Mysterium: Part 2 (Wildcards: Interludes episode)

"Mysterium: Part 2" is the second of two episodes of the Mysterium run, and the eighth and final episode overall, of Wildcards: Interludes. GM'd by Meghan Caves, this episode aired live on July 31, 2020 on the Saving Throw Twitch channel, and is archived on the YouTube channel. Of note, this episode was streamed remotely due to precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary
Comparing notes, the group resolves to find Lulu White, who tells them horrifying information about their hosts. Returning to the mansion in hopes of protecting the workers there, the group manages to use their abilities to finally resolve the gruesome mystery at Gardette LePretre.

Full Synopsis
Waking up the morning after receiving messages in the night, the psychics compare notes. It is clear that some of the details seem to match up.

All of them still feel sick and tired from the day before, and Ellsworth feels even worse. Already suspicious of Marie and with the letter telling them not to trust her, they decide to avoid any food she might offer and come up with an excuse to go into town to find Lulu White and eat a safe breakfast.

Michael knows the name Lulu White and has a starting point for their investigation, but as they are eating at a cafe he receives a message from his information broker the Duchess in response to his enquiry the day before, insisting that they meet with her that day.

Following her contact, they are led to a run down property where a woman answering the door turns out to be Lulu White, who is also the Duchess. She explains that she believes Marie MacCarthy to also be Marie Delphine LaLaurie, a famous serial torturer and murderer who lived decades earlier. Whether she had found some unnatural means to extend her life, or whether MacCarthy was inspired to emulate LaLaurie, Lulu doesn't know, but many of her former employees had gone missing after working for MacCarthy.

Reminded of the missing people, the group shows Lulu the lists they received the night before, and she recognises some of them as her friends and colleagues, along with identifying the young female spectre who appeared to Mesmero as sounding like one of these people, Christy, and the note he received as being in her handwriting. She is very excited by having evidence she could use to convince people not to go work for MacCarthy and to try to convince current employees they are in danger if they stay.

Noticing the group seem ill, she offers her knowledge of healing to help, and diagnoses all of their symptoms as likely results of various types of poison.

Before they can discuss what to do, they hear men coming up the path and, peeking out the curtains, recognise them as men hired by Marie. They all attempt to hide, but Ellsworth struggles to hide quietly and effectively, so when they barge into the house past Lulu they make a beeline for his place in the cupboard.

Making an excuse that he was embarrassed to be visiting the former Madame as a customer, Ellsworth distracts them long enough to run out the front, while Mesmero uses his telekinetic abilities to trip one man into another, and Michael throws curtains over the two left standing to make a distraction for Horace and escape himself. Horace sets Saint George upon the two left standing and quickly follows Lulu and Mesmero out the door.

On their way back to the Manor they debate the best course of action, with Lulu wanting to break in and try to encourage the workers to flee, the others unsure whether or not they can safely distract Marie - although decide that four on one seem like good odds, and Ellsworth suggesting a ruse where they ask Marie to gather all the workers into one room for a séance of sorts then separate her from them allowing time for escape.

They haven't really had time to agree on a strategy before Marie spots them from where she was waiting at the entry way and cheerfully ushers them inside insisting they have the meals they skipped that morning. To distract her from talk of the food, Michael tells her of Ellsworth's séance, and asks her to gather the staff.

She is very excited and leads them to a door of a room that would be perfect for the séance, an entry to a secret passageway. None of them trust it for a moment, but run out of reasons to refuse, and Mesmero uses his telekinesis to jam a piece of wood in the track of the doorway to help them escape if they are locked in.

They all climb the poorly lit staircase with Marie following, and are attacked and knocked out before they can react by men hiding at the top of the stairs.

Waking to find themselves tied up in Marie's horrifying torture chamber along with many other victims who may or may not be alive, they take the few moments available while Marie is distracted by her delight to act.

Michael dislocates a thumb to get himself out of his one manacle, Ellsworth uses the blood of a nearby body to aid him in automatic writing, Mesmero escapes his bonds with ease as a professional escape artist, and Horace distracts Marie by analysing her efforts to set up what she still believes is a fake haunting.

The spirit of Christy appears in the room, and uses Ellsworth's automatic writing to draw a sigil which will give her greater power over the physical realm. Mesmero telekinetically throws a saw towards Marie's head, stopping it at the last second as a show of power, and while she seems mostly delighted at the thought of taking him apart to discover how the power works, notices the spirit of Christy over his shoulder.

Finally given enough form, Christy dives into Marie and explodes violently out of her, killing her painfully.

Lulu comes into the room in time to see Christy and is able to say goodbye, as the group of psychics all feel an enormous sense of relief and gratitude coming from spirits of hundreds of previous victims. Before vanishing, Christy points out some of the bodies in the room, which they find are still alive.

They get help for the injured, and the police come for Leonard MacCarthy and others who were complicit. As they are leaving the house, the group looks back to see the ghosts of Marie's victims torturing her ghost.

Locations

 * Gardette LePretre Manor - Historic building on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans

Character & Cast Appearances

 * Meghan Caves as the GM
 * Michael Wanderstock, played by Jordan Caves-Callarman
 * Ellsworth Chant, played by Gaurav Gulati
 * Horace Duncombe III, played by Jordan Pridgen
 * Archibold "The Amazing Mesmero" LaPorte, played by Dom Zook

NPCs

 * Marie MacCarthy - Married to Leonard MacCarthy. Philanthropist and socialite. Comes from an upper class family. Decided to use her wealth to help those in most need. Enjoys New Orleans and can be found there at least once a year.
 * Lulu White - Madame of a once famous bordello that was shut down after a hurricane swept that area of New Orleans, she also works as an information broker of sorts under the name the Duchess.
 * Christy Johnson - Worked for Lulu White at the brothel, but when it shut down accepted an offer to work for Marie MacCarthy. She since went missing.

Trivia

 * Meghan is a big fan of the Mysterium board game, and adapted it into a roleplaying game format.
 * Meghan had previously GMed two installments of a Mysterium series on Saving Throw.