[UA] UA Story Hour: The Fabulous Manteuful Sisters (and some other guy) Take Boston!

[Alex Lampros]

Sounds good, although I might have let Phineas live.  Although the current 
team looks pretty solid.

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:15:43 -0500, Susan Dohnim <bibadoo at hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> THE PLAYERS
>
> Phineas King, Avatar of the Trickster (70) -- IN A COMA
>
> Phineas was an Avatar of the Trickster looking to start a religion 
> bigger than
> the Church of Scientology. He was also an extraordinarily talented 
> computer
> hacker. His day job was psycho-cranial-sacro-hypno-scream therapist. He 
> wasn't
> that bad, actually.
>
> Phineas is currently in a coma. Tire irons are bad.
>
> Kevin Johnson (alias Jon Wilson), Urbanomancer (70) -- DECEASED
>
> Jon was a homeless nut, but a nice homeless nut. Alas, he had many 
> enemies the
> government was always sending out secret agents to track his movements, 
> and the
> T (public transportation in Boston, run by the MBTA) was out to get him.
>
> Jon is currently dead. Buses are bad.
>
> Isabella Manteufel, Avatar of the Lady (70+) -- ALIVE AND LOOKING GOOD
>
> Isabella Manteufel is an Aware Avatar of the Lady. Said Avatar is all 
> about
> manipulating strong and powerful men to do her will. Isabella's plan is 
> to Take
> Over the World that is, to find some strong and powerful guy (like a 
> True King)
> and help him take over from behind the scenes, by which time he'll be 
> completely
> in thrall to her.
>
> Isabel began this campaign plotting with Jon and Phineas to start a 
> religious
> cult that would eventually lead to lots and lots of power for all. The 
> fact that
> her buddies are dead/in a coma has put a small crimp in her plans.
>
> Isabella’s 27th birthday is only about a month away. She feels the icy 
> vise of
> not-having-a-husband closing about her throat. Also, she’s a nurse 
> (though not
> an especially good one). She does have movie-star good looks . . . and 
> yet she
> hasn't landed a man. Problem is she's looking for the perfect cross 
> between a "cat"
> and a "throw rug", and she just hasn't found him yet.
>
> Amanda Manteufel, Private Investigator -- ALIVE AND KICKING ASS
>
> Amanda Manteufel is Isabella's older, taller, much less attractive, and 
> much
> more FBI-trained sister. If you turn to page 79 of UA2 . . . well Amanda 
> Wilkes
> is not entirely dissimilar. Amanda is intrigued by the Weird, scared 
> that she'll
> turn Weird, and pissed off at the Weird all at the same time. She's does 
> have a
> little mojo -- she's an unaware Avatar of the Hunter (well below 50) and 
> has
> Aura Sight.
>
> Amanda is getting pretty pissed off at the wand-fondlers that use their 
> powers
> to fuck with normal people, and she's eager to start pepper-spraying 
> them on a
> regular basis.
>
> Amanda is 31 years old, and has been living in the States since she was 
> ten.
>
> Amanda and Isabella have . . . issues. Amanda still holds a grudge for 
> Isabella
> stealing away her first boyfriend . . . when Isabella was only ten years 
> old.
>
> Adam Baxter, Hippie Amoromancer (60) ALIVE AND LOOKING GOOD, JUST NOT 
> QUITE AS
> GOOD AS ISABELLA
>
> Adam is a new addition to the group, and the only reason he's been 
> hanging
> around is to get his cousin's (Jon's) ashes and bring them back to the 
> family.
> For some reason Isabella and Amanda have been quite resistant on this 
> point.
> Also, they've discovered Adam used to belong to that cult that fucked 
> with Dana
> (see below) . . . this has not endeared him to them, his good looks
> notwithstanding.
>
> Adam has been in the AA NA New Age therapeutic community for ten years 
> now, ever
> since the Clockwork Army broke up. He’s 24 now.
>
> What Has Gone Before: Short Version
>
> The original team consisted of Phineas King, Isabella Manteufel, and Jon 
> Wilson;
> Phineas was put into a coma early in the campaign (and his attacker 
> captured),
> Jon was killed a couple sessions later (and his attacker killed).
>
> The current group consists of Isabella Manteufel, Amanda Manteufel, and 
> (as of
> last episode) Adam Baxter (all PCs). Dana McAffie, a sad, demented, and 
> deluded
> former sex-slave of an evil cult, has attached herself to the group, as 
> Isabella
> and Amanda feel too sorry for her to let her wander the streets alone.
>
> Dana’s all about butterflies.
>
> As the story begins (as far as our many Loyal Readers are concerned)
>
> Amanda Manteufel is extraordinarily pissed off at a scumbag named Adam 
> Holt, and
> wants to track him down and put a bullet in his brain for what he helped 
> to do
> Dana . . . regardless of the fact that the cult Adam Holt worked for, the
> Clockwork Army, was destroyed a dozen years ago. She's also just 
> finished her
> move to Boston; she's going to be setting up shop. (Amanda hunted down 
> Phineas's
> killer successfully. She was hunting down Jon's killer, but then the 
> killer
> spontaneously died.)
>
> Isabella Manteufel has received a $100,000 literacy grant, but her 
> partners in
> crime (to use the money to start the cult to Take Over The World) are 
> dead or
> dying. She's plowing ahead with the plan, but it's tough working alone.
>
> Adam Baxter has just joined the group, and is currently thoroughly 
> detested by
> Amanda given he was a part of Murphy's cult. In his defense, this was 
> when he
> was 14 and hopped up on drugs.
>
> What Has Gone Before: Long, Poorly-Written, Likely Incomplete Version:
>
> Session #0.1: Isabella Manteufel and Jon Wilson meet and discuss their 
> plot to
> take over the world. Their buddy Phineas King (not present this session) 
> will no
> doubt help them out. The general plan is to start a religious cult ("The 
> Church
> of Shattered Glass"), but to get started they'll need some seed money. 
> They
> decide to bilk the state government Jon blows a sig or three and manages 
> to get
> a literacy grant through the city, for $100,000. The paperwork just has 
> to go
> through. Sweet! (?)
>
> Isabella stops by the Bruegger's Bagels in Cambridge and ends up having a
> horrendous hallucination – some sort of odd out-of-body experience. Jon 
> obtained
> the sig charges he got by fucking around with the MBTA.
>
> Session #0.2: Not much headway on the cult plot was made this session. 
> The main
> attraction was the nearby McDonald's parking lot overnight it sprouted 
> huge and
> fully-grown pine trees. Cool, eh? Can anyone say Mak Attax? Phineas 
> lives nearby
> and pokes around, and discovers that the person likely responsible is a 
> McDonald's
> employee named Chip. Phineas happens to loathe drug-dealers, and sees 
> little
> difference between drug-dealing and lacing food with mojo; he decides 
> that he's
> going to shut down the McDonald's, and hacks into their system to change 
> their
> next delivery order to 97 boxes of small coffee cups. He also hacks into 
> the
> city municipal computers and orders a shitload of road construction 
> right around
> the McDonald's.
>
> Isabella tries to get Chip to admit to her what he's done (seems pretty 
> obvious
> that Mak Attax might be responsible for Isabella's food getting spiked 
> the
> Bruegger's is in the same mini-mall as the McDonald's) but he doesn't 
> want to .
> . . so he runs away screaming. Isabella has that effect on men (i.e., 
> failed
> Self-checks when you don't do what she wants). Chip makes an appointment 
> for
> free therapy at Phineas's place, though, for two days later.
>
> Jon gets sprayed by a firehose that pops up out of nowhere it's such an 
> intense
> experience he runs away screaming.
>
> Other than that, this is mostly a characters-get-to-know-each-other 
> session. The
> best part IMO was the Isabella/Phineas interaction on the one hand 
> Phineas has
> little choice but to be polite to Isabella, a Lady . . . on the other, 
> he IS a
> Trickster, and has little choice but to annoy her as much as possible. 
> Jon, on
> the other hand, gradually assumes the role of Isabella's lackey/pet.
>
> The trees popping up was the culmination of a series of unnatural events
> occurring over a period of more than a week. Isabella responded badly to 
> some of
> the resulting traumas when they were wheeled into the hospital (she’s a 
> nurse,
> remember?) and started up therapy with Dr. June Carter.
>
> Final note: the group notices a guy who looks like Delroy Lindo hanging 
> around
> the nearby McDonald's.
>
> Session #0.3: Chip stops by in the morning for some therapy. Chip 
> described his
> life very suddenly collapsing into a goddamn mess – family crisis, fired 
> from
> work, girlfriend left him, eviction, et cetera – and as Phineas begins to
> respond, there's an angry knock at the door. Phineas answers, and 
> promptly gets
> pounded on the head with a tire iron. He slumps to the ground 
> unconscious. The
> attacker, one Vincent Paul (the Delroy Lindo look-alike) steps over 
> Phineas's
> body and beats Chip into a bloody pulp. Phineas is found by Jon a few 
> hours
> later he's still alive, barely. He's rushed to the hospital, comatose. 
> (Damned
> matched successes.)
>
> Enter Amanda Manteufel. She's in town visiting her sister, Isabella. She 
> gets
> wind of the case, and decides she'll help investigate. This session was 
> pretty
> detectivey Amanda does learn that the culprit, one Vincent Paul, is a 
> Sleeper
> wannabe. Interestingly, it looks like Chip's life got pretty well 
> screwed over
> by the REAL Sleepers the day before he went to visit Phineas.
>
> Isabella meets Dana for the first time, in a Bruegger's Bagels but Dana 
> runs
> away screaming when she sees Jon. (Still not sure why that happened.)
>
> Isabel’s mental state continues to decay as she’s exposed to more 
> unpleasantness
> at the hospital. She’s given a week of mental health leave, because she 
> has her
> supervisor wrapped around her little finger.
>
> Jon continues his spree of charge-harvesting/vandalism against the MBTA 
> with
> broken glass to slice up bus tires. Jon also tried to get some more 
> mental help
> but can’t find a free clinic without a three-month waiting list.
>
> Session #0.4: Detectivey session that completes the "Find Vincent Paul" 
> arc. The
> Nitty-Gritty Dirt Bar is visited. Information is gathered. Isabella and 
> Amanda
> argue; Amanda makes fun of the fact that Isabella still hasn't found a 
> man,
> while Isabella tells Amanda that the men's shoes she's wearing really 
> aren't
> that flattering. Maybe she should at least consider a pantsuit?
>
> Vincent Paul liked to tell people he was a Sleeper and that he’d fuck 
> them up if
> they crossed him, which most people (including his drinking buddies) 
> took to
> mean that he was a Sleeper wannabe.
>
> Vincent Paul is found and his location turned over to the police, who 
> bring him
> down in a hail of gunfire.
>
> Jon gets squirted by a hose again and "hires" Amanda Manteufel to track 
> the
> culprit down. He also decides to charge up by planting an envelope 
> labeled "Anthrax"
> in the local T. It works; the T gets shut down something fierce.
>
> Amanda decides that she's going to relocate to Boston, thinking that 
> there's so
> much weirdness that she's bound to get lots of interesting business.
>
> Session #0.5: The session begins with Jon over at Phineas's old office, 
> which is
> now Amanda's new office. There's a knock at the door on the other side 
> is one
> Taylor, who asks for Jon. Amanda tries to get Jon, but he's busy going 
> through
> his maps. Amanda comes back to say that Jon is indisposed, and gets a 
> face full
> of water from a firehose as Taylor says "Don't Fuck with the T."
>
> Amanda goes after Taylor, going so far as to hop onto a T in pursuit, 
> but she
> loses Taylor in the crowd.
>
> Isabella stops by a state government office to pick up her grant; the 
> grant is
> disbursed by one J. Burrowcap. Isabella will remember later on that 
> Burrowcap
> seemed to be exceedingly bored with her not the usual reaction she gets 
> from men.
>
> J. R.’s secretary, a vaguely exotic quasi-Arabic looking hottie named 
> Monica,
> seemed protective of him.
>
> Jon strolls through the streets soon after, and spots Taylor and Some 
> Guy (the
> guy with the hose who seems to go invisible all the time) waiting to 
> ambush him.
> He gets the jump on them and blasts them with the Power of his Mind . . 
> . then
> runs away as Taylor comes after him with a knife. He gets away from 
> Taylor, but
> then gets run over by a bus (no doubt a "Traffic Accident"). Soon 
> thereafter, he's
> rushed to the hospital, but his doctor is less than competent (rolls an 
> 00 for
> care).
>
> Amanda and Isabella hit the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Bar to try to get info on 
> Taylor.
> Turns out she works for the Angel of the MBTA and so does Adam Holt. 
> Amanda
> meets Sam Addams, who has a grudge against Taylor as well; Taylor works 
> for the
> Angel of the MBTA, and Adam Holt (see below) also works for the Angel.
>
> Amanda tries to plant a bug on Taylor, who promptly dies from a brain 
> aneurysm.
> Turns out Jon threw out a sig-blast as he lay dying on the table (and he 
> rolled
> an 01, followed by another 01 just to be on the safe side) in Taylor's 
> direction.
>
> At some point Dana shows up on Isabella's doorstep again; Isabella and 
> Amanda
> figure out what happened to her and why she can't stop talking about her 
> father,
> Murphy (who everyone else calls "Boss"). Murphy was a sonofabitch who 
> ran the
> Clockwork Army cult a dozen years ago. He was a mechanomancer that 
> drained the
> memories of some of his subjects/slaves Dana included to power his 
> gizmos. He
> was planning to storm the U.N. at some point; until then, he had a cult 
> of 15
> low-level followers and 4 sex slaves, one of whom was Dana. 
> (Incidentally, one
> of Murphy's head honchos was some dirtbag named Adam Holt.)
>
> Isabella's heart (?) goes out to Dana at this point; Dana pretty much 
> remains
> with the group from this point on. (So far, at least.) For about three 
> days
> prior to his death, Isabel was keeping Jon in her home, as a pet. Dana 
> moves in
> immediately to fill this void.
>
> The next day Jon gets cremated; his ashes are sent to Isabella, whom he 
> listed
> as next-of-kin. Isabella and Dana go downtown to distribute the ashes; 
> Amanda
> says she'll meet them there. As Amanda approaches Isabella and Dana, she 
> notices
> that Isabella is being stalked by some loser. She sneaks up on him and 
> tries to
> slam him against the wall, but fails. As he attacks back, she maces him. 
> He
> cries out in pain, but manages to grab a pill from his pocket and pops 
> it in his
> mouth he immediately hulks up and starts screaming.
>
> Amanda runs back to Isabella and Dana and the three hop in Isabella's 
> nearby car
> to drive away. They get caught in traffic quickly, however, and the 
> Narco-Hulk
> leaps at the car and puts his fist through the rear window with a single 
> punch.
> The Narco-Hulk then leaps onto the roof and starts peeling it back. 
> Isabella
> runs out of the car and screams for some man to come help her, Dana 
> follows her,
> and Amanda shoots at him with pepper spray in her left hand and her 
> Glock in her
> right. Both hit.
>
> Amanda uses the distraction to run into a nearby bank Isabella and Dana 
> are
> there already. Narco-Hulk tries to follow, but the cops show up and he 
> runs like
> hell.
>
> And that brings us to . . . Session #1.
>
>
> Store more e-mails with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage – 4 plans to choose 
> from!
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> UA  mailing  list
>
> UA at lists.unknown-armies.com
>
> http://lists.unknown-armies.com/mailman/listinfo/ua



-- 
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/