Andrew Keetling is Missing.P4 Conclusion

Jimmy (Graham), Peter (Jordan), Essie (Whitney), Riche (Jon)

1pm, Friday, 19 Sept: The Garsetti house was in flames behind them as they stood in the driveway. Jimmy had just dumped the mobster’s body in the well, “To keep old Mrs. Jane Garsetti company. But these notes in his pockets point to Zeek behind everything.” Riche sat in the backseat with the broken Andrew rescued from Josephine’s cultist grasp, "We can face Zeek later. Right now, we need to get Andrew to a doctor!" Peter was weak from the spell attack by Josephine who had drained his constitution. He was still reeling from the vision of the Dweller in the Void in that upstairs bedroom. At least he (12) and Riche (11) still had their Flesh Ward armor that was useless against the witch’s spells. Essie was troubled by her hopeless feeling during the encounter: unable to give aid to Peter’s injuries while unable to assist in Josephine’s demise. She had convinced herself (rightly) that if Riche’s blade was ineffective, her arrows would have been equally useless. Thankfully, Jimmy’s point-blank gunshots did Jose in.

Drive to town: Jimmy drove the rental with Peter riding shotgun, with Essie and Riche in the backseat with Andrew cradled between them. After the drive down the mile-long gravel driveway, they turned onto the highway back to Muskrat Rapids. And that’s when Jimmy recognized the mobsters’ green Packard up ahead, on the side of the road with movement on the backside. Jimmy continued at the posted speed limit. As they got closer, they all saw: a human-sized winged bug-like creature attacking one of the mobsters behind the car!

[Sanity check] Essie and Riche looked up from their patient and squealed with fright. As for Peter (still under the influence of his Bout-Of-Madness (rage)): he watched the creature sniff the air and focus on their passing car. Peter extended his pistol out of the window and shot 3 rapid rounds! The first missed while the 2^nd ricocheted off the carapace body armor. At least the 3^rd round drew gore. And Jimmy stomped on the gas pedal as the creature jumped onto the wrecked Packard’s hood and took flight after them. All while Peter protested, “Pull over, I want another shot!”

[Drive check] The car weaved violently when Jimmy took his hand off the wheel to pass his gold-handled pistols to Peter. “Someone get the Tommy-guns from the trunk!” It’s not like the rear seat folded down. Essie and Riche rolled Andrew to the floorboard to get space to pry at the rear bench back. Jimmy reached out his window to adjust the side mirror to spot the creature 50 yards behind and closing in pursuit as Peter fired another 3 rounds (all misses) out of his window at it. Riche gained a fingerhold on the bench backing: [STR Push] he yelped when his fingers got pinched which added adrenalin to his efforts, resulting in a wider gap. Even Essie managed to gain her own fingerhold.

With his gun empty, Peter used one of Jimmy’s 1911 pistols and fired another 3 rounds (misses) at the creature now 30 yards away. Jimmy continued to bark, “Where are we on the tommys?! The next sharp curve, I want to stomp on the brakes so we can blast it at close range.” And it was getting closer!

And that’s when everything seemed to come together: Essie popped open her side of the rear bench and wedged her torso in to reach for the tommys. Jimmy saw the desired curve just ahead, “Everyone get ready!” Peter emptied the pistol with another 3 shots (misses) and switched to the other 1911. As the car rounded the curve, Jimmy slammed on the brakes, causing the car to tilt on only its left wheels before coming to a stop. The sudden stop extracted Essie from the trunk area with one tommygun in hand that she handed off to Riche.

Riche climbed out of the backseat (on the left-side of the car) with the tommygun in one hand while pulling out the dark stone crystal from his pocket with his other hand as hopeful bait. Essie scrambled out of the backseat on the right, closest to the approaching creature. Jimmy readied to drive if necessary to use the car as a battering ram if able. Peter braced the pistol on the right-side passenger windowsill and fired (one hit, another ricocheted) when the creature came into view at point-blank range. The man-bug ignored the minor wound as it smelled the stone and aimed for Riche, who ducked its raking claws that dug into the car’s rooftop before it slid across the road, stopping 20 yards away.

Riche readied the tommygun, waiting for it to get closer. Essie moved closer to get within range to cast Wrack (but failed the opposed POW check). Peter stepped out of the car and used the hood to brace for another 3 shots (one hit). And that’s when Jimmy put the car in reverse and backed up in preparation to ram it. Its claws clicked on the road as it scrambled forward. Riche unleased 3 volleys from the tommygun (15% base skill). He wasn’t prepared for the kick as the barrel quickly rose off target. But that first blast was enough (extreme), as the carapace body split open and spilled its guts just as the creature raked its claws across Riche’s chest (the 12 damage mostly absorbed by his Flesh Ward armor). Thoughts of the creature being Zeek were dismissed by the memory of Zeek’s telegram saying he was sending his son. Peter chopped off it’s head and played with it as if a puppet, “What say we go visit your papa.”

2pm, Back to Muskrat Rapids: As they drove into town, they watched as a police car speed west (toward the rising column of smoke) from where they’d come. They checked Andrew into the local hospital and called his sister Sarah in Boston to come care for him, “He has a long rehab ahead of him.” They parked the rental car at the train station. At least the train arrived on schedule for their 4pm departure for the 15 hour return to Boston to confront Zeek. Jimmy used the time to consider all the ways to swindle Zeek. Riche sat in the passenger car studying the stone. Essie used the time to wrap her arrowheads with cloth to make fire-arrows. Before drifting off to sleep (per his reduced constitution), Peter composed a telegram to send to Zeek (which he never sent), “Met your son. Lovely kid… flew south with your stone. Something about all mine.”

7am, Saturday, 20 Sept: With all that time on the train, only now did they discuss their next move: meet with Zeek to get the reward explaining his son took the stone, ambush him and take the reward and more for their troubles, or forget about him and let the Boston police detective deal with him. Jimmy was adamant, “I want the reward!” Peter was more realistic, “With one swipe of his claws, his son erased Riche’s armor. Zeek will be equally if not better armored.”

10pm, Sailor’s Club: Knowing Zeek’s normal schedule was to arrive around 11pm and leave around 3am, Jimmy and Peter hid in the alley where Zeek’s office door was located. Using the password, Essie and Riche entered the speakeasy to get the latest update from the bartender (Randolph). As Essie paused to refresh her lipstick, one of the flappers (Bobbie) approached with a worried tone to her voice, “Where’s the short guy friend of Millie? She’s missing!” Assuring her they’d get to the bottom of things, Essie put on her sweet antics to charm Randolph, “Poor girl over there is worried about her friend. Says Millie went into Zeek’s office and never came back.”

Randolph perked up to her charm as he explained, “She’s overreacting. Zeek probably invited Millie to his mansion for a party.” Making eye contact with Riche, Essie leaned across the bar closer to whisper, “I heard about his parties. Think you could take me and show me a good time?” She giggled when she accidently spilled her drink down the front of her dress, “Oops, clumsy me.” [Stealth] Riche used the distraction to slip behind the bar and quietly entered the kitchen to gain access to Zeek’s office. Empty. He opened the back door to let Jimmy and Peter in. They searched the office for 30 minutes till they heard the light tap of fingernails on the back door. Essie stepped into the office, “Are you guys up for a party? Randolph is taking me to Zeek’s mansion. You could invite the flapper girls (Bobbie and Toots). Sorry Jimmy, but your friend Millie is missing and presumed at Zeek’s party.”

11:30pm: Zeek was late, “He’s not coming. He must be throwing a party.” Essie and Riche stepped into the alley and re-entered the club from the front. Randolph turned the bar over to the bouncer Wriggles as he escorted Essie to his car. Riche exited with the girls on each arm and escorted them to his waiting Cadillac with Jimmy as their chauffeur. They followed Randolph at a distance, with the girls confirming the direction they took. When they pulled into the driveway before the mansion on the coast, all immediately thought of that painting in Andrew’s study called The Watching (the house with red-dot eyes in every window).

Zeek’s mansion: Randolph squinted at the car that pulled up behind him (its headlights blinded him). He relaxed when he heard the girls giggle, but quickly grew suspicious when he heard Riche’s French accent and recognized the short-statured Jimmy. Essie eased his tension, “I thought more friends would make the party livelier.”

And that’s when they realized the mansion grounds were unattended with the flower-garden run wild as vines climbed the exterior walls. As Peter paused near the car (to cast Flesh Ward on himself), Jimmy let Randy go in first… they all puzzled at the disarray: furniture was smashed, pictures were either knocked off the walls or hung crooked with slashes across the canvas, even the curtains were shredded. Toots giggled, “Gee, last time I was here, the music was blasting, and people overflowed the couch. At least those that weren’t upstairs in the bedrooms.” Jimmy offered, “The party doesn’t start till I get here girls. What say we crank up the music and start our own.” Randy called out, “Boss? Where’s the party? We’ve come to join in.”

Once again Randy led the way up the stairs escorting Essie, with Jimmy escorting both girls, followed by Riche. Peter had just stepped into the house when he heard a chittering sound from a side door. Hard clicking sounds on the floorboards forewarned him of…

Drawn by the dark stone, another bug-creature rushed out of the side room intent to attack Riche. With the head of the last creature on his left hand as if a puppet, Peter called out before firing 3 shots, “Your brother says Hi.” Gore oozed from the wounds as the bug-thing lunged at and bit Peter (3 damage). [DEX 98 fumble] Riche intended to charge with his cane-sword but was knocked astray by Toots flailing at the sight of the creature. [DEX extreme] Jimmy nimbly sidestepped both girls running up the stairs and handed his tommygun to Essie as he began to cast Breath of the Deep. [failed opposed POW check]. Essie braced on the stair railing and fired at the creature (3 volleys of 3 rounds). The creature exploded with gore splashed across Peter. The hand-puppet licked the gore off Peter’s arm, “Tastes like chicken.”

When Peter warned there could be more bugs upstairs, Randy took the cue as he gathered the girls and rushed down the stairs, “I better get them to safety. We’ll wait in the car.” They didn’t have to wait long to hear the car start and speed away. Essie strapped the tommygun on her back as she readied her more practiced bow.

2^nd Floor: After reloading, Peter took the lead climbing the stairs and led Essie into the first door on the left. [Sanity check] They both gagged at the headless female body soaked in blood laying on the bed. [fear of amputations] Peter was too shocked to look closer. Essie recognized the women’s chest split open and her clothing as that of “Andrea Pentargon, the cult informant we rescued! What is she doing here?! I thought we left her at the Keetling estate.”

[Andrea grew tired of the Keetling estate without drugs or parties and mistakenly thought she could find equal safety under the umbrella of Zeek’s club. Boy, did she guess wrong!]

Meanwhile, Riche turned right toward another door and found empty crates marked with “MU Property. Zeek must have stolen the shipment meant for the university. This must have contained the dark stone and his occult books!” Riche failed to notice the trapdoor in the ceiling.

Jimmy angled for another door in search of the reward money. He entered the Master Bedroom (MB) and its large canopy bed and focused on the nightstand, checking its drawers. At least he found Zeek’s car keys. And that’s when he heard floorboards above creak as if someone was walking. He pointed his tommygun up as he called out, “Millie? Is that you?!” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a long, narrow observation window on the far wall. “Guys, I think you better come check this out.” As in: Jimmy was willing to let others see the horrors of the house first.

Essie stayed at the MB doorway as Riche and Peter entered and approached the large window. [Sanity check] And saw terrier dog-size bugs skitter into the shadows of the nursery. “This place is infested.” And that’s when Riche noticed the cord descending from a trapdoor in the ceiling. “Jimmy, didn’t you say something about hearing movement above? We need to check out the nursery access.” Riche had visions of using his cane-sword to make a shish-kabob collection of baby bugs. With Jimmy behind him, Riche opened the nursery door. And a bug rushed out, dodged his cane thrust, and scurried up Jimmy’s pantleg to bite him on the arm (3 damage). Jimmy grabbed it by its crab-legs and bashed it against the wall.

The Attic: Riche quickly closed the nursery door, had Peter craft a torch, and re-entered so they could all climb up to the attic. Riche pulled the cord which lowered a set of stairs. They could also hear the muffled sound of someone chanting. All recognized the chanting as more verbal components of a spell. Riche was the first up, flowed by Jimmy, then Essie, then Peter. Riche rounded the corner and caught sight of something standing over a table. 

[Sanity check] They weren't too surprised by Zeek's new bug profile. OK, maybe a little!  Jimmy started his own casting (Breath) as Riche tried to distract Zeek by displaying the dark stone, “We came for our reward.”  Essie’s flaming arrow penetrated Zeek’s clothing but bounced off his carapace armor. At least the clothing caught fire.

[Opposed POW versus Breath spell] Only a few droplets of saltwater leaked from Zeek’s mouth as Riche [opposed POW versus Drown Mind spell] fought off mental visions of The Watching painting turning into a mass of eyes that morphed into a titanic being. But Riche did recoil from the sight of Andrea’s severed head sitting on the desk with maggots already crawling out of every orifice.

Peter moved up to the table for a point-blank blast of 3 rounds (only 1 hit for 1 damage). Jimmy moved beside Peter and let loose with his tommygun (3 volleys of 3= 9 bullets): most bullets ricocheted off Zeek but 2 penetrated the armor, spilling gore. Realizing her arrows were ineffective, Essie switched to the other tommygun she had strapped to her back and loosed her own 3 volley blast of 2 rounds each: 2 extreme hits and Zeek disintegrated into a mist.

And that’s when Millie (strapped to the altar) tried to sit up as she screamed a horrific cry of pain. [Sanity check] All saw the ripples across her naked bulging stomach as if a baby moved inside. Its hand playing under the skin… two pointy crab-leg appendages pierced out of her stomach and cut her open! A dozen or more bug-babies poured out of her womb! [20% Bout-Of-Madness] Jimmy (Flee) bolted from the attic descending the stairs in a mad rush for Zeek’s car parked out front. Peter (Amnesia) puzzled at the scene, “Why are we here? I thought we were going home.”

Riche rushed forward to mercy-kill her with a thrust of his sword thru her eye. Essie was already lighting and shooting flaming arrows into every wall of the attic.

And once more, within a 24-hour timespan, they drove away from a burning mansion.

Days later Claude handed Riche his mail, “There’s a bill of damages from a car rental company in Muskrat Rapids.”