Game was 2/29/20. We had a full house (plus a feral Eldritch Teen) and I think it went well. Unfortunately, due to the week of sick™, I’m putting these notes down over a week later, so I’m worried some bits may be inaccurate.
The exhausted members of the Troy cell are home, asleep, after their Halloween sojourn into the Underworld, escape into Cambridge, and ride home from the mysterious Hakim. William Troy sleeps until about noon, and then forces himself to get up and make brunch to try to stick to his normal sleep schedule. Dr. Amar Ranjip and Detective Polly Wagner take sick days to rest, while Officer Michael McManus is already on sick leave thanks to his busted arm. Josh Troy curls up with his girlfriend, Sin-Eater Abby Henderson, in her room while Leta Mackenzie sleeps next to her demon-rat Veltis, who is the size of a pit bull.
Sin-Eater Anita Perez-Montoya wakes up rudely at 1:00 in the afternoon by her sister Del’s panicked screaming! Anita flies out of bed and down the stairs to see Del rocking back and forth in a fetal position on the couch, staring in horror at the manifested pack totem, The Academitrix of Classical Studies at Smith College for Women! The totem looks perturbed, and Anita realizes Del peed herself in fear. She drags her sister to the bathroom to clean her up, and Del hoarsely demands to know what the fuck is going on. Anita explains, “She’s here to give me a warning. Or to make sure you’re doing your homework.”
Del kicks Anita out of the bathroom, so Anita returns to the living room to find her abuela, Maria Montoya, staring at the totem. Abuela turns to her and demands to know what ghost Anita brought home. Anita replies, “She’s a spirit, not a ghost,” although she immediately registers Abuela doesn’t know the difference. The totem leans in to Anita and whispers, “You do know she is dyslexic, yes?” Anita stops for a second before conceding, “I did not. Abuela, did you know Del has learning problems?”
Abuela glares at her granddaughter and the ‘spirit’ but the Academitrix whispers, “I found something on campus.” Anita nods and introduces The Academitrix to her grandmother; Abuela growls, “So now you’re bringing home gringo ghosts?” Anita retorts, “I can try to bring home non-gringo ghosts if you prefer.” Abuela flips her off; Anita shrugs helplessly to the totem and asks for some time to settle things here and honor religious rites. The totem replies, “Agreed. 3:30 at the usual place.” Anita agrees and the spirit vanishes.
Back in Northampton, William is enjoying his soup and half-sandwich when he looks up and sees The Academitrix in the middle of the kitchen. Assuming she’s here looking for Josh, he states, “He’s not here.” The totem glides over to the clock and reaches inside it. She manipulates the hands to show 3:30 and then using charades explains the others will be here then. William guesses the spirit found new information, and she nods. He asks, “On the news?” and she shakes her head. She resets the clock to show the proper time and then glides away.1) William finishes his lunch and settles down for a second nap.
Josh wakes up as Abby starts seizing in bed next to him! He scrambles to cradle her, and she hisses, “So, interesting news. Petite is afraid of the pack totem.” Josh looks up to see the totem glide into the bedroom; she whispers, “Be at your grandfather’s for 3:30.” Josh nods and asks Abby, “Are you ok?” She replies flatly, “No.” Josh yells a warning to Leta and Veltis as the totem glides through the wall separating the bedrooms. Veltis hears Josh’s warning and mumbles, “Can we call in sick?” Leta grumbles and opens her eyes – to see the Academitrix hovering over her, her face inches from Leta’s! Leta cries out in surprise, but the totem whispers, “I have a lead on the Aegis Kai Doru. Meet at William’s home at 3:30.” Leta wakes up fully and demands to know why they must wait that long, but the totem simply glides away.
Leta grumbles but starts putting on pants. In the other room, Abby whispers, “Petite just slammed into me.” She staggers out of bed and into the living room just as Leta and Veltis walk out of her room. Abby announces, “I want food.” Veltis agrees, but stipulates, “I’m not cooking. We’re going out.” Leta grumbles, “So are you going out as a rat or with the utility kilt?” Veltis immediately manifests a rat-sized utility kilt out of spite.
Veltis then decides, “No, I want fancy today.” Josh jokes, “So you’re paying then?” Veltis snaps, “The amount of times I’ve cooked for you? No, bitch, you’re paying for me.” Veltis waddles off to change and Josh admits, “That’s fair.” A few minutes pass and then Veltis steps out of Leta’s room in human form, wearing a three-piece suit! They all stare at him, and Josh mutters, “I feel like I’m going out to lunch with my lawyer.” Leta eyes Veltis’s clean-shaven face and demands, “Can you grow facial hair?” Veltis frowns and replies, “I guess so. I’ve never cared for it, though.” He then concentrates – and a massive beard bursts from his chin! Leta cries out, “Now you look like ZZ Top!”
As Veltis starts spooling back the beard, Josh muses, “Unky McCool would be so jealous.” Leta stares at him and demands, “You mean McLeod? You call him that?” Josh shrugs and replies, “I met him when I was very young.” Leta snaps, “So what, last year?” Josh doesn’t rise to the bait, and they get dressed and set out for the Green Bean. People stare at Veltis in longing, and Josh admits to himself, “I’m not used to not being the suction cup of attention.” They manage to get a table at the Green Bean quickly thanks to Veltis, and soon are enjoying their meal. As promised, Josh pays for Veltis.
Back in Springfield, Anita cleans up Del’s accident with Abuela’s help, and then Abuela heads to the cellar, still grumbling. Anita asks, “What are you doing down there?” Abuela snaps, “It’s classified,” and keeps going. Anita shrugs and heads to the bathroom to check on Del. Her younger sister stomps out of the bathroom clad only in her shirt and snarls, “This is your fault.” Anita readily admits fault in this case, but points out, “There’s a lot of shit that can show up on the Day of the Dead.” Del demands an explanation of the Academitrix; Anita readily admits, “She’s a spirit of information from Smith College. She was here to inform me to be at the Troys for 3:30. Why, did you want to come?” Del stares at her and then snarls, “Sure.”2)
At 2:45, the sisters get into Anita’s car and she heads for I91 North. Del starts giggling, and Anita eyes her. Del asks, “Did either of us tell Abuela we were leaving?” Anita snorts and admits, “I didn’t. Don’t worry, when she figures out you’re gone, I’ll get a panicked phone call.” Del snorts, and then snaps, “So, what the fuck is Silas Black?” Anita shrugs and admits, “No clue. That’s the question of the hour, to be honest.” Del grumbles but then demands, ‘How can you be on fire?” Anita sighs and admits she died the night of the fire but made a bargain with The Witch, who then brought her back to life.
Anita adds, “She’s been hanging around our family for years. She made the same bargain with our abuelo, actually, and was waiting for you.” Del rears back and yelps, “Me? Why me?” Anita admits, “She thought you were going to do something stupid and die first. However, the fire beat you to it.” She spots The Witch riding in the back seat and adds, “Feel free to chime in anytime.” Del looks at Anita in fear, but The Witch simply holds up both middle fingers in response. Anita grumbles and keeps driving.
Dr. Ranjip is the first to arrive at William’s home, and the changeling doctor is clearly exhausted. William observes wryly, “I see the totem paid you a visit too.” Ranjip nods wearily and replies, “At least this time she had the courtesy to wait until after I was done with the open-heart surgery. Why am I here?” William admits, “She has a lead on the AKD. It’s time to lock it down.” Mick and Polly arrive together next, and Polly jokes, “Remember when we just had to fight over that damned house plant?” William grins and admits, “That was a better time. Now we have to wait until the kids arrive.” Polly looks stricken and groans, “Oh God, we are the adults here.” Dr. Ranjip snaps, “I’m older than the two of you put together!”3)
The rest of the cell arrives, and Anita walks in last with Del. Abby groans softly, “You have got to be kidding me,” but Anita performs introductions, and ends with, “And you already know Hunky Brewster over there,” as she points to Josh. Del actually ignores Josh to stare at Veltis and asks, “So who’s the delicious man-slice?” Leta bristles but Veltis brightens at the compliment. Anita replies, “Oh, right. That’s Veltis. He’s Leta’s demonic familiar. Normally he’s a rat.” Del frowns and ask, “Is he a furry?” Anita blinks in surprise and says, “Not technically, I don’t think.”
Josh interjects, “I know you’ve seen some things already, but how much of the supernatural do you really want to know?” Del retorts, “I was raised on Santeria and Catholic woo-woo. I’m good. What the fuck is Silas Black?” The hunters all chorus, “We don’t know.” The Academitrix suddenly appears behind Del at 3:30 sharp as she turns back to Veltis and demands, “So are you a succubus? Or an incubus?” Veltis shifts to rat form but still wearing the three-piece suit; he replies, “Technically both. There are no genders in Hell.” Del is suddenly aware of the Academitrix behind her and scrambles out of the way.
The Academitrix announces, “I have been searching for the Aegis Kai Doru throughout campus. They had a storehouse at Smith years ago but abandoned it. However, they have something in the parking garage, which they heavily warded. I’ve never ventured there before today, as there is no learning in that building.” The hunters concede the point as she continues, “There is an employee, Violet Silverman, who is an active member of AKD. She is working until 5 o’clock tonight.” That definitely gets Leta’s attention, but the totem adds, “Unfortunately, my other children will not be joining you.” Josh asks quietly, “Silver?” The totem nods and replies, “Correct.” As the other hunters digest this information, the Academitrix glides over to Anita and whispers, “Do you want me to fix her for you?” as she gestures to Del. Anita hesitates and then replies, “Let me get back to you.”
Polly fills William in and summarizes, “We have a name and location.” William points out, “Then we don’t need to rush in right now. We can take our time and investigate.” Mick counters, “Can we? Does the AKD know we’re back? We have the element of surprise for once, and I don’t think we should squander it.” Leta immediately agrees, and William concedes, “Good point.” They discuss the warded space and Polly opines, “They had to have it installed during construction of the garage, which was back around 2001.”
Meanwhile, Josh does what research he can on Violet Silverman, and finds her LinkedIn profile that states she is a parking administrator at the Smith Campus parking garage, employed by Smith Parking Services since 2001. Josh finds her picture and passes all the information along; the hunters see a tall Caucasian woman in her mid-thirties with sharp features, short brown hair, and brown eyes. The cell then heads to their cars; Anita takes Del, Josh, and Mick while William drives Polly, Abby, Dr. Ranjip, and Leta. Veltis curls up on Leta’s shoulder. As Anita follows William, she explains the Smith’s Daughters pack as ‘feminist werewolves.’ Del mumbles, “That is so white,” but Anita replies, “One of them is Puerto Rican.”
Mick leans forward and warns Del, “Do not sass the werewolves. They eat people.” Josh sucks in his breath and Mick looks stricken and immediately adds, “Sorry, Josh.” Anita looks confused, but neither man provides any further details. William parks on West Street near the garage, and Anita does the same thing. They regroup and William admits he didn’t want to park in the garage on the off-chance Ms. Silverman was working the front booth. Del gets elected to walk up to the booth to check it out, as the AKD has no idea who she is. Del complies, grumbling, and enters the garage. A moment later she texts Anita, “She’s not working the front, someone else is.”
Anita shares this with the others, and they cross the street. Josh performs the Moral Support tactic for Leta, Polly, William, and Mick.4) They slip into the garage unnoticed and find Del. It’s about 4 o’clock, so William suggests splitting up and hunting for the warded space, and regrouping in half an hour. The others agree and split off to each take a level in the three-story garage. They avoid the cameras and discover there is a ward in the elevator, masking the key to bring the elevator into a subbasement. They also discover the gates at the bottom of the stairs leading to said subbasement also have similar wards.
The hunters regroup at 4:30 and share their discoveries. They debate their next move, but Del snaps, “Two of you are cops. Just go talk to her!” William counters, “She likely knows what Polly and Mick look like and will bolt.” Del grumbles and the replies, “Then send that one,” as she points to Veltis, “All fancy-like, and have him claim his car was broken into!” Veltis grunts, “That could actually work, but I’ll need backup, and a reason to appear why I’d even be here.” He then brightens and exclaims, “I’ve got it!” He shifts into human form, still wearing the three-piece suit, and reaches into his dimensional pocket – which freaks Del out – and pulls out a gimp suit. He tosses it back in and mutters, “No, that’s not it. It’s in here somewhere.”
Veltis rummages around for a few seconds before announcing, “Aha! Got it!” He pulls out a clothing bag and tosses it to Del. She catches it instinctively and Veltis declares, “Go put that on. You wanted to be involved in this, kid.” Del grumbles but slips into a nearby bathroom and complies. Several minutes later, she exits in a pantsuit with makeup on. Anita stares at her in surprise and Del grumps, “This is so white people clothing.” Anita sighs and mutters, “Siblings.” Veltis shrugs and replies, “I ate mine.” The others eye him, but Leta just accepts it.
Now appearing as a potential Smith student and her guardian, Del and Veltis head for the offices on the third floor while the others position themselves nearby. 5 o’clock passes, and then at 5:05 they hear Del snap, “No, I don’t think you understand!” in her best ‘aggravated white lady’ voice. A split-second later, Violet Silverman steps around the corner saying, “Miss, we have surveillance cameras, I’m sure we can find…” and she trails off when she sees the rest of the cell. Behind her Veltis and Del also go silent, and Violet smiles thinly and addresses the others, “They’re with you, aren’t they?”
Leta nods coldly and Violet continues, “I’ve been expecting you for over a year.” Josh interjects to ask if Konstantin is her supervisor and if he controls the Aegis Kai Doru in Northampton or a larger area. Violet smiles without warmth and says, “He’s… a regional manager. All AKD operations in New England fall under his purview.” Leta demands, “So that includes using the bones of my father?” Violet nods and Leta presses, “So what’s in the basement?” Violet shakes her head and replies, “Not what. Who. I’m under a geas, and I must remain in this garage to guard over the… subject.” She shrugs and says, “Come with me into my office, it’s more comfortable and we can talk freely.”
The hunters hesitate, but reluctantly agree. William stipulates that some people should remain outside the office in case of trouble; Violet shrugs again and doesn’t seem to care. Mick and Dr. Ranjip end up agreeing to keep watch. The others enter Violet’s office, which is fairly large and comfortable, with video screens on all four walls showing scenes of natural landscapes to help Violet forget she works in a concrete box. She takes a seat behind her desk but keeps her hands visible at all times. Once the others settle in, she once again smiles without warmth and asks, “So tell me, have any of you heard of the Maiden’s Blood Sisterhood?”
The others look at her blankly and Del mumbles, “So white.” Violet snorts in apparent agreement before leaning back in her chair. She explains, “The Maiden’s Blood Sisterhood is another hunter organization, based out of the Seven Sisters and they focus on vampires. Back in the 1990s, when the Aegis Kai Doru had a reliquary on campus, we worked with the cell at Smith College to keep the campus safe. Although I concede, we used them as fodder when the need arose. However, in 2001, some sort of spirit/werewolf war broke out, and simultaneously one of their own betrayed her sisters to the Ashwood Abbey. I believe you knew Serena Hubley, yes?”
Anita and Del look lost, but the others nod grimly. Violet continues, “Serena fled to the Abbey, leaving her five ‘sisters’ to die. Maddened spirit-creatures tore apart four of them, and Smith covered it up. The fifth… well, I wouldn’t call it ‘surviving.’ One of the spirits possessed her and Konstantin captured it. He placed it here, in the warded space, and he still uses it for information on the shapeshifters. There’s nothing left of the poor girl, you understand. She’s hollowed out and the spirit-creature is in full control.”
The hunters silently absorb that for several seconds before Josh asks, “So now what?” Violet replies flatly, “Now I go undo the wards and then you kill me.” There is stunned silence after that, and she adds, “How you deal with the creature after I’m gone is your prerogative, of course.” Josh snaps, “Why do you want us to kill you?” Violet reminds him, “Konstantin put me under a geas. I can only leave this garage for an hour, maybe two tops, and only once every few days. But since the bastard bound me to the space, I’d be left guarding an empty room for eternity if you kill it but leave me alive.”
Polly snaps, “But… but why the hell did he do that?” Violet eyes her and replies, “We were a couple, once, but I broke it off. He drugged me and forced me into this geas using a relic. I’ve been trapped here since 2002 and I haven’t aged a day.” The hunters gape at her, and then Josh asks, “What is her name?” Violet looks at him quizzically, and Josh elaborates, “The girl in the basement. What is her name?” Violet blinks in surprise but slowly replies, “Sally… Sally McBride, I think. Sorry, Konstantin has just called her ‘the creature’ for so long I forgot her name. It… she hates the shapeshifters as much as we do.”
Josh keeps his face blank and asks carefully, “Why does the Aegis Kai Doru hate shapeshifters so much?” Old hatred flits across Violet’s face as she snaps, “Because the shifters broke the world!” Josh realizes that he isn’t going to get any real answers in that regard, but Leta jokes, “Well, the AKD isn’t ready for the Troy experience!” Del mumbles, “That’s the truth.” Josh asks, “Does all the Aegis Kai Doru believe this way, or is Konstantin an outlier?” Violet frowns as she seriously considers the question, and then she replies, “While there are many within our organization that feel as he does, the New England AKD is much more aggressive under Konstantin’s reign.”
Violet adds, “When the war broke out, we lost people too, but we evacuated our storehouse to our backup safe house. We couldn’t move the creature, so I got left behind. Most of the storehouse was recently moved into Amherst, where I understand you stole everything?” Leta snaps, “We’re not thieves!” before correcting herself, “Well, they aren’t thieves,” as she indicates the other hunters. Josh brings the discussion back to the geas and how to break it, but Leta interrupts him, “Josh, she wants us to kill her ex for her.” Josh looks stricken but Violet smiles nastily.
Leta demands to know where the secondary storehouse is, but Violet refuses to say. She does offer to bring them down to the warded cell so they can see the creature for themselves. Grumbling, Leta accepts but sends a text to Hakim. Anita and Abby agree to go with her, but the others should stay here in case of trouble. Anita warns her sister to behave, but Del shrugs and retorts, “I’ll just stare at Josh’s ass. I’m good.” Anita grumbles as Josh blushes, but the four women depart, with Veltis on Leta’s shoulder. They exit the office and quickly bring Mick and Dr. Ranjip up to speed. Dr. Ranjip mutters, “So we have a concrete factory situation then?” The others look confused, but Leta shrugs and says, “Maybe. I’ll let you know.”
Mick and Dr. Ranjip step into the office while Leta, Veltis, Abby, and Anita follow Violet to the stairs. As soon as they get out of immediate earshot, Del brightens and says, “We’re tossing this place, right?” She immediately heads for the desk without waiting for an answer, and then picks the lock. She succeeds, but then the reality of the situation hits her and she steps away and asks slowly, “There’s probably a booby trap, right?” Josh replies, “Probably,” and heads over. He squeezes under the desk and pokes around a bit – before swearing in horror!
The others tense immediately, but Josh’s head pops up and he says, “There’s C4 here. At least I think it’s C4.” Mick immediately heads over and pushes Del and Josh out of the way. He drops behind the desk and carefully examines the underside before announcing, “Yeah, that’s real C4. If she ever opened this drawer, this place would explode.” Josh immediately calls Leta on speakerphone so that she, Veltis, Abby, and Anita can hear what’s going on. He then reports their find, but Mick adds, “There’s a lot more wires under here. I think they lead to other parts of the garage. I think… I think it’s additional C4.” Josh curses and ventures, “Enough to collapse this entire garage?”
Mick replies, “Definitely.” Josh immediately turns to Del and tells her, “You have to get out of the garage. Now.” Del jokes, “Now? But the ghost lady is finally gone!” Anita admonishes Del, “Don’t be gross, Abby is listening. And her geist has knife hands.” Anita looks up and notes that Petite seems quite happy to stab Del… or anyone, really. Over the phone, Mick swears loudly as the pieces fall into place. He growls, “Ms. Silverman said Konstantin used a relic to create the geas, right? Get the relic, undo the geas. I bet it’s in this desk drawer, a final ‘fuck you’ to his ex.”
Violet freezes and whispers, “Oh my God. That’s exactly what he would do.” In the office, Josh asks, “Can you disarm this?” Mick shakes his head and replies, “No. Even if I had two fully functional hands, I’m not that good.” Josh asks desperately, “Anyone in the NPD?” Mick snorts and replies, “Yeah, there’s one guy. Unfortunately, he’s full of vampire blood and shot me in the arm, so I don’t think he’s an option.” Josh sighs but offers weakly, “Anyone in TFV?” Mick frowns and replies, “Probably. I can certainly call.”
At the stairwell, Leta and the others turn to Violet, who has a precious spark of hope in her eyes. Leta challenges her, “If we can free you from this geas, what will you do?” Violet replies quickly, “Run. Run to the other coast and never look back.” Leta adds, “And the AKD? Konstantin?” Violet shakes her head and replies, “No way. I’m out.” Leta and the others look at her carefully, and Violet deflates and says quietly, “The secondary safe house is out by the Northampton airport. A rickety-looking farm on Cross Path Road.”
Mick takes that as a guarantee and immediately calls in to Task Force: VALKYRIE. He runs down a quick report and the request of a demolition expert, but seems surprised at whatever answer he gets. He says, “Thank you, ma’am,” and hangs up. He tells the others, “So, Chelsea is on her way to try and defuse this thing, she needs about an hour fifteen to get here.” A second later, Leta’s cellphone rings from an unknown caller. She answers it warily, and a crisply accented female voice identifies herself as Amira. Amira explains, “Master Hakim got your text. Do you have any further information?”
Leta immediately supplies the address she just got and the explosives at the Smith garage. She hears Amira relay this, and then exclaim, “My lord, a Sopwith Camel would attract way too much attention.” Amira then returns to Leta and states, “We can be in the air shortly and land at the Northampton airport in ninety minutes. Is that acceptable?” Leta immediately agrees and Amira ends the call. Leta quickly updates the others and then asks, “What’s a Sopwith Camel?” Mick replies over the phone, “An air-fighter from World War I.”