Dramatis Personae

• Julie Wilms aka The Assistant (Winfred’s Ally): Human, probably. Former covert agent turned convert. Now spends her time assisting, guarding, and herding Winfred. Tagline: “Time to go, Sir.”

Previously . . .

Since she was the harder of the two to locate, most of the group had decided to go set a net for Pokie. No one has actually seen her in quite awhile, despite her age having been around since 1905. It is known that she’s currently in Vegas as she provides her magic abilities to provide services to various people. She’s been a resident in Vegas for the last decade. The various local bigshots in the demigod scene haven’t exactly met her face to face and the most they know is that there’s a single blurry picture of her in the file. She was considered a target of opportunity if the Thule Society could find or get to her, but it’s obvious that she’s hiding her presence via some kind of magic. The only currently known way of getting into contact is through multiple cut outs, her middle men have middle men.

Mob Ties

Ekaterini Tsakalidis, Tercallus, Theroikon, and Winfred Timotheos
The Venetian Resort Las Vegas Chairman Suite
Saturday January 14th, 2012, 2000 hours
3355 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Ekaterini inquires through her mob contacts to see if there’s anyone that has spotted her or find some of her middle men to get into contact with her to help share the magical divination chaff. Ekaterini also asks her employees to keep an eye on the local paper weeklies to see if there’s anything that fits Pokie’s modus operandi for supernatural services.

She manages to get back that there’s a way to set up contact via a website. A fan-site for a rather popular cartoon. Ekaterini and Theroikon agree to send a job offer with Julie setting up some baffles for anonymity. They get an e-mail back instantly with a phone card for long distance calling and a phone number to use with said phone card. The hubs that the phone cards go through aren’t as well monitored by agencies due to the older technology.

The group shove Winfred towards the phone, with Julie being rather angry that she’s being made to jump through all these hoops. The voice that answers has been masked, not by computerized means. There’s nothing remarkable and nothing to really catch on. The voice demands to know what they want and why they’re looking to hire them. Winfred tells the voice that he’s got a couple business associates that are looking for some goods that they’ve got for sale. The sort of goods that kept Pokie hidden for the past couple decades. Demanding his name, the voice is surprised to learn that it’s Winfred, the philanthropist leader of The Friendship Society and she’s a big fan.

He dangles the fact that she hasn’t been as hidden as thought as he’s got a dossier from the Thule Society that she wants to see now. They agree to meet up at the Hello Kitty Café and that she’d know what Winfred looks like on sight, and when asking what she’s wearing, he’s told that it’s business before pleasure. They set out for the café, with Theroikon in mouse form in Ekaterini’s pocket. They leave Kevin, Casey, and Shira to watch over Pat who has been handcuffed to a toilet.

Helllllooooooo Kitty

Ekaterini Tsakalidis, Tercallus, Theroikon, and Winfred Timotheos
Hello Kitty Cafe
Saturday January 14th, 2012, 2100 hours
3784 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

On the way there, they feel like someone is watching them, which Theroikon tries to play off by being a mouse, while Winfred just assumes it’s probably Pokie keeping an eye on them or something. They arrive, with Ekaterini checking out the crowds for Aryan Underwear and the Hello Kitty Café was in full swing at 8pm. The outdoor pop-up café has boogie pop music playing loudly, crowds everywhere, electric lights. Julie hates it.

Winfred, not spotting Pokie, heads up and buys a hat when a woman in a wheelchair rolls up beside them and the occupant offers to buy the hat since they’ve got a membership discount. Winfred demurs saying that he’s got a black card, probably, which Julie hands to him before staring at the person in the wheelchair. Theroikon and Ekaterini both go into the restrooms to change. Ekaterini is now looking like a Japanese schoolgirl hooker hanging out outside the café. Theroikon has changed to his human form.

Pokie is a bit disheartened at the hat that Winfred has bought and tells him to follow her over to a table. Winfred sends Julie to buy two chocolate shakes, rather grumpily, and follows her over where Theroikon and Callum join them with Ekaterini and Julie coming back with milkshakes. Pokie is rather upset at the news about the dossier and how much they know about her, and the fact that she had just set up a domicile.

She knows that they’re both demigods and that’s about it, barely anything about Theroikon or Callum but at least Winfred and Ekaterini are known to her. She’s amused by the pitch for joining up together and wants to know what sort of protect they’re concerned about. There’s nothing that she can do to protect them against the link the Thule has via their blood, but she can use their blood to destroy the blood the Thule has in their possession. They describe the Thule society are sitting around Vegas with Mr. Black and a sexy secretary. Winfred isn’t too happy with the idea of being burned from the inside despite Pokie’s insistence it won’t hurt too much and the warning of what they may do. Pokie chews on her straw in thought.

Ekaterini tries to sell Pokie on the mutual protection society but isn’t able to reassure Pokie that they won’t get into a fight after everything is over. She pushes towards only letting in those with survivor mindsets as an option. She gives an ultimatum that if she’s going to join, she wants the Thule to all die. She doesn’t want to get into reasons why, but the Thule want her really badly and Ekaterini once again pushes the mutual protection aspect. Ekaterini, Callum, and Theroikon agree to this and ask what is needed for the spells, the blood burning and the vetting spell, preferably with the vetting spell being rather open source so others can check it over.

Throughout the conversation, Ekaterini has been altering Winfred’s hat, much to his sadness.

They make further plans around the blood burning and the Thule Society. Asking if the thugs they hired may have also had their blood taken to keep them in line. When asked how long it’d take to get information and how they’d get into contact. Winfred is handed a golden token and is told that she’d be able to track them down via it. Curious, Winfred asks if such a thing is needed, then what is the feeling they’ve been having of being watched. She takes a second and then pulls out a stick of incense and burns it, creating a green spark and informs them that they’d been being scryed upon but their eyes were now burnt out. Giving Winfred a grope under the table, she tosses a few dollars onto the table and then wheels herself off. Julie immediately tells Winfred that she doesn’t trust Pokie.

They’ve got a few choices now, go back to the hotel and clean up around it. Or go and find Arnold Zann in his normal watering hole. They try to figure out what to do about Arnold considering that he’s not too seemingly concerned about his safety. They might not be able to win a bar trick against him or really much else. There’s some question about Callum beating him at darts via stopping time and cheating, but that’d drain him of Aetheric energy quickly. There’s some question about Theroikon arm wrestling him. Majority of the team agree to just head off and wing it, while Theroikon laments his ability to understand bars.

A Son of Ares in Disregard

Ekaterini Tsakalidis, Tercallus, Theroikon, and Winfred Timotheos
The Glass House
Saturday January 14th, 2012, 2200 hours
1116 E Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89104

It’s close to 10pm when they get there, and it’s not as busy as they may have expected, but there’s a lot less glass. It’s still fairly large and in the middle of a shopping center. Normal looking folks are going in and out, not much in the way of bikers or other niche crowds. Ekaterini changes out of her Japanese Schoolgirl outfit and into her persona as Cora before they head in.

It’s a bit smoky inside, which causes Theroikon to sneeze which doesn’t cause much attention getting, before they spot Arnold. He’s a black man with two bottles of booze in front of him, a bottle of bourbon and a bottle of everclear, and he’s hitting both of them. He gives the group a backwards glance from the bar, sizing them up before going back to drinking while Ekaterini gives him a finger wave. Theroikon sits down by himself while Ekaterini looks around for pool tables or something. There’s not many games there, but definitely has got a full kitchen for meals. The group mostly sits at the bar with Winfred sitting down next to Arnold who comments on Winfred’s hat, now back to a chicken hat. When asked what Winfred wants, he mentions maybe a cheeseburger and Arnold calls over the bartender to order.

With the orders in, Winfred slides Arnold’s dossier towards him and speaks with him. Talking to him about pickling himself, and drinking to forget most nights and staying awake the rest of the time. He brings up that the rest of them are putting together a mutual protection society and agrees when Arnold says it wouldn’t work, too many people out for their heads. But wouldn’t he prefer opponents he could see rather than someone that he couldn’t?

Winfred feels Julie tap twice on his shoulder, a sign that something not good is happening. A large amount of skin heads and Aryans in suits have entered the bar. Ekaterini points this out and tries to convince him that this is the reason behind the mutual protection society. Arnold pounds out a drink, and walks over to tell them to get out. A racial slur later, Arnold walks over to the jukebox and starts a fighting song before attacking.

Julie draws a gun and deals a Mozambique drill to a certain center mass, hitting three times and blowing his balls off. Ekaterini causes a wedgie for a Thulian Mage, taking him out for three seconds of extreme discomfort. Theroikon runs forwards and slashes at a Thulian Mage’s throat, ripping through it with two proper swipes. Arnold opens up a can of whooparse, breaking the Thulist’s neck. Callum flips on his temporal power, speeding up his allies and slowing his opponents. One of the Thulian Mages casts a spell on Theroikon, putting him in trouble with a weakening curse while one of the bikers attacks Theroikon who parries and slices his arm in the counter attack and then again crippling another biker’s arm. Several of the bikers head straight for Theroikon while one goes for Callum and Julie. Winfred swirls off his seat and moves towards the tight grouping of Aryans and fires a Pacification Aura, affecting most of their opponents.

Julie fires off several shots, blowing away two more Aryans. Ekaterini throws out a grease spill ability which only a few folks are affected by, though Winfred manages to resist, before Ekaterini then transforms her clothing into protective armor. Arnold snaps two Thulian necks, first a mage and then a biker, with ease. Callum move around the edge of the grease spill, covering his allies with his speed aura and using a corrosive time cone on the mass of people, killing one. The bikers try to move through the grease spill, some falling, some having trouble just moving against Callum’s time aura. Theroikon grabs one of the bikers, lifting him up and throwing him at a group of three, knocking over another two Aryan bikers. Winfred keeps his back to a pillar and does nothing.

Julie somehow draws a grenade from somewhere and throws it at the grouping of bikers, barely catching Theroikon in the blast. Ekaterini dispels the grease spill and draws a pistol at the same time that Arnold snaps another neck. Callum throws out his corrosive time attack, missing the group by the door and hitting the man close to Julie. Several men try to stand up and one just stands there impotently trying to figure out what to do. Theroikon pounces on two people, slicing their necks apart.

Julie takes a moment to zip tie the complete pacifist into a hog-tied position. Ekaterini moves and strikes at one of the bikers with a static touch, causing shock and a mild heart attack, killing the man. Arnold moves and snaps the final biker’s neck, though the biker barely manages to hang onto life. Callum corrodes the biker in Arnold’s hands, killing him and finishing combat in five seconds.

Aftermath

Ekaterini is cleaning the area of most blood spatter and Callum is grabbing items from the corpses and turning them to dust while the bartender is calling the police for all the fighting and damages. Winfred declares that he agrees with the bartender, he’s going to need a police report for insurance reasons while Arnold tells the guy that it’s alright, and paying the guy off before sitting back down and drinking more booze. Most of the group start badgering Arnold about joining them, but only getting a chance when Theroikon mentions that he might die. He finally agrees, but when everything is said and done, he tells them that if he’s still alive after everything is over then he wants them to kill him.

Following the group, Arnold comments that their rented van smells funny. They make plans to hit a liquor store on the way back. Finding Pokie in the parking lot where Arnold and Pokie size each other up before it’s broken up. Pokie says that she needs someone to grab stuff from her van, totes and notebooks and bags. Arnold’s immediate reaction is to start draining the liquor they got from the store once they get inside the room.

After Action Report (GM)

Maybe the Curse of PK’s Revenge is finally on its way out. The PCs got to do a combat and lots of social interaction and managed to bring two other demigods to their cause. Things are getting REALLY interesting. The PCs know the Thule Society is after them now, but have yet to really dig into that. Taking them on is going to result in a nasty combat they might not be able to win if they go head on. They’re going to need to be sneaky about it and right now all their sneaky plans are basically “Nuke them from orbit.” That will draw a LOT of attention and while I won’t stop them from doing that, they’ll have to deal with the consequences afterward. I did enjoy the bar combat scene with the drunkard son of Ares. The PCs reaction were really great and I had fun running it. It wasn’t like B-Team’s first combat: this one wasn’t meant to really challenge them. It was a set piece for the story. Still. It was great.

Other Notes

None.

Soundtrack

“(They Long to Be) Close to You” by Carpenters
“Grazing in the Grass” by the Friends of Distinction (combat song)
“Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler (closing song)