22nd Session

It was late Septermber, 1937. Joyce, Martin, and Lillian were in Miama, waiting for Vito to join them.

Joyce: I won't let the mythos get you. I've got that covered.

Martin: That's... comforting.

Joyce: I always keep three bullets, one for each of us. I'd keep foyr, bur Vito's got that covered.

Martin: That doesn't make it better.

Lillian: It makes me feel a bit better. (gives an uncomfortable giggle)

Vito's Player (texting from a cab): The hook is en route!

Folks reviewed what they'd learned about the Yucatan, Merida, Chichen Xoxul, and other topics.

Martin: What would we want to go into a cenote?

Lillian: Water. Hiding from enemies. Ambushing enemies. Finding things hidden in the caverns.

Martin: I hate travel.

Joyce: You've been doing this, what, a year, and you haven't picked up on this? These are the basics!

Lillian: What is the most unpleasant thing? That's the thing we're going to encounter.

Lillian decided that it was time to tell people about the New Lillian Safety Procedures aka as how to know when it's time to put her down so that she won't get back up again.

Martin: Lillian's nervous. Her voice is squeaking, and she's not having sex. We should probably listen to her.

Lillian gives the scary Wednesday Addams smile from the second Addams Family movie.

Martin: That smile was the most frightening thing I have ever seen. Stop doing that. (puts a drink down next to her with a thunk) Have a drink!

Lillian: I'm not human.

Martin: Are you wendigo?

Lillian: No.

Martin: D*mn. That would be a -useful- thing!

Lillian explained about a pair of lovers so in love with each other that they made a bargain with an Outer God that resulted in a disasterous cycle. When they had sex with each other, they gave birth to monsters, but when they had sex with other people...

Lillian: ...they gave birth to each other.

Joyce (in a hoarse whisper): Hand me that drink -now-!

So, there were nests where all the boys looked like Him and the girls like Her, and where there was a monster or two around to give birth to Him and Her should the need arise. And there was a memory stretching back through past lives, though not a true hive mind. Lillian didn't have this, having been cut off from the past lives of Her via some very strong magic.

But, Lillian was aware that she might need to be put down like a monster some day, and so she had created a list of behaviors to watch for that might indicate the time had come.

Martin (looking the list over): Liklian, dear-- you already -do- most of those things.

He looked to Joyce in mute appeal.

Joyce: No, no -- you handle thus. I'm just keen to watch.

The whole past life memory thing wasn't an utterly new concept to Joyce.

Joyce: This is totally familiar -- this was the kind of thing Carl used to say all the time when I got him drunk on psylocibin mushrooms because that was the only wsy I could beat him at cards. "It is the Collective Unconscious, Joyce."

She considered writing a letter to another friend.

Joyce (mentally composing):

Dear Sigmund,

Have I got one for you...

P.S. My best to Anna. Let her know that I would be happy to entertain her in New York.

Meanwhile, Vito arrived and was brought up to date. Once he understood that Lillian was not currently "compromised", as he put it, he thought it was quite responsible of her to make preparations, just in case. Martin was trying to understand Lillian's assumptions and the rationale for them.

Martin: ...Why shoul I kill you?

Lillian: Basically, I become like Savitree.

Joycev Marty?

Martin; Yeah?

Joyce: You'll tell me when I have to shoot Lillian, right?

Martin: ...

Joyce laughed.

Martin: Probably.

Vito: Marty? You'll tell me when I shouldn't shoot Lillian?

Martin: Right. Don't shoot Lillian. Don't shoot Lillian.

Joyce: Hello, God. It's me, Joyce, again. Everyone around me is nuts, as usual. Vito is back. Lillian is crying. Martin is drunk. Other than that, things are rather unusual.

As Martin tried to comfort the weeping Lillian, Joyce filled Vito in on plans to travel to the Yucatan, and after that, to Mount Kailash.

Joyce: We know where that is, thanks to your friend Remy.

Vito: You're not helping! I want reasons to kill him! Not reasons to keep him alive!

Vito was getting used to his hook replacement from his amputated arm.

Vito: You know, I don't want to say it's a good thing, but I become more and more amused by my hook every day. The capos are afraid of me. They call me Vito the Hook.

He and Joyce discussed a mutual acquaintance, Frank Sinatra, and his mother, Dolly.

Vito: You don't mess with Dolly!

Meanwhile, Martin had a theory about Lillian that Lillian seemed to like.

Lillian: Martin thinks I'm a crazy alien and that's why I'm a reasonable imitation of a human.

Vito showed Joyce a picture of his mistress, a priestess of Shub-Niggurath.

Vito: So, what do you think? Bad news?

Joyce: I wouldn't know anything about that.

Vito: Marty, you've got Nectar. I've got this. We're all self destructive.

Martin had decided to mend his ways. Well, some of his ways. Well, part of some of his ways.

Martin: I'm going to be addicted to laundanum. Just laudanum.

After all, it would be a definite improvement from being addicted to laudanum and Nectar.

Vito: You know they say you choose your friends, but you can't choose youre family?

Joyce: I wouldn't know about that. I seem to have friends.

I forget Vito's answer, but it seemed to make sense to Joyce. Meanwhile, Lillian tried to put a positive spin on her situation.

Lillian: Ooh! I went from losing the dysfunctional family sweepstakss to winning it.

Martin: That's not good.

Joyce: Vito, talk to your daughter.

Vito: Do not get Auntie Joyce mad.

Joyce: I'm just "Auntie Joyce"?

Martin: Does this mean I'm the mom?

Joyce took folks out to a mountain in California so that she could get them in shape for climbing mountains in the Himalayas. Vito was able to get back into shape fairly easily, despite the amputation. After all, he'd climbed very high in Nepal in the 1920s, 16,000 feet. The river gorge of the Kali Gandaki is the deepest on earth (not counting the ocean), 18,000 deep. Joyce's Drive is Adventure. Lillian's odd outlook and meditation regime put her in a reasonable frame of mind for mountain climbing.

Martin, of course, was a different matter. Joyce woke him by pulling his tent down around him, iirc.

Martin: I need my beauty sleep.

Lillian: Martin, you're pretty enough.

Vito: You're pretty, but you could be prettier. Now, this is something you may not be familiar with -- a push up. (demonstrates, doing it one-handed, on account of the hook) You get to use -both- hands.

Joyce: Now, Vito, girls don't have to do push ups.

Martin: That's cuz girls have boobs. Why can't -I- have boobs?

Vito told Martin to think of the mountain climbing like this: Jeremiah was on the other side of the mountain, and there was no way around the mountain. Martin had to go over it to get to Jeremiah.

Martin managed the climb. Of course, as Joyce noted, Mount Kailash was a far cry from the mountains of California -- or even those Vito had climed in Nepal. While Vito had climed 16,000 feet high in the late 1920s, Mount Kailash's summit is over 21,000 feet high. Joyce explained that they'd be in the Death Zone. (NB: Wikipedia claims that the Death Zone starts around 8,000 meters, aka 24,000 feet.)

Martin: There's a place called the -death zone-? Why are we going there?

Joyce: Well, I don't know. You said something about saving the world.

Martin: F*ck! F*ck! F*cking f*ck!

Joyce: You made a deal with an Outer God. Did I say anything? Why, yes! I said, "Don't make a deal with an Outer God. It's a bad idea!"

Vito: You really like to rub that in.

Joyce: Oh, I only do that once a week now. We have an agreement.

Joyce wanted to make certain arrangements for Thibet before heading to the Yucatan.

Joyce: Hey, Lillian, how would you like to meet a rich, good looking man?

Martin: What? I want to meet a rich, good looking man!

Vito: You're already taken.

So, after about a week of climbing in the mountains of California, Joyce took Lillian to meet her friend Howie, aka Howard Hughes, aka the form the Pilot cherry "There's Always a Plane" was going to take for Thibet.

Although Lillian was present, I noted that I had not the foggiest idea of how to play Howard Hughes and had not, in fact, seen the movie The Aviator, so Lillian's player played Hughes as an NPC. This worked out well, as he and Joyce's player seemed to be on the same wavelength, and we all knew that the main thing was that Joyce would get the plane, despite Howard's concerns.

Howard: I don't want my -plane- spread out all over Thibet! Kate! (to Joyce) You stay away from her!

Joyce: Why would she be interested in me?

Howard wondered how to make money from lending Joyce a plane to fly in Thibet and return to him "mostly in one piece", as she put it.

GM: Bill it as a tribute to Amelia Earhart!

Howard: That's a great idea! We'll rename it -- The Amelia!

After Joyce and Lillian rejoined he others, Lillian told Martin that she needed his help.

Martin: Will I sleep with you? Maybe.

Lillian: No no no no no -- (breaks off, realizing Martin has actually indicated he might be willing to have sex with her of his own free will)

Vito: Those wheels are turning.

What Lillian wanted Martin's help with was hedonism, as I understand it. Lillian's player clarified, when I asked for details via email.

Lillian's Player: There was something about rich women keeping attractive young men in nice hotels, possibly referring to Jeremiah's current living arrangements, and if they could arrange for him to go back to his antique store. It was unclear if Lillian was actually paying for Jeremiah's hotel room, but it did occur to Lillian that that sort of thing was now an option for her (since she's abandoned the notion of every rejoining respectable society) and she wasn't doing a very good job of taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the combination of lots of money and not giving a fuck. (For instance, making sure one's kept man is actually interested in women). I don't think this banter went anywhere.

The Wayfaring Stranger landed in Merida-Rejon Airport. One of the airport staff members asked what brought the group there, as Merida wasn't exactly the most happening place.

They explained that Martin (who used his own name) was a doctoral student who'd heard about Chichen Xoxul, an intriguiging archaeological site, and simply had to take a look.

The staff member said that the ruins in question were on the lands of Francisco de la Vega, who'd recently given permission to a group of people from Mexico City to explore them. Sadly, they and their guide had vanished in the jungle, no doubt killed by bandits.

This sounded a tad suspicious. Lillian tried to pump the man for information about this terribly frightening thing, but the man didn't actually know a lot. He did, however, show Lillian a mural that had actual bullet holes in it, as it had been the scene of a shooting during the Caste Wars.

Joyce found an old acquaintance, Rene St. Juste, a foreign mercenary and pilot, and asked to borrow his small plane, which is the Yucatan's use of the There's Always a Plane cherry.

Not only did he agree; he even filled the plane's fuel tank.

Joyce: ... Hey! You took that from -my- plane!

Such had honestly not been my intent. I'd meant for the guy to be genuinely nice, but far be it from me to deny the player's ability to screw her own PC a little.

Meanwhile, Joyce set up a contact network, as usual. Not Bangkok Urchins or British Pensionniers, this time.

Joyce's Player: Are we ready for Joyce's network of -- Mayan Zapatistas!

And, of course, there was the Museum of Anthropology. Between all of these sources -- shopkeepers, Mayan Zapatistas, local experts, and so on, the group was able to learn:

• The previous expedition had visited de la Vega and received permission to cross his lands and visit the ruins
• This was the way to do it, because folks who crossed the de la Vega lands without his permission were a) trespassing and b) highly likely to wind up dead
• de la Vega had shot bandits on his land more than once, and then come into town to make a report. As Joyce noted, this wasn't "I'm having trouble on my land and need some help", but "Here's why I shot some folks on the land. I'm doing my paperwork now." Nothing ever came of the reports, as no one exactly claimed jurisdiction on his land.
• Merida's law enforcement was honest, at least in part because Merida is a very wealthy city.
• de la Vega personally introduced the leader of the Mexico City men to the man Merida acknowledged as the best guide, Jacinto Exposito. Sadly, the guide had vanished into the jungle with the rest of the expedition.
• The jungle swallows up more than a few people every year.
• There were three other guides currently in Meriday: the half-Mayan Pablo Garza, Guillermo Castillo, and the American Rick Luke, who had the requisite language skills, but had never been out into this particular jungle.
• Locals, particularly Mayans, did not think it wise to go anywhere near Chichen Xoxul. Xoxul meant "outcast" or "deviant" or "pariah", and "Chichen Xoxul" meant "at the mouth of the well of the Xoxul". Presumably, it had been named that for a reason, likely a warning.
• Martin had learned a little bit more by reading the book written (in 1846) by the man who discovered Chichen Xoxul, Dr. Arthur Cartwright.
• Sadly, Dr. Cartwright did not write down or tell anyone exactly where Chcichen Xoxul was. Indeed, as staff at the Museum of Anthropology noted, it was entirely possible that Chichen Xoxul did not exist.
• The Museum of Anthropology did not have a copy of Dr. Cartwright's book.
• Indeed, there was very little information on Chichen Xoxul to be found anywhere in Merida, almost as if someone had scrubbed the archives clean. (In other words, the lack of a clue was in itself a clue.)

Folks wondered who might have done this scrubbing, and looked into who had been hired by the Museum of Anthropology. This is one of mnay topics not covered in the book (no blame there -- one can't cover everything, and this hadn't occurred to me as an obvious gap when I ran the Yucatan chapter in playtest), so I improvised and said that there were at least one or two folks who'd had some connection to Francisco de la Vega.

Joyce figured that she'd take Martin and St. Juste's plane and do a flyover to try to find Chichen Xoxul. To her surprise, the others were very much against this, fearing some kind of retaliation by de la Vega if she did this without permission.

Joyce: Apparently, he has some sort of anti-aircraft missiles.

But, she agreed to wait.

Joyce: I will get drunk with Russians. You all enjoy your day.

Martin: I will write a vague letter full of politeness -- no, wait. Vito, you're a lawyer. You write a letter full of politeness and vagueness.

Vito: I was wondering when you'd ask.

The letter was written and sent. de la Vega responded with an invitation to dinner, which was accepted.

Lillian (looking through the dresses in her closet): Is he reputed to be a gentleman?

GM: Yes.

Lillian (sighing): Someday, I'll wear this one.

She decided to get a second opinion.

Joyce: You're asking my advice on fashion?

Lillian: Not to wear -- to advise on.

Joyce: What's your purpose?

Lillian: I want him as stupid as possible.

Joyce (indicating the one Lillian rejected based on de la Vega's reputation as a gentleman): This one.

Lillian: I'll wear a shawl, in case he proves to be a useful ally.

Joyce: I'm wearing an ice cream suit with a Panama hat.

Martin (pointing to Joyce): I'm wearing what she's weraing.

Joyce: We'll make a nice brotherhood set.

Martin: Two more, and we'll be a barbershop quartet.

Joyce: Lillian can sing tenor.

Lillian: I can -not-!

Joyce: If she stood in a bucket.

Francisco de la Vega proved a generous host with food and wine, and one happy to discuss the objects d'art found around his home. These included Mayan stone fragments, a helmet that once belonged to the conquistador Juan Grijalva (or one of his lieutenants), and a decorative sword that had belonged to one of de la Vega's ancestors, the conquistador Francisco de Balalcazar, for whom Francisco de la Vega was named. de la Vega said that he was proud to have both Spanish and Mayan blood in his history.

Vito had brought wine as a gift, as he usually did, and de la Vega made that part of the evening meal. Vito had also handed his handgun to the servant who answered the door, but the servant handed it back, confirming with de la Vega that a) de la Vega didn't think his guests were likely to shoot him and b) in the hopefully unlikely event of a bandit attack while the visitors were present, de la Vega did not want to take a weapon away from a guest perfectly capable of using it to defend himself. Vito was certainly willing to keep the weapon, and said that it was very understanding and generous of his host.

Folks explained about Martin's desire to see the ruins. Lillian used Flatter, as, according to my notes, did Vito. Martin used Bargain in what the player called being Socially Stupid, essentially telling (or appearing to tell) de la Vega all about himself (mostly lies) so that de la Vega would tell them all about himself.

Essentially:

• Martin presented himself as the clueless grad student
• Lillian presented herself as something of a hanger on, I think, definitely interested in seeing fascinating stuff out of a curiousity that she was rich enough to indulge
• Vito presented himself as not uninterested, but determined to take care of practical details and keep the grad student focused and on task
• Joyce presented herself as the world weary pilot who just hoped to keep the young idiots from getting killed

de la Vega seemed to believe them. He warned them about the dangers of the jungle, which had, after all, swallowed up a previous expedition not that long ago. He tried to talk them out of going to Chichen Xoxul, explaining that it was basically no more than a few crumbled walls with an old well. Lillian could tell that he was holding something back, but not what.

Joyce asked if she might fly her plane over de la Vega's lands. de la Vega hadn't expected to be asked this, but he gave her permission. He also raised the subject of guides. Thr group listened, eager to hear who he would and wouldn't recommend, and prepared to be quite suspicious indeed if he recommended only Rick Luke.

Instead, he mentioned both Pablo Garza and Guillermo Castillo, but did -not- mention Rick Luke. They found this interesting as well, but did not ask him about this. de la Vega also said, quite sincerely, that he hoped that if their expedition vanished, that he would not have to deal with yet more people trying to go into the jungle on his lands.

Lillian and Martin wondered about sneaking back into the house and trying to find items he had perhaps hidden from the view of strangers. The book does not consider this possibility, and it had not occurred to me either. But, I thought I had enough information to extrapolate. As Martin had Architecture and as de la Vega had shown people around, Martin knew that there were no hidden rooms. Hidden items? That he couldn't tell.

As for entrances to the house, I said that there were several. The challenge was sneaking into the house without getting shot as a bandit. de la Vega and his servants were armed, and were quite likely to shoot first and ask questions, such as "who did we just shoot?" later. Lillian decided that sneaking in might not be useful after all, much to Martin's relief.

Martin: I'm not trying to commit suicide any more. My priorities have changed.

While Joyce did not trust de la Vega, she did approve of his priorities when it came to defensive tactics.

One thing that folks wondered about, and that I think I wondered about when I read the Yucatan section, was why Francisco de la Vega had no wife. At least, as far as I can tell, he is not intended to have a wife or children. Yet, given his age and position, one would expect him to. Vito thought that a man like de la Vega would, at the very least, have a mistress and show her off.

I noted that it was entirely possible that de la Vega was sleeping with a member of staff, male or female, and simply didn't flaunt that in front of outsiders. As no one tried to pursue this line of investigation, I didn't make any hard and fast decisions. But, I do wonder how many other groups wonder about de la Vega's marital status and / or sex life.

Folks returned to their hotel suite in Merida. After some discussion, they decided that Vito and Lillian would interview all three guide candidates, while Joyce do her fly over, bringing Martin along to sketch.

Joyce's initial roll netted a total of 9.

Joyce: Hey, Marty, watch this!

Martin: Ahhhh!

Joyce: We have to get lower!

Martin: No, we don't!

Meanwhile, Lillian interviewed the guides while Vito watched. She saw Pable Garza first, a nervous man further unnerved by Lillian's affect -- and by her first question. (He also spoke only Spanish and Mayan, but Lillian speaks Spanish, so that wasn't an issue.) He was also missing his left little finger, which Vito found significant.

Lillian: So, the last expedition that went into the jungle was lost. What do you think they did wrong?

Pablo wasn't sure. Lillian told him that it was a brave man who admitted when he did not know anything. This flustered him more.

Vito thought that perhaps he should have been the one asking the questions after all. Then again, as I noted, if Pablo was going to get thrown by Lillian's interview, he might not be the kind of guide they wanted. He was, however, quite affordable. Then again, Lillian had money, and this would probably all be charged to Janet Winston-Rogers anyway.

Guillermo Castillo was the next candidate. He was not rattled by Lillian, nor was he lacking in confidence. He seemed a bit of a liar, but perhaps he was merely prone to exaggeration. Certainly, Lillian was delighted by his tales of the gruesome dangers of the jungle. He was the oldest of the guides, and the most experienced. He charged more than Pablo did. Lillian wondered if he might be solid boyfriend material, the kind of boyfriend that lasts, not the one night stand variety.

Finally, Lillian interviewed Rick Luke. He was the youngest of the guides (at 30), and also not intimidated by Lillian or her questions. While he hadn't explored this particular jungle, he had explored others. In other words, he didn't lack experience, merely experience with this specific area.

He'd even read Dr. Cartwright's book, although his copy was at home in the USA. He considered Mexico his "one true love" and looked forward to the challenge of exploring the jungle -- and to the opportunity for rewriting the book on Chichen Xoxul. He did exaggerate occasionally, but seemed otherwise honest. He was the most expensive of the guides.

He was also the most likeable, I think, a point that did not work entirely in his favor. After all, Lillian reasoned, if he came with them, something terrible might happen to him.

Meanwhile, Joyce and Martin saw the jungle open enough to give them a glimpse of what was probably Chichen Xoxul. Martin started sketching away.

Then, a being that looked like a blackened green toad about the size of a small car, with crumpled wings on its back, a mouthful of jaguar teeth,, two very different pairs of eyes, three short tails, long-fingered feet, and a long serpentine tongue ending in a sticky, steamy proboscis appeared in mid-air and mid-pounce as it leapt for the plane.

Joyce's player spent several Pilot points and rolled, getting a total of 10. My total was 7. We were doing this as a one-roll test or contest to see whether Joyce could get the plane out of its reach fast enough. Fortunately, Joyce is an amazingly talented pilot.

Joyce: I think we found it!

She and Martin returned to the others, and folks talked about the guide situation. Joyce was pretty sure that all three guides were lying and were in the pay of de la Vega, and that de la Vega was up to no good. The others weren't entirely convinced all the guides were in de la Vega's pay, but agreed that the two he'd recommended might be.

Lillian described Rick and her mixed feelings about bringing him along.

Lillian: We've found Isabella a boyfriend.

Martin: Oh, God. You have.

Martin's Player: They just need to be in a different genre.

Vito's Player: One that doesn't have any Elder Gods in it.

Isabella is Martin's sister (the older one, though younger than Martin), and she acts as if she is living in a wonderful adventure novel.

Meanwhile, Joyce brought Lillian and Vito up to date.

Joyce: I think we found the Fisher.

Vito: Really?

Joyce: Well, it tried to eat my plane, so, yeah. (realizing) It. Tried. To eat. My plane. It DIES!

Well, certainly, a monster tried to eat her plane. Whether it was actually Gol-Goroth is an intersting question. If it was, she and Martin had a surprisingly easy escape, but perhaps Gol-Goroth was in a good mood.

Somehow, conversation turned to the Outer Gods. Vito advocated an unusual strategy.

Vito: Infect them with goodness.

Joyce: Vito, you're being very cute. Please get drunk so you can stop being so cute.

Vito may or may not have had a drink, but he got back on track, discussing how to tell when he should shoot whichever guide they hired, as they were assuming the guide would betray them at some point.

Joyce: Vito, stop trying to make work for yourself. I'll shoot the guide.

Martin: God help us.

Joyce: That's kind of the idea.

Martin: I'll go with any guide someone else chooses.

Lillian (indicating the photo of Guillermo Castillo): -This- one is paranoid.

Joyce: I don't trust that.

After some discussion, they decided to openly hire Guillermo Castillo, the more experienced and expensive of the guides recommended by Francisco de la Vega. They would secretly hire Rick and some of Joyce's Zapatistas as muscle.

Rick would be disguised, something which still needs to happen in game. And, as for what happened to the American Rick Luke, they decided that the simplest cover story was that Rick had left the area to explore some other jungle some other place in Mexico. It's a reasonable story.

Meanwhile, Lillian's player and I had discussed the interesting question of whether Lillian had become pregnant, and if so, who the father was. We decided to make it a Schroedinger's Pregnancy. That is, she might or might not be pregnant. She'd missed a period or two, but she'd been traveling a lot, so that might not mean anything. And, if she were pregnant, the father might be either Dr. Cecil Walker or the Kolluli man Jerome.

But, right now, in game, all Lillian knew was that she was not feeling well.

Lillian: Going into the jungle is going to be tough, but we've been through worse. I mean, the last few months have been so tough that I haven't gotten, ummm... well Joyce you must have noticed that you haven't, ummm, that is, the last time I... well it was must have been before Ethiopia, because I remember that... (Sudden look of horror, followed by sudden nausea.) It's Just the stress. It must be the stress. Excuse me. (runs to bathroom)

Joyce: Congratulations, Marty! You're going to be a father. Or a big sister or something.

Vito is not comfortable about a possibly pregnant Lillian coming into the jungle on a dangerous mission with the group. But, I doubt anyone will be able to stop her.