The Gangsters Campaign/Session 20

* Upon “hearing” the anti-noise from Vec’s pocket, Jerry bluffs and says it was from his megaphone
	+ Vec slights of hand the mirror out of his pocket, but Officer Milton notices
	+ Vec tries smashes the mirror by dropping it on the floor as an “accident”, again Milton notices
		- This drives Madeline Tark’s men and Officer Johansson (and Mnimi) crazy as the information it was trying to collect is suddenly released as terrible occult sounds.
		- Officer Johansson has been driven permanently insane and immediately starts freaking out
		- Johansson shoots Vec and Criss tackles Jerry to the ground
		- Milton threatens Vec, demanding the truth or else Milton will kill Vec (and everyone else). Vec says something pretty close to the truth and Milton believes Vec implicitly
		- Milton detains Vec and Jerry back at the station and sends Criss to set up a meeting with Madeleine Tark
* Cilla’s hot take – time to get my reward because the cultists are done, we’ve destroyed the medallions!
	+ Does some detective work to try find out where Prektanos is, stumbles upon some cops while going to Prektanos’ old hangout
		- Is clever enough to realize that, once she discovers it is crawling with cops, she probably should not actually go inside
	+ She heads to Vec’s and gets into Criss’ car to go “shopping”
		- It turns out Criss DIDN’T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY SHOPPING TO DO
		- So Cilla gives a quick lesson in hand-to-hand combat to the prostitutes, after asking a few detailed questions.
	+ Griphook comes by
		- Prektanos is in a rough position – oh no! Police crawling over HQ
		- Trenchies are currently winning this gang war
	+ P is running out of resources and wants us to help win the gang war and destroy the cultists
		- We don’t know how much Judge Reddick knows (or is he being ), but..
		- Constabular officers are actively holding down territory for the Trenchies, against Prektanos.
			* And they’re taking significant losses, so it’s strange that Reddick is keeping them involved
			* Can Reddick be turned away from the occult in some way?
		- Can we bug Reddick?
			* The good stuff requires signoff by Magisterial officers
			* What Reddick and Slim Frank have are locally-sourced surveillance tech (second-rate, black market)
				+ Stored near constabular barracks
			* Cilla has already raided this warehouse in the past, via Watson-on-a-hook
		- Griphook needs to talk to Tark; asks Criss, “do we need to have a heart to heart first to rebuild trust [that was broken when Griphook abandoned Criss to constabular arrest]”
			* Declines to share Prektanos’s location, “because I’ve already told you the truth already”
				+ Cilla believes them (Prektanos probably doesn’t want another meeting); cool. Criss thinks ..
		- Attempt to steal the bugs:
			* Watson picks up a working bug-and-sound-recorder package. About the size of a quarter, can be attached anywhere. Records 48 hours before needing to transmit or be picked up
	+ Chatting with Madeline Tark
		- She is still in the fluffy slippers
		- We sit on very low benches so she can look us in the eye
		- Judge Reddick has very strong thighs, helpful
		- She doesn’t want to think he’s the bad guy… so maybe he’s in danger or being blackmailed. She tells us where to find him when meeting with Dandruff (the ex-newspaperman)
		- Griphook checks for valuables, of course… there are lots; mostly bulky, but also an orb with a miniature etheric storm inside it. Cilla thinks it’s a radioactive flashbang
* Vec & Jerry at the jail
	+ Johansson has had an allergic reaction of the psyche to Vec’s vibrating mirror situation
	+ Vec says to Milton: there are a bunch of cultists working with the Trenchies and digging around for some object
	+ They (agents) took Mnimi with them
	+ Questioning
		- What were they digging for? “We couldn’t figure that out”
		- Who is we? Me and Jerry
		- Where? In the water, in some diving suits Jerry looted from the wreckage of Harriet’s burnt-up store
		- And who was with you? Me and Jerry.
		- What do cultists look like? Mnimi showed us, and Jerry has some experience with occult things in his past…
		- So what was the object? Looked like a giant coffin / sarcophagus. And there was an old, crashed ship, but we didn’t
	+ Either Milton is lying about giving Vec amnesty, or maybe he’s a psychopath who’s more obsessed with the truth than with following the law
	+ Milton demands admissible evidence of what the cultists are doing, in exchange for not pressing charges against him, Jerry, or “anyone else you’d like to add to the list of immunity”
* Griphook pawns off the orb at “The Self-Help Shop”, including a bunch of DIY home services and also lots of weapons
	+ He owes debts to Don Prektanos, on paper (since Prektanos invested in his shop)
	+ Griphook gets a long-range weapon
	+ Cilla gets lots of pewter-coated lead holy symbols of old Semal gods
	+ And Vec picks up some old Semal religious pamphlets
* And now, to visit Dandruff…
	+ Writing reams about how terrible Don Prektanos is, on the occult typewriter
	+ Quite upset, & also in a positive of influence here
	+ One bored constabular officer
	+ Griphook chokes out the constabular officer
	+ Randolph reveals that they’re baddies
	+ Cilla runs around the building, bursts in the front door, and says WOT’S ALL THIS THEN
	+ Griphook goes to “arrest” Randolph, who resists
	+ Griphook pistol-whips him TO DEATH
* Randolph… was going to help the cult! He wrote it all up, helpfully.
* Madeline Tark + Criss
	+ She fills him in: Who are we fighting, what needs to die, and what leverage do we have over them