The Hades Casino
After 8 days of being shaved, decontaminated, medically examined and kept isolated from the outside world, they are released from quarantine. They get back to the Presidio and settle in for a good night's sleep.
The next morning, June 5, our heroes are told that Bert Tolling has cracked, and is willing to disclose how he was able to summon the ancient minotaur, and get it to kill his Aunt. They go to the "special" brig, very secure. Bert is the only resident, currently. He is shackled in the interrogation room. Choopy torments him a bit, nobody objects. This is his story.
"Yes, I saw the light. Shining in my face. For 23 hours a day. I'm cooperating here.
I was gambling in the Hades Casino, in Vegas. I was playing blackjack, on a hot streak, then lost big. I was about to leave the table and hit the buffet when the pit boss caught up with me and said he could set up a special deal for me.
He escorted me to the casino’s private elevator, up to the penthouse office, where he interviewed me, asked me what I wanted, and a lot of questions about my situation and my family. Then he asked me what I was willing to pay.
Stupid me, I said, anything. He asked, how about your soul? I said, sure, ha ha, right? He says, no, seriously, they’ll get me what I want, if they get my soul. I’m nervous now, because I’m alone with this guy, and he’s talking crazy talk.
He asks again, yes or no. Yes, and I get what I want. No, and he says he’ll give me a roll of nickels to play the slots with, just for being a good sport. Well shit, that kinda drove it home. So I says yes.
He goes to the wall, slide up a painting, and pulls out a red ledger book and a quill pen. He opens the book, and puts it in front of me. It’s a fresh page, nobody else’s name on it. Then he grabs my wrist and sticks me with the pen. Man, his grip was like iron, and I was too shocked to try to hit him or anything. Then he lets me go and puts the pen in front of me. I look at my hand and swear at him a bit, but my hand doesn’t hurt anymore, and there’s no cut. Nothing.
Sign, he says. I sign. The ink’s red. Then he says, ok, let’s go get me my prize.
Before I know it, I’m down in the garage, about to get into this black limo. He says, for security, and puts a cloth bag over my head, with drawstrings and shit. We drive for maybe half an hour, maybe a little longer. Then we stop, he gets me out, walks me into a real posh house, then takes the bag off. In front of me is this lady, maybe 50, but pretty in a mature, Lauren Bacall way. She and the pit boss take me down stairs to this big room with all kinds of candles and weird writing and all kinds of stuff. So I sit down where they tell me, in this big circle, and the guy lights a mess of candles and the lady says a lot of weird stuff in this sing-song voice.
Then I feel like my guts are being all twisted, and I pass out.
When I wake up, the lady gives me the wavy knife and these pages in ancient Greek. Only now I can read it, and I kinda already know what to do with the knife. I read it, and I know I can call up this old dead magic minotaur, and he’ll kill who I tell him to, and leave nothing to tie it back to me. I don’t know how I know it, but I know it like the most sure thing ever, like I know my own name.
So I did it. You already know that, you found me out.
What you don’t know, is maybe it is better this way, because after Mr. Minotaur killed aunt Margaret, he didn’t go away. I had to summon him in a maze, so I used the hedge maze at the hotel. Only now, the Minotaur sets up shop in the maze. I know, like, in my brain, that he’s going to kill again, when Jupiter rises on the seventh night. And if I don’t tell him who to kill, he’s going to kill me, and then just do whatever he wants. So being locked up here, it isn’t so bad. I'm cooperating here!
Questions?"
Our heroes learned the following:
- The Hades Casino has only been open for two months.
- The owner is hidden behind shell companies. Hacking and research discover Vivian Vrixos owns it.
- She owns a mansion in the Vegas suburbs, her address is discovered.
- The page in the ledger was pretty near the front, maybe page six or seven, Bert thinks.
- The pit boss used a key card to get into the private elevator.
The mission assignment is: Find out who, what and why. Find out if there are more magic items out there, in the hands of other “clients”, and what this group still has in their possession.
Our heroes drive their RV to Vegas. They rent a safe house, roughly between the Vrixos house and downtown Vegas. They also get a van, for surveillance. They tap the Vrixos house's phone line, and look up all the exterminators in the yellow pages.
Choopy and Crunch exited the van and approached the house. The house has three floors, and video cameras on the exterior. They watched as the cook and two maids got into a minivan and drove off.
Choopy stalked boldly around the house, befouling various decorative shrubberies and pooping in the pool. He was spotted by one of the two short butler-type fellows, who went outside to chase Choopy off. Choopy caught a whiff of his scent - blood and iron.
Crunch stealthily approached, and found a blind spot in the camera coverage. He placed a hidden camera of his own in a potted plant, left some droppings outside the door for good measure, and snuck away. Vivian Vrixos and two short butlers seemed to be the house's only occupants, after the maids and cook left for the night.
Choopy managed to find an unlocked window on the second floor, allowing entry to the sauna. Choopy unlocked the windows in the master bathroom, and in the room that gives access to the balcony. Then Choopy pooped in the sauna, on the heating element, for extra stinkiness.
Then the team decided to scout out the Casino. Gordon, Ellen (wearing very dark glasses and with a white cane), and Choopy (dressed as a seeing-eye dog).
The casino set up.
- First floor: slot machines, sports betting, keno, buffet. The slots are arranged in maze-like clusters. There are big staircases up, and elevators.
- Second floor: Craps, baccarat, blackjack, poker, roulette and fortune wheels. Each of those five areas has a pit boss.
- Third floor: performance venue. Magicians and singers during daytime, evening and later primarily featuring showgirls.
- Fourth through Sixth floors: meeting rooms.
- Basement 1: laundry and supplies.
- Basement 2: security and vault.
- Other floors: hotel rooms.
Ellen used her spirit-vision, noticing that the first and second floors have "doors" made only of power-structure, one on each floor. Subtle examination revealed that the "doors" are solid, feel like the rest of the walls, but have no scent (while the rest of the walls smell like ordinary wallpaper).
Gordon waited a bit, then got a seat at the Blackjack table. He gambled, eventually winning $500, while Ellen and Choopy explored. They noticed two of the other pit bosses looking very similar to the Blackjack pit boss. After a bit, Ellen and Choopy left the casino to get Nic. She placed an illusion on him, lasting 30 minutes, and they all went back in. Nic could also see the "doors", as magic items. On the second floor, he saw that one of the pit bosses has magic shoes, and one has a magic ring. The third had no magic items visible. Nic peered through his water-made-a-natural-hole-in-this-stone, and penetrated the Glamour on the three pit bosses. Two of them are human, wearing body armor, with sidearms and knives at their belts. The third one (with no magic items) is a creature with no hair, fingernails, eyebrows or pupils. He does have a curved hook or claw on each elbow, which poked holes in his tuxedo sleeves. Choopy crossed his path, "Smells like snake venom, and some kind of flower."
The creature then seemed to notice Nic, prompting the team to vacate the casino. They hit the street, not evidently being followed.
However, looking back, Nic spotted the magic ring bobbing along after them, and Ellen's spirit-vision revealed that they were pursued by a pit boss, invisibly. Choopy held back, as the pit boss passed, evidently interested in Nic, Gordon and/or Ellen, and peed on him. That got his attention. Nic took advantage of the distraction to hop into a cab, and headed for the poorer side of town. Worried about the Cinderella-like expiration on his Glamour, Nic found a secluded alley and waited. Gordon, Ellen and Choopy began dodging through crowds, going into and out of casinos, eventually losing their pursuer somewhere in the course of several hours. Then they collected Nic.
In the evening, June 5, the team returned to the Vrixos house. Consulting Augustus for advice, the GM rolled a fumble for his usefulness. "Be Careful Out There" his sign reads. Neat-0 had tumbleweeds hot-glued over its surface, for camoflage. Crunch and Neat-0 tried to portray "I am just a bunch of harmless tumbleweeds blown along this fence by the wind, nothing to see here." They reached the security camera at the front gate of the property, and got to work. With electrical repair and computer use rolls, they were able to patch Neat-0 into the camera system, leaving a radio transceiver. One of the butler-guys got in a sportscar to drive to the gate (which is down the hill a bit), prompting our heroes to depart. Neat-0 was able to control the camera's rotation, to create a window for unseen escape. They left a pile of tumbleweeds, which the butler kicked about.
Vegas Continued
Meeting the First Bargainer
Who's Next
I've Got A Little List
The Hammanals! or, On the Road to Mykonos
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