Dark*Matter: Manuel “Percival” Archuleta

Law offered to run a game in our Dark*Matter Campaign, so I got to create a PC to play! As the other PCs are currently about ~70 XP, my PC started with 40 XP (8 advances). So here is Manuel “Percival” Archuleta

Manuel is an American-born fillipino. Because of all his troubles in school and with the law (having been arrested a few times), his family sent him to the Phillipines to live with his extended family. There, he didn’t fare much better, and got involved with the various street gangs that plagued Manilo. He was a father by age 18, and that stabilized his life a little. Nevertheless, it was not enough that he could be a good father regardless of how much he loved his daughter and found he was becoming a grandfather before his 35th birthday.

Going to visit his daughter and her mother one evening, he arrived at a scene of horror – their gruesomely mutilated corpses amongst a dozen others, and a pack of demonic beasts ravaging the village. He managed to survive fighting off the beasts with the aid of a priest who had been hunting the creatures, which was led by an Aswang. The priest, it turned out, was a member of the Templarios – a sect within the Church that rooted out and destroyed such beasts of hell.

It was a turning point for Archuleta, and he dedicated himself to the fighter against such evil, and was christened by Father Ricardo as Percival.

  1. Human
  2. Stats
    1. Str d4
    2. Agi d10
      1. Fighting d10 (4)
      2. Shooting d6 (2)
      3. Driving d4 (1)
    3. Vigor d4
    4. Smarts d6
      1. Streetwise d6 (2)
      2. Notice d6 (2)
    5. Spirit: d10
      1. Faith d10 (4)
  3. Hindrances: 1 Major or 2 minor
    1. Code of Honor: Catholic
    2. Minor Vow: Chastity
    3. Bad Eyes: -2 beyond 10 yards
  4. Advances
    1. Two-Fisted
    2. Arcane Background (Miracles)
      1. Deflection
      2. Smite
    3. Str d6
    4. Vig d6
    5. Martial Artist
    6. Adept
    7. New Power: Healing
    8. New Power: Puppet

Dangwaru

​The Tortle have a saying – “we wear our homes on our backs”. And yet, this one seems intent on asking for your help in returning to her birthplace at the Snout of Omgar. There, she says, she will pay you handsomely for ridding Dangwaru – theTyphoon Palace, of the monsters that terrorize the youth of Ahoyhoy.

  1. GM: Andrew (DCI #:5109855060)
  2. Players and Rewards:
    1. Omni – Human Ranger 1
      1. 1265 XP, 490 GP, 20 Downtime days, 0 Renown
    2. Gundy Hazel (Solid) – Human Monk 3
      1. 1265 XP, 490 GP, 20 Downtime days, 0 Renown
    3. Primus Ivoriil (C.Z.) – Half-elf Paladin 4
      1. 1265 XP, 490 GP, 20 Downtime days, 0 Renown
    4. DAL59 – Human Wizard 3
      1. 1265 XP, 490 GP, 20 Downtime days, 0 Renown
    5. Sonic – Dragonborn Rogue 1
      1. 302 XP, xx GP, 10 Downtime days
    6. Ayberk – Human Paladin 1
      1. 212 XP, xx GP, 10 Downtime days, 0 Renown
  3. Monsters
    1. Lizard:

      50/6=8.3333

      Shadow

      400/6=66.6667

      Mimic

      450/5=90

      Topi

      600/4=150

      Xorn

      1800/4=450

      Shadow

      200/4=50

      Slug

      700/4=175

      Ghost

      1100/4=275

  4. Treasure:
    1. From Treasure room, everything converted to GP is 1,960 GP. Divided by 4 = 490

Storm King’s Thunder #1 – A Great Upheaval 1

  1. GM: Andrew (DCI #:5109855060)
  2. Players:
    1. Sparlock (Chad): Half-elf Warlock Hexblade 1
    2. Zarr (Daniel): Half-elf Bard 1
    3. DAL 59 (DAL): Human Wizard 2
    4. Phenaus (Brandon): Dwarf Cleric (Grave) 1
    5. Arara (Wolffine): Drow Sorcerer 1
  3. 1485 DR: The Year of the Iron Dwarf’s Vengeance
  4. Nightstone: A fortified settlement located a few miles south of the Ardeep Forest, in the untamed hills between Waterdeep and Daggerford.
    1. 5 traveling companions are making their way there after having heard rumors of goblins terrorizing the settlement. The High Steward of Nightstone, Lady Velrosa Nandar, a Waterdhavian noble has offered a reward to anyone able to deal with the goblin threat.
    2. Leaving the main road for the trail to Nightstone, the more perceptive of the group begin to hear the tolling of a bell a few miles into the 10 mile journey. It continues unceasingly for the remainder of the trip…
    3. Cresting the last hill reveals the town situated on a small rise in the middle of a large river, forming a natural moat. A wooden palisade surrounds it, with a lowered drawbridge flanked by stone watchtowers. Further to the right, a stone keep overlooking the village is partially collapsed; likewise the wooden bridge that connects the keep to the village.
    4. No activity other than the continuous ringing of the bell is seen or heard.
  5. Goblins!
    1. Making their way through the towers into the abandoned town square, the group encounter a pair of large wolves tearing at the corpse of a dog – no doubt, an unlucky pet. Noticing the arrival of the group, the wolves aggressively attack!
    2. The sounds of fighting draw out several goblins from the surrounding buildings! More mayhem ensues, but the party is victorious in vanquishing the little monsters.
    3. Curiously, there are enormous 5-foot rocks scattered among the town square – as well as similar boulders smashing through the roof and walls of several of the buildings. There is also a large gouge in the ground some 6 feet deep in the center of the square.
    4. Investigating the buildings leads the group to find a pair of goblins swinging from the bell-rope in the church. The entranced goblins have long since been deafened by the bell over the past several hours that they don’t even notice the party.
    5. Questioning a captured goblin, she reveals that “Boss Hark” sent them to the human’s home 2 nights ago to look for treasures when the humans came to their home in the caves o the north. The goblins didn’t kill the humans here, and she doesn’t know why they went to their home. Letting her live, she tells them her home is in the dripping caves a mile north of the village.
    6. The party barricades themselves in a building to rest.
  6. Epilogue:
    1. XP: 10 Goblins (50 xp each) & 2 Worgs (100 XP each) = 700 XP Total; 700/5=140 Each
    2. Treasure:
      1. Goblins carry:
        1. Stolen utensils

          0

          3 Vials of perfume

          5

          Battered copper flagon emblazoned with grinning visage of a halfing

          1

          gold wedding ring

          25

          Coin

          0.39

          3 blocks of incense

          15

          Silver amulet shaped like a unicorn’s head

          25

          “poor box”

          .52

          Sack of food!

        2. 81.91/5=16.382
    3. Downtime: 5

Starfinder: Dead Suns 1 – Incident at Absalom Station 2

    1. Game date: 2018 Mar 18
      1. GM: Law
      2. PCs: Bubbles, Syphillus, Arius, AJ (new PC Kulon?) & Obozaya – pregen Vesk Soldier (Thor)
    2. Absalom Station:
      1. Spent next few days later exploring the station
        1. Invitation to embassy of Eox by Gavarlosk Noor – for this afternoon
          1. (Eox is a planet of Elebriens – a species who had to transform themselves to undead to avoid extinction)
        2. Undead guards. Foyer with black marble and purplish light. We are only non-undead.
          1. Escorted to His Excellence
      2. Says he knows about the dispute over ship and “driftrock”
        1. Offers himself as a mediator
        2. Says we are neutral
      3. Go to Aqion
        1. Find out what happened to crew
        2. Determine the value of cargo
        3. And find out about the driftrock
        4. Offers each of us 600 cred
          1. Arius asked for 2000 cred w/ diplomacy 25
        5. Also, a package for the embassy, which is now quarantined
          1. Personal favor, will increase to 1100 cred each
        6. Arius succeeded in getting agreement for 1400
        7. The Aquion:
          1. Package ever been to Absalom station
          2. Package not dangerous, illegal or contraband
      4. As we are leaving, message bot flies up and spits out a letter
        1. Cordially invited to offices of Ms. Joss (a female Lashunta) in Blue Rise Tower (where the Astral Extractions are based)
          1. Marketing preparations
            1. Says Aquion hired by company to explore and get rights to minerals
          2. To me, the rules seem very plausible as defined in the contract
        2. Aquion:
          1. Found a few weeks ago.
          2. A month before then, it was hired out
      5. Leaving there, another messenger – Captain Otao Sericce (a red-skinned human). Invites us to his ship
        1. He is an unofficial spokesman for the Collective.
          1. They value their independence and freedom; struggle against the corps
        2. Believes the crew prob thought that if they brought it back, it wasn’t “staking a claim” for the Astral Extraction in the future, but rather, it was something that they brought back, and is loot.
          1. He is not disputing the AE claim, and will return all information about exploration to them.
        3. They didn’t hire gang to kill people, but to protect their own. The AE hired the gang.
        4. Creel has a cousin that is in the Collective.
        5. Aquion
          1. Freighter, medium sized – 4 engine
            1. 6-10 crew
    3. To the Aquion
      1. Shuttle is an upgraded Ringworks Wanderer station ship, called the Hippocampus
      2. As we leave the Armada into the Quarantine Zone, I detect another ship leaving the Armada for the same destination
        1. Tiny ship
          1. Tiny Interceptor, called a Death’s Hand Necroglider
      3. Message on transponder from Aquion
        1. “Attention: Ship under quarantine. Do not approach.”
      4. Landing
        1. Entering into the airlock, found Akata
      5. Exploring
        1. Found a corridor with signs of battle, and a body of a space goblin with throat torn out
        2. Fought a lot of Akata, and some space goblines
        3. Have found residue of Noqual
      6. Bridge
        1. I restored ship functions
        2. Got records
          1. Discovery of driftrock
          2. Found strange geods
          3. Creatures hatched from the geods and attacked – descriptions are of the Akata
          4. “Something else, it came from the rock. Will open ship to airlock, may do something.”
          5. “Didn’t work – set autopilot to Absalom station. We are going to head to the rock.”
      7. With that information, we returned to the airlock, only to find out that our shuttle was no longer there!!
    4. Level up to level 2!

Dark*Matter #21: Thin Blue Line

    1. Game date: 2018 Mar 17
      1. PCs: Markov, Lester, Maverick, Bill, Jonah, Angus
        1. Jonah Redding (played by Andrew Huang): Ex-marine, dishonorably discharged for running from combat
          1. Minor deathwish
          2. Major delusion: Sees an assassin in every crowd. But, his family was killed by an assassin after discharge, one that no one else saw…
    2. 2014 Oct 06
    3. Florida: HQ
      1. Recuperating after encounter in Prague, Director Jones informs team that a contact at the Detroit Police that requests backup.
      2. Corktown Precint’s Captain Malcolm Simms is a friend of Hoffman
      3. Increase in abnormal repots in Detroit.
        1. Over past few months, increase in the dark matter levels. Corresponds to increase in the supernatural.
      4. Go to Detroit and contact Simms.
      5. A new recruit there as well – one Jonah Redding whom the Institute has been watching
      6. Background
        1. XA908
          1. Revealed a mound
        2. An octo (Dr. Lilian Brown) found it in her search for occult, and managed to open some doorways
    4. Detroit:
      1. On the drive up, Maverick researches background on Simms
      2. Captain Malcolm Simms:
        1. <IMG of SIMMS
      3. The group meets with Sergeant James MacMillan
        1. <IMG of MacMillan
      4. He escorts them to Simms
    5. Central rail
      1. Encounter Golem:
        1. Fumble lester & Mav
        2. Shaken: (+2)
        3. 17, 13, 4, 7 (Mav),
        4. <IMG Golem
    6. Temple Beth Shalom
      1. 1 / -6
    7. Epilogue:
      1. 2 XP

 

GM notes: These adventures in Detroit come from the fantastic Savage Worlds sandbox guide Thin Blue Line from Melior Via. The setting is reminiscent of the initial seasons of the X-files, and the production value of the book is excellent. The writing clearly comes from a place of great love for Detroit. Thank you Melior Via for allowing me the use of some of the pictures and for the wonderful setting!

Dark*Matter #20: The Alchemist

  1. Game date: 2017 Dec 31
    1. PCs: Markov, Maverick, Lester
  2. 2014 Summer
  3. Background:
    1. Missing young woman are unfortunately not uncommon among Eastern European countries.
    2. Many of these have many social ills, with drug dependency very common
    3. Over the past few months however, there has been an uptick in the middle-class young women who have gone missing; with people left behind who are concerned and able to do something about it. In particular, 8 of the reported missing women are new mothers.
    4. There’s an ambitious dhamphir Daniel Vlcek in Prague, who is making a play at moving up the ladder. To do so, he wants to get his hands on an elixir that is said to be death to the undying – the dust of life. It was rumored to be in the possession of the Alchemist, a 2 century old vampire that slumbers under an old monastery.
  4. Hook:
    1. Hoffman Institute Europe receives a message that a body found is one of the missing woman. Interpol has ruled the case a suicide due to slashed wrists, but Hoffman’s sources say that some carvings on her body are in the shape of an old gypsy rune meant to defile a body.
      1. Anezka Krejci
  5. Scene 1: Morgue
    1. Talk way into Czech police morgue
    2. Investigations: many of the missing are tied to a Dr. Pietor Czersonwich (wife Olivie)
  6. Scene 2:  Speaking with the doctor
    1. He is an OB/GYN:
      1. “Disposes” of unwanted newborns, ostensibly giving them up for adoption
      2. Didn’t want to help, but he can’t refuse his master!
    2. Gave the names to a Mr. Radek Novotny
  7. Scene 3: Infiltrating a Mafia (Jaksikovci): Dominik
    1. Firefight!
  8. Scene 4: Alchemist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SendivogiusMichael Sendivogius (Polish: Michał Sędziwój; 1566–1636
  9. Taking out the guards
  10. Murdering a baby
  11. Dust of death
  12. Captured the Alchemist
  13. Scene 5:
    1. Vlcek sends his dogs
  14. Epilogue
    1. XP: 5

Starfinder: Dead Suns 1 – Incident at Absalom Station 1

    1. GM: Lawrence
      1. Ari: Scythix (Vesk): Scrawny vesk with a large axe
      2. AJ: Ajax (M Human): custom rig
      3. David: Mize (M Asian human): Slight, fades into background, but has a papable presence. Working odd jobs to get on ship
      4. Andrew: Bubbles (M Shirren): Iridescent green shell with a humped back which is a drone
      5. Thor: Obozaya (F Vesk) – large Vesk solider
    2. We are on a ship to Absalom Station, just coming out of Drift
    3. Doravor Kreel (M. Dwarf):
      1. Asked me to meet him about Starfinder Society
    4. Landing on Absalom Station
      1. Brightly lit station abuzz with activity!
        1. Weapon fire suddenly erupts
      2. Dwarf is killed
        1. On datapad, only my name and description as well as “Chiskiss” and an address
    5. Wardens come and say they recognize the people:
      1. Gangbangers known as Level 21 crew and the Downside Kings
    6. Address on datapad leads to Lorespire Complex
      1. Offered to join SFS, and the first task is to investigate why we were ambushed – coincidence? Or were we targeted
    7. Rumors
      1. A derelict ship Aqueons came with a driftrock in tow, and no crew!
        1. Heard that the crew were either killed to keep a secret, or went mad and walked out the airlock
      2. Two crews claim the rights:
        1. (Astral Extraction – a powerful mining conglomeratge – centered in the Diaspora; recently hired a ship belonging to Hardscrabble Collective
          1. Their public image is good, but they are known to hire criminals etc.
        2. Hardscrabble Collective- the Aqeon; they are a clan of asteroid miners. They count the Armada as a central gathering place. Hire their crew out. Not really a clan, but a coalition of individuals.
          1. They have hired the Level 21 gang to protect their interests
    8. On Level 21 investigating
      1. Stuffer shack encounter didn’t go so well after acosting some homeless patrons
      2. Found a bodega with a fat halfing (Mama Fats) female proprietor that said she will let Jabaksa (Ysoki leader of the level 21 crew) that we are looking for him.
    9. Downside King
      1. Leader: Ferani Nadaz (ferocious woman)
    10. Next morning, message for us at the Moon: 6 pm Bodega
    11. Investigation:
      1. Kings hired to threaten the Collective to hang over Aqueon and Driftrock
      2. Doravor Kreel: Mid-level SFS, took interest in
        1. Focused on mineral prospecting
        2. Native of Diaspora
        3. Ties to dwarves and other miners
        4. Active in challenging corp
        5. Personally invested in Collective
        6. Cousing was part of Collective who died b/c Astral Extraction didn’t pay for safety
    12. Back at Bodega: Ysoki Jabacksa and 2 humans
      1. Jabacksa said Downside Kings aren’t rivals, just on opposite sides of employers right now.
        1. Says Kings hang out at the bar Fusion Queen
        2. Ferani only became leader a few months ago when she killed prior leader
        3. Astral Extraction hires the Downside Kings – doesn’t know why they killed Doroval
    13. Fashion Queen
      1. Take out the bouncers
      2. Loud nightclub inside
      3. Disguised way in and took out 3 guards, one Vesk bodyguard, and Ferani
        1. Datapad shows communique between Astral Extractions and Kings ordering gang to kill Dorvar Kreel as a message to Collective, and to keep SFS from getting too curious about Aqeon.
    14. Return to Chisskiss
      1. He will pass on information and advised us to stay away from Astral Extraction

Dark*Matter #19: Killing Jar 2

  1. Game date: 2017 Jul 29
    1. PCs: Markov, Lester, Maverick, Angus, Phil,
  2. 2014 Mar
  3. Met mothmen; defeated the Residuum
  4. PCs are taught ability to choose Magic, Tech, and Faith Arcane Backgrounds
    1. Markov
      1. rcane Background (Magic): Healing, Deflection, Quickness

Dark*Matter #11–Millennium Knights: Chasing the Ordo Octostium

  1. Game date: 2016 Sep 10
    1. PCs: Markov, Lester, Maverick, Mole
  2. London, UK. 2013 May
    1. With the data gleaned from the laptops passed onto the Millenium Knights, Supervisor Gordon-Yancy informs the agents that they have several leads. However, with Peter Bergson having escaped, the Ordo – whoever they may be – now knows that they are actively being pursed.
      1. The Knights have intercepted a message on an encrypted channel that indicates the Ordo is interested in the works of Roger Bacon, an alchemist that was a contemporary of Michael Scot.
        1. Bacon was purported to have discovered the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone – an object that according to various legends, either turns lead into gold, or grants immortality.
        2. Bacon was also a Franciscan friar – a disturbing connection to Nostradamus’ first resting place.
        3. Bacon was a young man when Scot left Britain for a post in Paris; a few years later, Bacon followed and took up a position in Paris as well, serving at the University of Paris.
        4. Although the University is now split into 3 autonomous schools many of the original buildings remain, with the majority of the “old documents” remaining in the Sorbonne.
      2. There is also mentioned in the computers that a Prince Wolfgang of Bavaria had recently acquired a stone tablet in a very private closed auction. It originated in Salon-de-Provence and is believed to be inscribed with the “Etoile d’Hesperia”.
        1. The prince is currently ninth in the line of succession for the House of Wittelsbach, the traditional rules of Bavaria. They don’t have much political importance anymore, but are still a prominent family.
        2. The prince resides at the family castle of Schloss Hohenschwangau, Germany. He is known to frequently have social events, and is likely to soon host a party to show off his new-found prize.
      3. The identities of the gunmen traveling with Peter Bergson, as well as Bergson himself are found to have visited Barcelona several times over the past few years. In particular, files in the computer highlight the Church of Sant Pau del Camp.
        1. Maverick learns that the church is at the site of an old monastery which was built in the eighth century, but scholars believe the site was used well before then. There are hints at a crypt beneath the building that is said to sit on a convergence of ley lines, a nexus of mystical energies.
    2. The agents determine that the best lead is to investigate the Church of Sant Pau del Camp in Barcelona.
      1. Markov, Lester and Maverick are joined by Agent Molenator – a former Delta force soldier on loan from MI-6.
  3. Barcelona, Spain. 2013 May 27.
    1. The agents arrive in Barcelona on train, and proceed to surveil the building. This is aided by the locale – it is now surrounded by a struggling neighborhood, leading to few visitors during the day, and sparse streets after sundown. During the evening, they don night-vision goggles and conceal themselves in some boarded up flats.
      1. Shortly after 1:00 am, a pair purposefully make their way to a side door of the building. And an hour after that, another trio.
    2. The agents proceed to the door, and after a moment of picking open the locks of what turns out to be cellar doors, descend the steep stairs to a pair of oil lamps flickering down below. But even from the top of the stairs, they can just make out the faint sounds – that of mumbling, or quiet conversation. Or yes, it could be chanting.
    3. The bottom of the stairs open up to a simple passage, with a heavy, metal-bound door way at the end, and an opening half-way down on the left and the right.
    4. On the left, set back from the passage is an old metal gate. Oiling the hinges, they proceed through to a small room acting as a storage closet. On shelves site candles, incense, clean bedding, dried and canned food, bottles of wine, and jars of what appear to be parts of animals. There are also some grey hooded robes, which they don.
    5. Opposite the gate, a new wooden door that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the ancient stonework making up these underground passages. Carefully opening it again, the room beyond is likewise small and filled with several cots and a desk, sitting at which, is a figured wearing a gray robe and hunched over.
      1. Molenator moves to subdue, when his rifle clinks on the low doorway.
      2. Before the startled figure can turn around, Lester pushes in and brings his pistol down onto the back of her head, knocking her quite unconscious.
      3. Taking a better look around the door, there are a handful of books on shelves, detailing rituals for meditation and “transcendence”
    6. The group then approaches the last door; upon closer inspection, they can see inscriptions on the archway that suggests it was originally a mausoleum of some sort. Cracking open the door, they are able to see a small chamber inside that is dominated by a stone sarcophagus. A robed man is leading the chanting while wielding a brush to paint blood onto the top of the sarcophagus. A few other figures surrounding him are chanting in response.
      1. Deciding not to take any chances, they throw three grenades into the room, instantly killing all four men.
      2. Entering, they see the lid of the sarcophagus has runes drawn in blood, and an circle etched into the stone floor around the sarcophagus has runes filled with blood. The blood comes from a pair of goats, whose bodies lie crumpled in a corner.
      3. Lifting the lid of the sarcophagus, the realize that it is entirely filled with blood. Reaching in, they begin pulling out pieces of a long-decayed body. But soon, they pull out the body of a boy of some 4 or 5 years.
    7. Questioning the woman, Markov convinces her to tell her story. Her name is Sophia Trujillo, and her ardent hope is that the ritual going on in the other room will heal her son, who is suffering from a “tumore” of the brain.
      1. She studies in the hopes that her devotion to Alejandro Rivera and his miracles will prove their worth. She met him at the Church of Sant Pau del Camp upstairs during her most desperate times of prayer. He promised her that he could help her son in exchange for her loyalty.
      2. Maverick is able to confirm that a Spanish woman by her name has been in the news in the recent weeks for absconding with her ill son in search of a cure for a brain tumor. He further learns that Alejandro Rivera is a wealth property developer in Barcelona that had purchased the building and the land to allow the church to continuing its worship services.
      3. Further questioning reveals that she has heard of an Esther West – who Alejandro referred to as “the conduit”, but has not seen any American girl there. She’s also heard that it had something to do with “El convergencia del aquaria”.
  4. Epilogue:
    1. Supervisor Gordon-Yancy request that they bring Sophia Trujillo back to London for questioning.
      1. The agents ask for support services for her as well.
      2. XP: 3
  5. GM:
    1. Grenades are deadly in closed quarters.

Dark*Matter #10–Millennium Knights: The West Family

    1. Game date: 2016 Sep 10
      1. PCs: Markov, Lester, Maverick, Steve Thunderschwartz
    2. London, UK. 2013 Mar 30
      1. Briefing: Supervisor Gordon-Yancy calls the agents together and informs them that the night before, the Millenium Knights have intercepted a priority dispatch from Switzerland to a Peter Bergson. He promptly made travel arrangements to Cefalu, Italy.
      2. She wants to get him under surveillance and determine what he is after; if necessary, to detain and/or neutralize him.
      3. The location pricks Maverick’s memory – Cefalu is the location of Thelema Abbey, the temple and spiritual center founded by Alestair Crowley… Nowadays, Cefalu is a seaside town with a brisk market for tourism.
      4. They take a train to Rome, where a white-paneled van is rented for a short ferry ride to Sicily.
    3. Cefalu, Sicily, Italy
      1. 2013 Mar 31:
        1. Markov, Lester and Maverick are dispatched. They are accompanied by Steve – a security detail with prior Navy SEAL and CIA experience, due to the recent violence in France.
        2. Maverick is able to successfully determine that Peter Bergson has rented a suite at the Artemis – one of the most luxurious hotels on the island.
        3. Meanwhile, the other three book a hiking tour and make their way to Thelema Abbey. They just find an old decrepit 2 story building without any sign of habitation. Further investigation inside just reveals the collected debris of a near-century of squatters. Structured mostly as an open central area, no hidden rooms or floors are found on thorough searching.
        4. Settling down for the night, it turns out to be a quiet evening for the three.
        5. Maverick spends the night in the van parked a quarter-mile up the gravel road from the Abbey… and is awakened by a knocking on the window. He manages to successfully convince the police officer that he is no more than a drunk tourist and promises to get a room. He drives back to town, then begins to drive back a half-hour later to rendezvous with the other three.
      2. 2013 Apr 01:
        1. Deciding to pursue another angle, they return to the Artemis where Markov procures a master key from a hapless maid. Disguised as plumbers, they manage to identify Bergson when he emerges from the suite – along with six other men.
        2. Markov and Steve begin tailing the group as they leave to wander the various tourist shops and cafes of downtown Cefalu, when Steve suddenly realizes that the group of men themselves were tailing a couple and their daughter.
          1. They were keep their own actions from notice from the family, so were obviously not security from them.
          2. They have formed three groups to watch the family as they settled down for a outdoor brunch.
        3. Taking the opportunity to further investigate, Lester and Maverick exit the van and use the keys to enter into the Bergson suite.
          1. They find maps of routes in the area, as well as two laptops.
          2. Maverick begins working his magic on the computers and is able to break into one to install backdoor access into it as well as begin looking into its records.
          3. It seems that Bergson’s group had a specific interest in a West family that was vacationing in Cefalu; a Chicago businessman Joshua West, his wife Mary West, and their 15 year old daughter Esther West.
          4. As  Maverick begins to examine the second computer, a shudder – as from an earthquake – shakes the building.
        4. A few blocks away, Markov and Steve manage to be at the epicenter – a tremendous explosion as a car parked further up the street goes up in flames.
          1. In the ensuing panic, the agents see Bergson’s men grab the young woman and shove her into a Volvo station wagon!
          2. They notify Lester and Maverick, the latter who quickly realizes that the departing Vovlo would pass right by them on the way to the Abbey as he had already driven the route several times in the past day. He parks the van crossways in the street to create a roadblock, opening the hood as if the car is having problems.
        5. A few moments later, the Volvo rounds the corner and slows as it approaches the van. The driver and Maverick get into a heated discussion, prompting Lester to quickly approach and fire a round into the back passenger seat where Bergson is seated!
          1. He wounds the man, but in return, takes a punishing blow to the head, dropping instantly!
        6. The gunshots spur the driver on, who veers onto the sidewalk to push itself around the van, with Maverick narrowly jumping out of the way of being crushed between the vehicles!
        7. As the Volvo careens off, Markov and Steve continue the chase on a pair of Vespa’s the pair acquired during the chaos.
          1. Over the next few minutes, the car and scooters in pursuit jockey for position, gunshots occasionally ringing out.
          2. At one point, Markov pulls alongside and opens up with a shotgun blast into the driver. The Volvo’s passenger manages to grab hold of the steering wheel to prevent a crash, just as the car rolls up to the Abbey.
          3. The sounds of fighting draw out another pair of gunmen who had made their way inside the decrepit building.
        8. More gunfire is exchanged as Maverick – fresh from pulling the very lucky still-living but concussed Lester into the van – arrives on scene.
          1. One of the gunman kills Steve with a lucky shot to the neck, and moves to do the same to Maverick. The young man barely ducks out of the door in time, with a few shots from his .357 out through the van passenger window.
          2. The sudden loud echoing retort inside the van rouses Lester from his unconsciousness – where he stumbles to the front of the van and unleashes Johnson and Johnson into the startled gunman’s chest.
        9. As Markov’s AK-47 tears into the remaining gunman, Maverick and Markov meet up into the door to the Abbey. Maverick pushes in on the count of three, with Markov a moment behind on four, where they see a bright light emanating from the middle of the room! Stepping into it, a wounded Bergson drags Esther West with him. Maverick leaps towards it, just as it fades and he finds himself landing on the filthy floor.
    4. Epilogue
      1. The agents call in an evacuation, and are told to lay low on the other side of the island before Supervisor Gordon-Yancy can plan an extraction.
        1. They make a quick detour back to town, where Maverick traces the laptops to a trash dump just outside of town.
      2. There is non-stop coverage of the terrorist attack at Cefalu, but attributed to intercine Mafia warfare. There was initial concern about a missing American girl, but that quickly fades amidst the reports of the deaths.
      3. Back in London, Maverick pursues a further analysis of the retrieved computers, and gleans an intriguing point. The various searches and analysis revolve around looking for an Esther – who’s name in Hebrew means “star”, harkening back to at least one of the English translations in the quatrain on the computer:
        1. “A star ascends from the house of west…”
      4. XP: 2
    5. GM
      1. This is the first time we got to use the Chase rules, and it went very well! It showed them the importance of vehicle skills in such a situation.