Smoke and Mirrors

Yesterday's Weird Adventures game found Rue, Jacques, Rob, and the Professor still exploring Urst's mansion. The party got separated last time by the biggest of separations: the divide between life and death. The gents (on the side of the living) had left Rue's body on the table in the refectory and taken their explorations upstairs. Meanwhile, Rue's spirit had moved downstairs looking for them.

The guys found several bedrooms. One of them had a sleeping, cross-dressing ogre. The ogre, scandalized at their intrusion chased them away. They were only happy to leave. The next bedroom was part of a suite. In the sitting room beyond they encountered a couple that seemed to be formed from smoke. These ghosts or spirits attacked, and they sucked enough life from Professor Pao to knock him unconscious.

Rob and Jacques took shots at them. The bullets perhaps dissipated them a bit, but it was going to be a slow way to take them down. Noticing the glass doors opening on to a balcony, Jacques got the idea to open them, maybe letting a wind in to blow the spirits away. But he and Rob manage to avoid getting hit and make it out the door. The wind (at least them wind they've got) isn't enough to disperse them, but they notice the spirits seem to shy away from the unfiltered sunlight.

They get the idea to break the glass doors and use pieces to try to reflect sunlight onto them. This helps hem the spirits in, and Rob is able to make dash to grab a mirror off the wall. He's able to focus the sunlight more directly and burn holes in the ghosts, finally dissipating them.

All this time, Rue is following--haunting, maybe--the woman, Camilla that dealt her the card. Camilla isn't sympathetic and finally runs away from her. Rue also finds her body where the guys left it and sees a cat-headed man in a fez inspecting it. She stays hidden, waiting for him to go away.

Then, she sees something really weird: Pao's spirit dangling from the ceiling by his silver cord. It allows her to find the rest of her gang, including the unconscious Pao, whose spirit is drifting a bit, but still firmly in place. They manage to bring him around, and he fixes up his only Yianese herbal healing remedy.

Rob is occupied by a lockbox he found in an alcove behind the mirror. It's got gold coins on the inside. Rue begins formulating a plan to get her spirit back in her body, while Jacques decides to make torches.

It's getting dark all of a sudden.

The Haunted Mansion

My WaRP Weird Adventures gaming group met for the first time since September last night. The PCs were still exploring Charles Ranulf Urst's estate, looking for treasure of some sort. After checking out the opulent pool house, they moved on to the grand main house. What they found only deepened the mystery.

First, there was a sound like an audible exhalation when they first entered the house that set the creepy mood. Then, the theater room had a film playing without the benefit of electricity--a film that appeared to be from the point of view of something waiting just outside the room. Professor Pao, stepping out side of the room, felt a cold chill that sent him to his knees and Rob glimpsed an errant shadow fleeing away from his stricken companion.

Rue tried again to contact spirits. She felt a pervasive presence, but nothing specific. Then a playing card drfited down from...somewhere. One with Urst's own monogram printed on back.

Things only got weirder from there. A visit to the refectory (a large dining room) had the gang intruding on a ghostly dinner with phantom food and diners who paid them no attention. There seemed to have been places set for the group, but they declined to partake.

In the large, social room, there is a young woman (her image sort of flickery, like a movie) playing cards. She offers to tell the PCs' fortunes by a draw from the deck. Only Rue takes her up on it. She draws a card with the image of the grim reaper on it! He swings his scythe and she drops dead.

The rest of the gang can't believe it at first. They question the woman who gives her name as Camille. She nonchalantly confirms that Rue is indeed dead--but adds enigmatically that the house is a collector and spirits are unable to leave it. When they try to question her further she flickers and disappears. Rob and Jacques start looking around for where Rue's spirit might be. The Professor stays behind to guard her body.

Meanwhile, Rue awakens in an overstuff leather chair in a library of some sort. She feels a bit less substantial physically, but is otherwise okay. A man with the head of a wolfhound is sitting across from her reading a book. He introduces himself as Claude and confirms that she's dead. He says he was Urst's dog, until the wizard uplifted him to sentience to serve as an assistant. He goes on to say that Urst purposely built this house on a borderland between dimensions. There are spirits here but also "termites" in the walls that came from elsewhere.

Rue bids him good-bye to try and find her friends. Before she goes, he warns her not to trust the cat-headed man in the fez.

To be continued...

Another Weird Yule

Yesterday, the several members of my G+ Weird Adventures group reunited for a holiday-themed adventure. It was Yule-time in the City, and the "Team Victory" Detective Agency was holding an office party with Cornelius Doyle, Erskine Loone, and Boris Borofsky in attendance. Their secretary Lola DeWytt was also there, and she'd brought a new friend the "lovely and mysterious" Sara Snow.

The festivities were interrupted in short order by the kid gang known as the Hardluck Hooligans. It seems the Grumpf had not appeared to bedevil them, and the Hooligans suspected foul play. Why the concern? Well Da Brain (brainy kid with glasses) surmised that a Grumpf-less Yule would also mean a Father Yule-less season: something that just can't happen!

At Lola's urging, the gang takes the case with Sara tagging along. They start with investigating the place where Da Brain calculated the Grumpf should have appeared--and where the kids saw a out-of-place truck bearing the logo of Ardmann Commercial Displays. There is no sign of the Grumpf or the van, but they do find a amateurishly made flyer for Ardmann's.

Going the address listed, they find an old warehouse on Wharf Street along the Wyrd. The buildings got a freshly painted sign indicating it's Ardmann's. Sara and Loone go in to pose and potential customers, while Boris circles around back and Cornelius climbs a drain-pipe to the roof.

The interior has the necessary accoutrements of a commercial display business in the season: plyboard standups of reindeer, sleighs, and father Yule, and also some ceramic statues of what they take to be Father Yule's elf assistants. The two guys working there seem more like goons than salesmen, though, and Loone's power reveals they really just want the two customers to go as soon as possible.

There are other suspicious things. Boris finds the truck--and chains welded to the floor in the back of it. Cornelius peers through the skylight and sees something unusual (hidden from the view of Sara and Loone by stacks of crates): a big hole in the floor.

After comparing notes, the group enters the front door again, after Cornelius sees the two guys climb down a ladder into the hole. The investigation soon turns into a brawl, as the "elves" come to life and attack. The stone creatures are slow moving, but tough to harm, and our heroes are soon fighting a battle on two fronts as the goons start to climb back out of the hole.

Cornelius and Loone manage to force them back down while Boris methodically shotgun blasts the gnomes (as they now reveal themselves) to pieces. Unfortunately, Loone is pushed into the hole by one of the gnomes before they're all done in.

In the cave beneath, Loone discovers the missing (and irate) Grumpf, inside some sort of glass dome that looks like a giant snowglobe with metal antennae pointed at it. And seated on a throne, there's also the apparent mastermind of this plot: the maniacal Gnome King!

An attempt to move the antenna gives Loone a powerful arcane jolt of holiday spirit energy, so the team concentrates on trying to break the glass dome. Weaving through would be assailants in cat form, Sara is able to cut off a switch, which seems to make the energy inside the globe to begin to build up.

As he and his minions attack, the Gnome King explains his plan in true villain fashion: He planned to capture the Grumpf and Father Yule (two sides of the same coin, really) and siphon their holiday energy to imbue himself with. With the cosmic reset coming at the end of the year, the power would be granted to him forever.

He hadn't reckoned on Team Victory and Sara Snow. The rock-hewn Gnome King is too tough for bullets (as Cornelius finds out), but thrown rocks and a couple of gunshots, combined with the energy overload since the siphon was turned off, leads to the Grumpf breaking free, stomping the Gnome King into the dirt, then giving Cornelius a sloppy kiss before bounding out into the night.

The Gnome King's crying and Yule is saved, thanks to our heroes...and the Hardluck Hooligans are the first on the Grumpf's list for whupping!

A Weird Holiday Adventure

This weekend I plan to run a Weird Adventures holiday themed game. Through the magic of Google+, I hope to have players from my original G+ game, my ongoing face-to-face game, and the game run by Lester B. Portly (in which I'm a player). This will be the first time the various campaigns have collided met.

Last Yule, catching the Grumpf took a great deal of effort on the part of the Hardluck Hooligans and not one but two groups of adventurers. This year (5889, for those keeping track), the Grumpf is conspicuously absent and Da Brain of the Hooligans has a theory that Father Yule is also missing--and the holiday season itself is in peril! Hopefully, a group of adventurers can get to the bottom of it.

A Weird Adventures Halloween

The comparable holiday to Halloween in the world of the City is Revenant Night at the end of the month of Redfall. It's a night where folklore says the walls between the realms of the dead and the prime material plane thin, allowing spirits who haven't yet moved on to their plane of final reward can slip back into the world of the living. This seldom seems to occur in this modern age, but it can't be ruled out entirely. And there are other strange menaces adventurers might face:

In Motorton, it's the Night of Misrule, where the Dwarf might invite you to the Red Room. Out West, it's a particularly bad time to drive into a ghost town. In the Shambles neighborhood of the City, you can hunt (or be hunted) by a maniacally killer under the influence of the Lord of the Cleaver. Just about anywhere, calliope music might signal the arrival of the Carnival Pandemonium the mysterious Viscount Marzo.

Trick or Treat.

People in the City

After Saturday's Detectives & Daredevils Google+ game set in the world of Weird Adventures, there was some discussion of NPCs that have showed up in my various games. Here are a few that might still be encountered in the City in 5889:

Bookman, Rawley: Superintendent at an apartment building in Morningstar Hills on the border with Solace.

DeWytt, Lola: Secretary for Victory Detective Agency.

Graves, Zacherly: A Barrowman cemetery manager.

Hardluck Hooligans: A kid gang in Hardluck. Prominent members include: Knuckles (the tough one), Da Brain (the smart one), Freckles (freckles), Topper (oversized tophat), Juniper (tomboy in an aviator helmet), Sunshine and Smiles (creepy, somber kids), the Kid in Yellow (weird kid from Little Carcosa), and Marbles. They have an ongoing feud with the Grumpf.

Hazzard, Hew: Wealthy industrialist, inventor, and playboy. His headquarters and research laboratory are in Marquesa near the airfield.

Shreck, Eldmore: Tall, portly lawyer, parnter in the firm Shreck & Wail. They are the executors of the estate of Charles Ranulf Urst.

Snow, Sara: Platinum-haired beauty who is either a cat that can turn into a woman or a woman who turns into a cat. Grifter and sometime gangster's moll.

Throne, H. Leland: Antiquarian bookseller in Grimalkin Village. He doesn't have any magical tomes, but does have works that deal with occult or esoteric topics. He also runs a side business in racy photography. He sells the photos to collectors and sometimes uses them for blackmail.

Two-Teeth Drexel: Hell Syndicate thug with oversized incisors. Previously in Barton Blanchefleur's gang.

Vandemaur, Urania: Matriarch of an Old Money family with a mansion on "Paupers Row."

Wail, Tophias: Short, bespectacled lawyer, partner in the firm Shreck & Wail. They are the executors of the estate of Charles Ranulf Urst.

City Automobile Enthusiast

The automobile is an important part of the world of Weird Adventures, though no specific automobile makes are mentioned in the book. Some of these after appeared in play; after all, adventurers like to get around town in style.

A modest new sedan (like a standard model from the Cord Motor Company) can be purchased for around $500-600. Fancier automobiles or sporty models will cost more--sometimes, much more. Here are a couple of high end examples that have appeared in my games:

5883 Raser "Dual Six" Fitzroy Sports Saloon
Engine: V12, 150 bhp
Top Speed: 100 mph
This is a luxury automobile; less than 60 exist and each was built to order at a price of $12,000+. Cornelius Doyle's has a silver elephant head hood ornament.

5885 Auberon 761 Series C Speedster
Engine: super-charged 8-cylinder, 150 bhp
Top Speed: 104 mph
This stylish roadster sales for $2245. Gentleman thief Don Diabolico is the proud owner of one.

The Gates of Shamballa

In list nights WaRP Weird Adventures game, the gang made it through to the gates of Charles Ranulf Urst's estate--wherein a treasure supposedly lies. The snow globe, they discovered, made the otherwise unopenable front gate open. The swirl of the "snow" inside seemed to point toward the main house.

First, they decided to check out another closer structure, though. It was a pool house, like some sort of ancient Imperial bath. It was tiled from head to floor and arrayed with six marble statues of ancient gods and goddesses. The group looks around the place and doesn't find anything dangerous, which really only serves to heighten their anxiety.

On the way out, Jacques notices one of the statutes seems to have moved slightly. They quickly leave, but once safely outside they begin to wonder if they should investigate further. LaRue, their resident medium, tries to consult the spirits and detects a single, powerful presence, but it's not specific.

After some debate, they decide to go back in to mess with the statues. As Rob is moving one (to see if there's something underneath), the ever observant Professor Po notices another change the direction it's looking!

For a short adventure, this one seems to have got the players' interest. How a little bit of preternatural detail gets the player's animated. Is fear or curiosity the primary reaction? Sometimes, it's both.

A Roadside Distraction

After the busy with this swamp witch, the crew in my WaRP Weird Adventures game finally arrived in Fort Lagarto, the town closest to Urst's opulent estate, Shamballa. After getting situated in their hotel, they went out to buy "adventuring supplies" (determined not to get caught without the necessary items this time--they spend a lot of time prepping), they became curious about a tourist trap they saw called the Snake-a-torium. So curious, in fact, that they delayed their journey to Shamballa to take it in.

The place was run by a Southern gentleman-type named Gaston Redfoot:

(He wasn't dressed this nice at the Snake-a-torium)

Gaston guides them through some fairly shabby enclosures with an albino alligator and various and sundry snakes. Nothing is particularly of interest, until they get the final room that contains a naga. She eyes them, but does not speak--and Redfoot warns them about disturbing him. The player's are pretty sure this all is important and they are even more certain when Redfoot shows them to the gift shop and there's a shelf full of snowglobes almost identical to the one that is supposedly the "key" to Shamballa!

Is there a connection or are the player's just seeing things that aren't there? We'll find out.

Weird Pirate (Doomed) Romance

In my continuing WaRP Weird Adventures game last night, the PCs were tasked by the loathsome swamp witch (supposedly once a pirate queen, Eliza Bonney) with finding a way of freeing her from her ship turned prison, stuck incongruously in a lake deep in a Southron swamp. The gang went back to town for supplies and left poor Professor Pao as the witch's hostage.

Rue consults the spirits and discovers that the witch can be harmed by something that belonged to her lover and former partner--something that can "cut her flesh and pierce her heart." Luckily, the town has a small museum with a pirate history display and a lovelorn curator, Imogenia Frump, who falls for the charms of international man of mystery, Jacques.

Our heroes find out that two pirates came ashore to bury treasure here: Eliza Bonney and Red Marguerite. The two had a falling out over the loot, or so the story goes. In the museum's possession is an old cutlass and a small, wooden chest. Jacques uses his influence over Imogenia to "borrow" the items for study at a prestigious City university.

Fairly certain that Red Marguerite and Eliza were lovers, the PCs figure the cutlass will come in handy. Investigating the box reveals a secret compartment with a heart-shaped necklace of ruby and silver. So armed, they head back out to the swamp for a showdown.

Things don't go exactly as planned (when do they ever?) but the PCs manage to cut the locket--piercing the witch's heart--and making her vulnerable to their attacks. She appears to fall away into the depths, her bulk destroying the ship in her death throes.

Our heroes escaped but without the treasure some of them hoped for, other than the suggestion they had done a community service by destroying an ancient evil.

Resumption and A Witch

After a 4 month hiatus, we resumed our face to face WaRP Weird Adventures game last night. After spending several sessions trying to acquire the snowglobe that was the key to get into a dead sorcerer's palatial (and presumably treasure-laden) estate from a group of Hell Syndicate goons, our heroes had finally headed out on the train to Shamballa (the aforementioned estate), only to get off the train in a hick Southron town.

There, they were sucked in by the sob story of a gator-woman who told them that some gator-folk children had been stolen by a "pirate witch" that lived in a lake deep in the swamp. Three sessions later (after wrangling a gator-folk guide and tangling with deformed bandits in a steam-powered truck) they finally met "the pirate witch." That was only after a short trek through the swamp and the sauve spy in the party sweet-talking her doe-eyed and legless "grand-daughter," Elvinny.

The semi-aquatic witch is apparently trapped in the rotting wreck of her pirate ship by some sort of curse--and her bulk (not all of which is apparent above water). She wants the PCs to break her out. They're undestandably wary and try to stall for time to get more information. Most of the group head back to the town of Bullneck to "get supplies." Poor old Yianese gentleman, Professor Po, has to stay as the witches hostage.

And so, a side episode stretches to four sessions, but the players' seem to be enjoying it.

Other People's Weird Adventures

One of the cool things about getting Weird Adventures out there has been the opportunity to hear what other people are doing with it. Even more cool is getting the chance to be a player in someone else's game unfolding there version of the world. Lester B. Portly has been doing some playtesting of his pulp game Detectives & Daredevils on Google+, and I’ve been playing sometime trumpet player, sometime unlicensed private detective, Chick Marlowe. Lester has been taking us through a great interconnect set of crime stories involving Yianese drug-dealing tongs, alchemical drug formulas, and (possibly) jazz musician cultists.

Of course, watching somebody else play in your sandbox takes a little discipline. Even if you’re okay with them making changes (which I am), you've also got to resist the urge to jump in and “help out” when there’s a question about a setting detail that comes up. It’s been interesting to see how Lester has been making it his own. For instance, he tones down the fantasy/magic aspects of the setting a bit, though I think not as much as he initially thought he would. Still, his is a bit more “pulp world with more magic” compared to my “fantasy world in a pulp era.”

Anyway. I asked him a few questions about how he approached it. I don’t know if this will interest anyone but me, but here’s what he had to say:

What do you feel has been the hardest part of adapting the world for your own use? What amount of “weird” did I wanted my game to be. I wanted to be fairly accurate in capturing the flavour of the Weird Adventures book and I played around with the idea of cherry picking ideas, but settled on running the setting as written.

Because it is a distinct setting, I had to plug some minor details that were vague and hoped I wasn't screwing up stuff in the book that I missed. There were some things from fiction and history that I wanted to use that just wouldn't fit in.

What's been the most enjoyable part of doing so? I think that sticking with the setting as written has forced me to think outside the box. I enjoyed grafting on my own take to Weird Adventures.

Has your perception of the setting changed any in going from reading about and then playing in the setting vs. running it? The fantastic elements don't seem as problematic as I thought they would be. I wanted the weird elements to stick out. The bits that I have used worked fine without the game feeling like it was just standard fantasy in a hard-boiled drag.

Another Review

If you're still sitting on the fence about picking up Weird Adventures (and I'm sure there's still somebody), check out a new review over at the excellent blog Daddy Rolled a 1.

Stay a while and look through Martin's other interesting posts, as well.

Inner City Blues

Weird Adventures presents the City and it’s world in the year 5888, an era of automobiles, machine guns, and jazz.  Of course, that’s not the only age when there’s adventure to be had:

About thirty-five years in the future, the City is again seeing hard times. A  grinding war continues with Red Lemuria. Political scandal and public corruption has eroded trust in institutions. The aging subway trains are covered with graffiti. Solace is full of abandoned buildings, crime, drugs, and poverty. The Circus, once the brightly lit crossroads of the world, is now the home of sleazy grindhouses and a haven for pimps, hookers, and drug pushers.

The reputation of thaumaturgy has suffered just like other traditional institutions. Murderous gurus, scandals involving sex rituals, and scam artists have led to the thaumaturgic arts being viewed unsavory and dangerous by the masses, and old-fashion and hokey by the counter-culture.

There are still adventurers, though--and more than ever they're quasi-outlaws sticking it to the Fat Cats and the Establishment. Most of the dungeons have been cleaned out, but there are plenty of treasures in the hands of the wealthy. And there are always monsters--just now some of them sit in positions of power.

Foes: thrill-kill cult gurus, street gangs, the decadent wealthy with secrets to hide, corrupt cops and politicians, the Hell Syndicate.

Media Inspirations: Film/TV: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Enter the Dragon, Kolchak: the Night-Stalker, Shaft, Sugar Hill (1974), To The Devil...A Daughter, The Warriors, Vanishing Point; Books: the works of Dennis Wheatley and Stephen King, the Doctor Orient novels, the Destroyer novels, exploitive seventies nonfiction about witches and the occult; Comic Books: Night Force, Swamp Thing, Vampire Tales and any of Marvel’s other black and white magazines; Music: Jimmy Page’s unused soundtrack for the film Lucifer Rising. The Shaft and Truck Turner soundtracks by Isaac Hayes, Superfly soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield;  any of Goblin’s music from Argento’s films.

And the Superhuman Krewe

The Southron canal city of New Ylourgne has a culture all its own. This is as apparent in its magical traditions as anywhere else. While a  professional, (somewhat) public, and singular Thaumaturgical Society holds sway in the City, New Ylourgne is home to a patchwork of societies and cabals, secretive in their teachings but often flamboyantly public in their rivalry.

Despite the tales sometimes heard in the Sorcerers' Quarter, most of these mystical societies or “krewes” don’t trace their traditions to the Averoignian magocracy that once ruled the city. Most seem instead to date back about fifty years, and the oldest rarely more than a century. They began as as social clubs for local thaumaturges (and non-thaumaturgist adventurers), who threw public parties and helped fund parades and celebrations related to Oecumenical holy days. These krewes began to compete for public acclaim, and thaumaturgical spectacle was part of winning these contests.The spells that created illusions and wonders became closely guarded secrets, hidden behind layers of coded language, and artificial mythology, unique to each krewe.

There was some precedent for these organizations. The mages of the Black Folk had long formed gender-specific orders for socialization and the exchange of knowledge.These orders waged ritualized magical battles in order-specific costumes in the city’s streets. Though this practice was suppressed by the ruling Averoignian sorcerers, it was never completely eliminated. The krewes may have been inspired to a degree by these groups, and in turn the Black Folk orders have conformed their primary ritual performances and competitions to the Oecumenical holiday calendar.

The krewes typically have exalted or archaic sounding names, harkening to some legendary founder or progenitor. The officers of the krewes (which are typically almost every thaumaturgy practicing member) take on ornate and nonsensical titles, and often go masked in public performances to evoke an air of mystery. Much of this mummery is magical enhanced; in many ways, the krewes are as adept as illusionists at fooling the public.

While the vast majority of the krewes are only out for fun and entertainment, the magics they wield are very real. Though it happens less these days, it’s not unheard of for serious magical feuds to exist between krewes that have ended in death.

Soldiers for Salvation

Every adventurer has at least heard of the Hell Syndicate and its infernal bosses, but fewer are aware that the agents of Heaven are also active in the world. Worldwide, they’re a varied lot--more variable even than the differing versions of the Supreme Being espoused by world religions and encountered by planar travelers--but they have similar aims: They make sure the multiverse functions as it should and they motivate humans to confront the forces of evil.

The followers of the Good Book call these beings “angels.” In the Astral and beyond they can be powerful and frightening, bigger and stronger than many earthly eikones. Their forms are too big and strange for the Material Plane, but in the higher realms they're composed of  a tumult of wings and heads of animals or geometric solids and fire. Always fire.

On earth, they're are smaller and more mundane. A string of soup kitchens and homeless shelters across the Strange New World are operated by angels in human guise or their agents. From the down-and-outs, addicts, and alcoholics that take advantage of their services, the angels recruit soldiers. The most trusted of these they grant minor miraculous powers, making them essentially members of the Gifted. Others are recruited via traveling revivals or mysteriously short-lived radio evangelist shows. These folk drawn from among the working poor, the elderly, and the outcasts of society become secret members of the Army of Salvation.They wait quietly for the time when they will be called upon to perform some task for the agents of God.

Some angels on Earth are sent on missions by their superiors to right various mundane wrongs they encounter--not by direct action as much as by encouraging humans to do so. These angels seldom appear in any way angelic: They mostly look like traveling salesmen, regular clerks or the like. They rarely manifest any supernatural powers--though they are able to travel from place to place instantaneously and have the uncanny knack of avoiding serious physical harm. Other powers are available to them, but these must be cleared with their superiors and are only sanctioned in the direst need.

Meet Team Victory

How about an art post for a Monday? Here's Lester B. Portly's great Chester Gould-esque rendition of the current characters in my online Weird Adventures game.

Expect to see more of Lester's work in this style in the Weird Adventures Companion!

'Twas the Fight Before Yule

Last night's Weird Adventures Holiday Special opened with our heroes (Don Diabolico, Cornelius Doyle, and Boris Brovksy) getting a visit from the kid gang known as the Hardluck Hooligans: Knuckles (the tough one), Da Brain (the smart one), Freckles (freckles), Topper (oversized tophat), Juniper (tomboy in an aviator helmet), Sunshine and Smiles (creepy, somber kids), and the Kid in Yellow (weird kid from Little Carcosa) and a couple of others. As Knuckles explains it, the kids want to hire our heroes to capture the anti-Yule spirit, the Grumpf.

It seems the Grumpf beat some of  the Hooligans with switches last year and they want revenge. They want the the creature captured so they can put him on their on trial. From a piggie bank, they offer some gold coins stolen from an adventurers' haul as payment.

After determining that it's genuine, Diabolico confiscates the coin they offer, calling it a retainer. How are they going to find the Grumpf, though? Da Brain has it all figured. His calculations predict that Grumpf will appear for the first time this season in Donander Plaza, around the skating rink.

The guys start planning. They get a big cage from a circus; and a net gun, a grappling gun, and one of the experimental electro-guns they used before from Hew Hazzard (which will cost them a favor later). Their lovely administrative assistant, Lola DeWytt, gets drafted be ice-skating bait. The Hardluck Hooligan Marbles will be another selection on the buffet.

Evening falls on Donander Plaza with the gang in their places. The Grumpf shows up and ignores the bait, but instead starts shredding the Plaza's 80-foot Yule trees (one that's magic and sings). Grappling guns, net guns, and electro-blasts are fired, but the Grumpf is only briefly hobbled. Diabolico is licked in the face. The Grumpf bounds away, cursing.

The chase is on! Diabolico is driving a motorcycle with Boris in a sidecar. Boris finally gets him with a net gun. Then the guys lay into the bound eikone with crowbar and boot. When he's good and dazed, the gang drags him back to the Hooligans.

Turns out the kids have a Yuletide dinner prepared. Our heroes join in. Doyle doesn't want to turn Grumpf because he wants to put him on display, King Kong-style, but he's overruled by the others. Our heroes are presented with their payment: five gold coins total (equating to about $35.00 each).

Thirty-five dollars each. Only Doyle makes any move when the Grumpf breaks free and starts switching the Hooligans. We "iris in" on a disgruntled Boris and Diabolico continuing to eat their dinner.

Rooke

This is Mingus Rooke, club owner, jazz musician, and former adventurer. He's rendered here in a Chester Gould-ish style by Lester B. Portly. Here's Rooke's stats in WaRP:

Mingus Rooke
Famous former adventure; Owner of the Blue Hound club in Solace

Black man, mid-50s, gone a little soft since retiring.

Attack: 2 dice
Defense: 3 dice

Jazz Musician, 6 dice (jazz slang)
In the Know, 3 dice - Well-connected to the adventuring, music, and magical communities. (he's always got a story)
Musical Magic, 3 dice - Can great various spell-like effects via music. Must be able to play his horn or another instrument to use this ability. Range is generally 2 x die roll yards, though this may vary with effect, at the referee's discretion..
Not as Young as He Used to Be - Any exertion that goes over 2 rounds results in a penalty die.

An Update Infernal

The above is Mammon, boss of the Pluton family, ably rendered by Jeremy (that Dandy in the Underworld). More images of Hell's hoods are forthcoming.  I figured it was time to update the Weird Adventures Index with a the whole rogues gallery.  Check out these posts if you missed them the first time:

     Andras: "Hell's Hoods: The Owl"
     Avernus family: "Hell's Hoods: Meet the Avernus Family"
     Belial: "Hell's Hoods: Sin's Queen"
     Bifrons: "Hell's Hoods: Two-Faced Politician"
     Mammon: "Hell's Hoods: The Fat Man"
     Moloch: "Hell's Hoods: The Bull"
     Pluton family: "Hell's Hoods: Casino Infernale"