Once again, the harried investigators return to the Lennox
Motel. This time, Emma is unable to play (Christmas shopping duties) so her
character, Jade Craft stays at the motel
to study the journal that Don found in from Iraq. This fits in well enough as
Jade should have begun play with a
single spell, I've consistently forgotten to fix the omission so Jade is now
officially learning her spell!
Griff checks her smartphone again to discover another
message from Pimm, this time it's a little cryptic: “Most of the action takes place below ground; the metal detector could
just be for show.”
The characters conclude that Pimm is referring to the Golden
Ram club at 34 Beech Street in Chicago. The characters decide to drive into the
city, case the joint one last time, pick up some guns (if possible) then kick
some tentacled ass.
For the
first time, the players spend some hard-won experience points. Some skills are
gained or increase, Griff gets more “powerful” and Don finally gets a point of
Resources; his veteran's pension finally hits his account.
Returning to Chicago, the investigators trawl though some
hock shops hoping to find a proprietor prepared to ignore the State firearms
legislation and hand over some hardware today. After a few hours they find such
a man and procure some heavy firepower thanks to Jackson's seemingly bottomless
bank account.
Later that evening, the investigators scope out the Golden
Ram. They see a few revellers arriving surprisingly early (8.30 pm); they
weren't expecting any action until after midnight.
Eventually numbers pick up so they try their luck. It's
easier than they expected - all they need to do is provide the password (Shub
Niggurath). Given that the characters have already encountered the security
guards and some of the key players in Griff's conspiracy theory, I was
genuinely surprised that none of the investigators stopped to consider that
they might be stepping into a trap... Of course, they might have done but none
of the players mentioned it.
Once inside they discover a kitsch Hawaiian scene with
hula-skirted hostesses and an outrigger canoe suspended from the ceiling. A
second door clearly has an airport-style metal detector in front of it. Don
remembers that the owner of the Brandiero Kiln is from Hawaii and they'd
earlier encountered some picture wing flies that are native to the island.
Beyond the metal detector (which doesn't beep as the
investigators pass through) is a large sunken room that looks much more like a
traditional nightclub; there is suspended lighting rigs, wide-screen LCDs, loud
music and many party-goers.
After a quick circuit of the room, Griff gets picked up by
an older drunk man who invites her downstairs to Goatswood. The man looks vaguely familiar (it's the actor Jack
Nicolson) and is well known to staff who refer to him as Mr Smith.
Griff and Mr Smith exit through a dimly lit glass door and
descend further below ground. Don and Jackson note that there are rather a lot
of bouncer-type characters in attendance (but still no one mentions the possibility
of a trap) before meeting the owner, Abagalia Kawena. She welcomes them and
buys them a drink before leaving them to enjoy the club. Jackson enjoys his
drink but Don tips his into a pot plant. The men then decide to try out
Goatswood for themselves.
Meanwhile, Griff and Mr Smith meet the receptionist in the
octagonal-shaped room below. Smith decides he wants his usual room and the
receptionist throws a switch opening one of the 7 other doors. Beyond is a faux
French renaissance hotel room with period costumes and some S&M
paraphernalia.
Smith suggests that Griff should slip into something more
comfortable whilst he fixes some drinks. Fortunately, Smith is asleep before
Griff removes anything more than her jacket.
While Griff is exploring the room (she finds an maintenance
trap-door under the carpet but doesn’t open it…), Don and Jackson have selected
door #4 and entered a Roman bathhouse room. They are soon kitted out as
gladiators and consider staging a scene from Spartacus... Who knew eh?
Eventually Griff and the boys emerge to find the
receptionist missing and a door to a well-lit corridor standing invitingly
open. Don changes into his street clothes but Jackson sticks with his Roman
leathers and fake sword.
The corridor switches back on itself and takes them deeper
underground. Here they find a glass-doored security room and two other doors,
one at the end of a long passage.
Before checking out deserted security area, Don examines the
nearby door and sees Jessica Landers through the inspection grill - she's
strapped to a chair watching one of the InstaCOM magic monitors... Don can't get the door open so the three intrepid
investigators step into the security room where they find banks of monitors (recording
the various activities in the club and private rooms) and a climate controlled
glass case full of picture wing flies. There's another door in the security
area. Ted Wijinski, InstaCOM's CEO emerges with a gun.
This was going to be the point at which I allowed one of the
NPCs to reveal the grand plot but before Ted can utter a word, he is shot by
both Don and Jackson. D'oh!
Next come some STABILITY rolls as the clearly dead Ted,
picks himself up and starts talking with Abagalia's voice... The undead Ted
barely gets through the first sentence before being dismembered in a hail of
gunfire. Griff, who by this stage is quite highly-strung starts smashing up the
security computer equipment. Briefly, Abagalia appears on one of the screens
desperately trying to reveal my plot but Griff blows the image away before she
can say more than a few words.
Next Don tries to pick the lock to Jessica's room, fails
then fails epically to knock it down. He does manage to shoot the evil computer
screen (must remember to hand out an experience point for that) but it's too
late; Jessica's left eye ruptures and a grey-winged thing explodes from the
wound. This scene should remind the investigators of the aftermath of Ray
Carlino's alleged suicide...
With only one door left to investigate, the characters plough
on into a long passageway that heads towards the adjacent tile factory. At the
end of the passage, a locked door is found and the voice of Abagalia crackles
through the intercom... At last, my NPC might be able to get a word in
edgewise!
But that's the end of session 5.
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