Eldritch Horror

Shub-Niggurath stirs in her slumber, threatening to awaken as her spawn begin to surface all around the world. Can musician Jim Culver and martial artist Lily Chen prevent the unthinkable, or is the Earth doomed?

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Re: Eldritch Horror

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[img]http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2073840.png[/img]

Turn 13 Action Phase

THE tentacles grope towards the battered and prone Jim Culver, his head lolls upon the forest floor as he awaits his awful fate.

“Jim, Jim, get up! It’s me—Julius!” Jim is unable to respond, his good eye flickers and the saliva, which has collected in a reservoir between his jaw and cheek, dribbles out and pools beneath his face. Julius puts Jim’s arm around his shoulders and drags him away from the bonfire and the consuming orgy of the Cultists.

Ten minutes later Jim has recovered enough to prop his sore back against a fallen pine trunk, Julius, his rescuer, is crouched opposite to him, orange light from the bonfire defining his features; the yelps and grunts of the beasts at play is plainly audible,—the Cultists are only a hundred feet away from them—but Jim and Julius are hidden in the tangled, dark forest.

“You was killt, Julius,” whispers Jim; “that she-devil was feasting on your neck.”

“Well, I’m here aren’t I? And I’ve saved your sorry ass!”

“True, that’s true. Thank you.” Jim and Julius clasp each other’s forearm, but that is as far as their heartfelt emotion is visible in the dark.

Julius says in a strained voice: “After—after she attacked me—when I regained consciousness I mean—I found my neck and chest covered in congealed blood and pus, it was a bad awakening I can tell you.”

Jim grips Julius’ forearm a little tighter. “A cloud with sharp teeth and tentacles,” he begins, telling his own awful story, “was just about to attack me when you turned up in the nick of time. Believe me, it was as real as this pine cone falling to earth,” and Jim drops the pine cone he is holding.

“Despite this apparent hell,”—Julius waves his arm about vaguely—“they don’t exist.”

“You mean my deadly cloud?”

“Both are illusions; neither is true. The teeth and tentacles—I can’t explain it, no doubt there was some hallucinogen in those tea leaves of yours; but Gravity—Einstein’s Relativity proves that Newton was wrong. Your pine cone didn’t drop, the Earth, which is falling through space, hit it—the illusion happens because we feel that we are at rest. A mass doesn’t have a ‘Force’ which pulls a smaller mass towards itself, but it does bend spacetime—the fabric of space—around itself, so our planet simply follows a curved path through spacetime round the sun. Spheres alter reality or what we perceive as reality, and the Universe is filled with trillions of ‘em. A good example is this: if you and I stand on the Equator a mile apart and we set off for the North Pole on a path which is parallel to one another, we will come together.”

“Why, then, is Newton and Force taught in schools?” puzzles Jim, forgetting the horror for a brief moment as Julius intends.

“It is because,” answers Julius, “Newton’s equations are correct for our planet and they are simple to understand, whereas Einstein’s equations are too complex for a child to grasp.”

Jim rifles through his jacket pocket and produces the sheet titled “Feed the Mind.” Before he begins muttering the script he had learned he says: “And this, can you also explain this to me?” as his eyes begin to glow.

[img]http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu12 ... 53d2a1.jpg[/img]
Cast Feed the Mind, Lore 4 -1 [dice]0[/dice]
0-2: ". . . . Discard this card unless you lose 2 Sanity." Rest, regain 1 Sanity, and discard Hallucinations & Back Injury on a 5 or 6 [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice]

Turn 13 Encounter Phase

Jim spent 2 Clues to place an Eldritch token on the Mystery.
[img]http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu12 ... 241e0c.jpg[/img]
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Image

Turn 13 Encounter Phase
As Lily leaves the bar and walks through the narrow streets, she gets the sensation that she is being followed. Looking back, she sees shadowy forms approaching her, so she quickens her pace...only to run into a pair of brutes. Two more approach from behind her, the same ones she had brushed past. "You shouldn't be wandering around at night all by yourself, little lady," said one of them. "You're liable to get hurt."

"I can take care of myself," said Lily. "If you try anything, you'll find that out."

"You got us all wrong, sweetheart. We don't want anything bad to happen to you. Why, we're here to protect you. For a small fee, of course..."

"How small?"

"A sawbuck will do - for now."

"I don't have that much. But I am a friend of Jacqueline Bauer." She squeezes her rabbit's foot.

"Say no more." The four goons vanished into the night.
OOC,Influence roll (2) for General Encounter. [dice]0[/dice] Reroll of Influence roll for Lucky Rabbit's Foot. [dice]1[/dice] Influence roll passed! Phew!
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Turn 13 Mythos Phase
Image

Omen advances: green comet.
Monster Surge: Istanbul Gate (green comet) + Zombie.
Clue appears: Space 14.
Text effect: Istanbul Gate discarded.

Final Mystery solved.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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OOC,I think [b]Jim[/b] should be the Lead Investigator for Turn 14, unless there's some way that your Encounter could possibly spawn a monster in The Heart of Africa (the Chthonian is already there, and I'm hoping there isn't a second one). You might want to try to improve your Lore again, as long as you didn't discard Feed the Mind.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Turn 14 Action Phase

Cast Feed the Mind Lore, 4 -1 [dice]0[/dice]
Lore improved; card flipped--2 Sanity lost.

Travel to Space 1.

(Something has happened to my Turn 13 Action Phase, Jim rolled a 6 and discarded Back Injury Condition.) Jim is heading for Tokyo, and Lily can count on Instill Bravery.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Turn 14 Action Phase
Lily Chen checks into a hotel and gets a good night's sleep. In the morning, she returns to the bar, where Jacqueline is waiting behind the wheel of a pickup truck loaded with supplies. "Good morning," she said, getting into the shotgun seat. "Let's hit the road."

"Roads?" said Jacqueline, lowering a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. "Where we're going, we don't need...roads. This baby has four wheel drive." She pulled out, and they headed north, deep into the jungles of Central Africa.
OOC,Action 1: Rest. 1 Health gained. Action 2: Travel (15->The Heart of Africa)
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Turn 14 Encounter Phase, Space 1
Image
". . . fend off the thieves." Strength 2 [dice]0[/dice]--Tear Gas gained, Dynamite to the Reserve.

JIM and Julius sit on the curb outside Fish Heaven, "Anchorage's premier tackle emporium," the store owner graciously hands Jim a flask-like canister as a "Thank you" for stopping a robbery five minutes earlier.

"We've done our good deed for one day," remarks Julius.

"There's something else," says Jim, "that I may be called upon to do. . . ."

"Jim?"

"On our trek out of the wilderness, I had a vision: a woman facing up to numerous monstrosities in the heart of darkness."

"That'll be those tea leaves again," comments Julius wryly.

"Maybe so," he smiles, "but I sense this is the final battle. If she can prevail . . . this nightmare will be over for us. But one of my Incantations, 'Instill Bravery,' can help if the horror becomes too much for her."

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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Turn 14 Encounter Phase
Jacqueline drives north into the jungle. Eventually she and Lily are able to pick up the monsters' trail of destruction and follow it to a large pack of hideous and horrific creatures. Two of the goat-like things break off from the horde and charge at the truck. Lily recognizes one of them as the one she had encountered in Istanbul eating the dying policeman, and she opens fire. The bullet wounds the goat-woman, but she scratches Lily's shoulder as she lopes past. The other one, this one a male, is close behind her. Lily shoots again, leaving him lying in a pool of blood. But the surviving goat creature had slashed the tires with her claws, and the truck skids to a halt. The two women hop out, and Lily rushes over to the dying creature, lying beneath a huge, grotesque tree. "Where is your mistress?!" she demands.

"You...are too late..." it burbles, coughing up blood. "Shub-Niggurath will devour you, unless you bow down and worship Her."

Suddenly, Jacqueline screams as the tree snatches her up with a branch. Another one swoops for Lily, but she expertly dodges out of the way. "No!" she cries. "How can I kill this thing?"

"You...cannot..." bleats the goat-man. "I can...for a price..."

The ambulatory tree begins to pull Jacqueline towards its gaping maw.

"I'll pay it! Whatever it is, I'll pay it!"

"Done..." The creature expires, and both it and the tree fade into nothing.

Jacqueline falls to the ground, bruised but not hurt too badly. "What did you do?" she asks, recovering her feet.

"I...I don't know," says Lily.

Before the women have time to react, the ground beneath them shakes, sending them both to the ground. A hole spreads out in front of them, dirt cascading into it, as a massive worm-like thing erupts from beneath the ground and looms over them, tentacle-like appendages dripping black ichor dangling from its mouth. Terrified, Lily now begins to shriek as one of the slimy extrusions wraps around her waist. She unloads her revolver into it and kicks madly with all of her strength. Though she wounds it grievously, it still draws her inexorably to its mouth.

This time it is Jacqueline's turn to save Lily. Seizing a Thompson submachine gun from the truck, she empties a drum into the creature's body causing it to convulse and die, releasing Lily. "Thank you!" gasps Lily. "I guess we're even."

"Not quite," says Jacqueline. "You still owe me that favor!"

The horde has turned and now bears down on the two of them. It is led by the most horrendous thing they have ever seen, or likely ever will see. They hastily reload as the mass of flesh and wood and bone bears approaches. "I BRING LIFE!" it oozes. "I BRING DEATH! CHOOSE!"

Lily trembles, her resolve being put to the ultimate test. "Wh-what are you?!"

"I AM SHUB-NIGGURATH! I FILL THE EARTH WITH LIFE! MY LIFE! MY SPAWN! YOU BRING DEATH, YET YOU BEAR LIFE! INSIDE YOU!"

"What?!" Lily looks at her stomach in panic. Tears spill down her face. "No, it can't be!"

"IT IS! I SENSE IT! DEEP ONES ARE NOT MY SPAWN, BUT THEY ARE SO FERTILE! THEY WILL HAVE A PLACE IN MY NEW EARTH! YOU WILL NOT!" It effortlessly crushes her into the ground before she can react. The only thing that saves her life is her fishing net, which she uses to tangle its foot before it can turn her into pulp.
OOC,That Dynamite would have been perfect for this situation! Well, I'll have to do the best with what I've got. Will test (3 + 1 [Protective Amulet] = 4) against Goat Spawn 1 [dice]0[/dice] Fight test (4 + 2 [Skill Improvement] + 2 [Revolver] + 2 [Syndicate Agent] - 2 [Goat Spawn] = 8) against Goat Spawn 1 [dice]1[/dice] Yeah, I should have expected that. Reroll of two failed dice from Fight test [Fishing Net and Syndicate Agent]: [dice]2[/dice] Reroll of one failed die from Fight test [Lucky Rabbit's Foot]: [dice]3[/dice] Goat Spawn 1 takes one damage. [b]Lily[/b] takes one damage. Will test (3 + 1 [Protective Amulet] = 4) against Goat Spawn 2 [dice]4[/dice] Fight test (4 + 2 [Skill Improvement] + 2 [Revolver] + 2 [Syndicate Agent] - 2 [Goat Spawn] = 8) against Goat Spawn 2 [dice]5[/dice] Goat Spawn 2 defeated. Dark Pact gained. Dark Young discarded. Will test (3 + 1 [Protective Amulet] -1 [Chthonian] = 3) against Chthonian [dice]6[/dice] Fight test (4 + 2 [Skill Improvement] + 2 [Revolver] + 2 [Syndicate Agent] - 2 [Chthonian] = 8) against Chthonian [dice]7[/dice] Reroll of two failed dice from Fight test [Fishing Net and Syndicate Agent]: [dice]8[/dice] 2 Sanity lost (Instill Bravery, please!). Chthonian defeated. Will test (3 + 1 [Protective Amulet] -1 [[b]Shub-Niggurath[/b]] = 3) against [b]Shub-Niggurath[/b] [dice]9[/dice] 2 Sanity lost (Instill Bravery again if you can, please!). Fight test (4 + 2 [Skill Improvement] + 2 [Revolver] + 2 [Syndicate Agent] - 3 [[b]Shub-Niggurath[/b]] = 7) against [b]Shub-Niggurath[/b] [dice]10[/dice] And that's a big fat D'oh! :oops: Reroll of two failed dice from Fight test [Fishing Net and Syndicate Agent]: [dice]11[/dice] 4 Health lost (reduced from 5 by FIshing Net).
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Epic battle and unlucky, bad rolls.

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Turn 14 Encounter Phase (Lily)

Image

Jim will wait until Lily is down to 2 Sanity before he casts the Spell. Instill Bravery Lore 5 +1[Lantern] [dice]0[/dice]
Lily gains 2 Sanity; card flipped, Jim loses 1 Health.

BTW, an Inv. chooses one bonus, +2 from the .38 or +2 from the Agent, although all of the additional effects apply.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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OOC,Nuts! I wish I'd known that before. I'd just thought Weapons didn't stack. You're right, and that means I probably didn't finish off the Chthonian either, as I'd likely lose one of my successes in that fight. At least I still slaughtered that second Goat Spawn and got rid of the Dark Young. There's still a small chance of victory. If the next Mythos card is yellow, as is likely, I'll get to fight [b]Shub[/b] again before anything else happens. Thanks to Instill Bravery, I can probably avoid losing all my Sanity on the Will test. If I get five hits on seven dice (counting the two rerolls), I'll one-shot [b]Shub[/b], but that's highly improbable. If I do less damage, I'll be eliminated automatically as I'm now at 1 Health, but at least I can soften her up for you. It's possible that the Tokyo Encounters will allow you to do direct damage to Monsters of your choice, which could let you finish her off. If the next Mythos card is the last green one, I can hightail it back to Cape Town on Turn 15 and try to pay off my Bank Loan. Then on Turn 16 I can try to get the Dynamite, and on Turn 17 (the last turn of the game if we get that far), I can head back to The Heart of Africa and set it off, thus only needing two successes against [b]Shub[/b]. [b]Jim[/b] would have to use Tokyo Encounters to put down Monsters in The Heart of Africa so that we don't lose the game before I can return.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Is the Cthonian defeated? The next Mythos card is yellow and the first icon is Advance the Omen--blue constellation equals 3 Doom and that equals 3 monsters, a total of 6 in The Heart of Africa. . . .
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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OOC,Probably not, then. The simplest thing to do would be to disregard my last two dice, as I shouldn't have gotten them, which would only do three damage to it. Since the Reckoning effect doesn't happen until after the Omen does, that means we would lose. Or I could make a fresh set of rolls, but that's not likely to succeed. Well, we had a good run. EDIT: I just thought of something. Some monsters have Spawn effects that cause them to spawn in a specific location, just as the Chthonian itself did. For example, the Colour Out of Space always appears in Tunguska. If one of the three monsters drawn actually goes to a different location, we're not quite finished yet and I'll get one last chance to fight [b]Shub[/b].
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Byakhee, Nightgaunt and Cultist. :)
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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OOC,Do any of them move somewhere else when they spawn? If not, I guess we're doomed. :cry: Even if there are only five monsters in The Heart of Africa, if I don't defeat [b]Shub[/b] during the Reckoning step, I'll be eliminated, which will advance Doom by 1 and thus spawn another monster.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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No, no Spawn Effect on those monsters. We were close to winning but had some spectacular bad luck.

"WHY is the Sun in the east at three in the afternoon?" wonders Jim, replacing Instill Bravery inside his jacket and touching the persistant wetness--blood--which seeps from his ear. Julius, sat beside him on the curb, watches the fiery blob as it grows. Jim looks to the west where our Sun shines behind a drift of cloud, "Unless you can explain it away, Julius, it looks like the Earth is gonna be smashed into by a second star," and in an ironic mutter he adds; "we could do with some of your spacetime curves around our planet."

"Is it all over?" asks Julius.

"Yep, I reckon so."

But the "second star," Shub-Niggurath herself, halts and surveys her new realm, and unleashes hordes of Dark Young who infest the Earth; the gigantic beasts stride across the landscape, annihilating the human race; she perceives the fear and suffering this causes and is pleased.
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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Lily Chen awakens on a flat hard surface that seems to be gently rocking back and forth. All she feels is pain. She forces her eyes open and sees that she is lying on the deck of a small boat, Jacqueline Bauer kneeling beside her. The boat is at sea, and a shoreline with a burning city is visible to aft in the distance.

"Good, you're awake," says Jacqueline. "I was worried you wouldn't make it for a while there."

"Unh..." moans Lily. "You saved my life..."

"Of course. You can't pay me back if you're dead."

"But...how?"

"I picked you up, put you in the truck, and drove off."

"The tires..."

"It's possible to drive on flat tires, just not very fast. I got us back to Cape Town just ahead of the horde. Everyone was in a panic."

"You had a boat?"

"Well, I do now." She glances back. "I don't know whether the monsters caused the fire or the townspeople started it to try to fight them." She looks forward again. "But we're at sea now. We're safe. They can only go on land."

Just at that moment, a webbed claw reaches up from the depths and latches onto the aft gunwale. Lily gapes in horror as a familiar-looking creature pulls itself aboard. A Deep One, Shub-Niggurath had named it. "Look out!"

Jacqueline turns back again. She reaches for her gun, but the fishman grabs her in a tight, slimy embrace. "Get off!" she cries, struggling to no avail.

Then another one hauls itself up over the side - the same one that had attacked Lily in the catacombs beneath Rome. "You may have that one," it burbles. "This one is mine." It gives Lily a toothy grin. "She carries my child."

"NO!" screams Lily, too weak to fight back. "NOOOOO..."
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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I had thought Jacqueline was in league with Mythos entities until a Deep One gave her a cuddle . . . so what was the payback she wanted from Lily?
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Re: Eldritch Horror

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OOC,Jackie was exactly what she seemed: a ruthless criminal mastermind. The favor she wanted might have depended on what was on the other side of the Debt condition. If I had been able to spare an Action to pay it off, she would have wanted Lily to assassinate a rival mob boss named Kruger. However, it was much more important to Rest. WIthout that extra point of Health, I wouldn't have survived as long as I had.
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