This "episode" takes place one year after several of the characters made it out of LA, having witnessed multiple homicides and becoming embroiled in a pseudo-religious conspiracy involving several Russian crime bosses. The remaining PCs moved to Philadelphia in an attempt to escape their past, but as they soon learned, the past always catches up...
What follows is a recap of our session in which the group witnessed a car chase, stole a motorcycle, investigated a shady and heavily-secured house, witnessed a bizarre summoning ritual, and blew things up with grenades on Christmas night.
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| Yes, I know this is South Street and not in the Italian Market, but it was the best dark South Philly photo I could dig up. |
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Episode 3
Black Dragon Incorporated
Cast
DJ appearing as Clarence the Shady Accountant (I)
Greer appearing as Rod Zaplenti the Trucker (F)
Chris returning as Greg 'Buq Wild' Buqowski the Stage Magician (P)
Laurel appearing as Trevor [RETRACTED] the Conspiracy Radio Host (C)
Joanie appearing as Glinda the Pawn Shop Owner/Fence (C)
Jonathan returning as Jimothy Steele the Ex-White Collar Crimes Cop (V)
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A light snow fell outside as Greg and Jimothy paced back and forth across the main room of the apartment they were squatting in the Italian Market section of South Philadelphia, muttering about one conspiracy or another. One block further down South 9th Street, Rod was making a late-night illicit delivery to Glinda's pawn shop. Clarence was on his way home while Trevor was on his way to the studio, hoods up so as to avoid the snow. Along the several blocks of the Italian Market, vendors were finishing the process of closing up shop, lowering the graffitied steel doors to seal off their storefronts from vandals. It was Christmas night, and most were trying to close early in order to spend some time with their families. White steam rose from steel grates in the sidewalk, obscuring the vision of any walking through.
As lights began to twinkle out along the street, tires squealed and a jet-black four-door with tinted windows whipped around the corner from Washington Ave and onto South 9th, barely avoiding several streetside market stalls. Two black motorcycles followed, their riders spraying bullets from semiautomatic pistols through the icy flurries. Sparks flew, the slugs bouncing away from the bullet resistant rear of the car as they sped north through the market. Barely poking out of the passenger side window, a man returned fire, one of his bullets striking a rider in the throat. The motorcycle pitched wildly as the man toppled off, pulling the kill-switch on the ignition. The other rider continued following the car north towards Center City and the gunfire faded into the night, as the man bled out in the street.
Rod and Clarence were first to the scene, having narrowly dodged a hail of gunfire. While they checked to see if the stranger was still alive, Jimothy and Greg descended from their squat, intrigued if also suffering flashbacks to their time in LA. Trevor hung back down the block to observe, trying to recall the license plate number of the car. Clarence, noticing a familiar tattoo on the face of the stranger through his cracked helmet visor, asked the gang to help him examine the body. Before the cops could arrive, they carted the body around to the back entrance of Glinda's shop along with the motorcycle which was still functional though beaten up.
After laying out the body, the group set about inspecting for any clues as to who the man might be. While Trevor recalled the license plate [DEEZNUTS], the rest of the group carefully removed the cracked helmet and the man's jacket. The gunman's face and throat were covered in strange, serpent-like black tattoos, as were his hands. The only identifying material in the dead man's possession was a matte-black card, about the size and thickness of a credit card but substantially more dense. Glinda got the idea to pass it under a blacklight, which revealed a single line of Chinese characters. Jimothy snapped a photo and sent it to a contact of his in Chinatown who sent back the translation.
Black Dragon Incorporated.
Clarence and Trevor were able to conduct a public records search online, and managed not to draw any attention to themselves (or so they think) in the process. The search revealed a South Philly address registered to BDI. Curious, the group made plans to scout out the building. Using the slightly battered but still functional motorcycle, Clarence rode out first while Jimothy set out on foot and the rest of the gang hopped into Rod's truck.
Upon arrival, Clarence noted the presence of many concealed security cameras and relayed this information to the group on the way in the truck. When the PCs in the truck arrived, Glinda and Rod decided to fake making a delivery in order to do two things: 1) see who answered the door and if they could fake their way inside, and 2) provide a distraction for Clarence who wanted to find a security hardpoint to hack and shut down the camera feeds and/or power. Meanwhile, Greg and Trevor decided to sneak around the block and behind the house, attempting to find a way inside from the rear.
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| Yes, I know this is the "Latimer House" at 12th and Latimer, but I couldn't find a photo of the actual house this is based on. |
Somehow, this plan went off without too much trouble: Glinda and Rod carried a large crate of oranges (which concealed a smaller box of grenades, intended for sale to a local crime syndicate) up to the front door. A large, burly Chinese man in a black suit answered and Rod managed to stall him long enough for Clarence to find a hardwire into the camera system. Meanwhile, Greg and Trevor worked together to climb a drainpipe up to the second floor, stealthily open a window, and slide through into what looked like an office. A creeping sense of dread grew among the group as they pushed toward the focal point of their investigation.
Suddenly, Rod and Glinda dropped the crate, sending oranges flying into the house, surprising the suited man who though annoyed let them in to pick up the oranges. At the exact instant Clarence managed to loop the camera feeds, another suited guard opened the door to the office only to see Trevor near the desk. Right as he was about to radio for backup, Greg pulled out his automatic knife and pounced on the man and slit his throat. Back in the foyer, Glinda and Rod worked to distract the guard, giving Clarence enough time to slip through the front door unnoticed. Jimothy decided to hang near the truck and wait for any signs of struggle.
While Trevor and Greg decided what to do, Clarence found a door to a dark basement. Reaching it, he discovered a small black obelisk with a scroll placed on top, surrounded my life-like statues of elderly men frozen in horror. Dread consumed him as he read what appeared to be the instructions for some sort of occult summoning ritual. He was used to criminal activity sure, but not whatever it was that they had just walked into.
The following occurred simultaneously: 1) Rod and Glinda anger the guard by venturing further into the house and looking into a large central room two stories tall, 2) Clarence searches for and finds a computer in the basement, and is able to shut off all security measures, 3) Greg and Trevor exit the office only to be looking down on the same two-story room from a hallway with a half wall. A guard in the upper hallway spots the pair and radios in vain for backup to his location. At the same time, the guard downstairs rushes Rod and Glinda, who fend him off and knock him out before he can draw his gun. In the upper hall, Trevor and Greg take down the guard with a combination knife and bronze-sculpture attack.
It's only after the guards are dealt with that they pay attention long enough to see what they were guarding - the ritual detailed on the ancient scroll!
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Three elderly men who have never seen themselves in a mirror.
A perfect flower of life in salt upon which they stand equidistant.
A flawless 64 tetrahedron array in obsidian at the center.
The chant, repeated eight times in perfect unison.
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Behold the sacred
These lines drawn by feel alone
Our voices summon you from stone
Arise Black Dragon, awakened!
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The elderly men stand, robes removed equidistant around the sacred geometry, chanting quickly in unison. Clarence, now on the main floor across the room from Glinda and Rod, screams that they have to disrupt the ritual and everyone makes their moves. Clarence rushes in to tackle one of the men, while Greg leaps over the half wall down to the first floor to do the same. Alas, the chant has finished its eighth incantation just as they tackle the elderly men in white robes.
Suddenly, the obsidian 64 tetrahedron begins to shift, its geometry flowing into impossible shapes, unnerving all of the PCs looking on. As it morphs it grows, its form beginning to take on the discernible shape of a dragon, stone wings growing and a stone maw protruding from the geometric void. Rod sprints back to the orange box and digs up the grenades, tossing a few to Glinda. He shouts for everyone to clear the room as the black dragon forms from the stone. Suddenly grenade explosions erupt around the ritual area, shrapnel blowing through the walls and weakening the structural stability of the house. Demonic cries can be heard from the still forming dragon. Somehow, nobody besides one of the old men is killed in the explosions. Jimothy, hearing and seeing the explosions, rushes in, his gun drawn, and fires several shots at the demon which ricochet off.
As the roof begins to collapse, everyone flees the house...except Greg. In a panic, he screams and leaps at the stone demon with his knife, and in that instant discovers the full extent of his psychic abilities.
Before collapsing from the psychic exertion, Greg flees the house, what remains of it imploding behind him. The group manages to grab him and haul him into the truck and speed off before the police arrive. In their downtime after the session, most PCs elected to try and recover mentally while Greg rested in the hospital, trying to come to grips with his newfound abilities.
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