Remember when I wrote last week that things were going to get very bad, very fast? Well, they did. It only took about twelve hours for things to go from "we got this shit handled" to "this shit's gone way too far". To be fair, it was mainly due to Shade. Okay, it was all due to Shade...at least the last hour of it. It was an intense scene with the very real possibility of character death but somehow we managed to survive. Now onto the session!
Shade started her day early. She had come up with an idea to distract Philip from his "let's just kill Skavis" mindset and needed to do some research. She went to the library and looked up a few articles on the Freemont Experience. Luckily, she was able to find what she was looking for. Armed with the information, she called Philip. Harold answered and Shade told him that she wanted a meeting with his father. He told her to come to Legends. Philip, Helena, and Harold were there when she arrived. Sitting down, Shade started talking. She told Philip that she had an idea on how to expand his territory, raise his prestige, and hurt Skavis at the same time. North Vegas, Skavis territory, funneled down to a point- the Freemont Experience. She had the names of those behind the Freemont Experience. All Philip had to do was make a few deals and expand his area of influence there and to either side. Doing that would effectively block Skavis from moving into Downtown and the Strip. Shade pointed out that it could also sway some of the Changelings to chose the Fey. Philip seemed impressed (Shade has no combat skills, so she has to use her brain. Shade also has a few more ideas about the whole expanding territory idea but she is saving them for when she needs to distract Philip again).
Brandon and Neil, having spent the night in the basement, had moved onto the Frost problem (Wyatt had fallen asleep). The warded room gave Brandon the beginnings of an idea. Since it was possible to summon and trap small fairies, why not the large ones? The warded room seemed a perfect place for that. They decided to experiment with it. They threw a piece of paper into the room and Brandon tried to burn it. The spell stopped at the ward. A stronger spell was also unable to get through. Thinking some sort of conduit might work, they placed a stick on the ground- half in the room and half in the basement. Brandon cast his spell through the stick but it was once again stopped at the door. However, Brandon felt something, like there was a hole in there somewhere. That something, a specific something, could get through. Brandon suggested they try Neil. Surprisingly, Neil agreed to the plan. They tried it and it worked. A Summoning spell, channeled through Neil would get Frost in the room. Once in there, she wouldn't be able to get out. It would take quite a bit of power and time to accomplish it though. To make it doable, they would need help. Realizing that, Neil called Shade and left a message on the machine (I think we outdid ourselves in the first 15 minutes of the game with two great ideas).
Shade, finishing up with the Fey, called Neil. He told her they had come up with a plan to deal with Frost and to come over. Getting there, she joined the three men in the basement. Not knowing Wyatt, Shade introduced herself. They shook hands. Feeling his power, Shade asked Brandon and Neil what was up with him. They tried to dance around the subject but Shade wasn't buying it. Finally Brandon explained that Wyatt was like a living directory to Vegas. He could find anybody. That over, Neil and Brandon explained their plan to her. Shade thought it was brilliant. They also told her their idea of getting the Fey involved in the ritual. Hearing that, Shade called Legends and told Harold the three of them needed to speak with Philip. Harold said Philip was still there and to come right over. Once there, Brandon and Neil laid out their plan to Philip and asked about the possibility of getting Spring involved. Philip said it could be possible but that he would need to check out the ward. Back in the basement, Philip tossed a couple of spells at the ward. Even though the second was pretty powerful, he was not able to break through it. Brandon then said something that got Philip's attention. He said that all we had to do was wait for Frost to show back up in Vegas. He had no intention of trying to pull her from the Nevernever, where she currently was. Philip asked how he knew this. Neil and Brandon, both trying to protect Wyatt, tried to convince Philip that he didn't need to know (Wyatt had tried to locate Frost for the boys earlier but said she wasn't in Vegas). A bit of social combat later, they managed to do so (Shade, after a few tries to help, took herself out and escaped to the bathroom. She is learning that divided loyalties can suck. Must come up with a plan to avoid such things in the future).
The meeting over, Shade left for her shop. Neil called Uri and set up a meeting. They made it to Uri's office and headed in. Neil and Brandon gave Uri a brief rundown on the Frost situation. Then Neil asked about security. They needed some protection to do what they had in mind. Uri asked them to specify the nature of the danger. He didn't want to know what the plan was. He just wanted to know the odds of the plan succeeding. Satisfied with their answer, Uri told Neil that a man by the name of Carter would be calling him.
Once the meeting was over, Neil and Brandon split up. Brandon went looking for Jeremy Running Mouse. Finding him at the Luxor, Brandon asked him about the Coyote Trickster God. Jeremy gave him the basics. Brandon went on and told him about his trip out to the desert and how he met up with the old man. Brandon's description of the old man left Jeremy speechless for a minute or two. He told Brandon that who he described sounded like his uncle Charlie. Jeremy warned Brandon away from him; he was a little unbalanced. After promising Jeremy to hang out sometime, Brandon headed home.
Deciding that a bit of Holy intervention wouldn't hurt, Neil headed to church. He was also looking to find Angelica Black. The priest told Neil that Angelica would be back soon and that he could wait. Eventually she showed up. The priest introduced them. After a bit of small talk, Neil pulled out his gloves and asked her about the possibility of making the holy item aspect permanent. She seemed dubious about it. Not about doing it but about finding something like that. She told Neil that she would look into it. As he left, Neil got the expected call from Carter.
After a normal day of work and customers, Shade was hungry. She hadn't been to Snick's for awhile. So, she closed up and headed out for some dinner and girl talk with her best friend Tess, the bar manager. Getting there, Shade learned that Tess hadn't come in. That was not like her. Figuring she was sick, Shade went to Tess's apartment to check on her. As she went to unlock the door, it opened. Inside, Shade called for Tess but got no answer. The apartment showed signs of a struggle and in the bathroom, Shade discovered some spilled blood. She took some with her back to her shop and did a locating ritual. The way pointed to North Vegas. Shade packed up and headed out.
On his way home, Neil got a call from Harold. The meeting between the three and the Fey was a go for tonight. Neil then called Brandon and told him about the meeting. Brandon left for his shop. Neil's next call was to Wyatt. Wyatt, sounding distressed, told Neil that Frost was back in town and that something very bad was going down. There was a chick and a guy like Frost there. They had a young lady and Neil's lady with them and bad things were being done to them. He gave Neil the address. The next call Neil made was to Carter telling him the house number and that it was going down now. His last call was to Brandon. He left a message on the machine telling Brandon the details and to call Shade. Getting to his shop, Brandon got the message. A call to Shade went unanswered. He locked up and headed out but not before leaving a note for the Fey.
Shade was deep in North Vegas territory. The spell led her to a rundown neighborhood. Trying to pinpoint a likely house, she noticed a group of fairly nice cars parked in front of one. Just then, a nondescript van pulled up and she saw some guys jump out. They all had guns. She also saw Neil drive up. He noticed her as well. He gestured for her to come over. She pointed to the house and, getting confirmation from Neil that it was the right one, ran towards it. As she did, Brandon pulled up and met up with Neil.
Shade pulled out the sickle and her gun and ran to the front door. She shot out the lock and kicked the door open (See what I mean by this whole thing being Shade's fault?). Inside she saw Christine and Tess sitting on chairs in the center of the room. Christine was badly bruised, bloody, and pissed as hell. Tess just looked...broken. Whatever had happened to her had broken her completely. Around them, Shade saw five others. One was a tattooed and pierced biker chick (Sly). Frost was there, as was a nicely dressed Fey gentleman. Two Ghouls rounded out the group.
*To make the fight easier to follow, I am going to post it just as I wrote it- in a semi-list form. That way I don't miss anything and it keeps the fight rounds straight. The fight starts from when Shade busted in the door.*
First Round:
Frost, with a sneer, told Shade to give her the sickle and the hostages would be released. Shade retorted for the bitch to come and get it. Sly, a Skavis vampire and Frederick's second in command, echoed Frost's comment. The nicely dressed gentleman (the unknown third Fey) opened his Sight on Shade, assessing her. While all this was going on, Neil and Brandon moved quietly up to the house. The security team, finally in place, opened fire into the house and hit a couple of the Ghouls. Sly hit the ground and Shade took the opportunity to attack her with the sickle, managing to hit her. The Ghouls did not like being shot and attacked the security team.
Second Round:
Sly pulled out a knife and stabbed Shade. Luckily, the cut wasn't too deep. Frost decided to take out the security team. She cast an ice spell, aiming it towards the back of the house. The Fey gentleman just looked about keeping an eye on what was happening. He seemed unconcerned with the ongoing fight. The security team kept shooting. Shade, still fighting with Sly, shot the vampire and hit her. Neil, avoiding the bullets, rushed into the house and moved to the center of the room where Christine and Tess sat. He managed to get them free. Brandon made his grand entrance into the fight by casting a fireball. However, he lost control of his spell and the fallout started the house on fire.
Third Round:
Not liking being shot, Sly tried her mind power on Shade. A feeling of despair washed over Shade but she was able to shrug it off (A little fire and despair wasn't going to stop Shade from taking Sly out!). Frost was NOT happy about the house being on fire and turned her attention to Brandon. She attacked him with a spell. He was able to block the blow with his shield spell. The Fey gentleman, deciding enough was enough, tried to open a way into the Nevernever. His spell failed. The fallout opened a rift but it turned out to be a bad place. There was a flash of light and black flames engulfed the area (Sound familiar? Yep, it was hellfire. He had opened the rift to Uri's territory. Not good for the Winter Fey). The security team continued to fire at and occasionally hit the Ghouls. One of them, Carter, went hand to hand with a Ghoul. Another team member lost his head, literally, when a Ghoul ripped it off. One of the Ghouls was killed. Shade was still intent on taking Sly out. She shot Sly once again and put another bullet into her (Have to say this. I fully expected to die in this fight. Shade has no combat skills. However, the dice gods were on my side. I rolled four +'s, three times...in a row). Sly looked like hell from it all. Brandon tried to take advantage of the Hellfire and cast a spell to try and move the Fey gentleman into the Rift. The Fey was able to block it. Christine got the hell out of the house. Neil had to help Tess. There was no way she could get out on her own.
Fourth Round:
Giving Shade a look loathing, Sly fled from the house. Frost, now fully intent on killing Brandon, pulled her sword and approached him. The blow she delivered was vicious. She stabbed him through the gut and twisted the blade. The Fey gentleman figured that closing the rift would be good. He managed to do so. Carter, still going hand to hand with the remaining Ghoul, blocked an attack and countered with a punch to it's face. Another security guard took a shot at Frost and hit her in the shoulder. Outside, Neil saw Sly leave the house. He picked up one of the security team's weapons and pulled the trigger. He hit her in the back. She fell to the ground but managed to get up and kept on running away. Shade, who had seen the attack on Brandon, moved to him and started to pull him out of the burning house. With the last of his strength, Brandon pulled the sword from Frost's grasp and took it with him. They made it out just as the building collapsed on those still left in there.
Thus ended the night's gaming session. Everyone survived. Well, except for a couple of the security guards. And maybe Frost and the other Fey. The night isn't over for our heroes though. There is still much to do and it could get even worse from here! Let's see. There is a visit to Skavis, a visit to Philip, a visit to Uri, and a visit to the hospital to come. Yep, things can get worse.
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