left the reading room noiselessly, giving the librarian a faint smile.

By the time he was finished down the stairs, he had already called Morden back.
- Fred, "Pop's and Mom's" on corner 5pm, get the photocopies. I'll be there in a quarter of an hour and I hope to find you there. ”He tried to arrange a meeting at the same time over the noise of the street and hail a cab. Finally, a yellow display case with a Hindu in a red turban behind the wheel stopped in front of him.
- Pop's at 5pm, just swiftly! Devyn rushed the taxi driver and lost himself in brooding. "The importance of this discovery cannot be overestimated, if it lay next to the original. In fact, even an Old Sumerian laundry receipt will cost you a fortune. Ha ha, Fred, 'two gray tunics and a wool coat for a dozen eggs and two oranges', here's the whole thing. your mystical message from the past ... "He smiled at his thoughts." But if it really is ... no, can't ... maybe? ...

Devyn was impatiently tracing circles with his thumbs, waiting for the taxi to wade through the streets that were crowded even at night and to reach a cozy cafe ...
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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Supergirl
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Supergirl » Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:04 am

Fred Morden was a fat, chunky man with a wide, puffy face and greasy hair, messily combed back. Sitting at a small table, he filled almost the entire wall recess with his body, almost overwhelming Kiasyd with his presence. As one of the leading researchers and journalists of "World Review", he had a long-standing antipathy towards Devyn (fully reciprocated) - it was the kind of aversion that someone in a high position has towards a person, which in his opinion threatens this position.
Devyn was aware of Fred's feelings, but being a restless soul for whom travel, adventure, gathering knowledge and processing it were the most important things, he did not do much about it. A man who had no idea about the laws that govern the world, about the Masquerade, and about the true division of the world - yet exalting himself and succumbing to silly jealousy for a stool - could only arouse pitying contempt in Casis.

"You're late," Morden muttered, reluctantly holding out a greasy, soft hand to greet.
"Traffic jams," Devyn replied insolently, settling as far away from his interlocutor as possible, "let's get to the point. Do you have photocopies?
"Yeah," Morden drawled. He pulled a few sheets of wrapped paper out of his jacket and pushed them across the table - if it were up to me, you'd never get them. Well, according to your bosses, you are fit for the job, and you have "contacts" ... although in my opinion it is a waste of time.
"Don't resonate, Fred, because you'll believe in your intelligence yourself," Devyn retorted, staring intently at the surface printed with strange marks, "give me a few days to analyze this text." For now, tell me where did these cards come into your hands? As far as I know, this year the magazine did not finance any trips to the Middle East ...
- What do you care? - Morden snorted furiously - "You have the contract and do it." The bosses promise a bonus if you get something out of the text before the August issue closes. Now forgive me, I have more interesting things than sitting here and watching your pale face. Goodbye.
Devyn watched furiously as the fat body slowly rolled out of the room. What a jerk! And he is entrusted with running their own column in a prestigious all-American magazine! What is this world going to do when common assholes deal with the real Science !!!
He held the paper a little closer to a small wall lamp, intimately illuminating a dark bar alcove ... and thoughts about Fred instantly flew out of his head.
"This mark," he whispered to himself, staring at the red symbol at the bottom of the page, "how do I know it ... thought?" He hit his forehead a little ... thought!
"The red moon," he whispered, "the red prince in the first quarter contained in the diamond symbol ... where did I see it ... where ...?"
His thoughts twitched like dogs trapped on a leash ... the truth was almost within reach, but still ... still wandering away, leaving more and more discouragement.
"I won't guess it myself ..." He clenched his fists, "I must ...
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

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Eredin
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Eredin » Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:20 am

... pull a few strings. - he decided.

Devyn spent the rest of the night leafing through diaries, notes, lexicons, and summaries. With no effect. A visit to the website of the Library of Congress (God bless America and all-night Internet cafes) revealed several hundred documents, but nothing that turned out to be of little use. None of the few contacts in either Los Angeles or Madrid have been able to shed light on the mysterious moon. Disheartened by the symbol, Devyn turned his attention to writing.

Someone went to great lengths to trace the stylus marks onto the parchment, but did so neatly and accurately. Some words were indeed Sumerian, but others were completely incomprehensible. The puzzle grew more and more frustrating - from whichever side he attacked, Devyn still felt as though he was banging his head against a solid wall, as if he was forgetting something obvious. At last he gave in, forgetting his self-offended self-love, and reached for the phone. He started dialing Cairo first, but his hand froze as he listened to the free line signal. No, he wasn't ready to incur such a debt yet. He dialed the number from the beginning ...

The connection went around the globe several times, eventually connecting New York to a small village in the northeast of France. Devyn tried to hide the trembling of his voice, but to no avail. He smiled weakly, pleased to send at least some of the overdue test report. The handset has been picked up.

- Greetings, Mother ... your child wanders in the dark of the night. If it is Your will, let your wisdom guide them like a beacon and dispel the darkness, showing you the way to know the truth ...
Don’t Let Yesterday Take Up Too Much Of Today

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Poison Ivy
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Poison Ivy » Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:30 am

"Pictures are the best photos for the family." Especially with them, because they are not seen in these photos. I have no great love for the Keeper, Cluracan mused. Their love of power makes them blind to the true value of the world. Once upon a time, ages ago, at least they had some ideals. We all do, actually. Now they are like children, fighting over who is in charge in a given sandbox. Shadow Masters, Puppet Lords, Gray Eminences. Pfeh. Now it is the tenth water after jelly, unworthy ... - here he reflected, remembering his own distance from the Firstborn. In any case, nothing good is to be expected of them, although they are quite predictable in their desire to dominate.

There are several Lasombra who deserve my respect. Archbishop of Moncada and his daughter, traitor to the Sabbath. More than anything, he craves knowledge ... Lucita. This freak will be her undoing one day, although ... she must be stronger than we all think. Unyielding. Noddystka. Not available.

Come back to earth, he summoned himself to order. Lasombra is the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is also Tzimisce. - a shadow danced on Devyn's face "I doubt that any Magister would be able to hide his secrets from them for a long time ... but it is not the Dragon, but the Crown ... I don't know what to do next." God ... - he was confused, realizing the blasphemy - for me, I would prefer to stay away from them, and in a bright light. I have enough shadow every day.

The mystery, however, continued to fester in his mind, like an itchy spot that cannot be scratched, like a broken tooth repeatedly poked with his tongue. With each passing moment his determination grew, the call of adventure made him throw himself into deep waters. His capricious, elven nature did not allow him to stay idly in place, subconsciously he looked more and more often at the window of his shelter, marking imaginary paths leading him straight to the heart of the mystery ... He pushed back the chair and stood up. For several minutes he paced nervously around the table, and finally reached for the phone.

- Fred, old friend! - Greeted, not even trying to hide the joy of waking him from sleep. - What you gave me is really nice, but - I have to tell you - more complicated than the supposedly Etruscan figurines you gave me in March. If this is real ... 'he paused, almost feeling the editor's growing interest,' then just think about all the laurels and Pulitzers you will get soon. But you see, I have little information. Let's meet at the library next to you. Yes. Then put on a coat, I'll be there in 20 minutes. It won't take long.

Several minutes later, Devyn was standing next to the gargoyle pretending to be a caryatid. But unlike others found in New York City, this statue was made of whole stone. And even on cloudy nights, he did not try to stretch his wings. Fred Morden, red with haste and anger, gasped like an oncoming steam engine. Devyn ignored the first string of curses, and as the second began with an enigmatic smile, he leaned in and whispered one word to the reporter's ear. Pulitzer. Frank's eyes gleamed with greed, and he instantly calmed down.
- I need to know if you gave me a complete document and where did you get it. he began, carefully modulating his voice, hitting the most sensitive spots in sweet tones. - Without this knowledge, I will not decode it, and without me there will be no articles, fame and "And besides, I would like to thank my parents" - he added with a carefully hidden note of sarcasm. You know yourself that you won't find a second specialist in dead languages ​​in New York who can do this translation for you right away and as ... cheap as I do. - both knew very well that Devyn's translation services could be much, much more expensive.
Adjusting the collar of his jacket, Kiasyd continued, "Besides, it would be best for me to see the parchment myself." You know I trust you as much as my wife, but the copy might just not have picked up some important data for me, such as invoices, or traces of nice ink.
- Loveable ink in Assyria? Morden laughed nervously.
- Lemon juice, milk, a hundred other substances. Nothing our cave relatives would no longer have. Kiasyd replied. Not knowing why, it sounded more like 'your relatives'.
- But how am I supposed to smuggle you there?
- Are you the editor-in-chief of the section or not? Don't you tell me you don't have the keys ... 'MacBrogan suspended his voice.
"... let's go," Morden capitulated.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.

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Hawking
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Hawking » Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:33 am

Where the hell are these keys? Nina fumbled nervously in her purse. The lights were off, the second-hand store was dark and quiet, the last customer had left ten minutes ago. Another quiet working day was over. I must admit that such long evening hours, when the window was dark and cold, and the shop was warm and cozy, gave her a lot of pleasure. If there were few customers, you could always sit with an old book and enjoy the long autumn evening. Yes, life was definitely not that bad.
Nevertheless - Nina finally found the keys and fiddled with the jammed lock - the cats needed to be fed, and her little apartment should not glow too much. It was necessary to live for a while ...
Then she heard the clink of glass.
She turned abruptly. The small alley was empty, the light of the lanterns bringing out the dark outlines of the cracked city walls. The sound came from somewhere far away ...
Loot. Twang.
Next ... closer ...
The darkness seemed to thicken, enveloping the lamp lights like a cocoon ...
The claustrophobic mood infused her more and more, some strange irrational terror grabbed her by the throat with a cold hand ...
Then she saw it. A dark shape sprang out from behind a row of parked cars, flew a good few meters in the air - then with a clink of broken glass and a roar of curved sheet metal, it landed with great force on the roof of one of the cars.
And then there was a hollow noise ... approaching, piercing, piercing through the skull ... the growing whirr of motorcycle engines ...
What to do?
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. Stephen Hawking.

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fabulousfreesia
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by fabulousfreesia » Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:22 pm

The sound was unbearable, it pierced her ears that it hurt ... Hours spent in a quiet second-hand bookstore weaned her from all loud sounds. Nina instinctively covered her ears with her hands, but it was to no avail. But the pain brought her back to reality. She suddenly realized that hundreds, thousands of tiny shards of glass from broken lanterns crunched beneath the heels of her shoes ... Is that why it was so dark?
Or was it just her imagination? The glass was shattered into tiny pieces, like a car window? So it couldn't be a lantern… Besides, how could the glass from the lantern end up right here ?!
So why is it so dark ?! It was as if a black mist enveloped the bulbs, as if something… swallowed light. But the young woman realized that shouldn't be her problem. The black shape on the roof of the car was still there! He wasn't a delusion of an overworked mind, he couldn't be! He was sitting on the roof of the car, blacker than a starless night.
Fear paralyzed her, made her legs like the roots of a tree, planted into the ground.
Trying to overcome fear and the strange feeling that there is some dark, disturbing beauty in this shape, she tried to retreat into the alley, to hide in the shadow, which is beneficial in her opinion. Shadow…
She was wearing dark clothes, a black dress, black tights, and a coat. Even her hair was jet black. So Shadow was her friend. Truth…?
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

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Dangerous
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Dangerous » Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:27 pm

Charles Logan woke up with a vague feeling that something was going to happen. Perhaps it was the fleeting echo of the dream still echoing inside his head - but his crumbs were already too scattered to be picked back and put together into a meaningful whole. The only thing left of his dreams is a sense of something that will happen, which may change his life. Something called, attracted, called ...
He shook his head in exasperation. He shouldn't have read so many books before going to sleep. It has always been his weakness. And in addition, he had read everything and there was nothing left for tonight ... and there was nothing else to do that night - the new roof in the church sacristy for Father Richard had finished painting the day before yesterday.
He sighed. Well, there's an antiquities shop ... This nice girl usually stays late, maybe he can borrow something.
Grimly, he scrambled out of the sewer gully. As always, the dark alley was friendly dark. He heard the faint mewing of a cat and the clink of a bottle hit by its nimble hands. The smells of urine alternated with the sewage stench coming from the sewers. It didn't bother him - he was used to bad odors.
He walked slowly out of the alley and carefully looked around. Emptiness, little light, no uninvited passerby - that is what the lonely Nosferatu likes best.
Almost.
With a terrible roar of engines, two huge choppers suddenly raced down the empty street, stirring up clouds of dust. The black machines sped past him at great speed, covered him with dust and dead leaves, then began to move away, then turned to the nearest block. It was all very short, but ...
But then something happened.
When the dark-skinned motorcyclists charged past him ... it only took a fraction of a second, but during it ... Logan had a sudden feeling of overwhelming fear, a breathtaking terror that came out of nowhere ... and vanished as quickly as appeared.
After a while he understood. He was touched by a piece of the aura emitted by the machine drivers ... a tormenting aura, emitting terrible ghosts visible at the edge of perception ...
And then he heard the sounds of shots ... Come from the place where he was supposed to go.
Instinctively, he hid in the shadow of the nearest wall, struggling with his thoughts.
"It's none of my business," something inside him shouted, "why should I get involved in some intrigues!"
- But you can not stand indifferently, God knows what happened there ... - spoke another, calmer voice.
For a moment he didn't know what to do ...
No matter what a woman looks like, if she's confident, she's sexy.

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Gor
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Re: The sign of the Scarlet Moon

Post by Gor » Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:30 pm

Unconsciously, he put his hand into the pocket of a long old coat where he is burning affectionately called 'Little' a gray-haired rat and began to stroke it thoughtfully.
"Holy shit, don't these people even know how to borrow a book without flaunting their weapons?" -
he moved gently, checking that the two .45 SAs were in place.
He stepped out of the shadows with a quick and pace, which his leg was not quite fit for, and stammered cautiously towards the place where the shots had come from.

There was a quick patter - in his direction some human couple who must have been taking a walk near the incident.
Their eyes are always the same full of fear in this goddamn town, Logan thought melancholy as panicked lovers ran past him.
One of the mortals nervously tapped a number on his cell phone.
"Eh," Nosferatu sighed in his soul, "sometimes it's worth watching and not running away, knowledge is precious to my little mortals ... isn't it, Little?"
He stroked the rat.

A strange thought crossed his mind, but it quickly faded out. Perhaps it was about his dream ... but he couldn't remember what it was about ...
There was only gold, and power, and the bodies of women, and steel.

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