Session 0 (Introductions)

Session 0 (Introductions):
(Game played on Sep. 17, 2009)

Dec. 11, 1913, Thur.
The investigators all meet each other. They are debriefed by Col. Stuebbin, who briefs them on working for The Secret Service. They meet Bryan Barr, who introduces himself a consultant, and after, meet Sen. Thomas Emerson, whose wife disappeared in April, and who is ultimately in charge of this particular investigation. Finally, they meet Fred Nadel, a stage magician known as Nadel the Magnificent, who comes forward with new information about the disappearance of Sen. Emerson's wife, Beatrice.

Mr. Nadel tells them that, in July, he was approached by an insane Negro who used to be an associate of Beatrice Emerson's. (Remember, it's 1913. Racism is explicit.) As if that's not enough of a shock, the Negro, named Bufred Washington, tells Mr. Nadel that they're all in trouble (Mrs. Emerson and her six associates, who the investigators call The Seven). Bufred claims that he is being watched and wears a self-made wooden hat, taped and nailed together out of three pieces of wood. He says he knows Mr. Nadel is a powerful sorcerer and a powerful man, and was a friend of Jojo and Betsy (Mrs. Beatrice Emerson's niece, Elizabeth Brooks and her manservant, Jehosephat Blim who both disappeared with Mrs. Emerson). Bufred hands Mr. Nadel a bundled package and asks him to protect it. Inside the package are two books, an ancient accordion-style book written in some sort of hieroglyphics, a knife, a coin, and a round crystal.

Mr. Nadel reads the two books, wondering if either has any information on Beatrice, who is a former lover. One journal contains the notes of the colored man, Bufred Washington, who came to NYC to help out his surrogate son, Jehosephat (JoJo) Blim. Crazy Bufred claims that The Seven were being chased by people with supernatural powers. They called Bufred Washington to NYC because he was a houngan, a type of voodoo priest. However, Bufred never encountered anything like what The Seven encountered, and his mind strains at the implications of it all. After a eventful week, they are all attacked outside of their hide-out somewhere in the Lower East Side. The journal ends, obviously part of a continuing series.

The other journal is the notes of a minor “symbolist” painter named Ambrosio Martinez. Largely arrogant, the young man is living in Paris and is in possession of some sort of Mayan or Aztec idol or mask that gives him visions and allows him to make disturbing paintings which are better than anything he has ever made before. However, several people close to him start dying, so he flees Paris and winds up in NYC, but after getting settled and resuming painting, people around him start to die, again. He has access to a Mayan “Codex” that has spells. He tries to decipher them, hoping that they will be able to save him and his friends from the horror that seem to engulf him. Much of the journal is consumed by his attempts at translation as he tries to figure out how to work the rituals or spells in the Codex. Near the end of the journal, he seems to have successfully translated two of the spells, and is working on the third. The journal ends, obviously part of a series.

Mr. Nadel decides that the information in the books are both bad for Beatrice and Sen. Thomas Emerson's reputation, and have no real clues as to where Mrs. Emerson has disappeared. He realizes, now, that he was deluding himself. He was deluding himself because Ambrosio's notes claim to have two working spells. Fred Nadel has always loved the idea of magic, and he was irrationally intrigued by the possibility of real magic. After a month of research, he starts to get results when he performs the rituals – nothing concrete, but a sense that he's onto something. He excitedly pours into his research. Several months later, he successfully performs a ritual called “Call the Night, Hide the Moon” which brought up an impressive bloom of unnatural inky blackness. He knew it would be a hit, and knew it would put him in the top tier of magicians – right against Blackstone and Houdini. The spell worked every time and was quick and impressive enough for the stage. His stage family perfected a wonderful act, he's not afraid to admit, but then things started going... wrong.

A few days before the show, Marci didn't show up. The next day, he visited, but the landlady wouldn't let Nadel go inside. On the following day, they forced their way in, but Marci wasn't there. Worse, her bedroom was destroyed. Of course, the show still went on... but it wasn't the success I hoped. Of course, the spell worked, and it worked beautifully, but right after there was a small fight which turned into a riot. I had lost the crowd, and the show, while a success, wasn't as good as it should have been. And then, on the next Tuesday, Clive didn't come into work. And then two days ago, Patrick didn't come into work. So I went to a friend on the police force, and then I went to Sen. Thomas Emerson. Now I'm here with you. I have condemned my family and myself, and I believe everyone who saw the show is going to die.

Clues:
Fred Nadel's confession

Bufred Washington's Notes

Ambrosio Martinez's Journal

Objects:
The Mayan Codex

A Mayan ceremonial knife

A Mayan ceremonial coin

A cut round gem of Iceland Spar

New Characters:
Fred Nadel, aka Nadel the Magnificent

Sen. Thomas Emerson (D, NY)

Col. Jonathan “Stubbs” Steubbin

Bryan Barr, UFC operative, Head Agent of the Special Department for Metaphysical Concerns

Locations:
212 Wall St., temporary headquarters for Bryon Barr's division of the Secret Service;

Session 1 (Nadel's Dark Magic):
A third of the team research the clues; a third go to the Tenderloin; a third go into the Washington Square Arch.

Session 2 (Tensy's Nightmare):
A third of the team research the clues; a third go to the Tenderloin; a third go into the Washington Square Arch.

Session 3 (Archway to the Underworld):
Mark and Leticia get out of Arch tunnels, battered. The investigators save Tensy Hurit, for now.

Session 4 (Blackwell's Shadows):
The investigators research the clues.

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.