Finally sitting down and getting this written. I have been busy with real life stuff (that being my speak for playing computer games) but I promised to get this updated before the next session and I will! The night was very, very fun and interesting. Not much action but lots of deals. To put it in proper Vegas terminology: The hand has been dealt. Now to see who raises, calls, folds, or bluffs.
It's summer in Sin City and it's not only the temperature that's heating up. Political turmoil is in full swing and it's getting harder to tell friend from foe. Under the table deals are being made and trust has, indeed, become a rare commodity.
The next evening came. Neil was still hiding out in Brandon's basement. Brandon and Skip were enjoying their stay at the Luxor. Shade had another Board meeting to attend. After all the members showed, Locke told everyone that he had spoken to the White Council and knew some of the details about what happened. The White Council had won the war. A certain wizard by the name of Dresden had enacted a blood curse on the Red Court and wiped it out completely. Everyone was pretty well stunned. That amount of power was almost unheard of. Locke then brought up the empty Board seat. A couple of suggestions were thrown out. Shade put out the idea of a pure human, someone with no supernatural power at all who would represent the mortal element of Vegas. A couple of Board members seemed receptive to the idea. Alas, Locke wasn't one of them. He basically shot her down and announced that he had his own candidate in mind (At that point, Shade kept quiet. Once he said that, she knew the seat would go to whomever Locke wanted and she didn't see the point of fighting a battle she didn't have a chance in hell of winning. At least right at that moment). Next on the agenda was what to do about Dresden. There was talk of killing him. Paranoia reigned supreme. Shade had to point out that the attack hadn't been against the Baron personally and she didn't think Dresden would be showing up to get them all. She said that if Dresden showed up in Vegas, he should be dealt with. Barring that, let the White Council deal with the problem. The Board voted to ban Dresden from Vegas. Business being finished, the meeting ended.
As Shade headed out, Locke asked her to give a message to Brandon- The danger was over and they needed to get out. He didn't want any freeloaders around. Shade went to Brandon and Skip's room and delivered the message, which really pissed Brandon off. Really, really pissed him off. She also left a message for Neil telling him that the danger was over and he could go home. Done with that, Shade went to have a drink at Legends and then headed home for some much needed sleep. After Neil listened to Shade's voicemail, he headed home. Opening his door, he noticed a card that had been slipped under it. It was the ace of spades and it had an address and a time on it. Thinking it was a threat, Neil left for a very public place. Brandon (still pissed as hell) found a similar card slipped under his door. He reacted quite differently. He threw the card out onto his lawn.
The next day started early for Neil. He called Wyatt and asked if it was possible for him to see who had sent the card. Wyatt wasn't sure if he could do that and told Neil to meet him on his lunch break. At noon, Neil brought the card and a sandwich for Wyatt. Wyatt was unable to tell who had handled it. However, he was able to tell where the rest of deck was located. It was the address on the back. Neil thanked Wyatt and left to check it out.
Getting there, Neil saw that it appeared to be an empty lot. Driving past it a couple of times, he lobbed his cigarette into the lot and watched as it seemed to disappear. He parked his car and got out to look things over. Reaching the point where his cigarette had disappeared, he tossed a rock. It too vanished. He knew something was off and tried a few more experiments. They involved a hollow tube, using his phone to try and get a picture of what was on the other side, and sticking his finger through. The whole time Neil was being watched by some of the neighborhood's retirees. He was probably the most amusing thing they had seen in months. Deciding what the hell, he stepped through. Inside the veil, it was dark. There was also an old, rundown house. Neil first checked the front and back doors. They were locked and he was not able to jimmy them open. Next, he checked the windows. No luck there. They too were locked. After trying kick the door in and failing (I swear, we have the worst luck with doors in any game we play. I can think of five different times we have tried to kick one in and we have never succeeded), he simply broke a window and entered the house. It was dusty and the furnishings looked old. He opened the fridge and saw it was filled with blood. It also contained some fruit, of which he took an apple. Searching the rest of the first floor, he found a drawer full of cards, many different decks. Satisfied, Neil left his version of a calling card. He placed a poker hand neatly on the table and put his apple core and a business card with it. He did sweep up the broken glass before leaving (say what you want about Neil, at least he is polite when he does something illegal). His last act before driving away was to phone in an anonymous tip about a drug deal and murder taking place at the address of the lot.
Shade's day started early as well. Max called her and asked if he could see her that night to talk- business, not personal. She said that was fine. Her morning was spent tattooing a few people, one of which was a "special" design. With nothing to lose, she asked the gentleman if he knew anyone in the mortal community who was in the know about the Supernatural element. Someone who stood out a bit. It took some doing but she got an answer. The guy gave her Neil's card. Not what she wanted (of course she could have hired Neil to find who she needed but she really wants to do this on her own). After a bit of thinking, a name came to her- Sal Fredricks. She went to the restaurant where he did business and asked to see him. The meeting did not go well. After telling Sal who she was and what she needed, he asked how much it would be worth to her. Not having the funds to pay him off, Shade told him so and bid him goodbye (Frankly, if he was too stupid to see the advantages to having a Board member owe him a favor, Shade didn't want to deal with him). Back at her shop, Shade worked until Max showed up. What he wanted to talk about was interesting, to say the least. He first brought up the possibility of an alliance between the Autumn Court and himself. Shade agreed that could be possible but she would have to talk it over with Philip. Then he asked her if she would vote for his taking the open seat on the Board. That surprised Shade. Max was an outsider and part of the Mob. Both of which were not really welcome in Vegas. She told him that she was working on getting a human in that seat. However, if a candidate she felt was better suited didn't get put out there, she would support his bid. Satisfied, Max left.
Brandon's day was normal. He was still angry as hell over what Locke said. He vowed, that after everything he had done for Vegas, everyone could go and fuck themselves if they needed help. His day finally ended and he headed home. Once again, he found an ace of spades slipped under his door. Once again, he flipped it onto his lawn. Deciding that a bit of magic was in order, he called Skip. The two of then spent the rest of the evening fashioning a ward. Brandon wanted to keep everyone but himself and Skip out of his house (they set the ward to keep everyone but those wearing a special amulet out). It took awhile but they got the spell set. Skip amused himself by taking his amulet off and on and trying to get through the door.
After breaking and entering, Neil went on a shopping spree. He knew that whomever had sent the card was a vampire and he wanted to load up on vampire killing tools. His first stop was to a store to get a couple of stakes. Then he stopped by the church to get them blessed. Then it was off to the gun shop. He wanted something with a bit of firepower. He also wanted some wooden bullets. The clerk seemed a bit taken aback by that. He told Neil that he should go with a shotgun. They spent a bit of time discussing the possibilities. Neil left the shop after putting the order for the gun and with a promise by the clerk to look into the wooden pellets. One last stop was on his list. Before he could get to the store, he noticed that he was being followed by a patrol car. He stopped and asked the officer what the problem was. The cop asked Neil if he had been in such a such neighborhood earlier that day. They had received a tip about a possible murder. They had also received a few calls about a car matching his that was seen in the vicinity. Neil played it cool and denied that he had ever been there. After searching his car, the cops let him go (old, bored retirees will get you every time). Neil went back to his search for a high intensity UV lamp that was portable (he definitely wants every base covered). With his shopping finished, Neil drove back to his place. As he was unlocking his door, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw that it was Mason.
After speaking with Max, Shade left for Legends, hoping Harold was there. He was. She told him that she needed to get to Philip in the Nevernever and asked if he knew an easier way then having to do a ritual. He didn't but he told her to get a hold of Helena. if anyone would know, it was her. Shade called her and asked her about it. Helena said that she could do it but not until the morning. She was catering a huge event. Shade thanked her and said that she would try on her own. Back in her basement, Shade cast the ritual and opened a rift to the Nevernever. Luckily, her point of entry turned out to be in Autumn's land. At the manor, she ran into some pixies. After making them some caramel, they agreed to take her to where Philip was (they also got her to promise to bring candy with her whenever she came to there).
They set off with the pixies leading the way. Entering a maze, Shade was led to the center. She saw Philip kneeling on a dais in the center. He seemed to be communing with something or someone. In front of him were two biers. The mummified remains of Fey were on them. Shade tried to get the pixies to inform Philip that she was there. They refused. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped onto the platform. With the first step, she could feel the power surrounding her. It only took a moment to realize her mistake. With her second step, she could feel the human part of herself being drained away and it being replaced by Fey. It took everything in her to move back to safer ground. She had managed to get Philip's attention however. He looked at her in amazement. No human had ever stepped onto the platform. In the few seconds she had been on the circle, her hair had grown longer, she seemed taller and thinner, and her ears had formed into slight points (Philip kept touching them until Shade told him to cut it out). Philip asked why she had come there. She told him about the Red Court and what Locke had found out. Then she brought up Max's proposal of an alliance. Philip asked if she trusted him. Shade said that she did. Philip nodded and told her to do what she thought was best. Business concluded, Philip opened a portal back to Vegas and Shade went home (one last thing about the whole experience. Shade is going to keep an eye out for any "new" Autumn Fey showing up. Hopefully Philip won't experiment with the whole human into Fey thing but Shade isn't taking any chances. She knows Philip way too well. That will definitely have to be stopped).
Neil turned to face Mason. With a smile, Mason told Neil that he hadn't had an invitation refused in awhile. Realizing the miscommunication, Neil explained that he had taken the card to be a threat and not an invitation. Mason asked Neil if he and Brandon would come to his place for a talk. He then left. Neil called Brandon to find out if he wanted to check out an invisible house. Perplexed but game, Brandon agreed.
They all met up at the empty lot. Looking at it with the Sight, Brandon saw that it seemed to be formed by the despair of ghosts. The three of them walked through the veil. Skip was very impressed. After knocking on the door and being invited in, Mason, Brandon, and Neil went into the sitting room. Skip was sent to the kitchen. Mason started the conversation by telling the two about the Spades and their role in Vegas. He went on to say that in the past few years seven of the Spades had been killed. Not by accidents, by murder. He feared that someone had learned who they were and were wiping them out. Being the Ace, he believed he was being saved for last. He spoke of his distrust and contempt for the Board (he did say that he would have included Shade in the deal but, because of her involvement with the Board, he wasn't sure if she could be trusted. What was worse was that Neil and Brandon didn't stick up for her. Shade would be very hurt if she knew that). They had turned from acting for good of Vegas to being part of the problem. The end shot was that he wanted Brandon and Neil to join the Spades. At first, Brandon flat out refused. Why should he do anything for Vegas when he had been treated like shit (Locke REALLY pissed him off)? Mason assured him that would not be the case if he accepted the job. It took a bit of convincing but Brandon accepted. Neil said that he would have to think about it.
That ended the session and it can only get better. Tomorrow night we will find out what happens next and we cannot wait!
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