Kerberos 12/02/2011

GM's summary

Spiritual Matters, from 2nd edition Victoriana

Alice got Anne to agree to convince Winston (Alice's cousin, Anne's sister) to let her keep Mary West as a servant, but had to also agree to let them hire Ms. Esther Rose to train Mary -- and Alice as well.

Victor was hired by Lord Highgate to find the Judas Dagger. Alice convinced Ms. Rose to visit the Highgates with her, as there's a son, Douglas. Ms. Rose thought Douglas far beneath Alice, but agreed that this would be good practice.

Alec, Sophronia, and Victor retrieved the dagger from a church, destroying its skeletal guardians and rescuing a couple of kids from the Lip's gang, which was living in the dilapidated church. The Lip is enamoured of Alec, but understood the young nobleman had given him a very clear brush off (after all, Alice didn't want the misunderstanding). The Lip's lieutenant, Winifred, pines after the Lip. The gang is greatful, primarily to Alec, secondarily to Sophronia, and considers Victor a rude fellow. Come to that, so does Martin Croyle, given Victor didn't bother showing up or explaining why he didn't show up to their meeting.

Alice, Ms. Rose, Sophronia, and Victor handed over the Judas Dagger and were drugged by the Highgates and their guests. Well, everyone except Sophronia was drugged. She siced illusions of wolves on the hosts and their murderous guests, and spiders on Douglas, trying to help Alice in his own way, and only succeeding in fainting into her arms. The group tried to stop the mastermind, Alice's old fraud of a spiritual teacher, but he got away. The group did grab the Egyptian table with a spirit trapped in it and the dagger, and left.

What was going on: Lord Highgate had remarried and feared his lack of child by his second wife was due to his first wife's spirit, who died in childbirth, child being stillborn. It was actually due to Lady Highgate taking medicines to stay childless, lest her son, Douglas, be disinherited. Douglas didn't realize this, wasn't worried about it, and would have been horrified to learn about all of this.

Lady Highgate hired the fake medium to convince Lord Highgate to move on, but the medium contacted the spirit trapped in the table, and it was trying to get the circle of fools to do things that would release it.