Session 2 (April 17, 2021)

The Party: John Rimbauer, Maz, Felix Haun, Finnjolf Torgrimsson, Phi Phi, Dodo Apple

Felix watches the tape from the previous session and sees a drunk man get dragged into a room by something and not come out. It’s definitely some kind of physical thing. Several (gray) shades of liquid are splashed around (the tape is black and white). Felix calls John and tells him he should come see the tape, and John suggests they also invite Phi Phi and Finn, to which Felix somewhat reluctantly agrees. He sets out some cheese, cake, fruit, drinks, etc. If he’s having company he feels like he has to entertain.

John, Maz, Phi Phi, and Finn come over and they all watch the tape while having snacks. They see that nothing else enters or leaves that gallery. Felix knows that artwork has a fairly high probability to manifest magic in some way, based on all of the emotion that goes into art. John has dealt with a magical painting once before, and knows that altering the painting can “fix” whatever is magically wrong with it. So they decide they have to go into the gallery after-hours to find the source of the magical murder beast. John tries to suggest that he and Felix should wait outside (which causes Felix to laugh hysterically, internally), but Felix insists that he should go in because he knows the gallery and its artwork better than any of them.

Felix, Finn, Phi Phi, and Maz break into the gallery while John stays outside with a walkie-talkie to keep watch. Felix decides to take them in through the second-story emergency exit so they don’t have to pass by the guard on duty in the kids’ area. Same trick as before—he snips the connecting wire for the alarm, and Maz teleports into the building and lets everyone in. This time Felix has distributed rubber gloves to everyone. He also disables the gallery’s security camera.

They search gallery 2, where the most recent paintings have been added. Felix inspects these works but finds nothing suspicious or magical about them. Meanwhile, Finn wanders into Gallery 1, and is attacked by a hose pipe monster from a colored pencil drawing entitled “The Wasted Man.” He stabs the monster but is injured. Felix, Maz, and Phi Phi come running. Maz attacks the monster with her divine razor whip, and Felix raises a wall of necromantic energy between the painting where the monster is coming from and Finn. This separates the monster from the painting and pisses it off, causing it to attack Felix. Phi Phi comes rushing in and absolutely brains the monster with one of her husband’s golf clubs, killing it and causing it to dissipate back into the artwork.

Felix goes to examine “The Wasted Man.” He realizes that shit, this actually isn’t just one monster from one painting—it’s a spirit that can move between paintings, it’s definitely not dead, and it’s probably still coming for them. They hear a metallic scraping from Gallery 3, which Felix recognizes as coming from a very imposing barbed wire statue called “Gorgon Number Three.”

Felix rushes to Gallery 3 and puts up another necromantic wall over the door, but as the monster thrashes around, it sets off the gallery’s alarms. Maz immediately teleports back to John, and Felix, who isn’t about to be caught robbing an art gallery, uses magic to make himself invisible. The security guard rushes upstairs, and Phi Phi runs for him, screaming, begging him to protect her from the monster. Felix uses this opportunity to slip down to the security booth and acquire the other security tapes he failed to get earlier, and also the security tape for tonight. The guard, who sees the monster and is terrified, leads Phi Phi outside. Phi Phi steals the guard’s keys. She tries to run back for Finn, who is pissed that Felix and Maz bounced, but also kind of like “…I could take that.” He decides not to, and as Phi Phi comes running back in, Finn grabs her and leads her out.

Meanwhile, John is in his car eating donuts and trying to get an answer from Phi Phi, who was carrying the other walkie talkie. Maz appears in his car and explains that the art attacked Finn, and then John’s other one (Felix) did a thing that trapped the monster and then it got loud. John explains to Maz about alarms. Felix, still invisible, comes out through the exit by the security door, climbs into the passenger seat, and helps himself to a donut, which startles John and prompts a lecture about not scaring him. John asks where Finn and Phi Phi are and they discuss going back for them, but then they emerge from the building.

Everyone goes to John’s house, where there are chairs set up in the foyer. Finn helps himself to a drink and he and Felix have a brief argument about Felix’s disappearance. Felix tries to reassure Finn but his friendly pat on the shoulder gesture is rebuked when Finn grabs his wrist and forcibly lowers the hand. Felix suddenly finds himself wishing Finn would rail him half to death.

Felix explains what he’s learned to the group, and they watch the other videos, which confirm what they suspect. John realizes he knows a psychic who may be able to help them locate the emotional source artwork that has created this evil spirit. They decide to meet up the next day to find this person at a bar called The Green Angel, which is a dive bar that Finn frequents and Felix has never been to. John advises Felix and Phi Phi to dress down.

The next day Felix goes to volunteer at the gallery and learns that no one is aware anything strange took place there the previous night.

John, Maz, Finn, and Phi Phi reach the bar first and meet John’s acquaintance, “Dodo Apple,” a teenager who’s allowed to drink in a bar for some reason. John explains to Dodo that the group needs their help, and explains the situation. Dodo suggests they go elsewhere to talk, so they go outside and wait for Felix, who shows up having honestly tried to take John’s advice while still looking desperately queer. At least he’s not wearing heels. The group learns that the gallery is apparently not on alert, and they make another plan to break in. Felix, Maz, Dodo, Finn, and Phi Phi will go in, and John will wait with the car. This time, Finn carries the walkie talkie.

They get in the same way as before. Dodo has a vision of Finn being stabbed and tries to warn him about it, but he’s kinda like “yeah, whatever. I get stabbed a lot.” Felix disables the security camera again. The gallery feels different and more malevolent. Felix sees an unknown shape moving around in gallery 2. Dodo attempts to use her ability to find the object the monster is bound to, but their attempt attracts the attention of the creature. The creature comes rushing for them, but Dodo manages to use magic to hold it in place. Felix recognizes the painting it comes from and goes to try to banish it, but the attempt fails. He calls Dodo over and asks if they can trace it from this painting to its anchor.

Dodo traces it successfully to a statue called Ideal Self, by local artist Thomas Kay, who recently died from a heart attack without ever receiving the recognition he felt he deserved. Finn suggests they shoot the statue, but Felix stops him and asks to try to banish it first. Finn reluctantly agrees. The creature is too malevolent to be banished, and attacks Finn. Dodo and Maz both try to protect Finn, but end up thwarting each other’s attempts, and Finn is stabbed through the shoulder as he was in Dodo’s vision. Finn (using a sawed-off shotgun) and Felix (using a blast spell) both shoot the creature at the same time, and it dies. Felix uses the life drain ability from his spell to somewhat heal Finn.

Finn is still impaled on the statue, which is now a lifeless, headless statue. Felix knows he can’t pull Finn off, so asks Maz to do it. Maz pulls Finn off and tries to heal him, but accidentally exacerbates his wounds. Finn is now bleeding out on the floor of the gallery. Felix, in an act of desperation, manages to use a spell to stabilize him and stop the bleeding. Maz carries Finn’s unconscious body to John’s car, and they put him in the back seat. Felix climbs into the back (crouched on the floor) to look after Finn, and Maz teleports Finn’s motorcycle to John’s house. Maz and the motorcycle end up on the roof of the garage.

They deliver Finn to his sister. John worries about the gallery suspecting something but Felix tells him not to bother, because Seamus Turton will just clean it up and cover it up like he’s done with all the murders, which is exactly what happens. The gallery reopens with the blood and broken statue intact as a new avant garde art display, which Felix despises.