At the Judge’s House
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| Maximilian Reed--Reborn! |
Learning that Max Reed is at his front door, the judge sends Vivian and Dr. Black to various points throughout his palatial manse in order to 1) acquire accouterments for the upcoming card game, and 2) get them out of the way while he speaks to Max Reed. The others refuse to put up with this, and hide just out of sight to eavesdrop.
The judge notes that Mr. Reed seems to be in as fit a state as the judge has ever seen him, though he now has deep facial pockmarks and scarring that the group had previously seen on the face of Jonathan Scott.
Dr. Black has a bit of a nervous breakdown overhearing Max Reed speak, as he is completely sure that Max shot him to death in the Bayonne, New Jersey train station. The reports of bodies recovered from the scene, as mentioned in the New York Times, only further cemented that certainty in his mind.
Max Reed explains to Judge Putnam that he had come by to speak to him on behalf of Carl Stanford. He tells the judge that Mr. Stanford would like him and his associates to stop by the Lodge (calling ahead first), so that they could be rewarded for their great work on behalf of it. Max Reed mentions that Mr. Stanford is hoping to perform a small ritual to confer upon them the rank of Masters of the Order of Silver Twilight.
With that, Max Reed departs. The others creep back into the parlor. Dr. Black makes a comment about, “being sure he shot that guy." Their attempts to play cards in the aftermath of Mr. Reed's visit does not go well.
Somewhere in Upstate New York
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| Logan Terry's Wardrobe Recovery Vehicle |
Johnny and Kane are in the judge's car with the wardrobe, and have been approached by Logan Terry and another man (assumed to be another Silver Twilight Lodge member). Logan and Johnny exchange words. Kane attempts to draw
his derringer and get out of the car to get the drop on Mr. Terry. Johnny
intervenes, and he and Kane fumble around in the car, to no effect other than
the confusion of Logan and his associate.
Johnny tries to bluff Mr. Terry, saying that he and Kane picked up the wardrobe on behalf of Carl Stanford, and name drops one Yog-Sothoth, a name he heard from Mikhail. Terry, surprised and off balance, says that he was ordered to pick up the wardrobe and wants to know why Carl Stanford is playing “mommy/daddy” with them and giving important missions to neophytes.
Johnny then responds that, “whatever the case, if we’re all standing around here, we’re failing the mission, so let’s just get this wardrobe back to the Lodge.” Logan Terry agrees but, smelling something fishy, orders his companion to get in the car with Johnny, while Kane comes with him in the truck.
At this moment, Mikhail, who has pulled up behind Logan Terry’s pickup truck, opens fire. A brief gun battle ensues, leaving Logan’s associate dead. Johnny calls for Mr. Terry to surrender, which he does. Then Johnny interrogates and, ultimately, executes Logan Terry.
The three men spend the next hour or so clearing the scene and burying Logan Terry and his associate in the woods. Once that’s done, Mikhail drives back to Ashby, while Kane and Johnny return to Staten Island with the wardrobe.
At the Judge’s House
The card game is swiftly forgotten. Vivian seizes the moment to start discussing the
group’s future plans, especially considering Max Reed’s improbable
reappearance.
At about this point, Kane and Johnny, looking filthy and disheveled, enter the judge's house. The two teams catch one another up on what has transpired this evening. Dr. Black, still confused and disbelieving, mentions once again that he was sure he killed Max Reed.
They also discuss if it would be possible for them to destroy the Lodge building itself, whether the offer of the elevation ceremony is a trap, and how they could turn the elevation ceremony to their advantage.
Amidst all this, Mikhail makes it back to Ashby, checks in on James, his mom, and a very beleaguered Angie, and then goes to bed.
October 21, 1925
On the 21st, Dr. Black takes an extended leave of absence from work and orders four canisters of medical oxygen to be delivered to his house, so that he can “care for his sick mother.” Johnny calls Ron and asks him to acquire as much dynamite as he can. Vivian has a heart-to-heart talk with Deb about the Order, and fills in many of the blanks that Mikhail wasn’t able to. Deb tells Vivian that the Order has full meetings every Thursday night, but people tend to hang around at other days and hours, as well (the Lodge being a social club, and all).
Mikhail calls Vivian to give her the lowdown as to what’s going on. Mikhail also happens to be worried about Angie’s mental state (she seems stressed and nervous), so he puts Angie on the phone to talk to Vivian. Angie tells Vivian a little more about what’s going on, and also about Mikhail’s curious task of moving a wardrobe out of a cabin and then taking it…somewhere…
Later on, Mikhail and Johnny talk on the phone. The conversation gets pretty heated, and Johnny hangs up on Mikhail. The bone of contention is that Mikhail wants to keep his friend, James, safe from the Order, while Johnny was hoping for Mikhail’s help in infiltrating the Lodge.
Meeting at the Judge’s House
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| The Oft-Mentioned Wardrobe, Stolen from Ashby, MA |
Johnny and the others baffle Ron and Vivian by telling them about their plans to use the wardrobe to sneak into the Silver Twilight Lodge. Johnny suddenly realizes that Carl Stanford could have done something to the wardrobe that is in the Lodge and so, cursing and freaking out slightly, he runs to the garage of the carriage house to the wardrobe. Everyone else follows him.
Johnny clears the locks and chains from the wardrobe. He tells the others that he will step into the wardrobe to “check on the other end,” and will knock three times to let the others know that he will be stepping out. He is also convinced that something “might already be inside the wardrobe.” As a result of this, Johnny readies his shotgun and toes open one of the wardrobe doors while Kane, Dr. Black, and Ron all cover him.
It’s empty.
Neither Narnia, Nor Kansas
Johnny steps into the wardrobe and uses its power to move to
the other wardrobe. He opens the doors a crack to discover that he is in pitch
blackness in a musty, damp area, near something making snuffling and
scrabbling noises. Johnny realizes that Carl Stanford has moved the other end
of the wardrobe from the Lodge’s basement library into one of the oubliettes in
the prison area, where Mikhail and Kane discovered James Clark.
Johnny attempts to close the wardrobe door and leave, but the hinge squeaks, alerting whatever noisome thing is in the oubliette with him. It starts screaming, which causes the other things in the other oubliettes to start screaming.
Among the bestial shrieks, Johnny hears someone calling out, “Mr. Stanford? Is that you? I’m still here, Mr. Stanford. I’m sorry.” He realizes that the voice sounds just like Martin, from the train station.
He steps back through the wardrobe, knocks three times, steps out, and relates his recent discoveries to the group. Ron and Vivian do not understand what he’s talking about, and so Johnny demonstrates the magic of the Gate Boxes by using the set he made with the luggage boxes. Ron is supremely weirded out by this, as is Vivian, though she tells Johnny it does explain something Mikhail had mentioned to her offhandedly on the phone earlier.
Vivian further explains that Mikhail went to a library near Ashby and researched how people might move from one location to another without having to physically cross the distance in between. The group discussed these methods, and tried to determine which of them the Gate Boxes used.
This continued into further discussion of who would use the wardrobe to enter the Lodge, where they would place the dynamite, and how they would set it off. They also discussed whether or not to reconnect the gaslight lines in the Lodge itself (eventually deciding against it), and whether or not to bring along the doctor’s oxygen tanks (again, no).
Phone Call from the Adversary
The phone in the carriage house rang at about this point.
Ron answered the phone and discovered Carl Stanford was on the other end of the
line. Mr. Stanford wanted to speak to Judge Putnam in private, which was easily
done.
Carl Stanford, still believing that Judge Putnam was the Order member who had killed and replaced Judge Putnam, talked to Judge Putnam about current and future plans. The subjects of their conversation are represented by the following bullet point list:
- Judge Putnam said that his friends were suspicious of him, and that, as a result, he has had very little time to put the Order’s plans into action.
- Carl Stanford wanted to know if the double found Mr. Scott’s book and the Jade Sphinx on Judge Putnam’s property. Judge Putnam told him no.
- Carl Stanford, eager to tie up loose ends, asked the judge to bring Kane, Dr. Black, and Johnny to the Lodge on Thursday night for the big meeting.
- Carl Stanford tells the judge that the pretext for there visit would be to elevate them to the next level. In reality, it’s to “take care of them.”
2 Italian 2 Soap Opera
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| Connie Deluca, Unaware that She is a Pawn of Dark Forces...and Her Husband |
After the meeting adjourns at the judge’s house, Ron and Vivian drive out to Darragh’s house, so that Vivian can see for herself how weird Connie has become. Vivian helps Darragh heat up some leftover pot roast from the night’s earlier dinner, so that she and Ron can eat. While separated from the others, Darragh and Vivian they compare notes about how freaking weird and creepy Connie is acting.
In the meantime, Ron borrows some of his brother-in-law’s whiskey and fills two glasses. He then takes Connie into his brother-in-law’s bedroom and asks her to explain, in excruciating detail, the familial lineage of the people in one of the photos of disgruntled Irish peasant farmers hanging on the wall. She obeys, and Ron takes this opportunity to mix the last of his laudanum (prescribed to him for his previous, lamp-related injury) with Connie’s drink.
Connie takes a drink from her glass and passes out in short order. Ron attempts to remove the necklace, only to discover that either the clasp is broken, or that his beefy, Mafia hands are too big to work the delicate mechanism. He pulls out his pocketknife and tries to pry the clasp open, butthat doesn’t work, either.
Fortunately, Vivian comes into the room, assesses the situation, and is able to easily remove the necklace. Ron pockets the necklace and lies to Darragh, who just cam into the room, telling him that Connie had fainted. At this point, Connie wakes up and starts yelling at Ron, leading Darragh and Viv to exclaim, “Oh, she’s fine!”
October 22, 1925
The next day, everyone arms up and meets at the judge’s house. Mikhail and company begin their journey back from Ashby.
The plan is for the judge to tell Carl Stanford to expect them at 7:30. This will, hopefully, encourage all the Lodge members to be in the building around 7:00, which is when the group plans to start its final assault.
Just prior to this, Johnny has Kane take him, and both of the luggage Gate Boxes, to a quiet area near the Lodge. Johnny then takes one of the Gate Boxes with him, climbs to the top of a nearby building, and casts a spell to summon a horrific ice demon from beyond space. Kane drives back to the judge’s house, but not before Johnny tells him to tear up a bed sheet and make headbands for everyone.
The summoning goes surprisingly well, and the ice demon appears. Johnny tells it to “wait 15 minutes, then attack anyone inside the Silver Twilight Lodge” (points) “not wearing a headband.” The demon settles down to wait, while Johnny hops into the luggage and takes a quick jaunt back to the judge’s car, which is by now parked in the judge’s garage.
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| The Ice Demon (Johnny in a Jaunty Hat for Scale) |
At this point, everyone but Vivian takes turns stepping through the wardrobe into the oubliette in the caverns beneath the Silver Twilight Lodge. Johnny briefly shines his flashlight around the oubliette, which reveals that the thing in here with them is an eyeless, mostly legless, human-like thing with skin sloughing off in places. It screams. Its screams are answered by other creatures in other oubliettes.
Martin, who is somewhere nearby, once again starts calling for Mr. Stanford.
It is at this moment that Mikhail, his mom, his dog, his best friend, and Angie arrive. Vivian fills Mikhail in while Mrs. Dimathias wanders around the premises, distracted by the beautiful luxury of the judge’s house.
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