Halloween. Not quite the witching hour.
The festival is in a period of transition, just like the city. In the bars and clubs catering to the Irish and the Scotch, they remember and drink to the Old Ways. On the margins, the californios and the hispanic population lay out their ofrendas and dress the tombs of their dead in funerary finery. In the Barbary Coast, one or two saloons sport pumpkins at the bar. Around Nob Hill, the well heeled allow their children to troupe out for staged managed "guising". And while the children play at ghosts and goblins, adults gather at the Chapter House of the Society of Pennelope: Spiritualists rub shoulders with Masons, rich patrons rubs shoulder with the curious...
...and journalists rub shoulders with the children of the night. And don't see what is right under their noses...
...As it should be. And always has been.
The Chapter House throbs with the low buzz of conversation as the company assembles and mingles. With some skill, a large space has been provided on the ground floor for the demonstration, filled with chairs for the guests and bedecked in banners depicting Doctor Malachai's sojourn in the Orient. Off to one side, a room has been furnished as a buffet with tempting food and drink. The crowd churns, spilling out onto the front verandah where gentlemen and their ladies take the air. Rumour swirls like the musk and incense burning from censors and braziers the Society has placed about their House, sweetly scenting the air.
"Oh what a delightful hat!"
"...Yes! They say he has spent most of his life in spiritual pursuits, learning from Brahmins and mad hermits high in the Himalayas..."
"...Corresponded with Blavatsky, so they say..."
"...Now dearest, if you're looking for eligible bachelors, you couldn't go wrong with that one. Yes, the European Gentleman. Lives with the Madisons. A Prince they say..."
"...Isn't that Mister Q'in of the Golden Teardrop. Who is that woman on his arm? Too young to be a wife? So young! Scandalous!"
"...Courtesan..."
"Ah. Bon ami! I am proud to introduce Prince Constantin Polikarpov of the Esoteric Order of the Dragon. A fellow Spiritualist!"
"...Is that who I think it is?"
"By Heavens! They actually dug up the old crone for this one, Smithers..."
"Poor fellow... Actually, as Initiate of the Third Rank, I am afraid you really do have to entertain our three ladies. Shocking I know. I've been there myself - it can be quite terrifying when all three of them are in the same room..."
"Oh my dear! You should really try some of this cake!"
The kindred who draw near will fell the pulsating power of a number of Beasts here. The circle warily and snap at one another.
This scene is a bit of an experiment: a mix of social scene and plot. At first I'm going to leave it open for player characters to mingle with the crowd, a mix of business people, the wealthy, philanthropists, occultists and the curious. Then, time willing, I'll drop in Doctor Malachai's demonstration... What happens is up to you