Play@YSDC

As the evening draws in, the companions shift uncomfortably in their hiding place. Perhaps they wonder why they have ended up spending a summer’s evening crouching in the trees surrounding a drunkard’s shabby cottage. Both Henry and Alice are particularly quiet.

At around 5.30pm a loud groaning sound alerts them to the fact that Rooger is waking up. He abruptly sits up, letting out a loud belch which threatens to shake the branches of the surrounding foliage. Muttering and rubbing his face, he gets to his feet and enters the cottage.

Dusk falls at around 6pm. Not long after, in the light of the dying sun, the investigators notice a speck in the sky. Coming closer, it is obviously too big to be a bird. Its flight is ungainly and erratic, although it has very big wings.

As it draws closer, the companions recoil in horror, for this is no creature that they have ever seen before. It resembles a crustacean, but as it comes in to make a landing they can see it is a pinkish colour, with about eight limbs ending in pincers, one of which clasps a strange-looking metal instrument of some kind. Where they assume its head to be is a mass of antenna. As it lands it stands on its back legs, and moves slowly towards the cottage.

OOC,Everyone please roll SAN. If you fail, roll 1d6 for SAN loss.

Isadora Carmichael
Sanity 64
[dice]0[/dice]

Isadora is shocked, but also fascinated by the appearance of the Thing. Intuitively she takes out her little notebook and starts sketching the creature...

Alice stares at the bizarre creature, unable to tear her gaze away. She presses the back of her hand to her forehead, and it takes every ounce of will not to scream or faint. In the end, she only clings to her senses because she doesn't truly understand what is happening.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 67) for seeing the creature: [dice]0[/dice] Sanity loss: [dice]1[/dice] Idea roll (65% stat) to avoid temporary insanity - failure is good: [dice]2[/dice]

SAN Roll,[b]Balzac's[/b] SAN is 58 and he rolls... [dice]0[/dice]

SAN Loss,[dice]1[/dice]

Idea Roll,[b]Balzac's[/b] Idea is 70% and he rolls... [dice]2[/dice]

Balzac stares horrified at this contradiction to everything he knows about Biology, then leans to the side and vomits behind a shrub, shaking uncontrollably. His only saving grace is his brain's refusal to interpret what he is seeing. And that his suit is green.

OOC,And the slow descent into insanity continues for poor Balzac. Come hither morphine and electro-shock therapy...

Henry Glynn

SAN,Henry's SAN 65: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/532785]SAN[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]82[/b] Sanity loss 1d6: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/532787]SAN damage[/url]: [u]1d6[/u] [b]6[/b] Idea 70: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/532788]Idea[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]94[/b]

As the pink monstrosity comes into view Henry’s bowels clench in terror. He had supposed another backwoods hick would be showing up, but this… this is too awful to be real. He wants to scratch out his own eyes, until he realizes that the approaching creature looks something like an obscene prawn.

He sits down in the mud and covers his eyes with his hands.

As the creature approaches Rooger’s cottage it calls out. Its voice is completely unlike any sound the companions have heard before – it is something like a beehive being scraped across a violin string. It buzzes horribly, like a fly is stuck in your ear.

“Rooger! Rooger!”

The heroes can make out the name as they stand transfixed by the awful scene. To their amazement, Rooger wanders out of the cottage, jar once again in hand. He is completely unfazed by the creature – indeed, he looks pleased to see it.

“Howdy!” he says enthusiastically. “I was hoping you’d come by. Some folks was up here asking about m’ frens.”

The creature cannot react in the normal human way, but makes a shrill buzzing noise.

“We will suffer no more outside interference Rooger!” There seems to be some urgency in its voice. “Are they gone?”

“Reckon so” comes the reply. “Can’t see ‘em, anyhows.”

The creature seems to let out what sounds like a sigh. “You must join us tonight. We are close to a breakthrough. Ithaqua will soon awake, and we have need of you. Come!” The commanding tone in its voice is obvious.

“Sure” says Rooger amiably. “I’ll just get dressed for the mountain”.

He turns away, but then suddenly turns back.

“Hey, I never got your name!” he exclaims.

The creature emits a indecipherable buzzing and whistling.

“Buzzzz…buzz…weee”. Rooger attempts a translation. “That sure is a purty name.” He takes a drink, then goes back inside. The creature, with an obvious effort, lifts itself up into the sky, and disappears back in the direction of the mountain.

A short time later, Rooger exits the cottage. He is wearing a heavy quilted jacket, gloves and a fur hat. He heads off down the mountain trail.

"We'd better follow him discreetly," says Alice. "He can't move all that fast, so there'd be time to grab that shotgun of his and still catch up with him. We know there's only one direction for him to go, at least. I just wish we were dressed warmer."

Balzac shudders but slings the rifle over his shoulder and hefts the double barrelled 12-gauge.

"Let me know if any of you want one of these weapons. I agree, let us follow at a distance."

Isadora Carmichael

Isadora helps Henry stand up from the mud. "Please, get up, it's terribly cold..."

"This... creature, it must be something like that thing Professor Putnam and his Brotherhood called up from a dark, incomprehensible dimension," she tries to make sense of things, referencing their previous investigation. "But still, so very different. And there is more of them, clearly, and they are more free, and they have a mission!"

Isadora stops speaking. Speaking out loud just makes things even worse.

"Let's follow him, but very carefully. We must not be noticed!"

Mr. Handy wrote:"We'd better follow him discreetly," says Alice. "He can't move all that fast, so there'd be time to grab that shotgun of his and still catch up with him. We know there's only one direction for him to go, at least. I just wish we were dressed warmer."

"There's plenty of clothing in the house, maybe we can borrow some... just for the time being."

"Good idea," says Alice. "It's bound to be cold on the mountain. I guess I could carry a shotgun. I've never fired a gun before in my life, but it's easier to hit something with one than with another type of gun, as long as it's close."

Luckily Rooger has enough warm clothing to go around – the winters are cold in Vermont. It smells a little musty and is a bit large for the ladies, but they are able to get suitably attired. At the moment the evening is still fairly cool, but they will undoubtedly work up a sweat before they get to higher latitudes.

Alice swings Rooger’s shotgun over her shoulder and pockets spare shells.

OOC,Is there anything else you found that you might want to take? Have a look at my hint in the OOC thread.

"Should we bring the crate of moonshine?" asks Alice. "It would be rather flammable, if it came to it."

OOC,Idea roll (65% stat) about the booze: [dice]0[/dice]

OOC,No need to roll Mr. H! You're the man to go to in a riot.

Alice supervises the collection of Rooger's crate of moonshine, the contents of which are distributed amongst the companions. Suitably equipped with bomb materials, guns and ammunition, and warm clothing, with some leftover food and drink, they set off along the mountain path.

As they found previously, the path is very easy to navigate, even when it starts to climb towards the mountain summit. Further along the path, they can sometimes see the flash of Rooger’s torch. He moves at a steady pace, and is likely to leave them behind, being familiar with the route, but there is only one direction in which he can go.

The heroes are glad of the warm clothes as the temperature steadily drops as they climb higher. Indeed, it seems a little unnaturally cold for this time of year. About two hours after beginning the climb, they are really starting to feel the effects as the temperature falls even more. They shiver and huddle together.

OOC,Everyone needs to roll CON x5. If you fail, you lose a hit point.

Alice shivers from the cold. In spite of the warm clothes and her natural toughness, it's getting to her.

OOC,CON x 5 roll (65% stat) climbing the mountain: [dice]0[/dice]

Isadora Carmichael
Constitution 9 x 5 = 45%
[dice]0[/dice]

Isadora shivers too...

OOC:   Henry CON 14 x 5 70: Constitution: 1d100 97 Balzac CON 12 x 5 60: Constitution: 1d100 4 Henry, Isadora and Alice all lose 1 Hitpoint

The cold is bitter and numbing, but the companions press on, especially now that they can observe a fire a burning further up the mountain. They estimate it would take about thirty minutes to reach the area.

They begin to move more cautiously.

OOC,All must roll Sneak.

Alice is certain that the sound of her teeth chattering carries all the way up the mountain.

OOC,Sneak roll (10% base skill) climbing the mountain: [dice]0[/dice]