Riker: "You're sayin' that's an angel, Francis...?"
Francis: "Just a guess, Mr. Riker... but that's my conviction."
Mulcahy nods behind you. "That's what it looks like, but we were always taught they are immaterial. That thing looks plenty solid to me."
Francis: "If they were immaterial, Father, how could they lay with the daughters of men?"
Mulcahy grins "Got me there."
Riker turns and looks at Mulcahy. "Hell's real. An' we've seen Jophiel blow shit up. Francis is right...these guys are as solid as you or me. Maybe that'll give us an edge. Meantime, we've gotta figger out what else Gordon has in his garden, maybe get in to see that thing. An' find out what got pinched from the exhibit."
Francis: "I believe we know what was, er, pinched...though I'll admit that also is merely a guess."
Mulcahy: "About the exhibit...It's raising something of a stink."
Riker: "Aw no...what now?"
Mulcahy: "It was never supposed to be here."
Francis: "Now that is an interesting tidbit..."
Mulcahy: "The items that got stolen were part of a Vatican collection, meant for London as part of a special display. Somehow they got mixed up with the wrong shipment and ended up here."
Riker: "Aw, man...so you're sayin' the stuff might be legit?"
Francis: "Oh my... Then it probably is just what we think it is."
Benny: "And you think it will turn up here, right? But where?"
Mulcahy: "Well, no-ones wandering around saying we've lost the Holy Grail, but it should never have been in this city."
Riker: "This is not Monty Python... We've gotta figure out who scammed it. Maybe the bloodsucker, maybe Jophiel...say, wouldn't he be able to use that thing to uh...you know...cause what those...other usses...were talkin' about?"
Francis: "Cabot must be behind it, somehow..."
Mulcahy: "Other us's?" Mulcahy looks confused.
Francis: "Oh dear... how much of this do you want to burden your friend with, Mr. Riker?"
Riker: "Cabot...rabbit. Man, this's gettin' to me. Okay..." He glances at Mulcahy. "Long story, padre. Long story. Let's just say it's got somethin' to do with seven seals and a whole lottta missiles.
Mulcahy's eyebrows raise. "That's enough for me."
Riker: "Clock's tickin'. Lemme ask - you guys be able to find anything out by looking at that corpse there?"
Francis shakes his head. "Not enough to make it worth the difficulty.
Mulcahy: "I might."
Riker: "Ok. So we've got a couple leads. The guy who gouged out Gordon's eye. The Grail." Visible wince there. Look at Mulcahy. "Talk to me, padre."
Mulcahy: "You should know this, Francis. All angels have a sigil, their name. It's supposed to be part of them. It should appear on him...it somewhere. Maybe we can find out who it was."
Francis pulls off his glasses and rubs his eyes tiredly. "Yes, of course. I think I'm still a little under the weather from my...experience."
Mulcahy puts a beefy hand on Francis' shoulder. "You'll be fine soon lad."
Riker leans back in his chair. "Divine dog tags. Ok, padre. We'll see what we can do 'bout gettin' you in. Meanwhile, we've gotta track Cabot an' the Grail down."
Francis: "Do not underestimate Mr. Cabot. He's been at this quite some time, and he's not merely evil but brilliant as well."
Riker: "He's a bad guy. He's toast. We can handle him...just gotta...be careful, is all."
Francis: "He hasn't lived this long by being an easy target, Mr. Riker. I fear he may have some ritual use for the...er... cup."
Riker: "Shit, Francis, we know either him or Jophiel's gonna use it...they've both got motives. Just gotta figure out who's got it. Hey..." He sits upright. "Awww...aw, no...awwww no..."
Francis: "Mr Ri...Alan?"
Riker: "I just hadda real bad thought."
Francis: "You'd better share it..."
Riker: "Well, we've seen Jophiel blow up minor league sinners, right? So what if he goes after Cabot? What'll it take to ace the king of th' Undead? Remember what, uh, they said? The whole damn city, boom, gone. I am really startin' to not like this..."
Francis goes completely pale, and it looks for a moment as though he might faint.
Riker: "So it's Cabot Jophiel's after. Doesn't matter who's got the Grail - Cabot's got it, Jophiel blows up the city...or Jophiel's got it, an' blows up the city usin' it."
Riker: "My money's on Cabot havin' it. No pyrotechnics when the Grail got pinched."
Francis: "We must prevent this from happening. Do you remember what date...they... said it happened? I never thought I would say this, but for the moment my memory has failed me."
Riker: "I remember, yeah."
Benny: "I'm wondering" Benny snaps
Mulcahy: "What were you wondering Benny?" asks Father Mulcahy
Benny: "Is there any chance that the white explosion varies depending on what Jophiel wants to exterminate?"
Riker: "That's what I was thinkin', Benny..."
Benny: "It sounds somwhat logical, if you can call all of this logical."
Riker: "Big evil...big explosion. And Jophiel's already shown he's got this thing for excess..."
Benny: "So what role does the grail play? Just a pawn in Cabot's plan? I mean, he's already immortal, Right?"
Riker: "What's in the Grail, Benny?"
Francis: "Perhaps what we need to do is to lure Mr. Cabot out away from a population center."
Francis: "The Blood..."
Riker: "Blood of Christ Almighty. Supervampire."
Benny: "Evil!!"
Francis: "I am the Resurrection and the Life. This is my blood..." Francis shudders.
Mulcahy frowns. "No-one said there was blood in it. I'm fairly sure the bishop would have mentioned that."
Benny: "There is something else..."
Riker: "No kiddin'. An' think on this...Cabot's one evil sonofabitch already...what's he get from his masters, if he uses a holy artifact for corruption, huh?"
Benny: "Who says the blood of Christ will have that effect on vampires? We are talking the blood from the son of God, who was God at the same time and who stands for everything that is not evil."
Riker shrugs. "Hey, I'm just a private eye, guys. I'm guessin' wildly here, based on th' evidence."
Francis takes off his glasses and cleans them thoughtfully on his tie.
Benny: "Wouldn't it be Holy Blood? Hell, I hope he sips some wine from that cup right now."
Riker: "So that brings us to th' other possibility - Jophiel uses it to ace Cabot. Boom. Same result."
Francis: "Gustav was driven back by a recitiation of Holy Names... if Cabot made him, he should also be vulnerable. Something here doesn't make sense..."
Benny: "Yep, but that complicates things."
CM: "We don't know enough about him to know what he wants with it."
Benny: "Note we have no 'simple' way of stopping Jophiel from acing Cabot. So what do you say we just go after Cabot. God knows he deserves it. There must be some way to kill him."
Riker: "Yeah...dammit. Man, I'm havin' trouble wrappin' my brain around this. Ok...Uriel was tryin' to help out, stop Jophiel...an' we've got this second angel sacrificed...plus Benny's friend from the motel..."
Riker: "Equals what?"
Mulcahy's eyebrows are climbing at a steady rate at the names flying around the conversation.
Francis: "I wish we'd been able to save something from the Archives; I don't know a great deal about Cabot and his weaknesses."
Riker: "Well...if he's so powerful, he's gotta have enemies, right?"
Benny: "So what DO we know?"
Riker: "Fact -- the cup, maybe the Grail is missing. Fact -- Jophiel thinks he's eliminating sin via the lux dei. Fact -- Cabot sent Gustav to the archives. Fact -- in less'n five months, if nothin' changes, things go boom. We've got a crazy angel, somethin' that's scarin' the local demons, one master vampire, some missing Syrian tableware, an'a kidnap victim."
Benny: "The Grail is a big question mark."
Riker: "That's our random factor. The football. We've got on one side, Jophiel, who ain't exactly doin' this with the approval of Jehovah. We've got Cabot, who sent Gustav to find...somethin'. Both of 'em got good reasons to want the Grail. My money's on Cabot havin' the cup..."
Francis: "Incorrect, Mr. Riker. Based upon Mr. Gordon's diary, I'd guess that Gustav was sent to decapitate...er... the only organization that might be able to harm him."
Riker: "Ok, we'll go with that. Gustav was sent to take them out."
Benny: "So going back to the beginning, you remember the wino and weird bikers?"
Riker: "'I shall not suffer evil to live.' Right. Jophiel blows up the diner. So where'd the bikers come from? An' that wino?"
Francis looks puzzled.
Benny: "Exactly. Are there more players to this story here? Is it in their best interest to eliminate us, or Jophiel or Cabot?"
Benny: "What about the rest of Boston SAVE?"
Francis: "Bikers?"
Riker: "Right, Francis...armed bikers tried to take me, Benny an' Gordon out."
Benny: "Where the hell are they? There is still much investigating to do and not much time. Too many questions"
Francis has a distant look in his eyes, and there's a little frown of concentration on his face.
Private message from CM to Francis: Make a Legends/Lore rollFrancis: "Mr. Cabot is not known for his travels, which suggests that he uses minions to accomplish his business. He's never been reported anywhere but Salem. There is some evidence to suggest he never leaves his home. Several teams have gone after him. They have either failed to find him... or they've simply failed to return."
Private die roll from Francis: 1d100Total 53 [53]
Private message from CM to Francis: Okay, You remember that cabot was only suspected in the 1890's but there's evidence to suggest he was one of the first colonists in America.
Private message from Francis to CM: Dear god... he's been at this a long time...
Private message from CM to Francis: He's never been reported anywhere other than Salem, Mass and there's some evidence to suggest he never leaves his home.Several teams have gone after him over the decades and they've either failed to catch him or simply never come back.
Riker: "So maybe Gustav sent the bikers?"
Benny: "Someone at Boston SAVE must know something about Cabot which may be useful. Why try to eliminate us? Does he fear rhat we will kill him? Or foil some plan? Are there any reports on those attempts on Cabot?"
Private message from CM to Francis: There's only one report you can remember. During one of the decades when Cabot was thought dead, a team explored his huge house on the hills above Salem. Though they found nothing overtly supernatural, many reported a sense of being watched, and a nasty coda is that within a year, every member of the exploratory team was dead, ostensibly from natural causes.Riker: "Assumin' we can find 'em. An' yeah...why us? Or was Gordon th' target? Look, we can't sit here an' try to second guess him. We've gotta try an' force his hand with th' only leverage we've got. Information."
Francis: "And Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Riker; I think that we probably should bring the good Father into the fold, so to speak. If we are to continue to speak so freely in his presence."
Benny: "Damn it!! Call me Benny. I trust you with my life..."
Riker: "I'll let you do th' recruitment speech, Francis. An' call me Alan.
Francis: "I'll try, gentlemen. It's... difficult for me to be so informal."
Benny: "I know you can do it."
Riker: "Lookit it this way Francis...we get inn'a jam, what's easier to say?"
Francis: "Whatever I have to spend the least time thinking about!" Francis smiles, and it makes him look years younger.
Riker: "You oughta try that more, Francis. Makes you look tougher. Like you could eat a whole library stack. Let's brief the Padre, then motor. Time's wastin'."
Francis: "You know, I recall reading one report about Cabot - a team explored his house in the hills above Salem."
Benny: "Aha!! Good stuff, I presume."
Francis: "They encountered nothing supernatural... but all felt watched, and they all died within the year. Supposedly of natural causes."
Benny: "How?"
Riker: "Some kinda curse?"
Francis: "I don't know. But it seems important to keep in mind."
Benny: "AT some point we may have to go there ourselves."
Riker: "Okay..."
Francis: "Agreed."
Francis turns to Father Mulcahy.
Francis: "Father, you may want to sit down for this."
Benny: "Comfortably, please."
Mulcahy grabs a chair and parks his butt.
Francis: "I'm sure you have long since realized that we are not alone in this world. That there are other... things... that share it with us. Things that are, for lack of a better term, Unknown. Often evil."
Mulcahy nods. "I cast one out of you last night, didn't I?"
Francis: "Indeed. I'm confident you know considerably more about that sort of thing than I do. In any event, since late in the previous century, there have been a group of people devoted to dealing with such things. It is a very secretive group, for if there is too much known about their activities, it can quickly result in their deaths. Our adversaries play for keeps, as Mr--Alan-- would say."
Mulcahy asks "And you're part o' this group..?"
Francis nods. "As are these gentlemen. There are hundreds of us worldwide, with headquarters in major cities. We...deal... with the incursions of the Unknown whenever and however we can."
Riker: "Not exactly my first choice...but we don't exactly get t'pick sometimes. I got recruited when my ex-boss munched a handfull'a knives from a guy he'd already killed once."
Mulcahy glances at Riker. "So you've dealt with sort of thing before?"
Francis looks decidedly uncomfortable.
Benny: "Not exactly like this."
Mulcahy's eyes narrow "That's a 'no', isn't it?"
Francis: "Not personally, no. I'm a trend analyst and researcher. Until my encounter with Mr--Alan and Benny, I had never been in the field."
Benny: "Never anything with such catastrophic consequences."
Riker: "Only thing I ever ran into was what killed Dick Donovan...an' that scared the piss outta me."
Benny: "In fact, nothing like this. Personal danger, decidedly yes, though."
Francis: "And, if our... selves... are to be believed, we have quite literally been to Hell and back."
Mulcahy muses for a moment. "They teach us about some of what you've told me at seminary, those of us they think are mentally suited to know..."
Riker: "Demons, weird shit like that. That's how y'know the rite, right?"
Mulcahy nods. "We know about the vampires, and the werewolves and something about demons, yes. For a long time we used mercenaries to fight them ourselves..."
Francis: "Father, the name of the organization is the Societas Argenti Via Eterniata - and I'm afraid you've become a member, like it or no."
Mulcahy tries the words out. "The Eternal Society of the Silver Way..."
Benny: "Can you get more information for us?"
Mulcahy: "Eh? Oh, there are vaults full of books in Rome, but we'll never get to see them. They keep them under lock and key. They're dangerous."
Riker: "What can we get on short notice? This's the oldest Catholic city in the US, after all..."
Mulcahy: "I'm not sure. There's a teacher of mine I can talk to. Maybe he can help."
Francis: "One last thing, Father - our chapterhouse -- our headquarters -- here in Boston has been destroyed. Recently, probably at Cabot's orders. We had a magnificent archive at our chapterhouse - it's all been destroyed.""
Riker: "How soon can you set us up with him?"
Mulcahy: "We'll have to be careful then."
Benny: "You suspect they'll be watching him?"
Riker: "Hell yes. They've been four steps ahead'a us the entire time."
Mulcahy: "I could call him now, see whether he's up to a visit. He's...ill, you see."
Benny: "Ill?"
Mulcahy: "They say he studied just a little too hard."
Riker: "He's cracked?"
Mulcahy stiffens.
Benny: "He knows too much...We better go to him as soon as possible."
Francis: "Father?"
Benny: "In fact, right now if possible."
Mulcahy: "He's an old man, who's given his life to ferret out things people shouldn't have to know in their worst nightmares. He's a good man. He is not cracked. Alan, you should know better.""
Riker scrubs his face. "Me an' my big mouth...sorry about that, Father. It's been, uh, one'a those weeks. I'm sorry. Your guy's fought th' good fight a helluva lot longer'n we have. I got no call sayin' what I did."
Benny: "It's been one of those lives, rather."
Mulcahy smiles sadly. "No need to apolgise m'boy. None at all."
Riker: "Yeah, there is, but thanks for sayin' there ain't. Let's see if he's up to it, okay?"
Benny: "Even if he isn't we have to go to him."
Mulcahy: "Can I use ye'phone?"
Riker waves a hand. "All yours."
Mulcahy snags the 'phone and punches a number. The conversation is brief and murmured.
Riker: "What's th' scoop?"
Mulcahy: "He'll see us. We can head out to the hospital now if you'd like. I warn you though, his mind wanders. He may not give us anything we can use."
Francis nods. "But he may."
Riker: "Let's put on our boogie shoes. Where we goin'?"
Mulcahy: "Providence."
Benny: "Let's go."
Riker: "Damn...I knew it. Lovecraft country, here we come."
Francis: "Providence is a charming town."
Riker runs everyone out of the office, and gets them into the 4x4. "Narrow streets ann'a lotta hills. Like the architecture, though. Let's roll."
CM: The drive down to Providence, Rhode Island takes about an hour, lengthened slightly by the start of the rush hour log jam.
Riker drives like a typical Boston headcase, with no regard for personal safety.
CM: Thankfully, the Bronco pulls off the main routes before you get into the city proper, and slides down long winding roads between picturesque pastures...
Benny pulls out a cigarette and nervously waits to light it.
CM: The Bellchamber Hospice is a beautiful, yet austere building in vast grounds overlooking the sea...
Riker: "Arkham Sanitarium, dead ahead."
Francis: "Actually, it's Greenwood Sanitarium, in Arkham. Arkham Asylum is Batman." He grins.
Riker pulls his jacket a bit closer around himself. "Hey, I only read whatsit? 'Call of Cthulhu'. An' th' one about the fishing town."
Francis: "Innsmouth."
CM: Nurses roll patients in wheelchairs down the neatly kept paths between the flowerbeds. There's an atmosphere of calm about the place...
Riker parks the 4x4 in the lot, and climbs out. "Awright, padre...let's see him."
Benny: "What is killing him Father?"
Mulcahy looks at Benny. "Old age...and bad dreams."
Benny: "And his knowledge... will it go with him?"
Mulcahy: "I doubt it. He had a lot of students, and he gave us each a piece of what he knew."
Mulcahy escorts you over to the main building, where he checks in at a desk that wouldn't be out of place in a hotel.
Benny: "Where are the other students?"
Mulcahy hands you all "guest" badges. "All over the world. In missions, cathedrals. Wherever the Church is."
Francis clips his very precisely to his suit jacket pocket.
Riker clips his on. "Right. Let's do this."
Benny plants it right on his left shoulder and the unlit cigarette falls to the floor slowly. "After you, Father."
Mulcahy leads you up a flight of stairs, then down a long curving corridor. The hospital is white and clean, with a hint of tired death.
Benny nervously looks around. A thin film of sweat has appeared over his shoulder.
Riker follows along, plainly uncomfortable in this place. All too easy to see oneself, under the circumstances, ending up here.
Mulcahey stops outside a room, and knocks twice. Then he steps in, motioning you to stay put. After a moment, he emerges and waves you in. The room smells of antiseptic and urine. A rack of instruments hiss and puff and exchange fluids, doing the work of a failing body.
Benny looks away, reeling from the familiarity of it all.
CM: In the center of the room is a plastic shrouded bed, wrapped in electronics. An indistinct form lies blurred behind the curtains.
Mulcahy: "Father Anton? These are the men I told you about."
Riker bobs his head slightly. "We need your help."
Benny nods slightly, oblivious to the fact that he probably won't notice.
CM: The shape shifts, and a voice rasps softly, "Come closer...."
Francis approaches the tent, leaning forward like an odd sort of bird.
Benny gingerly walks closer to the figure in the bed.
Riker shuffles a bit closer.
Anton: "Let me...see you."
Francis moves right up next to the figure on the bed, so he can be seen easily.
Benny also tries to get in his line of vision.
CM: Something blips loudly next to the bed, and liquids move sluggishly through transparent tubes.
Anton: "What do you...want?"
Francis: "Ezra Cabot."
CM: There's a rattle of breath from the bed, then... "Cabot. He has risen again?"
Benny: "Yes."
Riker: "An'...uh...well..."
Francis: "And he's drawn some rather dangerous attention... Jophiel, or someTHING calling itself Jophiel."
Riker says, very quietly, "An' we think he, uh, Cabot, might have the, er...Grail. The Grail."
Francis: "And Boston.. perhaps the entire mortal world... may perish if we can't do something to stop it."
Anton: "Aaaah. The...old rivalry."
Riker: "Old rivalry? Say what?"
Anton: "Do you now where...vampires come from?"
Benny: "No."
Francis: "Other vampires... but before that, sir, no."
Riker: "Dark souls the Devil dressed in human skin, right?"
Anton: "Lies, all of them." The shape coughs wetly.
Riker: "Then what, Father?"
Anton: "There's a...book, in the Vatican Library...a lost chapter of the old testament..."
Riker: "Uh huh..."
Anton: "They say it was written by Adam himself..."
Francis listens raptly.
Riker: "You saying that vampires are the heirs of Lilith, Father?"
Benny: "Or Cain?"
Francis: "Gentlemen, please, let him speak!"
Anton: "It tells of the war in...Heaven. When Lucifer stormed the...throne of God, a warrior arose from his ranks...An...angel, driven mad by combat...he...tore open his brethren and absorbed them...He destroyed all before him, and drove the forces of the Lord to the door of His very chamber....The book says that the angel opened the door to look upon the Lord's naked face...And was burned for his presumption."
Riker mutters, "Like a vampire in th' sun...sure...that makes sense..."
Anton: "When Lucifer and his followers were cast out...a special punishment was made for this one...for only he had murdered other angels...He was made to thirst for what he had tasted and fear what he had seen...forever. The Fallen soon confined him, for they were the only succour to his hunger..."
Francis nods solemnly.
Anton: "But he e-escaped."
CM: The monitor blips again, then settles.
Riker: "Oh, man...you ain't sayin'..."
Anton: "So they banished him...To Earth."
Benny unbuttons the top few from his sweat soaked shirt.
Riker: "Easy, Father...just take it slow. You sayin' this's Ezra Cabot? This...angel?"
Benny looks pale as the walls.
Francis: "Or perhaps the first vampire..."
Benny: "Please, let him finish."
Riker shuts up, one hand drumming faintly at a pocket. Got a flask of good Irish whiskey there.
Anton: "That is what Cabot wants, I fear. To free his master. Varinae, the Dark Blood Hunger of the Night...."
Session ends