Picking up an hour or so after the Battle at the Gravel Pit, late afternoon on July 12. Our heroes were deciding what to do next, when they got a call from the tech team keeping surveillance on the Mansion.
"Guys, we've intercepted another conference call, listen to this!"
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Viv: “The spectre just phased out! How is that possible?”
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Pit bosses: dithering…
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Viv: “HOW???”
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Smashes a table.
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Viv: “Stan, you find Kathy Tucholka, right now! She’s still alive, I can feel it.”
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Stan: “Yes Ma’am!”
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Viv: “And grab her kids, her family, anyone to get us leverage!”
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Stan: “Yes Ma’am!” Hurried exit.
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Viv: “Lazlo, you call all the rest of our prospects – tell them they’re being hunted.”
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Lazlo: “Got it!” Hurried exit.
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Viv: “These enemies – they might be scrying us! I’m going downstairs – DON’T disturb me!”
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Emil, Beto, Cam, Al: “Yes Mistress!”
Lazlo’s phone calls:
- Lazlo: “Mr. Daly, someone is hunting for you. We don’t know who or why, but you must be on your guard!”
- Stewart: “How do you know?”
- Lazlo: “Another of our clients has been taken, and her gifts neutralized. Make your way to Vegas, leave no trail!”
- Stewart: “I will. Expect me when you see me.”
- Lazlo: “Mr. Ipcriss, someone is hunting for you. We don’t know who or why, but you must be on your guard!”
- Jerry: “What – who would dare to mess with you? Why doesn’t your mistress just destroy them?”
- Lazlo: “We are working on it.”
- Jerry: “So, not so almighty after all…”
- Lazlo: “…”
- Jerry: “Thanks for the warning – I’ve got my list to finish.”
- Lazlo: “That isn’t wise – you should come to Vegas directly, leave no traces!”
- Jerry: “Not until my list is done!”
- Click!
- Answering Machine: “Please leave your name and number after the beep. Here it comes! Any second now! It’s the… the… the BEEEEP.”
- Lazlo: “Ms. Bower, if you are there, pick up the phone. Pick up! This is urgent! Someone is hunting for you. We don’t know who or why, but you must be on your guard! Come to Vegas immediately, leave no traces!”
- Lazlo: “Ms. Van Steelandt, someone is hunting for you. We don’t know who or why, but you must be on your guard!”
- Elise: “What? Just smite them or something! Send some demons to drag them to the depths of the pit, why don't you?"
- Lazlo: “Um, we don’t know who or where they are, but they may be gunning for you.”
- Elise: “Fat lot of good you are. First, I find out that this thing you saddled me with wants me to kill more people, or it kills me; then this. Hell with you, I’m going to ground.” More expletives and insults follow, Lazlo can’t get a word in edgewise. He hangs up.
On the camera feed from the basement "fun room", Vivian lights some candles, the room turns red, and she starts waving her hands around, humming loudly.
The tech crew is worried by this, want a field agent in case Vivian's look-for-scrying magic reveals the surveillance. They desperately plead for a field agent, and Ellen agrees to oblige them. She flies out to Vegas. The rest of our heroes deliberate over who to go after next. Since Arwen Bower didn't pick up the phone, they decide to try to catch up with her before she is alerted. The phone tap reveals her address, in Milwaukee.
Arwen works at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s General Hospital in Milwaukee, as a nurse. They’ve had a string of miraculous cures, and less-obvious string of fatalities.
The Ascension Columbia St. Mary's General Hospital has:
250 beds.
Cancer center.
Birthing center.
Regional Burn center.
Brain injury and illness center.
Our heroes find her apartment (216 B) and ask the complex’s manager if they can rent one immediately. By chance, the one across the hall (213 B) is vacant.
“You’re sure you want to move in right away? I haven’t cleaned the carpet since the last tenant moved out.” More money hits the desk. “Right you are! Here’s your key.”
Our heroes set up in their new apartment. Crunch got into the vents and set up a couple of cameras. Though she has a 2-bedroom apartment, she doesn't currently have a roommate. The team watched Arwen at home, mostly watching the 10 O'Clock News. They noticed that her answering machine's light wasn't blinking.
Gordon and Choopy decided to introduce themselves. "I'm the new guy in town, howdy neighbor!"
Arwen invites them in, shaking hands with Gordon, and paws with Choopy. That allows her to attempt to make the magical connection to them, unnoticed at the time. Both attempts succeeded.
Gordon played the part of the new neighbor for a bit, then revealed that he was here about her Vegas connection. Choopy played the friendly faithful hound, while Crunch continued sneaking around in the ducts.
"I was told that some visitors might be dropping by."
Arwen disclosed the ability she got from Vivian, to swap injuries and illnesses from one person to another.
“What would you do if you could move medical conditions from one person to another? Suppose a drunk driver plows into a crowd of kids. Why not save a kid at the driver’s expense?”
“That sounds like playing God.”
“I work with doctors, they play God all the time, why not me?”
“Are you comfortable making those decisions about who lives and who dies?”
“You get used to it after a few months.”
Gordon nudges Choopy discretely.
Choopy pantomimes tasering.
Gordon says, “Good dog.”
And combat began.
Choopy tasers Arwen, but the shock goes to Gordon.
Crunch tranq darts Arwen from behind, but the drug appears in Choopy’s system.
Gordon regains his feet and grapples her to the ground.
Meanwhile, Nic and Neat-0 come in from the apartment across the hall. Nic’s armed with a shotgun.
Crunch darts her again.
Arwen tries to send the drug to Gordon, but fails.
She then blows her first CON roll (x5 for the first round, x4 the next, etc.), ending the fight.
Our heroes tie her up and keep her sedated.
Neat-0 cleans Arwen’s apartment, removing all trace evidence. Then it does the same to the rental across the hall.
Our heroes drive to the nearest airbase and fly to San Francisco with Arwen, Kathy Tucholka, her kids, and her sister’s family.
It has been a long day, and the crew crawls into their bed for some much-needed rest.
Gordon writes a report to HQ on the RV computer. He only needs a bit of help from Neat-O, once the thing is turned on!
BPRD Notes on the Mythic Menace.
It is now clear that the Hades Casino crew (HADES) do not care about their human minions. The people who have been brought into the scheme are used to ‘train’ the menace entities that HADES summons. Once the entities are fully manifested, the human ‘host’ is of no further interest or concern to Hades.
This would seem to be a plan to establish a scheme to grow menace entities, and control them for as yet unknown ends.
HADES has been in operation for 2-3 months. It is a well-funded scheme, enacted by individuals who are cognizant of (or believe they are) other groups that should be known to BPRD. (see Attachment A, transcript of call).
The team believes that HADES has only activated 6-10 entities so far. We have eradicated three of these, so far. It is unknown how many more entities are available to HADES for activation. Based on our operational experience, each entity requires a unique item to manifest. Entities also require a unique ritual for initial summoning. Once summoned, the entity may maintain a physical presence (Minotaur), or be ‘summoned’ by the ‘host’ in a brief ritual (Tucholka Specter).
We believe that HADES has three more summoning items available. We are unclear as to what entities would be summoned by the items we are aware of. Items are derived from several different cultures (see Attachment B, photos of summoning items).
We have seen several items of Mythic Greek origin (Vase, Snake Ring, Minotaur Dagger). There is at least one 'Chinese' item (Money Knife). One item is of unclear cultural origin (Tucholka ring).
Open ‘Hosts’-
Stewart Daly: Headed to Vegas. Is it possible to delay his travel plans? Sending an entire 737 full of Vegas party animals to Area 51 is probably not possible, and in direct contravention of Nevada State Gambling Commission rules on ‘scaring the tourists’.
Jerry Ipcress: Has been warned. Insists on ‘finishing his list’. He refused orders to come to Vegas immediately, insisting on the primacy of the ‘list’.
Elise Van Steelandt: contacted and warned, but is angry that the entity insists on killing regularly. Very irate and quite rude. Is going to ground, so less of a threat than the other two.
Closed ‘Hosts’-
Bert Tolling, Minotaur. Entity terminated, Host in custody.
Kathy Tucholka, Specter. Entity Terminated, Host in protective custody with family.
Arwen Bower, Health transference, Host in custody.
I've Got A Little List