St. Francis Hotel
Originally opened in 1904, then repaired and reopened a year after the Great Quake of 1906, the St. Francis Hotel is a 1,200-room luxury hotel located in Union Square. It has hosted actors, artists, writers, generals, presidents, and monarchs. It is also home to the famous “Clock Bar,” named for the Magneta Grandfather Clock, a time piece purportedly built in Vienna in 1856 and transported by steamer ship around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The Magneta now operates as the hotel’s “master clock.”
Since 1938, the St. Francis has offered “coin washing” as a guest service. The custom started when the hotel’s manager insisted that all coins be cleaned to keep female guests’ white gloves from getting dirty. Daily, coins are collected by the front desk staff and washed in an automatic shaker located in the hotel’s basement, to be used for change when guests pay cash.
The St. Francis hosted Westercon in 1973. During the convention, Carl Fletcher and Rich Talbot triggered a temblor which almost “sank” the hotel into History B. URIEL was, with great effort, able to save the St. Francis – and perhaps all of San Francisco – using memetic warfare techniques developed by Archie in collaboration with Andy Krane.
Later in ‘73, Marshall hosted a dinner for SCANATE, Uri Geller, Andrija Puharich, and the rest of Geller’s entourage at Victor’s, the restaurant on the top floor of the St. Francis’ recently-completed Tower Building.
The final showdown between URIEL and their greatest nemesis to date: a UC Berkeley grad student.
URIEL implements the Atlantis LARP • The con divides into teams • Viv — sorry, the Council — gives a stirring speech • Archie, as Director Sebastian Stone, delivers some wise words of encouragement to his agents • Jocasta — Maurdunn — meets Terence McKenna • Marshall babysits Andy with the cavalry • The teams explore the warped reality of the upper floors
Charley partially restores power to the St. Francis then takes a moment to perform post-mortem electroencephalogy on the carcass of a girtablullû.
Mitch, Jocasta, and Agent 00 stumble upon a disturbing little soiree on the upper floors of the St. Francis, hosted by a kusarikku named Roscoe.
The team at the St. Francis reunites to debrief and discuss their next moves as the ontological situation rapidly deteriorates.
URIEL learns the extent of Carl and Richie’s plan • Archie delivers his latest memetic masterpiece to the St. Francis • Mitch asks Jocasta her thoughts on fascism and human nature • Later he crashes the Special Ones’ suite and throws a tape player out the window • Viv and Roger get the ball rolling on the Atlantis A-Risen LARP • Marshall welcomes a kill-team from Granite Peak and lays siege to LeConte Hall • Jocasta gets ready to hunt bear • Roger catches a psychedelic barb in the face • Archie and Charley cross the threshold, together
Jocasta, Roger, and Mitch deal with the fallout of their tussle with the girtablullû coin-keeper while three bašmu men in black make a break for it in a hijacked car.
Jocasta and Mitch encounter one of the Red Kings’ servants cleaning a coin in the St. Francis Hotel basement.
Westercon ‘73 gets a little strange • The St. Francis slips deeper into ontological instability • Viv meets the field team • Jocasta arrives at the scene, loaded for bear • Roger runs damage control • The office team debates how to counteract Carl and Richie’s plan • Marshall worries about the PR fallout with Granite Peak • Archie starts formulating the idea of a meme-laden live-action “role playing game” • Mitch and Jocasta go bull hunting
Roger enlists Viv’s aid to implement URIEL’s game-meme — Atlantis Arisen! — at Westercon ‘73.
The office team at Livermore have an unsettling conversation with one of Roger’s less savory “personalities.”
Mitch dials into Livermore to report on the deteriorating situation at the St. Francis — and Jocasta posits the idea of using a live action “play” to re-establish consensus reality.
Roger and Mitch corral a catatonic Rich to safety, and enlist Viv in managing the fallout of the ikoter blast.
URIEL figures out Carl and Richie’s nefarious plan • Mitch and Roger race to apprehend them • And get blasted through the door by an ersatz ikoter-shotgun • Jocasta takes Andy into involuntary protective custody • Viv gives her keynote speech and reading from her new book • The crowd loves it (they have no choice, she uses NLP) • Mitch and Roger get to the con floor too late • It all goes to shit
Mitch sits down for the St. Francis Hotel’s famous continental breakfast and bumps into Richie Talbot.
Jocasta hits the streets, receives minimal catcalls, and discovers a commemorative metal plaque from another timeline affixed to the foundation of the St. Francis.
Roger infiltrates the ranks of the St. Francis’ staff • Jocasta briefly tours her first sci-fi convention • It’s not her scene • Mitch sets up audio surveillance for Viv and Andy’s suite • Archie, Andy, and Viv attend a VIP party • Archie and Andy meet, and have a strange conversation • The field team, plus Charley, evaluate the Magneta Clock
Sophie presents her findings on the Magneta Clock and URIEL prepares for insertion at the St. Francis Hotel on the eve of Westercon ‘73.