Ghost of Halloween Past

Ghost of Halloween Past
Part of Hail to the Pumpking
Date 2085-10-31 GM Asmodeus Location Sophocles, Redmond Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven The Speaker Pump King Jack Ezekyle Burton	Saul Amundi
Lingchi Geodesic Solitaire Rogozhin	Saul Amundi
Casualties and losses
	Saul Amundi

Summary

The runners save children from being trapped in a haunted school over an Indian burial ground in a certified Sophocles Halloween Bonanza.

The Meet

The runners meet in a bar at Sophocles, early in the morning on the 31st. The Speaker, of the Sophocles Community Council, meets them and explains the situation - 15 children are missing after messing around at a haunted school located on an Indian burial ground. The spirits are restless, and the exorcist hired to investigate went missing without a trace. There are many unknowns, and the pay is relatively meager, but the team resolves to solve the case anyway.

The Plan

Luckily, Rogozhin and Geodesic were hired previously to track down the exorcist by a different party (see Broken Vow.) Already possessing the symbolic link crafted, Lingchi uses the link to divine what the Exorcist saw. She sees him going into the basement, finding a body missing from the grave, realizing that the burial ground was not Salish, then sees him chased by about 30 angry spirits. He seeks to find help from someone OTHER than his employer, Shiawase, before he gets black bagged. Unsure of what to do with this information, the team decides to investigate for themselves.

The Run

The team arrive at the school before sunrise. Treading carefully, Geo sends her drone in, discovering ritual-like markings, and Rogozhin sends scouting rats into the basement. They find the dug up grave, before a rat is quickly killed by an angry spirit in the shape of a spider. Another building reveals a mysterious staircase that instantly kills another rat. Geo's snake sneaks in through the sewers, finding a barricaded classroom and making a basic map of the inside. The team decide to investigate on foot, but in reluctance, Lingchi points out that the door they open is leading to a different environment than the staircase the rat saw, indicating that the environment is shifting unpredictably. Instead, they decide to talk to Pump King Jack, who has appeared to help with Halloween preparations. Meanwhile, Rogozhin breaks away to talk to Father Midnight.

Jack appears before a crowd of admirers, and Geodesic quickly finds herself enchanted by his chintzy pumpkin swagger, which he's happy to entertain. Meanwhile, Solitaire is skeptical, prompting Jack to bet his offer of help on whether he can scare Solitaire or not. He explains that Sophocles used to be a proper nexus between worlds, which has made the walls thinner, and suggests the team talk to the Grand Duke Zaleos. He manages to scare Solitaire, and as a result, demands a favor before he'll help with the haunted school: he wants the assistance of the Forest Hound of Sophocles in Halloween preparations before he'll help. Sojourner, Lingchi's spirit ally, breaks away to find the Forest Hound, who offers to help only if Zaleos allows him to return to his home plane.

Rogozhin speaks to Father Midnight, who is informative, if cryptic. Father Midnight claims that "a severed circle can't complete a cycle" - he claims a demon is responsible for irritating the spirits. He claims that Zaleos ISN'T at fault, though is responsible for fixing the whole mess. With Zaleos confirmed safe to talk to, the team reconvene to commune with him.

The team go before the Grand Duke. He begins by compelling Geodesic into self-love, granting her catharsis but putting Lingchi (who values personal choice above all) and Solitaire (who's wary of shadowy mind-controlling entities in general) on edge. They discuss the nature of free will for a while, before Zaleos offers information - the body was stolen from the grave, and returning it would mollify the spirits to some extent. Zaleos also warns that the Forest Hound's wish would be ultimately harmful to it, that it returning home would cause it pain. It agrees to grant this only if one of the team accept a Spirit Marker from him. Solitaire accepts this burden, and in the process the team are branded Accomplices of Pain, for allowing the dangers of free will to bring someone harm. The team return to Jack.

The team get in contact with a Salish Historian, who shows little interest in the party or their investigation at first, but then agrees to help research after Sojourner talks him into it and the team agree to compensate him (despite Lingchi's aggressiveness). His findings eventually determine that the grave is actually that of Comanche raiders, who had been exiled and traveled north. They were all slain, but so as not to anger their spirits, the natives of the area gave them proper respects in line with Comanche traditions. In order to mollify the spirits, proper rituals will need to be renewed, but an offering must be made to get the spirits to listen in the first place. Deciding that the missing body would be the best option, the team resolve to find it. Solitaire, drawing upon his knowledge of the Fourth World to try and find the culprit, finds himself inexplicably drawn to walk, and ends up in the office of Ezekyle Burton. Despite the unintended and unexpected meeting, Ezekyle claims that he can help the team if the team help him. He needs a demon possessing a body, one Saul Amundi, slain, and his head brought to Ezekyle, before he can help further. He also claims that the missing body is similarly possessed. The team reconvene, and deciding among their options, choose to rescue the Exorcist. Through more divining, they find him held captive by Chulos in Redmond for ransom.

The team approach, Lingchi infiltrating to confirm the exorcist's presence. She tells Sojourner to protect him inside the room, as Rogozhin, Geodesic, and Solitaire assault from the outside. They burst down two guards before finding themselves in a grueling fight, in which Solitaire has to use his Revenant Adept powers to regenerate. Eventually, they force the Chulos into a surrender, retrieving the exorcist and leaving. The exorcist demands to be taken to Renraku before he'll help, and despite the team's anxieties, they agree to do so. The exorcist does provide information, explaining that what caused the disruption (along with the missing body) is a rad storm that happened in Spring. He agrees to provide assistance if needed for the ritual. The body remains missing, however. Geodesic and Solitaire return to talk to Jack, while Rogozhin and Lingchi investigate the school to look for a material link.

Lingchi and Rogozhin aren't able to make much progress, the shifting layout making the grave from earlier disappear. Solitaire and Geodesic meet with Jack, who says he can offer the help of an extraplanar entity known as the Bagman. Though terrifying, he offers his help in locating Saul in exchange for the beloved toy of one of the missing children. Geodesic agrees... crudely smashing a window, climbing in, and grabbing an armful of toys for the Bagman to pick from. Satisfied, he takes Solitaire and Geodesic to a metaplane, taking a shortcut before depositing them out in an alley. Nearby, Saul is being held up by a duo of heavily armed guards. Geo hacks them and determines they're calling in reinforcements, and deciding to throw caution to the wind, sabotages their attempts at detaining Saul so that they can grill him for information themselves. Saul is happy to have a ticket out, but it's not an easy fight. Solitaire is critically wounded again, going unconscious as he and Saul make their escape on a passing car. Saul deposits him in an alley as Sojourner rushes over to heal him, and Geodesic is left crawling out of a dumpster to reconvene.

Once the team tracks Saul down again, hiding under a bridge, he agrees to go with the team to the site, offering what help he can. However, dedicated to maintaining his "normal mundane human" mask, he denies any knowledge or insight. The team decide Saul is more useful dead as a bargaining chip than alive, and attack him. He attempts to flee, but Solitaire's quick sword work followed by Sojourner's astral strike destroy body and shedim both, sending him cursing his way back to who knows where. Just as the team are about to lament their lack of progress, Ezekyle applauds the team from his hiding place, a sack over his shoulder. He'd found the body while the team had been working, and with the team's end of the bargain completed, he's happy to give it up. Solitaire rushes into the school, using the map Geo made earlier to return the body to the grave in its new location. All pieces now in place, the ritual is completed, though as Lingchi knocked herself out attempting to banish Saul, the task is up to the rescued Exorcist. Geodesic goes to enjoy the Terror Festival with Oliver while it completes, and as soon as the spirits are mollified, the children stumble unharmed out of the school.

Aftermath

The children safe, The Speaker rewards the team as promised. Meanwhile, Jack bakes the team an extra special Pumpkin Pie, and Halloween is saved once again.

Rewards

(High, 15 RVP, 3x multiplier for 18 hours) 30 Karma (30 RVP) 20 CDP (9 RVP) 1 Street Cred (1 RVP) 10,000 Nuyen (5 RVP) +2 Streets of Redmond Reputation +1 Renraku Reputation +1 Black Lodge Reputation (Thanks a lot, suckers)

Solitaire can take Daredevil at Chargen Rates Solitaire can take Ezekyle Burton at 2/3 for 4 RVP or 8 CDP Title Unlocked: Accomplice to Pain for allowing a Wild Hunt Hound to suffer in its life under the banner of 'free will' Lingchi can take Aniela at 3/1 for 3 RVP or 6 CDP Initiation Ordeal Discount for Solitaire and Rogozhin for character-relevant beats

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Geodesic - "This was. An event. I've never dealt. With so much fragging magic. I was. Frankly. Way out of my depth. However. I can't say. It's not incredible. Frustratingly inexplicable. How did we. 'Teleport.' Who took. That body in the first place. How is Jack. So cool. All these questions... however. The children are safe. And... I don't know. Somehow. I feel like. Putting those spirits to rest. Was... good? It's enough. To make me envy those mages. Even more. The world they live in. Can be reasoned with."