Session 16: A Strange Conspiracy Part 3

 October 14th, 2013 

The Irregulars took Ted back to their hotel room in Francois' cookpot in order to try to interrogate him further, and maybe help him if they felt so inclined. To try to counteract his sanction-born terror of them, they spent Glamour to strengthen the Mask so he could no longer see through it, then woke him up. Still afraid of the group, he tried to run, and they let him because, as they insisted, “it's not a kidnapping!” Eric still followed him out and to the hotel's stairwell, coaxing him back with a promise that they wouldn't hurt him if he just talked to them, and that the “scary ogre guy” wouldn't be there. Ted reluctantly acquiesced, and Tia sent Francois to cook soup for everyone while Ted talked.

He told the motley about the deal to write code to certain specifications given him by a woman named Ms. Greene in Little Compton, in exchange for cash under the table. He only spoke to Ms. Greene over the phone, and was also required to speak to someone else on the phone with no name. It was just a Voice, and he doesn't remember the conversation but he remembers he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it—a Pledge. He willingly turned over his phone history, which included a call from a number that showed up as garbage characters with visible corruption in the display. Satisfied they'd gotten everything they could out of Ted, the motley let him go, and he skipped town. Francois then came in with the finished soup.

The group looked up Orla Greene, the woman who had contracted Ted to write the code, and tracked her down to her home. They staked out her house for the night, but the most interesting thing that happened was that they discovered a Hedge Gate into marshland and boardwalk nearby. Everything else was, in the motley's words, “boring.” They also tried reaching Hannah on the phone, that evening and the next morning, but it went to voicemail both times.

 October 15th, 2013 

Due to concerns for their motley-mate, Eric and Tia chartered a small plane to return home while Francois prepared for an appointment with Ms. Greene. The pair found the front door of Chiara's and Hannah's apartment unlocked. Hannah was nowhere to be found inside, her keys were missing, and her computer was left with a document still open that she'd been working on, which ended mid-sentence. Chiara tracked Hannah's phone, but it pinged in the apartment itself, and with a quick call it turned up fallen behind Hannah's desk. The call history showed three calls from Chiara, and prior to that a corrupted garbage-symbol number, just like Ted's phone.

Eric called the garbage number back and got a strange sound with feedback as his response, like tuning into an off-the-air station but with an underlying unsettling note, almost like you can hear someone talking to you just beyond the range of sound. Chiara called Goatskin, but he knew nothing about Hannah's disappearance. He did promise to get word to the freehold to keep an eye out for her.

Eric and Tia headed back to Little Compton, where the group met with Orla Greene at her workplace, the Morrison Group, a business law office. Greene was annoyed at the group's frivolous nonsense, and nothing turned up supernatural or lying (as far as the group could tell). Greene did grudgingly agree to arrange an appointment with Mrs. Morrison for the following day.

NPCs Met
Orla Greene, personal assistant to Christina Morrison, a business lawyer

Enemies
Creepy garbage static on the phone

Other Stuff
Session 15: A Strange Conspiracy (Part 2)

Session 17: An Eldritch Ritual (Part 1)