3rd Session

Chris and Alessandro missed this session.

Lillian worked to get Arlo Kimmer to set up a meeting with popular movie star Olivia Clarendon. She sounded Martin out about accompanying her. He was willing to do this.

Lillian: This is a Girl movie star.

Martin: Don't worry, darling.

Lillian: I just didn't want you to lose interest.

Martin: Don't worry. I _have_ talked to girls before.

Joyce: I don't think she's like the girls at the Black Rabbit.

I forget what Martin said that prompted this exchange:

Lillian: Can you hear the voices, too? Because that's _just_ what they were saying.

Martin: No.

Lillian: Are you sure?

The three discussed how sane their group was, and, I think, concluded: not very.

Joyce: Except for Doc. He seems sane enough.

Martin: Oh, he'll crack soon enough.

I forget how this one came up:

Either Lillian or Martin: Are you sure you're not the running around breaking kneecaps?

Joyce: I don't do that any more.

I forget whether Martin did end up accompanying Lillian. Joyce put on her Josh persona and did the driving. I think we concluded that the luncheon was at the Brown Derby. "Josh" chatted with the other drivers, as well as with passers by and hangers out, explaining to a boy named Roy that franchising a burger joint really was the way to go.

Olivia had been to a couple of Echavarria's parties, but dropped out of his circle both because she quickly realized that his group was unsavory and because she realized that he couldn't advance her career, although she did not exactly say that last.

Alden: But we heard her, loud and clear.

Like Edgar Job, Olivia had been introduced to Echavarria and his cult by George Ayers. She had consulted the professor while doing research for a screen play she'd thought about writing, but never had written.

Ayers told her that the inner circle of the group consisted of himself, Ramon Echavarria, and Trammel. She vaguely remembered Edgar Job when he was described. Job was a creepy, obsessive fellow who had talked her ear off (not literally) about math.

She also mentioned having imagined at one of Echavarria's parties, that she saw a mouth on a couch where people were having sex, and further imagined that the mouth was participating. It was just her imagination, obviously. It had to be. But, she just couldn't get the image out of her head even after over a decade.

Lillian listened sympathetically. She also allowed as how she'd like to be in films, although she knew she wasn't any good at that sort of thing. I treated this as a non-core clue; i.e., a Spend (probably Flattery) got her Olivia's help in arranging for an audition. It didn't hurt that Lillian could refer to Arlo Kimmer as "Uncle Arlo".

Joyce canvassed Los Angeles, trying to get a network via Oral History. The player's got points to burn there, but I don't want to charge unless and until there's something useful I think Joyce can do with that, above and beyond getting core clues. She did figure out that "Trammel" from Pasadena was Samuel Trammel, as the name's not that uncommon. While the group has not yet met him, I showed the players his picture, the one from the book. I think they hated him on sight.

Lillian got the full name and address of the accountant who did Echavarria's books, one Abraham Buchwald. She band Martin discussed possible approaches. Should Lillian claim to be working on an academic paper or a movie script?

Lillian: We could try telling the truth.

Martin: Lillian, darling, why would we do that?

However, the first order of business was to look at the farm where the 1924 incident took place. Joyce sounded trigger happy enough that Lillian decided they would all go. She asked if Martin had any good boots.

Martin: Why am I going to a farm?

Lillian: Because I'm not leaving Joyce alone on a farm, and I'm not leaving you alone in Los Angeles.

On the farm, it was fairly easy to figure out where two buildings stood before they'd burned down. Construction had begun, but been abandoned, and a group of construction workers were working on an adjacent lot. Joyce went over to talk to them, Cat noting that the odds were good that they'd be from the Ozarks and nearby areas. I ran with this, so Joyce in her Josh persona got on fine with them.

A feral cat did attack Joyce on the farm, but didn't even manage to bite through her boot. Joyce considered this odd behavior, which it is, but there was nothing obviously supernatural about it. She looked for the cat's litter / litter mates, if I recall correctly, and Ithink I decided she'd find signs of maybe three more kittens and one mother cat, though I forget the details.

One or two of the construction workers had been bitten by a snake while working on that land, and there were other cases of biting wildlife, as well as nightmares, and I think, the occasional accident. So, the construction company decided to dig elsewhere, saving that particular plot for last.

Joyce noted a certain theme running through the investigation, what with biting cats, snakes, mental patients, and the like, not to mention a mouth that Elaine saw appear on a wall at Joy Grove and the, er --

Lillian: Land lamprey. [I forget what the land lamprey was, but it made sense at the time.]

Martin: Yes, this cult does have something of an oral fixation.

Joyce / Josh explained Lillian and Martin were silly tourists convinced there was treasure on the farm, and got the foreman to give permission / turn a blind eye to that. Joyce noticed he was giving her them the stink eye, much like the guy at the LA County Sheriff's office. She pulled him aside and flashed a badge quickly enough to keep him from realizing it was a fake and told him to spill the beans.

He admitted that he'd been hired by Pizner to contact him if anyone started asking questions about the farm and old business. Joyce / Josh cautioned him against working for Pizner.

Foreman: Do I have to give the money back?

Joyce: Of course not!

The foreman was very relieved.

Various lines whose context I forget:

They wouldn't believe it.

There are douchebag cops!

Joyce: Will I never be free of East Africa?

Lillian: This creature is called the Liar. It's probably good at disguising itself.

Various bits of information acquired included:

• official blueprints for Trammel's home
• the address of Ramon Echavarria's house (as opposed to the farm), owned by a wholesome family
• a neighbour in that area remembering Echavarria and describing him as creepy
• Abraham Buchwald prepared Echavarria's taxes for some years, up until Echavarria's death in 1924.

Martin: Can we just join this cult and get it over with? Why don't I just say I want to work for [Trammel] instead?

Joyce: Doing what?

Martin: Being paid more than you're paying me.

Joyce: I'm paying you?

Lillian and Joyce were unsure of the wisdom of this plan.

Martin: Let us pretend that I am a paranoid, suspicious person.

In other words, Trammel, who would indeed have reason to be suspicious if Pizner had let him and Walker know that Joyce had new allies and supplied descriptions, even if he weren't paranoid on general principle, which he probably was, given Joyce's canvassing LA turned up richer folks who knew of him, and knew that he showed up at swank places on no fixed schedule, almost as if he were a paranoid, suspicious person.

Martin: He may bring a great many me and attempt to beat me up. If they try to beat me up, they will succeed.

More research and footwork was done. Joyce talked to the gardener for the family next door, Genial Brooks, who saw Trammel committing the sin of Onan in Trammel's own garden area, and thought he might have seen bodies carried out of the house, in bags, but did not have hard evidence that this was the case. He brought Joyce to see something else, a calcified mouth on the grounds of his employer. It had been hissing and biting when he first noticed it, so he threw a cross inside it, one which his mother had taken to be blessed by the "Holy Father". That made the mouth calcify. Clearly, Trammel was in league with Satan. And, clearly, Joyce had been sent to set things to rights.

Joyce couldn't disagree with his logic, but she also knew that mythos forces, such as this mouth, were not neutralized by conventional religious symbols. She later noted that Brooks had never said which church he followed. Still, she was glad to take him up on the offer of discreet help, such as letting her know when a distributor was heading out to make a delivery, as she'd been unable to find hide nor hair of the Nectar drug scene.

She filled in Lillian and Martin about everything, including Trammel committing the sin of Onan.

Lillian and Martin: The sin of who?

Joyce: He jerks off into his garden.

At that point, at least two of the three quoted the relevant passage from the bible.

They considered strategy. With Brooks's help, they were able to wait for and follow the car of a distributor. Brooks also mentioned seeing people coming into (and usually out of) Trammel's mansion, prostitutes, bums, and the like. The group staked out an area where many such could be found and learned that the mansion sent a car out to canvass areas and collect these guests. Some were repeat guests. Some were apparently still in the mansion, and those who returned could at least tell who they knew had been there when they left.

All of that information was improvised based on the questions I got, Cat's approach of trying to leverage a high oral history pool, and the fact that this is a grey area that one might investigate, especially if one plans to insert someone into the mansion that way. And I think I would very much like that to happen.

Cat looked at the blueprints, noticed something I'd missed and the text hadn't mentioned, and POUNCED. I don't yet know if the authors intended it or not, but there's an outdoor balcony on the second floor. Joyce pegged this as a possible extraction point.

Martin and Lillian discussed the idea of either or both of them being inserted into the mansion as a down and out bum or prostitute picked up by the car from the mansion.

Joyce: It's tough to be an officer in combat.

She said more in that vein, referencing Russia, but I forget the details.

Martin, meanwhile, planned to visit a Nectar addict, a woman, as a man might get defensive, someone reasonably well off, but precariously close to a downward spiral. He prepared to fake being an addict in withdrawal by purchasing laudanum.

Martin: It's much easier to fake being an addict if I'm not faking it. (chugs laudanum)

While waiting for withdrawal symptoms to kick in, Martin decided to have a chat with Lillian.

Martin: Lillian, darling, if we do the insertion plan, it shouldn't be you.

Lillian: Why not?

Martin: Because you're not a prostitute. How many times have you had sex?

Lillian: None.

Martin: Yes.

Joyce (wandering in for the last bit): Not even that boy in Japan?

Lillian (grumpily): He was a perfect gentleman.

Martin: How many positions in those photos that we looked at are you familiar with?

Lillian: Theoretically or practically?

Martin: Practically.

Other lines as the conversation went on:

Martin: I don't give a _shit_ about your virginity.

Lillian: Martin, I am familiar with the concept of the double entendre. You don't have to work quite so hard.

Martin: Everything that can happen to me _has_ happened to me.

Meanwhile, Joyce considered where to move folks, given that Pizner had no doubt reported their location. Her co-pilot was living somewhere else, though I forget where.

My notes indicate that Joyce pondered "a house in a nice middle class neighborhood -- like Watts." I had an amusing idea:

GM: Uncle Arlo?

Alden: That's a silly idea -- I like it.

Cat: Where would a bunch of weirdos fit in?

Everyone: HOLLYWOOD!

We thought perhaps their housemates might be Lucille Ball and Vivian Leigh. It turns out that Leigh was in England that year, so maybe Ida Lupino would make sense.

Martin approached Nectar addict Samantha Abercrombie, an upper middle class woman starting to have money troubles because of the addiction. She believed his claim to be a fellow addict, took him in, and, predictably, did Nectar with him. He convinced her to set up a meeting with her dealer the next time a delivery was made, I think claiming to have just moved to LA. She said her dealer, Jesus Figueroa, would make a drop off the following week.

Martin returned to the others.

Lillisn (finding out that Martin did take Nectar): I don't need to worry about losing my virginity because I'm never going to get married because your sisters are going to _kill_ me.

Martin: Well, you don't have to _tell_ them.

Folks discussed ways of interfering with the distributor that much not pique suspicion.

Martin: Give them something.

Joyce: What?

Lillian: That private eye.

Joyce: That private eye that works for them.

Lillian: It's what makes it a good idea.

Somewhere in there, the housemates came in to see Joyce with her firearms. She explained that, yes, they were props, and no, she couldn't let anyone else touch them or the studio would have her head. A little later, she blew up at Lillian and Martin, thinking they weren't taking matters as seriously as they ought, and stormed outside to smoke, clean her weapons, and keep a paranoid watch.

Inside, Lillian wanted to know _everything_ about Martin's experiences taking Nectar. For research purposes, of course. She was annoyed he hadn't brought some back for analysis. So, had Martin had sex? Yes, he had. With the kind of man he usually had sex with?

Martin: No, not the kind of man I usually have sex with at _all_.

Lillian: Tell me more.

Martin: Oh sweetie, I'll make a monster of you yet.

Lillian: Good luck.

That led to a discussion about Martin having sex with Samantha and, at the time, being quite happy about it, and his parents probably wanting to have him on that drug if they ever found out, and everyone being happy, as the drug didn't seem to have side effects or a nasty crash. Lillian pointed out that "everyone" wouldn't include Martin and that his insistance that it would equated two things falsely, and I think she pointed out that there was a false dichotomy in there somewhere. Ah, philosophy! Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist hells and demons came up.

Martin: I expect I'll be one of your demons in my next life.

Lillian tried to get it through Martin's head that there would be people who would be very sad if he wound up dead, including her.

Martin: Oh God, girl, why?

Lillian: I like you.

Martin: That was a stupid plan.

And somehow, that led to Martin kissing Lillian for reasons I don't quite recall, but which I think had to do with him trying to show her what Nectar felt like, since she kept asking. This, naturally, led to her kissing him back, as he was a very good kisser and she wanted to make sure she could do it right when she finally met someone who wanted to kiss her and whom she wanted to kiss. After all, noted Lillian's player, it's not as if Lillian were trying to get Martin interested in her. That would be silly. So, she wasn't trying to do that. Not at all. No.

And Joyce, who'd gone out to calm down now came back to find the two of them kissing.

Joyce: Lillian! Lillian! Lillian! Put Martin down!

(Things were more tense that that implies, and there was stuff between each "Lillian" and Joyce had to ask her to put him down more than once, but my notes lack the details.)

Martin still insisted that he, not Lillian, should be inserted into the mansion. She insisted that if he were inserted, she should also be. And there was some discussion of acceptable losses.

Joyce: If you could save the whole one point five billion humans on this planet by killing one of them, would you do it? Because I sure would.

Lillian: To save one person is to save the world.

Lillian went to talk to Abraham Buchwald, the accountant. She started off charming him, greeting him with "Shalom" and ended up terrorizing him. He was willing to answer basic questions about his professional relationship with Mr. Echavarria, but tried to shut down the conversation when she pressed for information on his own dealings with the cult Echavarria started.

Lillian produced the accounting books and, if I recall correctly, said that she was looking at things before she buried them. It was up to Buchwald whether he was next to her, handing her a shovel, or looking up at her from the bottom of a whole. Shaken both by the books and the change in Lillian's demeanor, Buchwald admitted that the books were accounts of the Nectar trade back when he worked for Echavarria. They'd gone missing from his office a few weeks before the cult self destructed (or whatever it had done, as Buchwald hadn't been there).

Buchwald hadn't told Echavarria about the theft. Echavarria had worried about a police investigation (not realizing that the supposed cops were actually the 1924 investigators), and had instructed Buchwald not to talk to the police, something Buchwald had no intention of doing in the first place. And then, Echavarria was dead, as were many other people. While Buchwald had attended some of his client's parties, he wasn't at the ceremony. He moved on with his life, married, and had kids. He didn't want any trouble.

He identified Echavarria, Ayers, and Trammel in the pictures Lillian had. He urged her not to dig up the past. There was no profit in it. She should go back to her family.

Unimpressed, Lillian asked if there were anything more he might tell her now, rather than leave for her to discover and get quite angry with him. She punctuated this by pulling a large fighting knife and slamming the blade into the wood of his desk.

Thoroughly nonplussed, Buchwald recalled the oddest thing Echavarria had ever said to him: "Abraham, would you like to know something truly perverse? Those who follow me in the way of Gol-Goroth are deceived. My work goes deeper than any of them know. Prepare yourself, Abraham. Prepare yourself for that end." Buchwald had no idea what he meant by that. Lillian pulled her knife out of his desk and left.

Folks spent some time with relatives in the LA area. Lillian brought Martin with her to meet her safe, normal, boring possible-fiance-material cousin, Richard Cooper. Joyce had traveled with her co-pilot Fred, and I think visited her brother, Charlie, in Santa Barbara. Martin visited his brother, Henry, who hasn't quite let himself know about Martin's sexual orientation, but did say that Martin might like Hollywood. There were a lot of people like Martin there, after all.

Joyce and Lillian decided to stake out Trammel's mansion, pretending to be assistants to Genial Brooks. They got a good idea of the patterns for coming and going, which entrances were used more frequently, which had more cover, and so on. Joyce used binoculars.

Then, she (and, I think, Lillian as well) realized that Walker had spotted them. Joyce immediately got herself and Lillian into their car and drove away.

Lillian had the nutshell overview of the entire campaign, I think: Stop the mouths from appearing, find the thing that came though the door the ritual opened, and deal with it.