The Grim Halls (TM) - Session Summaries 1-16

SESSION #1 

August 25, 2021

 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Drogo (Fighter 1)

Tessa (Cleric 1)

Myrl (Elf 1)

Shifty (Halfling 1)

Grumli (Dwarf 1)

Foxbur (Halfling 1)

 

Encounters:     Ghoul

                        Zombie

                        4 Beetlemen

                        Bull Shark

                        Kiel and Rufus

 

Treasure:          9gp

                        500sp

                        Gem (50gp)

                        4 Gold Rings (40gp each)

                        Giant Conch (50gp)

                        10 Quarrels +1

 

XP:                  429

 

Notable Moments:      Tessa’s immediate death

                                    Abysmal parenting skills with Kiel and Rufus

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SESSION #2

September 8, 2021

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Myrl (Elf 1)

Shifty (Halfling 1)

Grumli (Dwarf 1)

Deathhalt (Cleric 1)

Forberg (Fighter 1)

 

Encounters:     Kobolds

 

Treasure:         415sp

                        48gp

                        5 gems (3x 10gp, 2x 2000gp) 

 

XP:                  2268

 

Notable Moments:      Hell-bent for leather Myrl; and his death by kobold. 

                                    Clearing out the kobolds and steeling their rat wagon. 

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SESSION #3

April 13th, 2022

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 1)

Deathhalt (Cleric 1)

Forberg (Fighter 1)

Drogo (Fighter 1) 

 

Encounters:     Fire Beetles (twice) 

                        Zombies

                        Crystal Statue

                        Ghoul

                        Kiel & Rufus (again) 

 

Treasure:         Helm of Reading

                        3x Fire Beetle light stalks 

                        Potion of Healing

                        300sp

                        20gp

 

XP:                  140

 

Notable Moments:      Drogo and the yellow mould

                                    Drogo and the rust statue 

                                    Talking to the bones

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SESSION #4

November 20th, 2022

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 1)

Deathhalt (Cleric 1)

Forberg (Fighter 1)

Shifty (Halfling 1) 

Dirk the Deadly (Fighter 1)

 

Encounters:     Zombies

                        Bruno the Dungeon Chicken

                        Fire Beetles

                        Ghoul

 

Treasure:         Gem (100gp)

                        Dagger +1

                        Scroll - Protection from Lycanthropes 

                        Potion of Growth

                        Jewelry (900gp, 1100gp, 1200gp, 1200gp) 

 

XP:                  4740

 

Notable Moments:      Deathhalt dies to a dungeon chicken

                                    Forberg dies to a ghoul

                                    Rufus is now more powerful (?)

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SESSION #5

March 12, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 2) 

Drogo (Fighter 1)

Forburr (Halfling 1) 

Babyface (Dwarf 1)

[Nex (Fighter 1)]

[Nix (NM)]

Hans (Elf 1)

 

Encounters:     Giant Locusts

                        Beetlemen & Fire Beetles 

                        Giant Centipedes

                        More Beetlemen

 

Treasure:         25 Golden Beetles (10gp each)

                        300sp

                        60gp

                        Gem (50gp)

                        Silver Bangle (70gp)

                        2 Candlesticks (2x 60gp)

                        Jesters Hat (70gp)

 

XP:                  1016

 

Notable Moments:      Shifty's usurious lending practices

                                    All of Terry's dead characters 

                                    Drogo the Beetleslayer 

                                    Halfling pile to replace the statue head; and the reluctant participant (Foxburr)                                         gets the boon!    

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SESSION #6

March 29, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 2) 

Drogo (Fighter 1)

Forburr (Halfling 1) 

Hans (Elf 1)

[Firon (Elf 1)]

[Brinder (Elf 1)]

 

Encounters:      Kobolds

                         Arakis the Spider

                        4 Lizard Men 

Treasure:         Jewelry (600gp, 900gp)

                        Gold Beetle Helmet (370gp)

 

XP:                  1990

 

Notable Moments:  Elf hirelings charging after kobolds

                                Negotiation with the spider Arakis

                                Spiking rope in shaft / Arakis chews it off

                                Plans to impersonate beetlemen

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SESSION #7

April 20, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 2) 

Drogo (Fighter 1)

[Balg (Dwarf 1)]

Forburr (Halfling 1) 

Hans (Elf 1)

[Brinder (Elf 1)]

Deathault II (Cleric 1)

 

Encounters:     2 Ghouls

                        1 Beetle-shell golem

                        1 Gargoyle    

Treasure:         none

                        

XP:                  50

 

Notable Moments:  Spazz the door opening kobold

                                Trying to lure beetles with noise and light -1 NPC

                                Beetleshell golem fight -1 NPC (death by friendly fire) 

                                Han's the towering inferno -1 PC

                                Teleporting Deathault II and unsuccessful escape from the beetle temple -1PC

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SESSION #8

April 26, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 2) 

Thunk (Thief 1)

[Baln (Fighter 1)]

Thunk II (Thief 1) 

 

Encounters:     6 Fire Beetles

                        Flame Shadow

                        Crystal Statue

                        NPC Party

Treasure: 900gp

                gems (100gp, 1000gp)

                Slate of Identification 

                        

                        

XP:                  2100

 

Notable Moments:  Charge of the fire beetles; death of Thunk the Thief 

                                Flipping coppers onto strange black pillar; they disappear!

                                Baln abandons party when Thunk dies

                                Purchased 2x rumors

                                Successful carousing - Shifty and Thunk II

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SESSION #9

May 3, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 3)

Drogo Beetleslayer (Fighter 1)  

Thunk II (Thief 2) 

 

Encounters:     3 Zombies

                        5 Ghouls

                        1 Ghoul

                        1 black Widow Spider 

Treasure:     96gp

                    14 ep

                    49cp

                    4000ep

                    Crown (4000gp)

                               

XP:                  6364

 

Notable Moments:  Near total party kills to ghouls

                                That damn goblet and coffin

                                The ghouls gore

                                Death of Grumli and Drogo to the spider in the last encounter of the night 

                                Grumli's return to life and Shifty's crippling loan 

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SESSION #10

May 10, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Shifty (Halfling 3)

Thunk II (Thief 2) 

Vathek (Cleric 1)

[Carmak (Magic User 1)]

[Grub (Fighter 1)]

[Cadwell (Fighter 1)]

 

Encounters:     3 Fire Beetles

                        10 Skeletons

                        3 Zombies

                        4 Skeletons

                        1 Ghoul

                        8 Pit Vipers

                        5 Barrowmen

Treasure:     Goblet (1800gp)

                    Grave jewels (400gp)

                    3000sp

                    100gp

                    Chainmail +5

                               

XP:                  3065

 

Notable Moments:  The mighty warrior Grub (prompted to full retainer status)

                                The ineffectual Carmak

                                Remembered to look up for ghouls

                                Death of Cadwell testing the goblet (poison)

                                Fire bombing the vipers

                                Ture concern for hireling survival by Vathek

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SESSION #11

June 1, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 2)

Thunk II (Thief 3) 

[Wardor (NM)]

[Kronen (NM)]

 

Encounters:     3 Bugbears

                        3 Zombies

                        7 Barrowmen

                        1 Carrion Crawler 

Treasure:     4000ep

                    54cp, 33sp

                    Polearm +2

                               

XP:                  2290

 

Notable Moments:  Hireling deaths: Kronen to bugbears, Wardor to barrowmen

                                Still can't move that damned coffin lid

                                Weaponizing the wood/iron transformation pool

                                Grumli's two new near death experiences (carrion crawler and barrowmen)

                                Grumli and Thunk II go deeper in debt to Shifty

                                Actually left the dungeon and returned (needed to buy healing potions) 

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SESSION #12

June 7, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 3)

Thunk II (Thief 4)

Dirk the Deadly (Fighter 1) 

Chonko (Fighter 1)

 

Encounters:     3 Zombies

                        NPC Party "The Brutes"

Treasure:     25gp

                    9cp

                    Hand Axe +3

                    Ointment of Blessing

                               

XP:                  404

 

Notable Moments:  Failing to open that damn coffin lid. Again

                                Bakstab by "The Brutes". Dirk the Deadly dies. 

                                Capture the thief Xylorn; shows secret door to other half of level

                                Fun with bodies and teleporters

                                Shifty's amazing dice rolling vs "The Brutes"

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SESSION #13

July 5, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 3)

Thunk II (Thief 4)

Chonko (Fighter 1)

Vathek (Cleric 1)

[Carmak (Magic User 1)]

[Grub (Fighter 1)]

 

Encounters:     1 Ghoul

                        1 Ghoul

                        Grey Ooze

                        Black Widow Spider

Treasure:     500gp

                    Scroll of Illumination

                    Silk Robe (250gp)

                               

XP:                  850

 

Notable Moments:  Chonko & Grumli the door opening duo

                                Finally getting into the last of the burial cells and that damn coffin

                                Grumli sketching tomb drawings in the architects tomb 

                                The natural "20" grey ooze hit on Vathek

                                Barrowman negotiations

                                Thunk II carousing: and loosing the slate of identification

 

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SESSION #14

July 12, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 3)

Chonko (Fighter 1)

[Polemore (NM)]

[Rothcox (NM)]

 

Encounters:     4 zombies

                        gelatinous cube

                        7 Troglodytes (fighting the barrowmen) 

Treasure:     12gp, 17sp

                    1200sp

                    Staff of Dispelling

                               

XP:                  364

 

Notable Moments:  Chonko sharing healing potions with a lowly hireling

                                Mixing the magic pools

                                Gelatinous cube, crisp and burn

                                Shifty the new magic man

                                Now friends with the barrowmen

                                Rothcox dies a gelatinous death 

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SESSION #15

July 19, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 3)

Thunk II (Thief 4)

Vathek (Cleric 1)

[Grub (Fighter 1)]

Encounters:     1 Beetleman

                        The  Mighty Al-Akesh 

                        Rust Monster

Treasure:     10x rings (50gp each)

                    Crown (1800gp)

                    Scepter (1200gp)

                    Chalice (800gp)

                    Gem (10gp)

                    Short sword +1

                    Staff of Paralyzation 

                               

XP:                  5826

 

Notable Moments:  Grumli loosing gained ability score through greed for more

                                Out thinking the false Al-Akesk trap

                                Shifty's shifting allegiance

                                Talking to the Barrowmen again

                                Death of Grub to Al-Akesh

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SESSION #16

August 2, 2023

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Shifty (Halfling 4)

Grumli (Dwarf 3)

Thunk II (Thief 4)

Chonko (Fighter 1)

[Polemore (NM)]

Encounters:     2 Wights

                        Crypt Guardian

                        4 skeletons

                        Mini-Elementel

                        Pit Vipers

Treasure:     2 circlets (150gp each)

                    Sword +1, +3 vs Giants

                    3000gp

                    Gems (2x10gp, 3x50gp, 500gp)

                    Scented Oils (75gp)

                               

XP:                  4515

 

Notable Moments:  Kial and Rufus, the little shits

                                More coffin cooked vipers

                                Chonko mugged and robbed while carousing

                                

                                

                                

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Calcutta Part#1)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

After seven days of travel, the team lands at Dum Dum Airport on the outskirts of Calcutta. After first hiring a secure hanger for the plane, the team hires a car and driver (the unfazeable and cheerful Narayan) for the duration of their stay. Directing their driver to find them a hotel, Narayan bring them into the heart of the city to the Great Eastern Hotel. Inquiring as to any less opulent establishments, Narayan notes there is the equally upscale Grand Hotel, and a series of more moderate establishments catering to European travelers (Bristol Hotel, Conrad Arms, Fairlawn Hotel). But Nigel convinces the team this is the place to be, and notes Joshua Meadham would likely stay nowwhere but the best hotel. Questioning the doorman, the team is somewhat alarmed to learn Meadham and Canning are both in the lobby right now! Nigel goes in to eavesdrop and watch, he being the one team member Meadham has not met face to face. The old man, with Canning standing an intimidating guard nearby, is inquiring about two men (Tulsidas Vikmatji and Jonathan Taylor). Learning they has checked out, Meadham turns to leave. He locks eyes momentarily with Nigel, but does not recognize him. 

With Meadham and Canning gone, the team questions to doorman about Vikmatji and Taylor, wondering what they have to do with Caduceus or the Cobra Crown. They find no link to the mission, but get good description of the two men; early 30's, well dressed and educated. After checking into the Great Eastern themselves, Oz obtains and skims the last few Sunday editions of The Statesman newspaper. He notes the India Museum has a standing column in the paper announcing upcoming exhibits and shows. But there is no mention of the Cobra Crown, and the column is bylined to "Nathaniel Blyth - Curator", not the Mr. Kumtekar their own newspaper clipping identifies as the curator.  He also find the original announcement of the Cobra Crown exhibit, but it is buried away elsewhere in the paper away from the regular museum announcements.

Deciding they need to follow-up on this discrepancy, the team piles in the car for the drive to the India Museum. As Narayan weaves through the crowds and traffic, tragedy occurs. A man runs out in front of the car and is struck, falling to the pavement.  Ivy leaps out to help, but the man is beyond saving, his head smashed open and oozing brains and blood onto  the cobblestones. As the others join her, they note he is a rather well dressed European. As the crowd, interested for fleeting moment, starts to drift away, the team also notes two other points of interest. One,  a woman watches the scene from a nearby car, parked on the side of the road from which the man ran. Ivy recognizes her as Rose Meadham. The car then pulls away and is lost in the crowds. Two, as the team turns over the body, something rolls out from under his jacket. The Cobra Crown!!

Moving fast, the team loads the body into the car and Nigel starts rifling through the deceased's jacket for ID; the man turns out to be the mysterious Jonathan Taylor. He also finds a copy of the museum exhibit clipping; business cards for Mr. Kumtekar of the India Museum and a Reginald Askwith with the British Museum; napkin from Willard's Tearoom; and a matchbook from the Fairlawn Hotel marked "217".  Outside, Oz swiftly throws his jacket over the Crown just as an Indian policeman runs up blowing his whistle and demanding the team  stand down and turn over the body. After some discussion and bribery, the team turns over the paperwork and ID to the policeman and state they will bring the body to the police morgue. And then drive quickly away as the policeman attempts to take their names and statements. Narayan looses them in the twisting slums along the Hooghly River, where he finds  them someone who will take care of the body. 

Meanwhile, they examine the Crown and are not overly surprised to find it's a fake. Still unsure of where this Vikmatji and Taylor fit into things, they decide to head to the Fairlawn Hotel, assuming they'll find more information in room 217. Narayan gets them access through the kitchen and up the back stairs to the room. Faking room service, they get the door to open a crack, but still closed by the chain. A large goon confronts them, and after some tense back and forth, a female voice from inside the rooms tells the goon to let the party in. This leads to a brief standoff with guns drawn on both sides, broken by the calm words of the veiled woman sitting at a table by the window. And so the party finally meets the elusive and mysterious Rose Meadham. 

A somewhat amicable but tense conversation ensures, in which Rose attempts to convince the party that her father is the real villain with his plan to enslave humanity, while she and the Inner Night oppose him. She intends to prevent her father from getting the Cobra Crown, and use it to access the Gate to Mu on Snake Island for her own undefined purposes. The Crown, it seems, is needed to defeat the guardians of the Gate. She provides some intelligence from her agents that confirm much of what the team knows, and makes it clear that once any of the three interested parties (Tyranish, Inner Night and Caduceus) get they Crown, the next stop is Snake Island and the Gate.  Rose explains Vikmatji and Taylor are two men who claimed to have found the Crown and were going to sell it to her. But they had delayed and double crossed her, and she was now getting ready to leave Calcutta to deal with other matters. But perhaps she could make a deal with the team; they recover the Crown for her and she makes sure Joshua Meadham does not get his hands on it. The party initially tries to bluff, telling her they have the Serpent Scepter; but she tells them it is not critical to the plan. Rose is likewise unperturbed by the news Tyrannish is also in Calcutta looking for the Crown; she dismisses the Dreamer as a useless fossil of days long past. In the end, the team "agrees" to join forces, and to their surprise she hands them a Haftorang Device like the one they used to blow up Borneo. She tells them if they have the opportunity, it would be wise to plant this somewhere to take out her father for good. She assures then it is in good working order and set for a 6 hour delay.  And that that she announces her intent to leaves India, and her goons hustle the team out of the room. 

Back at the car, the team reflects on their latest questionable comrade and next steps. Maybe Willards Tearoom for a break and to look for clues? Arriving at the tearoom, they are quickly seated and are surprised to see a man matching the description of Tulsidas Vikmatji cowering behind his newspaper in an adjacent armchair. Confronted, he leaps up and runs, but after a short chase through tumbled tables and broken teapots, Nigel grabs him by the back door. Hustling him outside, the team learns the final piece of the puzzle. Vikmatji and Taylor were old university chums with plans to make their fortune recovering and selling ancient artifacts to the rich and famous. They'd learned the Cobra Crown was now held by a local Hindu cult, and were trying to figure out a way to get it from them. Along they way they crossed paths with one of Rose Meadham's spies, and so entered an agreement to sell it to her once it was in their hands. They also spoke of the crown to Mr. Kumtekar of the India Museum, and to a strange and frightening eccentric. And then Joshua Meadham arrived in town asking after them. Now frightened out of their wits, and under pressure and threat from Rose Meadham, they planned to pawn  a fake crown off on her and either get the real crown to sell to another interested buyer, or just get out of town. That plan is of course now in tatters, and Vikmatji begs the team to help him. He divulges the location of the shrine with the Cobra Crown, and the team them gives him enough cash to get out of the city forthwith ... 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (New York Part#6)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

At the last minute, Nigel has a change of heart. Instead of pulling the trigger, he pulled out a grenade and, leaving the pin in, throws it at the fleeing guard.  Which hits the man in the head and knocks him out cold. The team drags the unconscious man back into the office and ties him up. But unfortunately the other guards have heard and come to investigate. Oz, hiding in the bathroom, manages to fast talk them into leaving, impersonating the guard and saying he's just having some stomach issues. Once the guards leave, Zeke sneaks back out into the warehouse and moves to the edge of the piled crates. Beyond he can see the big bay doors overlooking the river, in front of which are posted four more guards. Above is a large gantry crane, controlled from a small mezzanine in the upper right corner. There is also a large covered hatch in the floor, and a set of stairs going down. 

Assuming the information or proof they are looking for is in the basement, the team hatches a plan. They decide to start a fire in the office to draw off the guards, then sneak downstairs. The plan partially works; the fire does attract a few guards, but two remain by the bay doors. So the team charges in, guns raised, and successfully intimidates them into dropping their weapons. Marching their captives before them, the team goes downstairs. Where they immediately run into two more very alert guards. A short gun fight ensues, with one guard going down right away, and the second shot as he ran towards a glassed-in control room at one end of the warehouse. And now the team sees what fills the rest of the space: suspended from the ceiling are huge pressurized canisters. Tubes run from these canisters and flow into huge glass pipes, six feet across and a hundred feet long that contain hand-sized mutated mosquitoes, flying in a green cloud. Airlocks at the end of each tube allow access—in a couple of these are the near-mummified remains of bodies drained of their bodily fluids.

Momentarily there is commotion upstairs, sounds of running feet and the firing of Tommy guns. Figuring they're sprung some sort of trap, the team quickly examines the control room. It is full of dials and gauges of a type that even  Zeke can't quite understand. There is also a radio, which Nigel picks up , hoping he can use it to delay the people upstairs. It links, however, to Caduceus headquarters. So Nigel has inadvertently alerted the whole organization to the break-in. 

Zeke figures out how to turn on the gas, and starts to over-pressurize the mosquito chambers, meaning to break them and hopefully kills the bugs. At about the same time, a group of men in trench coats and carrying Tommy guns burst into the lower level. Not knowing who they are but assuming the worst, the rest of the team opens fire with gun and grenade, cutting down a few while Zeke sets a dynamite charge to blow a passage out into the East River. His plan is to open an escape route and flood the basement at the same time. The first works, but the water flow is pretty slow and it's likely the mosquitos are going to escape the building. But as the team climbs back into their rowboat and starts back across the river, they hear another round of gunfire and then the warehouse goes up in a massive fireball.  At least they've left no tracks behind ...

The team makes it's way back to their hotel, and wait to see what happens next. They read about the explosion in the newspaper, as well as an article identifying them as the 'rogue' team that attacked the Caduceus headquarters a few days earlier. But perhaps the most interesting piece is the announcement, buried on the back pages in the culture section, that the Cobra Crown is about to go on display at the India Museum in Calcutta! Now they really need to get the Serpent Scepter!

First step is to get back in touch with their Mafia connections, to tell them what the team learned at the warehouse (i.e. there are no illegal drugs there) and see what their associates have learned of the Serpent Scepter. After a few days in hiding, their usual driver Lucio knocks on the door and bundles everyone into his car to meet with their handler, Bonventre. Oz hypnotizes their driver, and learns that as far as Lucio knows, the meeting is a safe and friendly one. They arrive back at the Green Garden Cafe just after dark. This time there are just a half dozen mafioso soldiers, and Bonventre sitting alone at a table in the back. He greets the team and offers them a drink, then gets down to business. The tell him their tale, giant mosquitos and all. He does not seem too surprised by that news, and the team learns the trenchcoated men at the warehouse were part of Bonventre's crew, sent to back up/check up on the team. He seems nonplussed by the deaths of his men; just the cost of business. 

Pressed to fulfill his end of the bargain, Bonventre pulls back a curtain hiding the end of the bar nbehind him, revealing a very bloody and bruised man tied to a chair. On closer examination, the team realizes it's actually a disguised serpent man. Bonventre thanks the team for the warning that his organization might be infiltrated, and introduces Martino Bresciani aka Hlysa. This was the 'man' who altered the family to the possible presence of drugs in the Redhook warehouse. Bonventre reveals Hlysa works for some organization called the Inner Night, headed by Rose Meadham. His job was to stir up trouble for Caduceus, but Bonventre didn;t learn exactly why. As for the Serpent Scepter, Bonventre tells the team it was stolen from their plane by a man called Canning; and that both Joshua Meadham and Canning have just this day left for Calcutta on urgent business. 

Bonventre offers the family's help in getting the team to their plane and out of New York, probably for good. And a short time later, the de Havilland Dragon is in the air and headed for Calcutta ...