On December 12th, 2009, the former cat burgler known as Trilby who now works for the Special Talent Project as a paranormal investigator went to investigate a lead on the possible whereabouts of Chzo--the demonic pain elemental partially responsible for the incident in DeFoe Manor. The following is a series of notes and photographs from Trilby's investigation.

Nor-Cal Chirstmas Gathering Gallery

-December is reputed as a month filled with pain and suffering due to the stress of Christmas shopping and planning events for friends and family to come together to celebrate this commercial holiday. I'm not sure if Chzo himself attracts pain or pain attracts Chzo himself. But I do know that where pain with the potential for violent slaughter is present, Chzo cannot be far.

-Scanning through December event listings, I came upon a planned cosplay gathering in San Francisco that seemed to already have issues between attendees due to the weather. Lots of stress there. I could almost suspect Chzo created the storming rains that made brought so much pain from planning. All the more reason I don't bother with event planning.

-I did not have my equipment on hand for this excursion. The Special Talent Project gave me a cover identification as some guy named K Valentine, which removed my need for a mask. Hiding in plain sight is an interesting feeling. My grolly/taser disguised as my black hooked umbrella was still under repairs since the last job. The only black hooked object available was a black cane and its only special feature was the set of flames that make it look like I am going faster. Some of the locals lent me a plain black umbrella for photos.

-Rain caused the gathering to take place at the the back up location in the Japan Town mall instead of the Golden Gate Park. Cosplayers trying to draw attention to themselves in a public setting filled with shoppers... what a pain that reeks of Chzo's influence. Despite switching to an alternate location, the attendees still seemed to be in high spirits.

-Photographing the costumed attendees proved to be a chore. They'll do anything as long as there's a camera in front of them. Why did the Special Talent Project assign me the identity of a con photographer? Given my equipment, I'm more suited for the front lines than setting up photo shoots. I need to be in the thick of the action.

-Photo booths... man, they freak me out.

-The only demonic presence I could detect in the mall was was from a well-dressed butler with a high-pitched voice. The pale skin, the limitless creativity, the pentagrams on the hands, the antlers... definitely not human. Will have to investigate further.

-That day the butler served a madam in red. While the red stands out and is easily associated with demons, the Satanic Literature course I took in college taught me how the Devil tries not to stand out. The common butler makes more sense for Chzo to manifest.

-Sadly, another Special Talent Project member--some dude with a sword--did not take the same Satanic Literature course. Sure that the red madam was Chzo, he stabbed her with his sword. The effort was both senseless and ineffective. You have to kill the source of evil and not its play things. Poor dude will be missed.

-Gathering intel on the supected demonic butler, I've learned that the devil loves good company to go with good food. Juban was a perfect mix of both with its shared grilling premise. With no prior knowledge of Juban, I had to rely on the demonic butler's expertise in the matter.

-Damn, the butler stole $20 from me. How embarrassing that a reputed thief could get hoodwinked. Oh, well. Stealing it back will be even more fun.

-Lacking enough intel on Chzo and the gathering reaching conclusion, I called it a night. Ironically, I had parked my car next to the car that brought the butler and others to this gathering. Until we meet again...

This hastily cosplayed and written report of Trilby's Notes is very loosely based on the adventure game of the same name by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, the foul-mouthed game critic featured in The Escapist magazine.