A/N
There have been some complaints about the obscurity of both jokes and references. Therefore, this section is devoted to an explanation of the various historical references, nerd-references, foreign languages, and jokes used in the Ivory Tower. A lot will go unexplained until later stories, however, so consider yourselves warned. All thanks go to Quantum Witch for inspiring this section and its format.
Prologue
The quote:
Mark Twain wrote this for the wife of then-President Rutherford B. Hayes 1881. Mrs. Hayes then went on to become one of the great champions for Prohibition in the United States. As Prohibition is the backdrop for this entire story, I figured a little wisdom from Twain would be a good place to start.
The Fitzgeralds:
F. Scott Fitzgerald, American author and party-goer, was famous for staying out late at night and living the high life. His wife, Zelda, was the life of any party, and often got them thrown out for her drunken antics.
The Thompson:
Known alternatively as the Chicago Typewriter, the Thommy gun, the Thompson, or the Trench Sweeper, the Thompson submachine-gun is the iconic weapon of mobsters throughout the twentieth century.
Chapter 1
Frankie Yale:
One of the iconic mobsters of early Prohibition, Yale was the mentor and leader for the more-famous generation of mobsters to come. He died in 1928 to the Thompson's first big appearance in gang warfare.
Arnold Rothstein:
Nicknamed "the Brain", Rothstein revolutionized organized crime by actually organizing it. Among the first to capitalize on Prohibition, Rothstein made millions. He remains known as the smartest, and sharpest-dressed, man in criminal history.
Charles Luciano:
Known far and wide as "Lucky" Luciano, this man eventually rose to become the most powerful gangster of 30's, 40's, and 50's. He earned the moniker "Lucky" first through his gambling abilities, and later by surviving a rather terrifying ordeal involving a knife, a beach, and a near-death experience.
Mr. Berlinger:
A Jewish baker living in New York City, Mr. Berlinger was a friend of Arnold Rothstein in the same way the rest of the Jewish community was. When he heard of Rothstein's death years later, Berlinger's son Milton Berle, one of America's most famous comedians, reportedly went on stage and gave his finest performance ever in Rothstein's memory.
$1000 in 1926:
$1000 dollars in 1926 was the equivalent of $12,250 today. It's Kenta's standing rate, and one of the reasons he is so rarely hired.
J. Edgar Hoover:
Hoover became the sixth Head of the Bureau of Investigation a few years before the story takes place, and he held that office for decades. Reportedly a right bastard of a man, Hoover's questionable practices are the reason FBI directors may only hold that duty for ten years, maximum.
BI PCD:
The Paranormal Crime Division actually existed under various names within the FBI for many years. For those of you who caught the Hellboy reference, we'll be getting to that later…
Police Raids:
The police often had unannounced 'visits' to businesses suspected of selling alcohol. Remember, this is a time before many of the protections Americans enjoy today: businesses were often broken into, sacked, and searched for anything alcoholic. More often than not, though, the officers involved in the raid had been bribed to find 'nothing' and to give warning prior to raids.
Chapter 2
Milk:
The upper-class speakeasies served alcohol often and without restraint. In case of a surprise raid, therefore, they had incredibly-complex methods of disguising their illicit activities. Hidden rooms, secret switches, and the occasional raid-drill with the customers meant that few of these speakeasies were ever found out.
1425 sakē:
Sakē over ten years old generally requires yearly turning to avoid becoming vinegar. That would imply that this particular bottle has been given a ridiculous amount of attention for over 20 generations. Of course, you may have noticed that there was something odd about that bottle: examine the myth of the Shōjō for a full explanation of where Kenta received the alcohol.
Chapter 3
Exploding guns:
Kenta's method for destroying guns takes advantage of their metal components: he causes the bullets to fuse to the barrel. In Thompsons, this can cause a rather vicious backlash when the force of the bullet's propellant has nowhere to go. Modern guns can, for the most part, redistribute the stress better than the older varieties.
E. McCoy:
For you Dresden Files fans out there, this is exactly who you think it is.
Chapter 4
The quarter:
The Standing Liberty quarter. The setup was a little different, hence "In God We Trust" being printed through the middle instead of along the bottom, and the quarter itself was mostly silver with a little copper.
Flynn's Spells:
Our Irish Wizard, as you'll be able to see in the Epilogue, does most of his spells in Irish Gaelic. Here, he's using a simple 'fly' and 'descend' combination.
'Dead' Kenta:
Kenta wears metal armor up to his neck. The hint was that he was both unmoving and cold. He wouldn't cool off that quickly upon dying, especially wearing that thick coat.
Chapter 5
The title:
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and Kings." I figured this Alice in Wonderland quote would set a good tone for the chapter. After the ghouls, there isn't really much beside a lot of talking on various topics.
Kenta's Training:
Takachiho-gawara housed a shrine until around AD 800, and was the site where Amaterasu's grandson came to Earth (eventually, his line would become the Emperors of Japan).
Izumo-taisha was a shrine built around AD 900 and dedicated to Okuninushi, Shinto deity of marriage and the creation of nations.
Horyu-ji was a Buddhist temple first built in AD 611, but burned down (maybe) in 670. When it was rebuilt on a different site in 711, it fell into disrepair and remained un-visited. Its first major revival occurred in 1374, when it was repaired, refurbished, and renewed.
Chapter 6
Steele Industries:
An homage to a character from Spirit of the Century, Billy Steele is Howard Hughes with class. We'll be seeing a lot more of Billy later.
Flynn's Spells:
The 'Finding' spell uses three potent sources of emotion as power, and creates a super-powerful focus capable of lasting for weeks and searching across hundreds of miles. Infernus is exactly what it says on the tin.
Chapter 7
What is Kenta?:
Complicated. Of the several dozen guesses received, none have been correct. Keep guessing!
The symbol:
Alright, you all know what it is. The Nazi party used the swastika as their symbol after it experienced a sudden rise in popularity in the Western world. Originally, it was a Hindu/Buddhist/Jainist symbol of good-luck and eternity.
Kenta's swearing:
Basically, he merely said "fairies" in Japanese. The magic endemic to the speakeasy, however, formed the word into physical being and made it flutter away. This in no way signals anything about Kenta's backgrond. At all…
Greenwood/Kenta:
The two are ancient, simple as that. Kaibutsu is, roughly translated, monster. Ju tei…I'll let you guys figure that out. Delilah felt Kenta's nerves because the old man knew he couldn't win in a fight with the Fae: but Greenwood didn't know that.
Chapter 8
Lawrence Tibbett:
A real-life person, L.M. Tibbett was one of the finest singers and performers to ever grace the Metropolitan Opera.
"Al":
Yes, it's young Al Capone, here to visit old friends in New York. Many of the men he is sitting with were his mentors and teachers in the way of the Mafia, and the bodyguard who got shot was the man who gave him his iconic facial scarring, Frank Galluccio.
Frankie and Brain:
God help me, I had to do this joke. For those of you who missed it, it's a "Pinky and the Brain" reference.
Secret Rooms:
Talk to any New Yorker interested in the history of their city, and they'll be able to tell you of at least three locations with secret rooms or hidden hallways.
Hugo Faustus:
The 'inspiration' for the play Doctor Faustus, in which a man of science falls into magic and necromancy. The "Mr. Marlowe" reference Delilah makes refers to Christopher Marlowe, who took the German tale of Faust and turned it into his own play. In that reference, Delilah is referring to herself as the devil that drags Faust into hell.
Faustus' Death:
He's a bloody necromancer: they're like weeds, they just keep coming back. He died because he underestimated Delilah and thought her to be a gifted mortal, not a White Court. His mistake, and he'll learn from it in case he comes back later. Heh.
British Hit-Wizard:
Seriously, we never gave the man a name. Alright, his magical specialties are fire and electricity: I'll give further explanation of him in a later chapter. As for the 'pure of heart' thing, that phrase can mean a whole lot of things. You can figure it out, I'm sure.
Epilogue
Sara: Our British sorcerer's other sister, who was kidnapped by Faustus as leverage, was saved along with the other practitioners, Flynn, and Elizabeth.
The Soulgazes: If you really want, I'll describe what they saw later. They'll come up in later story arcs, anyway.
Kenta's Home: Pretty much just an excavated cave surrounded by steel walls, hidden underneath an old warehouse.
The Tower: The Ivory Tower now belongs to Delilah, and will be the base for continued adventures.
A/N 2
If there are any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask via PM or review. I apologize, but I will not be posting much more until around Christmas due to finals and travelling. Vale te!