accomplishedCHARACTERS:
Alexandra "Alex" Scott (Kathy) - Television Journalist
Carole LaFlamme (Angela) - Bookstore Owner
Constable Andrew Harkness (DavidM) - Police Officer
Jennifer Upton (Ellie) - Sophomore University Student
Doctor Jason Harris (Mark) - Doctor
March 27th, 2014 (Thursday)
As Amy Schuyler and Hiram Sharkam look down at the unconscious Carole LaFlamme, a small stone hurtles at Hiram Sharkam, striking him on the temple [and inflicting Superficial Injury]. He looks up, to find Alexandra Scott regarding him from about 20 feet away. She tells Hiram that "they" know what he/she is, but he tells her that she's wrong about matters. Amy says that she's outnumbered, but Carole starts to recover, and both Amy and Hiram quickly move off into the parking lot, and get into one of the cars and drive off. Relieved, Alexandra goes over to Carole, and finds that she's all right, if a bit woozy. Offering her an arm and shoulder to lean on, Alexandra helps Carole and the two head back into the hospital.
Back at the Prescott House dorm, Jennifer Upton does some research on Hiram Sharkam again, looking for more contemporary stuff, and learns that he lives in a nice house out on Island Park Drive. She realises, based on what Alexandra and Carole told her and the others, that what they need might be there, but she plays a hunch, and looks up Amy Schuyler neé Schulman. She discovers that Amy Schulman isn't homeless, and that she has a small apartment out in the Meadowlands area, near Merivale Road. She decides not to call the others in, since they're all pretty busy, and heads for the Meadowlands apartment.
Back at the precinct house, Constable Andrew Harkness receives a phone call from Alexandra Scott, informing him of what's happened at the Ottawa General Hospital. She casually mentions to him that she did some more research with Jennifer the night before, and that she has an address for Amy Schulman aka Schuyler, out in the Meadowlands area near Merivale Road. Alexandra says she thinks he should check the address out asap, as Amy and Hiram might try to go back there. He says he'll do what he can, and says that he hopes that Carole and Jason will be okay. After they hang up, Andrew tells his partner that he needs to take some time off, but Eddie Hanson can tell something's up, and decides to go with his partner, despite Andrew's misgivings. They head for the Schulman apartment.
At the the Ottawa General, Dr. Jason Harris is feeling fine once more, and releases himself from patient care. Carole and Alexandra return, and they tell him what happened in the parking lot. The three talk about what Hiram Sharkam meant when he said that Alexandra didn't know what was going on, and Carole wonders if they've got things wrong - perhaps the creature is actually Amy! The other two look alarmed at this, but Alexandra says that based on what they know, that can't be right. Jason tells his boss that he's going home to rest for the rest of the day, and receives the okay from his superior, who says he was really worried about him. Carole asks the other two what they're going to do, and Alexandra says they need to get to the Schulman apartment as well.
At the apartment building on Meadowlands Drive, Jennifer arrives and, claiming to be the girlfriend of one of the residents, convinces one of the residents returning with groceries to allow her into the building. She's spotted going inside by the just arrived Andrew, who tells Eddie that she's a "friend" of his. Eddie says that he hopes Rachel [Danvers] doesn't know about her, but Andrew insists they're just friends. Outside the Schulman apartment, Jennifer tries to figure out how to get inside, and reluctantly tries to pick the lock unsuccessfully. She goes to the lounge on the floor and sits down, and then goes incorporeal [turns a Token Dark, and loses -10 WPR]. She enters the apartment of Amy Schulman and finds that she is not alone - there are several spirits of the dead here, all angry, and they aren't pleased to see her. Jennifer's astral self screams!
Flaunting all the laws that he's been raised to obey and enforce, Andrew gains access to the apartment building, and he and Eddie head up to the Schulman apartment. They find Jennifer lying seemingly unconscious, but Andrew knows what she's about, and is concerned about her as she's somewhat pale. They go to the Schulman apartment, and knock on the door, but there is no answer. Andrew attempts to Sense the Unknown but fails [as he's not willing to turn a Token Dark, since there are only two Light tokens and he figures that Ellie may need them for Jennifer, depending on what's going on]. He tells Eddie to look away, and tries to pick the locks on the apartment door [and achieves a Colossal Success, turning a Token Light]. Inside, they find a clean and tidy apartment, but it has a smell of...decay. Eddie gets the creeps in the place, and steps back into the hallway.
Alexandra, Carole, and Jason arrive at the building and manage to get access rather easily. They go up to the floor with the Schulman apartment, and find Jennifer's body resting where she has left it, but Carole can sense that something's wrong. They spot Eddie, and Alexandra goes up to him (she she knows he's Andrew's cop partner), and realises that Andrew's inside the apartment. Alexandra talks to Eddie, while Carole and Jason go into the apartment.
In the apartment, they find Andrew looking at what appears to be an old journal that he has found, and it tells the story of how Amy Schulman met the "man" she came to know as Hiram Sharkam. The creature was indeed an incubus/succubus, but something happened. It fell in love with her, and while using her for its (sexual) feeding also used the life force that it obtained from others to re-invigorate her every so often. The player characters quickly catch up, but are unable to determine what has happened to Jennifer. Jason attempts to Sense the Unknown [he turns a Token Dark], and feels that Jennifer is "close" and being menaced, and he can almost see a ghostly version of her. He tells the others, and Carole says that he needs to get out to her body as quickly as he can. He races out of the apartment.
Eddie pokes his head into the apartment, and asks what's going on. Andrew tells him that everything is under control, but Eddie says he doesn't think that's likely. "I don't think so, either," says a male voice, and Eddie finds himself staring into the face of an incubus in its natural form [having Teleported in and turning a Token Light], with Amy Schulman/Schuyler standing just behind him...
Friday night's game session of the Chill 3rd Edition RPG campaign went rather well, I thought. I wasn't sure if the players would be able to finish the scenario up in one or two more sessions, and due to the way things went on Friday night, it looks like it will take at least one more session to wrap up the case. Because the players started with very few Light Tokens available in play, they played it close to the vest, one notable moment being when DavidM refused to spend a Token to Sense the Unknown at the Schulman/Schuyler apartment, as he knew that Ellie's Jennifer was in trouble, and wanted to leave the Light Tokens so she could use them, as necessary. There were a lot of good moments in the adventure, including Kathy's surprise when the rock Alexandra threw actually hit its target.
Overall, it was a good session of the Chill 3rd Edition Friday night campaign, and I rather enjoyed the player interaction and the way the player envoys worked together. Looking forward to Friday night's game session (weather and health permitting).