“London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained…” -John H. Watson, M.D.

This is the classic Victorian London of Sherlock Holmes: glowing gas lamps and gleaming brass, choking “pea soup” fog, the clip-clop of horse hooves, and the whistle of steam trains. Music halls, doxies, the British Museum, and the swirling Thames River. Was that a cry for help? A scream? Mystery and adventure await!

Holmes and his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, plummeted into the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland and both have been declared dead. The shadow of the Great Detective no longer stretches across the globe and ne’er-do-wells of all stripes are wreaking havoc. London is teeming with newcomers. Czarist Russia is starving and Hungarian freedom fighters seek weapons, money, and mercenaries to liberate their country from tyranny. It’s impossible to tell friend from foe.

Aspiring detectives and those trying to bring some justice to this unfair and brutal world seek to fill the gaps left by Sherlock’s death. Meanwhile, his grieving friends believe he yet lives, and they are searching for him. There on the wall! Is that the shadow of a deerstalker cap? Did he leave a secret message among the adverts in the London Times? And what of Moriarty? Did he survive? Is the criminal mastermind plotting his revenge?

The game is afoot indeed!

Created by: Nancy Holder (nancyh)

World type: Open