Session #7: Destiny's Scythe

Wish I had a picture of the Minis Map

The session began innocently enough with everyone invited to attend Yzador's festivities.  There were five Flowers of Demeter available (actually cup cakes) and some bottles of whiskey and wine (actually iced tea and cordial) that could only be truly enjoyed by those who ate one of the flowers.  Since Yzador was only charging a trivial boon for them, it didn't take too long for them to be all sold.

Most of the upper echelons were in the back room for much of the session, barring the prince whose player couldn't attend and so who was away on other business.  Yzador spent much of the time as a charming host who had some strange quirks that were unusual for those who knew him.  He also had the chance to introduce everyone to the Crone neonate, Contrary Mary, who had been rescued from the Undercity within the past week.

Contrary Mary (an NPC) got to impress everyone with her huge greatsword that was too heavy for a regular person to carry and which certainly drew the attention of the supremely strong elder, Michael Novichkov, who was one of the very few who could swing it.

Professor Jasmine Hadley declared that her childe, Talitha Salvatore, was now the Lesser Harpy and that people could register their boons with her.  The current harpy, Amity Fine, was aware of this development and though she didn't attend the gathering her approval had been sought.

The gathering was plagued by strange spiritual activity which included a bizarre knee-high fog, doors that wouldn't open unless asked nicely, and strange illusions written on mirrors and other reflective surfaces.  Finally Yzador quietly sang that "Alas he cannot stay" and then dove into the tall mirror that had been brought into the event for the purpose.  (Well, the player made the motion and described his action in front of the tall mirror - glass hurts.)

This left the neonates on their own so in typical neonate fashion, they decide to break into the museum to get their hands on some cold iron meteorites as Siobhan O'Baoill was currently obsessed with gathering information and tools against the fae.  Their attempts were interrupted as Jonathon Williams went and told on them and they were chased down by Seamus O'Baoill (well, he hurried up to them as they stumbled drunkenly down the street).

It turns out there were plans in the wings to finally take out the Delphin Island demon.  Everyone was brought together, armed up, and headed over to Delphin Island.

Now since large group combats can be an exercise in prolonged agony and hours of waiting, I've developed a few tricks to speed things up.  I had already pre-rolled Initiative for everyone and so I had them sit in a circle of chairs around a coffee table upon which I placed a map.  While they discussed their tactics, they also picked a miniature from the Inner Sea Pathfinder Pawns.  Why?  It's hard enough keeping a normal set of terrain clear in everyone's minds when there aren't 9 PCs, two dogs and 11 NPCs to manage and picture.

The Pawns also made it much easier to figure out how far people could get in so much time, whether the demon's scream would affect them, and how close people had to be to use their weapons.  I used a Stone Golem of Deskari from the Worldwound Bestiary Box to represent the demon that only came up after five rounds of fighting the larvae (near mindless mob of recently made and weaker vampires).

There were three players who didn't have combatant characters so I gave two of them five of the larvae apiece to control and the third got to run Contrary Mary.  He even wore her mask.  The fourth non-combatant player at least had two zombie dogs to field so he was okay.  I kept control of the Big Demon as I'd been surprised by the sudden assault and didn't have a write up explaining all of the creature's powers to hand.

Some key moments in the combat included:

• Seamus' two zombie dogs dropping bag loads of salt into the dark ponds.
• The ten zombies standing up in the ponds (ponds represented by plates).
• Everyone tensely holding their actions so that the two snipers could aim for five rounds.
• Novichkov staking a larvae with a thrown stake.
• The larvae mobs tearing the two zombie dogs apart.
• FatherMother being slammed by a larvae mob to the ground - then Earth Melding away.
• Yzador being slammed by a larvae mob to the ground - who ignored his Nightmare.
• FatherMother joining the pile on the ground to help Yzador by smashing larvae into the dirt.
• While Talitha picked them off the both of them using a rifle.
• Contrary Mary being slammed by a larvae mob to the ground - who ripped her arm off.
• The demon rising from the depths of the pond with a giant scythe.
• Siobhan failing a save and thinking the demon is actually a possessed Monroe (human boss).
• Siobhan begging everyone not to hurt him and then trying to stumble in the way.
• Professor Jasmine Hadley being uncertain of her claims and so shoots the larvae.
• Jonathon Williams using Celerity to tear across the field to the demon.
• Jonathon Williams using Parkour to run up the demon to reach its head.
• Jonathon Williams slamming a holy water balloon down its gob.
• Jonathon Williams being knocked to the ground and then implanted with a parasite.
• Jonathon Williams arising as a controlled vampire, pops the equivalent of Greater Darkness.
• Contrary Mary frenzying and feeding on two larvae.
• Yzador running out of blood and feeding on a downed larvae.
• Yzador slaying that downed larvae to remove the blood bond.
• Talitha Salvatore growing wings and flying above the field.
• Talitha Salvatore getting ten successes plus four damage on a shot that kills the demon.

It was a pretty good combat and while it did take a couple hours, we got through almost twenty rounds and no one seemed bored.  For a mass combat, that's pretty amazing.  For a LARP combat, that's pretty spectacular.

Session #6: Territorial Domains

Professor Jasmine Hadley had to step up as seneschal and help organise people's feeding grounds claims because Prince Harry Saeed was busy propping up the Rack (aka player was sick).  For those who don't play vampire, there's basically a sub-system in play where various high traffic areas (CBD, North Adelaide, Port Adelaide) are better eating spots and are therefore called Racks.  If vampires over feed from the area, they damage it and it can support fewer vampires and provide less of a blood bonus.  If they groom the area, they can increase it's value and the number of vampires it can support.

Anyway, so we had the usual Welcome to Game speech and then I had to chase them outside so that they could re-enter in character as allowing them to remain in the same room basically just leads to a really long and blurred IC / OOC period where no one's quite sure if anyone else is roleplaying or not.  I've never allowed this to happen in this campaign but I've seen it in other games.

Professor Jasmine Hadley had her speech and I (as Dr. Mirrim Hargey, prince's childe and general secretary) drew in people's feeding grounds claims onto various printed out maps.  A few people grumbled, namely those who had feeding grounds in the last chronicle under other princes, but most people gained more than they had to lose so most were pretty happy with it.

The venue was behind the Tuxedo Cat, an old nightclub on North Terrace that basically opens up into an old and defunct concrete catacomb a few storeys tall.  Amity Fine was the hostess and though she had no music going, I put on some warehouse ambiance from Tabletop Audio.  She declared it Elysium and had Michael Novichkov, who had recently had his status stripped by the prince, perform the duty of Master of Elysium.

Michael Novichkov soon got to play the part when Seamus O'Baoill interrupted Gary Dodd's attempts to haggle with Lewis Epcott over the price of a bottle of  top shelf lacrima that Epcott drank last game (under manipulations by the sheriff).  Seamus O'Baoill threatened Gary Dodd for asking an exorbitant price of a fellow Ordo Dracul (as the starting requested boon was a major) and Gary Dodd told him to fuck off. 

Seamus O'Baoill had been having a hard week so he frenzied on him and only Novichkov shoving him under a table and sitting on it fixed the frenzy.  Why?  Because they needed him to switch targets from Dodd to something else and then exhaust his frenzy tearing apart that target.  Turns out that being trapped under a table makes a good target.

This all happened in the back yard which we had popped a few tables and mismatched chairs about on the little courtyard.  We play during the day but funnily enough it's less immersion breaking than playing at night would be.  In the new 2nd edition rules, vampires can see perfectly in anything other than pitch darkness and so having to bring something closer to the light to read it makes less sense.

Dr. Jonathon Taylor was feeling quite poorly, having had a pretty rough few weeks.  You see, he was a duplicate of the arch-villain from the last campaign and had been copied a few months before a terrible ritual drove his first self evil.  So he's not evil and has never been evil but many of the things that are plaguing the city are still his fault.  So he gets drunk and smack talks Jonathon Williams who is currently suspected of dressing homeless people up in gimp suits shackled in his haven.  And then draining them dry.  Jonathon Williams just calls him a hypocrite and leaves it at that.

Amity Fine lectures a few people on damaging the Racks and tells them to stop over feeding.  She doesn't really address the fact that there are a lot of fangs per location nor does she give them advice on boosting the Rack.  Harpies, huh?

NOTE: A harpy is a social position whose job it is to reinforce appropriate social behaviour, humiliate those who disobey and to record the IOUs called 'boons' that are the life blood of the vampire economy.

Partway through the festivities, I headed off and changed from Dr. Mirrim Hargey's costume to Julia Dannenburg's costume.  Few of the characters currently in Adelaide had met Julia Dannenburg but a number had heard of her due to her crazy text messages that she had sent over the forums.  So that I could keep her appearance a surprise yet still ensure that the older players knew who she was, I made a dramatic appearance that was basically a loud: "Hello!  Julia Dannenburg here!"

There was a bit of a fuss and she was quickly dragged into a private room by Seamus O'Baoill who interrogated her about where she had been and what she'd been up to.  Then he allowed her to return to the main room where she poked a few people, spread her theory that the gloom walls currently dividing up the city were a form of quarantine to prevent the spread of infection.  She also stated that Contrary Mary, another vampire NPC from the old chronicle, was currently trapped in the old Nosferatu catacombs beneath the city by an evil cult.

Then Julia Dannenburg went to chat with the seneschal, Professor Jasmine Hadley, about stuff and things.  The harpy, Amity Fine, called out that Hadley shouldn't go into a private room with a Daeva to which Julia quietly grumbled that a Toreador can hardly talk as they have Majesty and Dominate.  Amusingly enough, a few other characters came with them in Obfuscate (and spider form) and hid around the large room. 

Normally there'd be a chance to spot people with basic Obfuscate as it just makes them forgettable, not invisible, but the venue involves large gaping rooms so it's not impossible to be within listening distance and remain in hiding.  They got their spying on.  There were a few gasps of surprise.  And I got the joy of dropping a few bombs in a room load of players while playing a character who didn't know they were there.

All in all, it was a strictly part-social and part-political session but it worked out and everyone seemed busy and entertained so it worked out well.  I just need to figure out something else to drop mid-session so that it's not just NPCs coming in and shaking things up.  Though that's fun too.  Or at least, not just previously unknown NPCs.  Need some recurring NPCs causing trouble.  Or other sorts of game play.

Doors Session #1: The Last Express

It all begins through an online play-by-post scene with Gary Dodd trying to escape the Mirror Realm and being herded by the Angel Faced Killer into the National Railway Museum.  Gary Dodd uses his stone to open a Door and it crumbles between his fingers.  As it does so, an onyx train chuffs silently to the platform and a skeletal hand reaches out and beckons him onboard.

.....

A few days later, the LARP session begins with all of the players waiting outside the front door in the dark.  Gary Dodd's "Train Summoning" has likewise summoned several of the vampires to his presence though he doesn't realise they're there until after they enter.  As he steps onboard, I signal for the Conductor NPC to come and speak with him and he does so, striding enthusiastically and making demands in a very loud and officious voice while carrying a clipboard.  Initially he had on Novichkov's moustache (prop from another character) but it fell off so he spent the rest of it without moustache.  He read out the thirteen rules quite loudly and then called for the Maid to provide him with his tokens.

The Maid came rushing down, waving a hand vigorously as she went to catch his attention.  She carried one of those poker chip cases with her and then stood to one side in the corridor, drawing the tokens out one at a time with wonderful flourishes and dropping them into Dodd's outstretched hand before letting him move further in while she awaited the next "guest".

I stayed out-of-character, describing what he saw in terms of sleeping car compartment doors, and he ended up first in the Bar Car where he ordered a drink from the bartender.  Our venue thankfully has one of those wide counters (all-in-one living / kitchen / dining area) which worked a treat for this with four chairs pressed up against it.  While he chatted to the bartender, I dropped into character and came rushing down the corridor to berate the Conductor for reading out the rules to each individual.

Since we all had one Rival that we had to undermine (the Cast, that is), I was waved away by the Maid as I, the Doctor, was her Rival.  My own Rival was the Oracle and I made a point to describe him as a Charlatan here and there.  I did that so often that some people started to think that was his name and started calling him the Charlatan.

The Cast were fantastic.  I told them to really go to town with their characterisations and gave them all quite brief summaries of who they were and their motivations so they built on it quite a bit.  The officious Conductor took the first line directly beneath the header and really ran with it:

THE RULES

All may be disobeyed.  You have free will.  Disobedience is ill-advised.

So he kept making up new rules to suit himself and the situation.  Only three people in any one of the compartments at once - which was good because the compartments were separate rooms and it made it more interesting to keep them moving and force them to negotiate who could remain.

The Oracle shifted his position a few times until he ended up in the Dining Car, running his Secret for a Secret games in a quiet corner.  I'd given him a large Halloween porcelain pumpkin full of optional questions he could ask as well as a few sheets with PC names listed on top that held up to 7 secrets they could gather by giving him a few of their own.  Funnily enough people generally respected the privacy of that car and it was mostly the Cast who occasionally tried to listen in.

I had a large Doctor's Bag with me that had a few ink blots and some of the Dr. Kaupfmann puzzles (Dead or Sleeping? and Pairings) from Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.  I only really got to use one (Pairings) before the Maid convinced someone to throw the doctor's trunk (and my fetter) out the window into the bleak abyss as part of our rivalry.  She didn't know my fetter was inside (we weren't playing for that kind of high stakes ICly) but luckily I got chosen at the end so got to survive.

At least Gary Dodd gave me some interesting hints into his psychology from the Pairings angle, so that's something.  Without my Doctor's Bag I basically just went around trying to convince people to use up their Stones, explaining that there's no real catch to the resurrection of people into mortals, and also trying to get suitable characters to bed her.  At one point, Prince Saeed used her as a foot stool and I happily got on all fours for five minutes before the player felt so bad he insisted I get up and rejoin the others.

The Conductor soon came around to each of the Riders to convince us to lie (again, a Cast Member decision and a good one) but my NPC wasn't too sure of trying her hand at that.  Instead she would deflect certain questions or encourage people to seek out the Conductor for the truth.

The Bartender lit people's marijuana joints on fire, set the table when the Dinner Bell rang and gave a listening ear to those who wished to drink.  He did really well at spending most of his time behind the counter so I applaud him for his patience.

Finally there was the unnamed Skull NPC who was literally a floating skull.  Naturally we had a Cast Member who was responsible for carrying the Skull around and talking for it.  Funnily enough it became very easy indeed to ignore the person in favour of talking to the skull who gestured, and flirted, and tried to prostitute the Maid (who fainted dramatically at the very idea!).

Eventually the Skull got the name Skully and people advised him to seek out Mulder for a dynamic duo.

Session #5: Consequences

Gary Dodd is still missing so the vampires re-convene the following night at the Boozecan.  His ghoul, Dorothy Rosenburg, meets them at the door and allows Yzador to examine the egg found at the scene.  She's quite worried but doesn't show it.

Prince Harry Saeed and the Primogen Seamus O'Baoill spend much of their time in a back room, occasionally inviting in Peter Walsh (NPC played by Dodd's player), Professor Jasmine Hadley and Michael Novichkov for back rooms deals and punishments.  At one point, Siobhan O'Baoill had to enter to discuss the situation with her "claimed" human, Bennett, where the prince kindly offered the man's life were he to be blood bound and kept in check.  As a Masquerade breach, and a violent one, he'd normally be killed and she punished.

At one point, while Harry Saeed and Primogen Seamus O'Baoill were in a back room, the rest of the vampires (barring Jonathon Williams and Sheriff FatherMother) went to the service station where Gary Dodd disappeared and started investigating the toilet.  The guy behind the counter figured they were going in there for a gangbang.  His theory wasn't helped when Novichkov banged on the walls to see if there were a hidden passage.

Yzador made the connection to the Bloody Mary mythology of serial killers and mirrors and so repeated Bennett's name thrice, but nothing happened.  It had to be one of his survivors so Siobhan O'Baoill did it.  The first time she mentioned his name thrice, nothing happened but Yzador turned the light out.  The second time she did it, there was an answering knock from the walls.  The third time she did it, he appeared in the reflection behind her.

Novichkov reached out and touched the mirror and secret things happened.  On top of the secret things, the lights shattered and the power went out for several blocks as the substation was affected by a massive back surge of electricity.

After that point, they returned to the Boozecan where Sheriff FatherMother kept arguing that Bennett should die and Siobhan O'Baoill kept arguing that he shouldn't.  In the end they decided to summon "Elsa", the True Fae in blue whom they'd given a nickname since she hadn't given them a name.  Once Talitha Salvatore won the card game required to summon her, she arrived drinking a can of Mother and explained that Gary Dodd has already left the Mirror Realm for another one upon using his stone.  She also explained that she could lure the Angel Faced Killer out of the Mirror Realm in exchange for the man's heart should the vampires gathered in the room kill him.  Sheriff FatherMother made that deal and so she left shortly before prince and primogen returned to the room.

After a few more decisions were made, Bennett appeared out of the reflection in a mirror, bat in hand and covered in a flammable substance, looking anxious and stressed.  Siobhan tried talking him down, relieved when he answered back, but then shocked when he told them that they should all kill him because he wasn't real and would doubtless try to kill again.  He figured a room full of vampires should be able to take him down, though he couldn't promise not to take one or two out beforehand.  It's not he'd have much of a choice.

He explained that he'd heard some kind of "call" and that he'd seen a female silhouette of light lure Gary Dodd further into the Port Adelaide Train Museum.  He was pretty damn sure they should kill him but a mixture of Saeed's support for a possible way out (backed up by Majesty) and Siobhan O'Baoill's pleas that there was another way (that wasn't undermined by any other courtier) meant they got a roll using Saeed's Awe-backed Presence and Siobhan's "Good Cop" specialty Persuasion.

During all of this, one particular character noticed something strange about Bennett and explained a theory in a whisper to the right people that he would die if blood bound or ghouled.

While this was going on an exceptional success talked him down and he went into a side room with Prince Saeed, Siobhan O'Baoill and Seamus O'Baoill (with Thomas McAllister in Obfuscate in the corner).  They discussed putting him under sedation and keeping him in lock down until they could figure out a way to pull the Thing out of him.  He also explained a little about what he knew about his condition, which wasn't a lot.

Finally Prince Saeed took the Ordo Dracul aside so that they could all go out to rescue Dodd from the Mirror Realm.

Session #4: The Boozecan

Due to a variety of reasons, only six players were able to attend.  This worked out quite well as the group were quite able to entertain themselves and I (as Lead GM) had plenty of time to portray the two NPCs dragged along to game.

The premise was that Gary Dodd, notorious Nosferatu Smuggler, was hosting a small party at his dodgy pub, the Boozecan in North Haven, a residential suburb near Outer Harbor in Adelaide.

I set up a card table and four chairs in the book room though it went unused because in a game of six PCs you don't really need to split up.  The spare bedroom was decked out with mirrors, fake bowl of condom and a leopard print blanket top to give it that really dodgy vibe.  The bedroom was used once by Jonathon Williams and Professor Jasmine Hadley, who both had the Wanton condition and decided to get rid of it by jumping into the sack together.  Naturally Gary Dodd and FatherMother tried to bust in once or twice, as everyone was drunk as a skunk by that point.

I'm getting ahead of myself ... Gary Dodd had made a deal to get four bottles of Lacrima (basically vampire wine) and had even set up salted beer nuts and marijuana joints (rolled up pieces of card for the latter).  FatherMother arrived with four bottles of Lacrima and five Flowers of Demeter (allows a vampire to eat, drink and get drunk like a human) that were carried in by her hippy looking ghoul, Daryl.  It took her awhile to sell them, but she managed to sell all the Flowers for a Minor Boon apiece.

Jonathon Williams drank ... a lot.  And I mean, a lot.  Bottle of vodka and gin, two bottles of some other liquor.  Two bottles of Lacrima.  If he were a human, he'd be dead.  As it was he was very unsteady on his feet and became really obsessed with finding and bashing down Bill because Bill's a dick.  I really loved watching his random fixation occasionally rise up again and again, as it seemed the kind of thing an aggressive drunk would do.

Why was Bill though to be such a dick?

Well Siobhan O'Baoill had brought a regular human along to the party that everyone recognised as the Angel Faced Killer.  He claimed to be the killer's twin brother.  No one bought that, but no one cared.  At one point in the conversation, Siobhan told the guy that she'd had to claim him and he jokingly complained that there hadn't been a cat fight between Siobhan and Talitha over that (since they both had history with him).

His exactly line after that was: "Wait, does that mean I'm Sookie Stackhouse?  If that's the case, which one of you's Eric?  And which one's Bill?"

Naturally Gary Dodd had to be walking past and demanded an explanation for it.  The room dropped into an awkward silence as the Angel Faced Killer really didn't want to describe the analogy but in the end enough got out that Jonathon Williams overheard that there were two vampires (who he thought were in town) called Bill and Eric and that Bill was a dick.  Jonathon Williams immediately went outside to find these two vampires and invite them in, then wandered back in ten minutes later with a cane he had 'liberated' from some poor human guy at a bus shelter.

Later, Daryl (FatherMother's ghoul) offered a round of M&Ms that he said was ecstasy mixed with a dash of LSD but which were just LSD coated on chocolate.  Siobhan O'Baoill, Talitha Salvatore, Jonathon Williams and Gary Dodd each took one.  Gary Dodd then pressured the Angel Faced Killer into having one, watching as he put it in his mouth, then encouraging him to swallow it.  Professor Jasmine Hadley may, or may not, have taken one.  I can't really remember.

We had a Youtube Playlist going and soon after this point, "Rubber Johnny" by Aphex Twin came on and everyone who'd taken an M&M took it as a shared hallucination.  Gary Dodd threw a chair at it.  Siobhan O'Baoill hid under a cushion.  The Angel Faced Killer pulled his baseball bat (brand name - Excalibat) which basically proved who he was.  Jonathon Williams (a Khaibit) used his shadow magic to try to impale the things.  Talitha Salvatore just watched in curiosity.  FatherMother just watched the whole thing, amused at everyone else's reactions but unable to see anything.

After a game of Poker, much conspiring and information sharing, Siobhan O'Baoill decided that everyone should go and deal with the bee vampires.  The Angel Faced Killer concurred.  FatherMother and Professor Jasmine Hadley thought everyone was too drunk and high to do anything dangerous.

At one point, Professor Jasmine Hadley literally scolded Siobhan O'Baoill and told her to sit down.  And she did.  Grumpily.

Instead of going demon hunting Gary Dodd mentioned that he had the mobile phone of a guy that he'd tried to feed from in an alley.  The guy had shrugged him off, blocked the flow of blood to the wound, and seen through Gary's obfuscate.  He also didn't seem to realise it wasn't just a mugging, so Gary did mug him and took his phone.  Going through his details, they found that he was looking for gigs and was the lead singer in a band.  They played some of his music (I used Three Days Grace).

They then sent an email to him stating that he could come to the Boozecan to audition for a gig.  Being a desperate musician, he rocks up half an hour later but as soon as he enters the place, he's uneasy and glares at Talitha and Siobhan who sit together at one table.  He sings "I Hate Everything About You" (also by Three Days Grace), flipping off the two women at appropriate moments in the song.  I lip synced all of this since I can't sing well at all.  Bennett, expecting trouble, had snuck out the back to change into his armour, just in case he'd need to defend Nix.

There was finally a big conversation with the fellow being rather obstinate about not wanting to give them what they wanted, a few little secrets got out, and then when he went to leave the Sheriff slammed his face into the bar counter, breaking his nose.  Everything escalated from that point onward when he dropped his little charred egg that erupted into a Size 4 flaming figure that started attacking FatherMother while he blasted Jonathon Williams with heat that kept setting his clothing on fire.  Jonathon Williams, in turn, tried to lassoo him with shadow stuff.

In the end, Talitha Salvatore leapt between them, grabbed Nix and carried him off to safety, leaving the charred egg behind.  Her sire followed after her but didn't manage to catch up.

At this point Bennett entered the fray, walked over to FatherMother, and smashed her in the head. Turns out he'd triggered into his Angel Face Killer at this point due to his worries about Nix.  Ironic, really, since he'd have killed Nix if the man had been there.  The joy of a Slasher Trigger!

So he slams FatherMother again, nearly torporing her with eight successes, and Jonathon Williams grabs her and legs it.  Gary Dodd uses Obfuscate to drop out of sight and follows Bennett as he walks steadily out of the Boozecan and into a nearby service station.  He walked into the toilet, touched a mirror, and opened a doorway into another place (the Mirror City).  Gary Dodd, never one to be left out, reaches out and touches the mirror, going with him.

And that's where we ended the session.

Masks of Nyarlathotep Murder Mystery Event

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This is a complex murder mystery adapted from the New York chapter of the Award winning Masks of Nyarlathotep roleplaying campaign published by Chaosium.  Each participant will reprise the role of a character found within the campaign book or the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion as they attempt to uncover the mystery, gather (or conceal!) the evidence and perhaps even bump off the opposition. 

In keeping with the theme of the event, tea and coffee, sparkling water, fruit, biscuits and scones, are all included within the ticket price and will be available throughout the event.  Please advise us if you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions.  You'd be surprised by what we can accommodate these days so please don't be shy in letting us know.

You can purchase tickets over here and enter the draw to win a free ticket by sharing the pinned post on the Adelaide Roleplaying Community Inc. Facebook Page.

 PREMISE

The Carlyle Expedition to Africa disappeared several years ago only to be declared dead after a short and lazy investigation by colonial forces.  Just last year in 1924, the intrepid journalist and cult investigator, Jackson Elias, decided to pick up the trail and determine what really happened to famous playboy millionaire, Roger Carlyle, and his fellow expedition members.  His trail blazed across Africa, England, even Australia, before returning to New York only to be brutally murdered in his own hotel room.

Erica Carlyle, sister to Roger Carlyle and sole heir of Carlyle Industries, has invited you all to her estate so that she can finally get to the bottom of this mess of conspiracy and horrors.  Some of you have connived to get an invitation through means both foul and fair.  Others have been explicitly invited either because they knew the principal expedition members or were part of those who were present at Jackson Elias' crime scene.

But wait, there's more!  Perhaps to bait the hook and ensure the culprit's attendance at the event, Erica Carlyle has declared her intention to auction Roger Carlyle's mysterious collection of occult tomes partway through the night. 

Carlyle Expedition News Reel #1

Carlyle Expedition News Reel #2

Character Roles

Erica Carlyle (Heiress)
Joe Corey (Bodyguard)
Dr. Brian Fischer (Harlem Doctor / Conjure Man)
Lieutenant Martin Poole (Police Officer)
Constable Zach Allemby (Harlem Police Officer)
Simon or Simone Exton (Autopsy Technician)
Miriam Atwright (Librarian)
Professor Anthony Cowles (Archaeologist)
Ewa Cowles (Anthropology Major)
Raoul Pinera (Sociology Major)
Hon. Major George Randall (Big Game Hunter)
Mukunga M'Dari (Harlem Leader)
Maybelle Hopkins (Harlem Pub Owner)
Walter Kimble (Entrepreneur)
Claire or Keith Simpson (Psychiatric Nurse)
Neil Young (Valet)
Arthur Emerson (Importer)
Coleman or Cara Preston Lloyd (Alcoholic Dilletante)
Gregory or Georgina Wilks (Harlem Taxi Driver)
Deputy Ranger Robert Scott Bennie (Texas Ranger)
Joe or Jane Hall (Harlem Private Eye) 
Ambrose Mogens (Rich industrialist)
Eugene Vander Klei (Biochemist)
Dr. Zhou Changying or Zhengsheng (Anatomist)
Alice Mogens (Biological Researcher)
Adrian Ferris (Medical Affairs Board secretary)

Character Roles Requiring Public Speaking and Speeches

Bradley Grey (Lawyer)

Jonah or Julia Kensington (Publishing Editor)

Arman or Anahita Tehrani (Auctioneer / Antiquarian)

Rev. Lawrence T. O'Dell, Jr. (Priest)

Session #3: Establishment of Order

Prince Harry Saeed surveys his subjects.

Floor GM: Yours Truly.

Assistant GMs: A.L. and T.B.

The third session was a social soiree as the new Prince Harry Saeed hosted at his café and declared himself.  Siobhan O'Baoill and Talitha Salvatore revealed their prize that they had earned through an online RtR (run much like a play-by-post).  A weird vampire who could control bee swarms and whom they had beaten into torpor.

Oh, I forgot to mention that just before everyone went to the café, Prince Harry Saeed met up with FatherMother and Jonathon Williams to poke the gloom with Jonathon Williams' Obtenebration.  Jonathon Williams caught some little shadowflies for his trouble that swarmed his Obtenebration.  He put them in an emptied Milo tin for safe keeping.

Prince Harry Saeed bid them to bring the vampire inside and they tied her down to a chair and spread out a tarp underneath her.  They roused her with blood from XXX and found that she wouldn't be speak directly to them, only through the bees that she summoned from her lungs which required Animalism for communication.  When she was backhanded back into torpor, the bees fell into a desiccated state themselves.

While the PCs had initially thought she was a Melissidae, this strange turn of events changed their mind.  They searched her body and found nodes around the base of the neck.  Gary Dodd did some, ahem, exploratory surgery with a knife and dug them out, finding them to be a gak-like substance that moved further in.  He pulled on them, pulling out tendril after tendril, that started waving toward him but Prince Harry Saeed sapped their will with one of his powers (Numbing Touch) and they ceased to move.

Finally they chatted to her some more, put her back into torpor, then carefully Prince Harry Saeed assisted by Doctor Jonathon Taylor surgically removed the main node from her heart and placed that in another jar, cleaning the rest of the bits from her system.  She was on five aggravated damage from her capture, so they had to be cautious.  Finally they put a splinted of wood in her heart to prevent her from waking up.  She was then transferred into Gary Dodd's care.

Other than that, Siobhan O'Baoill, Seamus O'Baoill, Talitha Salvatore and Thomas McAllister went to visit a guy in a nearby pub for general conversation (and some justifiable swearing on Siobhan's part).  FatherMother revealed that she could get people some Lacrima.  Jonathon Williams pointed out that he knows where Duchess Alicia Brown's caches are (at least some of them).  And everybody chatted about the things they had learned and what to do next.