Session 11: The Blood Red Fez, Conclusion

1893, Ottoman Constantinople... The scream had come from Mrs. Myers, where she was with Mr. Myers. The investigators saw blood stains on the other side of the room as they entered, and saw Mr. Myers was awake, and the Fez was off! Polat had saved him! With a hoarse voice, he explained how Menkaph had been a fellow occultist, and persuaded him to try on the Fez. Wryly, he said he was giving up the occult to go back to his father and become a banker. Demir asked everyone to give them some privacy, and the investigators went back to the study. Banks was put up with Demir's family for the night, while the rest of them went to their own hotels to sleep. In the morning, they each received a message to have breakfast at Demir's place at 8 A.M. The investigators, after arriving, notified Amelia of what had happened overnight. They all discussed various paths forward dealing with the Children of the Blood Red Fez. Do they find their hideout? Go to the meeting guns blazing? They elected to try a tactical disguise approach: with help from Demir, they gathered together clothing and makeup to disguise themselves. They then went to Sirkeci Station, visibly bought train tickets, saw cultists as they got on the train, changed into their disguises, and got off the train, where there were no cultists to be seen. They then took a carriage to Hotel de Byzance, speaking about their next course of action. They elected to get Demir to make fake Fezzes, for the trade later with the cult. They then went to the Bazaar, buying up 7 fezzes so that Demir could attempt to make replica fezzes from what he knew from The Whispering Fez. Then they sent him the fezzes in a package with a message, stating 'We made it back to the city. Meet you at the drop-off point. Will keep an eye on you during the exchange.' Afternoon now, they elected to fill up their arsenal at the Bazaar. As luck would have it, the Germans were known to sell guns and other arms in the area and to the Ottoman Empire itself. Using the rest of their travel expenses, as well as having to invoke the names of various acquaintances who would later wire money to the arms dealers, they ended up with guns on everyone's person and better guns on the person's of those with fairly regular ones. It was evening, and they had finished arming themselves further than they had been before. They went on a reconnaissance mission to the Kasim Pasha docks, 4 of them relaxing at a cafe while Banks took a look around the place. While seedy, dirty, and messy, there were no cultists there yet, and he managed to find out where they would likely arrive. With this news, the investigators met up at the docks and hid around the area, waiting for the meeting to happen. At midnight, a ferry pulled up, and a Professor Demir entered the docks area from the road. Approaching, a cultist came off the ferry with a gun to the head of who could only be Barlas, Demir's son. Unfortunately, the cultist was able to notice Worth, making him come out of cover and his disguise being blown. Demir began to approach to exchange, but hesitated after a look from Worth. BAM! Every investigator hiding in the shadows took their shot. Simultaneously, the one threatening Barlas was blasted into oblivion, Demir dropped the book and the fez to run to Barlas, and Worth had to dive behind cover. Demir tackled Barlas to the ground, covering him in his body so that he wouldn't be shot. Fighting broke out! Two cultists armed with swords and three armed with pistols were spied in the shadows. Worth was almost murdered by one with a sword, but managed to barely dodge his attack. Banks was horribly injured, but managed to remain conscious and continue the firefight. Both sword wielding cultists were killed, the other three being picked off. Worth threw the fake fez in the water, making one of the cultists jump in after it. With one cultist left, Saroch ran up behind him with his shotgun and blasted his brain matter all over Worth, who screamed in fright. With everybody shaken but alive somehow, they all ran from the scene. Saroch grabbed The Whispering Fez, Amelia and Barlas helped Demir to his feet (whose wound had been reopened), and Banks, Worth and Polat ran, all meeting up with the Professor at his house later. Epilogue... Over the next few months, the investigators had to lie low for a while, make sure they weren't caught by the constables. Barlas and Demir healed, both alive even after everything that had happened to them. The Myers finished their honeymoon in Constantinople, somehow still alive even after they had been so manipulated by Menkaph. Cultists kept eyes on the investigators between then and when they left for London (those who lived there anyway), but refrained from approaching them. Seems they had learned their lesson. The cult disbanded, with no Fez in existence anymore. The group burned The Whispering Fez, so that nobody could create another or use the terrible powers the item had. Saroch returned to his practice in France, helping those in need. Banks returned to his life in London, as a criminal-in-process-of-reforming-maybe. Polat returned to his family, electing to write a book about his experience with the Fez. Worth went back to London, trying to keep his grip on reality and put everything behind him at the University. Who knows, of course, what happened to Nisra, the Daughter of Fate. Perhaps she still desires power...