Session 13 - Scene 12 (of 14)

When he wakes the next morning, Alderman Biggins finds himself feeling very good indeed. In fact, a whole knuckle worth of his chopped-off finger seems to have regenerated itself over night. He finds the experience odd, and the newly-returned section of finger to be dry and itchy.

Putting aside thoughts of this miraculous event, Biggins contacts the clerk's office at city hall to see if he can get any information on the Marduk Institute. The disinterested clerk informs him it will take 2-3 weeks to get the documentation he's requested. He attempts to use his political influence to get the time shortened, but fails to circumnavigate the bureaucracy.

Next, the alderman calls over to Boss Burns. Before he can get much of a word in, Burns wants to verify Biggins did not attend the fundraiser for Sen. McCormick. According to Burns, the party ended up being a disaster with Mrs. Morgan's necklace being taken by a young robber, and Mr. Morgan's bodyguard killed by another of the gang.

He goes on to talk about Rev. Greene being at the party and witnessing some of the events. Apparently, one of the valets robbed the necklace after attempting to rape the daughter of local restaurant and night club magnate Jonathan Allen Hill. Biggins doesn't say much, but given the level of mishaps wonders how much of it involves Father Mulroney and Gem.

Burns is also glad to hear Biggins is out of the hospital. He has several more ideas for the last couple of weeks of the mayoral race. He tells the alderman he smells success for DeMotte, believing this latest incident with the wayward youth at Morgan's house will bring tensions about the increase in crime to a head.

Biggins, however, is more interested in the Marduk Institute and asks Burns if he's heard anything about it. The political boss responds he hasn't heard of the institute before. Burns isn't concerned at first, but does get cautious when Biggins mentions the Catholic Church decommissioning St. Vincent's, noting that Catholics are reliable Democratic voters. He promises to look into it and let Biggins know.

Session 13 - Scene 13 (of 14)

After the call, Biggins waits around for the patrolman to drop off the syringe then makes his way to the hospital to talk to Mulroney. He finds Gem there visiting as well. The youth is surprised to see him, but tries to cover it.

Biggins tells the two about how well he is feeling, and shows them the re-growing finger. Mulroney finds the whole affair very odd indeed.

Gem nervously asks if Biggins had any visitors at the hospital last night, and Biggins explains that he checked out the previous afternoon. When he asks why Gem wants to know, the lad explains he is still concerned about the crazy doctor, Ephraim Cooper.

Mulroney notes he didn't have such a good night, as there was a shooting in the parking lot of some kind and the investigation kept him awake. He does relate, however, that he is glad there was a bit of violence he wasn't involved in.

Gem, more nervous, tries to play it cool and aks Mulroney who was shot. The priest explains it was the PI for Morgan, Johnny Cannon. He asks Gem if he heard anything about the killing at the party, but Gem says he did not.

He does tell Mulroney that he was able to get the necklace. He also notes that some people may have gotten hurt in the process.

When Mulroney asks him to elaborate, Gem explains about Handsome Dan McCarthy accompanying him and how he told him to distract Cannon. Mulroney is surprised to hear he told him to go to the hospital, but starts putting two and two together.

Biggins, oblivious as ever, wants to know where the attempted rape factored in. Gem angrily denies that anything of the sort happened, explaining that Hill's trampy daughter Valarie was the one coming on to him. He says that Reverend Greene obviously has his facts crossed.

Mulroney wants to know what else went wrong. Gem explains about going after the necklace and Mrs. Morgan shouting.

Biggins dryly comments that it might be time for him to leave the conversation. However, the alderman does offer to check with the police to see what they have on the robbery. He also comments on increasing the patrols around his office and warns Mulroney and Gem to stay away from it.

Sarcastically, Mulroney congratulates Biggins on his great idea. Mock yelling to the heavens, he says he is out of commission for one day and the two of them have managed to nearly bring the entire empire down.

Returning to the conversation at hand, Mulroney asks Biggins about information on the Marduk Institute. Biggins responds that the information is coming, but leaves out the fact it may take a couple of weeks.

Biggins does, however, produce the syringe to them. Mulroney asks what they should do with it now. The alderman suggests having a doctor examine it, but the father wants to look it over personally.

As he examines the strange device, an idea begins to form. If the liquid in the syringe can heal up Biggins, he believes it could turn a healthy young man like Gem into some kind of super soldier.

He attempts to stab Gem with the needle, but the youth avoids it. He cautions the priest about nearly accidentally sticking him with it. Mulroney offers to hand it to Gem, but he has the priest set down the syringe before he'll take it from him.

Session 13 - Scene 14 (of 14)

Once Gem gets Biggins to leave so he can talk to the father alone, he asks Mulroney if he'd like to hear the good news or bad news. Mulroney dryly remarks he never has any good news.

Gem explains the first set of bad news is that their fence has been "compromised". Mulroney wonders if he is referring to the police, but Gem explains that old "Mr. Wu" has been turned into one of the things like the cleaver-wielding Chinamen. He goes on to explain how he had to burn down the shop to kill him. Mulroney asks Gem to clarify that Wing was a zombi, but the youth simply states that he "wasn't friendly".

Mulroney remarks that Gem had a busy night. He asks what else is on the youth's mind. Gem starts talking about the necklace heist not going according to plan. He explains about having Dan sic Morgan's man Cannon onto Biggins, but that Dan must have improvised when Biggins wasn't at the hospital.

Gem then goes on to explain that while he was at Morgan's, he found an encoded ledger. Mulroney gets excited until the youth reveals it is stashed in Mrs. Morgan's begonias. The priest sardonically asks if Gem plans to go back there and pick it up, but Gem explains he might be able to get a friend of the family to do it, thinking of Valarie Hill.

He also tells the priest about the article he found about Krasnik. When Mulroney asks to see it, Gem admits he used it to start the fire at the Chinatown shop.

Continuing the dialog, Gem mentions the medical journals he saw. Mulroney asks if he took them, knowing the answer before the youth gives it.

Sighing heavily, Father Mulroney recounts everything they know – Gem stole a necklace while using his real name, not hiding his face, leaving an eye witness, and failed to bring back any of the interesting things he discovered at the mansion. He tells the youth he'll need to hide out in the warehouse for a while.

At the mention of the warehouse, Gem produces the lease receipt he found in the journal. Mulroney is intrigued. Gem's idea is to hide himself at that warehouse. Mulroney notes that as long as it isn't in Chinatown, it's a better idea than he's had.

Mulroney feels their only option is to try and fence the necklace through O'Conner. They may also need to take care of Handsome Dan, but O'Conner may do that for them. In any event, he advises Gem to contact O'Conner and make a deal to split the necklace profits 50%. That might, Mulroney suggests, be enough to keep them alive for another day.

Session 13 - Session Notes

This session made for a fun comedy of errors (as it always does when they try to commit crimes, because the PCs are so bad at it), but it is getting a bit difficult keeping the game interesting for everyone when they spend most of the time split up.

It's an interesting conundrum - if the game is more realistic and healing takes a while, then there should be large down periods. Unfortunately, the sheer number of things going on prevents me from just doing a "two weeks later..." kind of advance at the moment.

As the failures and injuries stack up, I think we're starting to wind down the campaign a bit (it was never intended to be a very long campaign). There are a lot of outstanding plot ideas I have planned, but I'm not sure how long it can go before the PCs all end up dead. At this point, nearly everyone in the city is gunning for them.

Various notes from the session:
* Maisie once again made plans with her friends and skipped out. Hopefully she'll be back next time because bringing the Ulnovsky thread back into the game might actually get the PCs an ally.

* The original plot to get Xian's guns was quite convoluted and involved a number of steps. Before they could even go to Rock River (my expy for Rock Island), they first had to deal with Ragen's Colts who controlled that highway. And before they could do that, they had to make a deal with Ryan O'Reilly who would want them to eliminate Ralph Sheldon so he could take over the gang but they had to frame one of Whisper Johnson's guys so they could blame it on that gang. And even before that they had to get in with O'Reilly by disrupting a Klan rally. The way things ultimately progressed in the game, we'll have to skip all that and just have the trip to Rock River.

* Handsome Dan McCarthy was a real guy in Dean O'Banion's gang. I doubt he was as stupid as presented here. McCarthy was a way to give the Mulroney player something to do (he played the character and came up with the personality).

* The bishop's line about "when God closes an ear, he opens an eye" was my way of mocking the kind of silly platitudes people say when shitty things happen to someone else.

* The plot with the Marduk Institute buying out the orphanage is part of the conspiracy to eliminate the PCs from meddling with the plans of the conspirators. They've already wiped out their men and attempted to kill them several times, so I thought rather than another direct attack, they'd simply do something to get Mulroney out of the area. It is also in line with their activities.

* Biggins asking Deakins about the Marduk Institute is one of those moments that always makes me cringe in a game. Why do some PCs always assume every NPC can give them the same info? Seriously, WTF do they really expect the police captain to know? Use the right NPC for the right info (it is especially strange here, since Biggins usually forgets to ask the police captain for info relating to crimes going on).

* George and Edward Pritchett were characters I invented, I think, but I don't recall if I named them after anyone or not. Might have been related to a book I was reading at the time.

* I also don't recall how I came up with Rev. Greene's first name, but "Rev. Greene" was an homage to Cluedo, since I'm using the Clue: Master Edition layout for Morgan's Mansion.

* Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, Johnny Cannon, and Alfred Mortimer are all from the TSR Gangbusters setting.

* The Lakefront Wharfies and Bass teams are my expys for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, with the "Black Bass" scandal referring to the 1919 World Series Black Sox scandal.

* Cody Powers is on the run and may yet return for the mystery of who has been killing his men (hint - it's related to the cult conspiracy).

* The man Gem didn't recognize in the trophy room from the museum was Sir Archibald. The other was a character that has not been introduced yet, but may come up later.

* Valarie Hill, and her father Jonathan Allen Hill, are named after characters from Cheers.

* Valarie's comment about the island is foreshadowing. If the PCs ever get that far.

* Her comment about large parties being more intimate was an homage to the line from the Great Gatsby. I don't think the PCs caught that and took it as a come-on line. That made me change the character a bit to be more of a good-time girl and throw in the library scene.

* The clues were always planned in the library. If the PCs could start to put some of them together, they'd be a lot closer to uncovering what's been going on.

* Gem's plan with the paint was actually my idea after I had Gem make an idea roll because he couldn't think of a plan.

* The mark about Niven is another clue should the PCs follow up on it.

* We got quite a good laugh about the idea that Gem couldn't fight off a middle-aged woman.

* McCarthy brutally murdering Cannon was somewhat metagaming (since it was more about protecting Biggins - which McCarthy had no reason to do), but it fit just enough I didn't take issue with it.

* The zombi encounter at Wing's was planned since the encounter with Chiang Li Ching. They should have followed his warning (or at least thought that he might be ready for them next time). I did show mercy by letting Gem find a back set of stairs to escape.

* Biggins' finger regeneration is more foreshadowing. I did forget to have him make a sanity roll, though (as I did with Gem in the zombi encounter).

* There's a lot of really important info on the Marduk Institute that really starts to unravel the conspiracy. Too bad about that failed politics roll, now Biggins will have to wait to get it.

* As an aside, the reason Dr. Cooper hasn't reappeared at the hospital is that he's still recovering from his gunshot wound.

* Mulroney's thought about turning Gem into a super soldier is dangerously close to the same idea that the conspirators have as part of their plans.

Session 14 - 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

Colin "Gem" Archer - Mulroney's newly-promoted lieutenant for his bootlegging operations; sidelines as a jewel thief

Maisie Brockovitz - A young Jewish dilettante who likes to slum around with gangsters

Session 14 - Scene 1 (of 14)

After Gem leaves to go parlay with O'Conner, Father Clink checks himself out of the hospital and takes a cab back to the church. Along the way, he reads the Lakefront City Star newspaper left in the back of the cab.

The headline reads, "Local Dock Worker Union Leader Kidnapped". Intrigued, he reads the story. According to the article by reporter Jake Mingle, Local 710 Union President Ben Whittier has been kidnapped from his home. According to Detective Vincent Goren, the kidnapping is the latest attack in an escalating situation of warfare down on the docks that has been going on for the last three weeks.

The story goes on to discuss the lead suspect is a Trotskyite named Vasily Ulnovsky, described as a dangerous anarchist suspected in the bombing of The Irish Rose last month. The paper notes the bombing resulted in the death of Whittier's Brother-in-Law, Waterfront Improvement Association President Ned Flynn, along with several dock workers and Federal Prohibition Unit agents Carl Beck and John Burns. New WIA President Phelan Fitzroy is quoted as calling out city hall to mete out justice to these "foreign agitators".

When the father finally arrives at his destination, he finds Maisie Brockovitz waiting for him in the vestibule. Seeing him, she asks where the hell he has been. She gives a modest sympathy when Mulroney explains he's been in the hospital, but the father shrugs it off as a hazard of the occupation.

Maisie explains she was able to connect with Karina Krasnik and find where Ulnovsky is holed up. When Mulroney asks how she found him, Maisie explains he's been active around the docks again.  The priest tells her he's heard about Whittier's kidnapping, and notes Ulnovsky is unlikely to be all that active around the docks at the moment.

The girl then tells Mulroney that she was able to follow Ulnovsky where he was holed up, in a warehouse out on the west side of the city. The father asks how her meet with the man went, but she explains that Ulnovsky himself didn't want much to do with her as he found her to be too loud. Mulroney chuckles inwardly.

Just then, Sister Mary steps in; Father Mulroney can tell she is furious but asks her how things are going. She very caustically remarks that things are not going all that well, as she knows he knows because she knows the bishop went to see him in the hospital.

Maisie interrupts to ask if there is any wine she can drink while she's waiting. Mary coldly ignores her and tells the priest they need to talk in private. Mulroney gets rid of Maisie by telling her to go into his office and help herself to the wine he has there. As she leaves, she grumbles something towards Sister Mary about her being a "Gentile bitch".

As soon as Maisie is gone, Sister Mary approaches Mulroney very aggressively. Sticking her finger in his face, she tells him he'd better fix the situation and that Dr. X is very upset.

Father Mulroney explains he isn't sure there is much he can do about the archdiocese closing the church, but Mary warns him that Dr. X will take action if Mulroney doesn't.

Once again, the father's suspicions are raised. He tries again to get Mary to arrange a meet with the doctor, but she changes the subject. She leaves the church in a huff, telling the priest he had just better fix it. From the window, he sees her take off down the street.

Mulroney is starting to believe that "Dr. X" is actually Mary herself. He quickly heads into his office and gets the address for Ulnovsky's warehouse on West 58th street. He then promises her more bottles of wine in exchange for tailing Sister Mary and seeing where she goes.

Session 14 - Scene 2 (of 14)

Maisie leaves the church and spots Sister Mary up the block. She tries to follow her, but Maisie's conspicuous form doesn't take long to tip off the nun. Mary quickly hails a cab.

With Sister Mary escaping, Maisie tries to hail a cab herself to follow her. Unfortunately, the girl has less luck and by the time she gets someone to stop, Mary has escaped. She decides to head back into the church.

Inside, Father Mulroney studies the Latin text, supernaturalem quidem esse summi numinis in mente humana operationem, neutiquam tamen impossibilem, by Theodore Christoph Lilienthal. Unfortunately, he is still able to make very little out of it.

Looking at the book in Arabic, he recalls he went to seminary with a Father Noel Furlong who studied Arabic. Thinking more, he recalls Father Furlong is just across town, at the Passionists Monastery in Norwood Park.

Heading outside to catch a cab, Father Mulroney is surprised to see Maisie already getting the attention of one. He approaches her, telling her she is supposed to be following Mary. She explains that the nun managed to slip her.

Since Maisie has already drunk the bottle of wine, Mulroney offers her a new deal. He explains that Alderman Biggins is doing work looking for information on a funeral home called Destiny Memorial. Maisie doesn't understand why, so Mulroney goes on to explain that the funeral home doesn't actually exist; the address puts it in the middle of the river.

Maisie finds it a little more interesting that a funeral home would have a fake address. Mulroney goes on to connect the address in the river to the strange happenings in the river. Maisie isn't so sure the priest isn't just being too literal and mistaking an obviously fake address with an actual connection to the river, but says nothing.

When she starts hinting around for wanting compensation for assisting the alderman, Mulroney reminds Maisie she already owes him. She tries to say she tried to follow Sister Mary, but Mulroney is adamant that trying to following the sister wasn't good enough to fulfill her part of the bargain. In the end, Maisie relents.

Before she leaves, Father Mulroney writes her a note to give to Biggins and gives her the address of the alderman's office. Mulroney doesn't want another incident of a message being lost by the messenger and figures Biggins might not remember Maisie very well since he was injured last time they saw her and it has been nearly two months since he met her once at the Dunning Asylum.

Session 14 - Scene 3 (of 14)

Alderman Jethro Biggins is working behind his desk when his secretary Cheryl tells him there is a woman to see him. When the tall, Jewish girl walks in he has to stop and think; the woman seems vaguely familiar, as if from a dream.

He greets her and asks if they've met. She tells him he looks familiar too, and remarks that he had a concussion last time she saw him. She hands him the note.

After being reminded about meeting Maisie in the asylum and vaguely recalling her watching over him after his injury at Ravenscry Manor, Biggins focuses on the matter of Destiny Memorial Funeral Home.

Given the connection to the river, Biggins wonders aloud if there might be some kind of city under the water. Maisie, somewhat incredulously asks if he means like Atlantis and nonchalantly suggests he go diving in the river to investigate. Biggins doesn't think so.

Instead, the alderman makes a call over to the precinct to talk with Captain Deakins. He gives the name of Destiny Memorial and has Deakins see if there is any police information on it. Deakins has his clerks take a look.

A few minutes later, Deakins tells Biggins that his clerks found something. Destiny Memorial had been handling a lot of deceased prisoners later at Statesville Prison. Apparently, they only started taking bodies there since the new head physician, Dr. Stefan Krasnik, took over a few months ago.

The captain briefly mentions Krasnik's disappearance over a month ago and that the prison hasn't used them since. Looking over the notes, the captain realizes that Destiny Memorial was the company that took custody of Robert Rebadow when he died. Apparently, they took the body in the middle of the night which was an unusual procedure.

Digging deeper, the captain notes the death rate climbed 23% since Krasnik took over. And Destiny Memorial was involved in several other late night pickups.

Captain Deakins goes on to tell the alderman, in confidence, that there was evidence of a second escaped prisoner from Statesville Prison who was also picked up by Destiny Memorial; the fingerprints of a man named Arkady Rossovich were found at the scene of the vandalism of the old museum two weeks ago.

The captain is unable to give Biggins a different address or phone number than he already has for the funeral home. He asks the alderman if he has had any luck getting information about the company out of city hall, but Biggins notes he hasn't talked to them yet.

Changing subjects, Captain Deakins asks how the increased patrols are working out. Biggins tells the captain that so far, he hasn't had any more trouble with Carmody.

Biggins asks the captain if there is anything he can do for him. Deakins circumspectly notes that the alderman is said to be the next parks commissioner. He then mentions that the Parks Police force might be more effective with a new chief. Biggins agrees that would make sense.

After getting off with Deakins, Biggins makes a call over to city hall. He asks if they've managed to locate information on his previous inquiry yet. But the addled alderman has difficulty recalling who he was having city hall look up; the closest he comes is the "Martok Institute". From across the room, Maisie helpfully suggests that it was something to do with Atlantis.

Nearly forgetting his main reason for calling, Biggins looks at his note and tells the clerk he also needs information on Destiny Memorial Funeral Home. The clerk suggests that information will also take a couple of weeks.

Biggins tries to get the clerk to see if there is a way he can get the information faster. The clerk coyly remarks he does have a nephew in need of a job. Biggins only commits to interviewing the boy and the clerk suggests he call back later to see if they've been able to find anything.

Session 14 - Scene 4 (of 14)

Meanwhile, Gem Archer takes the bus downtown to go to Harrigan's. O'Rourke is tending bar, as usual, and Gem finds Deanie O'Conner and Yiddie Neumark in the back room.

O'Conner takes one look at Gem and immediately gets agitated. He asks him what the hell happened with the necklace heist. Gem quickly puts the blame on Dan McCarthy, saying "that goon you sent with me screwed up."

The accusation mollifies O'Conner for the moment. He makes a remark indicating he agrees McCarthy's actions were less than productive. He claims to have sent Handsome Dan on a "trip down the river".

Gem then tells O'Conner that he and the father want to give O'Conner a larger cut from the diamonds, for his trouble. Deanie suggests that is the kind of deal that could keep Gem and Father Mulroney from taking their own trip down the river. Gem notes he can't swim, but O'Conner ignores the comment and asks him what he has in mind.

When Gem offers a 50% cut, O'Conner calmly suggests he was thinking more of a 70/30 kind of split, in his favor naturally. Gem agrees that would be a fair deal, as long as O'Conner arranges to fence it.

O'Conner wants to know what happened to the fence Gem was planning to use. Gem, momentarily forgetting what he told O'Conner last time they talked, starts rambling about how "they" got "Ping, Wang, or whatever his name was".

O'Conner is surprised, asking Gem to confirm that his fence was a Chinaman. Gem curses himself silently, recalling he had been keeping that from O'Conner. He responds simply, "not anymore".

Deanie isn't interested in pressing the issue. Instead, he wants to know where Father Mulroney is. Gem explains about the father being in the hospital.

O'Conner isn't sure what to do next. He remarks that someone still needs to go up to Rock River, but he isn't sure Gem can get the job done. Gem defensively reminds Deanie that he did end up getting the necklace.

Deanie isn't convinced. He openly mulls over the idea of sending the O'Bannions up with Gem to make sure the job gets done right. Gem, terrified he would not be coming back from that trip, promises he can get the job done. O'Conner gives in, telling Gem he's giving him this one last chance.

The discussion then turns to Deanie's contact in Rock River. The small city of Rock River is off to the west and near the military armory at Arsenal Island. The city is controlled by gangster John Looney. Gem notes he's never heard of him.

O'Conner goes on to explain that Looney runs the racket up there with his kid, Conner. He makes a quick phone call to arrange the meet.

When he gets done with the call, O'Conner tells Gem to meet Looney at a restaurant called Arthur's Deli. Looney has a connection at Arsenal Island that can get the excess guns from the stockpile built up during the Great War. He also cautions that Looney will have his lieutenant, Anthony Billburg, there as well so Gem better not start any trouble.

Finally, O'Conner realizes Gem is without a vehicle. He suggests Gem use one of his trucks and has Yiddie go get the keys. After making sure the truck has all the spare parts he might need for the long, 200 mile trip to Rock River, Gem takes off.

Session 14 - Scene 5 (of 14)

Across town, Father Mulroney arrives at the Passionists Monastery and makes his way to the office of Father Furlong.

When the other priest spots him, he loudly greets him as "Father Clink!" and Mulroney notes to himself that he forgot how flamboyant and obnoxious Father Noel could be.

The two then sit down for a cup of tea and idle chit-chat. Father Furlong explains that in addition to helping out at the monastery, he leads a local youth group. Mulroney notes he works with the youths at the orphanage as well.

Father Noel goes on about how much he enjoys working with wayward youths to bring them back to spiritual enlightenment. He also throws in a phrase about "watching all those strapping young boys grow up" that gives Mulroney a slight pause, but he dismisses the thought and just agrees that Noel was always close to the young ones.

For his part, Mulroney dryly remarks on how he himself has certainly brought a lot of the boys closer to Jesus, inwardly pleased with his clandestine bon mot.

Father Mulroney then gets down to business, telling Furlong that he's come to see him for his expertise in Arabic and showing him the book. The two head over to Father Noel's desk, where the middle-aged priest puts on his reading glasses.

Noel translates the title as, "The City of Pillars", by the author Al-Jahiz. Glancing at the first few pages, he explains to Mulroney that the book is about a legendary city. Father Furlong equates it to a fairy tale, and excitedly remarks how much he enjoys fairy tales.

Father Noel begins translating the book for Father Mulroney. The book talks of the Lost City of Iram and how King Shaddad of that city failed to heed the words of the prophet Hud, and therefore the city was smote by Allah. Noel notes that he's familiar with some of the references from his study of the Qur'an (being a more studious theologian than Clink) as well as a mention in the folktales of the Book of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. He notes it is also referred to as the Atlantis of the Sands.

The book goes on to discuss the location of the city ruins, buried somewhere in the sands of the Rub' al-Khali desert. The original folktales identify the Iramanians as worshipping stone idols, but Al-Jahiz goes into more detail. He explains that Shaddad was the leader of a cult that worshipped stone idols found in mysterious ruins.

In his writings, Al-Jahiz goes on to explain how months before the city's destruction Shaddad's men uncovered the ruins of an ancient nameless city near Iram. The strange city had low passages and seemed to have been constructed for beings that did not stand upright as men.

As Furlong continues reading, Father Mulroney becomes increasingly nervous. The more Al-Jahiz describes the city, the more it reminds him of the mural he saw at Ravenscry Manor. When Noel mentions that the men found a stone idol of a winged serpent that was brought back to Iram, Mulroney recalls the temple from the mural.

Father Mulroney manages to hold out until Noel describes the Iramites discovery of paintings and bones suggesting the inhabitants of the ruins were a serpent-like race. Recalling the figure in the doorway of the temple on the mural, Mulroney becomes unhinged.

Gone temporarily insane, Mulroney takes off his robes and begins dancing naked in the fountain out in front of the monastery. It takes another hour before the men from the Dunning Asylum can arrive and subdue him.

Session 14 - Scene 6 (of 14)

Back at the office of Jethro Biggins, the alderman makes another call for information. This time, he contacts the Bloomfield County Hospital.

After some initial confusion caused by the alderman referring to himself as "the city", he eventually gets transferred to the business office, where he inquires about Destiny Memorial.

The clerk in the business office checks the files, and explains that particular funeral home has only been used a couple of times, and only by a Dr. Cooper.

Biggins, not recalling that Father Mulroney has already been down this path, asks if Dr. Cooper is in. After some checking, the clerk finally tells him that Ephraim Cooper retired in 1898. The clerk finds it all very odd. Biggins concurs, the forgetful alderman finding the information just as interesting as when Mulroney gave him the exact same information a week ago.

The clerk is able to get a little more information on Destiny Memorial itself. He gives a phone number and address to Biggins, but those match the information the alderman already has. He also notes from the paperwork that the attorney for the funeral home is listed as an Antoine Prendergast, but the name means nothing to the alderman.

When he's off the phone, Maisie asks if there is anything else she needs to help with. Biggins wants to know where the father is, but she isn't sure. She does comment that he may have been going to the warehouse, but Biggins takes her to mean his own warehouse as he does not know about Ulnovsky's.

The alderman asks if she just wants him to relate what he's found to her, or if he should send it in a note. Maisie tells him to write it down, commenting that she'll probably go out drinking before heading back to the church. Biggins gives her the note and spends the rest of the day performing his political work.

For her part, Maisie decides free wine at the church beats paying for liquor at a speakeasy and returns to St. Vincent's. When Sister Mary finds her later getting into the sacramental wine, the two exchange barbs, with Mary calling her a "Christ killer".

Mary, however, does not want to waste her time with Maisie and leaves her in Mulroney's office. Maisie gets hungry and tries to get at the host, but cuts one of her fingers on the tabernacle and passes out.

Session 14 - Scene 7 (of 14)

Later that evening, Gem finds his way to Arthur's Deli, a small building near downtown Rock River. He finds the interior of the restaurant a little cramped, but the food is quite good.

Gem quickly spots three men waiting for him. Looney introduces himself, his son Conner, and his lieutenant Anthony Billburg. Gem starts to explain that he was sent by O'Conner, but Looney stops him, telling him they already know that since O'Conner called him to set up the meet.

Looney is interested in getting down to business. He wants to know how much Gem needs. Gem tells him four crates, which Conner remarks is "a lot of heaters". Gem notes that Chinatown doesn't do anything small.

Looney jokes they'll practically be able to fight out a war, thinking of the current conflict taking place in Manchuria between the Zhilhi and Fengtian cliques. Gem concurs that they are indeed planning something along those lines.

Billburg is more interesting in finishing up the particulars of the deal. He wants to see the money. Gem then realizes he doesn't have a plan for how to pay for the weapons. He gives a weak explanation of Deanie waiting to liquidate some assets before being able to provide the cash for the guns.

Looney isn't happy, grumbling something about arranging a liquidation right now. Gem suggests the gun purchase be on credit, but Billburg notes they don't know him well enough for credit.

Gem smiles, and explains proudly that he is the one responsible for the "Great Morgan Necklace Caper". None of the men have ever heard of the caper, but Conner does remark that it sounds impressive at least.

Looney decides that since Gem is a jewel thief, he should have no problem providing a down payment and they can give him the rest of the guns on credit. When Gem asks what they have in mind, Looney explains that the Rock River Diamond Company is just a couple of blocks away, and he'd like something big and classy for the wife. They agree to meet back in the parking lot of the deli in two hours.

Gem first cases the Rock River Diamond Company from afar. He can see it is a nice jewelry store and that business is starting to wind down.

Coming up with a plan, Gem drives a couple of blocks until he finds what he needs on the corner of 14th Avenue. He stops at Tony's 11th Street Pawn Shop.

Going inside, he tells the gruff shop owner Tony that he needs a fancy-looking but worthless ring. Tony is more than happy to show his collection of "fugazi" jewelry. Gem selects one and pays the man two dollars.

He then heads quickly back to the diamond store, finding it in the middle of closing. A quick story to the shop owner about needing an engagement ring for a planned proposal gets him inside.

Looking around, Gem finds the ring closest to the one he got from the pawn shop. Using his masterful sleight of hand, he pockets the real ring and replaces it with the fake. He then tells the shop owner he doesn't have enough money but will run out to the bank and be back.

Gem hangs around the parking lot until Looney and his crew comes back. They arrive in a truck with four crates in the bed.

Looney likes the ring and has his son transfer the crates from their truck to Gem's. Looney thanks Gem for the business and tells him to come back when he needs more. Gem then begins the long trip home where he plans to sleep in O'Conner's warehouse.

Session 14 - Scene 8 (of 14)

Biggins is getting ready to leave for the night to catch up with Mulroney when his phone rings. With Cheryl already gone home, he answers it himself. Captain Deakins is on the line.

The captain tells Biggins that the priest he hangs around with, Mulroney, was picked up by the Dunning Asylum a few hours ago and that he thought the alderman would want to know. Biggins thanks him for the information.

Deakins also goes on to say that the extra patrols have paid off – they caught Dion Carmody near his office, apparently planning to fire bomb it. Biggins happily remarks that he won't need to worry about him anymore. Deakins for his part says he's looking forward to the alderman's gratitude.

Biggins then leaves the office, heading out to Dunning. When he arrives, he manages to convince the hospital director, Dr. Leininger, to let him see Father Mulroney.

The alderman finds Father Mulroney under the care of Dr. Hugo Bronfenburgher. When Biggins arrives, Mulroney is just finishing up a hydrotherapy session where he is submerged in freezing water.

Between the shock of the cold water and seeing Biggins, Mulroney manages to get control of his senses. Biggins asks how he is feeling, but all the priest can say is "cold".

As Mulroney is warmed up and dressed, Dr. Bronfenburgher notes his mental clarity has improved and explains to the priest that he was quite out of his senses when he arrived. The doctor begins to drone one about repressed urges expressing themselves while Biggins moves in closer for a more private chat.

Father Mulroney asks Biggins how he ended up in "this bathroom". Biggins gives a brief explanation of what occurred. Mulroney then tells Bronfenburgher that he wants to leave, but the alienist feels it would be best to continue to observe him.

Biggins is eventually able to secure Mulroney's release by convincing Leininger to release Mulroney into his care. Dr. Bronfenburgher agrees, but does note Mulroney will need to come back for weekly treatment sessions and must be brought back right away if he exhibits any signs of regressing.

Session 14 - Scene 9 (of 14)

When the two finally get out of the asylum and head back towards the church, Biggins asks Mulroney what happened.

The father explains he isn't sure, as he recalls a jumbled mess of images and events. He is certain there was something about water, and snakes, and the last thing he recalls clearly was talking with Father Furlong. He believes they may have been talking about snakes.

Biggins has no idea what is going on. Mulroney suggests they start by going back to the monastery.

Father Noel is happy to see Clink back to normal. Mulroney needs him to refresh his memory on what happened, so Noel quickly gives him the overview of what they were discussing. Mulroney takes the book back from him and thanks the priest again.

Back in the car, Mulroney briefly explains the situation to Biggins. Biggins wonders if the book is related to the creatures they saw. Mulroney notes the city in the book is similar to the one in the mural. Biggins recalls the mural with a shudder.

Mulroney further notes the book was in the same house. Biggins now recalls that as well, noting it was a rough night for him. But Mulroney is more focused on how the pieces fit together, noting it is all too much to be a coincidence.

The father then wants to know where Gem and Maisie are. Biggins explains he was hoping Maisie was with him, as he gave her the notes about Destiny Memorial. Biggins then mentions his various attempts to research Destiny Memorial, along with discussing the police arresting Dion Carmody.

Mulroney notes that Biggins is recovering well from his injuries. Biggins agrees, saying he feels like a young man again. The priest is more interested in Biggins' regenerating finger, but the alderman admits he's paid little attention to it because he's felt so good.

Session 14 - Scene 10 (of 14)

When the two finally arrive at the church, they find Maisie passed out in Mulroney's office. The father shakes her awake.

Maisie claims she needs help and is dying. Mulroney determines she is just drunk and not bleeding to death from the small cut on her finger.

Biggins asks if she still has the note her gave her. She explains she had to sneeze, but they could probably still make some of it out. Disgusted, Biggins cleans off the note with his handkerchief and hands it to Mulroney.

Mulroney finds most of the information rather redundant until he gets to the end and the mention of Antoine Prendergast. He recalls the poster he saw in Ravenscry Manor for the 19th century medicine show for snake oil salesman Enoch Prendergast.

He also recalls the article on the wall about a Jeremiah Prendergast who was presumed killed in the great Lakefront City Fire of 1871. The priest tells Biggins about the two, not fully understanding their connection but now seeing them as some kind of clues to what is going on.

Sadly, neither man knows about the note from J.C. Shottum that Shoes found at Ravenscry Manor discussing Antoine Prendergast himself. Unfortunately, Shoes decided to keep it a secret for an unknown reason and the knowledge was lost at his death (and was ultimately burned up with the rest of the manor).

Biggins believes the best thing to do would be to contact his police informant in the morning and see what they can find out about the mysterious Mr. Prendergast. Mulroney agrees, noting that if they can understand the link with Destiny Memorial, they will probably be a lot closer to figuring out what has been going on. The two also decide that Biggins should contact the hospital and Statesville Prison to see if Destiny Memorial has any more pick-ups scheduled.

As it is getting pretty late, Mulroney decides to turn in for the night. He and Biggins also throw Maisie into one of the unused rooms to sleep it off. Assured that Mulroney is fine on his own, Biggins returns to his office. Mulroney falls asleep trying (and failing) to make more sense of the book, "On the Nature of Limbs".