[MH] Caribbean by Night

[Varyon]

Hmmm... given the focus on the events in and near Galveston and their repercussions, I suspect at best Houston PD would ask their officers (only) to keep an eye out for the vehicle. The chance one of them saw such (and saw it heading in a useful direction) isn't great. The chance a highway patrolman saw it is markedly higher, but it looks like the only way Houston PD would find out is if one of their officers happened to mention it to a highway patrolman he happened to be friends with. You may wish to roll for either case (or do a single roll for "someone noticed the hearse and informed Houston PD"); the probability is probably rather low. If that happens, there's the possibility someone in Kessler's sphere of influence in the Houston PD could bring it to the attention of Houston's people prior to Ms Lee contacting Ms Talbot (which I assume would occur Sunday night or perhaps Monday morning, depending on how Lee opts to initiate contact and perhaps how often Talbot checks her email). I doubt that will happen - as stated, it strikes me as rather low probability.

Also, it never ceases to impress me the amount of fleshing out you're willing to do for such minor NPCs. The random clerk who fell victim to the cult is now the center of the personal tragedy of a family, with a fiancee hellbent (potentially literally) on discovering the truth and perhaps seeing justice done. Marvelous.

[Varyon]

Fake EDIT: I meant someone in Kessler's sphere on influence in the Houston PD might bring it to the attention of Kessler's people.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Hmmm... given the focus on the events in and near Galveston and their repercussions, I suspect at best Houston PD would ask their officers (only) to keep an eye out for the vehicle. The chance one of them saw such (and saw it heading in a useful direction) isn't great. The chance a highway patrolman saw it is markedly higher, but it looks like the only way Houston PD would find out is if one of their officers happened to mention it to a highway patrolman he happened to be friends with. You may wish to roll for either case (or do a single roll for "someone noticed the hearse and informed Houston PD"); the probability is probably rather low.

I rolled for it and while a trooper of the Highway Patrol Division of the TxDPS noticed the hearse driving west on the US 59 near Hungerford and momentarily wondered why the hearse was on the highway, he had no idea that the Houston PD were looking for it.

Once the APB is put out on Monday morning, that trooper will notice it around 11:00 and call HPD, telling them what he saw, but admitted that he didn't notice the license plate.

Originally Posted by Varyon

If that happens, there's the possibility someone in Kessler's sphere of influence in the Houston PD could bring it to the attention of Houston's people prior to Ms Lee contacting Ms Talbot (which I assume would occur Sunday night or perhaps Monday morning, depending on how Lee opts to initiate contact and perhaps how often Talbot checks her email). I doubt that will happen - as stated, it strikes me as rather low probability.

None of the officers or the detective working the Houston Party Bus Rental Service case have any connection to Kessler, according to my random roll.

However, the attempts by the Young family to get answers and the repeated frantic calls to the police by Kaitlyn Lee did get noticed by a Houston PD detective who called a friend, actually a retired Sergeant from the HPD, who now works for Kessler's Operations Center in Houston. So, among several dozen other 'things that might be interesting' entered into the Ops Center on the 29th December 2018 was a note about this suicide and how it might be caused by the heightened spiritual activity going on in the Galveston-Houston area.

That's not enough for anyone to call Kessler or someone from his household, but if anyone aboard Penemue contacts the Ops Center asking about odd things, this will be one of the things they hear about. The Ops center will also follow up on the ABP once it is issued, so they'll get the note about the highway trooper on Monday, if nothing has happened in the meantime to render that irrelevant.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Also, it never ceases to impress me the amount of fleshing out you're willing to do for such minor NPCs. The random clerk who fell victim to the cult is now the center of the personal tragedy of a family, with a fiancee hellbent (potentially literally) on discovering the truth and perhaps seeing justice done. Marvelous.

Every action has consequences.

That's what makes for a living world.

Even if, technically, in this case, the actions being taken are those of NPCs, but, then again, those NPCs wouldn't be changing their plans if not for the actions of PCs earlier. Eh, more than a year ago in real life, actually.

[Icelander]

From the US Law Enforcement Response, Time, Scale and Coordination (Galveston, TX) thread, much more suitable here:

Originally Posted by johndallman

Quiet little Alice is somewhat bloodthirsty these days, isn't she? One might even wonder if she's quite the same person as before she was sacrificed?

Indeed.

Aboard the Aqueronte was the first time the other PCs actually saw Alice doing.... well, things of efficient, elegant and extreme brutality. And they had exactly the same question. Mind you, they didn't only wonder about a personality change, they were also somewhat surprised at the fact that sedentary, unathletic Alice could run like a wolf, swim like a shark and wield a knife like lethal poetry.

Alice explained that she could call upon assistance from a being whose acquintance she had made, much in the way a voudon cheval could have the loas ride him. She assured them that she remained perfectly in control, aside from occasional and unimportant lapses, absolutely no threats at all.

The other PCs were shocked and appalled, of course. Lacoste even went so far as to ask her if she was a demon, to which Alice replied that she was still Alice, just one with powers that had a slight cost. And which she never used unless someone else was in grave danger. All the other PCs then simultaneously had a horrible thought and asked her: "Alice, did you crucify the little dog?" And Alice told them that, no, she absolutely hadn't. "That was him, not me."

Not entirely consistent, our adorable Alice. Also, as the PCs had prepared for their tactical operation aboard the Aqueronte by linking their minds, which was intended as just a communicqtion device, but unintentionally ended up causing quite a bit of emotional leak-through, the other PCs could sense quite clearly that Alice was not entirely her mousy, diffident self. What emotions they could sense were a cold fury, tightly controlled rage and a dark, sensual joy in the lethal beauty and cruelty of violence.

None of the other PCs particularly noticed* that Hollywood Homely Alice had apparently also had the traditional makeover at the penultimate part of the movie that transforms the slouching, bespectacled invisible girl into a gorgeous sexpot with perfect posture and movie-star flair.

A new hire among Kessler's 'Night Riders', CPT Julian Winding (USMC, Ret.), however, certainly notices. In fact, he was also on guard when Alice returned from her excursion the night of the ambush of the 'Gwen Delvano' prisoner transport, and had to help her to her room and help her find a change of clothes because she was literally covered in blood, so he might have known Alice's secret longer than the PCs, but said nothing to anyone else.

Alice's player and possibly Alice herself appears to resent Winding's tall, athletic and Nordic Hollywood leading man good looks and the way he keeps ending up thrust into intimate, personally revealing situations with her. In fact, after Alice performed impromptu Hara-kiri with her Obsidian Athame, CPT Winding was the one who rescued her from the water and performed first aid, which he did very tenderly and with some rather believable assurances that she was safe now, he would protect her et cetera ad nauseum.

At this point, Alice had entirely lost her glamourous edge, perfect posture and stylish hair, and, indeed looked more like a drowned rat than the Evil is Sexy version of Alice aboard Aqueronte, but if anything, this only seemed to make Winding more protective of her (Pitiable for the win!).

And while Winding was trying to keep her from going into shock, he talked to her about inane things and asked her questions, which she somehow found herself answering (after her 'episodes', Alice tends to feel giddy, euphoric and uninhabited; also, she had just received a morphine injection). In ten minutes, Alice told a guy she has known for about two days more about her previous life, her parents, growing up a nerdy, lonely kid, about her terrible college boyfriend who ended up sacrificing her in a dark ritual and even the devil bound to her than she has ever told the other PCs.

Only the fact that Winding couldn't leave those of his men who were, like him, not protected by Reserve Deputy badges, to face the incoming law enforcement without him enabled him to leave Alice in the hands of 'Nonc' Morel for their escape on a Zodiac toward Penemue. It seems that whether Alice wants to or not, she now has an official Love Interest.

Of course, Alice says** she's a lesbian, but none of the other PCs believe her, claiming that lesbians are defined by their seeking to date women and while Alice is in college, presumably full of interesting young people in search of romance, she hasn't been on a date since they met her. Apparently, the other PCs believe her official sexual orientation is 'Too Shy to Try'. Because, obviously, by every rule of pop culture, Nerds Are Virgins.

*'Nonc' Morel is resolutely asexual, Teddy Smith has so far retreated deep into focusing on his job and not shown any interest in romance since he got back from Elsewhere and Lucien Lacoste apparently hasn't thought about the subject since he went into a coma after the shoting in which his partner died (before the start of play and both the reason Lacoste quit the NOPD and for his apparent strong connection to the Spirit World). All three PCs utterly ignore attractive NPCs of any gender and, in the case of Lacoste and Smith, at least, pretend not to notice flirting or are too wrapped up in their own psychological trauma to acknowledge it. Edit: It's been so long since the session before the boarding of Aqueronte that I legitimately forgot, but Lacoste, at any rate, is not immune to flirtation. He hooked up with DUSM Natalie Garza! It's just Alice he doesn't see as a sexual object, probably because until now, she was about as unappealing to prospective sexual partners as a young woman in adequate health without major deformities can reasonably be.
**While blushing furiously and refusing to talk about the subject of her love life any further, at a previous occasion when the subject of whether villains wanted to sacrifice her because of her (presumed by other PCs) virginity came up.

[Icelander]

Say that our friendly cultists wanted to bring to the US a variety of ritual trappings, Charms and energy sources in the form of antiquities, jewelry and artwork, and other objects that are not strictly illegal, but are likely to be either regulated by Customs or at least raise eyebrows. Including ritual Athames and other knives, some with ivory handles or decorations.

Flying with all of this would be dangerous for several reasons. It might get the cultists stopped or at least questioned, and it might also increase the odds of a malfunction of some sort aboard the plane.

Now, I know how the cultists traveling from California arrranged to transport their ritual paraphernalia. However, the cultists who landed in Texas might not have trusted their companions with some of their most personal and valuable posessions. Also, they might not have wanted to be without them until they all met up, but wanted to have a way to claim them shortly after landing.

I checked FedEx and antiquities, jewelry and objects d'art can be problematic to ship, at least without paperwork and insurance. And knives may count as 'weapons' to FedEx, even if they are mostly decorative.

One way to ship these things would have been to smuggle them on the Aqueronte, but that would mean that the cultists would have accepted being without their strongest ritual tools for almost a whole day after landing, including while they were dealing with organized criminals whom they don't know personally and a number of potentially dangerous supernatural creatures. Somehow, I imagine that the cultists wanted to have their full complements of thaumic aids available during that interaction.

The alternative would have been giving up many of their neatest ritual tools even earlier, shipping them on another ship that landed in Houston the week before, and having someone from the Consortium stash them somewhere they could be picked up immediately after landing. I can see advantages to this, but, of course, it does mean a week longer without that stuff.

On the other hand, an extra week without their best magic stuff at home, safe, with access to lots of back-up ritual paraphernalia, weighed against one potentially risky night in a strange country, with only what back-up they were comfortable taking through Customs and on an airplane, seems like it might be a less bad choice.

The third option is trusting the cult members from California to bring all their ritual stuff as well, so while they wouldn't have it during the day, they could have tooled up before having to deal with any strangers or potentially dangerous supernatural beings. This would require being without whatever ritual paraphernalia and other esoteric stuff they give to their colleagues for at least a month and maybe much more, as it would have been smuggled by ship and probably through a complex shipping route involving a variety of Pacific destinations.

Finally, there is the option of distributing items of ritual significance through all of the above methods, so that no matter what happens, they'll at least have a basic set of everything they need and a few nice magical tools. The risk of that is that it multiples the chance of at least one of the delivery methods resulting in some of the items being stolen or lost, but, then again, if they are planning for the end of the world, they have to be aware that some of their favorite stuff might get lost in the process.

What would forumites have done if they were the cultists?

[RogerBW]

I gather that animal products (i.e. things made from animals, like horn knives) can also be tricky to ship.

Do they need their own things? Or can they get away with robbing a museum once they've arrived?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

I gather that animal products (i.e. things made from animals, like horn knives) can also be tricky to ship.

Do they need their own things? Or can they get away with robbing a museum once they've arrived?

Their own Charms, enchanted items, magical energy sources and ritual paraphernalia will have years of Magical Patina (GURPS Thaumatology); likely be Signature Gear and have Named Possession and Equipment Bond (in setting terms, ritually bound with their essence); and likely have been prepared over the past months or years with ritual enchantments that allow them to store vast amounts of magical energy usable in rituals, act as Charms for Conditional Spells or protective vessels to preserve pre-cast rituals and prevent them from being dissipated with dawn.

I'd estimate that without their own magical gear, the cultists are prevented from using 95% of their cool supernatural powers, if only because it removes the option of activating any kind of magical effect quickly, i.e. any magic useful on a tactical time scale.

And at least half of their personal magical gear, as well as much of what they've been given by their superiors in the cult to support this mission, is stuff that would at least raise eyebrows at Customs, if not more, at least if not accompanied by a plausible cover story, the appropriate paperwork and someone confident and capable who could back up both.

[Varyon]

Were I an evil cultist who was well-established in my area of influence, I'd probably send my best stuff-that-would-raise-eyebrows-and-make-my-airplane-crash through the month-long method, as it seems to be the most reliable. I'd make all the Charms I could that I anticipated needing over the next month (and a few I didn't anticipate, just in case a rival comes for my head or whatever) before sending those away*; if I anticipated Charms I'd need to support or enact the ritual, and that I felt I could make more readily at my home base than on-site, I'd go ahead and make those as well. I'd keep some less-good stuff - or any of my best stuff that I felt I could get through customs or even be bring with me (like Sister's Maria's rosary) - around with me to assist in any rituals I needed to perform over the next month. A week before leaving, I'd ship out some backup tools on the ship that actually made it to port, possibly including some of the stuff I'd been using over the past month while deprived of my best. If possible, I'd send another set with the Aqueronte, but it sounds like that was a suboptimal choice even before the PC's made a mess of it. Finally, I'd send whatever I thought could get past customs through a commercial service (probably arranging to pick my items up at the shipment center upon arrival), and whatever I thought wouldn't wreck the plane (and I could get past TSA) I'd bring with me.

Incidentally, is it possible to reduce the chance of a magically-induced malfunction by some temporary treatment of the magical object, such as storing it in an iron-lined box or Faraday cage? If so, is anyone aware of this - and if not, is there anyone who mistakenly believes it to be so? If any cultist thinks they can mitigate the risks, said cultist is more likely to try to bring his best stuff directly with him.

*You've mentioned you still require rolls to use Charms in areas of reduced magical potency - that is, nearly everywhere - but I assume Charms made with access to one's best gear are better than those made without said access, even if they are used in exactly the same situation.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Were I an evil cultist who was well-established in my area of influence, I'd probably send my best stuff-that-would-raise-eyebrows-and-make-my-airplane-crash through the month-long method, as it seems to be the most reliable.

I should probably clarify that the 'month' and 'week' are rough estimates of how long the respective ships would be at sea. Added to that should probably be the time to transport their stuff to the port where they start, which is from one day to ten, depending on exactly where they are in South America and how they would transport it.

Also, in both cases, odds are that there would be some three days lost during loading and offloading of the ship, in order not to raise suspicions.

So, for optimal comparison, let's say that shipping items by the Pacific route would take 36-45 days, shipping them by the unnamed ship that reached Houston last week would take 11-18 days in transit (and then the items would be waiting in Houston for an extra week during which they couldn't use them either) and shipping them by Aqueronte would take 11-18 days of transit time as well, but have the drawback of being available to the arriving cultist anywhere from 4 to 18 hours later than the other methods.

At the time the decision was made, the cultists didn't really have any reason to distrust the Consortium assets in Houston any more (or less) than the 'Red Dragon' assets involved in smuggling by the Pacific route.

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'd make all the Charms I could that I anticipated needing over the next month (and a few I didn't anticipate, just in case a rival comes for my head or whatever) before sending those away*; if I anticipated Charms I'd need to support or enact the ritual, and that I felt I could make more readily at my home base than on-site, I'd go ahead and make those as well.

Yes, and you'd be making these in company with many, many cultists who either were not trusted to travel to the US or did not choose to go, but still wanted to provide assistance.

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'd keep some less-good stuff - or any of my best stuff that I felt I could get through customs or even be bring with me (like Sister's Maria's rosary) - around with me to assist in any rituals I needed to perform over the next month.

Just so.

Originally Posted by Varyon

A week before leaving, I'd ship out some backup tools on the ship that actually made it to port, possibly including some of the stuff I'd been using over the past month while deprived of my best.

As noted above, that's more like a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by Varyon

If possible, I'd send another set with the Aqueronte, but it sounds like that was a suboptimal choice even before the PC's made a mess of it.

It probably was. Still, I expect that it was carrying extra energy sources, if not perhaps any items excessively personal to the owners.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Finally, I'd send whatever I thought could get past customs through a commercial service (probably arranging to pick my items up at the shipment center upon arrival), and whatever I thought wouldn't wreck the plane (and I could get past TSA) I'd bring with me.

Of course, that would have been done through Consortium logistics, because when it was being done, the cultists couldn't know that their US cover business would be compromised.

Even so, Sister María Teresa was unwilling to leave behind some of the stuff she sent through the previous week's ship and/or a commercial shipping service, so she sent her assistant to pick it up, even if that had a potential to run into a police ambush if they had already caught the Consortium people and turned them. To her, it was an acceptable risk, especially since the man she sent is (she believes) completely loyal to her and wouldn't betray her even if caught, but, on the other hand, would not be vital to the actual work of performing the ritual.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Incidentally, is it possible to reduce the chance of a magically-induced malfunction by some temporary treatment of the magical object, such as storing it in an iron-lined box or Faraday cage? If so, is anyone aware of this - and if not, is there anyone who mistakenly believes it to be so? If any cultist thinks they can mitigate the risks, said cultist is more likely to try to bring his best stuff directly with him.

There are complex, magically potent works of Sacred Architecture or ritual enchantment to focus the arcane energy inward, douse or limit it, but the cheapest, simplest and almost as effective method is to put the enchanted object inside a lead container.

It's not perfect, but it does reduce the potential for harm by a couple of orders of magnitude.

Originally Posted by Varyon

*You've mentioned you still require rolls to use Charms in areas of reduced magical potency - that is, nearly everywhere - but I assume Charms made with access to one's best gear are better than those made without said access, even if they are used in exactly the same situation.

The equipment bonus is retained and the Mana level that affects the final roll is an average of the place where it was made and the place where it is cast (and where the target is, if different).

That means it's always to your benefit to use your best gear to make Charms and the like and arrange to perform your ritual at the most powerful Place of Power you can access.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I should probably clarify that the 'month' and 'week' are rough estimates of how long the respective ships would be at sea. Added to that should probably be the time to transport their stuff to the port where they start, which is from one day to ten, depending on exactly where they are in South America and how they would transport it.

Given the revised time tables, I think the only thing that really changes about my response is that I'd be much less likely to send anything - and certainly wouldn't send anything of serious importance - via the Aqueronte. Having to wait around for the ship to offload is just asking for trouble. As you note, extra energy sources are the only thing I really see being sent that route. That, or maybe some tools that were inferior even to the second-rate ones I was using back at home while my best were being smuggled over, simply as backup in case everything else was compromised.

Originally Posted by Icelander

There are complex, magically potent works of Sacred Architecture or ritual enchantment to focus the arcane energy inward, douse or limit it, but the cheapest, simplest and almost as effective method is to put the enchanted object inside a lead container.

It's not perfect, but it does reduce the potential for harm by a couple of orders of magnitude.

I had considered lead, but dismissed it as you've mentioned elsewhere that it's more magically inert than anti-magic (while iron is largely the latter). Still, good to know there are options. If would be humorous if some of the more powerful cultists were in lead-lined coffins for the trip over.

Originally Posted by Icelander

The equipment bonus is retained and the Mana level that affects the final roll is an average of the place where it was made and the place where it is cast (and where the target is, if different).

That means it's always to your benefit to use your best gear to make Charms and the like and arrange to perform your ritual at the most powerful Place of Power you can access.

I figured it would be something like that. So, yeah, make high-quality Charms both for the ritual and for the ~6 weeks you'll be without your best gear. Send the Charms you intend to use in the States along with your best gear, unless you're confident you can safely transport them yourself, and keep the rest with you. Any personal-use ones that you still have by the time you fly out, either bring them with you (if practical) or spend/discard them (to make "room" for more Conditionals, in case you need them in the States).