The consensus was that we’d continue with the alternating week campaigns (so that Mike would consistently be in a particular campaign), with Dan running his Warhammer 40K Inquisition campaign (does it have a name?) and me running another…and filling in when there wasn’t a quorum with Basic D&D and one-shots.

For my campaign, while there was some enthusiasm for returning to Neng, the upshot was that we’d give Borderlands another go, although I forgot to mention reviving the Midnight Special Weird West game as a possibility. I know Wendy really liked that setting….

Anyway, in prepping to run Borderlands again I’ve been thinking about switching the system to Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds is from the designers of Deadlands (which we used for our first Weird West campaign, Clock-Stoppers). It’s a bit like a simplified Deadlands, and a bit like the home-brew system I’ve been using. You can download a “Test Drive”

version of the system here.

Basically it’s a stat or skill vs. target number system, much like what we’ve been using, though instead of rating the tasks at various difficulties it tends to use a single Target Number of 4, applying pluses and minuses to the roll for harder or easier tasks. The advantage over what we’ve been doing that I see with it is it has a simpler way of tracking wounds, treats most npcs as “mooks” who can be taken out by a single wound, and has some nice rules for allowing not-particularly combat-skilled PCs make a significant contribution to combat by taunting or intimidating opponents, distracting them at strategic moments. Even if we don’t adopt the rules wholesale, I plan on stealing that bit.

Even if we do switch over, I plan on keeping the setting-specific rules about accumulating and spending Mojo (the reward for doing cool, cinematic stuff) and the Mundane Tricks (the plot-tricks that non-powered PCs can do to influence the scene without supernatural powers).

I’m going to see if I can get together with Doug and maybe Paul before I really try running Borderlands under Savage Worlds and run through a couple of test combats to see if it’s as fast and smooth in practice as it appears to be in the rules. Anybody who wants to download that pdf and take a look and weigh in with comments is encouraged to do so.

We opened the day after the previous session, with Obediah, Chucky, Tamsin, and Fitz all present at the theater. Vinny picked up Victoria at her college and dropped by the theater to see what was new. Introductions and telling of back-stories ensued after Victoria revealed that she could see Fitz's curse. Soon enough, Ray and Luke Garrow [played for this session by Wendy's guest Matthew] turned up, and joined in the introductions and general expositioning. After much chaos, the enlarged party agreed to fulfill their agreement to Luke and investigate the presumed werewolf murders at the Cloisters (not in Central Park, as previously reported). Eight people were too many for Vinny's cab, Tamsin's company van was still in the shop, and Obediah's car was still mostly in his imagination, so Fitz agreed to get his car out of the garage, and left to do so.

We then had a Testosterone Interlude. Fitz returned with his Audi TT, and proceeded to lean on it nonchalantly. Vinny took this as an affront, and challenged Fitz to beat him to the Cloisters. Both Tamsin and Victoria announced their intent to ride with Fitz (which pleased Fitz greatly), but they found the shotgun seat already occupied by Obediah (which pleased Fitz not at all). The other six piled into the cab, and off they went. En route, Vinny and Ray compared the size of their…guns…after which Vinny realized that Ray does know how to handle a firearm. Victoria was noisily ill out the window of the cab, but wouldn't say whether it was a result of Vinny's driving, or testosterone poisoning.

Vinny broke most of the traffic laws, and some laws of physics, and ended up beating Fitz handily, which Fitz accepted with good grace. The party then decided to explore the garden where the murders took place, despite Obediah's fear of topiary. Everyone examined the spots where the murders took place, but there wasn't much to see after six years, nor did there seem to be any mystical significance to the spots. Luke was able to find good places of concealment near each spot, but that didn't tell him much, so he spent a point of Mojo to shift to his mystical awareness. After that, he could discern a trail of Evil that led back into the Cloisters themselves.

The party realized that there was nothing for it but to go inside — fortunately, Obediah hadn't been banned from the Cloisters yet. Vinny, Ray, and Fitz reluctantly stowed their weapons in the cars so they could get through the metal detectors at the entrance. Once inside, Luke followed the trail of Evil, and Obediah wandered aimlessly. Victoria questioned the ghosts (of which there were many), but didn't learn much at first. After a few failed lines of questioning about the murders, she determined that there was one room the ghosts refused to enter: the room with the Unicorn Tapestries. As luck would have it, Luke's trail of Evil led to the same room, so the party gathered there.

The party then engaged in recon as befit their particular specialties. Luke sniffed around, Ray marked emergency exits on his map, Victoria engaged the staff in a historical discussion as a distraction, which Tamsin used to hack into an office computer, and the rest of the party stood around aimlessly. Tamsin was able to print out some forms that she thought she could use to forge academic IDs later. The rest of the party didn't learn much, except that the Tapestry itself was radiating Evil, that there didn't appear to be anything behind it, and that the guards didn't like you to get too close.

The party regrouped in the parking lot (after getting their hands stamped), and pooled their notes. Vinny thought the killings must be related to money, and wanted to check out substantial donations. Other party members focused on the recent cleaning of the tapestry, which was evidently kept out of the press for some reason. No, it was covered, but there was some detail related to it that the museum hushed up – JM Further intellectual musing was forestalled, however, when Victoria mentioned that her Sight revealed that the tapesty was a Door. This, of course, immediately set off Obediah, who marched straight back into the building, followed by Chucky.

The newer party members advised waiting for nightfall before taking any action, but the more seasoned members pointed out that when Obediah gets an idea in his head, it's best to just roll with it and prepare for the worst. To that end, Vinny slipped back inside with a few harmless tools from his “job bag,” found an unguarded emergency exit, quickly disabled the alarm, and admitted Ray and Fitz, who were carrying their weapons. Luke entered as well, but Victoria disavowed any involvement in this “plan,” and went for a stroll in the gardens, dragging Tamsin along with her.

The remaining men arrived at the Unicorn Tapestry room just in time to see Obediah completing his spell, encouraged by Chucky. To those with magical perceptions, the tapestries suddenly became three-dimensional, with woodland sounds and scents wafting into the room. Even outside, Victoria was aware of it, and Tamsin was able to convince her to come inside. Obediah was never one to stop for debate, and immediately walked through the tapestry into the forest beyond. Most of the other party members followed, although Fitz paused to don his shades and comment, “Let's rock-n-roll,” earning him a point of Mojo, which he immediately need to burn to enter the tapestry, since his normal power levels weren't adequate. Tamsin wasn't quite so fortunate, and bounced off the tapestry when she tried to enter. Thinking quickly, Chucky turned back and tossed her his sunglasses, which allowed her through on the second try.

After passing through the doorway, the party members with enhanced perceptions were immediately struck by how solid everything looked, their first clue that all was Not Normal here. All attention quickly turned to Obediah, whose appearance had changed dramatically. Instead of the greasy, scruffy, incomprehensible vagabond, this Obediah had glowing golden skin, flowing locks, and amber eyes, and was dressed, if not finely, much less shabbily. His voice was clear and resonant, as the party found out when he said “This is Not Good.”

Things went from Not Good to Worse when the Door popped out of existence suddenly. The party turned to Obediah for an explanation, which he didn't want to provide immediately. All he would say for the moment was that the rules from the party's last journey into the Borderlands still held: Don't eat or drink, don't stray off the path, and try not to interact with anything. Several party members wanted to know if Obediah could re-open the door, but he refused. He said he wasn't sure he could do it, and he didn't want to try, because if he failed, he'd attract the attention of whoever created the door in the first place. Vinny took out a pocket-knife and tried to cut a mark in the ground to indicate where the door had been, for later reference, but he found that the grass blackened and died where the steel blade touched it. Obediah pointed out that although the cold iron was effect, it's best to try to avoid cutting things in Faerie, because you never know what's going to cut back.

The party decided that further exposition should take place away from the door, so the followed a nearby stream to a clearing. After finding a ring of mushrooms in the middle of the clearing, the party decided to move on to the next clearing, which was unoccupied. Once there, Obediah explained, vaguely, that he was something of a Fae prince, but was no longer exactly welcome in Faerie. He declined to provide futher details at this time.

Tamsin began mourning for her Blackberry (which had been Fitz's Blackberry until yesterday, but never mind), believing that she now had no value to the party. Out of curiosity, Chucky scribed a Communicate scroll and stuck it to the Blackberry's uplink port. The Blackberry immediately displayed a login for something called SpellNet. Tamsin's squeal of glee was loud enough to disturb the nearby wildlife. Obediah was unfamiliar with this network, and thought it must have been created after he left. Tamsin eventually realized that she needed to register an account, and pay for it with her own personal power, but she did so without too much deliberation. After several false starts, she learned that all queries needed to be entered in rhyme, which she eventually got the hang of. She located a FAQ first, then put her new skills to work by accessing the local version of MapQuest. She learned that the forest the players were standing in is called Arden, that the nearby castle belongs to a Faerie Queen, and that there was a village nearby.

After a bit of hiking, the party reached the outskirts of the village, which seemed to be some idealized sort of medieval town, populated by people who looked more or less like Obediah. At that point, the group decided to break for the evening.

Some random notes:

• Before entering the Cloisters, Sean commented that most parties don't prep for dangerous situations by removing their weapons…just another way our party is different.
• Wendy was visibly distressed at the thought that the Unicorn Tapestries might be Evil, and even berated the GM about it.
• Fully half of the players demonstrated first-hand knowledge of both the Cloisters and the Unicorn Tapestry room specifically, which added a level of realism to the session, but possibly was more than the GM had bargained for.
• Several long-time players noted that walking into the tapestry may not have been the stupidest thing this group has ever done (since we all know what that was), but it may rank second.
• Your Humble Recapper must give special credit to Wendy's role-playing. Her reaction when Tamsin discovered the Spellnet was nothing short of maniacal, and definitely blurred the line between player and character.
• The players, as a whole, had far too much fun with the concept of Spellnet, with speculation ranging from spam (“Lengthen your staff!”) to viruses (deletes more than just your hard drive).
• It appeared to go unnoticed at the time, but Chucky was responsible for encouraging Obediah to open the Door, and for giving Tamsin access to Spellnet. So Doug either gets the credit for moving the plot along, or the blame for getting us all killed.
• In post-session analysis, the GM revealed that he expected the party to turn around and attempt to reopen the Door immediately, thus drawing the attention of the Big Bad and starting a conflict. The one time this party decides not to act cowardly, it catches the GM by surprise.

A Phone call later:

Hey, Mickey. Its me, Vinnie.
…
Nah, Vinnie Fratony.
…
Anyways, ya remember dat vest ya was wearin a year or two back when the Carlone kid got outta da joint? Well dats all cleared up now right? You ain’t needin da vest no more? Ya think I could maybe borrow it for like a couple a days?
…
Nah I ain’t in any trouble. ‘Least not like that sortta trouble. It’s kinda complicated. It involves this dame I’m interested in and she’s kinda got some trouble following her.
…
Heh, Yeah all dames is trouble but this one is kinda different.
…
Hey! I know better den gettin involved wit a married woman! Least if I did I might be getting some. Look I had a slow night last night and I need to pick up some fares. Gas ain’t cheep in dis city. Hows about I swing by the place and yer wife can gimme da vest?
…
Tanks! I owes ya one.
…
Heh. Yeah, I owes ya anodder one. Call me when you needs a lift someplace.

After another longish hiatus, we returned to the Borderlands. Upon their return to the city following the events at Hill College, Tamsin realized that she would have to have the werewolf damage to her employer's van repaired, preferably before her employer found out about it. After dropping Chucky, Fitz (who promptly remembered a previous engagement on the other side of the world and left without a forwarding address), and Obediah off at the theater, she consulted the rolodex at the detective agency and found the name of a body shop, the Fratoni Bros., annotated in Victoria Savage's neat handwriting “doesn't ask questions.” Deciding that this was just the ticket, she took the van there, dropped it off, and took the Fratoni's up on the offer of a cab ride back (chargable to the agency, natch). Her driver was the loquacious and colorful Vinny Fratoni [Sean], just back from a deuce up-river.

Meanwhile, art-student and reluctant seer Veronica Snooty-Mc-Snoot-Snoot (did we ever get a last name?) [Liz] was soaking up the ambience of Chinatown when she noticed two things: 1) Obediah, sweeping out in front of the Chinese Theater, whose aura told her that he was her Knight in Shining Armor. It didn't explain further, auras being tricksy that way. 2) the grungy theater itself, which was clearly being haunted…by the theater as it existed in the forties. She'd seen plenty of ghosts before, but never the ghost of a building. Bemused, she offered Obediah a twenty and a date to get something to eat. He led her inside and offered her popcorn and a swig of “butter.”

Upon their arrival outside the theater, Vinny's cab died completely and mysteriously. Tamsin led him into the theater to use the pay phone to call his cousins at the shop, and then dashed across the street to leave a note for Victoria Savage. Fortunately or unfortunately, Victoria was already back from her trip, but had a message for Tamsin: a tall, dark, handsome young man had left a letter for her, on nice heavy stationery with a big monogrammed M. Inside was a dinner invitation for that evening to Le Petite Chi-Chi, signed “Bobby.” After some brain-wracking, Tamsin managed to remember having met the mysterious Bobby M, adventurer and raconteur. She hurried back across the street to check in with Chucky and Obadiah and ask their opinion on the propriety (and perhaps safety) of meeting with him given the peculiar circumstances of their first encounter in the Borderlands.

There was some byplay in which Obediah attempted to buy Vinny's cab from him for the twenty that Veronica had given him, and was informed that would get him four lug-nuts worth of cab, which triggered in his befuddled brain the singular desire to own a cab and prompted a side-trip to a chop-shop down the street to buy a bumper.

In the theater, Veronica explored a bit, finding the ghostly regulars in the balcony watching the double-bill: Seven Deadly Venoms and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Two Two-Star Movies! That makes Four Stars!). Meanwhile, Vinny was explaining to his cousins that a) they fucked up his ride, and they needed to send out the tow-truck toot sweet and b) he was “parked” outside the very theater in which legend had it Little Joey Two-Shoes, the hitman's hitman, was last seen on this Earth. Veronica could have told him Little Joey was watching the women sobbin', but nobody asked. Unfortunately for Vinny, the wrecker was out on a call, and the Eurotrash Lawyer, M. Lucerne chose that moment to make his dramatic entrance.

Announcing that since they had tried the easy way and gotten nowhere, his Consortium was now going to do it the hard way, he gestured and all the doors slammed and the shades pulled themselves down. He then removed his swanky sunglasses and revealed his glowing red eyes. Combat ensued.

Fireballs were thrown, arts were martialed, .38 Saturday Night Specials were emptied unsuccessfully except to ruin a nice French suit and cause Lucerne to reveal his game-face: that of a 7' tall yellow and red, horned, leathery-winged demon. Chucky conveyed the notion to Victoria that it would be helpful for her to use her artistic talents to copy one of the plaques from underneath the counter onto a piece of paper, while he lured the creature upstairs. Tamsin ran around putting out the fires, while Obediah used his special talent with doors to open the emergency exits in the rear of the theater and let out the panicked ghosts. Vinny attempted to drag Veronica to safety, but received a short sharp shock to the family jewels for his troubles, and she went back to her calligraphy.

Chucky managed to lure Lucerne to in front of the Closet of the Vortex (don't ask) and Tamsin, exclaiming “You forgot about me, Huh?” slapped Veronica's finished work on Lucerne's back. Lucerne lunged, Chucky powered up the Paralysis Character while performing a sacrifice-throw, and Lucerne took a short trip and a long fall to nobody-knows-where.

While this was going on, Vinny recovered, and exited the building through the doors that Obediah had opened. There in the alley, he found a giant rat in a Zoot Suit, being noisily sick. Hurrying the other way, he came out into a typical evening in the Borderlands, i.e. Film Noir New York by night, circa 1940, casting by way of Midsummer Night's Fever Dream. Noting the presence of a mounted policeman (and on second take, that the mount and the policeman were one and the same: a centaur), he quickly pocketed his gat (cause John Law is John Law, no matter where you go), and made his way back to the alley and back into the theater. Once back inside, and finding himself able to exit by the front doors into normal New York, he went to the nearest liquor store and got himself some scotch, then returned to the theater to demand an explanation of the goings on. Tamsin rushed home to change for her date, while Chucky tried to explain the advantages of taking the blue pill, but Vinny was made of sterner stuff. Obediah went outside, popped the hood of Vinny's cab (another of O's skills), and discovered a gremlin chewing vigorously on the wiring. He chased it off with a broom, and the cab was once again operational.

Vinny ended up driving Tamsin to her date, now that his cab was back in service, and hanging around a bit off the meter in case she needed any help, but the date was largely uneventful. Bobby M. was just back from doing a favor to a friend, by preventing the moon from being consumed by nanites, and seemed genuinely interested in dating Tamsin for the usual boy-girl reasons, with no obvious ulterior motive. She did find out from the waitstaff that Bobby was, as claimed, a regular at Le Petite Chi-chi, and that his last name was Munchausen. She also found out, from Bobby, that Lucerne and his Consortium were famously bad news and legendarily not folks that you got the better of business deals with. Bobby drove her home, and kissed her good night.

When we last left our heroes, they were sitting in a van, in the rain, trying to figure out what to do next. They discovered that the only bridge out of town was now underwater, so going home wasn't an option. Tamsin was concerned about Obediah's werewolf-inflicted wounds, but Obediah insisted he was fine, and refused to even consider going to a hospital. The party decided that some rest was in order, and found a nearby Motel 6 to crash at.

Around 3:00 in the morning, Obediah noticed that his wounds were becoming quite uncomfortable, so he woke Chucky to ask for advice. Chucky recommended a good shower, which Obediah did, but he noticed afterward that his wounds were steaming. Chucky decided to take more drastic action, and attempted to paint a healing spell directly on Obediah's skin, but the ink immediately ran off.

Chucky called Fitz and Tamsin for a meeting, at which several options were floated, but no decision was reached. Obediah hid under the covers and refused to let anyone examine his wounds further. Tamsin discovered that Fitz was carrying around a Blackberry with Internet access, and promptly confiscated it. Tamsin research turned up a lycanthropy expert in British Columbia, but he didn't know anything about steaming wounds and werewolves. At a loss, Tamsin and Chucky went out to the van to examine the Party Pole some more.

Armed with the Blackberry, Tamsin tried to find out more about the Party Pole. She discovered that it was inscribed with alchemical symbols, probably indicating the pole's composition, but no more than that. At that point, their examinations were interrupted by a giant wolf crashing through the van's window. Unfortunately, the window was a bit sturdier than the wolf anticipated, and he wasn't able to get his jaws on Chucky. Chucky had prepared a paralysis scroll earlier (in case he needed to use it on Obediah), and quickly slapped it on the wolf, where it suddenly burst into flame. The wolf was quite un-paralyzed, but somewhat surprised and burnt, and ran off into the night to recover. Chucky and Tamsin retreated back into the hotel room.

Chucky warded the room to warn them in case of further attack, and Tamsin took another crack at the notes she'd discovered the previous day, but to no avail. Obediah still wouldn't come out, so the party eventually slept.

The next morning, after much persuasion, Obediah emerged, looking considerably healed, but still somewhat beat-up. After a quick breakfast at Denny's, the group decided to head back up to the university in the hope of learning more about Professor Hill, and possibly to try to find the grad student Fitz and Chucky had encountered. Tamsin learned that the school library has more research material on werewolves than would be expected of a small liberal arts college. She checked the library records, but wasn't able to find any instance of a particular student taking a distinct interest in the material. She also discovered a convincing rumor that President McKinley had been assassinated with a silver bullet.

Next time: Will our heroes make it out of the library unscathed? Will Obediah grow a tail? Will the party ever figure out just what they're doing? Tune in next time and see!

When we last left our intrepid explorers, they were gathered around Professor Hill's Party Pole ™ in a dusty room at Hill College. Both Obediah and Chucky had gotten a creepy feeling from the pole, but no more than that. Fitz bravely fiddled with the wires attached to the pole, but nothing happened.

Tamsin went off to the library, in an attempt to discover more about Professor Hill and the pole. Obediah investigated the broom closet. Fitz broadened his experiment by touching the wires to Chucky, who was unappreciative. At this point, a violent thunderstorm broke over the campus. Fitz and Chucky remembered that the forecast called for the remnants of a tropical storm to cross the area today, so they were unconcerned.

Tamsin arrived at the library, where she was informed that all campus buildings would be closing shortly, because of the storm. With only minutes to spare, Tamsin valiantly located Professor Hill's notes about the pole and courageously photocopied them. Unfortunately, the notes made little sense to her.

Fitz and Chucky were confronted by a grad student, who asked them to leave so he could close the building. They complied, leaving Obediah in the closet. Outside, they met up with Tamsin, and the three went to a nearby diner, after leaving a note for Obediah on the door.

At the diner, Fitz had some (very bad) coffee, Tamsin had some (very good) pie, and Chucky had some (just right) orange juice. Fitz examined the notes, but couldn't determine much from the mentions of “phlogiston” and “etheric vibrations.” He concluded the notes were gibberish.

Back inside the museum room, Obediah emerged from the closet to find only the emergency lights on. Noting the large metal pole inside, and the lightning storm outside, he knew what he had to do. First, though, he obtained a large rug from a nearby room and a wheeled bucket from the janitor's closet. As he wandered the corridors, he heard some breathing, but couldn't locate the source.

When Obediah re-entered the room and approached the pole, he was attacked from above by a smelly, hairy something. Although injured in the initial attack, he managed to scramble to the supply closet, where he snatched up a mop and enchanted it into a weapon. When the beast attacked next, Obediah mopped it straight into a glass-fronted case, which shattered satisfactorily.

Obediah cast another spell to activate a nearby Van der Graff generator, giving him enough light to see by. The hairy beast was gone, but he left some blood behind. Obediah mopped the blood up with a rag, and then returned to his original plan. He disconnected the Party Pole from its base, wrapped it in the rug, and stuck it in the bucket. The windows in the room didn't open, and breaking them would have violated Obediah's personal code of ethics, so he decided to brave the hallways to reach an outside door.

Obediah got the pole outside without any trouble, and headed for Tamsin's van. While he was still about 20 feet away, the pole was struck by lightning (which was more or less inevitable), and Obediah was blown off his feet. The insulating action of the rug kept him from serious harm, and he soon got up. He unwrapped the pole to inspect it for damage, and found that it was crackling with electricity. He attempted to re-wrap the pole in the rug, and got electrocuted for his trouble.

Tamsin had finished her pie by this time, and headed back to the van with Chucky and Fitz. They found Obediah lying on the ground, and Chucky scribed a quick healing spell to bring him around. Some local police happened by at that time, so the party piled into the van, taking the pole with them.

After getting a recounting of Obediah's actions inside the building, Tamsin suggested tracking down the probably werewolf, or at least the graduate student who threw Chucky and Fitz out of the building. While pondering their options, the players noticed the time and broke for the evening.

Next time: Will the party find the werewolf? Will it bring them any closer to finding the truth about the mysterious Y? Will everyone except Fitz buy their own trenchcoats? Will Fitz get a decent cup of coffee?

The session opened, not surprisingly, with the characters trying to figure out what they were doing, and why. The consensus was that they were on their way to visit the oracle known as Miss Hiss, but nobody was really sure why. The best they could come up with was a vague concern about a threat to the Mundane World, possibly embodied by the goblin constructs who attacked Tamsin, and possibly the subject of a warning that an Ichthyos relayed to Tamsin before that.

Upon entering Miss Hiss's domain, the party found a lot of smoke that was forming uncomfortably serpentine patterns, but couldn't discern an actual person. It turned out not to matter, as Miss Hiss addressed the party from the gloom, took the retsina, and offered advice. Chucky attempted to outline the situation in an oblique manner, but Tamsin cut to the chase and asked about the threat to her boss and her world. Miss Hiss informed the party that pursuing this line of investigation would only lead to their deaths. She then went on to prove herself the most specific oracle in history by telling the party that their fate lies instead in the basement of the New York Public Library, third stack from the east wall, fifth shelf, third book from the left (or something like that). She then informed a stunned party that the oracle business isn't what it used to be.

The party, knowing a GM warning when they see it, decided not to pursue certain death, and got out their library cards instead. They discovered that there are several portals back to the Mundane World from Greektown, and found themselves on the docks, near the East River. A quick subway ride brought them to the library. The basement section is off-limits to the public, but Tamsin's skill in bureaucracy and research quickly eliminated that obstacle.

The party found the book rather quickly, a hand-written manuscript from the end of the 19th century with some unusual qualities. The book was in Latin, and the left-hand pages were written in mirrored writing, possibly in a different hand altogether, although it's difficult to tell. The forward pages were the diary of an alchemist, researching immortality. The mirrored pages were the journal of an occultist, who was attempting to summon a demon. The illustrations were graphic and disturbing, and appeared to depict animals. The author of the book (both halves) called himself only “Y,” although the Y was stylized to appear like a pitchfork.

Obediah immediately denounced the book as Eeeee-villlll, and went upstairs to bother the librarians. Fitz browsed the stacks for a bit, realized that he didn't have much to contribute to the research effort, and followed Obediah upstairs. Tamsin set to translating, and Chucky attempted to assist with the other books in the special section. They discovered that the identity of Y was still a secret, but that theories abounded in New York occultist circles. Evidence indicates that Y was a member of a private social club (did we get a name for this club?) active around 1900, but since disbanded. Wilder theories suggest that Y was Teddy Roosevelt himself, but most theories conclude that Y was either a man named Hill [Cornell Hill], an inventor who specialized in electrical devices, or…gah, I'm forgetting the other guy's name, except that it started with a Y [Richard Yarnall], and what he did. Both met mysterious ends — Hill vanished out of a cab and was never seen again; the other guy was brutally murdered.

Chucky did some research into prominent “unusual” crimes in New York around the time that Y was active, and came up with a series of incidents of people being attacked by wild dogs in Central Park, possibly dogs of the giant-sized variety. Chucky and Tamsin determined that the attacks come in sprees, approximately every seven years, and have continued to the present. The most recent attacks were eleven months ago, but was much worse than any of the previous incidents.
The party went home to rest and eat at that point (Obediah also thinks Chicken McNuggets are eeee-villll, if you're keeping score). The next morning, Tamsin met Victoria Savage at the office. Ms. Savage was concerned, in an understated way, about the damage to the premises inflicted by the goblin constructs, and said that the story of people who dissolve into goo reminded her of a case from a few years back (“The Case of the People who Dissolve into Goo” — literary cleverness is not among Ms. Savage's skills, evidently), but she was not inclined to investigate further at the moment. She suggested that Tamsin take a week off, if she feels that she is in danger. Ms. Savage herself is off to a Greek island whose name I've forgotten [Naxos], but she can't tell Tamsin much more than that. Tamsin took Ms. Savage's cell phone number, and went off to round up the guys.

As it happens, Mr. Hill (Professor Hill?) had an small manor house on the northern end of Manhattan island, which is now the administration building of Hill College, a small liberal arts school (a fact that inspired varying levels of dread in the players). Tamsin suggested that a visit to the college would probably reveal more about Hill, so the party took a cab up there. There were two exhibits dedicated to Mr. Hill, one a collection of documents, the other a display of his scientific work. The party decided to investigate the inventions first, which were located in a dusty room in the basement of the science labs. The room wasn't open to the public that day, but nobody had bothered to lock the door either, so the party walked on in. The displays seem to be a rather mundane collection of early-1900s electrical devices, and the placards didn't have much more information about them. When Tamsin asked Obediah if he got a funny feeling from any of the inventions, he identified a metal pole with a number of wires connected to it. The placard read “Function Unknown.”

What's next for our intrepid explorers? Will they discover the function of Professor Hill's Party Pole? Will they find out what Ms. Savage is doing in Greece? Will they meet Certain Doom anyway? How long can they manage to go without blowing something up? Mike's barbecue is on August 1, so you'll have to wait until the 15th to find out!

Some short notes:

Editor's comments in bold

The session opened with the party descending into a sewer. The party then paused for several minutes while they attempted to figure out what they were doing and why. The best they could come up with was that they were searching for the Fish Folk, in the belief that it’s better than looking for ichor-oozing assassins.

The party acquired a conveniently lit torch near the entrance, and proceeded down the corridor, which is substantially nicer and better lit than its mundane counterpart. They eventually came to a T-junction, where an underground river blocked their path. With no obvious way to cross the river, they proceeded upstream. Eventually, they came to a bridge occupied by three goblins in Zoot suits. The goblins attacked immediately, and Fitz’s katana proved worthless, just as Obediah predicted. Thanks to a skillful combination of martial arts, Obediah’s mop-fu, and some mundane shticks, the goblins quickly ended up in the drink, where they were presumably devoured by a large and unpleasant thing dwelling within.

The party didn’t have much time to celebrate their success, though, because they soon heard an ominous THUMP-clunk, THUMP-clunk sound, getting closer. Our Heroes valiantly hid in alcoves until the source of the noise arrived, a ten-foot tall troll in an old-style police uniform. The party decided that he was trustworthy, and engaged him in conversation. The troll revealed that his name was Officer McDougal (I think that’s what it was), and asked the party their names, which stumped Obediah for several minutes. He wasn’t thrilled to learn about goblins in his territory, but there wasn’t any evidence remaining, so he decided to let it slide for now. The officer seemed quite smitten with Tamsin, but she only wanted to know where to find the Fish Folk. Turns out they’re properly called Ichthyos, and you can normally find them down at the docks.

The party made their way to the docks, and encountered along the way a stranger beset by two generic thugs. While the guys fought the thugs, Tamsin engaged the stranger in conversation. He had some Arabic-sounding name I didn’t catch, and the party quickly agreed to call him “Bobby.” The party agreed to call him Bobby because that was his name: Bobby M. Why Brian was under the impression it was something Arabic-sounding, I cannot say. Although Bobby didn’t help with the fighting, he did regale Tamsin with tales of his abilities — he figures the thugs were sent by the Caliph of Oda-Li (or something like that) in retaliation for Bobby stealing half of the Caliph’s harem (the female half, of course). After the thugs were dispatched, Bobby agreed to accompany the party to the docks. Bobby M. also told the party that the ichor-y assassins sounded like they were either cultists of Biri-Saarr the Incan Squid-Monkey god, or perhaps goblin sendings, and that if they were cultists they weren't all that tough as cultists go, although he had never personally fought more than a dozen at one time.

Upon their arrival, Tamsin asked a few questions, and learned that the best place to find Ichthyos is in Greek-town (well, duh). Fortunately for all involved, Greek-town is close by, and Tamsin speaks ancient Greek. Unfortunately, even though there were plenty of Ichthyos around to talk to, Tamsin didn’t have the slightest idea where to start. Even more unfortunately, Tamsin and Fitz had to obey Obediah’s earlier instruction not to eat anything in the faerie realm, even though Fitz was in the mood for souvlaki. Obediah had no such restrictions, and quickly started swilling ouzo, stopping long enough to cast a spell on Tamsin so that she would be able to recognize the Ichthyos who she had previously met in Ms. Savage’s office.

Since the party was already at the bar, Tamsin engaged the bartender in conversation, asking who she would talk to if she wanted to reach Veronica Savage. The bartender recommended Ms. Hiss, who is located a few doors up the street, under the sign of the all-seeing eye. After tipping handily and obtaining a bottle of retsina as a gift for Ms. Hiss, the party set out to find her.

At this point we broke, with the GM noting that we still haven’t destroyed the universe, or even blown anything up.

When we last left the party, they had managed to fight a bunch of mannequins and a little girl to a standstill (sounds less impressive when you put it that way, doesn't it?). Before they had much of a chance to do anything, the little girl turned into a ball of burning gas, although she was still paralyzed by Chucky’s prayer scroll. Obediah used another previously unmentioned power to banish her from this plane, and she went poof. At that point, balls of light came out of all the previously animated mannequins, and vanished. Macy's reverted from its mock-1920s appearance to a more modern one at the same time. Fitz searched for the mannequin who resembled the woman from his dream, but didn't find her. Fitz came to the conclusion that the souls trapped in the mannequins were now free, and the party's work was done. The others were less confident, but didn't see what else to do. Most of the party was also nervous about suddenly being in a store with working cameras and security systems, except for Obediah, who wanted to go in search of a five-finger discount. Chucky convinced him otherwise, and the party dispersed to their various dwellings to sleep the sleep of the just.

The GM noted at this point that the party had entered a building, stayed there a while, and departed, and not only was the building still standing, but only minimal damage had been done to the premises. He thought this might be a record for this particular group of players. I can only blame myself, since I'm new to the group, for not following the modus operandi.

The next morning, Fitz slept in, Tamsin and Chucky went to their respective places of employment, and Obediah went to check on his manhole cover, only to find it rotated 90 degrees clockwise (or 270 degrees widdershins, if that makes it more spooky for you). He went to tell Chucky about this.

Tamsin arrived at the office to discover that her boss was in, and required her assistance. We haven't met her before, so a quick description: Victoria (or possibly Veronica) Savage is a large woman — around six-foot-four — but perfectly well-proportioned, and one might even say striking. Tamsin wasn't expecting Ms. Savage today, but that's hardly unusual. What was unusual was that Ms. Savage had a crossbow bolt lodged in her arm, which she required Tamsin's assistance with. Tamsin was obviously concerned, but Ms. Savage wasn't, simply stating that “You shoulda seen the other guy.” The bolt was removed with relative ease, and Ms. Savage went home to get some rest, instructing Tamsin to hold her calls. Tamsin passed on the message from the Fishy Guy of two sessions ago, but Ms. Savage didn't know what to make if it.

Chucky, meanwhile, was approached by a tall, European-looking, extremely well-dressed man with slick blond hair, by the name of Mr. Hill. (As an aside, the players agreed that this guy might as well wear a sign that says “Demon!” on it.) After another dose of Chucky's Engrish accent, they got down to business. Mr. Hill represents an employer who wishes to develop the block that Chucky's theater stands on, and wishes to buy Chucky out, inviting him to name his price. Chucky is a man of simple needs, as it turns out, and was quite unwilling to sell. Mr. Hill tried, but eventually gave up, leaving his business card.

Obediah interrupted at about this point, and informed Chucky that the manhole had been disturbed. If there was more to that conversation, this recapper doesn't recall. Obediah went off to make popcorn.

Back across the street, Tamsin was trying to get some work done when two gentlemen in long coats, with dead white faces and black eyes, entered, announced that they were from “Customs,” and asked if Ms. Savage was present. When Tamsin replied that she wasn't, the Creepy Guys locked the door and drew the blinds, then advanced on Tamsin with evident malice. Tamsin beat a hasty retreat into Ms. Savage's office and slammed the door. She was fortunate to discover that Ms. Savage keeps a gun in a hidden compartment in her desk. Unfortunately, the gun proved to be too large for Tamsin to handle comfortably. She gave it her best effort, though, and gamely challenged the Creepy Guys as they bashed through the door (sorry, Wendy; I can't remember exactly what Tamsin said). This earned her a point of Mojo, which she spent using the “Nick of Time” shtick to summon Fitz in, well, the nick of time. Quickly figuring that the Creepy Guys weren't regular customers, Fitz drew his pair of faux-pearl-handled handguns (earning a Mojo point for his two-handed cross-body draw) and filled the Creepy Guys with slugs. The Creepy Guys began dripping black ichor from their wounds (we know it's ichor because Tamsin said so), but otherwise were only somewhat irritated by Fitz, and turned on him.

Tamsin abandoned the gun as too awkward to use, snatched up the discarded crossbow bolt from earlier, and stabbed one of the Creepy Guys in the back as he moved toward Fitz. The stricken Creepy Guy promptly dissolved into a puddle of black ichor. Tamsin decided that if something works, you go with it, and tried to stab the other Creepy Guy. Unfortunately, Creepy Guy the Second was faster, and snagged Tamsin's wrist, generating feelings of such terror that she was immobilized. Fitz, following time-honored tradition in this situation, dropped his guns and shoulder-tackled the Creepy Guy, sending them both sprawling. Creepy Guy tried his terror trick on Fitz as they grappled, but he managed to resist, although just barely. Tamsin wasn't able to compose herself for another attack, but did manage to send the bolt arcing through the air toward Fitz, who caught it out of the air with the “If I can just reach…” shtick. (In this recapper's mind, that particular maneuver took place with the camera in a tight shot on the bolt as it flipped end-for-end in slow motion, with the soundtrack swelling in the background. One suspects that most Mundane Shticks happen in slow motion.) Fitz immediately stabbed the Creepy Guy with the bolt, and he also dissolved into a puddle of black ooze. Fitz turned to Tamsin with a jaunty “So, how's your morning been?” earning another point of Mojo. Tamsin and Fitz searched the Creepy Guys' clothes, but didn't come up with anything other than a pair of obviously fake badges. Tamsin saved some of the ichor for later in a flower vase. They decided to cross to the theater to see if Chucky or Obediah had seen anything.

Chucky and Obediah had not seen anything unusual, in fact, which prompted some musings about the sort of neighborhood they all live in, if gunshots at 10:00 in the morning aren't unusual. Each group caught the others up on the morning's activities, and Chucky and Obediah examined the crossbow bolt and the ichor. Chucky didn't recognize either, but Obediah experienced a rare moment of clarity, and announced that the ichor was the remains of a Goblin construct, used as an assassin, and that there would probably be more of them. Fitz (possibly cutting a bit too deep with Occam's Razor) surmised that the assassins were related to the Fish Folk, although he wasn't sure if they were allies or enemies. Obediah didn't think much of Fitz's hypothesis, but wasn't able to explain exactly what he thought was going on, so he took the vase of ichor, went off to find a mop, and then proceeded up to the roof.

Exiting onto the roof of the theater takes you to the 1930s Manhattan that the characters saw in their first encounter. Obediah and Chucky took this in stride, but Fitz and Tamsin were a bit shaken. The other party members noted that Obediah seemed more lucid and less scruffy up on the roof than he normally does. Obediah quickly captured a pigeon, on the grounds that pigeons “return home,” and asked Chucky to come up with some way to track the bird. Tamsin wasn't sure what Obediah's plan was, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be good for the pigeon, and she objected vehemently. Obediah, frustrated, demanded that Tamsin come up with an alternative, so she left to find one. Obediah took advantage of the pause to warn Fitz that his mail-order sword wouldn't be much good against Goblins, and suggested an organic weapon, like a mop handle, or a celery stalk (the celery thing was Fitz's idea, not Obediah's, by the way). After some more discussion with Chucky, the original pigeon plan was discarded. Fitz went to fetch Tamsin (who didn't have a salad for lunch, or any kind of celery that Fitz could use), while Obediah and Chucky descended the fire escape to street level, which allowed them to stay in the 1930s version of New York.

Fitz brought Tamsin up to the roof and down the fire escape, and the two noted a number of elves, dwarfs, and centaurs in this version of New York. Eventually, all four party members met at the manhole, and announced their intent to descend. First, though, Obediah and Chucky laid out some ground rules for the two mundanes:
1. Don't do anything you wouldn't do when time traveling, such ask killing your own grandfather.
2. Don't eat or drink anything, or you won't be able to leave.
3. Don't stray from the path, or you'll be lost.
4. Fitz, lose the coat…it makes you look fat.

The curtain fell with Our Heroes poised to enter the sewers. Will they find friends or foes? Find out in two weeks!

Two two-star movies make four stars – Chucky

I will emerge from the alley, having vanquished another fishy foe – Obediah

Didn't know my name was Long Gulp, did you? – Obediah

OK, Crazy Guys! Good Morning! – Fitz (Brian)

Upon revealing the department store that featured in Fitz's dream
Of course it's Macy's! – Joshua (the GM)

Considering the fact that she's a mannequin, I don't think I'm in any real danger – Fitz
I want you all to remember he said that – GM

No, I not here to play…I here for conversation – Chucky, doing his shtick

Upon the Paul unveiling yet another plan to try and gain information by having somebody else's character seduce an NPC:
If it isn't the burning, it's the pimping… – GM