Yes, I know! I am about a week and some behind but you can blame Diablo. I finally got a couple of characters to level sixty and have been enjoying my now easy romp through the levels. The lure of the yellow drops is just too good to pass up. However, I WILL be completely caught up before gaming next Sunday.
The game started with Brandon. He had just prudently decided to end his interrogation of Fredrick. Already having a bad day, he headed back to the Administration Building. A brief conversation with Drusilla resulted in a call to Daisy, informing her that she would talk with Brandon or lose any chance at an inheritance. Rather quickly, Daisy agreed. Satisfied, Brandon went back to her place. On the way there, Brandon had the misfortune to run into a certain group of people. Before he knew what was happening, he had a microphone shoved into his face. "I am Mitch Mitchell from Truthisodes and I am here about the murder and cover-up!" the man said before he started to pepper Brandon with questions. Brandon declined to talk about why he was there and the murder. Not giving up, Mitch got right into his face. Having had enough, Brandon punched the reporter. Needless to say, Mitch totally played it up for the camera. Brandon was finally able to reach the safety of Daisy's building. Inside, he saw an attractive blond, presumably her, impatiently waiting for him. Introductions were made and they got right down to it. With his usual tact, Brandon started questioning Daisy about her relationship with her father, her brothers, and who she thought was capable of the murder. Daisy, not responding well to douche baggery, answered with a wee bit of hostility. Insults were traded back and forth. At first, douche bag trumped bitch. Then, bitch trumped douche bag.* Eventually Brandon came out ahead. Daisy broke down and told him that she hadn't been in the area the night of the murder and had a motel receipt to prove it. She declined to tell him just who she was with. Satisfied with that, Brandon left.
Neil was on his way to a challenging social combat of his own. Heading over to the housing dorms, he arrived just in time to see a flustered Brandon leave. After being announced, he headed upstairs for his interview with the Happy Donkleberry- aka Duncan. Upon entering the room, Neil saw a middle aged, portly man in the process of packing. In contrast to the twins, Duncan came across as warm, friendly, and a bit simple. He was more than happy to answer questions. After a time, Neil realized that the whole country bumpkin act was just that...an act. There was intelligence hidden there. A long social combat ensued with neither one getting the edge. Had Neil finally met his match? It was close but Neil finally gained the upper hand. Getting on the subject of his father, Duncan was unable to hide his grief. He was also unable to fully hide his fear. However, he had an alibi for the murder. Apparently he had been chatting up a waitress at the casino while the murder was taking place. With a sly look, he ended the interview with the observation that the waitress tasted good.
Shade's day was going a bit more smoothly. She showed up at the Clown College and went in to speak with Drusilla. She didn't take too much notice of the camera crew outside the gates. Reaching Drusilla's office, she was shown right in. She told her that she would need access to the security tapes of the casino and to the key card logs. The key card logs would be easy; the security tapes, not so much. Drusilla told Shade they were in the possession of the police. Shade said that was okay. She could get her proof with magic. That being all she needed, Shade made her goodbyes and left. At the gate, she had the fun of her own run in with Mitch. She managed to ignore him. Next, she called Neil and asked for Mr.White's number. She had to check something out. After getting the number and the address, she called and made an appointment with Yuri. Luckily, he was available fairly soon. Shade headed over right away. Getting there, Christine announced her. Uri came out and ushered her into his office. He offered her a drink and asked Shade why she was there. She told him that Thomas had mentioned talking to him the night of the murder and she just wanted to verify that was so. He said that was true. Shade thanked him for the information and told him that was all she needed. Uri seemed a bit surprised at that and hinted about another reason for her to be there. Not having any idea what he was talking about, Shade just said no, that was it. They made small talk for a bit; then Shade left.
After having lunch, Brandon went to Drusilla's office for a chat. He walked in, and without warning, asked her why she was bothering with this farce when it was her that killed David. Drusilla (and the players...and the GM!) looked shocked. She responded that, if she had killed her brother, she wouldn't have hired anybody to look into it. Brandon retorted that having it looked into would be about the best thing a murderer could do. Social combat turned into mental combat. Before that happened, Brandon was able to hurt her enough socially that she had the aspect of 'appears weak' placed on her. Drusilla easily won the mental combat. With a bit of groveling, Brandon was able to get out of there fairly intact. Will his luck ever run out?
With the interviews done for the time being, Brandon, Neil, and Shade met up at her shop to compare notes. While going over their respective interviews and conclusions, the phone rang. Shade answered it. Drusilla was on the other end. Another murder had taken place. Fredrick (Fizzbow) was the victim. Shade told her that they would be there as soon as possible. Hanging up, she told Brandon and Neil what happened. They headed out and soon reached the college. Getting there, they found Drusilla and the very dead Fizzbow in his classroom. He had been beheaded and his mouth stuffed with garlic. Having an idea, Shade said she had to back to her shop. While she was gone, Brandon used a spell to 'see' what happened through the corpse's eyes. Unfortunately, Fizzbow had been attacked from behind, so Brandon couldn't see the murderer. Neil used the time to investigate around the room. He came across a camera that Fizzbow used to record his routines. It had recorded the murder; but, again the killer's face could not be seen.
By this time Shade had returned with her tattoo gun and ink. She settled in to do a ritual. She tattooed the appropriate symbols around her eyes and cast the spell. As the tattoo faded, she was able to see everything through the killer's eyes. He had climbed over the wall and entered the building through a window. He was able to avoid the cameras in the hall. She 'saw' as the killer came up behind Fizzbow and used a wire to strangle him. The beheading and garlic followed. Leaving, he went by a window and she was able to get a pretty good image of him from his reflection in the glass. Given paper and pencil, Shade sketched the killer's portrait. After that, they went to find Drusilla. She was at the dorm, trying to keep the extended family under control. Shade showed her the picture but Drusilla didn't recognize the guy.
Heading outside, Brandon had an idea on how to find the killer. He had Neil go buy some candy. When he came back with an armload of confections, Brandon placed it on the ground and drew two circles around the lot. He then cast a summoning spell. Soon, a very tiny creature came flying up. The candy proved to be too much of a temptation. The fairy crossed the first circle and triggered the spell. After a bit of negotiating, she (the fairy being female...and a bit of a valley girl) agreed to find the man for the candy. It didn't take long for the fairy to come back with the information. She led Neil, Brandon, and Shade to a boarded up warehouse on the outskirts of town. Assuring them the guy was in there, the fairy claimed her prize and left. The three snuck up to a window and peeked in. The killer was kneeling in the middle of the empty warehouse. A piece of rebar was pressed across his knees and he was reading from the bible. Unfortunately, he was not so engrossed in his reading not to notice he was being watched. Brandon, Shade, and Neil quickly headed to and opened the door. Events happened quickly after that. The killer, holding a gun and the rebar, didn't buy the quickly made story about investing possible squatters. His paranoia was just too great. Things went downhill after that. The killer moved to attack Brandon, who pulled his gun out. Shade tried to hit him with messenger bag but missed. Neil moved the hell out of the way. Brandon attempted to punch the guy but the killer dodged it easily. Swinging the rebar, he kneecapped Brandon, dropping him to the ground. After going down, Brandon passed the gun to Shade. Neil headed towards the bible and threatened to tear it up. The killer paused at this but it didn't stop him. Swinging the rebar again, Brandon was able to block it with a shield spell. Shade moved to Neil's side and told him to get his lighter out. Having had enough, Brandon cast a spell, electrifying the killer. This caused him to drop both his gun and the rebar. Neil tried to get the killer to stop by threatening to burn his bible. The killer said God wouldn't let that happen and turned back to Brandon to finish him off. Shade, not having any other choice, shot him.
Thus ended the fight. Neil called Drusilla and let her know where everyone was. While waiting, reading the killer's journal shed some light on why he had been killing the Malvoras. As a child, the killer had been fed off of by David. A child's fear of clowns and the resulting feeding had scarred him for life. Eventually, he had figured out that David was a vampire and tracked him down. He had also realized that David wasn't the only one. Afte4r a bit, Drusilla and a few other Malvoras showed up. She paid Neil, Shade, and Brandon off and suggested they leave. All three were glad to do so.
The night's gaming session ended there, with us actually winning a fight and beating the bad guy. Yay! The next installment will be up soon and things get crazy!
* For long social combats, I am just going to give the overall feeling and consequences of the conversations. Otherwise, each of these blog entries would be pages long.
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