A Study in Dust and Stone, Session 5: Under a Tuscan sun

Scene setup

Story Direction Table Roll
[D100]: [29] => Development
Development table roll
[D100]: [79] => You meet a hostile NPC (roll on NPC tables, re-rolling for positive Keyword results).
NPC keyword modifier table roll
[D100]: [60] => Impulsive

October 27th, 14:21 p.m. | Garden District, Baton Rouge

Remy: "It’s time to pay a visit to this Thibodeaux guy. Cam, write down his address, would you?" He turned to me, his hand hovering near his jacket. "Are you still sure you want to tag along? This could get nasty."
Lorenzo: "I am quite sure, Mr. Fontenot."

The address was a brisk twenty-minute walk away. We found ourselves standing before a two-story house in a beautiful Baroque style. It was an impressive residence for a musician—suggesting Thibodeaux’s "orchestrations" paid far better than a standard conductor's salary.

Lorenzo: "So, what’s the plan? Do we simply knock?"
Remy: "Let me case the joint first. I don't like surprises."

Remy slipped into the garden with the practiced ease of a man who spent his nights dodging the law. He moved from shadow to shadow, peeking through the windows. Suddenly, his posture went rigid. He gestured for me to join him at the left-side window.

Q: Does Remy notices anything:
[D100]: [98] => yes

Q: What does he see?
[D10 + D100]: [9 + 43] => worship
[D10 + D100]: [8 + 81] => provide
[D10 + D100]: [4 + 0] => collaborate
[D10 + D100]: [4 + 15] => conjure

The room inside was a tastefully decorated parlor, but the scene within was grotesque. A man in dark, heavy robes stood before a makeshift altar. He held a tome in one hand and a jagged, ritual dagger in the other.

His chanting reached a fever pitch. With a swift, practiced motion, he dragged the blade across his forearm. Blood poured onto the stone altar, and for a fleeting second, the carved runes seemed to pulse with a sickly, inner light.

Mythos Points +1 because of unsettling event
0/(1d4-2) Sanity check
Lorenzo
[D100]: [76 > 70] =>fail
[1D4 -2]: [3 -2] => 1 sanity lost
Remy
[D100]: [31 < 40] => success

Remy: "Great. One of those Voodoo fanatics."
Lorenzo: "I would not be so sure, Mr. Fontenot. The occult world is far more variegated than you imagine."
Remy: "Well, I say we knock and see what he’s about."
Lorenzo: "You got a weapon?"
Remy: "You really need to ask?"
Lorenzo: "Good, because I do not."
Remy: "Fine. If things turn sour, you run and get the cops."
Lorenzo: "Why not call them now?"
Remy: "And tell 'em what? That a man is wearing a robe in his own parlor? Hardly a crime."

He had a point.

We knocked. The chanting stopped instantly. After a tense silence, the door opened. A Black man in his sixties stood there; he had discarded the robe but was awkwardly hiding his bandaged forearm behind his back.

Remy: "Mr. Thibodeaux? My name is Remy. I’m a pianist. The manager at the Kraken said I needed your approval to be hired. Hope it’s a good time."

Fast Talk skill check
[D100]: [51 > 35] => failure

Thibodeaux: "A pianist? I know nothing of a new pianist. Come to the club tonight if you want to talk business. Now, excuse me."

He tried to slam the door, but Remy’s boot was already in the frame.

Remy: "Maybe we can talk about snakes nailed to doors, then? Is that more your speed?"

Thibodeaux’s eyes turned to chips of ice. "Who the hell are you?"

While they argued, I peered past Thibodeaux's shoulder.

Spot Hidden skill check
[D100]: [6 < 90] => extreme success

Q: what do I see?
Verbs table roll
[D10 + D100]: [2 + 62] => berate
[D10 + D100]: [7 + 99] => recruit
[D10 + D100]: [4 + 16] => consecrate

A young girl, her face pale with terror, crossed the room carrying the ritual tome. Thibodeaux noticed my gaze and roared at her, berating her to get back to her quarters.

I chose a book that looked really appropriate from the tome list on the Cults of Cthulhu sourcebook.
Tuscan Rituals, unknown author, Italian, 6%, 15%, 1

But I had seen enough. The title on the spine was in my native tongue: Tuscan Rituals. [I saw the title because of the extreme success]

Thibodeaux: "You’re with that girl, Camille? Tell her to give back what she stole, or a snake will be the least of her worries!"

The door slammed shut, the lock clicking with finality.

We walked away from the Baroque house in silence for a moment before I spoke.

Lorenzo: "That was far from useless. I saw the book, Remy. It was titled Tuscan Rituals. I was born in Tuscany, and I do not believe in coincidences. This conductor is practicing an old-world magic that has no business being in a Louisiana Bayou."

Remy: "So, what now?"
Lorenzo: "Time for some research"