Shadowdark #10 ...Maureen the witch

Back at the keep, and visiting Maureen the Witch, after letting 'Elfin John' into the party, ...the party realise that there is no obvious door to her tower, and she communicates via a lowered basket - into which Dagmara the half-orc wizard, who is desperate to meet her in the pursuit of spell knowledge, lodges the dark and 'eeevil' pendant that she picked up in the Dwarven mines.

Lifting the basket, and Maureen finding what is inside, results in the tower's secret door being opened and the characters beckoned inside.

Clearly the witch thinks covid masks work

Dagmara the half-orc wizard appears to instantly impress the ancient Maureen, who asks if she and her party will 'rescue' her captured wand from the caverns they have returned from - she believes that the orcs have it. When questioned, she reveals that she, old Jomama the cleric, and the wily Castellan Trum, are all that remains of a larger adventuring party, who came to control the keep after barely escaping the caverns with their lives, many years ago. She also grants three spell scrolls to aid the party. 

There is much discussion as to where the party came from, and they tell of their past as imprisoned revolutionaries of the 'Peoples' Front of Bodertown' (as opposed to the 'Bodertown Peoples' Front'..who are of course SPLITTERS!)... not mentioning the preferred (by some) local title of 'Bordertown' as that is anathema to the principles of their movement! 

 Maureen tells Dagmara to be very careful, insisting that she will reveal more when they return - mentioning her suspicion that the Munchburger brothers are involved in some sort of corruption connected to the caverns, the orcs, dodgy dealings...and an ancient evil... They should also be wary of 'White-eye' the orc chieftain...even Maureen shudders as she mentions him.

'I mean...how bad could he be?'

 

'The reverse ambush helmet job!'

 As the first batch of characters set off on Jeralt's griffin, they notice an ambush being set up below - possibly for the rest of the party, by Rarius -  the fighter that Bjorn had previously fallen foul of in the tavern. Landing, they take him down, scattering the bandits...noticing that they appear to be moving back toward the caverns. Bjorn takes a new Hoplite style helmet from his sworn enemy...

'That's defo going on ebay!!!'

 As the characters resolve to take the goblin cave first, they know they are walking into a trap...and are immediately attacked by giant centipedes, who seem a little handicapped by Dagmara's light spell.As they clear the entry way, they notice many ...many goblins retreating back into the shadows... let's hope the light lasts!

No actual giant centipedes were harmed in the making of this production...

Call of Cthulhu, Episode #18: 'You rolled a what?...'

As Sinead gives the Dimensional Shambler its orders…it smiles a toothy hellish grin, and disappears.

'Uhhh...you wanna me to do whaaa?'

 

Meanwhile, the aft section of the deck has been given over to the Russian Count, and his addiction to playing Shuffle-Board with his retinue…who of course lose gracefully while the count wins every game.

Definitely not a pentagram

The characters realise that they can get no closer and strangely, the Purser seems to have been paid off to let the Count have control of the deck, and the yacht is keeping pace with the liner. Upon investigation, they discover that the yacht had asked to take photos and the liner has slowed somewhat to comply. How mysterious.

As the characters complain vociferously about not being able to sunbathe in the stern section, they stir up complaints in the pub with influential British and American travellers, after being offered free drinks. As they leave…the passengers have set up a committee, which will vote to ascertain members of a sub-committee – each striving to gain a greater national advantage, with a view to electing a head of sub-sub-committee, who will then go to complain to the Captain. Makes perfect sense.

'Clearly the decisions of the third sect of the 4th sub-committee (pending), will be final...'

 As the shuffleboard competition of one heats up…the characters notice (1) that the yacht is getting ever closer – despite their constant checking that there is no way for the yacht crew to board the liner and (2)…more importantly, the Count’s guards are now being distracted by the yacht…missing the real problem that is about to emerge as…

 ...'The Priests' – who were never priests – and are in fact Trostky'ites' (or something) rush the aft deck, shooting stewards and bodyguards alike in an attempt to reach their goal of ‘death to the oppressors and the Romanovs!!!’ as the main Priest pulls the pin from a badly maintained grenade.

Trotsky's assassins all along...makes perfect sense

 A quick thinking McDade rushes into action…sliding from the shadows, straight into the Priest carrying the grenade and bringing him down – pin extracted, now ‘phishing’ in timely fashion, …the device falls onto the deck, bouncing off the gunnel right next to McDade’s face as he goes sprawling.

'YEET!'

 

At this point he had to make a luck roll – five times POW…70%. 'Making it' means the grenade does not go off just yet, and he gets a chance to do something. 

Failing means he is dead-dead-dead and the other characters probably take some shrapnel damage…

He rolls ‘01’. ( should add that the last time I ran this campaign, EXACTLY the same thing happened with a roll of 01 – this, bearing in mind the odds being ‘1:100 AND 1:100’, at 10,000 to 1, clearly means that we are existing inside a simulation)…

He grabs the live grenade and ‘yeets’ it into the water…handily, almost absently, and wholly accidentally (he did roll a 01!!!) directing it straight onto the yacht that has been shadowing them – and, as it works out, the planned escape route for the assassins. Boom! (01s are always 'plot yanking'). 

...such a nice boat too...

He crawls away as the other two assassins shoot and miss him (his luck not seeming to run out) – then dodges behind cover to avoid the second shots…just in time as one of the count’s bodyguards opens up with a Tommy gun from the stern, not really caring who he hits…and bullets fly up the deck in ‘gangster’ fashion – taking out the would be assassins . The count is immediately moved to his cabin amidst a flurry of 1920s bodyguard activity…with any wounded, and McDade is the hero of the hour.

'Is that a Tommy Gun in my pocket? Why...yes it is!...'

 As the crew try to clear up what the hell just happened, the party do not admit to what part they played…though when the Count’s bodyguards come looking for their boss’s saviour– McDade agrees to come with them. The Russian count splashes cash to make everything 'ok, yes?'

Count Mikhael Andreovich Kurosov introduces himself, gives McDade a bear hug, and cracks open the ‘Wodka’ telling him that he is in his eternal debt. McDade sends for the Prof, who being an actual  Doctor, pronounces one bodyguard dead, and manages to save the other…both characters notice that the Count, amongst his bedtime reading, has a particularly rare book. Asking permission to see it, they realise its import – a 17^th century Latin piece with potentially dangerous information (so far, books like this do not last long if the Prof gets a hold of them...in fact, neither do NPCs for that matter)…as the Count explains that it is part of the reason he is able to travel, a man known as 'Septimus Crane', of Arkham, has offered him $30,000 dollars for it…he carefully puts it back in place.

'You seem trustworthy...'

Crane of course, the Prof recalls, is a prominent member of the Silvery Twilight – clearly something is very odd about this whole trip. Crane has also offered the Count his old house in Idaho, in a town called Black Knob…the characters look likely to both intercept the book and accompany the Count to the curiously named 'Black Knob'…as they vainly hope that the Sherrif is not called 'B.J.' or something.

As they all retire to their respective staterooms, Sinead hears the distant chanting of the islanders in the bowels of the engineering deck once more, though led by a voice she recognises – the Purser. She smiles quietly to herself, reasoning that the Dimensional Shambler might be a little more irate when it appears this time…

'If only I could remember what I asked it to do...'

 

…What could go wrong?...

Shadowdark #9...'the Horror, the Horror...'

Still in the creeper caverns and having opted to take a rest to recover, the character hear orcs outside, quickly realising that the orcs are returning to the caverns above after their patrol…clearly their base in the well established valley complex.

Proper pig faced orcs...none of that new fangled WoTC Mexican thing...

 

...I know right?

They continue to find the leader of the creepers, but are ambushed by ex-members of the Patrol who disappeared many months before and are now ‘creepy’ cannibal types themselves…

 

'OK there are only five of us, so we should be careful and not rush into anything m'kay?'

It’s touch and go for a long time…until finally they reach ‘Captain Kurtz’ – who disappeared on patrol from the keep months before  – a vile half man now, under the disease ridden spell of the creepers…and more animal than man. In a fight to the death, they leave the cannibal creepers stinking caverns, leaving only the defenceless alive… as Kurtz is dispatched by Sir Jeralt …’the horror, the horror…’

'CHARGE!'

 

'The Horror...the Horror...I swallowed a bug...'

The prize of 20GP hardly seems worth it, though the characters reason that leaving the area, via Jeralt’s Griffon, is the best idea…since they are now a party of five, scarcely enough to take on subsequent levels of the complex…

 

At the keep, a griffon does not go down well with the defenders…until the keep-guard realise, after the beast lands well outside the perimeter, that  it carries the characters. From the old tower at the entrance, the witch waves at Dagmara the half-orc wizard, at least cognizant of the fact that if they have earned themselves a griffon…perhaps these adventurers might be useful after all.

Yeahhhh...I'd be a bit concerned, if it arrived uninvited too...

A night of partying follows, where Bjorn manages to both earn the enmity of a warrior called Rarius, and the gratitude and life debt of a thief – known as 'Elfin Jon', who seems instantly trustworthy and who seeks to join the party, bringing their number back up to six …though watch out for that Rarius dude…

Gyve the dwarven smith later informs Karlyle that he can not fix his broken elven magic blade ‘Quenya’…but that ‘Maureen the witch of the tower'…might just be able to…

Definitely a witchy style tower

The quest continues.

Call of Cthulhu, Episode #17: '...Maybe best to stand near the lifeboats?'

We left our heroes(!) with Sinead being confronted by four 'less than wholesome' south Pacific tribal 'engineers' in overalls and elder signs, at least two of whom seem to have her in mind for dinner! 

She makes her escape into the maze of pipes and turbines in the engine deck and is chased, although the Purser appears to call the 'crew' to heel - Sinead notes that all is not right with these guys...and makes two fateful rolls...rolling '01' for both...

Sinead with her make up on...

 The first is a listen roll, where she hears distant chanting from the stern section of the engineering deck, witnessing a 'practice ritual' amongst these 'islanders made up to look like mechanics, with elder signs'...and clearly with the intent of summoning something nasty.

The second, and most pertinent is an '01' critical in her disguise skill. She immediately uses oil, overalls, grit, determination, and more oil...to look like one of the clan of islanders. Of course with a natural 01, anything is possible; it might even work. 

...and without...

Meanwhile, having 'befriended' Professor Felix Paterson, the Prof, McDade and McLeoud quickly realise that he is as mad as a box of frogs, and has some very dangerous things in his cabin.

'I use mine for cutting cucumber for my sendwichesss!'

Urging them to join him, he plans to recite a ritual incantation, promising the characters 'great visions' and the furtherance of his quest for 'eternal life' - using his strange book collection, 'Ratty' the black rat who has unwittingly been brought for sacrifice... 

'Come out to the coast they said, we'll have a few laughs they said...'

 a piece of supposed wood from the time of King Arthur's last battle, a strange bronze chalice, and a badly shaped crystal ball...oh yes, and a dark black, obsidian, horribly attractive, strangely enticing...dagger of Thoth...which the characters assume could be a bit dangerous in the wrong hands.

'It's all perfectly safe I tell you!!!'

 Now, bearing in mind the characters' past obsession with dispatching NPCs, Prof. Paterson is soon smacked in the head, and loaded with enough laudanum to put him to sleep for...well...forever, by the Prof (tick another dead NPC box and call for SAN roll). Clearly this whole magic thing is too dangerous to be allowed! (until it isn't). Ratty also, fatefully, does not make it, as McDade stands on him hard.

Sinead meanwhile - still in hiding, hears that not only are the islanders planning to summon something otherworldy, but the Purser is behind it all, and plans to send the 'thing' the the Russian aristocrat's cabin ...all very strange. The Purser is very clear on which cabin it should be sent to... 

As Sinead continues her 'oiled up'phase...Professor Von Junzt gathers the artifacts and books, telling the rest of the party that he is going to hide them...whilst secretly chucking the lot over the side...much to the party's disappointment when they find out...

Whilst doing so, he notes a yacht keeping pace and course with the liner...hmm, I am sure it's all quite innocent, until he notices that one of the Priest's minions is also keeping an eye on said yacht, and McCleoud notes that it is flying a Russian flag. Curiouser and curiouser.

...innocent passengers walk the decks, completely unaware that there are maniacs on board...

Sinead meanwhile, keeping a low profile in engineering, gets close to the ritual prep, and learns the spell - the mechanics of it anyway...seeing that the cultists all stand within a painted circle of magical runes and symbols and vertices and terrible angles... She returns to her cabin, reciting the chant, ensuring that she knows it, and watching the cultists as they tail off the final words...sure that she can make the spell happen...if of course, she had to.

Still disguised, by midnight she returns to the circle..confident that she knows what to do..even if she has no idea how to bind the 'thing'...

The rest of the party sleep as she recites the spell in the underdecks, pumping magic into her words, enough magic points to ensure success, the air vibrant with potential as hairs stand up on the back of her neck...and the thing from another dimension...shambles into being on the oily steel deck...

 

'I am heeeere...what...dost...thou...wishest...mortal...'

ROLL YOUR SAN!  

(not least because Sinead is about to tell it what to do :O  )