Dresden Files Las Vegas- What's fucked up & everything's all right

What a fun and oftentimes funny gaming session. We finally managed to get through the prologue and into the first main story. It took a bit longer then Lana thought, but, as she puts it, no GM plan ever survives contact with the players. In the first part you won't see much of Shade. She was indisposed for a day and half. However, what mischief the boys got into was very entertaining. Here we go!

The game started where it left off, with Brandon. After getting over the surprise of a corpse in his wall, Brandon spent a bit of time studying it. The figure seemed to be tall; the skin looked dried out; and the clothes were ratty looking. Deciding to go through the pockets, Brandon reached out towards the figure only to be stopped by a ward. With a bit of study, he realized he would need help to break it. He first tried Shade's number but had to leave a message when she didn't answer.

Blissfully unaware of how his day was going to end, Neil got up, made his usual stop at the gym, and headed home to dress. He then called and made an appointment with Uri for 5pm that night. He spent the rest of the day making his usual rounds.

Meanwhile, in a Boulder City hotel room, Shade woke up around noon. She was relieved to see Frankie still there. After a bit, she told him she wanted to go get coffee and asked if he wanted anything. Surprisingly, he agreed to let her go and put in an order for coffee and breakfast. He even paid for it. While out, Shade made a phone call to Tawney and asked to speak to Locke. Locke was not available, so Shade let Tawney know that she had found Frankie...alive. She hoped that finding him would be enough to say done to the whole mess but, alas, no. She had to get him to the Luxor and get him on camera. With that good news, Shade headed back to the room. With nothing else to do, Frankie and Shade started talking about Vegas, bosses, and such. The conversation went fairly well. Shade only had to pull the "be nice to me because I am dating your boss" card once.

Growing impatient, Brandon called Shade again. When he still couldn't reach her, he went to her shop and found it closed up. Disappointed, he returned to his place and called Neil.

With it being time for his meeting, Neil headed to Uri's office. After being ushered in, Neil told Mr. White everything about the earlier card game; who and how he was hired. The next topic brought up was Frankie. Uri wanted to know if Neil had any leads. When Neil answered in the negative, Uri called Locke. After a brief conversation, he hung up and invited Neil out for drink. They ended up at the Mirage. After some idle chitchat (and dinner), Uri asked Neil to keep his ear to the ground, listen for gossip, things like that.

With dinner being over, Neil got Brandon's message and called him back. Brandon asked him to come over. After he showed up, the two of them went downstairs, where Neil first saw the hole and then the body. After a bit of back and forth, Neil (reluctantly) poked a stick through the entrance and started to pull out items. In the coat pocket there was a old style whiskey flask. They both noticed the initials WH on it. There was also a rolled up wad of money. It appeared to be US currency but from the turn of the century. A closer examination of the body revealed that before he had been entombed, somebody had beat the hell of him. There were discolored patches on the skin and it felt to Neil that some of the ribs had been broken. The one thing not found on the body was an ID. That left the gun and the holster. They needed to get it out of there but how? After a bit of back and forth, Brandon came up with a stellar plan. It involved both of them going upstairs and having a couple of drinks. Neil thought that a damn fine idea; so they did.

After the liquid courage, they headed back down and back to the body. With a bit of maneuvering, Neil was able to get the gun and holster out. While Brandon took the gun, Neil started to drag the corpse out. To aid in this and to try and keep the body together, he first handcuffed the bodies hands together and slowly dragged him out. There was some resistance at first but with some gentle pulling, they were able to get the job done. With corpse out of the room and settled on the floor, Neil went back into the room to get a good look around. He noticed what looked like painted symbols on the walls but they were too faded by time to really make out. There was also some chairs, bottles, and newspapers dated 1898 in the room. The last item found was a hat. Tucked inside was a folded up piece of parchment. Neil pocketed that and turned to see what was going on in Brandon's basement.

"The motherfucker's moving!" Neil yelped. And sure enough, it was. The face/skin on the body had filled out a bit, becoming more life-like and it was trying to sit up. Staring wide-eyed, the boys watched as the man slowly came to life.  After some time, he was able to talk and introduced himself as Wyatt. Since Wyatt didn't act hostile, the boys introduced themselves right back. Seemingly confused (and who the hell WOULDN'T be?), Wyatt said that the last thing he remembered was the Billy Gang beating the hell out of him. Realizing that they needed help with this, Brandon went upstairs and called the Historical Society. Luck was with him. He was able to get in touch with Patience Mayweather, the lady in the know about the Supernatural in Vegas. After hearing the story, she told Brandon to bring Wyatt down. Not knowing how to explain to Wyatt the changed world, Brandon and Neil simply said things were different and handed him a bottle of whiskey. By the time they called a cab and got to the Historical Society, Wyatt was pretty well toasted.

As they walked up the pathway, Brandon and Neil saw that Patience was waiting for them. Frankly, Wyatt wasn't in the condition to see anything, unless it was in duplicate. The four of them headed into the building. When they got to her office, Patience offered them tea and then started to work. She pulled a map and a couple of overlays out. After asking Brandon where his shop was and using the overlays, she was able to confirm that there had been a convergence of ley lines at his building. Patience's next task was to take the boys to task for not getting Wyatt some clothes. This was a valid point since Wyatt's 100 year old clothes were literally falling off of him in a rather fragrant cascade. Neil went to buy some. While he was gone, Wyatt finally came around. After a bit of questioning by Patience, Wyatt told her and Brandon more of what he could remember. It was mainly that he had been inked by a Shaman, there was a coyote, and that the Shaman wanted something from him. Wyatt wasn't sure what. Patience said that she would look into it for them. With a final admonishment to Brandon and Neil about keeping an eye on Wyatt, Patience ushered the three of them out of the building. After all that, they thought that food would be a good idea.

Back in the motel, the call that Frankie (and Shade!) was waiting for came. Having a really good idea just who (Torelli) would be on the other end, Shade didn't say anything. Frankie answered the phone, and after a few "yeses" and "rights", told Torelli that a girl by the name of Shade was there and claimed to be dating him. Looking peeved at being a message boy, Frankie relayed to Shade from Max that, if they were in fact dating, he would pick her up Saturday night for a date. Shade agreed. With that done, the two of them gathered their things and drove back to Vegas. On the way there, they both realized they were being followed by a car that was coming up too fast. As it tried to run them off the road, Frankie and Shade switched places in the car. Frankie pulled a gun and managed to shoot out one of the tires. The car flipped and exploded into flames. They made it into Vegas without further incident. Finally at the Luxor, Shade breathed a sigh of relief when they made it in and she confirmed that they were in view of a security camera. She turned to go. After a few steps, she heard a sound from behind her. She turned in time to see Frankie fall to the ground, choking as if he was being strangled. Shade turned back around and got the hell out of there.

Epilogue:

The boys spent the next few days getting Wyatt acclimated to his new life. By pawning his gun, Wyatt was able to get set up in a motel. After a bit of time, he managed to get a job in construction. Thinking that the hole in Brandon's basement would be a good place to hide out, Neil brought in carpenters and had a door built in the wall.

A couple of days after the whole Frankie mess, Shade received a call from Tawney with a message from Warden Locke. He wanted to see her. Not liking it much, she reluctantly agreed to a meeting the next evening. Arriving at the Luxor for the meeting, she was ushered into a penthouse suite. The Warden was not what she expected. He appeared to be in his mid 50's and was wearing a nice, but flashy, suit. He also talked...a lot. The end shot of the meeting was that Shade would be considered his "apprentice" for a time. She was not very happy about any of it. Time will tell on just how well this will work out.


A few weeks had passed for the three. It was the night before Halloween and everybody had been invited to a Haunted House event at Circus Circus. It was being staged by a local girl known as Penny Dreadful. Shade knew her from work; she had done some tattoo work for Penny. Getting there early, Shade stopped by and chatted with Penny about the event and some of the guests. A couple of snide remarks were made about Uri and his choice of costume (devil horns...really?). Shade was dressed as Elizabeth Bathory. Brandon was next to arrive dressed in a deep purple zoot suit, complete with feathered fedora. Neil was last to show and wore a simple lab coat. After a bit of mingling, everybody lined up to head into the haunted house.

Inside there were five doors to choose from. Each one led to a different maze. Shade and her best friend Tess decided to brave Nightmareland. The boys chose Sorority Slaughterhouse.

*since it went back and forth between the two groups, I am just going to sum up each experience*

The girls: As they went through the door, Shade and Tess found themselves in the foyer of an old mansion. Groans came from the dark. Up ahead they saw what seemed to be ghost go through an archway. They followed and found themselves in a dark hallway. They soon entered a playroom where they found a creepy child giggling about playing bad with the baby. A crib against the wall held a bloodied, mangled infant. Shade wasn't too affected by anything yet. However, Tess started to get really creeped out. Back in the hallway, they came to another door which led to a macabre version of a circus. With a high-pitched giggle, a child's voice told them to "go to the big top". There seemed to be subtle shadows everywhere in the room, hidden by the fog. The last scare really freaked Tess out. It was the clown Mr. Boomunches. They reached the other side of the room and exited into a hallway.

The boys: Going through the door, the boys looked upon a front porch with Greek letters over the door. Entering the house, they saw a front room covered in blood splatters. A dead cheerleader was lying on the floor, her innards gushing out from the wounds on her chest and stomach. Heading up the stairs and down a hallway, Neil and Brandon heard screams in the distance. Neil felt a fleeting unease. Brandon started to get more then a bit scared. At the end of the hallway, stairs led up to the attic. Inside there was an Iron Maiden dripping blood and rusty manacles hanging from the wall. As they stood there, another group met up with them, including a totally freaked out girl in a sexy Freddy Kruger outfit. Reaching the door to exit the attic, there was the usual last loud sound/scare. The girl and Brandon (now totally scared) clutched each other and let out high-pitched screams. They made it out to the exiting hallway, where they ran into Shade and Tess.

The group headed to the last door. However, the door would not open completely when they tried it. Neil pushed it open and they all got a look at what had been blocking it. It was Mr.Boomunches. Tess let out a scream. Shade knelt down and, when she touched the body, realized that it was not one of the props. The body was real. Shade told Tess to go get Penny. Happy to get out of there, she left. Neil, not wanting to be anywhere near a dead body, left as well. He was not interested in any possible notice from the police. After a bit, Penny showed up. After a bit of swearing, she left to get someone. When she came back, she had a sharp-faced, gaunt, severe looking woman with her. She turned out to be Penny's mother. After making certain that Brandon, Neil, and Shade could be found if needed, she politely asked (told) Brandon and Shade to leave. Before they left, Shade and Brandon did find out the name of the guy killed- David.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Brandon and Neil made the rounds and did a bunch of small-talk. Tess, feeling drained, went home early. Shade went in search of more fun.

Thus ended the gaming session. It was totally fun. I am sure the dead body will come back to haunt (hehe) us next week. Can't wait for it!

Dresden Files Las Vegas- A Storm is Threat'ning

Sunday night has come and gone, and with it, another night of gaming. Before I get into all that happened (and it was quite abit!), a few observations.

Okay, shameless ego stroking of GM's here but it's true. The DF New Orleans game was heavy, heavy, heavy on action. Which was a hell of alot of fun. Let's face it, with the characters I usually play, action is pretty much my religion. Michelle Duchesne is assertive, bold, impulsive, temperamental, and impatient. She'll be reasonable, to a point, and then reason morphs into violence. Fuck her or her friends over and she will find a way to destroy you. She will never back down. That's her personality, upbringing, and genetics. I love playing her. Much of that fun comes from the way Matt runs his game. It's set up so that Michelle and all can literally romp through the city with attitude and guns.

Now with DF Las Vegas, I went a total 180 on my character. Shade is quiet, reserved, thoughtful, even tempered, and fairly patient. Not to say she is a pushover, she isn't. She has a core of steel and can be determined as hell. She just goes about it...quietly. Shade is also much more vulnerable. She isn't very capable of hiding her emotions. She would make a lousy poker player. Violence would be her absolute last resort. She will take big risks but only when she is pushed beyond reason (like being hit with the very real possibility of beheading). I wasn't sure about playing her that way and I was thinking quite seriously of tweaking her more into my comfort level. After last night, not a chance. I am beginning to get a handle on the new character type. And most of that comes from how Lana is running the game. So far social combat is king and looks to remain so. I enjoyed the hell out of playing vulnerable, scared, and more then a bit desperate. It also helped that Lana was VERY forgiving of my frustration when I REALLY wanted to break out of Shade mode and go into Michelle mode to get something done.

With that, it's now time to get on with the night's game.

The day started with Brandon at his shop. When he went in, he heard a very faint scratching noise from the basement. Being a bit curious, he went down to check it out. He was surprised to see an ethereal coyote scratching at one of his walls. Before he could react, the coyote noticed him and loped across the room, disappearing as it moved through the wall.

Shade was up early, having to run a quick errand. She went back to where she was drawn to night before last. When she got there, she opened her Sight to check things out. To put it in movie terms, she was standing on the Sight's equivalent of the yellow brick road. She recognized it as the Vegas ley line and it was huge. It seemed to be a forced convergence of all the power coming into the city and it ran down the length of the Strip. After a bit, she was able to narrow her Sight to look for traces of the creature or Frankie. She didn't find any but that was a good thing. It meant that whatever had been summoned wasn't hugely powerful.

About this time, Neil, who had also gotten up early, showed up at the Mirage and noticed Shade there. Shade noticed him as well. Since her Sight was still up, she was able to see him as he truly was- a slick kid gunslinger, taking on all the best. They chatted a bit and Shade left him to his task. Neil headed into the Mirage and went straight to the 7th floor. Using what he learned from his first visit, he was able to narrow his room choices to two possibilities. Using his charm, he convinced the maid that he had been locked out of his room. Neil can be such a charming bastard. She let him in the first room which turned out to be unoccupied. Pushing his luck just a bit, he laughingly told the maid that he was confused and that his room was actually the second. Being the charming devil he is, he convinced her again to let him in the other room. When inside, he searched the occupants belongings and found that the room was Frankie Spuno's but the room and everything else had been paid for by Max Torelli. By calling down to desk he was able to learn that someone had received the message he had previously left. Needing to report this to Uri, he called and set up an appointment for later that afternoon.

Back at her shop, Shade was setting up to use her powers. She went to work on two temporary tattoos. The first would be fairly complex. It involved relationships, rapport, likability, and getting people to want to help her and she surrounded it all by the Serendipity/Synchronicity Rune to make everything come together just right in her favor. The second was a simple luck tattoo, just to give an added edge. She spent most of the day working on them.

Back at Brandon's shop, he had finally snapped out of his surprise at seeing the coyote and shifted his senses over to see the other world. He was able to see little paw prints heading towards the wall and, in the distance, a coyote loping away. Brandon spent the rest of his afternoon setting up a ward on his shop and dealing with the consequences when it went a bit awry.

The time had come for Neil to meet with Uri. He got to the office and the receptionist announced him. Neil proceeded to tell Mr White that Torelli had financed Frankie's trip; the room, the ticket, everything. He also let him know that someone had been in the room since Frankie's disappearance. Uri then asked Neil what his impression of Torelli was. He also asked about just how he (Neil) had been invited to the game. Brandon's name was brought up at that moment. Uri wondered how Brandon had found out and been invited to the game. The next suggestion was that Neil look into that and to let Brandon know that Mr. White would just love to have a chat about everything.

With her tattoos ready and in place, Shade headed back to the Mirage. She ended up speaking to a man at the front desk who realized that he would absolutely love to help this wonderful woman surprise her new crush Frankie. She got the room number and headed up. Before getting to the room, she found a house keeper and, while charming her to pieces, was able to steal the pass key card from her cart. She went into Frankie's room and looked around. Not finding what she needed in the bathroom (some hair from his brush), she rummaged through his suitcase and took a pair of socks. Just for fun, she opened her Sight and checked out the room that way. Just then, the door opened and in stepped Torelli. Startled, she looked up at him with the Sight still going. What she saw scared the hell out of her. She saw that, within the Sight, Max had a Third Eye on his forehead and that he seemed to be wearing a priest's outfit with the collar stained red with blood and blood coming off the cuffs. Scared as hell, she quickly shut the Sight down and asked him just what the hell was he. He came into the room and politely asked her to sit down and chat honestly for a bit. Now, intimidated as well as scared, she did...as far away from him as she could be. He asked her why she was in the room and she told him about Frankie, the tattoo, and such. He told her she shouldn't mess with things that didn't concern her and did she want to go out Tuesday night. Her answer was an incredulous no. With all that's going on, until she gets her equilibrium back (and confirms what she suspects about Max), the answer will stay no. She quickly left.

After his talk with Uri, Neil left and realized he needed a bit more information about some things. He headed over to Shade's shop, reaching there just as she got home from the Mirage. She invited him in and asked him what he wanted. He told her he had a question about why a person would have what looks like flames in their eyes. Before answering him, Shade offered him a drink. She certainly needed one and figured that, after he heard what she was going to tell him, he would need one too. Pouring Scotch, Shade started to fill him in to the real Vegas, not the Vegas presented to the tourists. Neil heard about Vampires, Fey, Wizards, and other things. Once again bringing up the flames, Shade told him it was probably a Demon of some sort. Neil drained his glass and Shade poured him another. Just then, Shade noticed Brandon gesturing through the front window. He came in and asked to use the phone to call another cab, since the one he had been in broke down (surprise!). While he made the call, Neil noticed that there was a coyote behind him. Considering all that he had heard just then, he didn't comment about it. Frankly, a coyote almost seemed normal. When everybody finally noticed the coyote, Shade opened the Sight again, got another shock, and promptly fell on her ass. The coyote was huge, looked like it was starving, and seemed to wanting something. The mental stress of Seeing it quickly caused Shade to end the Sight. Before doing so, she noticed that it had cherry blossoms around it's neck. The coyote, not getting what it needed, trotted away, fading out as it went through the wall.

With that excitement over, the boys left. Neil wanted to check the alley for the coyote after it had left. Not finding anything, Neil and Brandon started talking. Neil told Brandon about Uri wanting to talk to him, which just made Brandon oh so happy. Brandon decided that home would be a good place to hide, got into the now waiting cab, and left. Neil headed off to look up some of his contacts. When he found them, he started asking some questions about Uri. He wanted to know his reputation about town, when he got to Vegas, and who were his friends, if any. He was told that Uri had been in Vegas for a number of years and was considered the guy to go to if you had money problems. As for friends and commonly known associates, three names came up. They were Melinda Raith, Robert Mason, and Ezekiel Locke.

Brandon finally made it home, where he got another wonderful surprise. There was a phone message from Melinda Raith, wanting to know why he hadn't gotten in touch with her. The message went on to say that she expected a call from him as soon as possible. Between the coyote, Uri, and Melinda, Brandon decided to call it a bad day and headed for bed. Being a douche bag does bring it's own special brand of karma.

Shade's night wasn't over by a long shot. She headed out to the Luxor to get in touch with a Shaman there by the name of Jeremy Running Mouse...aka Running Mouth. She found him and asked him about the coyote, specifically how to banish it back to where it came from. It took some doing but she did manage to keep him fairly on topic. The conversation ended with him agreeing to help her in return for owing him a favor. She does have veto power over the favor though. Starting to feel a bit desperate about the whole mess, Shade headed back to her shop and casted a locating spell on Frankie. That's why she needed the socks. Eventually, she pinpointed his whereabouts in Boulder City. After asking around a bit, she got a lead to a local motel. After pleading with the desk clerk, she got Frankie's room number. However, the clerk had called the room first and it had spooked him, causing him to flee. Shade got to the car just as Frankie pulled away in his. A brief chase scene later, Shade was able to force him off the road. As she came up to the window, Frankie pulled a gun on her. Talking fast, Shade convinced him not to shoot and to listen. He seemed reassured a bit when she told him that no one else knew where he was. However, he wasn't about to let her leave knowing where he was. Frankly, that was fine with her. She had no intention of letting him out of her sight. Frankie did threaten her a bit but Shade shut that down pretty quick by telling him that she and his boss, Torelli, were dating. They both ended up back at his motel room, where Shade promptly fell asleep.

Neil started his morning by calling the Mirage and being transferred to Torelli's room. After the hello's, he told Max that there were people who were starting to questions the legitimacy of the game that he and the two boys had played. Max seemed interested in this information and told Neil that he would be interested in hearing any other information about that. Neil also let it be known to Max that he should keep him(Neil) in mind if something came up that he could help with. Is Neil playing both sides of the deck?

The game ended where it started. Brandon showed up to his shop that morning, relieved that the ward he had set hadn't been disturbed. As he entered his shop, he once again heard that same scratching noise. Heading back down to the basement, he once again saw the coyote pawing at the same place on the wall. After a bit of time and a communication spell, he was able to talk to the creature. The coyote informed him that there was something in the wall and it needed to come out. That was what it had come here to find. After a bit of digging, Brandon was able open the wall and looked into the space. Inside the small crawl space he saw an emaciated man.

On that cliffhanger, the game ended for the night. It will be a whole week before we find out what happens next. Can't wait!

Viva Las Vegas

First of all, Jay is here and we are gaming again! We chose to play a Dresden game that would be set in Las Vegas. Last Sunday was the first gaming session and things are starting off quite well. In this game, Las Vegas is it's own world, with it's own rules. I won't go too much into that; Lana does a great job of that in her blog. With that being said, on to the characters!

Jason is playing a gentleman by the name of Brandon. Okay, gentleman may not be the word to describe him. A more truthful term would be douche bag...maybe even more truthful would be effing douche bag. He is pretty average in looks, has shoulder length brown hair, and favors jeans and t-shirts. He is a magic user and runs his own magic shop, dealing in both the mundane and not so mundane magical items.

Jay's character is a pure human known as Neil. The best words to describe his persona are slick, charming, and confident. He stands about six feet tall with an average build and favors nice suits. He is a card shark and has a desire to work his way up the power hierarchy in the city.

My character is a focus practitioner known as Shade. She runs her own tattoo shop in the Downtown area. Tattoos are how she makes her living and manifests her power. She is of average height and weight with black hair (dyed) and brown eyes. She is also very, very, very pretty....so I'm vain, sue me, I like to make attractive characters. She sports numerous tattoos; most prominent being a full length sleeve on her right arm.

* I will now invite the guys to send me a more in-depth analysis/description of their characters, if they wish. I will post them here if they do.

When making a character for the Dresdenverse, you have a high concept, a trouble, and aspects. The most interesting seems to be the trouble. Shade's trouble is temptations of power. Not that she has any at this level but...Right now, she is an unnoticed cog in the machinery that is Las Vegas and she likes it that way. She wants to run her business, have fun with friends, date, and enjoy her life. She has done some tattoo work for the higher ups (both Supernatural and mortal) and has seen the way they live. They have political, social, and magical power. They have money and they have influence. They get every whim fulfilled. To her, there is a headiness to all that power. Especially when business is slow and she is trying to make ends meet. There is the lure of just how far up the power chain her ability could take her. Could she really have that penthouse at the Luxor? Could she sit on the Council and help shape the future of the city? Could she walk into a room and have everyone there know and respect her? However, she also has seen the price they pay. There is the constant maneuvering to maintain that level of power. There is the constant looking around, making sure someone isn't going to rise higher, especially at your expense. The lack of a certain freedom. And, yes, even the responsibility that being a Power in the city brings. She isn't sure she wants to sacrifice what she has for that, even with all the perks.

Now, on to the night's session!

The game started with Neil paying Shade a visit at her shop. He had some questions about a tattoo he saw, or rather, a tattoo he saw and then didn't see. He had been playing in a card game with Brandon and a guy named Frankie. He noticed that Frankie had a tattoo that mysteriously disappeared by the end of the game. A few asked questions led to Shade, who explained to him a little bit about what she did and what was the real Las Vegas. After Neil left, another person dropped by. This one was not as welcome as Neil was. She was a true Las Vegas blond...big hair, big jewelry, big (fake) breasts. She had a message from the Warden, as it turned out. Apparently, Frankie had gone missing, possibly dead. This was not good. Killing with magic is greatly frowned upon. As in 'we'll behead you' frowned upon. Per the Warden's suggestion, ie order, she was told to find out what happened. After she left, Shade looked the tattoo she made for Frankie over and saw that is was not just an enhancement. It might have summoned a spirit to possess him.

Meanwhile, Brandon was in his shop when a big guy comes in. After a bit of conversation, the guy (named Max Torelli) brought up a card game. Brandon suggested they head to the back to continue the conversation. In back, Max expanded on what he wanted. He wanted to make an impression on/send a message to Someone. He needed to win and, to make sure that happened, he needed a ringer. He had heard about Brandon from a friend. He also asked about the possibility of Brandon knowing someone else who would fit what he needed. The deal was sweetened when Max told Brandon that he and whomever could split the pot. Money wasn't important. Brandon agreed to play and told Max he would get in touch with the other player. Max gave him the address and time for the game and then left.

After Max, Brandon had a visit from Shade. Since both need to find people, they head out. At a local hot dog vendor, both find what they need. Shade learned that Frankie was hanging out with a Max Torelli at the Mirage and Brandon found Neil. Shade left the boys to talk business. Brandon told Neil about the game and what they would be doing. It sounded good, especially the money part, to Neil and they decided they would do it. Having come to that decision, they went to get something to eat and then headed to the Luxor where the game was being played.

Meanwhile, Shade headed over to the Mirage and spotted a likely candidate for Max. She went over and introduced herself. He seemed impressed that she had the balls to just come up to the table. He invited her to sit down, which she did. Shade asked if he knew a Frankie; he said he didn't. He then started asking questions about her tattoos. She chatted about them for awhile. The conversation ended with Max asking her out on a date for the next night. She agreed to dinner at a local lounge called Book and Stage.

Getting to the Luxor a bit early, Brandon and Neil had the opportunity to size up the other players. Two instantly stood out. One was a gentleman (Uriel White) wearing a black suit who was with an exceptionally attractive female (Melinda). Neil and Brandon began to mingle with the crowd, getting a feel for the other players. Neil ended up near Uri and introduced himself. As he did, he could have sworn that he saw red in his eyes. They made small talk, mainly about suits. Brandon found himself talking with Melinda. When he touched her, he realized that she was a succubus. They started talking and social combat ensued. Melinda asked Brandon about how he heard of the game, who gave Neil and him their stake. Brandon did his best but he was no match for her seductive ways. He eventually spilled everything to her. Then, the game began! The first few rounds were spent assessing the skill level and tells of the seven players. After a couple of rounds, two of the players were out. That left Uri, Brandon, Neil, and one other player. Eventually, through social combat and much aspect placing, Uri was taken out. The end shot was that Brandon won the game but he was helped with that by Neil throwing the game his way a bit. Afterwards, Neil and Brandon split the 70,000$ pot and went their separate ways.

Shade's night wasn't quite as interesting. She was having dinner at Snick's when her vision blurred and she briefly sensed something. It had a sense of capriciousness or manic glee about it. She also saw an image of the Strip. She headed out and eventually matched the neon lights to what she saw in her vision. While in the area, she came across an eviscerated pigeon and felt an echo from the Nevernever. Needing information, she headed to Legends, a piano bar where a Fey friend of hers worked. She asked if he would find someone to help her identify just what the creature was and how to get rid of it.

The next day Brandon, flush with cash, went car shopping. The rest of his day was spent doing his usual thing, working.

Neil started his day putting out the word that he has a stake and is looking for a game. He also spent some time asking about Frankie. While asking, a guy came up to him and told Neil he thought the Frankie had a room at the Mirage. So, Neil headed straight over there. Using his charm, and some cash, he found out that Frankie had a room on the seventh floor.

Shade spent her day at the shop, working. She closed a bit early and, dressing up a bit, headed out to meet Max for their date. They had a pleasant evening together. However, once again, Max denied knowing Frankie when she asked him. He also offered her help with her problem but Shade politely declined. The date ended with Max taking Shade home. Other then the Frankie subterfuge, he was a perfect gentleman.

Neil's night was a bit more dangerous, at least it seemed so at first. He had gone back to the Mirage and was talking to the kitchen staff, trying to pin down Frankie's room. After, he headed out front where two guys he had noticed earlier approached him. They asked him to go with them. He did so and they drove him to the Luxor. Can you guess just where he ended up? Yep, he was shown into where the game took place. Uri was there. A few different topics were brought up, among the Torelli and Frankie. Uri asked Neil to look into the disappearance of Frankie. Apparently, a certain young lady did a very bad thing and it involved the tattoo (take one guess who he means).

Thus ended the first gaming session. Much more social combat in this game then the New Orleans game. It will be very interesting to see how it goes. Cannot wait for this Sunday!

Dresden recap...continued

  The game picked up at the start of Mardi Gras. The big news was the appearance of Adam's new son Ian. Of course Sharee and Michelle knew the baby had been kidnapped and used to pay off Sharee's debt. They had no intention of letting the baby stay with Adam. With a bit of searching, Sharee found a story about a kidnapped baby from a nearby town. She also did some research on Tommy's birth family. She came up with three leads. When Michelle and Sharee went to check them out, they quickly figured out the first wasn't it. The second address, however proved to more promising. The door was answered by an old, dirty, and broken down man who looked just like Tommy. Later, we learned that Tommy's birth mother had committed suicide on the one year anniversary of his disappearance. Bittersweet success, at best.

 Jack had problems of his own. In his new role as Warden, he had come across and captured a 17 year old Warlock. Not wanting to kill him, Jack set up a meeting with Merlin. After a few days, the meeting took place. Jack argued that, with the war going on between the Wizards and the Red Court, any potential Wizard should be allowed to live. He got the Merlin to agree, with conditions. Jack could take him as an apprentice but if shit went wrong, Jack's life would be forfeit along with the kid's. Not wanting to chance it, Jack fulfilled his Warden duty and beheaded the Warlock.

 Not being left out of the fun, Davi received an email from a friend. That friend was Timmy and he wanted Davi to meet him at a hotel. Timmy was the person Davi had asked for help in researching the coin. Since then, he had the feeling he was being watched, that something was after him. After a bit of conversation, Davi decided the best place for Timmy would be with him. As they left the hotel, Davi noticed a guy watching them but could only get a vague idea of what he looked like.

 Eventually that evening, everyone ended up at Davi's place. Sharee and Jack had come to do some heavy duty protection magic. As a further precaution, Michelle used her power and saw that Timmy was bugged with...something. While Jack took care of the tracking device, Davi noticed that he had a visitor outside. Michelle followed him and tried using KTS but was shut down rather firmly. The visitor turned out to be Longinus, another demon coin holder that Davi had dealt with before. Once the tracking device and the visitor had been dealt with, everyone figured sleep would be a good idea. Everyone but Davi, that is.

 Because the group still had to get baby Ian away from Adam, Davi figured to do some recognizance work. He went to Adam's house to scope it out and ran into a problem. A female problem that was hellbent on seducing him. When that didn't work, the resulting uproar caught the attention of Adam. Not believing Davi's cover story of lawn maintenance, Adam told him to leave...NOW. More insults were exchanged and weapons were drawn. Luckily, a fight was avoided and Davi casually left.

 Backing up a bit, earlier in the week, each member of the group had received an invite to a special event. There was going to be a Ball celebrating the elevation of Henry Raith to the position of Duke. The invites had been delivered by his son, Ben. The day after Davi's visit to Adam was that day. The boys decided not to go. Michelle and her plus one, Blue (they AREN'T dating), and Sharee went. Seeing Adam there, Michelle went over to distract him while Sharee went and called the guys, letting them know that it would be a good time to do some more checking on Adam's place. After that the girls mingled and kept an eye on Adam.

 The boys headed to the Manor. Courtesy of a Veil Spell, they managed to sneak up to the house. After a bit of help from the Divine and Davi, Jack was able to see into a second story room that turned out to be Ian's bedroom. He also saw a guard, a Gruff. Using magic, Jack managed to distract the Gruff long enough to get into the room and grab the baby. While trying to get Ian out, the Gruff came back. The Gruff made a panicked phone call at that point. Because of the alerted Gruff, Jack simply jumped to the ground and both of them, with baby, ran like hell for Davi's van. Jack was tackled by the Gruff, losing baby Ian. Davi simply scooped him up and kept running. After a bit of a fight, Jack was able to pull his gun and put a bullet into the Gruff's head. They headed to one place they would be safe, Michelle's shop.

 Back at the Ball, Michelle saw Adam answer his phone. His look of rage was unmistakable. Quickly finding Sharee, Michelle told her to distract him. Not being able to reach him before he got to his car, Sharee used her magic to disable it. However, Adam just went into the Nevernever. As she waited for Sharee, Michelle got a call from Jack. He filled her in on what happened and where they were.

 At the shop, Michelle called Lucas to help with the baby. They agreed it would be best to split up. The girls went to a coffee shop to draw out anyone watching them, which there was. The boys headed to the nearby Catholic Church, where they handed Ian off to the priest and then went home. The night ended with a bit of drama. Michelle had heard snuffling outside her house during the early hours, as had Jack, and Davi had found a dead gang member on his doorstep.

 The next day Michelle closed early and sent Sharee out to enjoy Mardi Gras, which she did with Thomas. While she showed him the sights, Sharee was visited by Ben Raith and a friend of Adam's...a pink hued talking cat. She wasn't the only one. Jack, while at the pound looking for a puppy, also talked with the cat, who let Jack know it had found what it was looking for. Davi's visit consisted of the cat showing up at his house and Davi shooting it through a window.

 Before the shooting, Davi had been tightening security at his house when Tbone showed up, babbling about Bourbon street and monsters. Armed to the teeth, he soon found it was a ruse to let Tbone ogle bare breasts. While there, they ran into Michelle and talked about the night visitor. Tbone stayed with Michelle, who then ran into Sharee and Thomas. Michelle mentioned the tall man and Sharee told her about the talking cat. They then parted, Michelle and Tbone to enjoy Temptations; Sharee and Thomas off to her place.

 Jack, who was also on Bourbon street with his new puppy, was able to find a female for some fun and games. Enjoying a post sex dip in the hot tub, Jack was surprised when his lady friend turned the water to ice and Adam turned up. After freeing Jack, the two of them had a bit of conversation about Ian and one hell of a fight. Jack was able to trap Adam in his dagger, accidentally freeing his insane mentor's soul. With the room on fire, Jack passed out from his wounds.

 Sharee's night wasn't going great either. After telling Thomas that magic was real and conjuring up flame, she dropped the whole being adopted, ie kidnapped and Fey on him. He stormed out. While dealing with that, Sharee got a call from Davi. Weststone had dropped by to let Davi know that Jack was in the hospital. Due to a discharged gun, cops, and search warrant, he couldn't leave. Eventually finding a drunk Michelle at Temptations, the three of them (Sharee, Michelle, and Blue) headed to the hospital. Davi had showed up there, in the meantime, and they found out Jack would be okay.

 The next day, Michelle woke and headed to the hospital, thanks to Ben Raith. During the ride, Michelle suggested that Ben apologize to Sharee and told him to set up a meeting between his father (Henry) and herself. He agreed to both. Getting to the hospital, Michelle ran into Blue. The two of them got Jack the hell out of there and to Davi's house. Michelle also learned about Adam being in the dagger, or is he? Jaboo told Jack that Adam wasn't in there and that he tasted good. After everyone had left, Weststone showed up for a visit, asking what happened. Jack gave him the abbreviated version and then Weststone told Jack about a slight upsurge in the use of black magic in the area.

 Sharee started her day at home. She lured Puck into a trap. After a bribe of chocolates, she leaned that it was all over the Nevernever that Jack had killed Adam. She promised him a special cake if he would investigate this. He agreed. She then left for work, where she found everyone abuzz about the new owner, Eve, who happened to be the sister of Adam. While she was there, Michelle and Lucas stopped by for lunch. He wanted her to check out a few very unusual deaths that had happened. She told Lucas to get her the files and they would check it out. After they left, Sharee got a visit from Puck. He had found Thomas in the Nevernever, where he was getting schooled in who and what he was. Sharee took him to get his cake and asked him to find Vincent for her. For the extra treat of a pizza, Puck agreed.

 After the conversation with Lucas, Michelle headed to work where she found Duke Henry waiting for her. The talk went well. She told him that because of the target he had painted on her and her friends, he owed them. She wanted all information about Arthur and the rest of the Skavis Clan and for him to tighten his control over the police. Between Skavis, the ghuls, the rogue BCV, and the  Red Court, the body count was going to spike in the near future. He agreed to all and informed her that, per his orders, she was not to be touched or messed with it. She got that to extend to all members of the group. Still wanting to enjoy Mardi Gras, Michelle headed out to the streets. Using her KTS, she saw an odd sight. She saw a human with another human superimposed in him. Tbone said that person had a ghost in him.

 The next day, Jack went in search of his belongings that had been taken from him when he was rescued from the fire. He got everything but his dagger. He went back to the hotel room, thinking it might be there but all he found was Him (his puppy). After casting a locate spell, Jack was led to an underpass, where he was attacked by two Renfields.

 That same morning, Sharee wrote and sent off an apology to Thomas. She then headed out to the shop. getting there, she went in back to work on some potions. In the front, Michelle noticed a customer, who she recognized as Eli. Just then, she heard Tbones scared voice asking for help. Not seeing Eli there anymore, Michelle went into the back and told Sharee what happened. Using a summoning spell, Sharee called Tbone to the circle. He appeared, looking bruised, battered, and scared. Before anything could be said, black tendrils started consuming him completely. Realizing that was True Necromancy, Michelle called Jack and asked him to come to the shop. When Jack showed up, he went in back. He confirmed it was Necromancy and it was from Eli. Hearing a customer come in, Michelle went out front. The customer pulled out a shotgun. After a bit of a fight, the three manged to subdue the guy and get him into the circle. They saw he was inhabited by one of the ghosts Michelle had seen earlier. This one had the name Sacred Hills on his clothes.  Just then, the same black tendrils started to come again. After the black goo attacked Sharee as well as the unconscious man, Jack was finally able to banish the black shadow and the man was turned over to the police. Having had enough fun for the evening, the three went their separate ways for the night.

 The next day/night brought even more fun. Michelle and Sharee went to check out the deaths for Lucas. Picking a victim, they went to the crime scene and used a spell to allow them to see back in time. They traced the victim to a point where a man bumped into her. Not unusual, except the man was bundled up completely...in New Orleans...in late Spring. They followed the man to a sewer opening. Going down there as well, they walked until they got to a cavern with a seal on the far wall. It was a circle with four quarters showing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The bottom, where Pestilence was portrayed, was cracked. Knowing this had to do with the Outer Gates, Michelle was "oh fuck". Further exploration was cut short by something coming their way. They got the hell out of there.

 Sharee called Weststone. Even though he was drunk, she went over there anyway. After a bit of time cleaning the house and sobering him up, Sharee was able to tell him what the two of them had found. Offering to buy him a drink, she and Weststone headed out to meet Jack at Temptations.

 Michelle had headed right to Temptations, looking for Martin. When she saw him, they went into an alcove to talk. She told him what she and Sharee had found and asked him if he knew anything about it. He thought he might have something about it in his library. At his place, Martin found the book for her. Even though it would mean her death, she read it. Many years ago, a Warlock came to New Orleans to cause trouble. Thirteen Wizards sacrificed themselves to stop him. They did so by making the seal. It trapped the Warlock away from the city and cut off the connection to the Outer Gates. Originally, the seal was blank. Sixty years ago, it morphed into what Michelle and Sharee saw.