Chicago:Sessions:20040925b

September 25, 2004
GM: Bobby J.

At noon (Chicago time) on Saturday, September 11, Reg Myers gets a call from the manager of The Lampton in Boston. "Sir, I hate to disturb you, but I think we have a problem." Two parties of four people -- one party from Atlanta, the other from Tampa -- checked into The Lampton within an hour of each other, each taking a suite. These parties look identical to each other. The group from Tampa -- Chuck Givens, Deborah Givens (his spouse), Tom Ellenbert, and Sarah Drake -- paid by credit card. The group from Atlanta paid cash and also furnished a newly-issued credit card number; the one who checked in gave the name Clara Hawkins.

The Atlanta group knew about the casino, gave the appropriate passwords, and have been spending their time gaming. The "house espers" (who check for players using meta-abilities) detect a slight reading, but no active psi use.

Of the Tampa group, there is always at least one person in their suite; others have been in and out of the hotel. It is from the Tampa group that The Lampton employee Andrew Barney, who possesses some precognitive ability, got a reading of "very severe danger" to occur within the next 24 hours, with "loss of life and heavy damage."

Reg goes to Jessica's office. He chides her for eating a sandwich at her desk rather than enjoying the chef-planned meal in the Trifocus Academy cafeteria; she rejoins "This is a *gourmet* sandwich!" He has Andrew Barney repeat his message. Reg tells the hotel manager to relocate all guests who are on the same floor as the Tampa group, as well as the suites on the floors above and below.

Thinking that it would be valuable to have someone scan these people's auras, Jessica asks Thaemon to come to her office.

[October 9, 2004]

As Valmont strolls contemplatively down a hallway, a student named Samantha Etch asks him for help with her homework. A senior this year, Samantha is on the verge of turning 18, and possesses the gift of magery.

Brodie Cates is teaching a Saturday afternoon martial arts class to a group of boys in the gym.

Thaemon teleports himself and Reg Myers from the headmaster's office to the teleport beacon in Joe Lampton's office at The Lampton. The time is 2:15pm EDT. Reg calls the hotel manager, Leonard Summar, for an update. Leonard reports that the evacuation of the floor with the "problem room", as well as the rooms above and below, should be complete in a half-hour. Reg introduces "my associate, Mr. Thaemon," and instructs his staff to "extend all courtesies."

Thaemon prepares himself with Mage Sight and Aura Sight, then takes the private elevator from Reg's office to the casino security area. He soon espies the husband and wife from Tampa, Chuck and Deborah Givens, and checks their auras; they are not outright evil, but they've "done more bad than good." There's also a suggestion of callousness in their natures. Both are low-level mages, and Thaemon detects psi powers also, though something masks the exact abilities from his scrutiny. No magic items are visible, though Thaemon sees a slight bulge in the small of Mr. Givens' back and guesses it for a collapsible wand. These people are not native to this dimension.

Meanwhile, Reg calls one of his Mafia connections and sends over some photos. He tasks the mob with locating the people in the photos, wherever in Boston they may be.

Thaemon reports his findings. "From another dimension?" Reg echoes. There's a note in the security files about the wand, but it didn't trip any alarms.

Reg's phone buzzes. Leonard reports the area cleared, and one person remains in the problem room.

Reg makes a call to Stanhope Masters III, majordomo of the Atlanta meta-team Y-Force, and asks Stan for information on Clara Hawkins and her group, the hotel guests allegedly from Atlanta.

Speaking of other dimensions, Thaemon learns that there's a large (dormant) gate in Boston Common, and a small (open) gate by the docks. One of the hotel espers informs Reg that the Boston Common gate saw some usage during World War II and led to "a couple of realities," but has been unused for the past five years. The esper wasn't aware of the gate at the docks, and none of the hotel staffers are attuned to gates.

Thaemon wants to check the gate at the docks; he phones Jessica, gives her a brief update, and asks her to come out to Boston.

Meanwhile, Valmont and Samantha happen to walk by the gym. She peeps in at her boyfriend, Keith Scully, who is in Brodie's martial-arts class. Keith glimpses Valmont, and immediately Keith's eyes glaze over and he starts to slump. Samantha, crying "He's *seeing* something!" rushes over to him. Valmont, curious as well as concerned, asks, "How long until we know what he sees?"

Just then Brodie hears Jessica paging him, and puts an older student named Kevin in charge of the class. Jessica asks Brodie, "Got anything planned for the next few hours?... How about the rest of the weekend?" Brodie acknowledges with a smile in his voice that whatever plans he may have had have been superseded.

Keith comes out of his daze, gives Samantha a quick squeeze, then tells her he has to talk to Mr. Kazor in private. Valmont and Keith go into an empty classroom. Keith blurts out, "You're Helios, aren't you?" (naming Valmont's Team Infinity identity). In a rather disjointed fashion, Keith explains that he has had a precognitive vision. "Whatever Mr. Cates is responding to, it... it needs your light. You need to... butt in... and go where he goes." In his vision he saw Valmont, Brodie, "the big tall sharp-eared redhead," Miss Spring, and "a gentleman I couldn't get a fix on." The "critical moment" will arrive at 8:03pm EDT tonight, and "If you five don't stop it, the world's blood will flow." Valmont assures the lad that "Mr. Cates and the tall guy can handle themselves" and advises him not to get these precog moments during combat.

Valmont tells Jessica about Keith's vision. Brodie calls someone to fill in for him. Jessica makes arrangements, phones her kids, then dons her commando suit. Valmont dresses in shiny gold. The three of them teleport from the school to ISF HQ and thence to The Lampton. As they appear, Reg says in an aside to Thaemon, "Jessica's been recruiting."

Reg hears from his mob contact "we've spotted three targets." Tom Ellenberg from the Tampa group is at the docks. Ellenberg's double from the Atlanta group is at a certain French restaurant. Clara Hawkins is at Boston Common.

Reg phones his Mob contact and ascertains they have a busboy who works at that French restaurant. (Also, Reg personally knows a maitre d'hotel, but he's not working today.) The contact says "the one at the Commons (Clara Hawkins) is doing the touristy thing." Reg: "Your capo probably remembers the activity from World War II -- don't lose her."

Brodie watches the security cameras. The couple, Chuck and Deborah Givens, leaves the blackjack table for the roulette table; so far they are $15,000 ahead. Brodie can tell that Deborah is a trained martial-arts master, but he isn't sure which style. Jessica observes that they are both well-trained combat veterans and they have a strong emotional attachment to each other; currently they seem relaxed, enjoying themselves.

Thaemon and Valmont quietly reach the door of the Tampa group's suite. Thaemon uses Telecast to place a Wizard Eye inside the room. Through it he sees a woman relaxing on the sofa, a champagne glass in her hand, enjoying "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on TV. Her aura is that of an average person of this dimension, "more bad than good", no magery or psi. There is no magic on her, and she wears no jewelry. She does have body heat, and there are no bite marks on her neck.

Thaemon, not quite believing what his Eye is seeing, casts Dispel Magic on the woman. Instantly she comes alert, leaps up, makes a small mystic gesture, and looks around the room. Thaemon is aware that his spell had bounced off a strong Ward, and that in response she had cast See Invisible. He murmurs to Valmont, "She knows we're here." Thaemon fails in his casting of a Daze spell, then tries Sleep. The woman shakes off the Sleep spell, then casts Dispel Magic; the Wizard Eye vanishes. The two mages hear her uttering a word in a strange language that translates as a profanity, then her footsteps can be heard retreating to another part of the suite. Thaemon casts another Wizard Eye and glimpses an extremely evil aura, not from this dimension, before the bedroom door closes behind the woman. Valmont realizes the language the woman spoke is related to Ethiopian. The two mages depart, discussing how to contain her.

Reg gets a call from Masters, who verifies that the Atlanta group did fly from there to Boston. Masters reports no recent gate activity in the Atlanta area. One of Reg's staffers reports that the Tampa group arrived at The Lampton in an airport limo; 1.5 hours had elapsed between their landing and the limo rental.

Valmont and Thaemon reach the security room. Valmont wants to try talking to the woman, since she might understand Ethiopian. Thaemon: "I wouldn't have anyone walk into that room." Then the mages sense that major protection spells -- from Fire and from Explosive Fireball -- have been cast in the suite. Valmont: "She's still there. I don't think I want to talk to her now."

Jessica drives to Boston Common. Brodie stealths up behind the mob guy, puts his hand on his shoulder, and says, "You can go now." Jessica palms her dazer as she approaches their target -- a woman, extradimensional, has strong Telepathy and Teleportation psionics and minor ESP, a possible world-jumper, a "flexible" moral code.

Valmont and Thaemon flank the woman. "Yes, gentlemen?" The mages begin a line of gate chat between them -- Valmont: "That's pretty, isn't it?" (meaning the invisible-to-normal-eyes gate) Thaemon: "Too bad it's closed." ("Closed?" she echoes.) After a few moments Jessica can tell the woman is starting to cast a spell, so she fires her dazer and the woman starts to collapse. Brodie goes invisible and walks the woman to the car. Thaemon and Valmont cas see that there are actually 13 gates in the Common, all of them dormant, half of them of magical origin.

As Jessica drives toward the docks, Thaemon casts Suspended Animation on the woman and teleports her to ISF HQ in Chicago. Hearing this via headset, Reg phones Carla and instructs her, "That person needs to be placed into medical protective custody -- and there may be more of them." The ID on the woman reads Carla Hawkins, Atlanta, and our Carla also finds an Illinois driver's license for "Darla Place."

At 4:30pm they reach the docks. A man stands at the end of the dock, facing the gate, making gestures. He finishes his spell and smiles. Thaemon figures the man redirected and expanded the gate, then put a passcode on it. His aura is "mundane" and he doesn't seem very tired at all. As Valmont walks up to him, the man turns, nods, and smiles at him.

Valmont: "Is the gate open? I have something to do with it." Man: "Oh, the gate could be life-threatening... Is the elf with you?... I just came to examine the gate. I'm not trying to cause trouble. Are you a *oh no* meta-team? I didn't think Boston had one." Valmont: "I'm sure it was a little gate before -- now it's a big gate." Man: "Sarah's really going to be pissed."

The man starts to gesture again, and Thaemon throws an Utter Dome over them all. By reflex Valmont casts Flash, which leaves Brodie temporarily blinded and Valmont seeing spots. A sword appears in Thaemon's hand, and Brodie draws his.

Brodie takes a defensive stance, and fast-draws the sheath of his sword. Valmont casts Levitate; the man resists. Thaemon casts Dehydrate on the man, then attacks with his katana; the man dodges the physical attack smoothly. The man tries to Dehydrate Thaemon, who Wards it easily. Brodie strikes the man with his sheath; the man goes "Oof!" in surprise.

Thaemon casts Dehydrate again, and his katana glances off of a magical defense. Brodie strikes the man again. Valmont succeeds in levitating the man -- and realizes he is a vampire (or some other form of undead) who has fed a lot recently.

Brodie's sweep doesn't trip the man. The man casts Spasm, and Valmont shakes it off. Thaemon casts Dehydrate again (the man is visibly shriveling by now); this time the man Phases and the katana passes through him. Valmont gradually casts Sunshine... and the man begins to scream.

Valmont pulls the Sunlight in as the man begins spilling information. "I'm doing whatever Sarah says... we're an advance scout party... she's a Bale." He admits he's a vampire. "I redirected the gate to a rally point on her world for the others to flow through... She's a master Bale wizard. She has us in her servitude... In my weakened state I couldn't redirect the gate... Sarah will know it's been severed -- she may redirect the others here, or come herself." He names the world he's from; "We are not the masters of the world. We still maintain the Masquerade."

Thaemon: "I can Banish you back to your plane. You can take the chance on whether it's day or night." The man considers. "Do I take the chance? Trust you?"

Meanwhile Reg, at the French restaurant, sees his well-dressed target. Reg slips the maitre d' a couple of Ben Franklins and requests a private room for a meeting. Five minutes later, maitre d' brings the man into the room. The man gives his name as Nelson Laver. Reg introduces himself as Joe Lampton, and Laver says "Oh, you must own the hotel."

Reg: "The problem is that you're not from here, and there are others 'not from here' impersonating you." Laver: "We actually stayed at your hotel six or seven months ago... Deborah is very interested in gates... We are a group of world-walkers, explorers... Oh, I should be calling her 'Clara' here."

Laver claims they never take very much from any one world, and they don't take money. Laver: "I'm not the most honest of people..." Reg: "Neither am I. I run an illegal casino... Who did you piss off? Who copied you? Who knew you had come here?... Did any of your explorations involve vampires?" Laver: "We did have to clean out a nest of vampires... Clara can walk into new worlds, and the others follow her." Reg: "I have her. In effect, I have you as well... You did absolutely nothing wrong -- you came back to a place that people you pissed off found out about."

Back at the docks, the man tells Valmont the key phrases that will trigger the gate. Thaemon orders the man not to ever come back again. The man asks, "Are you going to kill Sarah?" "Yes." Thaemon takes down the Utter Dome, puts up a Force Dome, then banishes the man.

Reg phones his mob contact. "It's imperative to find them now. At any cost." He offers protective custody to Nelson Laver, who says he'll get the others out of there. Reg: "You pissed off a Bale! You left two dead on a Bale world? You guys stepped right in it." Laver makes a call to Taylor Jacobs, then tells Reg, "We would have gone after them." Reg: "And blown up my hotel!" Reg and Laver take a cab to the docks.

Thaemon resets the gate so that the "open" password is now the "disintegrate" password. Jessica gets a strong sense of danger and starts moving everyone back along the dock. From a quarter-mile away, there comes a huge whooshing sound and a spreading black light.

5:30pm: Rendezvous at Fenway Park. Reg phones Carla: "Please have Whitetop and Sly ready. I don't want them walking off the world till I'm sure the Bale can't follow them." To the worldwalkers, Reg says, "You'd better hope we win." Valmont teleports the worldwalkers to Chicago, where Whitetop, Sly, and Nelms await them. One guy offers Whitetop his wand, but Whitetop just laughs and says "Keep it."

Reg gets word that the other two members of the Bale's group are headed from out of town toward the Lampton. Jessica drives to intercept their car, mousetrapping them in a parking lot. Thaemon casts an Utter Dome over all as the vampires exit their car. Valmont warns "close your eyes" and steps forward. Thaemon shouts "Death or freedom!" Valmont's Flash doesn't affect the man, but the woman blinks her eyes.

Reg addresses them. "We know you've been enslaved. We allowed your compatriot to return to the homeworld. We offer you the same option. It's a pretty easy choice." They tell him their master is a super-powered Bale who is over 500 years old. She sees right through illusions, and controls fire, darkness, and black energy. She is an advance scout for her homeworld, and seeks challenge. "It's not right that we've been constrained in this manner. It's time for her to die."

Thaemon drops the Utter Dome and casts Force Dome (and re-establishes his power draw). The woman goes rigid: "I can't hold her off." Valmont levitates her and turns her around. Thaemon casts Magic Resistance on the man. The Bale doesn't come (as the mages had hoped), but she had sent commands to the woman. Thaemon Planeshifts the woman away. Jessica concludes that the Bale won't come to us; she'll hole up, defend herself, then open the gate and blow it. Thaemon sends the man away to the Astral Plane. Brodie finds an unconscious man in the trunk of the car, along with a stash of weapons, and takes the man to the ER.

Thaemon hands out spellstones granting Magic Resistance to Jessica and Brodie, and another with Great Haste to Brodie. He then dons his Shining Knight armor over his business suit.

Reg tells the hotel manager, Leonard Summar, to pull everyone out of three floors of the hotel, and put the fire department on alert. "I take it you're about to --" "Solve the problem." Reg then calls Carla and warns her "there may be a big explosion. Don't refer them back to me; I'll be busy."

Valmont sets Reg on the balcony outside the Bale's suite. Thaemon takes 2.5 minutes to cast Dispel Magic on the wards. As soon as the wards fall -- Jessica charges through the front door; Reg kicks in the balcony door; Valmont teleports in through a window; Thaemon casts Utter Dome.

Reg gets to the bedroom door first. He knocks. A female voice says "Go away." Reg replies "Can't do it" and opens the door. He sees the Bale sitting in a yoga position on the bed, surrounded by little glowing points. She gives Reg a grim little smile. Reg hurls a shuriken; when it crosses the boundary defined by the points, the nearest one got bigger.

Valmont casts a Sunbolt which is absorbed by the points. The Bale is wearing five or six powerstones on her body. Thaemon realizes she's tapping into subatomic energy to power up a gate; she has to be very precise or she'll vaporize herself (and everything else nearby). Jessica moves slowly into the field, causing sparks. Reg releases his sword from the swagger stick and puts his sword through the field. Brodie moves in invisibly from behind, raising more sparks. Thaemon begins to draw power from her field, and as he does so, he realizes it could fry him. Valmont teleports, strikes, and punctures the shield. Jessica gets her hands around the Bale's throat. Brodie stabs the Bale through the heart.

Brodie twists his sword. Thaemon tries to channel energy into Stop Power to dampen it, and dissipates most of it. Valmont swings his sword at the Bale's neck (missing Jessica's hands) and nearly severs the head. Reg stabs the Bale in the heart. Jessica yanks off the Bale's head.

Thaemon casts Dehydrate on the head, which turns to dust. Three seconds later, every inanimate object in the room (that isn't on someone) disintegrates. Thaemon, Valmont, and Brodie take damage from dehydration.

Afterward: Leonard Summar will deal with the PR aspects of the recent events, explaining that there was an illegal meth lab in one of the hotel suites. Brodie gives the vampires jackets (to give them some protection from sunlight), and Thaemon banishes them. The worldwalkers will either have their memories wiped of how to get to this world, or be scared so badly they will never come back. Thaemon throws what's left of the Bale's body through the gate.

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