Chapter 2: In this chapter, Mr. Whitaker revealed a little more of his hand to the rest of the MIB, and in doing so showed the group just how ruthless he can be (although he could just be bluffing). It seems that he has made a deal with some mages in Chicago called the Seers of the Throne. No one knows the exact details, but it seems Mr. Whitaker has gained a significant amount of information in the bargain. Unfortunately for him, the transformation he attempted with Kyle was not a complete success. Through his untimely demise, Kyle's resurrected form was denied the lion's share of his soul's former power. The statue compensated for this effect somewhat, but he is still just a riven mockery of a living mage at this point.
Mr. Whitaker seeks to repair the damage that has been wrought to Kyle, and to turn him into the ideal Banisher. Whatever this involves, Mr. Whitaker seems to believe that it requires the use of one or more powerful (Gnosis 5+) Awakened souls. Soul theft: this sounds like a job for the Men in Black!
The Men in Black promptly ignored orders and went around doing their own thing. This of course resulted in infighting, the departure of Major Donner, and increased insanity from Skuld. This was followed up by pizza with a vampire, a few trips to different cities, the purchase of a Gator, and pirates. They learned that the Chicago business district is mage central, and that Skuld may have some sort of contact within that part of the city (or else she was magically influenced somehow).
As for excavating the temple: without some magical innovation (and assuming no catastrophic collapse), it would take one person a month of working six 14-hour days a week to finish the excavation based on the approximate measurements. Only two people can realistically work together in clearing the passage. Currently the burly Charnel has been assigned to this (he has the khukri now, as well).
For Whitaker's orders: you have been working on his mission for half a week. He will expect preliminary reports in a few days, and results within two weeks. You have no idea what he might do if you fail him in this mission, but it could be bad.
For Kyle's situation: he is messed up. The process of transformation he was to go through was disrupted by his death, and now he is stuck in some state that is in-between life and death. One of the many supernatural benefits this yields is the ability to force others into his unnatural state: this is what has happened to Alex Walker.
For players: we are now beginning Act 2 of this chronicle, a little earlier than I had expected. This is a time of transition for your characters. Depending on how you move the plot, your players could lose everything. On the other hand, they may also stand to gain quite a bit. The next session will cover the two weeks of grace that Mr. Whitaker is allowing your characters. This will be your time to prepare and decide. Your characters can stay with him, try to undermine him, try to go off of his radar, meet a tragic end, or anything else that you want. Just remember though, that he has a lot of power both mundane and magical, and opposing him carelessly could result in more tragedy.
For the break: you may create mentors and allies for your character if you so desire. To fully access them in-game, you will have to spend experience points on them via the Ally, Retainer, Contact, or Mentor Merits. All of these can be of whatever power level you want, but the number of dots you get determine how willing the given Ally etc. is to do favors for you. At all levels, all allies of this sort except Contacts expect reciprocity, so keep that in mind when telling me what you want.
For those of you who want Mentors for some Legacy, this would be a good way to get them tossed into the game if you don't know where to have your character look. Even at one dot, such a Mentor can teach a Legacy.
Players:
Randy as Casper, the Distrustful (Thyrsus, Spirit)
Rob as Mr. Spyguy (Mastigos, Mind)
Darla as Bill Friendly, the Reaffirmed Heterosexual (Thyrsus, Life)
Thomas as Shortcut, the Operative (Mastigos, Space)
David as Ant, the Body Remover (Obrimos, Forces)
(null) as Skuld, Ms. Sneakypants (Arcanthus, Time)
Fallout so far:
Casper learned that sometimes it's better to leave the group.
Spyguy learned that some mages have no sense of taboo.
Shortcut learned that Mr. Whitaker will go to great lengths to control what he cannot understand
Skuld learned that prophecy can take its toll on one's sanity. Ha haha ha HAH!
Rev. Friendly learned that his former mentor has a few secrets.
Ant learned that watching people shoot each other is slightly better than being shot.
Next time: What does that statue have to do with that cathedral? How are the mages in Chicago who control the library related to Whitaker? What's going to happen to all of those artifacts? What will happen to the Colorado sanctum? Just what happened to Kyle, and can it be reversed? What is Skuld babbling about? What did Davey Jones want with that Artifact? Where will Mr. Whitaker find the souls he seeks (certainly not by tracking the movements and phone records of the MIB, that's for sure). Where did Major Donner go?
Distant future: What is the significance of the name Donner? What about Skuld, Clotho, or Charles Walker? What happened to the original MK-ULTRA, the probable origin of the MIB urban legend?
What else did your character learn? Post it here!
Experience so far:
7 exp (used for anything within reason: three of these are due to game length)
3 arcane exp (used for Gnosis: 1 for each strange occult secret the PCs uncover)
Bonus exp: up to 5 for a written character history, up to 5 for character pictures or sketches, extras for cool background stories or downtime activities
