Game session: ?/2011

As they walk down the hallway, David wonders how they're going to get out of the First Church without legal problems but muses that since Peter's a cop, they shouldn't have too many issues. Melissa stops and demands, "You're a cop?" to Peter; he nods defensively and snaps back, "Well, he's a teacher!" Isobel and Anita look askance at Peter, but Peter frowns and notes, "We're a civic-minded five." Melissa looks confused, so Peter explains that they have a fifth member of their group, but she wasn't able to come tonight. Anita chips in snidely, "That's what she said." The others groan and resume their trek through the hallway.

As they walk, the four Sin-Eaters feel their geists perk up and flex their strengths a bit, and each is struck by strange, inhuman urges. Isobel is struck with the sudden desire to cut someone open and remove their organs violently, while Peter suddenly wants to find someone truly happy, and arrange a fatal accident to crush that joy. They both tamp down on their desires, realizing that their geists are the source. Anita has the urge to set someone on fire, and pulls out a book of matches from her pocket before she can stop herself. David is the worst-affected; as they reach the Blue Silk Brothel a female ghost resembling a hooker from the 1970s steps out, and David cracks her jaw with a brutal left hook! The others gape as the ghost reels back crying, and David looks mortified at his loss of control and immediately apologizes.

The madam steps out and eyes the group; the injured hooker eyes her and then David before pulling something squishy out of her bra and shoving it into David's hand. She flees down the hallway and the madam stiffly asks David if he's challenging her control of the brothel. David firmly assures her that he is not, he simply lost control for a split-second and he apologizes again. Peter admits he had strange urges as well, and Anita concurs. They all eye Isobel, who nods reluctantly. David looks down at the goop in his hand, which has the consistency of runny eggs. The madam informs him that he's holding the ejaculate from her previous client, and she apparently gave it as "tribute" to David as if he was her pimp; David hurriedly gives the mass to the madam as a peace offering – and to get it out of his hands.

Isobel hands David a wet-nap to clean his hands as Peter asks Melissa how many "areas" they have to get through to get out of the Underworld; she replies five. Peter and Melissa establish a rough set of guidelines about what to ask and what not to ask, as they're obviously two different "groups of strangeness." Melissa heads on, and the Sin-Eaters follow in her wake. They depart the hallway without further problems and find the dead vines in the garden still twitching. They head towards the shattered pane of glass, and Melissa tells them to link hands in a human chain; it's very easy to get lost in the next area.

They proceed into the pane of glass and find a path of rough stone lined with shattered mirrors showing off disturbing images; Anita on fire, Peter's body being crushed, etc. There are side paths, but Melissa seems to know where she's going. Unfortunately, Anita hits some glass and slices open her right forearm and blood seeps out; Melissa turns back and stares at the injury for a split-second too long. Peter sees a subtle twitch of her lips and jaw, but she turns away and continues leading them forward. They leave the path of shattered glass and find themselves on a street of broken asphalt, with storefronts lining both sides. The only "tell" that they're still in the Underworld is the fact that the ceiling is hard-packed dirt with coffins jutting out; there are several steady trickles of grave-dirt to the street below.

Melissa counsels them to stay on the street, as some of the buildings are occupied by the dead and most don't like to be disturbed . Peter admits to Melissa that he's a low-ranking beat cop while Isobel wraps Anita's wound quickly and they resume walking. Melissa admits she's going to make a side-stop here in the "city" quickly, and they should remain on the street. The Sin-Eaters note that the buildings are impacted against each other, but a few have tiny spans between them. Fifteen minutes later Melissa stops in front of what looks like a storefront church, complete with grimy windows and a cross of plywood in the front. She walks up to the blue door and knocks three times, then once more.

As the Sin-Eaters wait, they look up idly to the street lights, and realize the "lights" are actually bound, burning ghosts! They turn when they hear the door open, and spot someone in a nun's habit, although they can't get many details as Melissa is blocking their view. They hear a whisper of conversation and catch "Sister Charlotte" and "slavers." Melissa turns away and they catch a glimpse of "Sister Charlotte," she's in a full nun's habit and has bright green eyes – but the rest of her flesh is desiccated like dried leather, and is stretched over her skull. Sister Charlotte crosses herself and says a quick prayer in their general direction, which they believe was a Latin Catholic prayer for safe travels. Sister Charlotte closes the door as Melissa rejoins them.

Melissa reports that the next area ahead is an industrial zone known to harbor gangs of slavers, and some have been spotted there recently. Peter asks, "The bloody-eyed Smithies?" and Melissa shrugs and replies that not all of them appear to be Smith College students. The Sin-Eaters admit they have had a few run-ins with the bloody-eyed ghosts, and Anita jokes about the "not-quite-dead" with Melissa. There is a brief discussion if they want to risk the industrial zone, but Peter votes for forging ahead and pulls out his Smith & Wesson Model 500 hand-cannon. Melissa eyes the revolver and asks if he's compensating for something, but Peter insists the gun is actually very accurate; he's won marksman tournaments with it. Melissa derides Peter as "Captain Sparky," which the krewe decides is Peter's new nickname.

The Sin-Eaters and Melissa hike for another thirty minutes or so down the road until it terminates in a huge industrial pipe. They clamber in on their hands and knees after Melissa, and rust flakes off in their hands. There is a slimy trail of run-off on the bottom of the pipe, but they carefully straddle over it. They crawl for five minutes, and as they go a repeating clanging noise grows louder and louder. When they exit the pipe they find themselves in a dizzying maze of huge pipes made of bone, bellowing pistons, and other industrial equipment, all touched by death.

The noise is deafening, but Melissa manages to communicate by hand signals and points up. They look to where she's pointing and spot a wide stripe of yellow paint, stark against the grays and whites of bone. Melissa turns and follows the yellow stripe, and the Sin-Eaters follow. The industrial zone is hot, humid, noisy beyond all belief, and incredibly claustrophobic; David has to duck often to avoid banging his head on pipework. The Sin-Eaters clamber over pipes and spot countless hidey-holes and alcoves in the maze of pipes; they definitely appreciate the yellow stripe. After twenty-five minutes or so, the clanging suddenly stops dead, and ominous silence fills the maze.

Melissa takes advantage of the lull in the clamor and says to always follow the yellow stripe; she painted it from the staircase to the city as a guide. Again, she warns against deviation from the path, as the ghosts here are universally hostile. As if to immediately underscore her point, a scream of, "Not the children! I have to protect the children!" reverberates from up ahead. Everyone starts in surprise, but Isobel cynically remarks, "It's a trap." Peter makes a snarky comment and Melissa tells him, "Please, don't breed." Peter retorts, "Too late!" and whips out his gun. They advance, and come into a relatively open area marked by a large cog of skulls on the floor.

Four bloody-eyed ghosts are pinning down a fifth ghost, who is the screamer. The victim is a female ghost in an old-fashioned nurse's uniform and cap, and she struggles mightily against her attackers. One of the slavers is the young Caucasian girl from Central High School, and another is a young black woman in blood-soaked jeans and a T-shirt; she has deep lacerations running down both arms that open and close of their own accord. The third slaver is an older Caucasian woman in a faded dress with thick rope burns around her neck, and the fourth slaver is a male Caucasian in rags, with pieces of his skin and muscle tissue torn out in bite-sized chunks. The man is holding the nurse down by her wrists, while the old woman is holding her ankles. The other two are watching for interlopers, and immediately spot the krewe.

Peter immediately assesses the male slaver as the greatest threat and fires, blowing the ghost's head clean off! The ghost topples, leaving the nurse's arms free to fight back! David and Melissa both pull out guns but the Caucasian girl points to Peter – and blasts him with a stream of boiling blood! Peter yelps in pain and staggers back, but uses some of his plasm to alleviate some of the damage as his shirt melts into his skin and white vapors of plasm leak out! The black girl does the same trick and hits Melissa with boiling blood, but her attack backfires when Melissa howls in frenzy – and the Sin-Eaters see fangs jut from her mouth and claws erupt from her fingernails!

The nurse flails against the older slaver and fails to gain any purchase, but does distract her opponent enough so that she cannot engage the Sin-Eaters! Isobel falls back to watch their rear in case any slavers are sneaking up on them, while Anita unlocks the Pyre-Flame Rage manifestation and blasts the young Caucasian with a blast of magenta-colored fire! The ghost staggers back but utters no sound, but Peter ignores her and fires again, this time at the old Caucasian woman! A massive hole bursts from her chest, while David targets and fires at the young Caucasian, also striking her in the chest! Melissa darts forward, faster than the mortal eye can see, and slams into the black ghost, slashing with fang and talon!

The young Caucasian fires another blast of boiling blood, this time striking Anita who also uses some plasm to alleviate the wound. The heat doesn't bother Anita as much as it did the others, and in fact The Witch writhes in near-ecstasy from the sensation! The nurse manages to get the upper hand in her struggle by ramming her fist into the hole in the other ghost's torso and ripping pieces out! The older ghost collapses and the nurse gets to her feet slowly. Isobel spots no threats so she slips into triage mode and starts treating Anita, much to The Witch's pleasure! This pleasure turns into arousal for Anita, which is quite awkward, to say the least. She does her best to ignore the sensations and instead unlocks the Pyre-Flame Rage again, striking the young Caucasian. The ghost collapses, engulfed in flames.

Peter risks a single shot into the melee and fires, striking the black ghost in the head and "killing" her! Melissa spins, fangs glistening with blood, and then is suddenly holding Peter up in the air by his throat! Peter manages to get his gun pointed under her chin, but her eyes clear and she drops him gruffly. She is tense, but then notices the plasmic vapor wafting from Peter and Anita, and mumbles, "Well, I guess the masquerade is safe…" Peter replies without sarcasm, "We're not normal people." He tries to play the "twenty questions" game with Melissa to coax information, but David cuts it short and they turn to the intended victim.

Up close, it's clear the nurse died of an infection; her skin is mottled and bloated. Her name – sewn into her uniform – reads "Ruth" and she thanks them for her rescue but insists she has to care for the children. She then slams her hand into Peter's burned chest and he sees plasm leak out of her, covering his wound with a sensation like cold insects. She then rips the shroud away and Peter winces in pain, but sees that his burns are now pinkish and tender, indicating healing. Ruth reveals she cared for the children in the polio wing at Mercy Hospital, but she got sent "down here" when "the wing was closed." Since polio was eradicated years ago, the Sin-Eaters assume she was anchored to an old iron lung that was recently scrapped by the hospital, thus sentencing her to the Underworld.

Peter wonders if she can come back with them, but the others realize that's impossible; Ruth clearly has no anchors left and can't leave the Autochthonous Depths. Peter pulls out one of his business cards and pricks his finger. He smears an X in blood on the card and hands it to Ruth as a way to identify she's under their protection; Melissa gives Ruth directions to the hallway. Peter tells Ruth that children in the hallway need her care, so she hustles off. Peter then thanks Melissa for her help in the fight and promises to make no mention of her… attributes. The others nod in agreement, so Melissa turns and continues leading them out.

They follow the yellow strip for another fifteen minutes until it terminates with another large pipe they have to crawl through. It ends and the Sin-Eaters find themselves at the bottom of a rotting wooden staircase that ascends up into inky blackness, lit only by rotting fungi in the wood and the walls. They start climbing gingerly, and Anita's foot goes through the wood at one point. The worst part is when David puts too much weight on one landing and it collapses, sending him falling to the stairs below. Luckily, those don't give way and he escapes with some minor bruising. The Sin-Eaters climb up what feels like four stories, and then the staircase ends on a large, rotting landing.

Peter stares into the inky blackness and declares he likes this route better. David is incredulous, and threatens to grab Peter's crotch himself if they come back this way. Peter retaliates with the threat of bringing a taser, but David trumps him – or wins by sheer confusion – by threatening to soak Peter's underwear in catnip! The three women boggle at the bizarre machismo until Melissa sighs and puts down her backpack. She opens the backpack and pulls out a human skull! She slits her palm and thick blood drizzles onto the skull, which she uses to smear an arcane symbol on the forehead. Red light suddenly glows from the skull's gaping eye sockets and it suddenly hovers up into the air! The skull seems to examine the startled Sin-Eaters briefly before turning and the jawbone starts to clatter. The Sin-Eaters hear some chanting from the skull, and then hear a heavy, grinding noise from somewhere deep in the blackness ahead.

The four Sin-Eaters follow Melissa into the blackness, and find this tunnel is smooth, slightly moist, and apparently frictionless. They step out into an empty room and realize they've left the Underworld and are back in Springfield. Melissa admits they're in the sub-basement of the Old First Church of Christ, and she heads to the door. They go up a short flight of steps into a cluttered basement, and Melissa shoves a bunch of crap in front of the door for concealment. They head up more stairs and enter the church proper, which is big and Protestant – thus very minimalist. Anita makes a face to express her displeasure at the simplicity of the church, but the others don't notice. Melissa walks to a side door and listens carefully before stepping outside. The Sin-Eaters follow her and find themselves in a courtyard next to the church. They share a respectful nod with Melissa the vampire, and she walks away. They head up Court Street to hail a cab back to the X to retrieve their cars and get some sleep; they discover it's after midnight and they've been in the Underworld for several hours.

Recap originally published on Livejournal.