Greetings, programs!
Don't worry, I didn't skip another write-up, we just cancelled last week. I don't really have anything particular to share, news-wise, so let's just get to it.
So aside from just establishing that Kenneth shared what he learned from Max about the symbols with the others, we more or less jumped ahead to that evening, around sundown. The unnatural bazaar to which Eddy carries a map is about to begin.
They head over to the alleys where the Ghost Market is to be held, having to park a couple of blocks away and walk over. The whole thing is set up in a couple of linked alleys shrouded in unnaturally-long shadows. Translucent figures in black hooded cloaks stand behind tables covered with assorted relics, Mementos, and bric-a-brac dredged up from the land of the dead. Other people, some of whom are Sin-Eaters the group recognizes from the Enders Krewe, some of whom are unknown Sin-Eaters, and then there are other living folks (presumably mages and the like) quietly trading with the hooded figures.[0] Men in suits who appear to have stepped out of an old black and white photo stand around keeping an eye on the whole thing. In a corner where the alleys come together, a spiral staircase placed where such a staircase ought not to be descends into the darkness (likely a passage to the Underworld).
Some of the people in attendance are clearly trading memories, judging by how some of the hooded figures are reaching up to pluck them from customers' heads in a similar (albeit less traumatic) fashion than Evette did. Sometimes the memory-trading is facilitated by one of the black and white men who step up with a needle-less syringe to extract the memory, transfer it to a vial, and pass it on to the hooded individual.
Kenneth remarks to Eddy that he should have brought the dolls to trade for something less terrifying, and Eddy replies (via notepad, because his voice hasn't recovered yet) that that's why he keeps them around.
The characters all spot a young man they recognize as Victor Saunders, one of the managers at the El Cortez working for Rossi. They've all had just enough contact with the larger organization to have seen him around, and all Kenneth knows about him is that he turned up in Vegas in 1944 at the age of 20 and has worked for Rossi the whole time, but no records exist prior to that (including military records, which stands out).
They're able to watch Victor, who hasn't seen them yet (and isn't going to, thanks to some decent rolls), moving from table to table, clearly looking for something. Eddy uses the Caul haunt to create a little ectoplasmic homunculus to discreetly follow Victor around and listen in.
They also spot the Dustwalker, the Reaper they fought back at Bacchus, standing off to the side, just watching. He spots them in turn and Kenneth gives him a look, and he simply responds holding his hands up in a placating gesture indicating that he's not here to cause trouble. It's pretty easy to guess that the Reaper is simply there to make sure none of the 'merchants' make a run for it.
With the homunculus watching Victor, the krewe decides to do some wheeling and dealing. Kenneth trades the memory of Max's death as to an explanation as to what his Memento shovel does (apparently it can find nearby bodies or graves by 'standing' it on its point and letting it fall). He also trades the memory of the German WWII soldier for a Memento deck of playing cards[1] carrying the Chance Key. Richard trades that lead coin of his (the one he got from Mel, though at the time he'd forgotten how he acquired it) for a Memento diary from the Civil War carrying the Stillness Key.[2]
Eddy's homunculus reports in that Victor is looking for something specific -- an amulet 'made from a bit of melted truck' that belonged to Mel. And as the creature tells them this, they see Victor going to talk to the Dustwalker but apparently not getting what he wants. They do notice when Victor spots Mel's lead coin and immediately trades for it (which is the point where Richard remembers where he got it). Eddy asks, via his notepad, if they should accost him in the parking lot. Kenneth argues they don't have any legal recourse to do anything to him. Eddy, out of frustration, pantomimes hanging himself, which gets him some actual glares from some of the ghosts in the alley.
Richard goes looking for something that might be able to help him learn the Tomb Haunt, either an item that can directly let him learn it or information on where he can pick it up himself. He's directed to a ghostly merchant who can help him in exchange for a memory, and asks him about destroying something he loved. He talks about dismantling the slot machines in the warehouse, about taking apart something he'd initially put so much time and energy into, seeing the results of skills he'd held in such high esteem taking apart and laid bare. The ghost takes the memory as Kenneth silently rages, concerned that this may have a negative effect on any testimony down the line. But this gets Richard a mysterious box that apparently contains a key (not a Key) to learning the Tomb.
But time passes, it's been a couple of hours, and as things are winding down Kenneth approaches one of the guys in suits and asks him about what he is. The guy says the best term for what he and the others are is 'goblin.'[3] Kenneth asks if that means they're "from a fairy land or something," and the guy says "sort of." But they talk a bit, particularly about the Dustwalker's role here -- the goblin says he's aware that Sin-Eaters and Reapers don't get along, but they have arrangements with a couple to make sure nothing escapes from the Underworld while all this is going on. But things are wrapping up, the merchants are packing stuff up, and as they return to the staircase they hand their robes over to one of the goblins in suits.
The krewe sticks around just long enough to see the last of the ghosts go down the stairs, at which point the staircase into darkness vanishes altogether as if it was never there.
Afterwards they return to the hotel, where the woman working at the front desk has a message for Eddy to call his new mobster buddy Kevin Moreno on a time-sensitive matter...
And we left off there.
[0]-- It occurred to me after the fact that I should have had some vampires show up as the evening went on, but hindsight and all that.
[1]-- Specifically, this is the 'Lucky 53' deck as seen in the Memento Mori supplement.
[2]-- This is the 'Cold Harbor Diary' from the Geist Second Edition core book. Rather than 'plant' Mementos ahead of time the group to acquire, I let them just tell me what sort of thing they were looking for and was willing to improvise or just pluck items from the books on the spot as appropriate.
[3]-- Yeah, long story short, this is a bunch of fae getting together to run something like a Goblin Market, but with ghostly merchants and the like.
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