WillGM: Okay. Let's recap from last game: you've recently found out that the Valeforians in town are bearing the Skull of Patmos, a literal piece of St. John the Divine. This relic, closely related to stories of prophecy, has apparently piqued the interest of at least one Demon of Fate, and Liriel has decided that the Grail Quest must be put in abeyance, to which you're agreed. WillGM: Hallaren, of the Golden Gate (major) Tether to Flowers, has relayed that these Magpies have been hanging around the Tether which experienced an incursion attempt earlier today, and called you. You're headed back to Golden Gate Park, hoping to see what you can pick up. WillGM: Bruce, in particular, was considering interrogation. Possibly Fearless as well, as a different kind of investigator, though he and Ellis are still off doing background work. WillGM: It's about 6:30pm, just after sunset. WillGM: ---------------------- Game Start ------------------------ WillGM: Frizz climbs out of Nicole's backpack and goes over to sit on Bruce's shoulder. "Yo." Bruce nods at the squirrel. "'Sup." WillGM: "Namuch. So... about the Magpies. You don't know it, but you've probably interrogated a demon before." WillGM: "Just remember your worst, rudest, most violent, most amoral interrogation subject. Odds are good." Bruce: "Ah. Great. Those are always fun." Bruce grins slightly. "So, the good cop/bad cop routine is probably out. How 'bout just bad cop?" WillGM: The squirrel chirps, which is probably Frizz being happy. "I'm glad you see it that way. Yeah, the whole 'human rights' part of the equation is pretty moot. Although any Flowers staff in the vicinity might not see it that way." WillGM: (Ed: you're driving -- you've had directions, via phone call, to the security station in the southeast corner of the park.) Edward twitches slightly at that question. "That's been bugging me for a while, yeah... Pretty much all of the ethics and laws we grow up learning don't really factor demons into the equation..." WillGM: Frizz sits up a bit. "As a cop dealing with human crimes and an angel dealing with demons, I've had to feel that out a lot. Everybody's got to find their own balance, but I've come to depend on two basic things. The first is that I'm a trooper in a war, and they're the enemy. That makes a lot of things clearer. The second is that, when I'm in doubt, I've learned that humans generally pass laws for a good reason. I lean on those when I can. But the War comes first." Nicole quietly adds in, "Ye who fight monsters be careful that you do not become a monster yourself..." Bruce nods at Nicole. "No reason to let go of 'em when you can avoid it. I was joking. Mostly." Maurice: Player needs to get something to eat. Back innafew. *** Ellis (Aris_TGD@c026h085.dorm.reed.edu) has joined channel #gurps Ellis: Started yet? Nicole nods. "Figured it didn't hurt to point that out." WillGM: Chatting in Edwards' rental car on the way back to the Park, about ethics and law when one is faced by a demon. Bruce folds his hands behind his head. "Still, 'innocent until proven guilty' doesn't quite apply to demons. Their occupation sort of requires that they're guilty of something." Nicole: "Point." WillGM: Frizz nods enthusiastically. WillGM: Liriel listens with interest. Edward nods. "Yeah. Still..." He shrugs, clearly not comfortable with the whole thing on an emotional level even though he can grok it rationally. WillGM: "To..." he hesitates. "To be fair to other viewpoints, this isn't the only balance that can be struck. The Flower angels we'll be working around up here don't just dislike violence; it horrifies them. If we do much, we may have to keep it on the quiet. They definitely go in for what Nicole said; they lean as much as they can toward mot becoming the monster." WillGM: His tone makes it clear that he speaks of this the way someone else might speak of a particularly odd kink that he does not share. Nicole smiles. Edward: "I'm not neccessarily objecting to the violence part of it. More the part where we're essentially saying, "They don't play by the rules so we shouldn't either..." Maurice: And back. Bruce: "Yeah, well, not only do they not play by the rules, they're not even playin' the same game." WillGM: "When people say that the end doesn't justify the means, usually they mean that it's no good to achieve the end with means that damage your cause themselves. About the only demon I'd hold my strike on when I had the chance is one that looked like he might be ready to do Hell's cause a disservice, whether by Redeeming or by betraying another demon." WillGM: You approach the Park. Edward finds an appropriate Park-ing spot. Edward Parks. WillGM: "I'll join you for the interrogation in my badge body, Bruce." The squirrel scampers back into Nicole's bag. Nicole: owww. Bruce: "I suppose having hands might be handy," Bruce says, climbing out of the car. "Don't think the badge matters... kind of outside our jurisdiction. Well, in a manner of speaking." WillGM: As you all pile out of the car, Fizz's Bob Hunter Vessel materializes to the tinkling accompaniment of Disturbance, bent over and stepping out of the car like he was there all along. Edward: "Smooth." Nicole blinks slightly at the sudden apperance, but doesn't say anything. WillGM: Bob turns to eye the security bungalow. "If they've caught any of the Magpies," he says to Bruce, "they're in there." He heads in, then turns to the other three of you, "I don't really think any of you would have a good reason to be in here. You might want to wait outside. Except..." he queries Liriel, who shakes his head no. "Okay. Bruce and I'll be back in a bit." Edward nods Edward: "We'll take another walk down the park, see if we run into anything." WillGM: "Check." Edward: "Do we need to drop the rodent off somewhere or can you hold on to it?" WillGM: "Keep him, for now. I'll be using him to keep tabs on Nicole. We might have an arrangement later." Edward: "Roger." WillGM: A female head pokes out of the bungalow. "Which one of you just showed up ?" Bruce points accusingly at 'Bob'. WillGM: Bob nods. "Bob Hunter, Philly PD. Bruce Whitechurch, likewise. We're here to see someone you may have just picked up?" WillGM: "Yeah. Come on in, I'll sign you in." Bruce displays his ID, for the look of it, and follows 'Bob' inside. Edward looks over at 'cole and Liriel with a "Well, now what?" expression, then nods in the direction of the park proper. Nicole: "Sure, why not?" WillGM: Inside, the lady is signing Bob and Bruce in to a ledger. "We got one of them; two more eluded us. SFPD will be picking him up for booking; there's no rush on it, so they'll probably be here in about half an hour. You have that long." She looks up at you. "I'll be right outside the door." WillGM: Bruce: You notice a strange sense of lightness and peace, like you're in a room filled with the heady scent of roses. Bruce takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "Man, this place just feels all wrong for this sort of thing." WillGM: "Eh?" He gets a sinking look. "Oh." He eyes the lady. "Seraph?" WillGM: The lady smiles. "Consider me a mutual peacekeeper. This way, gentlemen..." She heads around the corner to a small room. Bruce chuckles halfheartedly. "Good cop/good cop, then." WillGM: Frizz whispers to you as you follow her with his mouth *very* close to your ear. "It's not an absolute proscription. If you really try hard, you still can." WillGM: The lady unlocks a door into a small room and takes a seat behind a desk across the hall. "Call me if you need anything." WillGM: The room itself contains one scruffy-looking teenager in a Hispanic body, handcuffed to a chair and looking disgusted with himself. He doesn't bother to eye either of you as you walk in. WillGM: (For your metagame information: one side of the room is about two yards from her; the other end of the room is about five yards away.) WillGM: "Can't slip out of those cuffs, Thief? I hear jail's a bitch and a half for your kind." WillGM: Frizz closes the door. WillGM: The Magpie ostentatiously sniffs and shifts position on his chair. Bruce pulls up a chair and sits backwards on it across from the teen, glancing at the cuffs with a small amount of trepidation. "He can't, can he?" WillGM: Frizz looks out the window. "If he could've, he would've." WillGM: "Or this is where I want to be." Bruce grins humorlessly at the Thief. "S'got a nice atmosphere, doesn't it?" WillGM: "If you're a pansy." He waits. "No pun intended." WillGM: Frizz grabs the chair and slides it over to the far side of the room. "I like the atmosphere down here better. It's a little more breathable, eh? Little more elbow room." He jabs an elbow at the Thief's face, stopping short of hitting it. WillGM: Frizz turns a hand backwards and forwards in front of the Thief's face like a stage magician, then pulls a shortsword from nowhere, slowly drawing it out of a hole in the air. "Few more... options." WillGM: The squirrel grumbles in Nicole's backpack. "This would be a lot easier if that blessed Pollyanna weren't sitting outside our door." Edward stops humming his corporeal rendition of the Tethersong under his breath. "Mmm?" Nicole giggles. Bruce chuckles dryly, fishing a crumpled pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. "My partner here clearly has more talent than I do. Me, I'm just bitter and extremely angry." He lights up a cigarette, and takes a long drag off of it, exhaling blue smoke through his nose. "Let's just cut to the chase.. figuratively, I'd prefer." He nods at the sword. "What kind of trouble are you boys up to in these parts?" he asks. Nicole: "Sounds like Frizz and Bruce are having fun." %) [snip game-relevant /msg'ing] WillGM: "No trouble at all, Officer. I was just walking around in the Park. I think I was racially profiled." A Hispanic accent is suddenly very strong in his voice. Edward: "Lemme guess. The lady's a seraph?" WillGM: The squirrel pokes his head out of the backpack, looks around, sees no one walking the Park close to you at this time of night, and crawls down to sit on Nicole's lap. "Nail on head, Ed. She's keeping up from getting interesting with the persuasion techniques." WillGM: "I think you were, too. We arrest demons on sight, didn't you know?" WillGM: "There's a few other things we tend to do to demons back in Lord Laurence's ranks..." he twirls the sword on one point on his finger, drawing a drop of blood. Bruce smiles at the youth. "Out for a casual evening stroll, just admiring the beauty of the park, huh? I wonder why I'm not buying it." WillGM: Frizz tenses up for a moment... WillGM: ...and smacks the Thief across the face with a closed fist. WillGM: "We Kyrios get practice focusing our willpower. Don't count on the Daisy too much." WillGM: "Ow! Fuckin' cops." Bruce winces, but not visibly. He leans forward. "I don't think he likes you much. Tell ya the truth, I don't think I do either. Y'might be looking at bad cop/worse cop here." He rocks back. "Let's cut the crap. What's going on with the Skull?" WillGM: Frizz flicks a drop of his blood onto the youth's face. "Answer his question, or I start using the blade." WillGM: The Thief looks at his sword. He shrugs. "We stole it from the church in Turkey, brought it here. I was just helping out, I don't know all the details." Edward clarifies for 'cole. "From what I read, Flower-snakes essentially radiate peace and tranquility. It's all but impossible to commit to violence in their presence." WillGM: He looks at the door toward where the Flowers Seraph is sitting. "Look, what'll it take to get me killed instead of in jail?" Nicole: "Ahh, whee, poor Frizz." Bruce takes another drag. "Heard a rumor that Fate has some interest in the Skull. You don't know anything about it? Just 'helping out'? That's not very ambitious." WillGM: He licks his lips. "I'll tell you what I know. But you gotta promise me I'll be dead before the real cops get here." WillGM: "No promises. Talk." WillGM: "No promises, no info." Bruce twirls his lighter between his fingers. He looks at Frizz, and shrugs. "You're the one with the sword." WillGM: Frizz nods. WillGM: Frizz picks up his sword, holds it over the Thief's leg. He puts both hands on the hilt... WillGM: "...nngh... *bless* it!" He takes the sword back down. WillGM: The squirrel growls, an odd little sound. WillGM: "Really, *really* convenient if she was somewhere else." Bruce: That smells like a hint. WillGM: He actually lost that Will roll, too. :^) Nicole: "Should we go play distract the Seraph?" Edward: "Seraphs are hard to distract. They spot insincerity almost as easily as lies." Bruce rubs the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Tell ya what. Tell us everything you know, and if we can rid of Miss Blossum, we'll gut ya like a frickin' pig. Okay?" Edward: Hmm. Considering Theft's dissonance, wouldn't killing count as the kinder option? Nicole: "Well, yeah, but I think Frizz is starting to get really annoyed." WillGM: that's why he was begging for it. Nicole: "But...if we can't, then we can't." WillGM: ".. you know, it doesn't sound so great when you put it like that... still, jail really sucks when you can't... okay. Here's what I've got." WillGM: "We had the thing's guardians come after us for a while, but whoever our contact was must have had Fate contacts, because he got a Djinn in to come attune to the thing to shake off the Cherubim tracking us. He's gone now, though. We were supposed to meet him in SF. We knew there was a major Tether right up the road, but the Lilim doing the contracts said he was paying pretty well..." WillGM: "...the weird thing was, he called us up again later and demanded a Shedite. He said he'd send a human or two to pick the thing up, and he wanted a Shedite to possess the guy and bring it in. I have no idea why he wanted that, but we added it to the list. It wasn't a priority, though." WillGM: "So we were about to leave and go wait at the place where we were supposed to meet tonight. But then --" he indicates the room -- "this all happened." WillGM: "Where?" Bruce: "Yeah, what he said." WillGM: "You get that when I'm sure you'll keep your promise. I'm loaded down with Bound, it's a stone cold bitch to deVessel. So I really fucking hate jail." Bruce 's jaw muscles visibly tense. "You have my word, you'll get what's owed to you." WillGM: "Hah! I've heard that one from Balseraphs. Listen, human... human, right? You've got that pasty sort of look to you... where I come from, you learn to make damn sure of what you're owed before you shell out for it. So unless you've got a Lilim around here to bind us to contract, or you can get that Seraph out there to listen to all this and agree you're telling me the truth, you're gonna have to do better." Bruce sighs and climbs off the chair, pulling Frizz aside. "Well, what do you want to do? I don't think the love child out there will be very keen on playing lie detector to our promise to kill this guy in cold blood. Tell ya the truth, it's all kinda weird for me right now." WillGM: "Well, I can think of two options. One, I blow the rest of my Essence trying to force my way past the aura and try to sock him, then we ask him and hope he spills the beans before he croaks. The other... well, is it really violence if he's asked us to? She might actually prefer that to socking him with Dissonance. That can get messy in a confined place with a bunch of humans." Bruce: "Ah, well, that's worth a shot. Honesty's always the best policy, eh?" WillGM: Frizz shrugs. "A Seraph would certainly say so." Edward: With a seraph, definitely. Nicole oocly snickers. WillGM: "Hello, I think I'm involved in this conversation..." Bruce shrugs in return. "What the He-- ahem, heck." He turns his attention back to the Thief. "Alright, we'll play it your way. Gimme a minute." WillGM: Frizz talks to the Thief as you turn out, laying his sword across the guy's neck. "Lucky you. Have you a preference of major blood vessel?" Bruce turns to the door, opens it, and strolls casually across to the desk, where he stops, and smiles at the Seraph. "Hey. We need to borrow your special talents for a minute. Our friend in there won't give us the information we need unless we promise to help him avoid a snootful of Dissonance by killing him, and he wants you to vouch that we're being truthful about the whole thing. Sound keen to you?" He tries to smile charmingly, but the effect is spoiled by yellow teeth. WillGM: The lady blinks rapidly. WillGM: "Uh." Bruce: "I feel the same way." WillGM: "He... *wants* you to?" Bruce: "He seems very definite about it, yes." Bruce shrugs. "Ask him yourself, if you'd like." WillGM: "To avoid..." she shakes her head, as if to clear it. "The SFPD is coming here for him. If there's a body, there will be many very bad questions." Maurice: Uh, hey, wait a minute... what abou... what she said. Edward: Better hurry because Frizz might not wait. WillGM: Frizz steps into the doorway. "Actually, I can cover that, if Hallaren doesn't mind me piling on a few more notes of Disturbance. Shackle Boy here can let me possess his Vessel. SFPD can pick him up, and I can drop him a knife from my Scabbard once he's in the jail cell. He can do it himself." WillGM: The Magpie shouts out the door, "I can live with that! Well, briefly..." Bruce: "Thereyago. And everyone will be happy. Mostly." WillGM: "Suicide?!? Eeenh..." she loosk very troubled. WillGM: looks, even. WillGM: "I..." she thinks, biting her lip. WillGM: She looks at Bruce. "You say you need information he won't give up unless you promise." Bruce nods. "I'm not very happy with the idea either." WillGM: She strides in and looks Frizz in the eye. "Say it." WillGM: "If he truthfully gives us the time and meeting place, I promise to possess his Vessel, take him to jail, and drop him off there with a knife." WillGM: The lady turns to the Magpie. "He is telling the truth as he intends it." WillGM: "How do I know you are?" WillGM: "Because I didn't just shudder in psychic pain! Now tell them!" WillGM: The Thief coughs. "Right. St. Brigit's. Later this evening. I really don't know eactly when." WillGM: "Truth." Bruce nods, starting to grin slightly. "Good enough." WillGM: The squirrel hops out of Nicole's lap. "Gotta dump the squirrel for a moment. Need some extra space. Feed him a snack or something, will ya?" WillGM: Frizz pops his neck, then puts his hand on the Thief's shoulder. "Drop your defenses." The Thief closes his eyes and waits. Frizz disappears -- to the usual Disturbance -- and swirls into the Vessel. WillGM: Ed, you see a brief shimmer about the squirrel, which heads off in some noncorporeal direction. Nicole nods, and goes digging for a granola bar or something. WillGM: The Magpie's eyes open. "Yuck. Demonic vessels stink. They feel kind of human, you know, it's just sort of... oily." Edward blinks. ""Frizz? You still in there?" WillGM: The squirrel doesn't answer. WillGM: He does appear to smell Nicole's granola bar, though. Edward: "... guess not. I suppose we should thank the squirrel for being such a gracious, er, Host, though.." Nicole gives the squirrel a bit of the granola bar. Bruce winces with the sour psychic note. After a moment he cracks his eye open. "Great. So.... I don't suppose you have a really dull knife or something suitably unsuitable for cutting?" WillGM: The lady turns to Bruce. "Shame on you! You'll do exactly what you promised to!" WillGM: "Oh goodness no, I keep all my weapons in pristine condition. I did plan, however, to suddenly alert the guards that this fellow had a knife." Bruce holds up his hands. "Hey, we promised a knife. We didn't say that it was gonna be sharp." WillGM: "Look at it this way, dear. We even avoid the violence of suicide. And everything I told you was the technical truth." WillGM: The lady takes a deep breath. "They said working security at a Flowers Tether wasn't the easiest job in the Universe." WillGM: Her ear quirks. "SFPD's here." She produces a key and unlocks the cuffs from the chair, leading Frizz outside. WillGM: You three outside see the SFPD pull up to the bungalow and head inside. Nicole throws another bit of granola bar to the squirrel. Bruce waits a few minutes while the local police do their thing, does any necessary paperwork to sign out and then heads for the car. Edward looks over there for a moment, then goes back to studying the squirrel WillGM: The police pile the Magpie's body into a car and drive off. WillGM: "... odd. Mr. Whitechurch is outside without our Kyriotate friend." Maurice: Pile sounds like it was in multiple pieces. WillGM: fold, push, guide. Put. :^) WillGM: Ed: You've also noticed, from the bungalow, the Disturbance you've come to associate with a Vessel appearing or disappearing. Bruce finds his way to the rest of The Gang. "Frizz caught another ride," he says, nodding at the receding police cruiser. "I'll explain in a bit. Any of you been on a stakeout before?" Edward: *nod* Edward nods. "Informally, but yeah. Where?" Nicole: "Nope." Nicole throws another little bit of granola bar at the squirrel. WillGM: The squirrel is apparently enjoying them immensely. Nicole: "Why a stakeout?" Bruce: "St. Brigit's. Our quick-fingered friend and his crew are supposed to meet with their contact some time tonight. No description and no definite time." Edward: "Wonderful. Do we alert their staff as well?" Nicole tosses another bit of granola bar to the squirrel friend, and then flexes her right hand again. WillGM: "Of what? That a major relic of the Eastern Orthodox Church -- and, by chance, the entire Christian faith -- is going to be traded among thieves, demons, and God knows who else someone on their premises tonight?" WillGM: *blink* "My goodness. I beg your pardon. That was uncharacteristically abrupt of me." Bruce slaps Liriel on the back. "I was thinkin' the same thing." Bruce: "If this were Philly I could just flash my badge and tell 'em to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious, but I'm a wee bit outside of my jurisdiction." Nicole: "Just a bit, yes." Nicole smiles. Edward: ".. d'oh, sorry. I thought Birgit's was the tether. My bad." WillGM: "Can you tell us anything about who we're facing? How many, what kinds?" Bruce recounts everything the interrogation session revealed, which is unfortunately lacking on that sort of specific detail. "So all we've /really/ gained is that we know the Skull hasn't changed hands yet, and where it will happen. Possibly we'll be dealing with a Shedite and whoever the rest of the Magpie's crew is. It's all really still a big question mark. But we know for certain that Fate is involved somehow now." WillGM makes an IQ roll... [snip game-relevant /msg'ing] WillGM: "The Shedite? Not one of the ones they were expecting here?" Bruce slaps his forehead. "You're right! Okay, count them out." He drums his fingers on his temple. "And... right. All but two of the Thief's crew were taken into custody." WillGM: "So that leaves us with two... but also whoever they're meeting. And our Laurentian is busy. So should we call for reinforcements? Ellis and Fearless, that is." Edward nods. Bruce: "Their contact should be human. The Shedite was supposed to possess him for whatever reason. But yeah, we should call 'em in." Bruce needs to stop killing brain cells with his rotgut. Might help his recall. ;) WillGM: This is the point where somebody gives Aris the entry back in to the game, guys. :^) Nicole: Oh, doh! Ellis: What? Nicole throws another piece of granola to the squirrel and goes rummaging for her cellphone. WillGM: Aris: your character has been off with Fearless doing background research while you were unable to make game. WillGM: You had an interesting encounter at the local diocese, who thought they were expecting you, but were wrong. :^) Nicole finds her cellphone, and punches up Greg's number. "Okay, what do you want me to tell 'em?" Edward: "Everything we've learned, so far?" Ellis: "Hello?" Nicole: "Hey, Greg. Umm..." Nicole: "We need your help." Nicole: "Y'see, we found where that skull might be, but Frizz is kinda busy..." Ellis: "Ah?" Ellis: "So is this an information problem or a personnel problem?" WillGM: I need to take five. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic: major christian relic needs saving. WillGM: back Bruce stands aside with another cigarette as Nicole makes the call, watching the squirrel. "I'm sure Frizz will catch up... wonder if we should bring his rat." *** CTCP PING 1078036936 920896 from Edward replied WillGM: "The ra- I mean, the squirrel isn't his. He knows where we will be going; I expect he will try to meet us there, though there is a probability he will return here, in either case in his own Robert Hunter Vessel." Edward nods. Bruce shrugs. Ellis: ... I just realized that I can't be doing this. I can't commit to this campaign and it's unfair for you guys to have me flaking out all the time. *** Ellis has left channel #gurps WillGM: Well. I'll... have to think of something to do about that. Nicole isn't one hundred percent here either right now. :P WillGM: It's getting near 2am anyway. Call it for the night? Nicole: yeah, prolly best. WillGM: Okay. WillGM: ----------------------- Session End -------------------------