CCC 02

We picked up where we left off, with Jeremiah preparing to visit and flirt with Ariel Cornish so that he could ask her sister, Amanda, about Amanda's boyfriend, Alan Leroy. Of course, Jeremiah had trouble remembering Ariel's first name.

Jeremiah: It was a girl. At a party. I didn't think we'd even meet her again.

Vito (amused): You don't even remember her hair color, do you? (pause) It's okay. Neither do I.

Folks tried to figure out if there were anyone else they might be able to get information out of.

GM: There's Chandler Kreel.

Martin: Which also involves Jeremiah flirting with someone.

Jeremiah: Sorry.

Vito: Or I could rough him up.

Martin (with alacrity): That's probably not necessary.

Jeremiah: He'd probably just cry.

Vito: That's okay. It wouldn't be the first time I beat up a crybaby.

I forget the context of the following:

Martin: But possibly in some glowy metaphor way. The king likes glowy metaphors.

Jeremiah called to request permission to visit Ariel Cornish, which he received. It was a bright sunny day. Vito drove Martin and Jeremiah over to the Cornish sisters' apartment and waited in the car with Martin while Jeremiah went inside.

Ariel was glad to see him, while Amanda was clearly worried about Alan. Jeremiah easily got her to confide in him. Hey, it's not like she would be leaving her sister alone in a room with a gentleman caller, at least, not until they knew him better.

Amanda had not seen Alan since the ball. Chandler had into,mated that Alan might be in some sort of trouble with the mob. Amanda wished she knew more. If, for example, it were a matter of Alan owing someone money, she could help.

Jeremiah didn't know, though he was pretty sure the mob didn't have a problem with Alan, apart from Johnny Nero, whose mind had been thrown into turmoil by the Stranger, although Jeremiah didn't tell the Cornish sisters about that.

Amanda talked about Alan's intelligence and wide knowledge of the arts, including music and literature. One thing troubled her, however. Inspired by conversations with Alan, she had bought a particular book. But, when she showed it to Alan, he recoiled and ordered her to burn it. This was the only time he had had such a reaction.

But, Amanda had not burned the book. Instead, she had read it, and she had it still on her shelves. And, while she knew that it was utterly irrational, she thought that perhaps whatever trouble Alan was in might be her fault, because she hadn't burned the book.

Being a normal person, she knew such fears were absurd. Jetremiah, already knowing too much about the mythos, knew that they might not be. He asked to see the book. Amanda took it from her shelf and handed it to him. It was, of course, the play, The King in Yellow.

Jeremiah opened the cover. The player blew the Stability roll, so Jeremiah could not stop himself from spending the next hour or so reading the entire play.

Meanwhile, outside in the car, Vito was making his own brand of small talk.

Vito: Does Jeremiah bat for both teams like you do?

Martin: I don't bat for both teams except when I'm addicted to literal horrifying sex drugs.

As the wait stretched on, Vito spotted a figure in the distance that he recognized as the Stranger's / Geoffrey's. He pointed this out to Martin, who convinced him to let Martin slip out and follow the Stranger stealthily.

Martin followed the Stranger down into a dead end. But, when he reached the dead end, he found not the Stranger, but his ex-lover, Samuel Jenner.

Between sessions, I'd been pondering several things. Jeremiah's player had apparently played Samuel in a different campaign, so I asked and got confirmation that I could hand off that character. Even though he didn't consciously realize it, Martin identified with Molle, the torturer's apprentice in the play The King in Yellow, and Vito wasn't the only or even the most appropriate Keleth to Martin's Molle.

If this had been a television show, the commercial would have come right after Samuel greeted Martin. Once Martin was able to form something resembling a coherent thought, he asked what had brought Samuel to New Orleans. Samuel said something vague about business, and that he'd heard from some undisclosed source that Martin was in New Orleans. When Martin asked how long he'd be staying, said that he'd be staying for some time, now that he knew Martin was there.

Samuel was inside his personal space, smoking, and acting as if they were still together. Martin said that he was with someone else. Samuel was amused.

Samuel: As if that ever stopped you.

Martin had still been with Samuel when Jeremiah had swept him off his feet. And, both Jeremiah and Martin had been Samuel's employees at the time.

Samuel also asked if Martin were still / again with Jeremiah, which was interesting given that, as far as Samuel should have known, Jeremiah was dead and buried. Martin's player picked up on this, but Martin was too shaken to notice.

I think at this point, Martin asked what Samuel wanted.

Samuel: Two things. I want you to answer a question. But first, I want you to beg my forgiveness.

Martin: How?

Samuel: Oh, Martin. You know how.

Martin (on his knees, with his head on Samuel's knee): I am so sorry. I should never have done that to you.

Samuel: I forgive you. Now, I have a question for you. (lift Martin's head) Tell me, have you seen the Yellow Sign?

GM: So, Martin. you're on your knees, apologizing to a lamp post.

Martin started dry retching.

Meanwhile, Vito became aware that the Stranger was sitting in the car next to him.

The Stranger told him that "the one you know as Alan Leroy" needed to be "returned to his rightful place" ***

I think Vito gave some indication he might help, as I know the Stranger told him that once he had "captured" Alan, he "had but to think of me' and the Stranger would appear. But, he warned, if Vito opposed him, he would bring the judgment of Carcosa down on New Orleans.

He vanished then. Vito yelled at him anyway, getting out of the car. Vito said something about how the King in Yellow could say all he wanted about there being no Geoffrey Whitcomb, and how maybe it was true that Geoffrey had been so bored he had preferred becoming the Stranger and working for the very creature he'd fought against, but he was still human. He couldn't evade responsibility for this whole judgment business. He wasn't a mindless puppet.

Vito: You have a choice!

ANYONE REMEMBER MORE OF THE FULL VERSION OF VITO'S SPEECH?

So:

Jeremiah was reading a play. Martin was vomiting at a lamp post. Vito was yelling at the absent Stranger and getting out of car.

As Jeremiah finished reading the play, he looked up and saw a photo on the mantle. It showed Chandler Kreel, Amanda and Ariel Cornish, and a handsome young man. Amanda confirmed that this was Alan Leroy. She told him that the photo had been taken in front of the old Skinner place, a somewhat dilapidated mansion owned by Chandler Kreel's parents.

Jeremiah speculated that Alan ,right be there, but tried to dissuade Amanda from going there to see. He also tried to reassure her that everything would be fine. He'd all but forgotten the existence of Ariel Cornish, addressing Amanda alone. He took a hasty leave, belatedly remembering to bid farewell to Ariel as well as to Amanda. He also forgot to return the book to Amanda.

As he was about to exit into the street, Ariel intercepted him.

Ariel: Mr. Rhodes! Your umbrella.

Jeremiah had not brought an umbrella with him. But, it was exactly the sort of umbrella he would have bought, and clearly, Ariel truly believed it was his.

He went outside into a torrential downpour, even though the weather had been sunny an hour ago. At least, that's what he remembered.

He walked over to Vito, book in hand. As soon as Vito saw what it was, he took out his lighter and tried to burn it, then cursed when he realized the rain was interfering and ripped it apart instead.

I'd actually forgotten I'd planned the rain, so Jeremiah had gone out and Vito had burned the book before I remembered. The players were very good about rolling with it.

Vito (fetching an overcoat from the car): I did _not_ pack an overcoat! It was a bright, sunny day, with no clouds in the sky!

Meanwhile, Martin was now aware that he was on his knees, dry retching at a lamp post, in the rain.

Martin: F*ck!

Vito and Jeremiah were well aware that things were getting worse. Vito confirmed that Jeremiah had read the play, then recuited him to help Vito's efforts to map New Orleans onto Carcosa.

Vito also said that he and Martin had fallen for the Stranger's obvious attempt to split them up. As he said this, Martin staggered into view, soaked. I think Vito picked him up and carried him into the car.

Martin: I talked to Samuel.

Jeremiah: What?

Vito: Samuel? Who's Samuel?

Martin managed some explanation, as I recall, and Vito noted that it was possible that Martin really had seen Samuel. After all, the King in Yellow was quite capable of using their weaknesses against them and loved good theater.

Now dry, but still shaken, Martin managed to articulate his needs.

Martin: Scotch. Coffee. Fat and salt.

Vito drove to Cafe Beignet and left the others in the car while he ordered beignets, which I think he thought of as donuts. (Or that might have been me. Of course, I think of Enterman's donuts as donuts, and I am assuered that they are not.)

He glared at the woman behind the register, chewing her out for glaring at Martin and Jeremiah making out in the car, which she might or might not have been doing, then asked her where the pay phone was. He then glared at her more, as she answered with a line from the King in Yellow -- or, at least, that's what Vito heard.

Vito: Excuse me?

Woman (pointing): It's over there.

She may or may not have spoken that line from the play, but if so, she clearly had no idea she'd done so.

Vito called Amelia. I think each of them tried to convince the other to leave town, and each made it clear that they weren't about to do it themselves.

IS THAT CORRECT?

Vito returned to the car, bearing donuts and coffee.

Vito: I talked to Amelia.

Martin: Oh. That's why you're crying.

At this point, folks had two obvious leads. The Stranger had visited a lot of voodoo shops in the Rampart Street area, and Chandler Kreel's family owned the old Skinner place.

Martin (to Jeremiah): Look, can you talk to Chandler Kreel, because he has a crush on you?

Jermiah gave a long suffering sigh.

Martin: It won't be the most dangerous thing you've done today.

GM's Thought Balloon: Famous last words...

Vito: Look, that's what Marty did back when he was with our crew -- you gott do your turn.

Vito also made it clear that he had homicidal feelings towards Samuel Jenner.

Martin: You don't need to kill everyone in my life who hurts me.

Vito: Yes, I do.

Folks went to Rampart Street and started asking around about the Masked Stranger. They decided that Martin was the grad student / scholar who was fascinated by this whole business with the Stranger, some sort of occult or mythic thing. He wanted to know all about magic, the Stranger / Masked Man, and Strange Things.

Naturally, getting answers for the three white men would be much easier if they spread around a fair bit of money.

Vito: You're spending _my_ money? (hands over a wad of cash) It's like a girlfriend without the benefits. Should I buy you a pair of earrings?

Martin: You'd love to see me in earrings.

Jeremiah: But he's taken.

Vito: I feel like I'm dating both of you.

They asked around and found that several of the shop owners had received not one unusual visitor, but two. In each case, first, a young man matching the description of Alan Leroy had visited, seeking for the proprietor's strongest charms against evil spirits, but had not seemed to believe that these would do any good. Some time after he left, the Stranger had arrived. He seemed to be looking for the other man, and while they may not have remembered their conversations with him, all the shop owners had found themselves uneasy, if not downright scared of him, despite none of them being easily frightened, and some of them having regulars in the store who would normally be willing to protect the owner against outsiders.

In one store, however, the story was slightly different. The proprietor, Jonah, had offered Alan his strongest charm, and Alan had dropped it like it burned him and had run out of the store. The charm was a bundle of roots and twigs held together with a cloth. The cloth had a strange sign embroidered on it, not the Yellow Sign, but something like a branch with twigs. They asked Jonah how much the charm was.

Jonah: Two hundred dollars.

Vito tucked two hundred fifty dollars into Jonah's shirt pocket.

Vito: A tip.

Jonah said that the masked stranger who had visited was something different, not a loa, not a man, but something evil.

Vito: He's a man, all right. That's the worst part.

Jonah: He's evil.

Vito: He's not. That's also the worst part.

That... was very well put.

They convened at Amelia's apartment. I described it as having paintings in progress, I think, but I later found out from Kristen that Amelia hasn't painted since she returned from Carcosa. Perhaps the paintings were done by someone else. Or perhaps they were part of the Carcosa effect that was getting stronger in New Orleans.

Vito cooked dinner. Folks understood that Alan Leroy had somehow escaped from Carcoa to New Orleans. But, they didn't know how he had gotten to Carcosa in the first place, or why. And, as they said this, I realized that something was so much an obvious premise to me that it never occurred to me that people might put a different interpretation on the facts.

Amelia had been to the swamps outside of New Orleans and had learned that Alan Leroy had apparently arrived in the swamps first, before going to the city of New Orleans. Some of the swamp folk had taken him in. Those people were all dead now, having killed each other, the last person having slit his own throat. This had happened very recently, and Amelia thought that the Stranger had probably appeared and the swamp folk had died because they tried to attack him. After all, raising a hand against the Stranger is raising a hand against the Last King.

She had also learned that the spot where Alan Leroy first appeared was the spot where the krewe that used the Yellow Sign ten years before had summoned Hastur into a human vessel. The krewe and vessel had been destroyed shortly thereafter, but perhaps that was why Alan Leroy came to New Orleans, of all cities, and to the swamp first.

Vito: That's why I need to find out how he got here -- I have to pass judgment.

Martin: I don't care about this man, Vito.

Vito: I do. I have to know why he got to Carcosa and why he needs to go back there.

He talked about Edgar Job and about how sending Edgar into exile via the Hyperspace Gate almost broke him.

Martin suggested leaving the city.

Martin: We wouldn't be making him [Alar] go. We'd just be leaving.

Vito: We would by inaction. I will be f*cked if Yellow Belly judges New Orleans! What gives him the right?

Martin: The same that gives everyone. Power.

Vito didn't believe it.

Jeremiah called Chandler Kreel's home and left a message. Folks went to visit Etienne-Laurent de Marigny again.

They found the New Orleanian occultist very shaken. He had just had two visitors, just like the folks in the Rampart Street area. The first had been Alan Leroy, asking for help to banish a powerful demon. Etienne-Laurent had sensed something uncanny about Alan himself, but before he could try anything to help, Alan found a newspaper article from ten years ago. It had a picture of the Yellow Sign. Alan fled.

Etienne-Laurent said that he did not recall having that article with that picture in his house. After Alan fled, the Masked Stranger paid him a visit and asked him about Alan. Etienne-Laurent told him that Alan had left before Etienne-Laurent could do anything to help. The Stranger told him that it was as well that he didn't help Alan, and walked out of the room. Etienne-Laurent followed a moment later, but the Stranger was nowhere in the house, and the front door had neither opened nor closed.

Folks agreed that they were running out of time and speculated that they were in late Act 2 or early Act 3 of the three act play. Martin, I think, was the one suggesting that Etienne-Laurent leave town, and the occultist admitted, shamefaced, that he was planning to do just that.

He did, however, help Martin research the bundle Vito had bought from Jonah, and they realized that this was one version of the Elder Sign. Martin learned how to make it, but hoped that the one they had would be sufficient, as creating one takes part of one's soul, as he figured it. Soul, life force, something like that. In mechanical terms, it causes a permanent reduction to one's Stability Rating to create an Elder Sign.

No one was sure that it would be of any use. It had no effect against the equivalent of gods or titans -- it could NOT, for example, have been used against the large mouths of the Liar, let alone the rest of its body. Holding it did not protect one from harm. Carved into a door or border, it could perhaps seal a room against creatures of the mythos that were not as powerful as the gods and titans.

He also noted that it might be a problem if Alan Leroy left New Orleans. City after city might get absorbed into Carcosa.

Vito: Right. Alan Leroy must not be allowed to leave the city.

They left Etienne-Laurent to his packing and returned to their hotel. On the way, they passed a strange building that had not been in New Orleans before. They avoided it, but felt time was running out.

Jeremiah (curiously): Do you mobsters really put people in concrete shoes, like in the movies?

Vito: Yeah, sometimes for a laugh.

Somehow, things drifted back to the topic of Samuel Jenner.

Vito: So, who's this Samuel? Sounds like a piece of work.

Jeremiah: Yes.

Martin: He's an old boyfriend.

Vito: You know, I still have the spot in the pine barrens where I was gonna dump Trammel's body. I can stick your boyfriend Sammy there.

Martin: No!

Vito: I can make him a pair of concrete shoes.

Martin: No!

Vito: No, I'll beat him to death.

Martin: No. No. No.

Vito: I could beat him to death and then give him a pair of concrete shoes.

Martin: The murder train was a year ago. We're no longer _on_ the murder train!

Vito decided to wait for Johnny Nero at Johnny's house. He asked Martin and Jeremiah if they wanted to come along. They demurred.

Martin: I'm going to the drug store to get a lot of drugs because that is what I do when I'm in life threatening danger.

Vito: That's our Marty.

Jeremiah: Also, I'd rather be having sex.

(Hm, talk to the paranoid guy who held me at gunpoint or have sex with my boyfriend.... I'll go with option #2.)

Vito's plan had been to sneak into Johnny Nero's house and greet him on his return. Alas, the dice and Johnny's paranoia said otherwise. Johnny's men surrounded Vito outside Johnny's home, and Johnny demanded to know what the older mobster was doing.

Now, Vito had previously seen Johnny as a young, up and coming mobster, competent, and a cool customer. Johnny was now paranoid and badly shaken, and much more dangerous.

Nevertheless, Vito somehow calmed him down. He listened to Johnny talking about how the Stranger had gotten inside Johnny's head and how Johnny wanted him out and intended to get Alan for the Stranger. Vito agreed that they had to find Alan, but stressed that Alan needed to be alive, and that Alan should be handed over to Vito, not the Stranger. He repeated that last part to Johnny's men, privately. I suspect Johnny and his men would have ignored it, but it didn't come up per se.

Vito also told Johnny that he knew how Johnny was feeling, and talked about human values -- honor, the importance of keeping one's word, and the like.

CORRECT?

Johnny: Does that stuff matter?

Vito: It's the only thing that does matter.

Vito has always believed that human values are important because they are _human_. And, something of that got through to Johnny, although he didn't completely trust Vito.

Martin had wanted to take drugs to go to sleep, but also wanted to stay awake for Jeremiah, so hadn't done that. But, he did fall asleep later.

While Martin was sleeping, Jeremiah got a phone call from Chandler Kreel. Chandler seemed to have trouble breathing or swallowing, but gasped out that he knew where Alan Leroy was and that they had to help him. He asked Jeremiah to come over to the Kreel home, and to hurry.

Jeremiah considered not waking Martin, but Vito returned either at this point or earlier, making it somewhat moot. Now awake, Martin was disgruntled.

Martin: I should've taken drugs to go to sleep.

Vito: Take drugs to wake up!

Jeremiah reported his conversation with Chandler Kreel. I believe that this is when Vito got out a blue silk scarf as tribute to Lillian and the garotte he gave her.

IS THAT RIGHT? OR DID THAT COME LATER? DID HE HAVE JUST THE SCARF OR ALSO THE GAROTTE?

Vito, Douglas, Martin, Jeremiah, and Amelia went over in the car. They went into the house. It was dark, but Jeremiah had a lantern and Martin tossed in a flashlight, a trick he'd learned from Joyce. It illuminated the dead bodies of the servants of the Kreel family. They were covered with blood, their faces contorted in horror, and their arms, throats, and upper bodies covered in what looked like bite marks.

I think the light switch was located and the lights turned on at this point. Amelia screamed and fainted when she saw the odd wounds on the bodies, for she knew what kind of creature had made them.

Vito let Douglas bring Amelia to the car with instructions to watch over her unless called or if hearing noises indicating his presence was needed. He rejoined Martin and Jeremiah, and they followed the trail of blood upstairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Kreel were in their bedroom, dead, killed just like kethe servants. The blood trail led to Candler's room, and out onto the balcony of that room. They followed, and, standing at one end of the balcony, they saw Chandler slumped on the ground at the opposite end.

He was not, however, dead. He begged for help and stood, becoming fully visible in the light. His face had sloughed off, one eye lolling out of the socket. His fingers were writhing and boneless. His shirt was shredded by bite-sized holes, but the wounds beneath the gore-soaked fabric had closed.

At this point, I passed Jeremiah's player a note. I think it said:

Jeremiah, as you look at what Chandler has become, you know that this is what will happen to you after you die. Like him, you will rise hungry, so hungry that he devoured everyone around him.

Make a Difficulty 5 Mythos Stability Check.

As folks backed away from Chandler, Vito brought one of his guns up. With Joyce's help, he had something rigged so that he could fire a gun, drop it, then fire a second and drop it. I forget whether he had shotguns, submachine guns or what, and, of course, Joyce's player was the one who actually knew the rules. Still, we muddled through, perhaps aided by the fact that Vito really was the only one of the three to have any serious combat skills.

Jeremiah explained that Chandler had killed all the others. Vito asked how he knew that. Chandler kept saying that he was hungry, so very hungry.

Vito apologized, and with regret, but without hesitation, proceeded to empty both guns into Chandler, who kept coming.

Outside, Douglas heard the shots and came running. Chandler managed to gasp out an account of what had happened.

The Stranger had visited him after the ball, asking for Alan Leroy. This may have been after Chandler had met Martin and Jeremiah for lunch. Regardless, at that time, Chandler didn't know where Alan was, and, truthfully, said so. When the Stranger left, Chandler was shaken and sobbing.

This didn't stop him from helping when Alan came to him. As folks had guessed, he sent Alan to the old Skinner place. But, the Stranger had visited him again. In way over his head, Chandler refused to tell the Stranger where Alan was. And, the Stranger had punished him, turning him into the creature he now was. And he'd been hungry, too hungry to resist feeding on everyone in the house. He'd called Jeremiah for help, as he genuinely wanted to help Alan -- and he couldn't remember whether he'd told the Stranger where Alan was or not. But, he was still so very hungry.

Jeremiah threw the lantern at Chandler, and it connected. Either Douglas shot the lantern (in which case, I probably had Martin's player make the roll, and I improvised, as I never statted up Douglas Henslowe, but we all knew that he was a former investigator) or Douglas handed his weapon to Vito, and Vito shot the lantern. Either way, Chandler was on fire, and that finished him off. It may also have set the house on fire.

By now, folks knew, the police would be on the way, so it was time to beat a hasty retreat. Folks would wonder, I said, about Chandler, as he was clearly no longer human -- but, as the players pointed out, he was burned, probably badly enough that the cops wouldn't think anything supernatural had occurred, or at least, nothing that couldn't be explained away by a horrible, but human, mass murder.

As they piled into the car, Amelia regained consciousness and started to say something about Unspeakable Possessors, but Vito hushed her. Jeremiah was thinking. When they returned to the hotel, he had come to a conclusion.

Jeremiah: So, the good news is that you can kill these things. Beloved, you may want to leave the room.

Martin: No!

Jeremiah (to Vito): I need you to tie me to a chair and kill me twice.

Martin vetoed this and demanded an explanation. Jeremiah told him and Vito what he'd realized.

Martin: Is this part of the arrangements I made?

Jeremiah: It would seem so.

Martin: If you die, you're going to become a face eating monster?

Jeremiah: _If_?

Vito's player wondered if this would shatter one of Vito's pillars, specifically, the idea "that you could use someone's honor against him like that". I told him I was fine with the pillar shattering, but suggested he mull it over a bit first.

Basically, Martin's deal with Hastur involved making a promise, and it might be that Hastur was bound by its nature. Re-embodying Jeremiah was quite possibly inextricably connected to Jeremiah rising as an Unspeakable Possessor after death. Certainly, if Martin had died before fulfilling his end of the bargain, Martin would have risen from the dead as an Unspeakable Possessor.

This last had never been explicitly stated, but, when negotiating terms, the Stranger had told Martin and whoever was negotiating with him at the time (either Vito or Lillian) that Hastur could not promise not to raise Martin as a shambling undead horror. This might well be the case with Jeremiah.

If that were so, reasoned Vito, then this was not a matter of honor or keeping one's word, but the second half of a mathematical equation. This did not equate to a shattered pillar.

I was fine with this. I mean, yes, there was another explanation, that Hastur was simply being as nasty as possible. But, this too would not be a matter of honor. Meanwhile, Martin continued to try to wrap his head around the situation.

Martin: Do you maintain any sort of free will?

Jeremiah: Probably as much as he did.

At some point, I think Vito told Martin not to panic.

Martin: I am not f*cking panicking. I'm a wizard who can bend space and time and I'll do it to save my boyfriend. And if I have to, I'll save him twice. And I'm angry.

That last is actually more important than it might seem, as Martin has lived most of his life deliberately not getting angry. Both here and in Eternal Lies, his response to getting angry seems to be figuring out complicated plans involving saving whatever he holds dear by any means necessary. This, of course, is why Vito once said that Martin was the most dangerous of them all.

Martin: Hush. I'm working out suicide options.

Vito: Make sure you do that for all of us.

Martin's player said that Martin would try to make something using various drugs he could get his hands on. I noted that it hadn't been all that long since Joyce had given Martin a cyanide pill by way of Jeremiah. It was probably still good, right? Might Martin still have it?

Why yes, yes he did.

Vito (delighted): Joycey!

Martin (to Jeremiah): Don't die -- don't f*cking die. But if you do, use this.

The pill, however, was just a fallback option.

Martin: I'm a wizard. I can make you immortal. Just not yet!

Jeremiah: I wouldn't want to be immortal without you.

Martin: We'll both live a long time, and then we'll die twice.

They started laying their plans for going to the Skinner place. Martin wanted to make sure folks had flare guns, having learned this lesson from Joyce.

Martin: Flare guns are wonderful!

He agreed with Vito that Johnny Nero and Johnny's men should be contacted. He wanted them nearby, in case of monsters.

Martin: Cuz I'm a coward and I like people to save me.

Vito (amused and approving): Very leaderly of you.

Martin: Oh for f*ck's sake!

Vito contacted Johnny Nero to arrange for him to come with them to the Skinner place. Johnny and his men were to wait outside, blocking the exits so that Alan Leroy couldn't get away, unless they were called inside by the usual -- you know, flare guns, bullets, explosions, and the like.

Vito thought about taking Douglas Henslowe with him, but decided that Joyce would be morally obligated to kill Vito if Douglas got killed. So instead, Vito sent Douglas to Joyce with a note.

Vito's note: Dear Joyce, thank you for the suicide pill. It came in handy.

Vito asked Amelia about what she would and wouldn't be willing to do, trying to get a feel for which side she would be on when the chips were down. Amelia, tormented, could only say that she didn't know. Martin told Vito to ease off her.

IS THAT CORRECT, AS FAR AS FOLKS REMEMBER?

They left Amelia in New Orleans, and that was, I think, her last appearance in the scenario.

As folks drove to the old Skinner place, a thought occurred to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah: Do we know if these creatures are even affected by cyanide?

Martin's Player: Martin carefully did not bring that up.

Jeremiah: It's not to late to request a double tap.

Martin insisted that yes, it was. He also promised to shoot Jeremiah, if need be.

Jeremiah: Vito, will you shoot me, please?

Vito (somewhere between serious and joking, I think): No, I'm gonna burn you.

Jeremiah: That would be better.

They reached the Skinner mansion, and, as they entered its grounds, they realized they were in Carcosa.

This was, I think, a mistake on my part. I don't think it was a terrible mistake -- things went reasonably well. But I think they should have found the ordinary Skinner mansion and had a chance to talk to Alan Leroy before everything went to Carcosa. Ah well, live and learn.

Outside the mansion, they saw a statue and a man lying dead at its feet, clearly having stabbed himself through the heart. They knew this was Prince Thale, having killed himself before a statue whose beauty he'd compared to that of the woman he loved -- a woman whose very existence had been undone.

Then, they went inside.

Jeremiah: We may as well dress for the occasion.

Vito's player suggested that as they stepped through the door to the mansion, they were suddenly dressed appropriately. We agreed. The three men were also masked, each wearing the mask of the character they had identified with. This meant that Jeremiah's mask was Prince Alar's, Vito's was the torturer Keleth's, and Martin's was that of Keleth's assistant and lover, Molle. Jeremiah noted Vito's and Martin's masks with some concern.

The masked ball was in full swing, and I did callbacks to the ball from the beginning of the scenario, something I might have put more effort into, but then again, too much effort would have made it too heavy handed. The minstrel was Red Leverett, and folks from the Disabled Veterans Ball were or seemed to be present. The Cornish sisters, Amanda and Ariel, were present, and thought that they were the princesses Camilla and Cassilda.

Folks were looking for Alan Leroy. Jeremiah, the only one who'd seen a photo of him, had described him, and Martin made sketches. They showed the sketches to the stern advisor, Dornan, and while he did not know the name "Alan Leroy", he recognized the description as that of Prince Alar.

I was fairly sure no one realized that Alan Leroy was Prince Alar of Carcosa before then. Since the session, I've leared I was wrong. Jeremiah's player had no idea, though said in retrospect that the Alan / Alar thing should have sparked the realization. Martin's player said Martin had figured it out when folks arrived at the mansion and the Cornish sisters were suddenly Camilla and Cassilda. But, he didn't speak up because he was too distracted trying to figure out who _he_ was.

With the revelation that Alan Leroy was Prince Alar, Vito found his path clearer. This was not a man of Earth who had someone gotten to Carcosa and then escaped. This was a native of Carcosa.

Figuring the happy-go-lucky prince might gamble, Vito got into a card game, as he had at the ball. He was feeling the allure of Carcosa. To fight it, he held fast to painful memories. All of this was the player's call, not mine.

At one point, one of his old companions in arms, John Simons, came by, trying to find his way out of Carcosa. But, this was the John Simons of 1929, who had, in fact, gotten out. Vito gave him directions and told him not to mention this meeting until after 1939, when Vito had the hook, as John had never mentioned it to him in the first place.

Martin: Jeremiah, what mask am I wearing?

Jeremiah told him, and pulled Martin into an alcove to lift up his mask and kiss him and tell him that he was not Molle, despite the mask.

They started looking for Prince Alar and found Chandler Kreel, who was, at the moment, alive and convinced that he was holding a wonderful party at the Skinner place. And his friend Alan Leroy was there! He was quite willing to introduce Martin and Jeremiah to Alan.

As Chandler led the way, Jeremiah found himself in the Queen's throne room. She was concerned about the Stranger and instructed Jeremiah to find him, take the Yellow Sign which was the symbol of his power from him, and take it away, destroying him if necessary. Jeremiah was polite and non-commital.

He left the Queen, and passed a statue of Dornan -- or rather, he passed Dornan, who had been turned into a living statue by the Stranger. Had he touched the statue, Dornan would have communicated telepathically with him, but he didn't, passing it quickly by.

This was likely just as well. I had made sure Jeremiah would encounter the statue given what the player had told me about Jeremiah's fears of being immobile, but the information Dornan had, like the information the Queen had, was mostly useful if the visitors had planned to oppose the Stranger.

Jeremiah caught up with Martin as Chandler brought them to Alan Leroy / Prince Alar. The prince was readying himself for the ball, and had selected a cravat. He flirted with the visitors, as, unlike Chandler, he was not in denial about any form of pleasure.

Jeremiah's Player: Is his cravat still untied?

Yes, it was. Jeremiah moved forward to tie it, joined by Martin. I made a comment about Jeremiah flirting with Prince Alar. Jeremiah's player said that this wasn't the case. It was more a matter of giving the man the equivalent of Last Rites...

Jeremiah's Player: ... which is... sort of flirting with him.

NB: On reading the write up, the player said: I would like the record to show that this was said in gallows humor. Jeremiah fully intended the cravat-tying as last rites, and not flirtatiously.

I should have made sure that Vito arrived no later than this. Not doing so meant I was cutting him out of a chance to judge and try to influence events. Then again, he had already made up his mind about Prince Alar, and he had a good scene or two just shortly thereafter.

Prince Alar gave his permission for Jeremiah and Martin to adjust his cravat. As they came close, he whispered to them.

ALar: Get me out of here. Please. I'll do anything.

Either Jeremiah or Martin asked him if he didn't like Carcosa. After all, it was beautiful. Prince Alar agreed that it had been beautiful, until the King came. After that, he'd been trapped beneath Lake Hali, unable to move, in a body that was quite different from the one he'd had in Yhtill.

Martin froze, mentally, at least. He couldn't bring himself to take action to damn Prince Alar.

Jeremiah (to himself, thinking, not speaking): So it falls to me.

And, he did as Vito had told him the Stranger had instructed: He thought of the Stranger.

By now, Vito had detached himself from the card game and was running. But, it was too late. The room was dissolving and Prince Alar cried out in horror.

Alar: What have you done? You have doomed us all!

And, everyone was in the ballroom, as folks were unmasking. Camilla and Cassilda addressed the Stranger in lines familiar to all who had read the play, and as familiar was the Stranger's response that he wore no mask.

Now, what I should have done was let folks get to an ordinary Skinner mansion and have an ordinary conversation with Alan Leroy. If / When someone thought of the Stranger to summon him, _that's_ when the mansion could have dissolved into the palace at Yhtill / Carcosa. The scenario explicitly allows for this -- I know because I helped edit it, and I remember when that part was added / tweaked.

But, I was a little off because I knew I had to wrap everything in this session, and wasn't remembering to slow down and examine options. Again, the session went well, and I'm not kicking myself too hard. But, it could have gone better, and that's one think I could have done to make it go better.

Also, as Jeremiah's player noted, Prince Alar might have done something with the fact that Jeremiah was masked to appear as Prince Alar.

In any case, folks were in the ballroom. All had unmasked except for the Stranger, who wore no mask. Well, almost all -- Jeremiah still had a mask on, but no one seemed to notice.

The Cornish sisters were there, as were Johnny Nero and his men. The Masked Stranger / Pallid Mask / Phantom of Truth turned to Prince Alar.

Stranger: Now you are home, Alar. Accept your fate, and reflect on the fact that you have doomed others to share it with you.

Martin stared at Jeremiah in horror, realizing what had just happened, then asked a question.

Martin: Stranger, does the United States have an extradition treaty with Carcosa?

IS THIS WHERE VITO DEMANDED GEOFFREY / THE STRANGER CHOOSE? IF SO, IT'S ALSO WHERE THE STRANGER ASKED IF VITO WOULD HAVE HIM CHOOSE ALAR OVER "YOUR CITIES".

I'm not sure of the answer on the timing. But, Vito's player did send this to me in email:

-- -- --

Vito's Player: Hey Lisa, don't forget this important note - Geoffrey made a cryptic comment that he was acting "to protect all the cities" in his tracking down of Prince Alar. This is the one thing which kept Vito's pillar from cracking. Geoffrey was acting to protect mankind from the King, at least in tracking down Alan Leroy. Geoff made a -choice-.

-- -- --

Prince Alar grabbed Amanda Cornish and shoved her into the Stranger's arms. Then, he fled. Johnny and his men ran after the prince, despite Vito's shouted warning to them not to interfere.

Jeremiah who couldn't quite separate himself from the Prince Alar mask, started to feel around the edges of the mask, between it and his face. This also was completely a player call (and the player wrote the previous sentence and pretty much the following one).Vito grabbed Jeremiah and pinned his arms to his side to keep him from doing this, and Martin lifted off Jeremiah's mask and kissed him, telling him that he was not Alar.

And the room was empty except for Vito, Martin, and Jeremiah. Martin took out a piece of chalk and started to create a Hyperspace Gate to take them home.

GM: So, you're making a _second_ Hyperspace Gate in Carcosa?

I was fine with that -- or with them using the original Hyperspace Gate that Martin had made. But, in either case, there would be an open Gate between Carcosa and Earth. Was that truly what they wanted? And were they prepared to abandon Johnny Nero and his men, if they were still alive? Or, for that matter, the Cornish sisters?

There was a brief discussion of using the Elder Sign, which would have destroyed the Gate -- but only on the same side as the Gate was. That is, someone would have had to stay behind to destroy the Gate, whether via Elder Sign or simply erasing it. This couldn't be done from the Earth side, as the Gate didn't exist on that side.

Martin stopped before he created a second Gate. He led the others to the first Gate and destroyed it. Then, folks went to find Prince Alar and the Stranger and whoever was still left alive from Earth.

On the way, they passed the statue again, but no one stopped for that. This mades sense; Dornan and his advice really was irrelevant to them, even if they had been aware of it. Possibly, I should have had them encounter the throne room, where the Queen had slit her own throat and was being hauled out of her throne by the King In Yellow, but... really, even that wasn't especially relevant. Carcosa was going on as it always had. They had made their choice.

According to the text of the scenario, if Johnny and his men have charged after Prince Alar, they'll survive if they make a Luck roll. There's no straightforward equivalent to that in Trail, but I had crunched some numbers beforehand and figured that a roll of 5 or 6 would allow for survival. And, as the dice would have it, only Johnny Nero himself survived.

His men had been destroyed, perhaps by the Stranger, perhaps by each other in a case of friendly fire, perhaps by the strange floating shapes above, which Vito, Martin, and Jeremiah made sure not to look at. Or, perhaps they were destroyed by Prince Alar's royal siblings, who were starting to rise out of Lake Hali, no longer remotely human in appearance.

Alar begged for help, but no help was offered. The Stranger came out of the fog.

Now, at this point in the scenario, if one plays it precisely as written, there's a bit where the Stranger and Alar talk to each other. Or, to put it another way, there's a bit where the GM talks to herself.

I kept in the part where the Stranger says enough that, with accompanying visions, folks learn that, of the four surviving siblings (Prince Thale being dead at that point), Prince Aldones alone opposed the Stranger and died for this. The others, including Prince Alar, knelt, weeping, and accepting their fate.

But, when Prince Alar protested now at his fate, I did not give the Stranger's replies. I didn't have to. Vito spoke them.

He didn't say the exact words that were written in the scenario, but it was eerie how close he came to them. To Alar's protests that he'd had a life, that he was Alan Leroy, that he'd been free, Vito said, with genuine sadness, that this had never been the case.

Defeated, Alar walked into Lake Hali, taking his place by his siblings as his body changed. Everyone looked away rather than watch that happen. Well, everyone except the Stranger did.

Once the royal siblings were once again beneath Lake Hali, they asked to go home, and specifically asked that the Cornish sisters and Johnny Nero and any of his survivng men (Vito knew their names, I am sure) be allowed to return as well. The Stranger agreed.

(I translated a Persuade roll (CoC) into an Interpersonal Spend (ToC). The players easily had enough points, and no one had done anything foolish.)

They found thenselves on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

Vito (on his knees, weeping): I tried to bring him back. I tried! Joyce was f*cking right. Why do I keep trying?

He was referring to Geoffrey / The Stranger.

Martin: Innocence is overrated based on what you haven't done. I don't like that any action I take or don't take has any power.

Johnny Nero and Amanda and Ariel Cornish were indeed there with them.

IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME TO THINK ABOUT THE BODIES OF JOHNNY'S MEN -- I FIGURE IF FOLKS REALLY WANTED THEM BACK, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERMITTED, BUT FEWER EXPLANATIONS / DIGGING WOULD BE NEEDED IF THE BODIES DIDN'T RETURN.

Martin: Thank you, Jeremiah.

The player confirmed afterwards that this was for Jeremiah's summoning the Stranger.

Vito got Johnny Nero to pull himself together, saying that he'd be in touch, and that there was basically a secret shadowy war against exactly this sort of thing. Vito assured the younger man that he'd done as well as anyone could.

Vito: You can still talk words. Up, one, two --

Johnny: Vito, shut the f*ck up.

This gave everyone, Johnny included, a much needed laugh.

Vito: No more f*cking deals.

Jeremiah looked at Martin. Neither of them were saints, nor did either regret that Jeremiah was walking around in a body that was close enough to his that no one, including him, could tell the difference.

Martin: What if there had been a bargain to get Alar back?

Vito: No! They're never worth the cost!

Martin: Yes, they are.

Jeremiah's Player: Jeremiah is Not Part of This Conversation. He's talking to Amanda and Ariel.

[The GM wouldn't have been utterly opposed, but the price of getting Alar back might well have been prohibitive.]

It was clear to Jeremiah that Amanda and Ariel would accept any reasonable lie about what had happened. He provided one. Their experiences in Carcosa had clearly been a dream. And Alan Leroy?

Jeremiah: Alan -- got high on some very strange drugs and ran into the lake. Like musicians do.

Meanwhile, the argument between Vito and Martin was getting heated, but I think more like a heated argument between folks who know they're still going to be friends at the end of it.

CHRIS, BETSY, DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT? IF SO, THAT'S ACTUALLY A NEW STEP IN THEIR ODD RELATIONSHIP.

Vito: You'd better pray I'm not there the day you gamble and guess wrong! Because we almost lost New Orleans!

Eventually, though, he calmed down and thought about Geoffrey / The Stranger.

Vito: You know what's interesting? I think he let us go a second time.

Martin: He knows we're fools.

And, Vito noticed, as I'd hoped he would, what the Stranger had said when challenged to exercise free will.

Does this mean there's a spark of Geoffrey there? Or does it mean that Hastur is enjoying toying with Vito? I'm not sure I want to resolve that one. But, I do find it interesting that Vito tormented himself during the Eternal Lies cmapaign with the thought that Amelia might just be a puppet for the King in Yellow, which was never the case, yet insisted in the face of all evidence that somewhere, however deeply buried inside the Stranger, was the real, human Geoffrey Whitcombe.

Ironically, Vito may pull a little away from Amelia, as he has seen anew how beautiful Carcosa is. He is starting to thing that Amelia staying there was not a sacrifice, but rather, cowardice. He misses, of course, that she _couldn't_ leave until Martin's bargain, at which point, the King had had her for ten years Earth time and who knows how long her time? Stockholm symdrome, brainwashing, and so on... and Hastur made sure she'd want to come back to Carcosa when he let her go.