Retirement?

I've been working to get the group together for this Sunday for a little Gnome Wars, a little Cthulhu, and some Aces & Eights character creation. Throw in a couple pizzas and some wings and we're going to have a groovy time. I got email confirmation from two of my primary guys, and gave a call to the third for confirmation. The second of the emails made my heart fall straight to the ground.

In addition to confirming, Nate talked about the future aspirations of Dr. Nathaniel Millheim, noted parapsychologist. Dr. Millheim has been the nucleus of the group and the main reason any of these guys are investigating things man was not meant to know. A while back, I asked the group what their characters wanted to do. Steve and Brian sent their's back pretty quick and both ideas could be worked into the game.

Nate, however, stated that Dr. Millheim shoud, "continue his research, write a book or two, and retire. I can start up a new character."

You can see my initial dilemma. To top that off, I was planning one last stand-alone scenario this weekend, then a significant change to the campaign's direction. I won't mention specifics, but there's a full bookshelf of Chaosium books at my disposal and I'm not afraid to use the big campaign books. Despite Nichol's insanity (in-game, he's a goner in real life), the group had developed a decent background of experience and wealth of contacts to start delving into more than a rogue Dimensional Shambler or "Haunted House." Their foray into a Cult of Cthugha and the KKK confirmed it for me. My choices would weave a few unrelated sessions between the "beastly" conspiracies of the world and something "fishy" up in Massachusetts. It would take years, but everyone knowing my twisted lust for continuity, I would love to see one of Smitty's quotes possibly ring true.

*sigh* Now I'll need a sit-down session with the group first. Here's hoping an agreement can be reached.