EPISODE #6 - Circle of Darkness Part I

[MadStepDad]

SURVELLIENCE VIDEO FOOTAGE
Case Detail Report

Followed subject after arrival in chartered private plane. She arrived with an entourage, some faces confirmed within the international database of suspected terrorists. Arrived at location on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, as per previous intelligence reports. Left building at 4:32 pm, returned to air hanger. Meeting with (street name) “Simon” not physically confirmed, but a man matching his description along with his own entourage of confirmed felons was spotted leaving the facility several hours later (1:17 am).

INTELLIGENCE CONFIRMED

Suspected international terrorist IVANA BORITSI is in Los Angeles California.

CIRCLE of DARKNESS
part I

In the timeline of events, this particular adventure (despite being labeled “Episode #6”) actually takes place right after EPISODE #1. At that time, our band of 4 intrepid PCs (Alexus the guide, Johnny Acid the rebel, Lenience Elderwood the techie geek, and Marguerita DeVille the prized fluitist) left Brockton MA after becoming embroiled in a war against the Shadow in their own hometown.

The threat of undead gangbangers drew them out to LA where they had to finish the job – or get finished themselves. After that – the group fractured. Some went Down South to follow new pursuits (Alexus and Johnny Acid – see EPISODE #4: THE EVIL EYE live as it unfolds PbP at the WWuDC clubhouse)… others went back East to chase their own demons (LENIENCE ELDERWOOD… EPISODE #5 – Thoughts of Darkness). MARGUERITA DEVILLE, meanwhile, stayed in LA… where rumors of a mysterious link between her past, her unknown father and the rare, magical family heirloom he left her (the flute engraved with the seal of HYKSOSA) kept her in the City of Angels.

I have a lot to accomplish. My ultimate goal is a return to the table top for the grand conclusion to EPISODE #5: THOUGHTS of DARKNESS, featuring LENIENCE, AGENT RAMOS and another new player… but will also feature the returns of MARGUERITA, ALEXUS and TENROU LEE (!!!) to the group. So it HAS to be epic-level. Coming September 13th 2009… the 13th Anniversary of 2Pac’s demise.

Here, I wanted to finish the link to MARGUERITA, give her a few more lessons in game mechanics itself (she’s still a relative rookie and I don’t want her to be overpowered by the more veteran players on September 13th) and also give her at least one more level’s worth of experience. Plus, there’s so much sizzling on the West Coast regarding the pursuit of the Pure, and the successful creation of a Blood Martyr (a demonic tragedy temporarily halted by these very players earlier – See EPISODE #1) that I couldn’t leave the West Coast without at least touching on one more of Big Simon’s deadly pursuits.

So here’s the Mash-Up, MSD-style. Featuring the Inquisition, the Circle of Darkness, Ruthless Records, Big Simon, Head Warden Yagno Petrovna and featuring none other than chief Boritsi assassin Nostalia Romaine. Read on…

[MadStepDad]

Before we started, I gave MARGUERITA the rules on a failed Horror Check (which she failed during EPISODE #1 after witnessing a group of gangbanging ghouls feasting on a human corpse). I promised new and psychological realms for her character to explore. She rolled the Moderate Horror Effect of AVERSION… which can be pretty unsettling considering anything even REMOTELY resembling the original scene is cause for intense fear, and there are A LOT of Crip gangbangers in LA. On with the show.

Scene opens in a drab LA motel room. Occupant has been here for a while, as shown by the lot of clothing strewn haphazardly about the room. But she’s clearly not settled in. Radio alarm clock flashes to life, unleashing a local newscaster who promises ”new and breaking information regarding the murder of wealthy funeral home director JEAN TARASCON” (see EPISODE #1 – Knight of the Mentally Dead). MARGUERITA DEVILLE slowly stirs to life.

I gave her 3 potential starting points:
1A) Business card for a psychiatrist who has worked with Shadow Hunters in the past and may be able to help MARGUERITA work through her “failed Horror check”.

1B) Offer from the Cajun mystic CHICKEN BONE to perform a free Tarokka reading for her, as his continued penance for the events that led to the climax of EPISODE #1 (remember he was the one who’s failed Raise Dead spell resulted in MARCEL TARASCON becoming a Zombie Lord).

1C) A clue from the Fraternity of Fractured Thought regarding a Professor of Music who may have more information regarding the mysterious symbol engraved on her flute. His name is PROFESSOR PETCHKO.

Surprisingly – to me, maybe – MARGUERITA chose to seek out CHICKEN BONE first. Her player has always been vaguely spiritual and open to these kinds of communications, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. This actually fits the flow of the module remarkably well, as once again another RAVENLOFT module opens with a Vistani fortune-telling. So she hits the shop on the East Side of LA and I take the time to paint a tense and boiling cauldron of energy and fury building up around her. The story of the module involves the oppressive and brutal force known as the “Inquisition” – right hand men to the evil cultist YAGNO PETROVNA. In modern mash-up terms, substitute “Inquisition” for “LAPD” and there ya go.

So I ran a couple scenes from the module (including Keyed Encounter Area #10 – the Brewery, in which a group of LAPD accosted a youth buying fruit from a reported black market corner store). Plus, with all the hollowed out, fire-blackened buildings left over from the LA Riots it was easy to produce a setting alive with frightful electricity. She made it to the store, and I briefly roleplayed the Tarokka reading as written in the module (using a set of those cards from the old FORBIDDEN LORE boxed set). MARGUERITA took from the reading that the answers to her past will be found here in LA, but didn’t know if she was to become a captive – or take prisoners herself. She had to seek out PROFESSOR PETCHKO to learn more about her instruments origin.

[MadStepDad]

Unfortunately, PROFESSOR PETCHKO was no longer at the address given to her. Matter of fact, he sold all his stuff and moved to San Francisco not too long ago. A natural “1” on her Gather Information roll then resulted in an entire day of wasted time as she could find nothing notable on PROFESSOR PETCHKO, other than he had tenure at a local University and went into exile after his retirement.

When she finally made it back to her motel that evening, MARGUERITA was stunned to find the place surrounded by LAPD… all centered on MARGUERITA’s open motel room door. Double damn.

Not too far away, she spots DOCTOR BRUCIEN chain-smoking cigarettes and nervously watching the proceedings (he was an ally of the PCs from EPISODE #1). Approaching the only man she knows in the City, he briefs her on what’s going on. Video footage from a pawn shop across the street from the Tarascon Funeral Home caught two culprits fleeing the location shortly after Jean Tarascon was ruled to have been shot to death. MARGUERITA DEVILLE was caught on camera, and now seriously wanted for questioning. She had to flee. The only place she could think of was San Francisco, where she hoped to locate PROFESSOR PETCHKO once and for all. So she boarded a bus and sped off to San Fran, with only the clothes on her back and her flute.

Time to break out the miniatures and game board, as the bus is ultimately stopped by LAPD at a check point and about to be boarded. MARGUERITA desperately tried to flee but was unable to escape the local Inquisition and was arrested and detained. She was delivered to the local station for processing and booking. All along her travels through the metal detectors, and down the halls, I’m throwing in mentions to little pamphlets and paper-sized posters advertising the “People’s Church”; a religious sect appealing directly to incarcerated criminals.

[MadStepDad]

There she underwent the “good cop/bad cop” routine. The good cop was DETECTIVE RUSSELL POOLE, a well-dressed white man with suit, tie and kind eyes. He questioned her lightly about her past and her reasons for coming to LA. He admitted they had her hemmed in pretty tight, and she could go down very hard. He just wanted to know WHO she committed the murder with (who was the second man on the video tape? Answer – Johnny Acid, the actual trigger-man) and WHO they committed the murder FOR? He is operating under the assumption that somebody bigger and badder put MARGUERITA up to the job. After not receiving any suitable responses, he left to let her stew in her own guilt for a little while longer.

Enter the “bad cops” – two black men dressed in LAPD uniforms. One has the name “GAINES” on his name tag, the second one shifts the video camera onto a blank wall – permitting their interrogation to occur off film. They are more ruthless, and less focused on the murder of JEAN TARASCON as opposed to gaining more information from her regarding the flute she was detained with. Where did she get the instrument? Why was she asking around for PROFESSOR PETCHKO? Did she ever see anybody with JEAN TARASCON? What about the cemetery? Ever been there? MARGUERITA didn’t know why they were asking her this, but played dumb regardless. Rule #1 – No snitching. So they threatened her a little, and left her to sit in the questioning room alone and claustrophobic.

Ultimately – and unknown to her – she was processed for a transfer. Still no phone call, no due process, no consultation with a lawyer or public defendant… nothing. MARGUERITA was simply packed up and transferred out of the holding tank with no set bail. Shackled on the big gray bus – think Con Air – MARGUERITA is transferred to G’Henna – maximum security prison off the coast of San Francisco used primarily as a “throw-away-the-key” kind of facility for the worst of the worst. Domestic terrorists, criminal masterminds, serial killers. It’s off the grid of the LA penal system, so as the saying goes “what happens in G’Henna, stays in G’Henna. Forever”.

[MadStepDad]

I altered the look and feel of the maps included in the module to capture the G’Henna compound – primarily the “Zhukar” cellblock that MARGUERITA was delivered to (aka “City of the Starving”). This opened the door for ample roleplaying goodiness… OZ-style. I broke down the look of the complex, including sections for “Government & Business” (the law library), the classroom where the only outsiders (members of the People’s Church) are ever allowed in and the “Military District” – aka the CO department (“CO – Correctional Officers”). The “Public Plaza” was the general TV room and the “Avenue of the Beast Gods” was prison-slang for the long hallway that led to solitary confinement (where the “mongrel men” are created). NOBODY wants to go to solitary.

MARGUERITA was stationed in a newer cellblock called “the City of Bridges” because of the long overhead hallways and tunnels that connect the various cellblocks. Across the way sits the “Old City” filled with lifers and prisoners who have been in G’Henna for seemingly ever.

Lots of stuff happens, see the module for further details. But I managed to touch on all of the main themes. She met two women she clicked up with (one in for murder – the other was a call girl who worked for an Escort company that once serviced the unstoppable Death Row Records empire). They gave her the layout and break down of prison etiquette (primarily concerning the distribution of food, which MARGUERITA quickly learned was worth more than gold, money and life here in the Zhukar cellblock of G’Henna).

All throughout, these two new friends are giving MARGUERITA the background on a gang war brewing in LA between “ERIC” and the aforementioned “BIG SIMON”. Although she’s in the women’s ward of G’Henna, there were a few residual incidents pertaining to this street level threat (including a scene where a woman claiming “Above the Law!” mercilessly pummeled another chick with “Death Row” tatted on her lower back). Cue “Real Muthaph*****n G’s” on the radio by EAZY-E feat. GANGSTA DRESTA and BG KNOCC OUT.

Couple of events:

• Brutal CO beatings, women being dragged kicking and screaming off to solitary.

• Crazy beef with a psycho b**** named Suzy who decided to make MARGUERITA her b**** on the first day by going through all her personal stuff without an objection.

• A near-riot in the TV room when a commercial for the Law Offices of Rega and Associates flashed across the screen. She learned Atty. Rega is the head lawyer for the CO Union, and the one responsible for the virtual invincibility they receive in a court of law.

• She popped in one of the Church meetings and learned of “Zhakata the Devourer” supposedly one of Jesus’ Apostles omitted from the Good Book. It seemed to MARGUERITA that the faith was giving criminals a false explanation for their own deadly wrongdoings (arguing that “God urged them to commit these deeds – they were done for God). Rape, murder, torture for God? MARGUERITA wasn’t really feeling this whole Zhakata thing, but it made an already tense situation even worse.

• After a few days of having her meager Dole offerings stolen by Suzy, MARGUERITA finally snapped and had it out with the crazy chick. This led to MARGUERITA’s first visit to the infirmary.... where she met the head nurse NOSTALIA ROMAINE. She learned NOSTALIA had just transferred to G’Henna, and had a sincere desire to “help people”.

• On her second visit to the infirmary (after another fight with Suzy), MARGUERITA learned that NOSTALIA ROMAINE was in contact with the one called “Simon” about a possible business venture.

• Sure enough, on her third visit to the infirmary (after finally getting the best of Suzy) NOSTALIA ROMAINE was gone. Replaced by another internal transfer, who could only say NOSTALIA ROMAINE got a new job with somebody named ERIC.

• Finally, MARGUERITA witnessed an elderly inmate pushing the library cart get assaulted by a group of girls who beat him down and clobbered him with books. Guards didn’t do anything… and neither did MARGUERITA, who was in WAY over her in head here in G’Henna. After the fight was broken up, MARGUERITA moved in to comfort him… and found out he was really PROFESSOR PETCHKO! The music historian she originally sought!

[MadStepDad]

Stunned by his appearance MARGUERITA came to the aid of the old man, using her two prison allies to deter anymore attackers. With those two girls listening on, MARGUERITA had an impassioned exchange with the prisoner. He was a disheveled, mangled old cur. A pitiable sight, a mockery of a man. In some ways MARGUERITA thought he resembled part rabbit, lizard and crow. He was only about 5’3” and couldn’t weigh more than 120lbs – even with the tatters of red prison jumpsuit soaking wet.

He was indeed a University Professor who in his retirement joined the People’s Church of San Francisco. He was swayed by their message and donated great portions of his personal wealth (and treasured collection of relics) to the church and eagerly joined their masses. He became an ordained pastor whose popularity soared to new heights within the Peoples community. But by then, it was too late. He had discovered that the High Priest all the followers refer to (yet have never seen) actually is high-ranking member of local and judicial state affairs.

In essence, the High Priest was seducing his followers to this strict moral religion of self-sacrifice so he could lead an opulent lifestyle while chasing his own perverted and demented desires. On top of that he used his persuasion and high-ranking connections to become Lord of the most wicked prison complex in Northern California, thus bleeding the prisoners of their own humanity and reinforcing their evil with the urgings of his own dark God.

That man is YAGNO PETROVNA, High Priest of Zhakata/Warden of G’Henna Maximum Security Prison Complex.

After PETCHKO discovered this connection, he was mysteriously arrested on highly suspicious murder accusations, stripped of his earthly possessions and buried deep within the earth here in G’Henna. Only his faith in Zhakata… the TRUE Zhakata… has kept him alive. He refers, of course, to Zhakata the Provider – bane to, and second face of Zhakata the Devourer. Now he gets real low, whispering conspiratorially to MARGUERITA. He tells her of the “CIRCLE of DARKNESS”, an off-shoot of the Zhakata faith and Peoples Church that believe in the TRUE face of Zhakata, that of the Provider. They believe YAGNO PETROVNA is protecting his unholy position by consorting with the devil to shield the existence of the Provider from his own believers. Once freed, the Provider will save all the wretched souls sacrificed to his other half. Madness is what it sounds like.

But most intriguing to MARGUERITA, the man claimed to know her now (presumed-to-be) deceased father. ”Ahhhh yes, Mr. Deville… PETCHKO began. ”My old KNIGHTS of the SILVER DRAGON brother”. He went on to tell MARGUERITA that he partnered with her father under the banner of the KNIGHTS, a top-secret society of high-priced collectors and artifact seekers. PETCHKO himself was distracted from the goal and ostracized by the society when he was brainwashed into joining the People’s Church (it also turned out that YAGNO PETROVNA seduced PETCHKO solely because of his KNIGHTS of the SILVER DRAGON membership).

Sadly, PETCHKO lost contact with her father – Mr. Deville – shortly thereafter. But the last he heard, he was working an important project at NYC in a place called Quadrasonic Recording Studios. It’s been many years since then, but it was the only clue MARGUERITA could get about her father. But it was a big one. How could she find out more about the KNIGHTHOOD? Or her father? And how far has the Circle of Darkness become entrenched in the Zhukar cellblock? PETCHKO told her, “You don’t find the Circle of Darkness… it finds you.”

[MadStepDad]

THE CIRCLE CLOSES

MARGUERITA hoped for some kind of closure after learning this information, but found neither comfort or hope after this revelation. Soon thereafter, as her brief meeting with PETCHKO filtered out into the general population, things took a dark turn for MARGUERITA. It got worse, with more inmate assaults and CO harassment. She watched one of her two girlfriends physically beaten and taken off to solitary (where she will become a mongrel-man) all because she refused to divulge what she overheard MARGUERITA and PETCHKO talking about. It got really hot and heavy when old arch-enemy SUZY decided to spread the rumor that MARGUERITA was a snitch (a crime punishable by death). She had sharpened toothbrushes coming at her, starving half-mad Zhakata converts trying to jump her while the C.O’s turned a blind eye to it all.

Finally, right as she reached her breaking point… (I even considered one or two Madness checks, but decided against it… What Would U Do?)… she was offered a reprieve.

She was told she had a meeting, was cuffed, shackled and hustled away. She was completely shocked to find out she was meeting with ATTORNEY REGA himself! The head lawyer of the C.O. Union and virtual Devil to all the G’Henna inmates! He reached out to MARGUERITA to offer a deal for clemency. He can have her record expunged, her incarceration terminated and a total reprieve. All he needed was her cooperation.

Citing “lawyer/client” privacy, ATTY REGA tells her of YAGNO PETROVNA’s involvement in a smuggling ring that has resulted in multiple deaths and the theft of a priceless artifact. They’re in the midst of building a very strong case against the man, but with his contacts in the Senate and local law enforcement, as well as his relationship with Internal Investigations they have to make sure they are flawless in their pursuit. They need concrete evidence of his involvement in the ring, and get only get that conviction with the recovery of this “priceless artifact”.

As anybody who knows the module knows, ATTY REGA is not only the head lawyer for the C.O. union (or “the Inquisition” as law enforcement is known as in LA), but he’s also the secret leader of the Circle. YAGNO believes REGA’s allegiance remains with him, but REGA has his own plans… So he needs MARGUERITA to steal into the off-limit section of G’Henna where the guards and warden PETROVNA stay, and rescue this priceless artifact (which he describes as a talisman with great significant spiritual value). Why MARGUERITA? If Internal Investigations tries, YAGNO will find out. If a CO does it, there may be a leak and there will be damning political grief if they’re discovered. Thinking of the life she has in G’Henna currently – with no hope for the future, she accepts ATTY REGA’s offer. They shake hands and move onto the next part of their plot…

[MadStepDad]

ATTORNEY REGA is average height and weight, with brown hair and eyes. Yet he carries himself like he's 10 feet tall. One of the most vicious and clever of all blood-sucking leeches in the high-stakes world of LA law. He has never believed in Zhakata or the Church of Scientology (both becoming alarmingly trendy in upper class LA social circles). Instead, ATTORNEY REGA believes only that his miracles are granted by the greater power of the land... the LAW. He became a lawyer and fought to excel solely because it was the only avenue to true power. But he got lucky.

During his early years - around the time of the Jonestown scandal - ATTORNEY REGA had stumbled upon some hard, key evidence of YAGNO PETROVNA's involvement in the actual Jonestown massacre - stuff like private journals and testimonies from converts. This information grew to be more damning over the years, as YAGNO PETROVNA began his own ascension in the construction and development of G'Henna Maximum Security Prison. ATTORNEY REGA levied this information, learning more and more about what motivates YAGNO and what truly happened that day in Jonestown.

So ATTORNEY REGA reached the upper echelon of priests, and became head lawyer for the CO Union, working closely with YAGNO, him men... and the monstrosities they all created. On Death Row, ATTORNEY REGA became known as the "Scourge", the man who permitted such heinous assaults on the inmates and got every CO off criminal complaints. But all along he was plotting on bringing YAGNO down... and freeing the real Zhakata. Things really fell into place again for the plotting, two-timing sleaze ball when ANOTHER client he's working for (a high-priced LA based collector of oddities) had a problem "acquiring" a rare, hard-to-find piece. Namely - MARGUERITA's family heirloom flute (with the Sign of Hyksosa etched into it).

So he had hurriedly convicted, her flute confiscated and then "lost" during trial, and secreted off to G'Henna where he could continue to frame her. In this case, it's to steal this stupid "talisman" thing from Warden YAGNO PETROVNA's private chambers. As leader of the Inquistion (excuse me, LA Law) ATTORNEY REGA will do what he must to ensure MARGUERITA can complete this task. He already showed her the plane tickets he has for her departure and everything (actually his own escape plan when the job is complete). He arranges for a cell-move for her due to "safety reasons". Then, during transit the Death Row inmates are released from their cells in a severe mechanical malfunction! The Broken Ones are loose! It is during this chaos and mass confusion, MARGUERITA DEVILLE steals through security and into the section of the comlex loosely known as the "Temple of the Beast God".

Stuff happens, as suggested in the module (and by ATTY REGA at the meeting) MARGUERITA ditches the jumpsuit and goes with a disguise, aided by a few "Circle of Darkness" believers in the CO ranks. She actually saw YAGNO PETROVNA during an "Events and Encounters" scenario, arguing with some employees over the break and growing riot. Yet his "argument" is only reinforcing his belief that Zhakata the Devourer is indeed the one true face of the beast-God. Insane. "And you there..." YAGNO calls out, shaking a finger at MARGUERITA. "Tell me - what face of Zhakata do YOU see?" MARGUERITA is a good girl and listens during play, so of course she said "the Devourer" and kept it moving.

She got to the area where ATTY REGA said it would be, to find a small private den of worship dedicated to this "Zhakata". Two CO's stood guard. Roleplaying goodiness abounded, and MARGUERITA made entrance without a badge. It was weird and creepy. On a huge dias, like an altar, hunched a 12-foot tall bronze statue of Zhakata the Devourer with a head mounted on squat dwarvish body. Its wide open mouth surrouned by a fence of two foot long teeth, locked in a permanent howl of rage. After taking 10 on a Search check, she found the Talisman hidden under 3 feet of ash in the statues mouth. Success.

She smuggled the Talisman to the predetermined meeting spot with ATTORNEY REGA where of course he planned on betraying her. And he almost did... until the ground started shaking. Call it the Dark Powers if you'd like, but at this exact moment a massive 6.7 earthquake rocks the entire complex to its very core. With statues of Zhakata crashing down around her, she bumrushed ATTORNEY REGA and stole the plane tickets, only to be rescued by PROFESSOR PETCHKO!

Together they completed a daring jail break. Before they parted, PETCHKO gave her back the flute and told her to seek out her fathers research in NYC. Find the key to the talisman and bring it to the House of Bones. But she needs allies! Run now, until the time REGA and PETROVNA's corruption can be revealed and her own name cleared. MARGUERITA took her flute and Talisman and got the heck outta California.

To be continued...

[MadStepDad]

BEHIND the GM SCREEN

The Game here is being told on multiple levels. On one, MARGUERITA DEVILLE was awoken from her mundane life of drudgery by the Shadow world. She now seeks to unravel the mystery of her past, her father’s disappearance and the power of her heirloom flute. On another level, it’s about a creeping doom of corruption at the very top of the California state hierarchy. That messy mixture of state and religion that so often goes unsaid, but becomes pretty blatant the more light you shine upon those shadows.

Here, the madness of YAGNO PETROVNA is on full display. I’ve hinted at his involvement in the Jonestown incident, and his rise through the political circles of California on his way to founding and operating G’Henna Max Prison. Of course there is an unholy lucky streak guiding him in his journey (harkening back to the secret he left buried in Guyana).

But on another level beyond that – the whole Eric/Simon/Ivana spotted in LA/Nostalia Romaine thing.

Basically, Nostalia works with Ivana as an assassin. In this adventure I wanted to feature NOSTALIA, I just didn’t know how. So I opened up a couple of possibilities. For one, when the game first began, I gave MARGUERITA a business card for a psychiatrist trained in the ways of the Shadow. She chose to ignore that option, but if she hadn’t – she would have met DR. NOSTALIA ROMAINE, head shrink.

So I repackaged her as the new nurse transfer over at G’Henna. Hired by somebody to take out some inmate for some reason (never divulged, nor does it matter). The whole Simon/Eric thing I’m talking about is actually Death Row Records vs. Ruthless Records, from our own Gothic Earth history. Again, NOSTALIA ROMAINE is pure poison I just subtly changed her method of transmission (much like I did in my old Grand Conjunction Black Box campaign where I made her a walking STD).

Once NOSTALIA accomplished whatever nefarious goal that necessitated her arrival at the prison, she transferred out to follow-up on her next job. In this case, working for “Eric”. And this is what we’re left with…

http://www.eazye.info/biography.html