Masks of Nyarlathotep: Session 8

The party consisted of:

Lillian Fogg- Museum Curator

Lydia Lisbon- Drug Dealer using Photographer as a cover

Chomden Tsomo- Mountaineer

Curtis Flanagan- Author

Violet Adair- Dancer/Occultist

Warning: If you’re planning on playing the campaign and not running it for others, you should stop reading now.

…after the brief battle in the alleyway, Lillian bandaged up Curtis while Violet checked the dead man’s coat pockets. In the inside pocket they found two startling things: a strip of red cloth not at all unlike the headbands that Elias’ murderers had been wearing in the hotel room. The other item was a piece of paper noting their appointments with Carlton at his address, their meeting with Rebecca at Violet’s address as well as the time of their meeting at the Lafayette Theater. Realizing they were being tracked by the cultists, this put the group into hyper-awareness mode.

For all of that, it didn’t take enhanced situational awareness for them to realize that standing over a dead black man in an alleyway in Harlem was a very bad look, regardless of whether or not he had tried to kill them. They got him up and carried him to the theater, not really having any other alternatives that made more sense.

They almost got caught by an elderly woman taking her groceries back home, but luck was on their side. She merely verbally accosted the group for their friend being so drunk so early in the day, and Violet helped her get her groceries home before meeting the rest back at the theater.

Needless to say the theater staff was not approving of a dead man being brought into the theater, least of all the manager who promptly busted a head gasket that could’ve gone a lot worse if Millie Adams didn’t come her down. They took the body out of the theater and propped him up in an adjacent alcove hidden from street view. During this time, Violet called Lieutenant Poole.

She explained that they needed him to come to meet them at the theater, using her immense power to persuade to keep the conversation at a “We think we’re in danger.” level instead of a “We kind of have a dead body.” level. This is good because when Poole got there and saw them propping up a body in the alcove, it kind of taxed the limits of his professionalism. They showed him the note and explained what it implied, which convinced him that they were in fact in danger.

They gave him the note, and he said to go home and lay low and he would arrange to get this immediate mess handled at the theater. They told Rebecca before they left that they definitely wanted to speak with Hilton. With great relief despite everything that just happened, she said she would do so immediately and get back to them.

They went back to Lillian’s home and started to try to wind down. This didn’t last long as Lillian noticed that her schedule book was not only open when she knew it was closed before she left, but it was open to a very damning page; their meeting with Carlton at his office, complete with his address. Their meeting with Rebecca at Violet’s home, complete with address. Their meeting with Rebecca at the Lafayette that day.

The man they killed had been in her home.

Lillian called Carlton immediately to let him know what they found. He thanked them for the warning, and said he would arrange for more guards around the house. He also wanted them to touch base after their conversation with Hilton, and he’d try to find out who Hilton’s defense attorney is and try to make something happen.

During dinner, Curtis recalled that Millie had said that Hilton’s friends who patrolled with him before he was arrested frequently hung out at Teddy’s diner. Despite Poole’s insistence that they stayed home, the investigators did not appreciate feeling like sitting ducks. They would be in as much danger unraveling the mystery of who killed their friend as they would sitting around on their hands. They decided to follow the lead and go back to Harlem.

Despite their elaborate plan to go in smaller groups instead of a pack, the doorman at Teddy’s still was wondering why it was suddenly White People Night. Once everyone was in, it was decided that Violet would be the best person to bridge the gap with Hilton’s friends, if they were even there. Charming the bartender, he pointed them out to her. She looked over to see four men, deep in coffee and conversation.

She went to the table and proceeded to start ingratiating herself to the group, mentioning that she was a friend of Millie Adams. This information was met with more than a little tension. She was able to finally convince them that she sincerely was looking to help Hilton, and explained how his situation linked with the death of Jackson Elias.

The men let their guard down some and explained how after they all got back from the war, they noticed that people went missing. There was no commonality between them except that all went missing in Harlem. Milton wanted to investigate further based on some suspicions, but was arrested before he could investigate further. With literally no one to help them the four men ceased their patrols as well, with no little bit of shame on their part.

Violet called the rest of the investigators over and introduced them. They convinced the men that they were going to get to the bottom of all of this, and they would help Hilton as much as they could. The men warned the group about putting themselves in danger. They told the men they were already there, and went off into the night.