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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Golden Bee" data-source="post: 9689647" data-attributes="member: 7041055">Viva Flatlantis!A battle for souls in Sin City!Someone strange arrived in the mail. Stanli, former warrior of Flatlantis, mailed himself to the ZSS New York office. The city had gone three-dimensional, and the soul-eating shademarks had disappeared!Ivo, Rafe and Devika were on active duty this week. They began scouring international newspapers, but were called by an old client: Dr. Henry Starkweather. He’d become much less annoying, and was studying the paranormal in Las Vegas… were they up for some work?In fairy tales, heroes have no hope of reward. Rafe Lancaster and his mentee were more realistic. They phoned ahead to Vegas, crashing with millionaire frenemy Buck Searsroe. Since they’d been there last, the city had turned into a late-night paradise, with three big casinos, all run by rival triplets, The Gillers. Freddie, fan of occultism and the “Daredevil King of Chance and Wealth” ran the Phantom Chalice. Megan was the “Relentless Queen of Trickery” and ruled the Elysium. Glenda Giller was the “Power hungry Monarch” of the 7 Crowns. Freddie seemed the most aggressive. Some of his associates were ratcheting up the protection fees on Starkweather’s laundromat-turned-science-lab. Rafe played big shot, telling the mooks that Starkweather was a paying client and therefore not subject to shakedowns. Instead of pulling out their sidearms, the goons retreated.Starkweather was grateful, and told the group about an abandoned general store outside of town. It was adversely possessed by numerous ghosts, including Delilah, a dead farmer's wife who had been haunting the area since before the American Revolution. The group went and tried out a few of Starkweather’s gadgets… until dozens of spirits emerged and vanished into the sunset.Realizing that they were outmatched in terms of “basic fighting prowess,” the group turned to Ivo the smuggler. With their pooled resources, he acquired an honor guard of no-neck thugs.Devi, a big hater of mafias, insisted they go to the first casino, the Phantom Chalice. They knew the way to get the big boss’s attention: throw around a lot of money. Something she, Lancaster and Ivo were all tremendously skilled at.After winning and losing beaucoup bucks, Freddie Giller invited them to the high-roller table. He tried to throw his weight around, acting all tough. Then Rafe and Devika did the same thing. Freddie got even more explicit… but it became super awkward. Because his foes had a goon squad, he had no interest in entering a three-on-one tussle. Devi, realizing she had the upper hand, didn't want the reputational damage of ‘arriving in town and unbalancing the criminal underworld immediately’. Fred ordered up some carbonara for everybody and cooler heads prevailed. The ZSS trio would at least meet all the Gillers before rendering judgment.The second Giller, Megan, was perfectly nice but didn't offer much new information.The third one, Glenda at the Seventh Crown Casino, was audacious. Devi noticed how much Au was in circulation, and having her own gold mine, worked out a deal. After enjoying some excellent cookies, it was early in the morning and time to get to bed.The Vegas Times had been an operation for three decades by 1935. But they had never had a weirder headline:All three casinos had been affected. The players went back to the Seventh Crown Casino, examining a victim. Stanli confirmed their fears: someone had taken not just the shadows but souls of the guests!Norman Foster and Carole Lombard weren’t the only people who knew It Pays To Advertise. Rafe set aside some of his adventuring stipend to bribe local radio stations, who invited kooks of all stripes into the city. Anyone with ‘proven ghost-fighting expertise’ joined the ZSS posse. Devi’s honed mental senses led the group to the Crown casino's basement. Not only was there an extremely well-protected Carolingian crown, the basement was filled with shadow-eating monsters! The shademarks were defeated with a mix of mystic might and supernatural science, with Ivo luring the creatures into a trap and Rafe firing off Starkweather’s technology.The next stop was the general store, now suffused with the Flatlatean creatures. The tide turned when Rafe negotiated with the 250-year-old spirit as a businessman. There was something she wanted: attacking the group wasn't going to get it.After the battle, there was a vital clue: someone had moved the shademarks here as a distraction! The trail led back to Glenda, who tried to lock the group in the basement behind a solid gold door. Greedy Ivo wasn't deterred by the padlock though… He took out his tool kit and simply removed the door from its hinges!Upstairs, Glenda (in a fancy chapeau) rallied her mystic allies and swarms of button men. It was then that Devika came up with a truly wonderful lie.It was a credible accusation. Freddie was a fan of occultism, after all. The made men lost all control of the situation when Ivo yelled at the casino patrons,The battle was pitched. Giller’s supernatural forces were soul-sucking monsters. The ragtag assembly of hired mercenaries and local ghost-hunting cranks couldn't fight back the unending hordes.Luckily, they didn't have to. Devi hurled chips in every direction, swung off a roulette wheel and kicked the hat off Glenda's head. Underneath it was the crown from the basement, an artifact that controlled the shadows. With it removed, the creatures turned on their controller, turning her into a dusty pile of jewelry.Rafe looked at the wrecked casino, shaking his head.Of course, after the calamity, it was time to get paid. Lancaster Industries had recently acquired lots right next to the Seventh Crown Casino. Since there were two equally rich siblings who wanted the property, it was time to hear the two sweetest words in the English language: bidding war. The remaining Gillers were happy to buy expansion space. Devi collected Starkweather's payment and sold the story to Life Magazine. Ivo raided the basement.</blockquote>

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