4th Session

Alessandro missed this session.

We picked up from last time with Joyce, Lillian, and Martin, and their plan to capture and interrogate one of men who distributed Nectar for Captain Walker, a man who worked for Samson Trammel, one of Ramon Echavarria's cultists who hadn't been killed in the 1924 incident.

Martin had previously befriended a Nectar addict named Samantha, and she'd agreed to introduce him to Jesus Figueroa, her distributor. Joyce was confident that she and Lillian could deal with the man, and convince him to talk.

Joyce: Don't trouble your pretty little head about what happens next.

Lillian: But I find that sort of thing interesting.

Samantha was a minor hurdle, as she planned to take Nectar with Martin and have sex with him while they waited for the distributor. Martin suggested she do laudanum as well, as he wated to make sure that she was safely out of the way of the violence before it happened.

Samantha: But, why would I want to take laudanum when I have Nectar?

Martin used Flattery and told her that she was so completely together, unlike some addicts, unlike himself, and she could absolutely handle the combination of laudanum and Nectar. She was convinced and drank down the laudanum. Once she was sufficiently out of it, Martin let in Joyce and Lillian, and they brought Samantha upstairs to her bedroom.

Joyce and Lillian took up positions, as did Martin, if somewhat nervously.

Martin: I hate guns.

He sat on the couch while Lillian, disguised as Samantha, opened the door. As expected, she quickly subdued him, and Joyce moved in to ask questions. Meanwhile, I pulled Betsy aside to point out to her that Martin knew that all the Nectar was in the guy's abandoned briefcase.

Lillian (realizing that Martin's just absconded upstairs with the briefcase of Nectar): Martin! Please don't take all of it right now!

Martin took some of it and had sex with Samantha while Joyce and Lillian quizzed the distributor. He told them about finding Nectar addicts having sex with their pets and about finding Nectar addicts dead of overdose. He knew he was in trouble, but figured Joyce was the relatively sane one.

He revised that opinion when he told her that Samson Trammel apparently worked for a Black man, maybe someone from Africa. This was the wrong thing to say to Joyce, who had dealt with Nyarlathotep before, as she'd bee through the evets of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Joyce leveled her shotgun (I think) at him, shaken, While Lillian stayed behind him with a knife at his throat.

Joyce: El hombre negro! El hombre negro!

Eventually, she calmed down enough to finish interrogating him.

Vito took the train to LA, as he'd been delayed taking care of business on the East Coast. Elaine, we decided, was staying close to Janet, as her loyalty is to the Winston family. It's possible she is a member of that family, but in the absence of her player, that's not a primary focus of the game. Tony's situation is fuzzier, but I'm assuming either his other employers have work for him or someone close to him needs help for something more specific than Joyce's "probably nothing" was.

When Vito arrived in LA, he was escorted to a meeting by someone in the West Coast mafia, which, Cat noted, was more Jewish than Italian. Vito brought the man who met him some wine, which, Chris agreed, probably wasn't kosher. Vito met with Captain Walker, which worried the other players, as Vito hadn't been brought up to date. This didn't stop Vito from acting as if he knew full well what was going on.

Walker's position was that he wasn't interested in fighting the mob, and just wanted his own turf respected. He assumed that, whatever was going on, Vito was the leader of the investigators and probably angling for the mafia to come out on top. The West Coast mafia weren't quite sure what was going on, but thought that Vito had noticed a problem involving Walker potentially moving in on their turf and that Vito was moving to take care of it by scaring Walker into cutting a deal. Vito and Walker were all smiles and respect for each other, knowing full well that it didn't mean crap and that they were at war.

Nevertheless, Captain Walker apologized for Jack Pizner's behavior, not realizing that Vito knew nothing of it and didn't even know Lillian.

Walker: He interpreted my instructions to offer her a thousand grand to mean that he should pocket fifty of it and go visit a whore.

Vito: Is she a good whore?

Walker: Yes. He then decided to pocket the rest of the money.

Walker meant for Pizner to offer a bribe in return for answers and non interference. Sure, he would have been fine with Pizner roughing up Lillian if that hadn't worked, although he naturally did not say this to Vito. But, Pizner disobeyed his instructions. Worse, Pizner was roughed up by Lillian, who took away his gun. Worse still, Pizner told her who he worked for. But the final unforgivable straw was that Pizner then lied to Walker, telling him he'd been attacked by at least three strong guys.

Captain Walker offered Vito $2,000 for Lillian, as an apology for Pizner's behavior. The mob boss refused, as Walker had told him he'd dealt with Pizner, and we all know these things happen, and Walker was clearly an honorable man. Walker said that it was his honor that demanded he give the money. Vito told him to donate it to a charity, like St. Jude's.

Lillian (well, really, her player, as she wasn't there): Hey, that's _my_ f*cking money!

(Her player also noted, amused, that Lillian was the richest investigator, with a Credit Rating of 6. But, it was still her money!)

They discussed merging Walker's operation into the mafia, and Vito rattled off some guidelines, including not letting him hear about any drug operations. He did some quick back of the envelope math on a pad of paper, moving very slowly when he took it out, and asked Walker if the numbers worked for him. Walker said he needed to have an accountant check, but, in principle, they looked fair. The two men shook hands, and the tension level in the room dropped. They parted to prepare for the war they pretended wouldn't happen.

Meanwhile, Joyce took her prisoner outside the house and shot him. Practically speaking, she took the time to set things up so no one would see or hear this. She and Lilly considered how they wanted to set things up for people to conclude what they wanted them to conclude, I think something on the order of Figueroa getting greedy or getting shot by someone wanting to undercut the business. It might have been simpler to kill Samantha, but Joyce didn't want to do that.

Joyce: I don't want to start indiscriminately killing people -- that's not me.

They might have decided to give the woman some bruises to make look like she'd been assaulted while high, but I don't recall for sure. Lillian did go upstairs. Martin tried to pull her into bed, but she resisted easily and retrieved the rest of the Nectar.

Lillian: Martin, you have to put your pants back on.

Martin (to the unconscious Samantha): Sweet dreams, dear. Terribly sorry.

Lillian: Martin, let's go.

Joyce (on the phone to Vito, apparently this is how one asks for body disposal in mob-ese): I need some groceries delivered.

Lillian: Oh, I didn't take a look at the body yet!

As they drove away:

Lillian: Martin, stop that! Martin, sit still. Martin, put your pants back on.

They arrived at the bar where they were meeting Vito, a bar primarily catering to Blacks, I was told, where Vito could go without worrying about either his Mafia folks or Walker's people.

Martin: I don't think I'm quite all right here. I think I'll stay in the car.

Joyce: You will stay put, won't you?

Lillian: I think he's coming with me.

No doubt the fact that the Nectar-filled suitcase was in the car influenced her decision to man handle Martin along.

Once inside, Joyce made introductions. Vito worried silently that he might come to think of Lillian as a faux Amelia substitute and proceeded to grill her voluably about whether she was prepared for the life of horrors that was the lot of those who battled the mythos.

Joyce: Vito! Vito! She beat the hell out of a private dick just the other day.

Vito and Lillian had an extended face off involving weapons being readied and countered before they could be drawn, not in hostility, but to prove a point. No dice were rolled; this was resolved between the players. I gather that Vito eventually won, which I think meant he got a lethal weapon out first. I am not sure what was visible to the normal people in the bar, but Joyce was glad when it over.

Joyce (as the faceoff between Vito and Lillian finally ends): I stop planning to shoot both of them.

Either Lillian or Joyce stopped Martin. It wasn't that he planned to make a dash for the Nectar; he was just inching away from Vito during the face off, for perfectly understandable reasons. This just happened to move him towards the door, which led out of the bar, near the car, which happened to have the Nectar.

Lillian bowed to Vito as she would to a dojo instructor. He tipped his hat to her, grudgingly impressed. He was not impressed with Martin, whom he quickly understood was both homosexual and an addict.

Joyce (explaining to Vito why Martin is there): He's the book guy, Vito! We need a book guy! Are you a book guy? No!

Eventually, the group left the bar.

Players: Every single person in the bar who's not a PC is thinking, "Crazy f*cking honkeys!"

We then realized that Vito apparently lacked the skill to make a body disappear. I said, "He has Evidence Collection -- just use it in reverse." We did that, although if necessary, we could have let Alden spend from Lillian's scientific skills.

The group went to the house that Joyce, Lillian, and Martin were sharing with two young actresses, Ida Lupino and Lucille Ball. The investigators discussed strategy and Vito began to mesh with the new configuration, ultimately deciding that he did not have to worry about considering Lillian as any kind of substitute for Amelia. The young heiress was a person in her own right and had a very different skill set than the lost artist, one which involved forensics, martial arts, and an uter lack of squeamishness. Vito had a natural appreciation for this.

Vito: You're the niece I've always wanted!

Lillian: And you're the uncle I don't know what to do with!

Probably Martin, thoughbI forget the context: Oh lovely. (blows a kiss, probably to Vito)

Vito decided that, in the cause of fighting the Mythos, he'd do what he had to, even if that meant apparently having Martin as his secretary / lover at a party, extended his arm. Martin took it.

Joyce: I would buy tickets to see this.

In other words, instead of having Martin get picked up as a homeless person, have Vito and Martin attend a charity or society function that Samson Trammel also attended. I thought Martin was more likely to be recognized at that, but folks reminded me about the high level of disguise skills people possessed. They did ultimately choose to go with the homeless person plan, but perhaps there will be an opportunity for Vito to bring Martin as his date some other time.

Then again, Vito still had a few issues.

Vito: I do not like addicts.

Martin (the addict in question): Well, you're dealing with one.

Lillian: Badly.

Lillian finally had some Nectar to analyze. After a few hours and a one point Mthos Stability test, which she passed, she had a good idea of what it was not, and was beginning to suspect it might be alive. I noted that sure thought further study might reveal more. After reporting her findings -- and folks were more than a little disturbed at the thought of Nectar being alive -- she confirmed that they weren't on a tight timetable.

After she had done further analysis, this time using Chemistry rather than Biology, she confirmed some a minor details, but didn't really know much more than before.

GM: Okay, make a 2 point Mythos Stability Test.

She failed this, losing 2 Stability points.

GM: And, you know you could find out more if you just study this a few more hours. You can crack this!

Lillian: Martin! Get me out of here!

As she had already told Joyce, Vito, and Martin that Nectar might be alive, all three of them came running.

Lillian (shaken): I think studying this stuff is as addictive as taking it.

I'd been a bit concerned by the way this section was written, as it said that folks with Drives like Lillian's Thirst for Knowledge were basically doomed unless their friends intervened, since they lost Stability not just for studying Nectar, but also for refusing to studying it, because that constitutes denying their Drive. It helps that Alden's gamed with me long enough that he could pick up on the shift in intensity after the 2 point Stability loss.

The evening devolved for the characters. Vito went outside, I think with a bottle of something strong, and sat on the porch with a picture of himself and his old comrades in arms taken when they were in Nepal: Amelia (lost to Carcosa), Geoffrey (lost to Carcosa), John (has a family and a profession and probably finds his life utterly empty without knowing why), and Remi (happy, for which Vito hates him).

Vito (to Amelia and Geoffrey in the picture): I'm coming back to Carcosa! I'm coming back to Carcosa!

(Exactly how he might do that and whether it would be in any way a good thing are topics that Vito may not have considered.)

Meanwhile, Lillian decided that she needed a distraction from the urge to study Nectar. She decided that sex (for the first time) with Martin (who was homosexual) would be ideal. I'm guessing that she would have preferred Cecil, had he been there.

Martin (as Lillian pulls him on top of her): Are you going to f*ck me?

Lillian: That was the plan!

Martin (having managed to extricate himself, thus foiling the plan): God! -I'm- the one thinking ahead!

Lillian's player: Yay! I made Martin sexually uncomfortable!

Joyce was smoking non-stop, trying to convince herself that Nyarlathotep couldn't be behind Nectar.

Lillian's player: All right, everyone's messed up.

Joyce decided to deal with her own flavor of messed up by having sex with housemate Ida Lupino. Ida was willing.

Folks came to breakfast the next day.

Vito (about Bogart): He's wasted in film. He should totally do stage rolls.

Joyce: I think he was best as the Gerber baby.

Later, Joyce made some comment on the order of asking Vito where his sunshine was.

Vito: They took that away from me.

Joyce: I'm here to bring it back!

Lillian: You're the only one who got laid last night.

Joyce: Sorry.

Joyce (after Lillian leaves the room): I should take her under my wing.

Martin: Probably.

Joyce was concerned about Vito taking Lillian under his wing, not in the sexual sense, but in a career sennse.

Joyce: Lillian, do you want to be a thief?

Lillian: Fascinating idea, but...

Joyce tried to explain the whole Nyarlathotep / Black Pharoah thing to Vito.

Vito: Wait a sec. Is this like that Egyptian King Tut shit?

Joyce: Pretty much.

Ida complained about her current script, saying _she_ could write better material. Joyce said that Ida should do just that.

There was a brief digression about whether changing history so that _I Love Lucy_ was never made would affect Cuban history as a whole. Then, we returned to planning an infiltration of Trammel's mansion.

Martin would be disguised as a bum and would stay in an area where a car was often sent to pick up people to bring to Trammel's orgies. Lillian would be disguised as a tipsy late-night party goer and would hide close to the mansion, ready to provide a distraction. Joyce and Vito would wait in the house of Genial's employers, as they were gone away on vacation that week, and wait for Lillian to telephone that Martin was being taken into the house. Then, they would go to a shooting blind they'd set up and wait, ready to provide covering fire as needed.

Joyce: Vito, your job is to protect Martin. My job is to protect Lillian.

Lillian (amused): Oh, that's so sweet.

Vito (amused): It's bee a long time since I was in bodyguard work.

Martin: I haven't slept with a bloke yet!

Joyce: Well, Martin, this might be your lucky night.

Vito talked with Joyce about the merits of giving Walker and Trammel a taste of their own medicine, i.e., a fatal overdose of Nectar.

Vito: Let's give these f*ckers what they want.

Joyce: Or a clear headshot at 200 feet.

Vito: No!

Have I mentioned that his Drive is Revenge?

Vito made Lillian a present of his brother's garrote, something she took in the spirit in which it was offered.

NB: I have since looked up the NBA rules on garrotes. They're not easy to use, but they're appropriately deadly when used successfully.

Many points were spent on Martin's disguise, which was good. I'd told folks that anyone picked up off the street would be searched, as Trammel and Walker aren't utter idiots, but that was fine. Martin doesn't carry weapons. He entered the mansion without any complications and was happy to finally find a man to have sex with. He didn't realize until afterwards that the man was Jack Pizner. Walker decided the guy might as well be useful in the orgies, so he doped him up with nectar and added him to the production staff.

Martin made sure to approach Trammel when he spotted the man. This led to more sex. Afterwards, or rather, as they were starting again, Trammel kissed him, then stopped and said, "Oh, you're a spy."

IIRC, Martin decided to brazen it out and ask for the grand tour, which Trammel gave him. Martin saw a picture in Trammel's study called _The Gazer's Perspective_, which showed a star field. An Astronomy Spend identified some constellations, but the gazer's perspective was clearly not from anywhere near the Earth.

They had sex on Trammel's locked desk, then went down into a semi-secret room in the basement, where an orgy was in full swing. There was also a huge mouth from which protruded a 6-foot-long tongue, which participated in the orgy. Nectar flowed from the mouth, and Trammel explained that it was the unending lust-filled orgy that caused the Nectar to flow.

While Martin was unable to convince Trammel to show him the conservatory before they joined the orgy, he did manage a) not to lose it completely when he saw the Mouth, b) to resist the urge to do the Nectar Trammel offered, and c) to convince Trammel he'd taken it.

Meanwhile, a scarred and limping man staggered onto the grounds from outside, accosting someone who was leaving the house from the door Martin had entered it. The guards parted the two, escorting the accoster politely, but firmly, off the property, and escorting the accostee into a car that would drop the person back wherever home was.

Lillian decided to approach the limping man, still in her disguise as wealthy, tipsy party goer. He demanded Nectar, but she was able to convince him that she had none. This was actually fortuate for the man, as she would have crushed him in a fight.

He explained that, while he wanted some Nectar, any Nectar, he didn't really care for the Los Angeles type. The Bangkok type was better -- more primal. He asked if she'd been to Bangkok, and, possibly truthfully, she said she had. However, she didn't know about the Nectar scene there. Maybe he could tell her?

He talked about the death matches. He'd been in the audience watching, and it had been powerful! Everyone high on Nectar, death in the air, nothing too sophisticated -- when someone tossed a knife into the arena, the fighters ignored it in favor of ripping into each other with their bare hands. He told her to ditch her escort the next time she was in Bangkok, and go to the Fragrant Honey Shop in Phra Nakron. There, he said, she should rub together two bankotes of specific denominations (albeit what denominations remain unspecified in the text) while saying “I have come for the exhibition.”

[Sidenote: Some people misunderstand something about at least some of us Keepers. Highlighting a totally optional clue this was is not so much wanting to cut the PCs a break -- I don't think this group needed that particular break -- as wanting to show as much of the authors' cool stuff as possible by introducing it into play.]

Lillian listened very carefully and asked a few more questions, wanting to be sure that this was how one went to see the fights as part of the audience, as opposed to a direct participant. She also asked how the place moved around and how the password changed. Surely, this had to happen, as the authorities would shut it down as they discovered it, in a repeating cycle? He told her that it wasn't a problem, as Bangkok was even more corrupt than Los Angeles.

Lillian let him leave and returned to her hiding place. I hope that I made the man sufficiently disturbing.

Meanwhile, Trammel did evetually show Martin the conservatory, which was nowhere near as exciting or threatening as folks had thought. Joyce was originally convinced that it was the most dangerous part of the house as she didn't know about the basement, didn't know that Nectar didn't come from plants, and did think that perhaps the reason that entrance to the mansion was not guarded because it didn't need to be. Tour complete, Trammel brought Martin back down to the basement. The orgy was still going on. Someone had restarted over the record on the phonograph and it was playing a song with simple Spanish refrains sung rhythmically between wordless crooning. The refrains were things like “mi corazón” (my heart), “mi amor” (my love), “mi nombre” (my name), and “mi boca” (“my mouth”). The singer was a woman, and the words seemed to leave the Nectar addicts in some sort of trance stage.

Martin eventually managed to move onto someone other than Trammel to have sex with. Trammel let him do this, but did have a word with two of the guards to make sure Martin didn't leave. He then left, talking to more guards so that Captain Walker would know to put everyone on alert. Lillian, Joyce, and Vito saw the movement of guards, but they remained hidden in the shooting blind, where they bonded while discussing their very first guns.

I asked how long the others planned to wait for Martin to leave before moving in. They hadn't planned that part out, but decided that dawn was probably a good deadlie. By then, Martin had made his way back to the conservatory, still having sex. The two guards were still following him.

Lillian left her extremely good concealment again and walked into the conservatory, haranguing Martin, as if they were a couple who'd come to Trammel's mansion and he was now cheating on her. This did not impress the guards, who covered both of them with guns.

Sadly for them, we have now gotten our various NBA and Martial Arts Zoom hacks figured out. Lillian grabbed one of the guards and tossed him into another, grabbed Martin, and ran. Vito had a car waiting, and he and Joyce provided covering fire.

Martin was extremely shaken, i.e., his Stability was at 0 after all those spends. It probably didn't help that Trammel observed from the second floor and blew him a kiss.

(NB: Cat forgot that "you're fine at 0 Stability and Shaken at -1" was her house rule, and that was the rule we used this session. I'm going to stick with it, as I find it easier to remember. I realize this makes no objective sense. It's like the reason there needs to be something in the fifth circle for marking experience in Apocalypse World and hacks.)

Martin repeated what he'd heard about how the mouth in the basement or perhaps the Liar itself wouldn't rest until "the whole of the human species drinks of his Nectar".

Martin: According to Pizner, who is a terrible source, because he's a drug addict, but then, so am I.

Lillian wanted to go back in to find out whatever Martin hadn't already learned, like whatever was in Trammel's locked desk.

Vito: You'll never get in alive!

Lillian said that she'd f*ck whomever she had to.

Martin (to Lillian): Don't f*ck _anyone_! That's _my_ job!

Vito listened to Martin talk about Trammel's library, and thought of Remi, who had expanded his interests since the 1920s and knew rather a lot about occult tomes and artifacts.

Vito (accurately, about Remi): I gotta share this with some people I trust. Unfortunately, the people I trust is a douchebag.

By now, folks had the Ethiopia and Bangkok leads, and Martin had heard Spanish music in the basement. So, moving on immediately was a plausible cause of action. And, there was much thought given to just fleeing Los Angeles, but eventually, folks decided they had to deal with the problem. They did consider buring the whole house down, never mind the people within it (or, at least, some of them considered it), but again decided not to do things that way.

Then, they thought of buying Captain Walker out. Perhaps he would be willing to simply leave, with the guards and distributors, all of whom he'd hired and who were loyal to him, as the cops raided the place, perhaps on a tip that there was someone underage in the middle of a drugged out orgy. That's not a reason I would have thought of, but when asked, I figured it made sense that there would be underaged people. Trammel was recruiting from destitute street people, after all, and he was not exactly checking IDs.

I looked at the big picture. Vito had his mob connections. Martin had his 2 point Cop Talk pool with the LAPD. Joyce had her Dilettante contact in the LA County Sheriff's Deparment.

From Walker's point of view:

• Lillian is a badass.
• Joyce is a badass and has mob connections.
• Vito is a badass and a made man.
• Walker's people did not catch Martin's insertion.
• Walker's people were unable to prevent Martin's extraction.
• Walker was in this for the money.
• Walkder could make at least as much money as an independent operator for the mob.
• Walker had an exit strategy in reserve for emergencies.
• Walker had good reason to believe that the situation was getting out of his control.
• Walker, while well aware of the Mythos element, was not a true believer, as Vito put it. Walker was a business man, and the investigators were offering him an exit strategy, one that let him keep most of his own people intact.

Yes, such a man might indeed take an exit strategy like the one being offered to him.

Obviously, a meeting needed to be set up carefully, on neutral ground. We agreed that this meant inviting Captain Walker to Lillian's screen test, the one she'd arranged for last session, with the help of Oliva Clarendon and Arlo Kimmer ("Uncle Arlo" to Lillian, with her Dilettante ability).

They set up a meeting with Walker at Lillian's screen test, planning to make him an offer to buy him out.

GM: Let's start with the most important question. How does Lillian's screen test go?

Lillian (when one of the others gives her fashion advice): Have you ever seen me accessorizing in anything but black?

Joyce: Martin, go hang out with Busby Berkeley.

Alden did an impression of a cigar-chomping Hollywood mogul trying to get Lillian to dial back her Creep factor by about 50%, and said that she managed to dial it down by, oh, maybe 10%. The mogul gave her a "Thanks, lovely, we'll call you, don't call us".

Folks adjourned to Kimmer's office with Captain Walker, who accepted their offer and named a high, but not unreasonable sum. Lillian told Vito that Walker would actually do it for eight cents on the dollar provided -- well, I'm not sure what she thought he wanted, as Alden either whispered it to Chris or pretended to whisper something. Chris apologized for the language he was about to use and had Vito say, indignantly, that he was not about to Jew the man. (I don't speak for other Jews, but I was not offended, and thought it made sense for Vito to say that. So long as this isn't the regular language of the campaign, using it once in a while can be effective.)

The police raided Trammel's mansion. As was pre-arranged, Captain Walker and his men walked out. At this point, it was getting late, so we cut to the next scene, deciding the followig session that the group had kept cops and mafia alike out of the secret room in the basement by convincing them that there was a serious gas leak down there, and things could blow at any time. The investigators were very nervous about the idea of a bunch of cops getting addicted to Nectar and took great pains to avoid this. (If there's any interesting reason to do it, I could probably say that one or two cops ignored the warnings, but no more, and as of the end of the following session, I don't think there's any useful mileage to be had there.)

Joyce and Martin went to visit Trammel after his arrest.

Martin: What am I pretending to be this time?

Joyce: You.

Martin: That's not a good disguise! I want to lie!

Nevertheless, he went along with it. I don't remember most of the dialogue, but I remember Trammel recognized Martin, and the two of them flirted while Joyce tried to get answers from the man about the other locations of the Nectar business. As they already knew about Bangkok, I think he confirmed that. He knew nothing more than they did, and probably less, about George Ayers and his Ethiopia trip. He wouldn't mention other places, telling Martin to read his book. After all, it was all in there.

Martin asked how Trammel knew he was a spy, and Trammel said that his god had told him.

Martin: How embarassing. I was outed by a god.

Joyce asked about that god. Trammel apparently believed that he worshiped Nyarlathotep. Sure, Ramon Echavarria had claimed it was Gol-Goroth, but that had been a lie. The god had revealed himself to Trammel as Nyarlathotep.

Joyce was not happy to hear this, but also not entirely convinced. It sounded off, and there were things that she would have thought Trammel might find familiar that he showed no signs of recognizing.

OOC, folks liked that the identity of the Great Old One is kept unclear.

I wasn't sure whether I had let things be too easy this session, but I don't think so. I think I was taking Eternal Lies as written as a basic template, as the authors mean for it to be taken, and then adapting it to a group with very strong mafia ties as well as ties to the local law enforcement. Also, I think I had the creep factor I wanted, given how I'd played Trammel, possibly also how I'd played the man who'd been to Bangkok, and how freaked Lillian had been when she discovered that studying Nectar was as addictive a trap as taking it.

For next time, there were two things on the agenda:

1. Get access to Trammel's study. Not a problem -- they can use Cop Talk, Bargain, Reassurance, whatever.

2. Deal with what's in the basement.