Play@YSDC

Urged on by William’s shotgun, the party made their way around the rear of the hotel and along the muddy path that snaked through the trees adjacent to the lake. They passed an area where the mud was criss-crossed with tyre tracks leading down to the lake and carried on for a further two hundred yards, before they entered a clearing with one side open to the lake. The rain had eased off and the clearing was lit by the moon above.

“On your knees!” snapped Wiiliam and the party was forced to obey by his brother and the naked couple. At a nod from William, James forced the young woman to kneel by the lakeside, then stepped back a yard or two.

William faced the lake and began to intone a invocation, although it wasn’t in a language any of the young men recognised. “Ia! Ia! Gla’aki ftagn! Accept these sacrifices to our cause, o master!” He repeated it again, in a low and sonorous voice and after a few moments, a loud buzzing noise filled the air, which set everyone’s teeth on edge. The reeds by the lakeside quivered and then three large yellow, globe-shaped eyeballs arose from the surface of the lake and balefully studied the inhabitants of the clearing...

“Oh God!” Howard mutters in terror. “What the hell is it?”

William watches to see how their captors react, partly to avoid looking at the monstrosity in the lake.

Thomas was shocked. "What...?" He'd never seen anything like this in his life and words failed him.

This had not been a good day for Lawrence. These old men and their naked slaves would pay for their crimes, and Lawrence had a newly-hatched, most likely terrible plan. He watches his captors, waiting for them to look away from him or let their guard down.

The humming intensified and surface of the water broke as a hulking shape emerged, covered in sharp spines. A black, thick-lipped mouth appeared below the eyeballs, which dripped with an unholy-looking ichor. Whatever it was, it was abhorrent and like nothing the men had seen before!

As the thing pulled its bulk from the water, it towered over the young girl, and its eyeballs swung around, studying the humans malevolently.

”Ia! Ia! Gla’aki ftagn!” roared William, as James pulled the young girl to her feet.

OOC,SAN check please. Can I also have a listen roll. Howard - you failed your roll and lost SAN when you saw James (I should have recorded it at the time). Reduce your current SAN by [dice]0[/dice] Any further loss might be critical...

Despite his earlier terror at the sight of James, bizarre sights are becoming familiar to Howard and he retains his sanity for now. He desperately thinks of a way to escape this horror.

Rolls,SAN 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/700993]SAN[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]24[/b] Listen 25: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/700997]Listen[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]93[/b]

Samity 65,[dice]0[/dice]

Listen 25,[dice]1[/dice]

ooc,How many shots can Lawrence fire with a .32? I have 7th edition, and I want to know whether the rules are the same. Question 2: would Lawrence get a bonus to-hit due to the close range?

Thomas tried to keep calm, but it was increasingly difficult as more of the creature before him was revealed. Nothing he'd experienced whilst working for the police had prepared him for this.

Sanity (80%),[dice]0[/dice]

Listen (40%),[dice]1[/dice]

William stares in horror at the creature, but he is still able to hear something.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 65) for seeing the creature: [dice]0[/dice] Listen roll (60% skill) at the lake: [dice]1[/dice]

William watched, frozen in horror as the creature dragged itself from the lake, blinking balefully at the young men before in focused on the girl on her knees. She screamed and tried to rise but James held her firmly by the shoulders and she could not escape his grasp. The humming noise went up a pitch and a glistening spine shot out from the creature towards the young girl but she flinched and the spine whistled past her ear.

William’s continued exhortations to Gla’aki rang out across the clearing, but not enough to mask the faint growling noise from an overgrown path to the nearby road. Howard and Thomas glanced at each other quizzically before risking a look around. In the moonlight, they saw the moon’s reflection off a car in the shadows, with the face of Jacob, white with fear, just about visible above the steering wheel.

Jacob had quietly brought the car to the edge of the clearing and he now gunned the engine and flicked on the headlights! The car jumped forward and ploughed into Robert, sending him flying backwards and almost knocking James over. The girl screamed once more, wriggled free and ran!

OOC,You take the following SAN loss for seeing the creature: Howard [dice]0[/dice] Lawrence [dice]1[/dice] Thomas [dice]2[/dice] William [dice]3[/dice] Jacob - Drive Auto (40%) [dice]4[/dice] Robert - Listen (20%) [dice]5[/dice] Creature - to hit (??%) [dice]6[/dice] Creature + damage [dice]7[/dice] Actions?

Key:

JF - James Fraser, WB - William, RB - Robert, MR - naked male, MRS - naked female.
JT - Jacob (in the car), T - Thomas, W - William, H - Howard, L - Lawrence.

OOC,[b]Lawrence[/b] is approximately 10 yards from evil William. Robert dropped the piece of wood when he was hit by the car but it’s under the vehicle and will require a luck roll to retrieve it.

Lawrence had had enough. This was no time for subtlety, so he pulls out his .32 revolver and unloads 3 bullets into Evil William.

Hand gun 55%(basically 110% from point-blank),[dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice][dice]2[/dice] damage: [dice]3[/dice][dice]4[/dice][dice]5[/dice]

William rushes to snatch up the fallen board, but in his haste he trips and falls.

OOC,Luck roll (65% stat) to grab the board: [dice]0[/dice]

Not wanting to give him any opportunity to recover, Thomas quickly launches himself at Robert.

Fist/Punch (60%),[dice]0[/dice] On hit: [dice]1[/dice]

Howard launches himself at his familiar foe, the naked woman, but his wild swing completely misses its mark and his fist flashes through empty air.

Fist,Fist 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/702479]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]97[/b]

Almost before the car had come to a halt, Thomas was on his feet and ran across the clearing. He reached Robert as he was trying to get up off the ground, but the young policeman’s punch missed. William had tried to follow Thomas, but tripped over his own feet and fallen face first Into the mud.

Howard turned and launched himself at the naked woman but his strike missed its mark and he went flailing past her. As he did so, Lawrence pulled his gun from his pocket, aimed at William and fired. The first two bullets whistled past the proprietor but the third pull of the trigger resulted in a misfire, the hammer falling with a click on a dud round.

An evil grin spread across William’s face as he pointed the shotgun at Lawrence and fired but his shot went wide.

OOC,Point blank range is 2 x Lawrence’s DEX i.e. 20 feet. William is 10 yards i.e. 30 feet away. Evil William - To hit - [dice]0[/dice] Naked woman - To hit Howard [dice]1[/dice] Howard - do you want to attempt a parry or a dodge?

Thomas readies himself and then aims another quick punch at Robert.

Fist/Punch (60%),[dice]0[/dice] On hit: [dice]1[/dice]

ooc,I'll just shoot my next three bullets before resorting to the pistol-whip.

Lawrence fires three more shots at evil William.

handgun 55%,[dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice][dice]2[/dice]

damage 1d8,[dice]3[/dice]

William tries again to snatch up the board, this time with better luck.

OOC,Luck roll (65% stat) to grab the board: [dice]0[/dice]

OOC,Sorry Phil, I though the lady would attack. Anyway, Howard keeps on attacking, but he is getting tired. [url=http://orokos.com/roll/703138]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]86[/b]

Howard takes another desperate swing at the woman but exhaustion is setting in, and he misses his target.

Howard had missed the naked woman but had also managed to block her strike in return. He struck again, but missed. The naked woman hit back and grazed Howard’s jaw.

Thomas aimed a punch at Robert as he tried to push himself to his feet, but the punch missed. William dropped to his knees by the car, scrabbled around underneath it and emerged with the club. As William stood up, the naked man approached him, hands reaching out to grasp him around the throat...

Nearer to the shoreline, Lawrence aimed at William and squeezed the trigger of his revolver. His second shot was on target and he was rewarded with a gout of blood that erupted from William’s back, who staggered back before he levelled the shotgun once again and fired at Lawrence, but the shot was wide and the buckshot just decimated the foliage on the trees.

With the fighting going on, no-one watched the creature emerging from the lake, even as the humming noise intensified. Another needle-like spine whistled through the air towards Lawrence who turned to look in horror but it passed harmlessly by.

OOC,Naked woman To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice] William To hit: [dice]2[/dice] Damage: [dice]3[/dice] Gla’aki Target: [dice]4[/dice] To hit: [dice]5[/dice] Damage: [dice]6[/dice] Current Hit Points: Howard (9/13), Lawrence (11/13), Thomas (10/10), William (5/12).

Staggering back, Howard renews his desperate assault, and this time strikes a blow.

Fist,Fist 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/703745]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]25[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/703747]Fist damage[/url]: [u]1d3[/u] [b]2[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/703748]Damage bonus[/url]: [u]1d4[/u] [b]3[/b]

William swings the board at the naked man's head, but it's too awkward to hit him while lying on the ground. Fortunately, he is at least able to bring his leg up to block any counterattack.

OOC,Large Club roll (25% base skill) attacking the man, knockout attempt: [dice]0[/dice] Kick roll (25% base skill) to parry the man's attack, if necessary (both my hands are full, so I can't use Fist/Punch): [dice]1[/dice]

Thomas continues his attack and throws a punch wildly towards Robert, trying to land a blow.

Fist/Punch (60%),[dice]0[/dice] On hit: [dice]1[/dice] damage.

Lawrence whacks the naked woman with the butt of his pistol with as much force as he can muster.

Fist 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

Thomas swung down at Robert and connected, although it was little more than a glancing blow. In return, Robert swiped at Thomas’ legs to try to bring him down and his fist connected with shin, which caused Thomas to yelp in pain.

Lawrence, with his revolver empty, tried to cold cock the naked woman with the butt of his gun, but force over-ruled precision and he missed. Howard’s punch was more accurate though, and he landed a solid blow that knocked the woman onto her back in the dirt, where she still tried to lift herself up, despite the blood pouring down her face.

The car had stalled when Jacob had run into Robert and William could hear Jacob trying to restart the car as tried to fend off the naked man’s attack. He struck out at his naked assailant with the hefty club but struggled in a prone position and missed. The naked man tried to grab ahold of William to drag him to his feet but banged his head on the car as he leant forward, which caused him to stagger backwards.

William kept up his chant of “Ia! Ia! Gla’aki f’tagn!” even as he fished a couple of shells out of his pocket and reloaded the shotgun. By the shore, the creature had emerged from the lake with water running off its oily green carapace. It moved forward on white, spongy feet, its spines moving as if stirred by an unseen tide while its three eyes peered around on stalks, before it sent another spine hissing through the air in the direction of Jacob, but it skittered off the car windscreen and away into the darkness.

OOC,Jacob Drive Auto: [dice]0[/dice] Robert To hit: [dice]1[/dice] Damage: [dice]2[/dice] Naked man To hit (grapple): [dice]3[/dice] Gla’aki To hit: [dice]4[/dice] Target: [dice]5[/dice] Damage: [dice]6[/dice] Current Hit Points: Howard (9/13), Lawrence (11/13), Thomas (8/10), William (5/12).

His blood up, Howard goes in to finish her off. He swings his fist as hard as he can.

Fist,Fist 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/704625]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]11[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/704627]Fist damage[/url]: [u]1d3[/u] [b]2[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/704628]Damage bonus[/url]: [u]1d4[/u] [b]4[/b]

"Move over, I'll start it and drive," says William, who is a much better driver than he is a fighter. "Take this." Presuming Jacob allows him, he slides into the driver's seat, hands him the board, and tries to start the car.

OOC,Drive Auto roll (50% skill) to restart the car: [dice]0[/dice] Oops! :oops: Can I still try to dodge and parry if I'm attacked?

Thomas decides to change his target and moves over to William, launching a punch at him before he can fire his shotgun.

Fist/Punch (60%),To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice]

William is too distracted by the car's failure to start to effectively defend himself.

OOC,Fist/Punch roll (50% base skill) to try to parry the naked man, in case he attacks: [dice]0[/dice] Dodge roll (20% base skill) to try to duck in case the naked man attacks: [dice]1[/dice]

Lawrence ducks behind the car, hoping not to get hit by a spine or shotgun blast.

Thomas broke off from his fight with Robert and charged towards William instead. He swung a haymaker but his punch was wide. William grinned evilly as he brought up the now loaded shotgun and fired, but Thomas was close enough to side-step the shot... With William distracted, Lawrence took his chance and ran and dived behind the car to take cover.

Howard pummelled the naked woman, slamming his fist into her face. There was an audible crack as cheekbone broke and her eyes rolled back into her skull. Half of her face appeared to be pushed in and she shuddered and lay still. In death, her muscles relaxed and she looked human again, and Howard felt sick at the thought that he was responsible for her demise.

In the car, William thumbed the starter button and worked the gas pedal to try to start the engine but it wouldn’t turn over. Beside him, Jacob cowered in the passenger seat, as the naked man reached into the car to try to drag William out. His strong hands gripped the young lawyer and William felt himself being pulled from the car...

The creature hauled its oily bulk across the clearing, in the direction of the car. Another spine whipped across the clearing and buried itself in the windscreen.

OOC,William To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice] Naked man Grapple: [dice]2[/dice] Opposed role [dice]5[/dice] Gla’aki To hit: [dice]3[/dice] Damage: [dice]4[/dice] William & Lawrence - make an idea roll, please.

Howard shakes off the sight of the dead woman. He looks for a new assailant and spots the naked man trying to drag William from the car. He runs up behind him and swings his fist at the back of the man’s neck as hard as he can.

Fist,Fist 50: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/706047]Fist[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]26[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/706049]Fist damage[/url]: [u]1d3[/u] [b]2[/b] [url=http://orokos.com/roll/706050]Damage bonus[/url]: [u]1d4[/u] [b]1[/b]

The shotgun blast encourages Thomas to back away, and he instead doubles down on attacking Robert.

Fist/Punch (60%),To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice]

William thinks of something as he clings desperately to the wheel.

OOC,Idea roll (80% stat) in the car: [dice]0[/dice]

Idea 45,[dice]0[/dice]

Ooc,can I make attack roll against naked man, even if I performed an idea roll?

"Jacob, get behind it and push!" shouts William. Struggling to hold on, he tries to start the car again in the hopes that Jacob or one of the others will help by pushing the car and that his assailant will be forced to release him once it starts moving.

OOC,Drive Auto roll (50% skill) trying again to start the car: [dice]0[/dice]

Lawrence charged the naked man and took a swing at it with his fists.

Fist 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

Damage 1d3+1d4,[dice]1[/dice]+[dice]2[/dice]

The swing missed, only barely grazing the naked man.

Having survived one close shave with the shotgun-wielding William, Thomas suddenly broke away again, and swung out at Robert, who had just about climbed back to his feet. His wild punch missed again however, and Thomas found himself in no man’s land between the two brothers. Seeing that, William raised the shotgun and fired at the policeman but he missed, just narrowly avoiding hitting his brother.

William felt himself being pulled out of the car but just as his hands were about to slip from the steering wheel, Lawrence and Howard appeared behind the naked man. Howard punched him heavily in the neck, causing his grip on William to loosen.

As he fell back into the driving seat, William realised that a jump start would be their best chance at getting the car started and yelled "Jacob, get behind it and push!" The young man looked fearful but got out and quickly did as he was told. When he felt the car start to move forward, William pressed the starter button again...

The creature continued to make its way across the clearing, in pursuit of those around the car, and another spine hummed across the clearing and buried itself in Howard’s shoulder.

OOC,William To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice] Gla’aki To hit: [dice]2[/dice] Damage: [dice]3[/dice] Target:[dice]4[/dice] Thomas - can I have a dodge roll, please? William - can I have a Drive Auto roll with a 20 point bonus, please? HP: Howard - 7, Lawrence - 11, Thomas - 8, William - 5.

Howard groans in pain and attempts to pull out the spine.

OOC,Does he need to roll?

"Everyone in the car!" shouts William. "We have to get out of here fast!"

OOC,Drive Auto roll (50% skill + 20 bonus = 70%) driving the car: [dice]0[/dice]

Howard struggles with the spine...

Dex,Dex 5 =25: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/707576]dex[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]56[/b]

Thomas hears William and begins running towards the back of the car. He joins Jacob, and yells ”Come on! Push!”.

Howard desperately grabs at the spine in his shoulder, but it is stuck fast. He groans in pain and sinks to his knees.

Philulhu,He would like to try to pull it out anyway.

Lawrence ran to the back of the car to assist in pushing it.

William is easily able to maintain control of the car.

OOC,Drive Auto roll (50% skill) driving the car: [dice]0[/dice]

With the additional momentum behind the car, William pressed the starter button again and the engine backfired loudly and then roared into life! It jumped forward and the back tyre ran over the naked man’s leg, which snapped with a sickening ‘crack!’

William howled in frustration as he slotted a single shell into the shotgun and fired in the direction of the car. The blast took out the windscreen in the passenger side, where Jacob had been sat just moments before. The buzzing from the creature intensified to the point where speech was almost inaudible and a tentacle shot out and crashed across the bonnet, leaving a huge welt and a hiss of escaping steam...

With gritted teeth, Howard pulled the long spine from his shoulder. A gout of blood erupted as the spine cleared his flesh and he felt his head spin.

OOC,William To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice] Gla’aki To hit: [dice]2[/dice] Damage: [dice]3[/dice] Howard Damage caused by removing the spine: [dice]4[/dice] Actions, please!

Groaning in pain, Howard gets to his feet and begins moving towards the car.

Lawrence frantically jumps in the car as fast as he can.
"Drive!"

Thomas decides to follow suit and jumps into the car, keeping his head low to avoid any further shotgun blasts.

With everyone else aboard, William throws the car into gear and drives away as fast as he safely can.

William pulled the wheel hard left and gunned the engine. The back wheel skidded momentarily on the wet ground before it gained purchase and started to turn. The turn took them close to William and the creature, which was so close that they could hear its spines scratch down the side of the car. The passengers could only stare in horror at the sickening, fleshy maw that filled the side window as the passed. The creature lashed out one last time but missed.

As the car completed its turn and William pushed the accelerator down hard, Robert crashed into the driver’s side door. His fist rebounded from the window though and left a bloody smear as the car moved forward.

William has snapped open his shotgun and slid another shell into the barrel. He leapt back when the car approached but now fired another shot through the back window as the car straightened up and headed out of the clearing. The window shattered, sending glass flying through the car, which left the back of Lawrence’s head and shoulders a raw and bloody mess.

As the tyres finally gripped the tarmac and the car surged forward, William glanced back in the mirror one last time. Silhouetted against the white mist of the lake, he saw the emaciated form of his friend, James, who stood and watched him leave with cold, dead eyes. William blinked and pulled on the wheel to point the car in the direction of Arkham and when he looked again, his friend was gone... ...

OOC,William To hit: [dice]0[/dice] Damage: [dice]1[/dice] Target: [dice]6[/dice] Gla’aki To hit: [dice]2[/dice] Damage: [dice]3[/dice] Robert To hit: [dice]4[/dice] Damage: [dice]5[/dice] Lawrence - CON check please. That was a serious wound! Can you advise what your plans are? Going back for another round? Going back to Arkham?

"Let's get back to Arkham," he says. "We all need to get to the hospital, and we can alert the State Police at this point - though we might not want to mention the monster that came out of the lake. I don't think we can do anything more than that tonight. I feel like I've gone ten rounds with Jack Dempsey."

Howard groans in pain in the back seat, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his shoulder with his handkerchief.

"We need to prepare ourselves and go back as soon as we can. Who knows what they'll try to do now that we've uncovered their sinister doings?", Thomas says.
"Perhaps we should think about better arming ourselves too."

“Yes” gasps Howard. “If we wait too long, they’ll disappear. We must go back tomorrow.”

Continue here: Chapter 6 - Aftermath.