Session 5 (It's Nice to Be Here)

The Missing Seven:
Go here to read about all the prior sessions.

Session 4 (Blackwell's Shadows):
(Played on Oct. 15, 2009)

Session 5 (It's Nice to Be Here):
(Played on Oct. 22, 2009)

Dec. 17, 1913, Wed.
Antoinette relieves Mark and Boru who were guarding the Arch. Maj. Haywrd and Ross convince Col. Stuebbin to give them enough money to hire a few detectives to watch the Arch. They also get Stuebbin to get them entrance to Blackwell's Penitentiary.

They meet Lt. Joe Foster, the commandant of the Blackwell Penitentiary, who they ask (and bribe) to “keep quiet.” Lt. Joe Foster sends two guards to protect them, Fergus and Rolland.

They go down into the basement, enter the service tunnel, and after some looking, eventually find a part of the wall that only looks like a wall. The investigators can actually put their hand through the wall – it is an illusion, and behind it is a perfectly round tunnel, 3' x 3'. The tunnel goes back about 10' and drops into an older natural tunnel. Mark, Ross and Antoinette go into the 3' x 3' tunnel as Leticia keeps the two guards occupied. An hour (!) goes by while Mark, Ross and Antoinette carefully go down the tunnel, checking for anything abnormal.

Finally the three crawl and kneel-walk through tunnels that lead to a massive cave. As soon as they get to the cave entrance, there is a French voice telling them to halt. The person tells them to turn out their lights or they will be killed. They do; it is pitch black. Within seconds, they here the sound of guns cocked near their heads. The voice interrogates them and threatens Antoinette and the others with death. They tell them to lie face down on the ground. They tell the three that the French need some of their blood. After Antoinette lies for a bit, Ross tells them everything – why they are there and how they got there. The French are not as forthcoming and send Antoinette and one of their own (named Guillaume) out to retrieve the others. This has taken so long that Maj. Haywrd goes into the tunnel by himself. The French order him to turn his light out and soon capture him as well.

Meanwhile, Leticia keeps the guards, Fergus and Rolland, preoccupied. Kenneth sticks his head in the hole, seemingly becoming headless. Leticia sees that, flips out, and runs away as the guards turn around and see Kenneth kneeling near the wall with a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly, Antoinette's head pokes out of the wall. One of the guards, Fergus, freaks out and starts shooting at the head sticking out of the wall. Leticia, who has returned, grabs Fergus' gun-hand as he fires; Rolland, the other guard, bear hugs him. Kenneth slams Fergus with his shotgun as Guillaume, the French man, briefly chants and Rolland freezes. Roland is frozen while bear-hugging Fergus. Leticia and Kenneth knock Fergus out.

Antoinette and Guillaume instruct the others to go into the tunnel. Guillaume crawls over Kenneth, Dora and Antoinette, and ties up the two guards. He drags the two guards a few feet and they all go back into the main cave.

Clues
The French claim that the investigators have blown their cover, and that the police allowed the investigators to come into the tunnels so they could trail them and find the French. The French say that they are the good guys and that they are protecting The Gates. They are in New York City because the locks on the Gates have been compromised. They have been trapped underground because they don't have enough blood to perform the ritual that will get them out of the tunnel. They also want to blow up the cave; they hope it will seal off the Gate, but are not sure if it's a good idea. Using blood from everyone, they cast the spell out of a type of blunderbuss, which makes an escape tunnel. Everyone, French and investigators, run south to their boat. They are shot at, and one of the French is hit in the back. They get away and the French promise to meet them the following day.

Locations
Fred Nadel's apartment on 18th and Park Av;

Blackwell's Penitentiary and the service tunnels and natural tunnels and caverns underneath.

Characters:
Antoinette Sturm, a strong willed anthropologist who is well known for two books detailing with violent cults in war torn societies.

Kenneth Pakes, a young, rich, and arrogant occult specialist who has spent most of his life debunking frauds in various newspapers, but who secretly wants proof that the occult exists.

Millicent Massey, a mousy, shy, and brilliant young archaeologist.

Agent Lawrence Landsburg, a nebbishy but physically tough former structural engineer and cryptologist. Until the Secret Service, he hasn't had a job that he throughly loves.

Maj. (ret.) Piers Haywrd, a well decorated career soldier who was brought into this Secret Service team because of his supernatural experiences in China.

Leticia Haythornthwaite, an extremely fiery and strong willed adventurer, pilot, and captain who is a bit down on her luck. She has worked with Maj. Haywrd several time in the past.

Ross Merrick, a charming and funny detective who is a well-known womanizer, and who is known as one of the best independent detectives in the city. He is partners with Mark.

Mark Learson, a family man who is one of the best detectives in the city, and who loves animals (esp. his dog Boru), is a vegetarian, and who dreams of opening up a school to teach his family's sword-fighting style. He is partners with Ross.