*** Session 12 - Scene 10 (of 12) ***

Hawk makes his way over to the mission. As he gets near, he can tell there are cops swarming the place, clearly lying in wait for Donny.

Playing it cool, he approaches one of the men clearly working for the apostolic church. The man asks him if he is in need of help, and Hawk says he is.

The man gives his name as Bobby-Lee Schwartz II and says they are all God's children there. He wants to take Hawk to hear the reverend's word but Hawk insists he's there looking for Donny and Jerboa.

Bobby-Lee doesn't recognize Donny's name and says they don't allow women there. Hawk shows him the picture of Donny, which Bobby-Lee identifies as David Kessler.

Hawk insists Donny sometimes goes by "his mother's maiden name" which confuses the man. He asks Hawk how he knows Kessler. Hawk explains he met him dancing at the club.

Bobby-Lee is clearly upset at the idea of Donny attending a jazz club, saying dancing isn't allowed there as it is sinful and he starts carrying on about the godlessness of jazz and rag-time music and how they are straight from the devil.

Hawk tries to say he was trying to get Donny off of the dancing and Satan's grip. He claims to like gospel music himself, stating the first few words of Amazing Grace. Bobby-Lee agrees there is nothing quite like a good Negro spiritual.

Bobby-Lee says he hasn't seen Donny that day, but invites Hawk to stay to listen to Reverend Farnsworth. Hawk tries saying he doesn't have time, but Bobby-Lee insists there is always time to listen to the word of Jesus.

Hawk continues to try and get out of having to hear the sermon. He lies and says he needs to hurry and find Donny as Donny's mother is sick. Bobby-Lee explains Reverend Farnsworth has the healing touch and can cast the demons of disease out of the woman. Taking the opening, Hawk says he'll go get the mother right away then, and leaves before Bobby-Lee can impede him any further.

*** Session 12 - Scene 11 (of 12) ***

Hawk heads back to the office, telling Le Doux the cops have the place too well covered. He also suggests Donny will likely spot the cops and run off.

Le Doux tells Hawk he needs him to help him with the ritual. Hawk tells him he would, but he knows Nibbons isn't back with the book yet. Le Doux insinuates he knows more than is in the book.

Hawk asks where else Donny might be. Le Doux suggests they might have tried to catch a matinee showing at the Orpheum.

Heading out again, Hawk goes to the Orpheum while Le Doux continues to wait and wonder if Nibbons is off gambling again.

When he gets to the theater, Hawk asks the ticket girl about Donny, showing her the picture. She confirms he and a young woman bought tickets to the matinee of The Gold Rush and are inside watching it now.

Hawk chats up the girl for a minute. She talks about how The Gold Rush has been a big hit and how much she like Chaplin; particularly his mustache, which she feels will be a very popular style for years to come.

Using the cover story of being a house servant, Hawk tries to say he needs to go retrieve Donny for his mother. She won't let Hawk in without a ticket, but agrees to relay a message.

Hawk tells her to relay a message to the girl with Donny that "Dr. Le Doux" needs her to bring Donny back home right away. He says he'll wait while she gives his "master's" message.

Not being an idiot, Hawk looks around the theater at the back door. Sure enough, Donny and Jerboa exit through it a minute later. Donny seems to be in a hurry and not listening to Jerboa, who is trying to get him to stop.

Hawk runs over to stop him, tackling the boy. Hawk tries to pin him, but Donny escapes. He makes another run for it, getting just outside the alley before Hawk can tackle him again.

This time, Hawk manages to pin him down. He tries telling Donny he isn't there to hurt him, he's trying to help him.

Donny wants to know what's going on. Hawk explains he works for Le Doux and that the mission is being staked out by the cops, who are looking for him. He wants to take Donny back to Le Doux's office. Jerboa urges Donny to listen.

Jerboa asks Hawk to confirm he works for Le Doux, saying she didn't know he had a servant. She goes on to say she's never been around "you people" all that much, since they had no servants out in the bayou though does recall her grand pappy saying something about how Hawk's people were so much trouble they should have just picked the damn cotton themselves.

Hawk agrees everyone might have been happier that way, but that's neither here nor there and they need to get Donny back to the office. Jerboa explains she has not had a chance to fully explain the situation to Donny and that he wanted them to see a movie together first.

As Hawk is trying to explain they need to get moving quickly, his luck runs out as Officer O'Doul, a local beat cop, spots him on top of Donny. Mistaking Hawk for a robber, O'Doul immediately runs over and yells at Hawk to stop in the name of the law.

Hawk allows Donny to get up and tries to tell some lie about helping Donny understand how to protect himself as O'Doul starts pummeling him with his nightstick.

Donny and Jerboa take off, with Hawk calling after them to head to the place (referring to Le Doux's office). Meanwhile, O'Doul continues to beat Hawk, calling him "boy", and telling him he needs to learn his place.

Hawk apologizes enough that O'Doul stops hitting him. But when the cop tries to put the cuffs on and arrest him, Hawk resists.

O'Doul goes for his gun, but Hawk gets the drop on him and knocks the gun out of his hand. The gun goes off, but misses Hawk. Hawk tries to explain Donny is the killer being looked for, but the man isn't listening.

When the officer goes to hit him with his nightstick again, Hawk punches him. Unfortunately, by now a crowd of White people has formed to watch and is getting angry.

One of the men yells a racial epithet about Hawk hitting a policemen and incites the crowd to action. Hawk makes a run for it, barely managing to lose the angry mob by running through the alleys. Once he loses them, he makes his way back towards the office.

When he gets there, Le Doux mixes him a drink, ostensibly to help him with the pain of his wounds but really as part of a plot to get revenge on Hawk by feeding him the laxative. Hawk, however, refuses the drink as he doesn't trust having anything with a werewolf in the room (referring to Eberhardt). Le Doux agrees to let him just bleed then.

*** Session 12 - Scene 12 (of 12) ***

By the time Nibbons arrives at the warehouse, it is late in the afternoon. He decides to try going in through the front door.

A security guard near the door spots Nibbons and stops him, asking for his name and what he's there for. Nibbons gives his name and explains he is looking for a particular book that was purchased by Mr. Coleridge and he'd like to see him to discuss the book.

The security guard goes inside for a minute then returns. He tells Nibbons that Mr. Coleridge is not seeing anyone today. Nibbons tries to explain he doesn't necessarily want to see the man, but wants to purchase the book. The guard repeats he isn't seeing anyone and suggests Chester move along.

Nibbons doesn't take no for an answer and asks about stopping by a different day. The guard makes it clear Coleridge has no intention of talking with him by saying he'll be busy that day.

Thanking the guard, Nibbons sneaks his way around to the back of the warehouse. He finds a side window that is open and stops to listen. He doesn't hear anyone inside.

Not wanting to try and climb through the window since it is still broad daylight, he makes his way to the back. The large main door to the canal is open.

Nibbons sneaks his way inside and looks for some coveralls he can change into, but finds nothing. He does see three men a fair distance away in the warehouse, in suits, talking. One of the men is older, appearing to be in his 50's. The other two appear younger, in their 30's, and share enough characteristics they appear to be related.

As Nibbons is looking around, he sees the three men are walking while talking and getting closer to his position. He hides to avoid being detected.

As they walk by, Nibbons is able to catch some of their conversation. The older man concerned about someone showing up at the warehouse "right before the plan goes into motion", which Chester interprets to be talking about him.

The younger men tell him there is nothing to worry about and they should discuss it with the rest of the group tomorrow night at their meeting. Chester picks up on something odd – the way the brothers speak, one of them starts a sentence and the other one seems to finish it.

From the unusual speech pattern, Nibbons deduces they are likely Percy and Barton Grimes, a pair of brothers known for running some kind of prostitution operation. He's never ran across them in person before, but has some knowledge of their reputation; they are known for their dour demeanors and brutal responses to anyone on their turf, giving them the nickname, "The Brothers Grimm".

The Grimes brothers then take their leave, telling the other man (presumably Coleridge) they will see him tomorrow at midnight. Coleridge then heads off himself, talking to one of the security guards as the warehouse begins shutting down for the day.

With no one around, Nibbons begins looking around for the book. But he doesn't get much time before he notices the guards have released the night guard dogs.

Nibbons makes a run for the back door but doesn't get there in time. One of the dogs reaches him and bites down on his leg.

Trying to fight off the dog to get away, Nibbons doesn't have much luck. The other dogs and security guards spot him and start heading his way.

Nibbons tries his best, but the dogs jump on him and knock him down. As they bite into him, he tries crawling towards the canal to escape but before he can, one of the guards reaches him. He sees the guard get ready to smack him in the head with the butt of his rifle before everything goes black...

*** Session 12 and Interlude 3 - Session Notes ***

This session was a lot of fun, if somewhat disjointed. The PCs came up with a pretty good plan and coming in to the session, I thought we'd easily finish out the Donny Martin plotline this time. But, a couple of bad decisions and a lot of bad rolls later, and now there are all kinds of complications.The good news is - these kind of complications can still move the story forward.

The only real problem with the session came 3/4ths of the way in when the Nibbons player received word a relative had died and had to be away for a while talking to relatives about the funeral. Not that the game is the important thing in this scenario, but it did leave us wondering if he'd be coming back and how much further we wanted to go that night.

The session notes read more cohesively than the actual game because I rearranged scenes (and pieces of scenes) to make them a little more linear. During the game, we bounced around a lot more between the four players since they were split up for the session.

Other random notes:

* Interlude 3 finally introduces a new location; the primary purpose is to show the reach of the corporation.

* The fact that the corporation has just bought out an oil refinery is a hint to which company it is (which I thought was obvious by this point, but I don't think the players have caught on yet).

* Colonel Buzz Baxter is another character taken from Marvel comics (and in fact, the first husband of Patsy Walker). More on him later as well as the aforementioned doctor (also a Marvel character).

* Clearly, the relocation plan mentioned is to move the secret experiments to the Crescent City area. The players certainly caught on to that one.

* Nibbons had a chance to remember details from his dream, but failed. Given his situation now, that will likely come up next session.

* I didn't want to play the "PC was mysteriously taken control of" card again so quickly, so I though Nibbons off gambling made the most sense. The idea that he won money on the women's tennis match mentioned last session, rather than the boxing match, was a slight bit of irony.

* The comment about Hawk using the turkey grease for his sister's alcoholism is a reference back to some dialogue from an episode in season 4 of The Wire.

* Yes, Le Doux now has Hollywood-style OCD as his new derangement. Given his obsession with the bayou, I thought it had the most humor potential.

* It wasn't until Le Doux was at the museum that I (or anyone else) realized none of the group had ever talked with Kendi and Beckmeyer at the same time, or that they always used their real names with Kendi and aliases with Beckmeyer.

* Beckmeyer being fascinated by the werewolves is a part of his personality taken from his namesake in The Howling III.

* In the game, we only ever called the silver dagger a dagger. In the writeup, I specified it as a roundel to give it more character.

* I purposely had Beckmeyer repeat a lot about previous conversations as exposition to remind the players about things (since they tend to forgot plot elements quickly).

* The Bouget book is a real occult book, though it won't have any spells in it (since Bouget was more about identifying witches to execute).

* The joke about Beckmeyer's uncle and fishing trips at Audrey's is a reference to the fact that a lot of men's fishing trips (and hunting trips) over the years have used as an opportunity to engage in all kinds of activities they can't do when around the family.

* The joke about Dr. Jones and his strange practice of archeology is of course another Indiana Jones reference.

* Officer Mahen is named after a real New Orleans cop who was killed by a suspect in the 20's.

* The Slaughtered Lamb restaurant and the trolley attack are homages to An American Werewolf in London, as is Inspect Villiers, David Kessler, and the Piccadilly theater.

* Eberhardt's new derangement is obviously that he believes he is turning into a werewolf. Not only was this the most appropriate derangement based on what happened to him, but I knew it would lead to both hilarity and major complications in their investigations. The funny thing is that it took the other players quite a long time to figure out. After another of Eberhardt's comments about getting rid of the silver, the Le Doux player was making an OOC joke about "What's wrong with you, Eberhardt? Do you think you are turning into a werewolf or something?" Then stopped and said "Oooh. Ooh, you do think that don't you?" when he realized that was his new derangement.

* I was surprised the PCs did not entertain the idea of using wolfsbane for even a second. They quickly dismissed that option out of hand and forgot all about it.

* The part where Hawk and Le Doux argue over how to handle the police watching Donny included all kinds of mocking of each other's plans but it didn't really go anywhere so I didn't detail it out in the notes.

* Originally, I didn't have any plans with plots regarding the book and thought they'd just grab it from the store and we'd move on. But right before the session, I had some inspiration about how to tie it back to some other open plot lines. I was also worried the main climax would occur too quickly so it could be used to stretch out the story.

* I laid it on pretty thick to suggest Maximillian Coleridge was a member of The Committee. The other players got it, but I'm not sure if the Nibbons player did.

* I don't know if Black people in the south in the 20's could get a job like a machinist, but it was Hawk's idea and I figured why not. I gave Earl a name and a lot more background in the write-up (during the session, we just called him "Hawk's friend, the machinist").

* The "Calvary sword" joke is for all the people who confuse cavalry with Calvary. We also heavily mocked the Hawk player at the idea of a silver machete being a thing, but I thought a silver sabre could certainly be possible.

* Since we're in the South (and it hasn't been that long since the Civil War at this time), I had the NPC use the term "War of Northern Aggression". But I confess, I'm not sure if it really fits this NPC / location / time period so I'll claim dramatic license.

* Rue Pauls is clearly named after RuPaul (and includes part of the line from her famous song). It was a lazy joke because Hawk said he wanted to find a "voodoo queen".

* Rue's warning about the dark clouds being drawn to Le Doux is something that may be explained more later. There is a reason why Le Doux and his associates find themselves in so many occult activities going on in the area.

* The couple of klan guys at the store was a connection back to the KKK plot the PCs have abandoned for now (and did again when Nibbons let them go). They were not, as the PCs believed, looking for the same book as Nibbons. They have a different purpose entirely. Oh, and the reason they were wearing the outfits was it was intended to be part of an initiation ritual (they kind of allude to that in what was overheard, but there was a lot more explanation Nibbons didn't get).

* Eberhardt and Madge's liaison was something of a running gag (about her being a repressed cat lady) that got out of hand. It ended up being far zanier than I intended. The Le Doux player was a little annoyed that the Eberhardt player went so nuts since the last time things went bad he blamed the Le Doux player for playing his character too crazy.

* Gerard Marks is an homage to an actual criminal.

* Roscoe Sweeney is named after the guy from Daredevil. He didn't have a name during the session but since the Le Doux player is a fan I added it in the writeup.

* Le Doux and Hawk's banter about the safe is another time where they went back and forth for quite some time but I didn't write the whole thing up.

* Hawk's concern about going to retrieve Donny proved to be very prescient.

* Bobby-Lee Schwartz II is one of the aliases Chevy Chase's character uses in Fletch Lives (again, where Reverend Farnsworth also comes from).

* Jazz and Rag-Time music really were the sources of moral panics, but I was also playing up a bit the fact that all older generations always think the younger generation's music is the one that suddenly turned immoral.

* Bobby-Lee's comment about the spiritual is an homage to Slim Pickens' character in Blazing Saddles. These NPCs are intended to be parodies of holy roller types.

* I had the film be "The Gold Rush" since it already came up in that newspaper article earlier in the campaign.

* Clearly the Chaplin mustache joke is a joke about Hitler. During the game, the Hawk player joked "I know someone who already took it".

* Hawk very much played up his "servant" role when talking to the ticket girl.

* Jerboa is clearly intended to show her ignorance of Black people. Her line about the cotton is taken from Bill Paxton's racist comment in The Last Supper.

* Officer O'Doul is named after the non-alcoholic beer, because I needed a name. He's clearly there to add a complication, but was also something of a commentary on police / Black Lives Matter issues. Him and the angry mob chasing after Hawk were also to teach Hawk a lesson about how given his race, trying to play the tough guy card isn't always the safest bet.

* Le Doux was really upset Hawk didn't drink the laxative. He still wants revenge for trying to rob his safe.

* Percy and Barton Grimes, Coleridge, and the rest of The Committee are all taken from Marvel's Night Shift.

* I have a bit of a geographical error with the warehouse - I originally set it in one location in the city (next to the water) then later moved it to another location (where there isn't necessarily any water). So I inadvertently added an extra canal to the city.

* Nibbons made about 8 bad rolls in a row (all with things he had 60+% in), leading to his final predicament. What happens next will be a very interesting part of next session.

*** Interlude - The Shape of Things to Come - Part 4 ***

Westwego, LA
March 10, 1925

In the back of the oil refinery compound sits a small, unassuming building. The only door leading in and out of the build is heavily-fortified, with a sign reading "Pentex Chemical Research Division – Authorized Personnel Only".  Two guards stand outside, armed with Thompson submachine guns.

Inside the building is a small, dimly-lit conference room with five men sitting around it. On one side sits Curtiss Jackson next to the plant's executive director, Robert Jenkins. The other side contains Captain Baxter, the Army liaison officer, along with the head of the Institute for Supernormality Research, Dr. John Herd. At the head of the table is the dour Chairman Lorenzo Keel.

As usual, Chairman Keel looks frustrated. The door opens as a seventh man, Dr. Karl Malus, heads inside. Baxter makes a comment about him being late but Jackson tries to keep things calm by suggesting they begin with the current status report.

Dr. Herd gives the signal to one of the guards in the room to start up the projector. Everyone watches the screen as images of the first cycle of tests are displayed. The test subject shows remarkable strength and resilience but quickly grows uncontrollable. As it attacks its handlers, the nearby guards are forced to put it down.

As the reel finishes and the projector is shut off, Jenkins comments that obviously there is still a great deal of improvement. Keel makes a sardonic comment about that being an understatement.

Capt. Baxter is concerned about the timeline, saying General Haywerth is anxious to get a viable test subject, repeating the General's often-said comment about being ready to fight the next war. Dr. Herd repeats his belief that a canine-based host strain could be more malleable, noting the research on the local family with the exposure to the wolf variant. Baxter suggests an actual dog would be better for maintaining discipline. Dr. Malus narrows his eyes in thought but says nothing.

Keel wants to know about the research on the aquatic strain, reminding everyone about the potential benefit for the Navy as well. Jackson notes that because they prioritized the Army research when they moved operations down here they've had the aquatic research on hold but do still have the live specimen in cold storage. Keel insists on getting a timeline set for that project.

After the meeting is over, Jackson and Malus head down the elevator to the underground lab. There they find Dr. Ignatz Goldman, Malus' assistant, hard at work on the reptile strain. When he stops to greet the two, Malus takes him aside and tells him to switch to canine. Whispering quietly, he suggests the man use one of the German Shepherds from the kennel; for the test subject, he suggests Goldman clandestinely use Capt. Baxter.

Malus goes back over to Jackson and the two walk and talk as they head back to the cold storage area. Malus says he believes Dr. Goldman can continue the canine research while he starts on the aquatic specimen. Jackson voices his approval.

In front of the men sits a large tube filled with dark liquid; a vaguely humanoid shape can be seen inside. Next to the tube is a piece of paper with information about the test subject. The top of page reads, "Aquatic Variant Test Subject – Biggins, Jethro"...

*** Session 13 - Scene 1 (of 12) ***

Bruno Eberhardt finds himself standing in a large stone room. It appears to be very tall, and he feels himself like he is much taller than normal; perhaps as much as twenty feet. He feels different, not quite like himself, and his thinking is a bit cloudy. In front of him is a large metal bookshelf filled with books made of strange materials.

Just then, a creature emerges into the room. It appears to be a twenty-something foot tall creature, looking like a rugarose cone-shaped body with several tentacles coming out of it. Several of the tentacles appear to be claw-like appendages with one of them containing eye stalks. It moves along the stone floor by sliding across. Eberhardt's mind is filled with horror as he realizes his own body appears to be the same as the visage in front of him.

Eberhardt goes to talk to the creature, but realizes he doesn't have a mouth. However, in trying to talk he "thinks" at the creature and it appears to "hear" him. He asks the creature where this place is.

The creature explains Eberhardt is in what it calls, "the waiting area" while they temporarily borrow his body to take care of something. It assures Eberhardt not to worry, for he won't remember any of this.

Bruno wants to know who is borrowing his body. The creature says it is one of his kind. Eberhardt the creature who it is. When the creature explains its name would be unpronounceable by humans, the German clarifies he was not asking the creature's name.

The creature explains he is a member of the Great Race – beings who existed at the end of time who mastered the arts of space and time. When they foresaw their own deaths, the creature continues, they moved through time to new hosts. He tells Eberhardt the forms they inhabit now that he sees before him are actually millions of years in what Eberhardt would consider the "past", using the bodies of these creatures as their vessels.

Eberhardt sarcastically notes his honor in them currently using his body. The creature explains they transfer to temporary hosts at times as part of their work.

In this specific case, the creature explains, there is a specific set of events unfolding in Eberhardt's timeline in his location that occur around him and his companions. The creature goes on to say the events all occur around the one Eberhardt knows by the designation, "Le Doux".

According to the creature, Le Doux is what his people call a "nexus being", which the creature explains as "a rare being who exists in all known realities." It asks Eberhardt how well versed he is on the mechanics of multi-dimensional realities.

Eberhardt has no idea what the creature is talking about, so it leads him over to a window in the room to show him what he means. The creature calls it a "window of all realities" and waves one of his tentacles across it. Images begin forming in the window.

The first shows a version of Le Doux working as a scientist in a lab. The creature explains he is seeing Auburn, MS, where the Le Doux in this dimension is an assistant to Robert Hutchings Goddard, helping him with the launch of humanity's first liquid-fueled rocket.

The scene then shifts to Dover, NJ. The Le Doux in this reality is a U.S. Navy shore patrol officer at the Picatinny Arsenal, guarding a building marked Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Storage Depot. A thunderstorm roars overhead, and a bolt of lightning comes from the sky, hitting the building. A gigantic explosion occurs. The creature explains to Eberhardt the Le Doux in this reality was killed along with two dozen others as more than 600,000 tons of explosives detonated when the depot was hit, blasting debris over 20 miles.

A new scene emerges in the window, this one showing Le Doux as a gangster in Lakefront City working for the notorious Yiddie Neumark. Along with a car full of other men, they drive by the Hawthorne Hotel with guns blazing, in an attempt to assassinate rival mob boss Al Tolino during his lunch in the ground floor restaurant.

Eberhardt is terrified of what he has seen. He asks the creature if they mean to do humanity harm. The creature says no, they are simply "that which endures", working as observers. He tells Eberhardt that humanity's destiny to destroy itself.

The creature waves across the window again, this time showing scenes Eberhardt recognizes from the Great War. The creature tells him things will get worse, and the scene shifts to somewhere in a desert. A loud warning siren of some kind rings out, followed by a blinding flash of light. As Eberhardt regains his sight, he sees a gigantic, mushroom-shaped cloud form that destroys everything in its path. The sheer destructive power of it all causes him to become quite disconcerted.

*** Session 13 - Scene 2 (of 12) ***

Back at Le Doux's detective agency, he and Hawk argue over what to do next about the Donny Martin problem. Behind them, Eberhardt suddenly bolts up from the couch.

The two men stop talking and notice Eberhardt move slowly but deliberately into Le Doux's office. They don't try to stop him, as he appears to be in some sort of trance, perhaps sleep-walking.

Eberhardt goes over to Le Doux's desk and grabs a pen and begins writing on a piece of paper there. The pen strokes are fast and inelegant, written almost like a child would.

Le Doux looks at the paper. There are several words scratched on it in various directions. He can make them all out as "Tell Le Doux", "Theatre", "Nibbons", "Danger", and "Committee". As he reads them out to Hawk, Eberhardt suddenly comes to.

Eberhardt is surprised to find himself standing over Le Doux's desk, for the last thing he recalls is the strange dream he had about talking to the cone-shaped creature. Looking down at the strange writing, he asks what that is.

Hawk tells Eberhardt he should know since he wrote it, but the German has no idea what the man is talking about.

Eberhardt reads over what is written on the paper, but insists he doesn't know what it is and it isn't in his handwriting. Le Doux suggests perhaps he was sleepwalking and Eberhardt says he must have given him too much of the drug as he had a strange dream with a monster and Le Doux was some kind of "nexus being". He offers to draw the creature for Le Doux but the detective demurs.

Le Doux is, however, interested in what a "nexus being" is. Eberhardt says it means he was in Lakefront City, and Massachusetts, and a lot of other places right now. Le Doux insists he's never been to those places. Eberhardt tells Le Doux he saw him there, but Le Doux notes he's been asleep on the couch the whole time.

Hawk, meanwhile, is more concerned about the werewolf situation. He is concerned Eberhardt's strange thoughts could be evidence of his turning into a werewolf. Le Doux tries to say he cast a spell on Eberhardt to make the werewolf curse go away, but Eberhardt doesn't believe him since Nibbons isn't back with the book yet.

Le Doux and Hawk try to convince Eberhardt he is not going to turn into a werewolf now, but he is concerned he may yet turn into either a werewolf or that other creature he saw once the moon is out.

Attempting to change the subject, Le Doux notes Eberhardt is already late for the police operation. He asks if they should get him there, but Eberhardt feels the damage is done and he may as well stay away from the police for a while. Hawk also notes Donny won't be at the police raid since he already warned him when he saw him outside the Orpheum, though does offer to beat Eberhardt's ass to give him an excuse while he couldn't make it.

Le Doux tries to get as much detail out of Hawk he can, but Hawk is agitated about the beating he received from the police and rambles on about how his cousin Rodney was never the same after a beating he got from police years ago.

With no leads on Donny, attention turns back to the missing Nibbons. Eberhardt notes the paper has "theatre" written on it. They ask Hawk, but Hawk did not see Nibbons at the movie theater with Donny and Jerboa. Instead, they decide to start by going where Nibbons was last known to be heading – Esplanade Books. They decide to take Hawk's car over.

*** Session 13 - Scene 3 (of 12) ***

Eberhardt races Hawk's car across town, dodging through the rush hour traffic, as they barely make it in time to the book store as it is being locked up for the night.

Catching Lawrence Beauregard outside as he secures the lock, Le Doux explains to the man they are looking for his associate, Chester Nibbons.

Beauregard recalls the visit from Nibbons earlier that day, saying he was looking for a copy of a book by Henry Bouget but he didn't have the book in stock.

Le Doux asks if Beauregard directed Nibbons to anywhere else he could find the book. Lawrence explains about Gramarye Books and the auction sale to businessman Maximillian Coleridge. Le Doux recognizes the name as the head of a local shipping company with a reputation among those in the know as a smuggler. He comments on the oddity of a businessman buying up the book, which Lawrence agrees with, saying some people have strange interests.

Beauregard suggests he believes Nibbons was headed to Gramarye Books first. Le Doux thanks him for his help.

Heading back to the others, Le Doux tells them Nibbons must have tried to go after the book himself and clearly ran into trouble. Hawk sarcastically notes that was what he was sent to do. They decide to go to the bookstore to look for him; if nothing else, Eberhardt notes, they may find someone who saw him.

When they arrive at Gramarye Books, they find the bookstore closed and the shades drawn. Le Doux has Eberhardt park the car around the corner and wait behind the wheel while he and Hawk go in the alley entrance to investigate the bookstore.

Approaching the door, Le Doux can see it is still cracked open and was not properly shut the last time someone passed through. He draws his pistol and flashlight, and motions for Hawk to open the door.

Hawk walks up to the door and listens carefully. It's quiet inside, so he heads in. The back room is dark, but around the corner in the main part of the shop there does appear to be a light on.

Whispering to Le Doux, Hawk explains about the light. He puts away his flashlight and makes his way towards the front of the store along with Hawk.

Back in the car, Eberhardt catches a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't paying close enough attention to what it was, but suspects he just saw two figures move into alley.

Since he can't see into the alley from his location, Eberhardt creeps the car up. But by the time he gets there, he doesn't see anyone in the alley.

Meanwhile, back inside the bookstore, Hawk and Le Doux are looking around the main store area. They see the lamp on the sales counter turned on and the few boxes lying around with books. Le Doux looks around carefully for anyone in the room, but doesn't see anyone. He does, however, hear the click of the gun cocking from behind him.

Behind them, the men hear a Black man yell for them to stick 'em up. Hawk recognizes the voice as belonging to one of the Thornton Brothers' men, Nathaniel "Family" Johnson.

After Hawk greets Johnson, the man greets him back. Hawk and Le Doux put their hands down and turn around to see Johnson and another of Thornton's crew, Pharrell Williams, standing there.

Johnson explains they followed them in the store because they thought they were another couple of Kl Klux Klan members. Hawk asks why, and Johnson explains they caught a couple of them in the area coming out of this store; he says they even had the gall to wear their Klan outfits around town in broad daylight.

Hawk asks about the men. Johnson explains he has a few more of the crew holding them down in Marigny, at the old Neptune's Fish warehouse. He says they have been alert over the past few weeks as a lot of the younger Black boys living on the streets have started disappearing.

Le Doux makes a motion to Hawk and says, "Nibbons?" Hawk takes the hint and asks Johnson if they saw a different man around this store. Johnson says they didn't see a man who wasn't in the Klan.

Hawk also asks if any of the crew went through the store and ransacked it, noting he and Le Doux are there looking for a particular book. Johnson suggests he and Hawk head back to Neptune's so they can talk to the men they captured. He says Le Doux will have to stay, which Hawk agrees is a good idea.

Le Doux agrees to stay behind and dig through the store to find anything hidden there, either as a clue to find Nibbons or to get more information on the book.

Hawk leaves with Nathaniel and Pharrell. On their way out, they walk past Eberhardt and Hawk gives him the lowdown.

*** Session 13 - Scene 4 (of 12) ***

Le Doux begins searching the books in the store, but finds nothing but cookbooks and other standard material in the boxes. He then moves over to the sales counter.

Digging around the counter, Le Doux finds a hidden compartment. He opens it to reveal a couple of pieces of paper.

One of the pieces is merely some symbols of the Cult of Allatou. The other shows a drawing with three organizations linked together on it, marked "Us", "The Committee", and "The Society". Le Doux notes in his detective pad about The Society, as it appears to be a third cell of the cult they haven't heard about yet.

Le Doux holds the paper up to the light of the lamp of the desk. He is able to make out the watermark on the paper and some indentations indicating the paper came from the Office of Congressmen James O'Conner. Le Doux realizes the paper must have been written by Scott Pritchard, O'Conner's aide who turned out to be the leader of the first cult cell they encountered.

While he finds the information about the cult interesting, it doesn't really help him find the book or Nibbons so Le Doux continues searching. He finds a trap door hidden under a small carpet behind the desk.

Le Doux bends down to listen at the trap door. It sounds extremely quiet down there except for perhaps the skittering of a rat.

Readying his gun, Le Doux opens the trap door. Immediately, he is overwhelmed by the odor of sulfur. He wraps a cloth around his face to help with the smell and heads down the stairs.

*** Session 13 - Scene 5 (of 12) ***

Across town, Hawk arrives at the Neptune warehouse. The abandoned fish warehouse is largely empty except for Johnson's three men – Charles "Chad" Hugo, Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff, and Timothy "Timberland" Mosley – and their captors who are tied up and sitting on old crates.

Hawk can see Mosley (whom he calls "Mose") has been working the two men over pretty good. He asks Mose if he has gotten anything from them.

Mose explains the two men have given up their names – Doyle Roberts and Ryan Chaney. He also says they have admitted to being "klukies", new recruits for the Klan. So far, Mose hasn't been able to get them to say anything else but suggests Hawk might be even more persuasive.

Hawk starts by asking the men if they've had a good day. Roberts tries to yell some racial epithets at Hawk as a response, though his swollen face makes it hard for him to have the full intended effect.

After confirming with Roberts he won't answer some simple questions, Hawk proceeds to break one of the man's fingers. The man is in obvious pain but not persuaded, and tells Hawk where he can stick his questions (indicating a location on Hawk's mother).

Not amused, Hawk takes out his knife and cuts off one of the man's fingers. He tells the man it is only a matter of time before he gets him to talk, saying there are a lot of things he can cut off a man.

Roberts still won't talk, saying he'll never talk. Hawk changes over to Chaney, breaking one of his fingers.

Chaney isn't made of as stern of stuff as his companion and starts crying, agreeing to talk. Hawk asks him what he was doing in the store, and Chaney explains they had an initiation task to get into the Klan by finding a book by a particular author.

Hawk asks which book. Chaney explains the book itself didn't matter, but it has to be by the author.

When asked who sent them, Chaney explains his uncle Curtis (who recruited them) gave them the assignment. Since they aren't full members yet, they don't really know who any of the other members are.

Hawk wants Curtis Chaney's address and place of employment. It takes a little more convincing, but he gets it out of Ryan that Curtis works for a lawyer Hamilton "Ham" Johnson. Hawk doesn't recognize the name.

As Hawk asks Chaney for more information, Roberts tells Chaney to shut up and stop talking. Hawk shoves him over on the ground and instructs Mose to take care of him. Mosley stomps the man until he loses consciousness.

Turning his attention back to Chaney, Hawk asks if he saw anyone else in the store. Eventually, he gets out of the man that the two of them encountered Nibbons but they chased him off from the store.

Chaney has little information about Nibbons or the rest of the Klan. Since he's a new recruit, he doesn't actually know how many members are but he does know they are rapidly recruiting under their new leader.

Hawk asks about the new leader's name but Chaney doesn't know; he's only heard him referred to as "The Hangman". Chaney does say the leader is the one who wanted them to find the book.

Finding the whole thing odd, Hawk leads Mose back to the other side of the room. They agree the two White boys should come up missing. Hawk suggests cutting them up into pieces and putting them in the water. Mose notes he's been doing this just as long and knows how to make a body disappear.

Mosely then asks Hawk if he wants the slip of paper they found in one of the men's wallets that contains the name of the author they were looking for. As he hands it over, Mosely tells Hawk they didn't find anything else in the wallet, in a way that suggests the Thornton boys aren't interested in splitting the cash they found with him.

Looking at the slip of paper, Hawk is surprised to find the name is Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Hawk is surprised to find it is not the name of Henry Bouget, so clearly the men were looking for a different book than Nibbons after all. In fact, Hawk recognizes it as the name of the author of the book he saw at Broncati's residence – La Sostanza Alternativa.

Hawk tells Mosely and Johnson to get ahold of him if there's any other trouble. They all agree the Klan will need to be dealt with soon.

Johnson tells Hawk that speaking of trouble, he was supposed to pass along a word to him that T.J. Parker (Hawk's fence) had been looking for him; something about a guy asking around about some stuff Hawk pawned. Hawk thanks him for the message and makes a note to follow up with T.J. later, but isn't too concerned about whatever that is about at the moment.

*** Session 13 - Scene 6 (of 12) ***

When Nibbons comes to, his head hurts from the gun blow. He finds himself bound and gagged, lying on the floor in a small, dark room.

He maneuvers himself around to listen at the floor to see if he can hear anything. He can tell the area below him has music and a crowd cheering; if he had to guess, it is some kind of show involving live dancers.

Moving like an inchworm, Nibbons gets over to the door and listens. He doesn't hear anything different outside the door than he heard at the floor.

Pushing himself back up against the wall, Nibbons tries to get himself up to a standing position. As he does so, he can tell he is in some kind of utility closet. As he tries to stand, he knocks over some things off the shelf, making noise.

The door suddenly opens and a large, bodyguard type man enters. He smacks Nibbons in the head, causing everything to go black again.

*** Session 13 - Scene 7 (of 12) ***

Le Doux makes his way carefully down the rickety wooden stairs of the basement. Although he is very careful stepping down the stairs, he is unprepared for the clawed hand from under the stairs that grabs his leg.

Falling down the stairs, Le Doux loses hold of his gun and flashlight. As the flashlight hits the ground, the light goes out, leaving Le Doux with only the dim light coming down from the stairway above.

Out in the darkness, Le Doux spots a pair of shining red eyes coming towards him. He gropes around in the blackness looking for his gun. Finding it, he rolls over and fires the gun at whatever the red eyes belong to. He may or may not have hit his target, but either way it keeps coming towards him.

A claw-like hand reaches out and grabs Le Doux's gun. Grabbing it, the gun heats up and Le Doux is forced to let go as the weapon melts.

Le Doux responds by kicking the unseen creature in the face. His foot connects, but the creature appears to be very solid but it does give a slight grunt.

Although he probably has enough time to run up the stairs, Le Doux rolls away further into the dark and grasps around for another weapon. As he does so, the handgun ammunition explodes, turning the gun into a grenade. Some of the shrapnel hits Le Doux in the leg.

Le Doux finds a section of lead pipe on the ground. He rushes over and smashes it over the head of the presumed demon. The creature is clearly wounded, so he continues to bash it until he is sure it is dead. The experience leaves him feeling he has regained a small sliver of his composure, though he is covered in a sulfuric-smelling blood.

Dirty and smelly, Le Doux scrambles out of the basement and goes to shut the trap door. As he does so, he notices there is some sort of occult symbol on the back of it but has no idea what it is.

Out in the car, Eberhardt sees Le Doux emerge from the bookstore but without the gun and flashlight he went in with. Instead, he's carrying a lead pipe and is covered in some sort of strange blood.

Eberhardt asks him what happened. Le Doux says he found a "basement thing" that attacked him. He rambles about red eyes. When Eberhardt asks if it was a rat, Le Doux suggests it would have to be a big rat.

Le Doux then looks through the trunk of Hawk's car to find something to clean himself off with; the filth of the basement is starting to give him the shakes. When they open it up, they find the large amount of flammable materials Hawk has stored there.

Using one of the kerosene-soaked rags, Le Doux manages to clean most of the blood and dirt off of himself though now smells like kerosene. He then tells Eberhardt they need to empty all of the materials out of the car, and has an idea of what to do with them – take care of that disgusting basement.

Dumping all of the flammable materials into the basement, Le Doux lights up the blow torch from the trunk and tosses it in. The bookstore immediately begins filling with smoke. When he gets back to the car, he tells Eberhardt they'll need to get moving.

*** Session 13 - Scene 8 (of 12) ***

Eberhardt speeds out of the alley just as Hawk is walking back in. He narrowly manages to avoid hitting him.

Hawk sees the smoke pouring out of the store. He heads over to the car and sarcastically asks Eberhardt if they need to get out of there. Eberhardt starts to explain about Le Doux going crazy and torching the store but Hawk says they can discuss it on the way.

Eberhardt tries to explain what Le Doux did. Le Doux rambles on about needing a shower and the red eyes. Hawk surmises from his kerosene smell that Le Doux used the materials from his trunk.

The three begin arguing over what was in the basement. Hawk is initially supportive of Le Doux, thinking he burned a zombi in the basement. But when Le Doux disputes that, he accuses him of burning a little old homeless lady to death. Eberhardt insists because of the red eyes, Le Doux likely killed Donny Martin. Le Doux believes it is related to the Floating Horror.

The three men argue about the thing in the basement for some time, until Le Doux changes the subject to ask Hawk what happened with the Klan members.

Hawk gives the names of the two men to Le Doux – Roberts and Chaney, and how Chaney got connected to it through his uncle who works for a lawyer named Ham Johnson.

Le Doux recognizes the name as being Hamilton "Ham" Johnson, a lawyer originally from St. Louis now working in Baton Rouge as a political boss for the racist Regular Democratic Organization (RDO) conservative political organization of the Democrat party. Hawk notes this makes perfect sense, since the RDO Democrats have gone out of their way to protect the Klan from the Republican reformers.

Hawk goes on to explain how the Klan is actively recruiting a lot of new members. Le Doux is interested why they were in the book store and wearing their Klan outfits. Hawk explains they were looking for a book by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.

Le Doux recognizes the name as that of the Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher who wrote 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy, and magic along with other books and is known as a major figure of Renaissance humanism and the Hermetic Reformation. He also recognizes him as the author of La Sostanza Alternativa, the book Patricia Walker was looking for that she said came from Dr. Broncati's office. Eberhardt sarcastically says this is exactly what they needed, something else to tie them to that woman's death.

Hawk points out the obvious – that the Klan was there looking for a different book than Nibbons was. Le Doux believes it is very strange the semi-literate Klan was looking for a book at all, much less an obscure occult text. He also doesn't understand why they were wearing the outfits though Eberhardt believes the answer is obvious – it was part of their hazing as initiates.

Continuing on, Hawk explains the new leader of the Klan is someone known as The Hangman who is the one who wants the book. Le Doux finds it very odd, given the Klan at least purports to be a zealous Protestant Christian organization. Hawk offers his belief that Klan has always worked for the Devil.

Eberhardt cracks a joke about how Le Doux should have seen some of the things he did as part of his service in the Christian German army. Le Doux retorts he's seen some of the things Eberhardt did in his office, thinking of the unpleasant incident with his cousin.

Hawk refers to the two men he interrogated as not being very bright and explains how he and the others let the men go after talking with them. Le Doux is surprised at Hawk being so merciful and compliments him.

Eberhardt is more concerned about Le Doux burning down the bookstore, as he was sitting in the car in broad daylight while everything was going on. Le Doux believes he has nothing to worry about as who would recognize him. Hawk tries to sell Eberhardt on some scheme where Eberhardt would try to say he's infiltrated the Klan, but the German man suggests it would be better if he just didn't show up at work for a while (since he is likely going to be fired anyway).

*** Session 13 - Scene 9 (of 12) ***

Once they get back to the office, Le Doux goes to take his shower while Eberhardt decides he will call on Madge again. Hawk checks on his car and find his flammables stash empty, so he heads out to resupply.

When Le Doux finishes his shower and comes downstairs, he finds Madge sitting on his desk pulling up her bloomers while Eberhardt is wiping his face. He realizes he just missed walking in on them in a compromising position again.

Eberhardt tries to change the subject by talking about forming a group of German immigrants to help them, perhaps under a common ideology where they would all shave their heads; he muses about needing some kind of mystical symbol of good luck to unite them behind, like the Hindu symbol for luck popularized in Germany by Alfred Rosenberg.

Le Doux gives Eberhardt a look as Hawk walks back into the office building and Madge lights up a cigarette from behind her desk, a very satisfied look on her face. Le Doux asks Hawk about why he has so many flammable materials in his car. Hawk mocks Le Doux for not figuring it out since he is a detective, then goes on to suggest it is needed to burn the zombis and other creatures.

Seeing Le Doux is skeptical, Hawk says he expects to run into all kinds of things by hanging out with Le Doux. He goes on to explain about Madame Rue and the warning about Le Doux being a magnet for the dark clouds.

The talk of clouds gets Le Doux thinking. He tries to put together the puzzle pieces of everything going on along with Eberhardt's dream about him being a nexus being. But he can't quite make sense of it all – and thinking about it all makes him feel small and alone in the universe. For the next hour, Le Doux sits in quiet contemplation of it all.

By the time Le Doux is done drawing more cloud sketches, it begins to get dark out. Just then, Jerboa shows up at the office. Eberhardt looks at her closely, but notices she still does not possess any wolfen traits.

Le Doux snaps out of his reverie and asks Jerboa where Donny is. She explains she tried to get him to come, but Donny is confused and irrational. She says he's been rambling on about stars and someone named Hastur. Le Doux is saddened there is another piece of the universal puzzle he does not understand.

To ensure everyone is safe, Le Doux takes a pen from his desk and insists on marking everyone with "protection symbols", starting with making a mark on Hawk's head.

Eberhardt ignores Le Doux and asks Jerboa if Donny happened to go to the basement of a bookstore. She is confused, asking why he would do that.

Jerboa explains Donny is paranoid and wants to stay out in the wild. Apparently, his ramblings have also discussed "the Byakhee coming from the stars" which she doesn't understand. Eberhardt isn't sure exactly what that means, but he's pretty sure it is related to the sketches he saw in the notebook found at Flow.

Hawk asks Jerboa about Nibbons and the bookstore he went to. He mentions the name of Maximillian Coleridge. Jerboa has no idea what he's talking about, and confused why he is asking her.

Jerboa starts to get agitated about getting everyone to go help Donny. She mentions he is hiding out at the Old Spanish Fort. Everyone knows that is just outside Bayou St. John near City Park, but recall little else about the fort.

Hawk insists before they go out and deal with Donny, they need to find Nibbons. Hawk suggests perhaps he's at the theatre since that is what Eberhardt wrote on the paper. Eberhardt asks Jerboa, but she says they only saw Hawk there.

Just then, Le Doux has an inspiration as he looks into the clouds. He doesn't think it is the Orpheum that Eberhardt was referring to, but the theatre associated with The Committee – the burlesque theatre, Dolly's.

Le Doux tells the others Nibbons is at Dolly's. He promises Jerboa they will help her with Donny but first need her to help them rescue Nibbons from the cult at the burlesque theatre. When she asks how, he says they may need her special talents.

Hawk believes she could go undercover as a dancer, but Jerboa isn't so sure. Le Doux says they really only need her to wait and help them out if needed by turning into her other form.

*** Session 13 - Scene 10 (of 12) ***

They decide to take Eberhardt's car this time. He speeds across town to the theatre, but they stop on the way to pick up Foxy to add some additional help on Hawk's insistence.

Once they get to the theatre, Le Doux has Eberhardt circle the building to look for the back entrance. Since Hawk can't go in the club, Le Doux sends Foxy and Jerboa in the front as customers for the bar inside the club. He instructs Jerboa to transform if anything strange starts to happen. Foxy is very confused by the whole conversation.

Meanwhile, Le Doux directs the others to the back entrance. Hawk suggests they use the fire escape to sneak in the upper story instead.

Le Doux has Hawk wait as wheelman in the car while he and Eberhardt head up the fire escape ladder. Le Doux, in the lead, manages to make a lot of noise on the ladder.

As he reaches the upstairs window, one of the bouncers in the club looks out and comes face to face with him. The man goes for his gun, but Le Doux quickly acts to deflect the shot. It goes off in his ear, causing him some hearing loss.

Knocking the gun away causes Le Doux to lose his balance on the ladder. He falls backwards, landing on the pavement. Eberhardt looks down to see Le Doux's unconscious body with a pool of blood coming from the back of his head.

Eberhardt quickly hops down and maneuvers himself to a location where it will be difficult to shoot him. Hawk watches everything occur from the car, not wanting to get involved in a firefight.

Back inside the club, Nibbons starts to regain consciousness as he hears gunshots coming from outside the room he is in. He manages to work himself up to standing again. He then moves himself over to the door and listens. Outside the door, he can hear a couple of men yelling.

Looking around, Nibbons finds a sharp part of the metal shelf he can try and cut the ropes binding him with.

Outside, Hawk sees the man in the window go back inside. He rushes out to help Eberhardt get Le Doux back to the car before the man (and his presumed reinforcements) can get down to them.

Inside, Foxy waits for a good opening and sneaks over to a back stairway. After a couple of guys run out from there, she heads up.

At the top of the stairs, she hears some noise behind one of the doors. She opens it, finding Nibbons inside. Foxy helps him get untied and guides him downstairs before anyone can spot them.

Back outside, Hawk saunters away to act as a random pedestrian (while looking for a car he can steal) as Eberhardt shoves Le Doux's bloody body inside the car. He draws his gun as he sees three men emerge from the back door of the club. Eberhardt rushes over to the car and drives off as gunshots ring out after him.

Nibbons and Foxy emerge into the main part of the club. Nibbons tells Foxy to get him out of there. Jerboa spots them and follows as they head out the front door.

Meanwhile, down the block, Eberhardt stops the car for a minute to try and stabilize Le Doux. He can't stop the bleeding, so he takes off again.

Unfortunately, Eberhardt's fast driving gets him into an accident on the way to the hospital and it is some time before Le Doux can get treated. He manages to live, but the incident will likely cause him some permanent brain damage.

Back at the club, Nibbons and Foxy make a run for it while Jerboa transforms into a werewolf and begins attacking the men. Nibbons takes the transformation in stride, but Foxy is stunned into a catatonic state.

Down the street, Hawk hotwires a car and gets inside. He pulls up to allow Nibbons and Eberhardt inside, though becomes momentarily stunned at the sight of the werewolf. They then drive off back to Le Doux's office, leaving Jerboa to fight the men.