Session 8 - Scene 4 (of 13)

After getting dropped back off at his office by the police, Cheryl lets Biggins know he missed another call while he was out. Seeing the message, Biggins realizes it is Captain Deakins' number.

Heading into his office, Biggins calls over to the precinct and talks with the captain. Deakins informs the alderman that he heard the alderman had a visit that morning. Biggins explains what occurred, but Deakins notes he already knows.

The captain admonishes Biggins to be more careful. He explains that Captain Ross over in the 5th ward was connected heavily with Flynn. Now that Flynn's dead, Deakins speculates that Ross is in bed with Carmody. He warns Biggins that Carmody has gone to the mattresses, killing anyone tied to the Russians; if Biggins has ties to Ulnovsky it will mean Carmody coming after him too. Finally, he slips a quick warning that he can't guarantee Biggins won't be under surveillance from the detective bureau now.

Session 8 - Scene 5 (of 13)

Father Mulroney deposits a nickel into the collection box at the museum entrance and heads inside. He smiles and nods at the guard on the way in. The museum has a fair number of people visiting that day.

Heading over to the information counter, he asks the secretary to speak with Sir Archibald Beatty, the museum director. After making sure the priest does not have an appointment, the woman explains that the director is very busy and he'll have to make an appointment.

Undeterred, Mulroney goes on to say how he believes Sir Archibald will have an interest in his "trinket". The woman asks if he is there to donate something and offers to have someone come up from the collections department. The priest answers obliquely, saying "not exactly..."

When the secretary asks what the object is, Father Mulroney offers to show it to her. Once again being careful not to touch it, he takes the object out. As with the others, the woman is instantly mesmerized. She begins rambling on about how interesting and strange the object is; and once Mulroney covers it back up and she comes out of her haze, she agrees to see if Sir Archibald has some free time.

After waiting in the museum lobby for another hour or so, the secretary finally shows him into Sir Archibald's office. It is lavishly furnished with artifacts from India and Africa, including several weapons, pictures of Sir Archibald in the field, and other memorabilia. The man himself is rather large, with white hair and a walrus-like mustache. He gregariously offers the priest to sit.

When he asks what Mulroney has to show him, the priest begins by showing him the Latin phrase he took from Dr. Krasnik. Sir Archibald shakes his head, good-naturedly explaining he has no cognizance of the tongue.

Mulroney agrees that he had trouble with it as well. He reads the translation of the phrase and asks the director if he's heard it before. The director claims he has not, but Mulroney can tell he's not being entirely truthful.

Next, Mulroney shows the director the claw he found on the docks. Sir Archibald is more excited at this, saying it reminds him somewhat of a large tiger claw. He wistfully mentions his time in the Colonial Army while stationed in India.

Sir Archibald then asks what manner of creature the claw is from; he's hunted many on safari's but does not recognize it. Father Mulroney says he isn't sure, but what told the material is closer to shark bone and asks the director what he thinks of that. Sir Archibald shrugs at the question, saying he's no scientist.

Father Mulroney smiles slyly at the response, agreeing that the two of them are just simple, honest men. He then explains he has one final thing to show the director, but first warns him about the poor reaction people have to it. He especially admonishes him not to touch it, which causes Sir Archibald to believe the object must be poisoned.

Sir Archibald is mesmerized by the object. He admits he's never seen anything like it, but notes he's no anthropologist. He suggests that Mulroney take it "downstairs" to a Dr. Frock right away, assuring the priest that he'll free up the doctor's schedule.

Session 8 - Scene 6 (of 13)

After taking the elevator down, Father Mulroney discovers the basement level of the museum is rather Spartan, dank, and dark; despite being a relatively new building. He walks down the hallway until finding the door marked "Anthropology, Dr. Whitney Frock".

Knocking on the door elicits a call to enter. Stepping inside, Father Mulroney finds an older man in a wheelchair at a table looking at some pottery shards with a magnifying glass. Without looking up, Dr. Frock asks Mulroney what he wants.

Father Mulroney explains he was sent down by Sir Archibald to look at an object, explaining how he was showing it to the director previously. Dr. Frock scoffs, noting that he'll certainly be able to tell Mulroney more than the director could.

As before, Mulroney starts with the Latin phrase. Dr. Frock identifies the phrase as something he's read before; in an article related to eugenics. But he isn't interested in further discussion, noting he's an anthropologist and not an evolutionary biologist.

Mulroney doesn't have any better luck with the claw, though Frock notes that many primitive cultures use such things for necklaces. He suggests such a claw could perhaps be found amongst the tribesmen in Borneo.

Finally, Father Mulroney shows him the black disk; Frock handles it better than most. Dr. Frock notes the stone itself seems unfamiliar, but he's not a geologist. The carvings, however, are somewhat familiar to him.

Dr. Frock begins wheeling himself towards the door, telling Mulroney to follow him; he explains they need to go to the archive room. Along the way, he explains the carvings look similar to those of the Hopwell Indians, a tribe that lived near this area, in a place called the Cahokia Mounds, before colonists settled here.

But when they reach the archives, Dr. Frock gets agitated while looking through the files. He exclaims his frustration that the file is missing. Checking the log book, he is surprised and openly exclaims his confusion that the file was taken by someone who he implies shouldn't be accessing it.

When Mulroney asks him to explain, Dr. Frock says the file was recently checked out by a former employee who hasn't worked there in months. He names the employee as a biologist named Dr. Stefan Krasnik, noting there was some kind of scandal related that led to his dismissal. Father Mulroney plays it cool, but his excitement is up; there is definitely more connecting Dr. Krasnik to the events going on than he realized.

The mention of Dr. Krasnik reminds Dr. Frock of something as well. He tells Mulroney that now that he thinks about it, the paper where he read the phrase about the crimson rivers was related to a paper of Krasnik's. He checks the files, but the file isn't there yet. He tells the priest that, unfortunately, the paper is probably still in the secured archives section of the old building across town and that it could take six months or more before it gets moved to the new one.

Father Mulroney thanks the scientist for his time. Dr. Frock would like to keep the black disk to study it, but Mulroney doesn't want to let it out of his sight. Instead, he allows Frock to draw a sketch of it and take some photographs before he leaves.

Session 8 - Scene 7 (of 13)

When he returns to the church, Father Mulroney is approached by Sister Mary. She tells him he got a call from "Harrigan's" while he was out. When he asks her if the message was to call Harrigan's or go down there, she indifferently says it makes little difference as one always leads to the other.

Getting O'Conner on the phone, Mulroney quickly discovers how prophetic Sister Mary was, as Deanie tells him to get himself and "the alderman" down to Harrigan's right away. His next call is to Biggins.

Alderman Biggins doesn't let him get much of a word in edge-wise at first, explaining about talking with the police and the federal agents at the station. Mulroney doesn't like the sound of having feds involved. He's even less thrilled that Biggins spotted a sketch of himself, and is only partially mollified by Biggins' deduction that clearly they haven't identified him yet.

Putting the matter aside for the moment, Father Mulroney explains to the alderman that they've been summoned again. Biggins cautions his contact in the police has warned him about being followed, explaining the whole Captain Ross / Flynn connection and the hunt for Ulnovsky. Mulroney tells him to exit out the back of his office building so he can pick him up in the alley.

Using his keen street smarts, Father Mulroney picks up Alderman Biggins from the alley behind his office without being seen; at least, as far as he can tell. On the way over, the two fully explain what they've been up to that day.

Father Mulroney tells Biggins the next step he has planned is to access the old museum and get to the secure archives. He asks Biggins if he is up for a night visit. The alderman notes it is a lot safer than most of the things the priest has involved him with lately.

They also discuss Shoes, and how he's still whining about being stuck in the hospital; Biggins suggests maybe he can use a hollowed-out crutch with a gun in it from now on.

Arriving at Harrigan's, Mulroney cautions Biggins to leave the talking to him. But when they step inside Harrigan's, the bartender tells them he thinks they have the wrong place. Mulroney is confused until he clarifies that "I think your dog picked up some fleas", which leads him to believe they've picked up a tail.

The two apologize for wasting the man's time and head back out. They look around carefully. Biggins spots a car down the street that looks familiar to one that's been parked near his office lately.

The father comes up with a plan. He tells Biggins to drive the car and get the tail to leave while he heads around back and enters the speakeasy through the alley.

Once inside, Mulroney finds Deanie in the back room with the O'Bannion brothers. As usual, O'Conner looks pissed. He asks the priest, "what gives?" and wants to know why Biggins is bringing down more heat on them.

Father Mulroney points out that O'Conner asked him to bring the alderman down to Harrigan's. Deanie retorts that he wasn't expecting a tail – he just wanted to ask them why Biggins was being hauled in by the cops. Mulroney explains about the interrogation in brief details.

O'Conner then goes into a rant about how everyone is messing up his business. He complains about "that psycho Powers". Deanie is convinced the missing doctor was the one who helped Powers escape and Powers probably whacked him afterward and stuffed the body somewhere like he did with Sand.

Deanie is especially upset that Powers didn't even pull the job off, and now the police are bearing down on everyone for the robbery since the guard was killed so much that he can't move any product. He also notes "Morgan even has his own guy looking into the robbery" and that even Tolino is smart enough to not tangle with Morgan. Mulroney assumes that O'Conner is referring to David Thomas Morgan, the powerful financier and chairman of the bank's board of directors; he interprets O'Conner to be saying that Mr. Morgan must have hired a private detective or something, but doesn't ask for clarification.

Of course, the bank robbery isn't the only problem. Deanie also refers to the situation with Ulnovsky as a nightmare. He explains that since Carmody is going to war on the docks, Ulnovsky has gone to ground and the O'Bannions haven't had any luck finding him.

Returning the matter to Alderman Biggins, Deanie suggests to Mulroney that he should stop running around with the alderman now that he's under surveillance unless they all want to get pinched. Father Mulroney admits it is not a bad idea and that he was trying to lie low for the time being. Deanie tells him to "lie lower". The final advice Deanie gives Mulroney is if they can't get rid of the cops, use Biggins to put them on to Powers or Carmody, or preferably both.

Session 8 - Scene 8 (of 13)

It takes Father Mulroney a short time to locate Biggins and get in the car. He asks the priest where they should go next. Mulroney sardonically remarks "I think they're on to us" and suggests they head back to the church instead of endangering their operations further.

The two men decide to lay low at the church until it gets dark. Father Mulroney decides to put Rover on lookout for the tail car, but Sister Mary reminds him Rover is still in the hospital. The priest notes the fact had slipped his mind in all the excitement of the day. Sister Mary blandly notes she can't recruit new help fast enough at the rate the priest is getting them incapacitated.

Mulroney explains the situation with Biggins and the tail car to Sister Mary. She coldly asks if it is time for Biggins to go, suggesting the politician has outlived his usefulness. But Mulroney isn't ready to give up the alderman just yet. Mary strongly suggests he keep Biggins away from her operations at the very least, noting Dr. X is not an understanding man and would not be pleased if there was any interference. Mulroney agrees, and wonders what sort of man Dr. X must be that he would intimidate someone as stonehearted as Sister Mary.

With Rover unavailable, Father Mulroney is once again forced to select another of the boys to assist. He decides on Tony. He has Tony stay outside and keep an eye on the tail car.

Later that evening, as it gets dark, Tony stops in and notes the car is still there but the guy sitting in it recently changed out with another man. Mulroney is not thrilled the surveillance is considered important enough by the cops to have shifts.

The priest instructs Tony to go over to the car and create a distraction. Not the most imaginative lad, Tony asks for suggestions on how. Mulroney barks at the youth to just tell him he has a sick grandmother needing help or something; anything to distract him. He then tells the boy to run away afterward, instructing him to acts as if it were a prank should he get caught.

To further confuse matters, Mulroney gets a spare nun's habit and robe and dress Biggins in it. Sister Mary does not find the disguise convincing, but Mulroney hopes it will be good enough from a distance.

The two try to sneak out but the cop isn't buying Tony's story and he spots them. They make a run for it as the detective starts up his car. The car closes in on them quickly, but they manage to duck into a side alley.

As the cop's car screeches to a halt the two continue running down the alley, getting some distance between them. The car turns and heads down the alley but they are far enough ahead that Father Mulroney manages to grab Biggins and get them both off to the side in some shadows before the car drives by.

After staying put to make sure they've lost the tail, Biggins takes off the disguise and they head out to the main street. Mulroney quickly hails a cab and gives the cabbie an address over near the old museum.

Session 8 - Scene 9 (of 13)

The old museum is under renovation construction to house the new Lakefront Museum of Science and Industry, scheduled for opening in 1928. Luckily for Father Mulroney and Alderman Biggins, the current state of the construction gives them plenty of easy access to inside the building.

It doesn't take long to find the stairway down to the old basement, but they find it is a narrow, rusty old spiral metal staircase. Some of the bolts look like they are starting to separate from the wall. Biggins tries his best to be quiet, but they make a lot of noise as they head down.

About halfway down the stairs, Mulroney realizes the moonlight illuminates the upper level well enough to see but not the basement. He also realizes he neglected to prepare any equipment ahead of time and doesn't have so much as a votive candle on him.

The two head back up and try to look around for anything they can use for light. Next to the stairway is a long pole with a wick; Mulroney recalls the old building still used gas lighting. He lights the wick with Biggin's cigar lighter and they head back down the stairs.

Using the pole, Father Mulroney lights a couple of the gas lamps along the walls. He is careful, however, to avoid having them too bright as he does not want to attract anyone's attention.

The basement is dark and musty, much worse than the one in the new museum. The two men find a nearby office door by the stairway and row after row of half-filled shelves of boxes and artifacts.

Mulroney instructs Biggins to check out the office. The alderman opens the office door to find a small, sparse office with a desk and chair. The desk has a typewriter on it and some typed papers next to it.

Biggins starts by going through the papers on the desk. They appear to be the work of an archivist, cataloging the various objects still to be moved to the new museum. He spots a reference to the Hopwell Indians in one of the papers and calls out to Mulroney. The priest then goes to look for the Indian artifacts while instructing Biggins to look around for the secured archives.

Session 8 - Scene 10 (of 13)

Wandering around for a few minutes, Biggins walks between the shelves and locates a vault-style door. Deducing this is likely the door to the secured archives room, Biggins tries opening it. He finds it unlocked and the loud, metal creaking noise of the door reverberates in the basement.

Inside, the alderman discovers a large number of filing cabinets. He begins rooting around, looking for anything related to Dr. Krasnik.

Meanwhile, Father Mulroney slowly advances into the dark regions of the basement. As he stops to light another lamp, he spots something out of the corner of his eye. But when he turns, he sees nothing, as he misses sight of the shadow that was there only moments before.

A few steps further and he locates the section on the Hopwell Indians. He notes that anything remotely valuable was likely already taken to the new museum; all he finds on the shelves are a collection of pottery shards. The shards do have marks resembling the black disk he carries, but the priest feels no strange feelings while examining them.

Turning to look at another pot, he comes face to face with another bulbous-headed creature. Startled, he jolts backwards, knocking over a shelf. Running back towards the stairs, Father Mulroney shouts out to Biggins – warning him there is a monster.

Alderman Biggins hears the commotion in the other part of the basement, but can barely make out what Mulroney is yelling about. He hears a loud crash from a distance away and spots the priest running straight for him. Mulroney grabs Biggins' coat, yelling that they have to leave right away.

The two men make a run for the stairs, but the old, rusted stairway cannot take the quick movement and sudden shifts in weight. As Biggins gets three-fourths of the way up, the stairway comes loose from the wall. It bends and crashes to the ground, sending Biggins and Mulroney sprawling onto the floor.

As Biggins gets up, he sees the creature coming towards them. It has a large head with eyes like glowing pears and a mouth of sharp teeth. The body appears humanoid, but bloated; the arms and legs ending in human-like appendages of hands and feet, but webbed and with sharp claws at the end.

While Biggins is looking over the monster in abject horror, Mulroney is thinking quickly. He decides to make a run for the office. Biggins sees him moving and follows.

Father Mulroney reaches the office first. He sees the creature is right behind Biggins. Favoring self-preservation over friendship, he shuts the door and begins barricading it. He then proceeds to make his eye out the narrow window in the office.

Outside, Biggins alters his course, narrowly dodging a clawed strike from the creature. Instead, a chunk of plaster is torn from the wall.

Running over to the shelves to look for a weapon, Biggins spots a native spear of some kind. He grabs it and stabs at the monster as it charges at him. The priceless artifact goes into the beast's eye and the tip snaps off.

The monster howls in pains and stumbles off back into the shelves area. Biggins hears more crashing sounds as the flailing beast continues knocking things over.

Debating whether to leave Biggins' chances to fate or assist, Father Mulroney decides to go back into the old museum and look for a way to help the alderman. He heads over to the doorway where the stairs used to be and can see Biggins looking around for something. There is no sign of the monster.

Biggins hears Mulroney and looks up to see him. He yells for the priest to hurry up and get him out of there before the creature comes back.

Father Mulroney looks around for anything that could help Biggins out. Biggins tries to assist, yelling for the priest to look for a fire hose or something.

After a few minutes, Mulroney locates the old fire hose. He begins spooling it out, feeding it down the doorway to Biggins. After the alderman manages to climb up, the priest disconnects the hose and throws it down into the basement; he does not want the monster using it. The two decide to get out of the area immediately.

Session 8 - Scene 11 (of 13)

The night is a relatively quiet one on the upper ward of the Bloomfield County Hospital but Shoes is having trouble sleeping. He doesn't want another nightmare.

He's somewhat startled when the curtain around his bed is disturbed by a doctor. He doesn't recognize the man, and in the poor light he doesn't even notice that the doctor is dressed strangely out of date.

Shoes asks the doctor what he wants, but the man ignores him completely. He begins looking at Shoes' knee wound and poking around.

The youth nervously cracks a joke about hoping the doctor is there for more morphine, as he is running low. The doctor slowly turns to him and cracks a slight smile.

Reaching into his coat, the doctor pulls out a syringe. But Shoes notices something odd is going on; the syringe is odd-looking with extra metal pieces attached to it, and the liquid inside is a strange green color that almost appears to glow in the moonlight.

Shoes yells for a nurse. The doctor responds by jamming the needle into his leg and beginning an injection. Shoes manages to maneuver himself off the bed with only half of the liquid in him, breaking the needle off in his knee.

The youth lies on the ground, howling in pain, as the doctor quickly disappears. A moment later a nurse arrives and wants to know what is going on and how he got a needle into his knee. Shoes yells for her to call security, explaining a man posing as a doctor tried to inject him with something strange.

The nurse calls for the orderlies to restrain Shoes and get him back to bed. She doesn't know how a needle got stuck in him, but assures him there is no syringe and he must have had another of his nightmares. When he tries to hobble his way out of bed, she threatens to tie him down for the rest of the night and scolds him to get back to sleep and stop disturbing everyone.

After she leaves, Shoes decides everyone in the hospital is crazy and it is dangerous to stay. Tying his bed sheets together, the youth creates a rope to lower out the nearby window.

Shoes manages to get out easily and make his way down the makeshift rope. He then hobbles himself a short distance away. Trying to think of what to do next, he figures he won't get very far in a hospital gown with no money.

He starts by figuring out a way to get clothes. He heads over to a nearby alley and assaults a homeless man. After knocking the man out and stealing his clothes, he heads back out to the street.

Shoes knows he still has no money so taking the bus or a cab is out. He tries stealing one of the cars in the hospital parking lot, but doesn't really have the knack for it.

Just then, Shoes notices an ambulance pull up. The men in the ambulance all get out, taking an old man in a gurney inside along with some nurses that greeted them. The youth notices the ambulance is still running but no one is around.

Hobbling over quickly, Shoes gets himself inside the vehicle and manages to drive off. With his injured knee, he's unable to work the clutch very well, but still manages to make his way over the warehouse.

Session 8 - Scene 12 (of 13)

Once Father Mulroney and Biggins reach a safe distance away from the old museum, the priest finds a pay phone and calls over to the warehouse so he can have one of the boys pick them up. He is surprised when Shoes is the one who answers.

Shoes asks the priest where he's calling from, and he explains he is calling from a pay phone. He, in turn, asks Shoes what he is doing out of the hospital, and the youth explains that crazy people at the hospital are after him. Mulroney responds that he and Biggins were nearly eaten by another monster, but Shoes tells the priest he's in no mood for any more crazy monster stories.

Mulroney doesn't want to argue and instructs Shoes to come pick him up. Shoes asks if he wants him to take the truck or the ambulance. Mulroney asks, "Ambulance?", and Shoes responds, "OK, the ambulance" and hangs up.

An hour later, Father Mulroney spots the ambulance coming down the street. When Shoes stops to pick them up, he asks Shoes why he is dressed like a bum and driving an ambulance.

Shoes vaguely explains that it was all that was available as the two get in. Mulroney tells the boy he'll need to ditch the hot vehicle or they'll end up in prison quickly. Shoes tries to argue that a fake ambulance could come in handy, but Mulroney gets him to dump it a few blocks from the warehouse.

On the way, Father Mulroney and Biggins relate their events to Shoes, who still doesn't believe there is any monster. He believes they just saw a big guard dog or something. Biggins notes if it was a dog it had huge claws and could walk upright. Shoes, in turn, tells them about the doctor and the strange syringe, which they find to be an equally fantastical tale.

By the time they reach the warehouse, Shoes' knee is hurting him badly. He decides to rest and lie low for a while. Mulroney, however, plans for them all to return to the warehouse to finish off the monster.

Session 8 - Scene 13 (of 13)

After getting some new clothes, rope, flashlights, and other equipment the trio head back over to the old museum in Mulroney's truck. They park out of the way and head in slowly. Nothing looks amiss in the area.

Finding the upper level undisturbed, Father Mulroney listens carefully for any noises coming from the basement. Hearing none, he shines the flashlight around until he is sure there is nothing moving around in the immediate area.

Tying off the rope securely, Mulroney tells Biggins to head down first. Not much of an athlete, the alderman manages to let loose of the rope and hits the ground with a thud.

Father Mulroney tries to avoid injury by holding on to the end of the rope and having Shoes lower him down. But the rope ends up slipping out of Shoes' hands and Mulroney ends up with a sprain or two himself.

From the top, Shoes yells down that he'll stay above to "cover" them. When Mulroney tries to protest, Shoes notes they may need him up there to pull them up quickly.

Mulroney does object to Shoes keeping a gun and leaving Biggins defenseless. Shoes notes the monster (which he doesn't believe exists) could be upstairs as well, and that he doesn't need to worry about Biggins. Mulroney eventually persuades him to toss it down, but Shoes warns the alderman not to lose this one like he did the last one, referring to the gun Biggins dumped at the Lexington after the bank robbery.

The two slowly make their way over to the vault, guns drawn. They are glad to see the vault is still empty of creatures.

With Biggins covering him, Father Mulroney heads over to the filing cabinet and locates the file for Dr. Krasnik. Meanwhile, Shoes decides to head out of the museum to make sure they aren't being noticed.

When the two get back to the rope and call for Shoes, they are concerned when he isn't around. Biggins tries to climb up the rope, but is having difficulty.

Hearing the commotion as he heads back inside, Shoes goes over to the doorway and asks what the trouble is. Mulroney explains that Shoes can't climb the rope, which Shoes notes is no surprise.

Eventually, with Shoes' help, both men make their way out of the basement. Shoes dryly remarks that he's glad the monster didn't get them. Mulroney, however, is more curious about where the creature went.

When they get back to the warehouse, Father Mulroney briefly flips through the papers in the Krasnik file. The one mentioning "the crimson rivers" is a paper Krasnik did as part of his work on the State Eugenics Board; a treatise on the declining physical state of the American working class and the need for selective breeding. The later part of the paper is a proposal for forcibly breeding immigrant children as part of a human heredity experiment. There is also a memorandum in the file from Sir Archibald expressing his disgust at Krasnik's paper and ethics, resulting in him dismissing Krasnik from employment at the museum.

Shoes can't make heads or tails of what Krasnik's paper is talking about. He asks the priest what selective breeding is. Mulroney dryly remarks that Biggins is what happens when you have natural breeding.

Session 8 - Session Notes

The other day I had time to post the session summary but not my notes so I thought I'd take a few minutes today and give my thoughts.

There was an extra 2 week delay in sessions as the Shoes player's wife went into labor on the day of our last session, resulting in a last minute cancellation (he later noted that the labor took long enough we could have had the session anyway, lol).

Whenever there is a 4 week gap between sessions, people tend to forget things and there's always an effort getting things moving again.

That said, this session ended up going pretty well - some good investigation with a brief couple of action scenes. The only drawback is that the Shoes player didn't have a lot to do for a good chunk of the session.

General notes:
* Detectives Goren and Eames, like the previous detectives, are named after characters from Law and Order (this time, L&O: Criminal Intent).

* The BOI guys come from the TSR setting. Note, though, that I insist on calling it the BOI and not the FBI to be period appropriate (something that TSR was a bit more anachronistic about). They don't actually do much because the BOI didn't have much authority in those days (again, TSR had plots like undercover agents - something that didn't happen until decades later).

* Biggins seeing a sketch of himself was just there for the gag factor. If it turns out police sketch artists weren't used yet then, I'm claiming comedic license.

* Carmody and Ulnovsky being at war in the streets is a major deal and will be discussed further next session.

* I wish I had the time / inclination to create full fake newspapers to "hide" stories in for the players instead of just relaying the info exposition-style.

* Mulroney found the story about Powers and Krasnik's warehouse strange (picking up that it was some kind of clue), but I'm not sure the player is asking all the right questions or following up on the clues yet. Kind of like with the safety deposit box, there's a lot of clues sitting out there in plain sight waiting for someone to look at them. More proof I say that it's not just a matter of not using rolls for investigative work in RPGs that becomes a problem; it's that a lot of players make lousy investigators.

* I did love the fact that this session showed there were all kinds of connections to Krasnik with the things going on. If the players had the foresight to simply investigate Krasnik (like, say, following him or clandestinely trying to figure out what he was up to) instead of abducting / brain damaging him, they'd be a lot further along to discovering things going on.

* Once again, just a note that all Mulroney's guys are named after people associated with the band Oasis. I finally had to create a document for him to keep track of his gang with (something I probably should have done from the beginning; or let him design it himself using some general rules like Palladium does for creating your own mercenary organization or whatever).

* Shoes' nightmares was foreshadowing for his later visit. It's also a clue that will make more sense later.

* I think I named Dr. Seibert after a doctor in the movie Side Effects (which I recently watched)

* I didn't explicitly name Luminal in the session; I had to look it up later. Luminal is the trademark name (not to be confused with Luminol, the CSI chemical) Bayer used for phenobarbitol at the time (a barbitute used at that time as a seditive).

* The Mulroney player half-suspected the thing with Rover would happen but figured the comedy moment was worth it.

* I can't remember now if Sir Archibald Beatty was a real person associated with the Field Museum or not (I may have also slightly changed the name). Sometimes I use historical names for reference and then change things up later. The actual characterization comes from me - I wanted him to be a explorer / trophy hunter type who is in charge of the museum but isn't actually trained in any science (though would be a naturalist).

* Biggins being under surveillance is designed to make things slightly more challenging for the PCs to commit more wanton crimes.

* Dr. Frock is inspired by the character of the same name from the Lincoln/Child novels "The Relic" and "Reliquarry". Oddly, I made him the anthropologist instead of the evolutionary biologist, since I needed Krasnik to fit that role.

* The Hopwell Indians and Cahokia Mounds are very much real. Their ties into the back story (as of yet unrevealed), naturally, are complete fiction.

* I was glad Mulroney picked up the hook that the clues were at the old secured archives. The whole new museum/old museum thing is based on the real history of the Field Museum (though I doubt they were as slow to move over the archived collections).

* I loved that the PCs didn't get confused by the "dog has fleas" comment. If I had to stop and explain it, it would have ruined the tension of the moment.

* The line about Morgan's guy looking into the bank robbery is more foreshadowing and a bit of a clue but I'm not sure the PCs got that.

* One thing I didn't make as explicit before that I did do this time - the identity of "Dr. X" is something only Sister Mary knows. That particular subplot may be a bit more of a slow burn.

* General note: there were a lot of truly terrible die rolls starting with the attempt to disguise Biggins as a nun.

* We got a pretty good laugh out of the fact the PCs forgot to actually bring any supplies to the old museum to break into it with.

* I made the old museum have gas lighting as I figured updated electricity was one of the reasons they would build a new museum in the first place. It also added to the mood of making the place old and creepy.

* There actually is a story behind why they were attacked by another monster at the old museum. There will some clues next session on that as well.

* I loved that Mulroney nearly killed Biggins by being focused on his own safety.

* I don't know if the old museum (or even the new one) at that time would have a roll-out fire hose in it, but they did make a luck roll so I had to have something there they could use as a rope.

* Shoes completely missed the fact the doctor was dressed in Victorian clothes, which was something of a clue. For the strange syringe, I was mentally thinking of something like the one used in Dark City.

* We nearly died laughing at the part where Shoes beats up a homeless guy to get clothes and steals the ambulance.

* There is a bit more information on the Krasnik paper next session (some I forgot in the write-up, and some that will be revealed when Mulroney gets a chance to review it in more detail).

Session 9 - Cast of Characters
 
Father Clink Mulroney - Irish Roman Catholic priest running a bootlegging operation out of his church
 
Alderman Jethro Biggins - Corrupt city alderman on the take from Mulroney
 
Francis "Shoes" McDougal - Young street criminal and former orphan acting as Mulroney's chief lieutenant / muscle

Session 9 - Scene 1 (of 13)

The night grows late and Father Mulroney drops off Biggins at his house before heading back to the church. On the way back, he makes a few quick turns to shake any tails; Shoes even compliments him on the good driving.

Mulroney notes that the next day he'll need to check up on Rover in the hospital. The mention of the hospital reminds Shoes of his pained knee, and he jokingly asks the priest if he can see about getting him one of those "staffs like the bishop uses" for a crutch. Mulroney tells him he'll see what he can arrange as they pull into the church basement.

The next morning, however, Shoes is surprised to find that his knee doesn't hurt at all. In fact, looking at it, he can barely see even a scar where the bullet went – the wound seems to have completely healed. Walking over to the kitchen, he tries putting weight on it and finds his leg is completely back to normal.

Spotting Father Mulroney at the kitchen table eating his breakfast, Shoes tells the priest he doesn't need the staff after all. He does, however, ask the priest to see if Sister Mary can get him "something to take the edge off".

Mulroney asks if it his knee hurting him. Shoes corrects him, saying it is withdrawal from the morphine making him jittery. In fact, Shoes notes, his knee is fine. The priest looks at it and is surprised by the miraculous healing.

Not wanting Shoes to be edgy from morphine cravings, Father Mulroney tracks down Sister Mary and asks her about getting some product for Shoes. She heads back into her office and pulls out a small black bag from a desk drawer. Handing it to the priest, she coldly tells him not to make it a habit.

Shoes is delighted to get a small fix of heroin, but feels he's too jittery to inject himself so he asks the father to do it. The two head back to the rectory to avoid Sister Eunice seeing. It takes Mulroney a few tries to hit the vein, but he eventually gets it.

The priest then hands the car keys to Shoes and tells him to go check on the warehouse. He wants to review the Krasnik papers some more.

The treatise is written as a proposal to the State Eugenics Board regarding a solution to the declining state of the American working class. In it, Dr. Krasnik refers to "the crimson rivers" of the human bloodline, something he relates to Norse mythology. According to Krasnik, by controlling the crimson rivers, through controlling the breeding of man, they can create a superior human race.

As part of the proposal, Krasnik also references another study – one done by a Dr. Eugen Fischer of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Biology in Berlin called "Human Heredity and the Phenogenetics of Human Racial Groups". The references indicate the study is related to Dr. Fischer's work with the Society for Race Hygiene.

Krasnik's proposal itself is vague and a bit rambling. He calls it "The Human Instrumentality Project" and makes reference to a grant by something called The Marduk Institute. It clearly, though, has something to do with forcibly taking poor immigrant children off of the streets and engaging them in forceful breeding projects as a way to study which human characteristics were strongest so as to more properly determine which racial groups could be allowed for miscegenation and which should be sterilized.

Needing to cleanse his mental palate after reading the rambling and disturbing papers, Mulroney decides to check out the daily news. He's pleased to see that the news is a bit quiet today, no more violence or crime headlines. The front page is mostly about political news – mentioning the local activities of Senator Joseph M. McCormick to support Big Bill Johnson's re-election campaign and an upcoming event at the opera house with Governor Small.

Finding politics a bit of a bore, Father Mulroney puts down the paper and decides to take a cab over to the hospital so he can check on Rover.

Session 9 - Scene 2 (of 13)

Alderman Biggins sits in his office, lightly dozing, when the ringing phone jostles him back awake. His secretary, Cheryl, calls over to him that he has a call; it's Burns.

Boss Burns tells Biggins he's received a strange call himself from "the other side". One of Senator McCormick's aides has contacted him to give an invitation to the alderman for a fundraising party. Burns clearly doesn't like getting the call, and asks Biggins how he knows McCormick. Biggins, barely even placing the name, tells Burns he has never met the Republican senator.

Burns finds the whole matter very strange. It's extremely unusual a US senator would have anything to do with an alderman, much less one from the opposite party. The party is a fundraising event that would go for Big Bill's re-election campaign, which is another reason Burns mentions for disliking it.

According to Burns, the invitation is for the upcoming Saturday, and is at David Thomas Morgan's house. Biggins keeps his cool but gets nervous at the mention of Morgan; Morgan is the chairman of the board of First National Bank, and he wonders if the invitation is related to Biggins' participation in the robbery with Powers.

Cautioning Biggins not to go, and if he does go not to be seen as it would hurt DeMotte's chances, Burns indicates he wants nothing to do with the matter. Biggins agrees, and definitively tells Burns he won't go. This pleases the boss, who urges Biggins to get out and be as politically active as he can to get DeMotte votes.

Session 9 - Scene 3 (of 13)

Shoes isn't thrilled when he reaches the warehouse. Production is clearly down, and the three guys there seem to be rather lethargic. Shoes yells at the boys, asking what the problem is.

Chaos responds that the problem is that Father Mulroney keeps taking guys away from the work and they never come back – Bonehead, Liam, and Noel are all dead, Guigsy is still laid up, Tony is keeping an eye out at the church, and now Rover is in the hospital. He complains that with Andy out making deliveries, it just leaves him, Zack, and Gem to do all the work.

Shoes has no sympathy and tells them they need to get things moving again; he wants production back up to full capacity. He also asks if there has been any trouble at the warehouse, but the three respond there hasn't been.

Chaos, however, has some ideas on how to be safer. He suggests wiring dynamite with tripwires around the building to blow up anyone trying to get at them. Shoes tells him to try it on his own quarters first. Chaos asks if Shoes wants him to start work on it now, but Shoes explains he should do it on his own time. Shoes then has him get back to work and tells the others to keep their eyes open.

Gem also has some ideas and pulls Shoes off to the side. He asks him if he's seen the day's paper. When Shoes explains he hasn't, Gem takes out a torn section from his pocket and unfolds it. It's from the society page and features a photograph of David Thomas Morgan and his wife Rebecca Lynn Morgan.

Shoes doesn't get what Gem is after at first, so Gem points out Mrs. Morgan's diamond necklace. After commenting on what a pretty necklace it is, Gem explains that the Morgans are having a party this weekend and he's got himself hired as a valet parking cars.

Gem figures that with the party going on, he might be able to slip into Morgan's bedroom and steal the necklace. Shoes is skeptical, asking how he would manage to fence the necklace. Between the high value and the ties to Morgan, no one in town would touch the hot ice. Gem reluctantly agrees that had not occurred to him.

Shoes applauds the youth's initiative but tells him to focus on the bootlegging as it as straight of money as they can get. He says he'll talk to the father about it, but cautions Gem that it probably won't happen. Deflated, the youth agrees but notes again that it is an awfully pretty necklace.