Session 3Bill,
Clay,
Scott, and
CarterReward: Significant Milestone
THENWith a shout of “THEN!” (the time-honored Supernatural method), I recapped the previous session and explained how Bill and Clay met back up with Scott, Carter, and Jimmy (he’s there but only as a means to get from point A to point N - you’ll see). Their mission? Find a way into the NeverNever, make their way to the River Lethe, the ancient Greek underworld waterway of forgetfulness, and drop the cursed Magick 8-Ball into the river before it makes Carter forget something that’ll get him killed.
NOWWe talked about how the gang was going to get from their rendezvous point in Wyoming into the NeverNever.
Option 1: Road trip to Alaska, where there’s a direct link to the River Lethe. The disadvantage to this is that Crowley-Lampkin’s retrieval specialists would be out looking for the 8-Ball, and after what happened to Tannhauser and Warfield in Dewayo Falls, they’re not gonna be opening with tranquilizer guns this time. Furthermore, it’s a long way to drive, and Carter would need constant supervision lest he forget who he was traveling with or what red lights meant.
Option 2: Figure out somewhere close in the mortal realm that would get them close to the Lethe in the NeverNever, then trek across whatever fairyland they dropped into. The upside was that they wouldn’t have to deal with police, wrecked hotel rooms, or enemies who knew who they were and what they carried. The cons were generally that the NeverNever was going to try to eat them. They chose the NeverNever.
After that, we had a “gearing up” montage. Crowbars! Chains! Pipes! Fireplace pokers! Tire irons! Iron knuckle dusters! Iron filings! Steel buckshot! 5.56mm full metal jacket! Finally, Carter opted for some chainmail freshly stolen from a local Ren Faire (I called it Armor:2, only applicable to attacks it would reasonably stop, and it could eat one Mild consequence, after which it’s ruined). The other guys eschewed modern or medieval armor and mocked Carter for looking like the villain from Commando.
Scott, with what proves to be a wise decision, also opted to bring beer. Carter glued iron filings all over the 8-Ball and dropped it into a sack. Items of Power are unbreakable, and Carter vowed to brain something with his improvised blackjack before the night is through. Thusly girded for battle, our heroes picked a place that should end up close to the Greek underworld once they crossed over: Elmwood Cemetery, in Detroit’s Greektown Historical District, right off the Detroit River.
The gang was enroute to Motor City in the middle of the night (“Clear Sky, Lonely Roads” scene aspect) when I started compelling Carter via the 8-Ball to forget who these people are he’s driving next to. He bought it off but it was clear that he’d have to give ground eventually. Oh, and also there was a Denarian tailing them in a big black pickup. This was Pantagruel, Bill’s former landlord, and he had been on Bill’s trail since that snallygaster incident in Pennsylvania (“Denarians on My Trail” compel!). Here’s what the PCs knew about him:
PantagruelDenarian Loremaster (HC)
Starscream Syndrome (T)
Powers: Superhuman Toughness, Superhuman Recovery, Wings, Evocation, Hellfire
I was very proud of my players for what they did next. Everyone but Scott set up maneuvers (most against Pantagruel’s not-so-hot Driving skill) like “He’s Taken the Bait”, “Distracted”, and so on, then Scott blew out the Denarian’s tires and the truck did an A-Team death spiral off an overpass. It hit the secondary road underneath, rolled into the concrete overpass supports, and exploded! The gang continued on into Detroit as (a little while later) Pantagruel took to the sky trailing ash behind him, now in his natural state of lanky demonic owlbear thingy.
The PCs arrived at Elmwood Cemetery without further interruption and Jimmy opened a portal into the NeverNever. As for Jimmy, he stayed in the real world because Jimmy’s player wasn’t there. He uh... I dunno, Pantagruel ran him off or something. The gang also forgot to bring the assault rifles they took from Tannhauser and Warfield last session, so we decided that Jimmy was also keeping those while he did... whatever he was doing.
BrütalRight, so the gang landed about midway up Mount Erebus. Not the one in Antarctica, the one in the Greek underworld. The sky was gray and red and the mountain itself was made of bones and it was all very, very metal album. They could hear the roar of a river flowing down the mountain but more importantly, they could see across the expanse of pallid wasteland stretching before them. The great marsh of Acheron would be a major hurdle, and beyond that, the fields of Asphodel where the mediocre dead toiled their afterlives away in limbo. Near the horizon, the glittering waters of the River Lethe separated Asphodel from the bladehenges and majestic memorials of Elysium.
Despite their best efforts to kill themselves with shitty Survival checks, the gang made their way to the foothills of Mt. Erebus without going near the river I alluded heavily to (which was the Styx). They now stood facing an overgrown, mossy graveyard of monolithic eroded statues and temples half-buried in the soil. Shades and spectres drifted overhead while small satyrs and other dionysian creatures scampered away from the iron-toting, weapon-draped, still-living newcomers. That made it all the more surprising when a beautiful young woman called out to them from the river they had been avoiding thus far. She keyed in on Carter, who carried the 8-Ball, but with a good Deceit roll he convinced the siren that she was only picking up on his two magic rings. Nonplussed, the woman offered to lead the party as far as Asphodel in exchange for Carter’s baubles. When that offer was rejected, she upped the ante to “pleasure everlasting”. Carter took a Mild consequence, “Ain’t been laid in a long time”, and the siren went after Clay next. She had no use for Bill (“tainted by the Fallen!” she accused) or Scott (“claimed by the White God!”). Bill decided the woman would have them killing each other for her amusement before too long and simply shot her in the face.
The first will love you, the second will deceive you, and the third will show you the way. -The Sword, “Tres Brujas”
The gang skulked into the graveyard of colossi, pausing here and there to Stealth around some centaur hunting parties. The monoliths began to thin out when the baying of hounds drew the gang’s interest. Bill rolled well on a Lore check and identified them as Black Shucks, Hellhounds, Barghests... not in any way native to this part of the NeverNever. Someone was following them and they brought beasties with them. Bill and Carter clambered up a giant statue’s head while Scott and Clay prepared to defend Carter from ground level. Five hellhounds crept out of the shadows around the ruins and Pantagruel landed on a sunken temple roof just out of buckshot range. He was in full demon form again, and his denarian owl-eyes blazed like green searchlights.
Caught You MonologuingPantagruel made the typical villainous offers. “You don’t realize the power you’re throwing away. Think of the good you could do. Think of all the questions you could ask the artifact. ‘How can I kill Nicodemus?’ ‘How can a denarius be destroyed?’ ‘Where is the nearest vampire lair?’” The PCs’ responses were slightly more succinct, and combat was joined. Pantagruel told his demon dogs to retrieve the 8-Ball and flew off, confident everything would go to plan. Five dead hellhounds later, the gang reached the edge of the marshy Acheron just in time for... centaurs! The centaur hunting party, drawn by the sounds of battle, finally found this group of iron-toting outsiders and gave chase! The PCs ran, and then they waded into the muck, and then they splashed and swam. Scott spotted a ferry on its way, but the centaurs were gaining on them. Centaurs have better Athletics than humans, as it turns out, and Bill was an old man. Also, Carter forgot why he was running. So the centaurs (armed with bows and spears) caught up to the group of humans (armed with
motherfucking shotguns). Centaurs are dumb, dumb creatures, and that is why when Charon’s ferry reached the shore and the old, beared boatman demanded payment for passage, Carter happily rolled the dead centaurs for cash and handed it over to Charon. This was a compel on “Why Buy When You Can Steal?”, and the complication is that Carter is now going to be hunted by ghost centaurs who were never able to pass onto their eternal rewards.
Booze CruiseRemember that beer Scott brought? Well, Charon turned out to be an okay guy. He didn’t care about their 8-Ball. He hadn’t gotten any living people on his boat for millenia, so he was happy to shoot the shit and down some beers on the way to Asphodel. It was raucous enough that we placed the scene aspect “Booze Cruise” on Charon’s ferry.
And that is why I love FATE.
The gang reached the opposite shoreline: the Asphodel Meadows. This was an idyllic but plain land of gray vineyards, modest homes, dusty roads, and prairies upon prairies of pallid asphodel flowers, the primary food source of the locals. Speaking of the locals, the smattering of dead bystanders were all looking at the living men like in Inception when the crowds start all... noticing the intruders. This was interrupted by a compel on that Booze Cruise. A group of satyrs and fauns (yes, one had a goddamn knit scarf) had heard these mortals had beer and the little goat-men were sick and tired of having nothing to drink but asphodel wine. They all had cudgels, and there was quite the mob of them.
The First Rule of Gruff Fight ClubClay took the situation from an impending riot down to a more civilized trial by combat. He’d fist-fight the satyrs’ best guy. If Clay won, the satyrs would lead the group across Asphodel to the River Lethe. If the satyr champion won, they’d get the beer. Mr. Tumnus came back with an eight-foot-tall Gruff. A circle of power was drawn in the sand and the brawl began! Clay spent a lot of Fate avoiding Gruff’s meaty fists, and both fighters used maneuvers and tagged aspects like “sandy ground” and “unstable footing”. Gruff had a load of stress, but Clay was actually wearing him down, while Clay’s ridiculous Stunts kept his own damage to just stress, even with Gruff’s Inhuman Strength.
The second will deceive you...-The Sword, “Tres Brujas”
As the fight raged on, another beautiful woman sidled up to Carter, although this one was older, like a cougar-MILF. She got as far as an introduction before Scott stepped between them, offering his hand in greeting. The woman failed her Empathy roll to see through Scott’s Deceit, so when they joined hands Scott lit the bitch up like a road flare with Holy Touch. True to his word, Carter brained her with the 8-Ball-in-a-bag while she jerked and twitched and screamed and burned. Wonderful Intimidation rolls from Bill and Scott kept the satyrs back, and since nobody actually interfered with the fight between Clay and Gruff, no harm, no foul.
Meanwhile, Clay managed to knock off all but one of Gruff’s stress as well as kick in one of his little goat legs. The big bastard conceded with honor, Clay accepted, and Scott gave Gruff (and Gruff alone) the beer. Between the smouldering corpse of the siren-witch, the beating Clay doled out to Gruff, and the respect Gruff had for the mortals, the satyrs agreed to the spirit of their agreement this time. Their original plan was to call out the PCs on the agreement, saying they never agreed to lead them along a path they could follow nor at a speed they could maintain, but when the alternatives range from buckshot to cracked skulls to being lit on fire, Mr. Tumnus and his friends found it safer to keep their word.
I Don’t Need to See Clear to Fracture Your RearThe satyrs skipped and danced around the gang as they hiked across the rolling hills and tall asphodel prairies. Elysium’s sunshine and monoliths were close now, but before their quest could end, Pantagruel returned with some local muscle: three goddamn Gorgons!
Scott dealt a ridiculous amount of Intimidation social stress to the Gorgons based on the party’s rampage-to-date through the underworld, and they all took a “Scared Shitless” consequence.
Pantagruel tried a direct compel on Carter’s “Good, Bad, I’m the Guy with the Goods” aspect. He even offered the poor guy a denarius, power to go with the ultimate knowledge he already carried. Carter bought off the compel with his next-to-last Fate Point so Pantagruel shot him with a lightning bolt. Carter took the hit like a man, although it cost him his last Fate Point and his chainmail armor, which welded into a single mass and fell to the ground. Even after all that, Carter was still left with a Mild consequence “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!”.
The Gorgons attacked, but I compelled them to start with the poor satyrs (“See?! We’re helping!” one shouted up at her master). One of the vile medusas ate shotgun right off the bat, taking almost enough stress to put her down. Bill made a Lore maneuver to place “Blind-Fighting” (sticky) on the scene, which I compelled to great effect to have the heroes miss their targets. It didn’t stop Clay from going to melee with a Gorgon. The monster made a successful maneuver to start a grapple and realized that now Clay knew where she was. Clay headbutted the snakebitch to the ground and kicked her skull in over the next few exchanges, all while keeping his eyes wide shut.
Carter brought out his shiny ghost knife from the first session and tried to angle it so the second Gorgon saw her own reflection. He accepted some FP to miss a few times, then spent a FP to compel the Gorgon’s High Concept to get her to look at the mirrored knife. I thought that was badass, and she was just a mook, so hell yes she looked at her own reflection and petrified.
The last Gorgon tried to skedaddle but Scott shot her in the back.
Caw! Caw! Bang! Fuck! I’m Dead!That left Bill to face off against Pantagruel. Bill raised his .410 Judge, aimed, and... I compelled his “Bad Eyes, Good Shotgun” to miss his nemesis. I learned that generally my villains come to regret me handing FP to Bill. For his part, Pantagruel failed to explode Scott and Carter with hellfire. Bill retorted by dumping three FP into a shot that left Pantagruel with “Tattered Wings” even after his Supernatural Toughness. Pantagruel healed that Minor consequence up and once again failed to explode anyone of consequence. Pantagruel’s dice hated him.
At this point, Bill had somewhere around 9-10 FP sitting in front of him. He used one on a declaration. Much like Jack Sparrow, Bill’s kept a second gun on him loaded expressly for Pantagruel. Blessed bullets, relic powder-filled hollow-points, the whole nine yards. I allowed it of course, because that 1) made sense and 2) was awesome. Bill drew Owlfucker from his shoulder rig and dumped three more FP into a shot.
Ouch. I should have seen that one coming. Now Pantagruel was sporting a Moderate consequence called “This one ain’t healing up!!!”. He tried to blow Bill up with more hellfire but the old bastard knew Pantagruel’s style (invoking “Former Host of Pantagruel” to get out of the way). It didn’t help that Pantagruel couldn’t roll positive numbers either.
Bill didn’t look back at the explosion behind him. He just walked away in slow motion, dumped more FP into another attack, and tagged Pantagruel’s consequence to boot. Pantagruel had just enough stress left to survive it with just a Mild slot (“Riddled with Buckshot”), and on his turn tried to concede. We agreed that Pantagruel would fly away, but it’d be known he broke some Accord somewhere by being down here and he wouldn’t return this session.
Get Thee Behind the 8-BallThe only thing between the gang and the River Lethe was a Survival check to navigate through the asphodel without running afoul of someone or something else (because all their satyrs were statues now), but the Magick 8-Ball knew it was going to die. Carter was out of FP so I compelled him to forget who these scary, armed people were who were with him. He’d better run for it.
And so they dragged Carter to the banks of the Lethe. Carter used the one FP he got from running to resist the final compel and toss the artifact into the river. It disappeared with a plop, but it didn’t just disappear from sight - it disappeared in the most absolute sense of the word. It was erased from memory - everyone’s memory.
And the third will show you the way.-The Sword, “Tres Brujas”
The gang stood on the banks of the Lethe, less battered than I expected but with perhaps only 3 Fate Points between the four of them. They couldn’t figure out why the hell they were in the NeverNever in the first place. They of course remembered leaving a trail of dead fucking fairies through the underworld, they remembered Pantagruel, they just didn’t remember the... what was it again?
They watched an old woman approach them. The crone pushed a wooden cart filled with all manner of trinkets and magical fetishes, and when she got close she bowed her head to the “heroes” and beseeched:
“I’ve been talking with the pantheon and they’d all like you to please, please leave now. Please. I would be happy to show you the way home.”
And so it was that our four mighty mortals traveled to the underworld in search of no treasure, undertook a quest forgotten as soon as it was completed, and returned to a public records cube farm in a plain government building overlooking the Detroit River.
