abstract
| - The party came into Levittown, Pennsylvania expecting werewolves. Instead, they found evidence of a killed werewolf, a beheaded body, and a mad ghost (Carolyn Picklesimmer) who barely managed to point them in the direction of the Higginsons, a wealthy couple in the area. Luke and David Higginson owned a small private collection of artifacts and antiques. The party used this fact to maneuver themselves in--only to discover that the (fake?) Mona Lisa and the sword made of a meteorite were not the most intriguing exhibits in the collection. The party was guided downstairs to the "special" collection, containing objects out of a hunter's wet dream--or nightmare: ancient books, amulets and witchcraft, curse boxes, a hand of glory, and magical weaponry--including the renowned Sword of Paracelsus. (This sword, with Azoth emblazoned on the pommel, was rumored to contain either a panacea to cure all ills, or a demon. Needless to say, great care was to be taken with this implement.) Also in the room was a now-powerless portrait of the man who inspired Dorian Grey. Behind this portrait--the really interesting collection. A werewolf had escaped. Still present, however, was quite the menagerie: a ghost of a man named Reginald, a zombie (formerly the Higginsons' pool boy, Dylan), a human woman (with powers of some sort), a ghoul, a vampire, a shapeshifter, a wendigo, a hellhound, a golem, a demon-possessed little girl, and a "weevil"--some supernatural creature unrecognized by any of the party. The party was not exactly happy with this part of the collection--both for the seeming innocents, and the evidence that innocents may have been *fed* to the occupants. But they didn't have the chance to comment, before alarms went off--and the cage doors opened. The vampire and--the vampire? no, the shapeshifter--managed to pass by first, but Cody one-shotted the wendigo (again!) before it could escape. Their "host" David headed toward the golem, but was side-tracked by the weevil, who inflicted major damage--including poisonous claws, he warned the others. Danielle took a shot at (one of?) the vampire, and Joe headed after the escapees, stopping the shapeshifter--who took his anger out on Joe. Matt tried to grapple the vampire--but he escaped, giving the impression that he wasn't, in fact, a bad guy. Alex made his way toward the golem, but got there just in time to see it free the demon from her devil's trap--and instruct it to attack him. But Reginald, the ghost (freed from his salt circle by the escaping psychic woman, Sofia) helped him fight the golem. And when Alex managed to stop it from attacking, Reginald retrieved the golem's scroll, handing it to the hunter. The demon child tried to control Alex's will, but failed, and Alex destroyed the scroll-- In the flames on the face of the weevil, whose face Joe had managed to set aflame, though not before it inflicted great damage on David, who lay in Luke's arms. Meanwhile, Alan was in a tussel with the zombie, managing to get it down so Cody could behead it and place its head between its legs. Nearby, Matt began reciting an exorcism loudly, trying to contain the demon child. (And shortly, having consumed the dead wendigo, the ghoul began to feast upon the zombie.) Luke gets the flaming weevil shoved into the cage where the hellhound had been (and probably was no longer), and closed the door. Alan headed over to close the door to the demon child's cage, while Cody lined the edge with salt, neither succoming to the demon's mind control. Danielle finished off the weevil, whose screams had been irritating everyone. Alex helped stabilize David, despite some misgivings about the men who had set all this into being. Alan headed upstairs to find the vampire they'd allowed to leave (but who had promised to wait), while the Matt finished up the exorcism. Upstairs, Alan discovered the hellhound-destroyed body of Cynthia, the Higginsons' secretary. He also encountered the vampire, Phil, as well as some of his friends--who turned out not be bad people, though their method of rescuing their friend may have left something to be desired. Alan conversed with them, exchanged contact information, and got a lead about something going on at Ellis Island. Downstairs, the party finished up the containment, then had a "chat" with Luke. In exchange for helping David to live, and not turning the two in to the police, the party confiscated and/or burned most of their occult collection, and set the golem to guard the cells. They very much encouraged the Higginsons never to do anything like this again. After tying up some loose ends (like helping Reginald see his family one last time before moving on, and Joe healing the party's wounded), they set off. Destination: New York, New York.
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