In Nomine Revisited: The Three Faces of Elvis (Corporeal).

Three Faces of Elvis Corporeal – Google Docs

The Three Faces of Elvis

(Corporeal)

Or, Things to do in Memphis When You’re Dead

Elvis Presley, of course, is currently enjoying his afterlife as a blessed soul in the service of the Sword — look, before you ask about the way he died; hello, but didn’t that scream “Shedite of Gluttony possession” to you?  The chronicles of the Memphis, TN Three Elvis Campaigns during the early Seventies make for riveting reading.  Much like the War of Jenkin’s Ear, the ostensible reason for all the fighting was pretty much just an excuse, which is probably why permanently rescuing Elvis Presley from being a Shedite chew toy never seemed to take place.  

Afterwards, Laurence (Archangel of the Sword) cleaned up the mess — as usual — and took in the blessed soul as partial recompense.  And, of course, Love Me Tender; the Archangel of the Sword’s weakness for that song is well known, if never much talked about.  So, yes, Elvis is very happy now, working out his few remaining mental problems, and feeling all right.

Well, except for one minor problem.  Somebody stole his corpse.

The alarms were tripped (yes, there were alarms, although nobody corporeal will admit to them), so that would argue a mortal agent.  On the other hand, the Disturbance that resulted when the thief met the guards would argue for someone a touch more supernatural.  Either way, the PCs are going to be drawn in as part of the investigation; Laurence is taking the reasonable view that if a metaphysical agency wishes to illegally acquire the corpse of Elvis Presley, it’s probably for reasons which Heaven might take issue with.  On the other hand, this is probably not going to be something that might shake the very foundations of the War, so he’s going to assign the problem to some PCs and let them go poking around.

All in all, it was a good call by the Commander of the Host.  The grave robber in question — a fellow by the name of Edward G Wilson — is a not so much ‘particularly demented’ necromancer as he is one who is demented in a notably different manner than most of his peers.  Edward is rather obsessed with the works of H.P. Lovecraft (undoubtedly to the latter’s distress), especially the ones involving Charles Dexter Ward and Dr. Herbert West.  The guy thinks that he’s worked out a way to reanimate the dead; what he’s actually done is developed a method by which corpses can be turned into a powder that then can be turned into a zombi, which can then be turned back into a powder when not needed.  This is going to be very useful to Hell, unfortunately.  Once they find out about this, it might even earn Edward a relatively pain-free afterlife.

Fortunately for the Good Guys, Hell doesn’t know about this yet, because Edward’s best friend is Kim, a Balseraph of Technology. Kim is in on this project for his own reasons: access to the brain of Elvis Presley.  You see, one of the Shedim that used the King for its fun was also involved in a convoluted scam designed to hide a valuable [insert MacGuffin that you were planning to spring on your party anyway].  

Unfortunately, all involved ran into the Eighth Virtue — literally; the demons picked the wrong bar to hide out in, which is always hysterical if you’re a Malakite — and they’re all now permanently dead.  But a Shedite’s thoughts sometimes bleed into those of its victims, and zombis can retain fragments of the original soul’s memories, and Kim read somewhere that human memory is holographic, so he’s got this nifty device that he made that he’s sure will let him read Elvis’ zombified, reconstituted brain.  What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, it was a stupid question, but after the zombi Elvis burst free of its bonds and started its rampage across Memphis, it wasn’t precisely one that Kim can currently answer.  If the PCs haven’t made it to this point yet, this would be a fine time for them to meet the Undead King and all his buddies.  Poorly understood Vaputech radiation mixed with pseudoscientific necromancy can give the oddest results; a zombi that can animate any corpse within twenty feet after five minutes continuous proximity wouldn’t even make the Top Ten List of Weirdest Technology-Based Disasters.  This may not encourage the PCs, but the subsequent vicious parody of Elvis meets Thriller will hopefully keep them amused and motivated long enough to put down the zombis, track the Undead King to his lair, destroy the King, and find the MacGuffin (turns out that Kim was right: a pity that he’s currently too busy clutching his Heart and screaming to care).

Rewards?  Laurence’s favor, Elvis’ thanks and the MacGuffin; also, at a later point they get to meet Edward again, probably at the head of a shadow army of the famous, restless dead.  This last bit doesn’t sound like much of a reward, but it does give your players a chance to shoot infamous historical figures, which they often appreciate.  Something to keep in mind.
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