Martians and Lord Mace: Her Majesty's Pornography

Present: Alice, Reginald, Victor. This was was mostly figuring out where things stood. Basic summary:

• Cassian is getting Huntly's body and leaving town. He has no particular loyalty to Tamar, and the organization isn't going to guess what happened, especially as Gregory will be posing as Huntly.

• Butler is at liberty, to the degree he ever was. (He's been pretty messed up by Tamar, and I may just post his sheet on the wiki.) He hates humanity in general and has no particular desire to tell Tamar about what he's learned about the group (specifically, about Gregory's powers). However, if Tamar specifically asks, that's another matter. Butler normally has quite a respectable Willpower / Mental Defense, but against Tamar superiors, it drops to Mundane tier.

• Victor has not yet located his mother. His maternal grandmother is dead, and was a pretty vicious woman. He's currently on his way back to London, as in he'll probably arrive at the beginning of next session.

• Sophronia was visiting a friend who is sadly allergic to cats, thus explaining Martin's presence.

• Alice and Gregory have learned a bit about the Martian situation and have also learned that the Decadent and Wicket Lord George Mace, while indeed Decadent and Wicked, is a loyal subject of the Queen, and as Her Majesty's Pornographer, uses his vast network to ensure that certain items do not fall into the Wrong Hands -- especially if he gets to keep the more erotic and less dangerous ones.

• Victor revealed that Lord Mace's home is ground zero for whatever ritual Tamar is planning.

• Of all the potential suitors for Alice's hand, Alden, Josh, Nunzio, and I agree that Lord Mace is actually the most promising. Alden warns that this may lead to a rivalry with Gregory, although I'm not clear whether this is a rivalry for Alice's hand or George Mace's affection.

[Alden's comment: This is primarily to cause Winston additional consternation. George Mace as a suitor would give him hives. George and Gregory might cause him to take to his bed.

Alice actually considering Mace would cast her in a rather different light in Reg's eyes, as he assumed that Alice was too uptight to tolerate that sort of behavior in a romantic partner. She's still probably quite wrong for Reg, as he will realize after getting over the shock that she's not bad for Mace.

Reg isn't romantically interested in Mace. Bros-with-benefits would be about as far as he would take that aspect of their relationship, and Reg isn't the jealous type anyway. He's looking for more of a wingman and confidant.]

• Alice -- well, Alex -- and Gregory went with Lord Mace to visit Crehador now that they know more about the circle of Tamar's upcoming ritual. Sheila, the prostitute who was with Crehador, but has recently been seen not with him, but with the Lord Mayor, sent him a note urging him to come at once.

The quartet left for the location given in the note, a swank hotel, but Alex and Gregory silently agreed that a) they want Mace, and perhaps Crehador, in the club so b) this is an ideal Test. They let Mace and Crehador enter the hotel alone. Meanwhile, Gregory in panther form sniffed around a monument like a Cleopatra's Needle, which was put up on a site that Tamar purchased -- a site easily viewed from the hotel. He found a secret door, and, inside, a dead girl (not Sheila). Alice flew in a black dress and veil, so that anyone looking up wouldn't know who she was, landed somewhere discreet, and, to my utter bemusement and delight, took the time to change her clothes so that she could be Alex.

When Alex and Gregory went inside and found their way to the correct hotel room, they found:

• Sheila's body in the bathtub. The woman had obviously been dead by the time the note was delivered.
• No sign of Lord George Mace or Dominick Crehador.

As the PCs and players rather hope that the NPC candidates can rescue themselves, rather than faint into Alice's arms, like Douglas, I have figured out more or less how to do this sort of thing without taking away the PCs' agency or plot. I can say more if you like, as I'm fine with you guys using the extra time to construct complicated Plots.