LogDead Drop Vienna-Jason-10

Game log for the 2020-10-18 session of Dead Drop: Vienna, as taken by Jason

Pucci's mansion is one of those clinging-to-the-hillside looking-over-the-ocean places, complete with pool and other amenities. The three of us with invitations get in without incident. The house is crowded with guests. Our heroes get the distinct impression the purpose of the house is to entertain with parties like this. Maribelle gets a drink and starts mingling, looking to see if she recognizes anyone. Pucci himself turns out not to be present yet. She recognizes one guest as an airline president. Ditch makes his way to the garden area, gets an old fashioned, and talks to anyone who seems interesting. He finds an actress who's already well past intoxicated and who might benefit from his pharmecueutical acumen. Word of his capabilities gets around and he finds himself very popular very soon. Angel definitely knows some of the other guests and schmoozes around. She's listening in hopes that someone might brag about how important they are to Pucci. The first person like that she hears is Rodrigo Salvini, who boasts that Pucci relies on him for photo shoots.

Maribelle cases the bedrooms for ways in and out. She notices that the second fgloor corridor with the bedrooms contains a stairway up that's guarded by people who will not allow guests past. The compliments the guards on the beauty of the house. One of the bedrooms has a borderline orgy going on, which includes a famous model who works with Pucci and an up-and-coming model who hasn't quite made it big yet. Maribelle then goes to let the fake caterers in.

She gets away unseen, but there's a couple making out in the garden who might have been a problem. She projects by her body language that she's not leaving, which causes them to do someplace more private. Winston gets put to work serving right away. He encounters a women dressed in the latest Pucci fashions, with a glazed look in her eye, who seems to be wrapped in transparent latex, just like the kids in Trieste did. He tries to stay in her area to see who she talks to.

Out by the pool, Ditch spots a women desperately trying to stay by the ocean railing and grab a smoke by herself. Caterers keep coming to talk to her, which gives him the impression she must be a household VIP. He takes a rusty nail and a champagne look over to her. She barks at him reflexively, then apologizes. He smooths it over. She takes the rusty nail and they talk a little, which tells him she's a midwestern American. She fills in the rest - she's in design school, working for Pucci, and finding it to be a lot of work and not much glamour. He tells her that flying is just the same. She elaborates that she likes design but not the rest of the fame-and-fortune stuff. He produces a joint, which they share. Just as he thinks he's got an in, another women comes over and talks at her in Italian, and she makes her excuses and goes away.

Wilmer finds himself overhearing conversation between an older man, a lawyer, and a wannabee venture capitalist. The venture guy is stoked about this partnership he has going with Pucci. The lawyer calls the younger man "Carlo." Wilmer tries to keep them well-served so that he can keep tabs on their conversation.

Winston sees someone come up to the glazed-looking woman, tell her she's a wreck, and lead her away. He attempts to follow. They go through a couple doors, which would make it suspicious for him to follow.

Angel finds herself chatting with Pucci's accountant. She makes him feel fascinating. She learns that while Pucci is wealthy, he's beholden to powerful people. He doesn't say who. Then he says that he's said too much, looks scared, and leaves.

Maribelle spots a few people she knows, including a couple Italian government officials, but what gets her attention is a guy she can't identify but who is obviously a heavy hitter. This guy is confident but also reminds her of Ditch, right before the violence starts. She approaches him and offers a martini, telling him that he looks like a lion amount housecats. He looks at her but also through her, and he takes the drink without drinking it. He finally fixes her with a stare and starts talking in this weird cadence, which she recognizes as an attempt to put the vampire whammy on her. She's not mesmerized; she looks at him over the glass and says, "Darling, it's so nice of you to try, but friends have helped me with that little situation." He gives her a sort of half-bow and apologizes. He asks who she represents, and she deflects. He hands back the drink and leaves, out through the open doors to the pool area. She sees him meet a portly older gentleman who Angel was chatting up earlier.

She picks the right sort of young woman and brings her a drink, saying, "Darling, you look like you need one of these." The woman responds, in American English, "you're the second person tonight who's brought me a drink. Do I look that fucking pathetic?" She them complains about all the women wearing Pucci, and how gauche it is to wear a designer's clothes to his party. She also complains about how tired models are. Maribelle tries to get more out of her, but only gets career history. Turns out she got the job because she and Pucci are both Georgia Bulldogs. She also learns that the woman is named Kramer. Maribelle gives her a card. She finds Wilmer and orders a dirty martini, warning him about the vamp on the loose.

Pucci turns up eventually, which kicks the party into high gear. More people arrive all the time. Ditch stays very busy. He meets a woman who actually lives at the mansion, a 20-ish tall brunette waif from a village near Zagreb. She says she was lucky to come to Pucci's notice, but he can see that she's lying. He says that he's met a lot of people who got what they wanted and it made them miserable, and he sees a tear on her cheek. Just then, someone comes up and puts a drink in her hand. Ditch istantly recognizes the man as a killer. He asks her who her friend is, but she doesn't say a word, just looks at both of them. He tells Ditch he's just a friend and steers her away. She gives him a pleading look over her shoulder as the man leads her back toward the house. He tries to follow, but the man is vigiland and watches his backtrail. The most Ditch can spot is the man sending the girl up the guarded stair.

Winston keeps trying to overhear things, but he almost gets caught, and has to drop his tray as a distraction. A women tells him she'll send someone to clean up.

Wilmer spots the guy Maribelle warned him about, and tries to avoid any notice. The guy's headed straight for him. Wilmer covers by serving someone the wrong drink, taking a few steps away, then doubling back and over-apologizing in his mediocre Italian. The creepy guy blasts right past Wilmer like he was on a mission.

Kramer appears at Ditch's side with a drink, telling him she owes him that. The model who was talking to him seems petulant, but he says, "That thing I was going to give you is outside in my Maserati, let's go get it." Once they're out of earshot, he apologizes and explains that he was just desperate to get away from that non-English-speaking model. She asks if he really has a Maserati. He admits he doesn't but offers to steal one. He tries to maneuver her into leaving the party with him, but she can't. She asks him to come out to the balcony with her instead. Maribelle and Wilmer both see this interaction go down, and they see the big bad vamp coming at Ditch and Kramer. Wilmer uses his short-range communicator to warn Ditch that a vampire is coming.

Allison Kramer sees the guy coming and says, "Oh, hey, Gunther!" Ditch turns around and sees the guy giving a very dead-eyed look. Ditch tries to look friendly and asks if he's enjoying the party. Gunther ignores him and tells her that Mr Pucci needs her right away. She makes her excuses, but pats her purse as she leaves. As they leave, the girl doesn't look over her shoulder, but Gunther does. Ditch is already walking away, intending to leave for good. He tries to collect Angel on the way out.

Wilmer and Winston leave not too long after. On Wilmer's way out, one of the catering hosts tasks him to go into the wine cellar and bring up some champagne. He also asks who Wilmer is; Wilmer temporizes that he's Guiseppe's cousin. Wilmer helps move some champagne. When he's down there, he notices that one pair of the pillars, which are remnants of the original rock, have faces carved into them just like the masks the people in Triest wore. He picks his moment and leaves.

Mirabelle leaves without being noticed a little later.

We all meet up back at the hotel. Winston immediately reports on the guarded door. Maribelle reports on how Gunther tried to whammy her in the middle of the crowd, then talks about how Allison Kramer seems overworked and underappreciated. Ditch added that she seems to know that something isn't quite right. Wilmer mentions that Pucci owes people and needs outside backers, and Mirabelle suggests that Gunther might be there to make sure Pucci stays reliable.

At one point Angel notices Gunther stopping dead in his tracks and not being able to go through a curtain of glass beads until someone holds it aside for him.

She also noticed a symbol on the accountant's pinky ring. Maribelle instantly recognizes it as something she saw an SS officer wear during the war. It's the symbol of the Black Sun, which is also tiled into the floor at Wewelsburg Castle.

Maribelle has lunch with Allison and they bond over how creepy Gunther is. Wilmer devises a communication protocol the team can use with her. Ditch seals the recruitment deal by taking her up in his plane, offering drugs, and alleging that Pucci's into human trafficking. That's close enough to the truth for her to believe it. She asks who he works for and he plays the drug angle again, saying he works for South American businessmen who value discretion. She then realizes he works with the French lady. She's nervous about all this, becuase she knows people sometimes disappear from around Pucchi, but she's willing to give us info on him.