Runners
Carol Turpentine
Kitten Caboodle aka Kit
Creature
ThinkTank
Aradia
Tabasco

The team makes a slightly uneasy peace with Fargus about their groundshaking discovery re: the Tarot/The Cornerstone, and Fargus speculates that they may be the only 7 people who know how that works. However, he thinks that Queen Brane Deigh may know or at least suspect, as she has been obsessed with collecting a full set of the 6WT, and owning the Cornerstone would supposedly give her full control over the castle and it’s ways. And as they say, “as goes the Castle, so goes the Court”…. Aradia tries to pyschometry the stone chunk that they summoned, to see if they can determine if it was stolen, if it was one of the 4 rumored chunks in people’s possession, etc. However, she experiences strange psychic feedback and doesn’t get much info- it seems to have some sort of strange object intelligence that she’s never encountered before, and it feels almost more like trying to read a mind that normal psychometry. It also seems to have powerful passive defenses against detection and manipulation magics, though it doesn’t seem that it was “intending” Aradia any particular harm. She decides to leave it be, feeling pretty wrecked, and on a few stim patches now.

The team goes down the list of saleable items, and votes on who to sell each to after some debates. They decide to start with their most loyal contacts first, and proceed downward from there, ending with getting the lil Black Book to Tosh Athack. They decide to keep the Orn’s Ear, figuring that it’s value versus it’s utility is worth the trade. They sell the Watch to Stuck for a discount, in exchange for letting them sell everything else inside the casino and getting some additional security around in case anyone tries anything. He seems delighted by the trade and instantly siphons off some of Tabasco’s luck. They call up Juan Xiuhuitl, who is quick to send Izidor and Achilles over to pick up the Brooch of Shifting, seeing the massive potential for such an object.

The handoff goes off well, with Tabasco managing to reset his aura using it before passing it over. Unfortunately, his astral taste is not very well developed yet, so he decides to do this in the casino, and is now aspected towards the Wealth and Greed plane. Better than toxic! Tabasco ventures outside after Stuck’s guards warn that they can’t protect him out there, and spots 2 separate teams keeping an eye on things. He quickly ducks back inside, and the team figures that some interested parties must have accessed VDH’s feeds in order to see when his Vault was opened, and got tipped when they team didn’t turn off that sensor on the door. They seem to be waiting to see who gets what perhaps, and either are only seeking intel or are planning to hit people as they leave.

The Howard and Philips, INC team reports that this is exactly what happened to them- they had to send out proof that all the stuff they took out was already damaged and/or destroyed to get their pursuers to break off. The team decide to call in some backup, and calls in their favors with Takashi and Yoko Aruki to get some folks on their side keeping an eye on stuff outside. The good news is the casino guards seem to be doing a good job checking for implants and weapons on arrivals, and keeping an eye out for hostile magic. The team next calls up Vogel after a long debate, and offers him the 2 Cornerstone chunks. He is thrilled, and as usual, gives Carol some real praise, which Carol laps up. He also offers Carol a position on his advance team in Detroit, if Carol wants to get off the streets anytime.

Aradia spots t2o separate individuals with solid magical power monitoring the situation from inside the casino, but they aren’t taking any actions so Stuck refuses to move against them or let the team do so. Rooster, Jamaal Quigley, and a non-binary eco type with a junkyard jaw named Smeed all show up to get the Cornerstone pieces, and pass over a massive payday. Covalent also seems to be benefiting from this based on his alliance with Vogel, and offers the team help transporting other artifacts/themselves if needed. The team then calls up Squeamish to sell him the vat-grown organs and the fool’s gold solution, and he agrees. He shows up with some massive toxic spirits on an armored moto, and gets the gear before heading out under spirit cover.

The team calls up Dyna Mite, and sells her the Crystal Traveller, in exchange for promises to share her research and help the team with astral travel when and where she can. She gives them a few hot tips for now. She sends a runner team pick it up, and the team meets Kukulkan’s team, who have been hunting Tzitzimine’s since a fovae spilled a bunch out in Tenochtitlan. Having rescued both Dyna and Kukulkan from the astral shadow prison of Fauth-Doshgoi, this team seems relatively well-disposed towards them, and interested in sharing info in the future when the team mentions some of their experiences and what they saw in Chicago and Kadath.

Aradia calls up the Sisterhood of Ariadne with the contact info she got, and gets a hold of a friendly older woman named Aunt Clara who is excited to buy the Compendium Malifecarum, and also to meet a young witch on the go, and invites Aradia to come visit their clubhouse in Snohomish. Aradia, as a longterm witch poser, it too excited to resist, and agrees, until the team team makes her call back and gets the witches to come to the casino, as per the plan, and aim for a hang sess later. They successfully make the handoff, and Aradia gets to meet 4 members of the coven, who are excited to meet her, seemingly, and share vague prophecies which could be pretty widely interpreted. Aradia warns them a bit that the house might be extra lucky tonight, but they seem to have a set budget for fun and aren’t worried.

The team then calls up Athack, and arranges for the KE Black Knight to come into Stuck’s without causing an incident. He shows up out of uniform in an unmarked APC, and takes the 2 evidence bags and the lil Black Book from them, giving them a silent nod before heading out to the well-armed and armored vehicle, likely full of backup. The team then begins debating how to get the Ring of Gyges and Babr-y-Bayn out of the casino, and out of town, safely. Fargus offers that Grey Cell has a contact in Brokerage X who has access to the global network of Freeports, which they can use to move themselves and the items without inspection, though not necessarily without interference. Carol is initially excited until Tabasco fills him in a bit more about the dark side of BX, based on his research into Toast and his downfall.

They decide to get Covalent’s assistance, and consulting him and Fargus, determine that their best bet is probably to get to Downtown and try to cross into OZ, the pocket plane in the plane of Kindred/Man that reflects Seattle. From there, they’ll just need to transit Kindred to the astral Great Library at Alexandria and arrange crossing into the physical plane to deliver the items. Kit plans to try to bring the van through, and the team starts prepping for the trip. They realize they may need to burn SINs to do this, as they’ll likely get recorded thoroughly travelling through Downtown (and a portal!) so Tabasco plans to ride in the smuggling compartment as he is the only one without a spare SIN, and he can an eye on the 2 artifacts down there.

Kit orders a rental truck full of sod to the casino, to get a second vehicle and try to gain some astral camo. Fargus arranges to leave with his knowledge, and says he hired a local crew run by a troll named Ms. Myth to escort him, so the team doesn’t need to worry. The team splits the sod between both vehicles and loads various containers into both. Aradia summons a Kindred spirit to ride in the sod truck and cast some illusions to make it look more occupied, and the team sends it off on Grid Guide, where it is quickly pursued and attacked. Meanwhile, they tell Takashi and Yoko to start taking out the opps drone and sniper overwatch, which Takashi especially does with relish. Interestingly, Tabasco gets another " unknown number text saying “I’ve got your 6” after an unseen sniper takes out one of the enemy drones that was following the team van.

Kit plans an incredibly tight and challenging route to Downtown, trusting their skill and knowledge, and manages to almost instantly ditch one of their tail cars. 2 moto’s remain, and Carol opens fire on them as they move into Renton. The bikers return fire, seemingly trying to disable the van, and do some serious damage, before Kit and Carol manage to drop both bikes, seemingly without killing either rider, which Kit is thrilled about. They white-knuckle it through the tight Downtown crowds during the last day of the weeklong festival, and call the contact Covalent gave them, a rift specialist named Tinman. Tinman seems a bit weird but caves to Carol’s threatening name drop of Covalent, and tells them there is an unstable portal to OZ just outside the Alabaster Maiden, so they race there, and manage to just slip through, clipping the mirrors off the damaged van, as the rift snaps shut.

They find themselves on Kindred, in a weird Frank Baum style reflection of Downtown Seattle, with strange representations of other districts in the distance. Rolling to a stop on the yellow road, they examine the camouflaged hay cart they are all now riding in, as Tabasco excavates himself from under the bales. They all seem intact, with only minor metaphorical changes to their equipment, with the tech all looking distinctly 20th century. Carol, with his incredible eyes, spots a teetering layer cake tower far in the distance, and assumes this must be the Library of Alexandria, based on descriptions, so they plan to make for that, hoping to avoid any trouble on the way….