26th session

From RPGS surrounding the Labcats

Some Dreams

I forget exactly when I did this, but I gave some of the characters dreams.

Martin: He was wandering lost in Carcosa, not finding anyone alive. Sometimes, he would find an empty brain cylinder, which his player noted actually worried him less than one might think, I think because he assumed this means there's a walking around Jeremiah, as opposed to a Jeremiah whose brain is stuck in a cylinder possibly unable to communicate. Sometimes, he found the dead body of someone he knew -- Montgomery Donovan (whom he'd murdered), Phajol (whom Vito garrotted while Martin was making out with him (Phajol)), or Tshombe.

Joyce: Trammel was tearing off his own skin, just like the people in East Africa did, back in the 1920s. But, unlike those people, who were in ecstasy, Trammel was screaming in pain and horror while Nyarlathotep looked on and laughed.

Joyce: Thanks, boss.

That was not a sentence I thought I'd ever hear from her in that context. She sounded quite sincere.

Lillian: She had nightmares about Dallol and what she'd done there.

I forget the context of this:

Me: What -is- it people have against Tennessee?

I am guessing someone made some crach about Tennessee, probably Martin.)

Some Loose Ends

Meanwhile, Vito and Lillian traveled to England so that Vito could introduce her to his mistress.

Vito: Oh my god, I'm assembling a coven. It's like I'm turning into an evil high priest.

Lillian: If I'm going to become the terrifying primary enforcer and chief lieutenant of a cult leader, it's going to be Martin. You already had your chance.

Vito's mistress was Hillary Quarrie, an NPC from Tatters of the King.

Lillian: Vito, what can you tell me about Mrs. Quarrie?

Vito: She's beautiful. She's magnificent. What more do I need to tell you?

Visiting the woman involved sailing to England, then taking the train to a town, and then catching a bus from that town to a stop that wasn't often used. From there, it involved a walk to a very small village with some odd inhabitants whose knees didn't seem to bend the right way.

Lillian's Player: Shoes?

GM: No.

Lillian:s Player: Cloven?

GM: Yes.

Lillian's Player: Cute?

GM: That depends on Lillian's tastes.

Lillian's Player: Satyr?

GM: That depends on Lillian's tastes.

Vito introduced the two women, and Lillian tried to pick Mrs. Quarrie's brain for ideas about what to watch out for when it came to Lillian's child. Mrs. Quarrie asked a few questions, including ones about who the father might be.

Lillian: Oh -- no, no. The elder taint is through me.

Vito: I'm going to be outside with the dogs.

GM: That is one of the smartest things Vito has ever said.

Vito stayed with the dogs and smoked. Mrs. Quarrie didn't have experience with anyone in Lillian's particular situation, so there wasn't a lot of advice she could give. She did consider the question of whether it would be safe for the child to reproduce when it was old enough and mentioned that if the child turned out to be a boy, he could perhaps be sent to an all boy's school with an all male staff.

Lillian: Oh -- I should make sure he spends a lot of time around his uncle Martin.

Imaginary Martin: You can't turn people gay!

Joyce (halfway around the world): Have some pride! ... Sorry, Semyon -- I just felt the need to say that.

Joyce was busy gathering up mercenaries (or, as the player put it, "ablative mercenaries").

Joyce's Mercenaries

Martin was reviewing the list of books in Samson Trammel's library sent to him by Remy Piper and marking the books he wanted Remy to send him. He then went to Malta with Jeremiah, where they met Vito and Lillian.

Lillian's aunt Anne met them there and made arrangements for Lillian to give birth. Lillian agreed that Anne should do exactly what she did when Lillian was born, as that seems to have worked for Lillian. This, said Anne, involved Anne casting a memory wiping spell several times. She did not teach it to Lillian.

Lillian gave birth to a health black boy, which meant that Jerome was almost certainly the father. It also meant that the question as to whether the boy was originally a reincarnation of Him reborn was unresolved. Still, he seemed to react like a perfectly ordinary baby, and he did not seem to have any unusual knowledge or to more with preturnatural stillness or anything like that. Lillian's memories of whatever Anne had done and of the process of giving birth, were somewhat hazy, but she hadn't forgotten who she, Anne, the baby, or anyone else was.

She decided that the people she wanted to train her son were Jerome, Anne, and Sir Godfrey. She named the baby Panoub, which the player said was a Coptic name that meant "child of Anubis" and which he decided had been Jerome's father's name. I believe that Lillian also gave Panoub several other names as well.

Vito, Martin and Jerome were out during the birth. I forget the details of their return to Lillian, but Martin had been smoking opium. Something, I forget what, prompted the not-serious question:

Martin: Do you need me to kill the baby with opium?

Vito didn't want Martin bringing the opium into the room with the baby.

Vito: If I can't smoke, you can't bring that in there -- get it out of here!

Lillian: Jeremiah, I'm gonna fall asleep for sometime between the next 15 minutes and 30 years. Please don't let the baby hit the floor, at least not at speed. Wake me up at the appearance of any tentacles or fangs and so forth.

I forget the context of this:

Probably Lillian: Oh dear, Martin, where's that opium?

Someone: Where's the dynamite?

Later, in a scene one doesn't often get in games, Vito taught Lillian how to change a diaper.

Vito had come to Malta not just to accompany Lillian, but also to offer his services to Sir Godfrey, the Knight of Malta and secret warrior against the mythos, even if Sir Godfrey did believe that all mythos activity was caused by Nyarlathotep. (As Joyce noted, it's not an unreasonable assumption, merely an incorrect one.)

Lillian: When does a squire of Malta become a knight? Actually, when does a Page of Malta become a squire?

Martin told her that one became a page at age 10 and a squire at age 15.

Me: How did you know that?

Martin / Martin's Player: I looked it up.

Somewhere in here was a cut to Joyce and her mercenaries. I don't recall the details, but my notes have this:

Joyce: What -- No, shut up Semyon. I know what we're going to to do. Well, no, I don't. But, we're going to Afghanistan anyway!

Vito spoke with Sir Godfrey, offering to join the Knights of Malta. He wasn't sure if Sir Godfrey would have him. Did the Knights of Malta have to be Catholic?

Sir Godfrey (with wry sympathy): That would be a good start, yes.

Vito admitted that this disqualified him, as he'd lost his faith about a decade ago. But, he respected Sir Godfrey and wanted to support the knight's work. Vito spoke of his family, explaining that Billy, his oldest son, was already a made man, while Johnny, his youngest, was in law school. Neither of them would understand any of what Vito or Sir Godfrey did in their secret battles.

However, Vito's middle son, Joey, was starting to ask his father some pointed questions, and Vito suspected that Joey had not been fooled by his evasive answers. Joey was a Jesuit, and perhaps might be more acceptable as a Knight of Malta, at least, if being a citizen of Malta were not a requirement. In any case, Vito asked Sir Godfrey to talk with Joey should Vito die in Thibet and Joey receive certain letters from his father and travel to Malta to meet Sir Godfrey.

Sir Godfrey assured Vito that he would do this and did his best to reassure Vito that, lost faith and being a mobster notwithstanding, Vito was a good man fighting the good fight. Yes, Vito had made mistakes, but he acknowledged this and went on to do better, and that was all anyone could ask in the end. Sir Godfrey was glad to have an ally in the fight against the mythos.

Vito emphasized that it wasn't only he himself fighting on the same side as Sir Godfrey.

Vito (indicating Martin, who was trying to blend in with the shadows and the walls): Martin Locksley is one of the best men I know!

This, I think, surprised and somewhat embarrassed Martin.

Meanwhile, Joyce had decided that she would bring Douglas Henslowe to India, thence to Thibet, although not up the mountain. I sounded out the player, trying to figure out how far Joyce would go if Dr. Cecil Walker objected to this, given Henslowe's frail mental health. The player said that Joyce would write him a letter explaining that this was what she wanted to happen and that she would be very displeased if it didn't, and adding that Joyce would be willing to have the men she sent to collect Henslowe hospitalize Cecil, if necessary.

The player then got another idea, and decided that Joyce would contact Janet Winston Rogers. Joyce explained to Janet that Douglas Henslowe needed to be there at the end. Given that Janet was the spark for the entire Eternal Lies campaign because she was the one who hired Joyce and Vito to find out what had happened to her father in 1924, partly so that she could apologize or defend him, partly so that she'd know whether she'd need to defend herself, but also to find some kind of closure, this was a good approach, and the player was willing to make a Spend (Reassurance, I think -- whatever it was, Joyce had the point).

There was a bit of miscommunication at that point, since I hadn't assumed that this changed what Joyce might authorize people to do to Cecil if he refused to go along with what Joyce and Janet wanted, and I think Joyce's player assumed, quite reasonably, that as she'd come up with an alternative plan and made a spend on it, that Cecil wasn't a factor. I'd also failed to weigh appropriately Cecil being one of Lillian's Sources of Stability, which led to a reevaluation of group lines and veils. And, while Lillian's player later decided he'd be okay with the offstage violence, it really didn't accomplish anything useful. There was no particular reason for Cecil to have vehement objections, certainly none that would go beyond verbal or written protests, and fine dramatic reasons to have Douglas Henslowe accompany the group as far as the foot of the mountain. (I think this falls into, as one GM said, "Okay, you're willing to accept monsters in the sewers of NYC, but you're fretting over whether the building numbers on Eighth Avenue go up that high?" I'm thinking that I stumbled into the same trap, just on the GM level, rather than on the player level. Sure, there are some times when things going a particular way really does break one's suspension of disbelief, but this was not one of them, and I had no particular stake in pushing to make things harder here.)

Delhi

Folks reunited in Delhi. Vito's player asked that they all arrive in time for Holi, and we agreed. I'm not sure that technically works chronologically, given that Holi is generally in February or March, and Lillian was in Malta, where she gave birth in April, bringing Anne and Panoub to Delhi, where she hired a wet nurse. On the other hand, see "monsters in the sewers" above. Eternal Lies extends the Ethiopian-Italian war; this is relatively minor by comparison.

In any case, given when Lillian gave birth, and given when Himalayan Climbing Season is, it was likely now May or June of 1938. (Cf: http://www.angritaexpedition.com/seasons.php)

My notes have a comment "-After- you have spent six months having sex", which I assume refers to Martin and Jeremiah, but I could be mistaken. There's also a note that reads: "Joyce -> I fr riding to Hindustan". I have no idea what that was about.

Vito (covered in yellow and blue powder): This is the best f*cking party I've ever been to! This is -awesome-!

Joyce (seeing the complexion of Lillian's baby): Vito! Come on! Pay up!

Vito handed her money.

Joyce: Easiest fifty bucks I ever made.

Lillian (collecting five dollars from Joyce): Hardest commission -I- ever made!

Douglas Henslowe was fairly mindblown, as he'd never been outside of the USA before, I suspect. Joyce's mercenaries were blase, as was Puey Pramoj, the explosives expert folks had met in Bangkok.

Joyce had a gift for Vito, a pair of Army .455s she'd modified to shoot full auto, given his hook. There were two because the only practical way for Vito to reload in a firefight was the New York reload, aka using a second gun.

Vito: Throughout this whole thing, I want to thank you for being the best partner I ever had.

He later said something less sentimental. I forget what it was, but it prompted this response:

Joyce (to Vito): I should remind you of one important fact. I'm the one who ties the ropes when we go climbing.

Lillian told Vito something she had figured out when they visited Mrs. Quarrie, but had not mentioned to anyone: Mrs. Quarrie was pregnant. Why, yes, the timing did mean that the conception took place sometime around Vito's visit to her.

Vito's player decided that, in addition to his three legitimate sons, and not counting his possible child by Mrs. Quarrie, he had one illegitimate son for whom he watched out. He sent her a telegram.

Vito's Delhi Telegram to His Mistress

Vito: I am a father --

Joyce: Yeah, I know you're a father.

Vito: Again!

Jeremiah and Martin spent much of their time in Delhi in the Hindu quarter, which Martin's player tells me was (is?) more tolerant of homosexuality than the rest of the city.

Lillian left Panoub with the wet nurse and her aunt. Some letters were received, and others written, perhaps to be delivered in the event of the writers' deaths.

Towards Mount Kailash

Joyce had arranged with her friend Howard Hughes to borrow a plane.

Joyce's Player: It's super fast, and it's only been flown twice. Translation: It's a deathtrap.

It was a very small plane, a one-seater with no room for any passengers. My notes say something about the plane being on skids and something about an ice runway. I have no idea whether an ice runway would make practical sense in that season, but see "monsters in the sewer" and also, this did not occur to us at the time.

Joyce's player figured that the plane had a range of 400-500 miles, and that it was probably about 200-250 miles from Mount Kailash, which meant that Joyce wouldn't have a lot of loiter time, but she was prepared to spend a few days making flights and snapping photos.

The player spent several points and rolled fairly well, so none of the pilgrims walking around Mount Kailash spotted the plane, and Joyce had enough photos that, should the need for the information in them come up, she either had it to hand or had a dedicated pool, probably the former.

Joyce returned, and she started straightening out a few, ah, issues.

Joyce: Hello, God. Today's a day I don't kill Vito again.

She was concerned that her mercenaries might have a problem with her other companions, though. She explained to them that Martin was... was... a woman, disguised as a man, traveling with her fiance, Jeremiah, and her... uncle... Vito.

Joyce: As for Lillian -- She is... a Dervish.

Lillian murmured something about the DAR under her breath.

Joyce: She too has a loathing for the Raj.

Martin: Thank you, Joyce.

Vito (to one of the Moslem mercenaries): And I don't like the way your men are staring at my niece.

Joyce (to Vito, about Martin): Just make sure he shaves every day. Otherwise, this will get really ugly fast. (to Lillian) And if you could just say five saloms a day -- preferably in -that- direction.

Joyce now explained to people why she had been so careful not to let her plane be seen, why she had hired mercenaries who were NOT Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, or Bon, and why collecting their, ah, guide might get annoying.

Mount Kailash was a place where people from four religions visited to make a pilgrimage. But, they did not climb Mount Kailash. Instead, they walked or crawled or prostrated themselves around the mountain, praying. No one was allowed to climb the sacred mountain. No one.

And, no good Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, or Bo would lead them up the mountain. But, one of Joyce's many contacts had allowed as how there might be one man who would agree and who could do this with more safety than many others, one Pannu Singh. But, stressed the contact, Joyce did not hear any of this from him, and certainly did not hear the name of the latest little town Pannu Singh had been spotted in after getting tossed out of the last town he'd been in. He was an itinerant drunk.

Joyce and her companions went to the town. Joyce strode into the bar, asking for Pannu Singh, and someone, probably the barkeeper, pointed to the rear door leading to the alley. Pannu Singh was in that alley, passed out drunk.

Joyce brought him back to where the group was staying and had her men sober him up, or at least, bring him around, by pouring buckets of cold water over him. At first, he didn't want to have anything to do with them, but that wasn't from any deep religious feelings. It was merely because he was an irascible drunk. Joyce had her men pour more ice water on him until he agreed to lead them to and up Mount Kailash. He named a high figure for his survices and for the expedition's supplies, and Lillian paid this without comment.

Martin spoke privately to Pannu Singh, having much sympathy for a fellow addict. Martin learned that the guide had been a Hindu, but had converted to Christianity, although he currently had no faith in anything. He had been a skilled guide, and had been leading a group up a mountain when his immediate family fell ill. No one could reach him, because he was in the mountains, and his family was already dead by the time he returned.

He spiraled into a depression, drinking, and eventually getting kicked out by his extended family. After that, he went from town to town, drinking until he got kicked out. To the degree he'd had any plans, they were to commit slow suicide via alcohol, something Martin understood all too well, as he explained to Pannu Singh (who was well aware that Martin was a man, not a woman disguised as a man, but who really didn't care).

Martin told Pannu Singh about his own situation and why he needed to climb Mount Kailash. He understood that Pannu planned to take the money he made from leading folks up the mountain and spend it to continue his slow suicide, and I don't think he felt he had the right to try to talk the man out of it.

Regardless, he struck up a rapport with the guide.

Meanwhile, Joyce reflected on the overall situation.

Joyce: I really don't want to climb up a mountain and look at scary stuff. So what's on the agenda? Climb up a mountain and look at scary stuff. And is it a holy mountain separated from all the other mountains? Why, yes, it is!

Pannu Singh went shopping for supplies for the expedition. I'm unclear on how many people went with him, as this seemed to grow and decrease as it was discussed. I'm sure Lillian went along, and I think Joyce did. I'm pretty sure Martin didn't.

The guide did indeed buy things that the expedition needed. But, he also bought several small bottles of alcohol when he thought no one was looking. Lillian (who'd made her Sense Trouble roll) was well aware of this. She allowed him to buy his alcohol, but, when he wasn't paying attention, she Filched it.

Joyce: How much longer, God? (taking out a cigarette): Addiction's a terrible thing.

According to the text, merely spotting and dealing with Pannu Singh's expedition shopping isn't enough. Every day folks are in "relatively civilized areas" -- a term which remains undefined, so I have no idea when these areas are left -- they need to make a Difficulty 5 Sense Trouble test to keep him from getting drunk. After leaving civilization behind -- whenever that is, since, as I say, the text gives absolutely no clue about that -- the difficulty of the test decrements each day until it reaches zero, marking the point where the guide has no more alcohol -- apparently regardless of how much or how little he's gotten before leaving civilization, and regardless of whether the PCs make Every Single Test and don't let him get any ever. Nope, he doesn't run out of stuff to drink until five days after they leave civilization, apparently no matter what. (It is possible I'm missing or misreading something at least slightly. I hope that is the case.)

Oddly, I had absolutely no interest in throwing a half dozen to a dozen Sense Trouble tests for this at the players. I'd been planning to just skip them. But, Joyce's player noted that I had a fine justification for doing that while keeping to the spirit of what the authors intended -- Ablative Mercenaries vs Alcohol!

Rasul or one of his brothers (to Pannu Singh): Shaitan has you by the throat!

Since Rasul had six brothers, I thought that was an excellent justification for forgoing countless rolls that did nothing for us.

Once folks were out of civilization, whatever that means, Lillian took over, the player making a 1 point Pharmacy Spend. As you'll recall, she kept the alcohol she took from the guide. She now doled it out carefully, so that, rather than having Pannu Singh quite alcohol all at once, he was forced to taper off, something I gather is actually a whole lot safer to do than quitting cold turkey.

Joyce: Vito, I know you're Catholic and you hate pleasure, but just let this one go.

I forget whether that was in regards to Lillian letting Pannu Singh taper off slowly or about something else.

Martin, who'd already spent a point to build a rapport with the guide, spent a second point, in Reassurance, to make sure that Pannu Singh was okay, albeit having a miserable time.

At some point, folks stopped at a sweat lodge. I have no idea whether there are any of those near either side of Lipulekh Pass, aka the pass that marked the group's transition from India to Thibet, in real life, but we agreed that we didn't really care. We wanted a sweat lodge.

I forget what folks talked about inside it, but Vito went outside for some reason. He was approached by the Stranger who carries the authority of the King in Yellow -- and who used to be Vito's comrade in arms, Geoffrey Whitcombe.

Geoffrey and Amelia Burroughs had been lost in Carcosa, neither trying to find their way home. Amelia had been talking to Vito for some time, and he asked her to ask Geoffrey to come talk to him. And so, Geoffrey had come.

Or, rather, the Stranger had come, for, as Vito realized to his growing horror, there was nothing of his companion left. The Stranger explained that Geoffrey never wanted to return, that, even before the trip to Nepal ten years ago, Geoffrey felt that there had been nothing for him since the Great War.

Sadly, I do not have good notes on this conversation. I know that Vito tried to impress upon the Stranger or the King or both that, even if Geoffrey had given himself to the King in Yellow willingly, even if he were now nothing but a sock puppet for the King to speak through, there had been a man there once.

I remember that there was something he told the Stranger not to forget or to tell his King not to forget. I forget what that was, but I think it was connected to the Tatters campaign and to the defeat of the King in Yellow by Vito and his companions.

Geoffrey / Stranger / King in Yellow: Oh, I will not forget. That's a promise.

Vito was now well aware that this was the King speaking, not his friend, if it had ever been his friend. He was furious. But, he also felt it incumbent upon him to acknowledge that the King had returned Jeremiah to Martin, making Martin happy.

Vito: You get a pass on that one.

Vito further said that, if Gol-Goroth really could and would fight the Liar --

Vito: That means they're NOT invulnerable. They're NOT gods!

The King / the Stranger was not impressed, and eventually left.

However, before he went, Martin and Jeremiah saw, from the tent they shared, the figure of the King / Stranger / Geoffrey-in-a-mask-that-was-no-mask talking to Vito. Jeremiah asks Martin to close the tent flap. Martin did.

(Vito lost 4 Stability, though I forget whether that was on Spending to make the roll or failing. He got 2 back for following his Drive, Revenge!)

Some time after the Stranger / King / Geoffrey left, Joyce came out of the sweat lodge.

Joyce: Vito, have you got it all well in hand?

Vito: Joyce, does the Messenger come and talk to you?

I forget what she said. The Messenger, aka Nyarlathotep, mostly does not come and talk to Joyce -- except, every now and then. She has steadfastly refused to accept any gifts from Nyarlathotep, with the possible exception of the dream she had, which, if it had been sent to her, she had no proof of this and had not been given any opportunity to accept or reject it.

Vito talked about the play _The King in Yellow_, which he said he'd read.

Joyce: I thought people who read it went-- (looks at Vito) Never mind.

I forget the context of this bit of dialogue:

Martin said something illegible. I think it had "make you different" in it, but I can't read my own handwriting.

Lillian: Different or extra?

Martin: Both.

Lillian: No, that's bad.

Vito talked to Joyce about Mount Kailash.

Vito: But you want to climb it?

Joyce: Actually, no.

My notes mention "Space Gremlins". I have no idea what that was about.

At some point, Martin was on an opium high. I don't recall if there was a particular reason for that, beyond his addiction.

This may have been as folks were discussing the three basic options for dealing with the Liar:

  • Banish it
  • Call Gol-Goroth, i.e., call up a second Outer God to get rid of the first.
  • Lots of explosives

Someone: Planting explosives is our -least- dangerous option.

Vito wanted to see Gol-Goroth fight the Liar. The rest suggested that perhaps this was not the best option, though they understood that Vito wanted to see the boxing match of the century. But, they themselves seemed to be leaning most towards option a.

Martin: I imagine we're bringing explosives up because we like redundancy, but I'm not easy with this.

Joyce: Actually, I like explosives.

Lillian (about Vito): And he likes boxing matches.

I forget the context and exact words of this: "No, alternative is leaving it be till ev all <illeg> to death".

Martin: We're -all- going to die.

Lillian called their plan: The mst significant murder any of us will do. Be the -arrow-.

Joyce: Vacation plans after we're done. I was going to do Germany, but that's not such a good idea right now.

Lillian: I'm planning to spend the next six months in a pink haze.

Vito: I've got a bundle of joy myself.

Martin: I am not a f*cking arrow.

Jeremiah: Good.

Vito: That's not you.

Lillian: It is -me-.

Martin: That's because you're f*cking crazy.

Lillian (correcting him): Insane.

To the degree there was a consensus, it was that banishing the Liar was best, and that no one was sure whether the boxing match or the explosives were the worse plan after that.

Joyce: One does not simply -walk- into Thibet.

Martin: -We- did.

Martin and Lillian knew the spell to banish the Liar. Joyce agreed to learn it as well. I looked at Vito's player.

Vito: What the f*ck. (to Martin) I've been trying to avoid this, but if anyone's going to pop my magic cherry, it's going to be you.

Lillian: If he weren't so cute, I'd be hurt.

Joyce: Okay, God, it's a different day. I'm not killing Vito.

Pannu Singh made it through his forced detoxification and suggested that, if the group did not object, they visit Lake Manasarovar before going on to Mount Kailash. The detour was minimal and the view spectacular. And, it was said that bathing in the lake's waters would "cleanse the sin of up to one hundred lifetimes". I asked folks who figured their PCs would go into the lake to think about what their PCs expected to happen to them there, stressing that "Nothing" and "I get wet" were both acceptable answers.

Lillian's player said that she expected a much greater or more deep down peace than she generally got from killing or mediation. This peace would also last longer, but not forever. It wold be like a thousand meditations.

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