24th session

Folks were in the observatory of the pyramid at Chichen Xoxul, along with a cultist from Mexico City. They were about to travel through time and space.

Lillian: If you're hoping to make this trip without a spawn of evil, it's already too late.

Vito: Are you callin' me a spawn?

Lillian: Now, pardon me while I go powder my nose.

She was, I think, referring to herself.

Meanwhile, Joyce's player realized an amusing fact.

Joyce's player: So, the only difference between us and cultists is that cultists have a set of beliefs.

Joyce: Hey, God. Joyce again. Here I am, trapped in a pyramid with a bunch of lunatics. I see this is part of your divine plan.

Martin drew a gate that would lead to the hangar with Joyce's plane, at least if used in the correct time.

The observatory door was latched shut. Outside, the so ts showed greyness. Then, it arrived at the following stops:

1. Chichen Xoxul, the Good Old Days, aka c.1524 AD.

The Xoxul were lifting captured Mayan warriors to the top of the pyramid as sacrifices. This meant blood ran in the channels. Wisely, the folks in the observatory held the door closed.

Joyce took out a chronometer to time the length of stay at the stops. I would say that the observatory departed this stop just as the pressure on the door's mechanism might have proved too great. I'm not sure the chronometer worked at all between stops.

2. Floating in space, same location as 4&5, likely some time later.

There was no pyramid. There was no planet or moon. There was only the observatory floating in space, with some minor debris. Only Joyce and Martin recognized anything in this location, as only they had seen Samson Trammel's painting, _The Gazer's Perspective_, before Joyce destroyed it. While I have a photo I use from NASA's gallery to represent what they saw, it must be understood that, as the painting's title implies, the view is NOT one that can be seen from Earth. The observatory did not spend quite as long here.

3. Chichen Xoxul, likely later than 6.

Fire and blood rained from the sky. The earth shook and burned. The jungle smouldered. Thunderstorms roiled, tearing the sky with green lightning. Ash covered all.

Vito waxed rhapsodic about how this was the beginning of everything, the creation of the world, and so on. The others, at least one of whom noted that things seemed more apocalyptic, pointed out that it was hardly the creation of the world, given the ruins of Chichen Xoxul aroud them.

Vito: Oh, so I got the evidence wrong.

This was the shortest stay.

4. Golxumal, the same location as 2, though presumably earlier.

The observatory was in a pyramid that was the twin to the one in Chichen Xoxul on Earth. The entire site mirrored Chichen Xoxul, though was perhaps a bit smaller. It was, however, definitely not on Earth, but in the midst of red jungle foliage, on an alien moon, presumably Golxumal. Atmosphere clung to it, but billowed off in swirls, a little like dry ice. The night sky was dominated by a vast and cloudy brown planet. At this point, only Lillian looked out the slit as, after Stability rolls at the last two stops, she had decreed only one person should watch and taken that task on herself, the only person without Astronomy.

Xoxul of all kinds were going about their business outside the pyramid, apparently untroubled that they were not on Earth. And, looking up through the slits, Lillian could see a being sucking on the tip of the pyramid, sort of a cross between a frog and a jaguar, like the creature which had attacked Joyce's plane, but much larger. Folks correctly guessed that it was Gol-Goroth. I forget who addressed it, saying that they were there because they'd been told Gol-Goroth might be willing to help them fight the one who was hiding behind Its name.

Gol-Goroth turned its vast attention towards the creatures addressing it and as it did so, the observatory moved again, possibly because Gol-Goroth caused it to do so.

5. Golxumal, probably later than 4, but earlier than 6

The observatory was apparently in the same location as before, but in a different time, probably a later one. The pyramid it was in was half smashed. The surrounding buildings were in ruins. Instead of healthy, if alien, blood-red foliage, there were craters and ash all around. The cloudy brown planet was still dominating the sky, but it roiled with storms, green lightning tearing through its atmosphere. Golxumal itself did not seem to have an atmosphere any more, but no one tested this.

There were no Xoxul. Gol-Goroth no longer sucked on the pyramid, but lay half-buried in the ashes, its mouth giving off steam in the cold as its serpent tongues slurped up ashes and bones. Smaller versions of it clung to its body, like suckling bats. Of course, these smaller ones were still large enough to bite a man in two or attack a plane.

Gol-Goroth now turned its full attention to its visitors...

6. Chixhen Xoxul, Halloween, 1937

Once Gol-Goroth had finished dealing with its visitors, it sent the observatory back. Of course, folks had arrived in Chichen Xoxul and entered the observatory on October 8, 1937, and it was now October 31, 1937. Still, all things considered, that wasn't too bad.

A couple of players decided to raise their character's Stability during this sequence. Vito's player now needed a new Source of Stability, and, unsurprisingly, chose Sir Godfrey Welles.

The following conversation took place at one of the stops, though I forget which one:

Martin: Is our terrible friend out there?

Vito: Do you mean Trammel?

Martin: No, he's -my- terrible friend.

Vito: You got that right!

As for dealing with Gol-Goroth...

This wasn't exactly a _conversation_. Gol-Goroth first examined everyone, pawing through their minds with its own to learn something about them. Everyone remembered the worst thing they'd done -- and the worst thing everyone else in the observatory had done.

For Martin, this was either making a deal with the King in Yellow to get Jeremiah restored back to apparent full life and health or his murder of Montgomery Donovan. Everyone relived him watching the sleeping cult leader and working up his nerve to kill the man, never being quite sure of why he was doing it.

For Lillian, it was massacring the villagers of Dallol, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that she was doing Kali's will, that they were already dead and simply did not know it.

For Joyce, it was kill her plane's engine while flying over New York Harbor in a suicide attempt. Although she changed her mind and restarted the engine, she couldn't fully regain control and crashed in New Jersey. This led to a stay in an asylum.

For Vito, it was either simply living the life a mobster lives, only slowly gaining a conscience about it all, or the complicated feelings he had for his companions lost in Carcosa, Geoffrey and Amelia, particularly Amelia, whom he found himself lusting for after she was lost in Carcosa. And then, there was his mistress, a high priestess of Shub-Niggurath, who scared him, and that was part of what he found enticing about her.

For Alvar Vasquez, Mexico City cultist of the Liar, it was probably burning down a record studio and then realizing that its owner was trapped inside.

After that traumatic experience, it communicated concepts as arcs of lightning struck the pyramid, making everyone twitch with each strike.

Gol-Goroth the revealed the true name of the Liar, putting that information directly into their heads, and offered to fight the Liar for them. All they would have to do is to summon it once they were where the Liar's body was. It was willing to give the knowledge of the proper ritual to any present who wanted it.

Martin, Lillian, and Joyce wanted the knowledge. Vito did not.

Lillian asked why Hastur and Gol-Goroth were willing to help deal with the Liar, bur Nyarlathotep wasn't. Gol-Goroth did not answer.

Martin (and everyone else) felt Gol-Goroth's awareness of the Hyperspace Gate Martin had created in its observatory. Gol-goroth communicated that "Things must be their worst for this bridge to lead to betterment."

As the observatory returned to Chichen Xoxul, Gol-Goroth communicated one final time.

Gol-Goroth: If any of you ever come to Chichen Xoxul again, it is to die.

Vito: Thank you for your offer, sir. Perhaps I'll take you up on it one of these days -- but it must be complete.

Lillian noted that she could always kill Vito -- he didn't need to get an Outer God to do it. He stressed that it needed to be "complete". (I'm not sure what he meant -- perhaps complete annihilation?)

Alvar Vasquez, not so picky as Vito, shot himself as the observatory returned to Chichen Xoxul.

Lillian drew her kukri, shaken at what she had learned of Vito, and held it at his throat.

Lillian: You shouldn't have done that.

Vito: I accept your judgment. I still think I can be of service to my race.

Lillian: You're probably right.

She put her knife away.

Martin: Can we go home now?

Joyce: Need to light my cigarette. (hand shakes too much for her to do this)

(Vito lights it)

Vito also insisted on some kind of proper funeral for Alvar. I think it involved cremation.

Martin's Player: Martin hugs Joyce, which is probably very disturbing.

There may have been other hugging as well.

Vito: Are you gonna do your Mandrake right now?

Martin: Mandrake?

Vito: Mandrake the Magician.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrake_the_Magician)

I.e., was Martin going to use the Hyperspace Gate to bypass everyone trekking through the jungle? He was happy to do that as soon as someone brought dim a chunk of the pyramid, as that would be necessary for the spell to summon Gol-Goroth. Folks took two chunks, to be on the safe side. And, of course, in addition, Martin had the stone to shield (an extremely small area) from the Liar's magical sight.

Joyce: Yeah, I'm so glad we decided to stake our lives on magic pebbles.

That dealt with, Martin prepared to use the gate to get them to the hangar with Joyce's plane.

Lillian: Using magic to get out of here can't possibly have unwanted consequences.

Martin: Oh sweetheart, I crossed that line a -long- time ago.

Martin went through first, surprising the heck out of Joyce's co-pilot, Fred, who had to be convinced that Martin did not just appear out of thin air. Okay, he didn't have to be convinced that hard.

Joyce and Lillian arrived next, and, as Vito finished with Alvar's body, so did Vito.

A fair amount of time had passed. They had entered the observatory in October 8, 1937, and it was now October 31, 1937. It was Halloween or El Dio de los Muertos or, in Merida, Hanal Pixan, which means "Food of the Gods".

Martin: Fred, can I get very drunk and fall asleep on your plane?

Fred: It's Joyce's plane.

Joyce: I owe you your paycheck now.

Vito said he was going off to get drunk and go to a brothel. He asked Martin if Martin wanted him to get in touch with Jeremiah.

Martin: We need to get to Los Angeles. If he could meet us there, that would be good.

Vito: You got it. Hey, you did good work out there.

Martin: It doesn't feel that way.

Vito: Hey, we're gonna save the world!

Martin: That would be an accomplishment.

Vito: We're doing it so far.

At some point, Martin discussed future plans with Lillian. If he survived Thibet, he and Jeremiah would find somewhere to go or live.

Martin: And it will not be full of aliens, and it will be good.

Lillian: Me and my boyfriends will meet you there.

Folks went to Havana. Lillian sent a telegram to her Aunt Anne, telling Anne to meet her in Los Angeles. It also said:

BRING THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE RECIPE YOU MADE OVER AND OVER AGAIN WHEN I WAS GIVING MY MOTHER MORNING SICKNESS ALSO BLUE AND BLACK COHOSH

Apparently, both forms of cohosh can be used to induce labor or as abortifacients. Lillian was planning to have the child, but wanted to cover all bases, just in case.

Meanwhile, Joyce and Martin got notes from Samson Trammel.

• Samson Trammel's 2nd Letter to Joyce
• Samson Trammel's 5th Letter to Martin

Joyce confirmed that Samson Trammel's blackmail material had been destroyed with his mansion. She knew where his money was, thanks to the reluctant assistance of Abraham Buchwald, an accountant who had worked for Ramon Echevarria. Joyce continued to have mobsters keeping an eye on him for his own protection. (I checked with the player, and she said that Buchwald was one of them now. I suspect he'll wind up being an accountant for various Los Angeles mobsters.)

This meant that Meyer Lansky agreed that she could go ahead and kill Samson Trammel. But, Joyce is generous to her friends, so she decided to share the pleasure with Vito. She also considered killing Samson a job to be done expediently.

Joyce: Garrote. Cigarette. It's simple.

Vito: No car battery?

Joyce vetoed the car battery.

Vito: You know what bothers me most? The -hold- he has over Martin.

Joyce: That's why I'm gonna let you kill him.

Vito: You're not gonna -let- me kill him.

They had a talk with Meyer Lansky, and while I decided his position on things, Joyce's player was the one who did his voice.

Meyer Lansky: Back in the 20s, we didn't have to -say- these things!

There was also an obligatory reference to Benny Siegel.

Meanwhile, Martin pondered Janet Winston-Rogers's role and came to a conclusion.

Martin: We're using this woman's money to fly gay boys around.

GM: Hey, it's getting the job done.

Lillian: Not for me.

I forget whom Vito was addressing when he said this:

Vito (about Samson Trammel): All I can do -- all we can do -- is stop people like him. You may not realize you made me realize it. But, you did.

I do remember this part:

Vito: I almost did myself back there in the Yucatan.

Lillian: I know.

Vito: And before, I offered you my neck. But, I feel pretty good about myself as a mobster.

Joyce: You could go work for Little Flower.(*)

Vito: Joycey! I want to become -less- evil!

Joyce: He's not evil! I voted for him!

(*) NB: AKA Fiorello La Guardia.

There was some discussion of what, exactly, Ramon Echevarria's ritual was intended to do, and how Edgar Job fit into it. Lillian noted that Ramon Echevarria had a ritual knife of some kind, and that, after Vince Stack had killed Echevarria, Edgar Job took the knife and killed Vince Stack with it. Was this somehow significant?

Predictably, folks pondered the option of exhumation.

Lillian: Before we start violating the laws of gods and man, again...

Martin expressed his usual squeamish opinions.

Vito (to Martin): You're very cute when you're saying "Can we not talk about the killing people option?"

Lillian started to review what folks knew.

Lillian: We might have bits of a ritual that was never completed. Loose ends. I'm tripping over them everywhere.

Martin, however, had his own priorities.

Martin: Can we go to Los Angeles first? I asked my boyfriend to go to Los Angeles.

This led to some good natured teasing.

Vito: If I were to be gay, it would only be for Marty.

Lillian: Well, if he were to be straight, it would only be for me -- he told me that.

Joyce: When this is over, I'm going to find a nice, quiet war zone, somewhere.

Someone noted that, given when they were planning to be in Los Angeles, Jeremiah probably would be taking a train, and could probably be met at a station much closer to the East Coast than Los Angeles.

Martin (to Lillian): Very rich lady, could you get us a sleeper car so we can sleep together without being arrested?

Lillian asked some question or other that I think involved something Martin considered less important.

Martin: No! No! I am sloshed! I am going to -be- sloshed until I see my boyfriend. Can anything be more clear?

Lillian: Martin, you little whore?

Martin: Yes?

Lillian: There's a fee for this. Give me sketches of the most interesting things.

Martin: I will give you gay erotica!

Joyce: Have some pride, man!

Lillian: He has a lot to be proud of.

Meanwhile, Martin decided that, rather than send Husein the spell he found to create some unknown compound, he would send Husein the folio that had the ritual for creating a new Mouth to produce the Nectar to which Husein and Luc were addicted.

Lillian and Joyce both got letters from Douglas Henslowe.

• Douglas Henslowe's Letter to Lillian
• Douglas Henslowe's 4th Letter to Joyce

Folks discussed making plans for the future, whatever it might hold.

Lillian: Just don't let Keaton get his hands on any of us!

Vito talked about creating a Tontine.

And somehow, the Washington Senators came up. I'm not sure how, but Joyce's player quoted whoever first came up with "Washington Senators Baseball Team -- first in war, first in peace, last in the American League."

I forget the context of this:

Joyce: Martin and I call him Tinkerbell when he's not looking.

Martin: It's true. We do.

Joyce and Lillian went to Johns Hopkins to talk with Edgar Job. Lillian did most of the talking. Joyce pondered whether or not to kill Edgar, but decided not to. She then went to talk to Douglas Henslowe. They agreed that Edgar might become dangerous at some point, so Joyce left Douglas with a baseball bat. No one would be suspicious, especially as the one incident of violence involved a) Dr. Keaton deliberately arranging for the two men to meet while off their medication, as part of "confrontation therapy" and b) Edgar Job attacking Douglas Henslowe, rather than the other way around. And, Douglas did seem to have been improving, especially after Joyce took him for a weekend vacation far, far from both Johns Hopkins and his mother.

Lillian, meanwhile, gave herself a pregnancy test and confirmed that, yes, she was pregnant (the player's choice, after confirming that, given the PCs have A Spell to Open the Sky, they're not under specific time pressure for reaching Mount Kailash).

So, when they reached Los Angeles, Lillian was not pleased to see Joyce smoking, just like Joyce always did.

Lillian: Put that out!

Joyce: Why?

Lillian: Please?

Joyce: You owe me a cigarette. I take that debt seriously.

Lillian: I will buy you a tobacco farm.

Joyce: Honey, you ain't that rich.

Lillian explained that, in view of the wisdom of not scaling Thibetan mountains in the middle of winter, and in view of her being pregnant, they needed to wait until after she'd given birth. She planned to do this out of the country, to avoid scandalizing or bringing scandal to her family. She thought that Malta might be a good place to give birth.

Vito was furious that Lillian would endanger her child and had to be told that this was precisely why she'd just said that the trip to Thibet would have to wait until after the baby was born. Then, he calmed down and apologized, and congratulations were offered. Vito had his own news.

Vito: My son Jimmy just got made.

I forget what prompted this:

Joyce: Jesus, Vito, you're more Catholic than the pope!

Jeremiah: Honey, that wouldn't be hard.

I asked Lillian's player about her conversations with Martin and Jeremiah. As far as he remembers:

-- -- --

Lillian, Martin, and Jeremiah left the hotel room once it got too loud (what with the two angry alpha primates and their dominance displays) and went to the bar (of course), which is where they had a relatively short conversation. My memory is that it mostly consisted of, "Well, it looks like you two are going to be uncles." and "Know what I don't have to worry about? Getting pregnant. Now help me find some cute boys."

-- -- --

Folks discussed meeting for Christmas in Biarritz, though that decision is being revisited.

I checked with Martin's player, who said that she was fine with Samson Trammel living or dying, but wanted Martin to be able to have that talk with him first, and also wanted, for maximum angsty drama, Vito to arrive to kill Samson while Martin was talking with him. This made sense.

And so, Lillian prepared to meet her aunt. Martin prepared to meet Samson Trammel to talk to him. Joyce and Vito prepared to steal Samson Trammel's money and murder him -- er, freeze his ill-got assets and remove the threat to the human race in general and Martin in particular.