DMDM's Strange Aeons

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Winter and Captain Yorke move you in a group to the curtain. Yorke stands in the corridor in a posture that manages to simultaneously convey "be off with you, nothing happening here" in one direction while somehow -- from his shoulder blades? -- giving the impression that he doesn't approve.

From beyond the curtain comes the faint sound of sobbing.

The corridor goes straight for a little distance and then ends in large double doors. Across the two doors is... something.

It's some sort of amorphous mass. It's bright yellow; in fact, it looks rather like scrambled eggs. Several hundred pounds of scrambled eggs. It glistens damply in the candlelight.

The sobbing is coming from it.

Fritz leads the way and detects evil on the eggs

Evil. Not nearly as bad as that bloated thing in the laundry, but bad enough.

The mass is twitching and quivering a little with the sobbing.

Does the sobbing seem to coming from inside the eggs now that we are closer? Or still behind

Kyleen looks at the mass of ?eggs? trying to determine what it might be.

Knowledge(everything): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 <-- maybe?

Does the sobbing seem to coming from inside the eggs now that we are closer? Or still behind

Inside.

Yordan looks at the eggs, wondering what they might be:

Knowledge (dungeoneering) 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

From here, you got nothin'. Maybe if you got closer?

"This is weird," Yordan says slowly. "I have no idea what it is." He moves closer, keeping a firm grip on his weapon and (still) nervously checking the ceiling as he steps up past Fritz.

"What are you, anyway, and why are you crying?"

Fritz follows behind Yordan ready to attack

As you approach, you can see that the yellow mass looks organic and vaguely fungal. It has roots or tendrils going into the door.

When you get within ten feet, it opens its eye -- a single large eye, human looking but about the size of a fist -- and looks at you.

The sobbing subsides to gasps and chokes (coming from where it's hard to say; the thing doesn't seem to have a mouth, or anything like a mouth), and the eye stares at you.

Otherwise, there's no reaction.

"Ah..I see..I see..a particularly fungal infestation. And yellow in colouring implying some connection, perhaps, to the yellow-robed cultists wandering around? Or the yellow sign? I should have studied more colour theory."

Mrakala makes no attempt to move closer. "Perhaps we should conduct some experiments...does anyone have a very long wooden rod?"

When in doubt. Poke it with a stick.

Yordan silently holds out his glaive.

Could be a trap. Thu sobbin meant ta draw ye in. Maybe we shud throw somethin at it from a safe distance.

Yordan goes to the kitchen, grabs a couple of pieces of dried fruit, and tosses them gently at the eggs from about a 5' distance. "Let's see what happens."

Yordan goes to the kitchen, grabs a couple of pieces of dried fruit, and tosses them gently at the eggs from about a 5' distance. "Let's see what happens."

The eye tracks the motion of the fruit, then goes back to looking at you.

The sobbing is gradually subsiding.

"It's always the same," says Yorke grimly from behind you. "Cries for a while, stops, starts again. Any time. Sometimes goes on for hours."

Is there any kind of smell? Did the fruit just bounce off it? Was there a wet thump? Anything else to notice as Yordan studies it closely?

Is there any kind of smell? Did the fruit just bounce off it? Was there a wet thump? Anything else to notice as Yordan studies it closely?

It looks soft and damp, but it's actually hard. Hard as wood, maybe.

"Well, we can poke it and see what happens, we can try and burn it out, or we can lower the blanket and walk away. Doesn't look like it wants to talk. I'm rather in favor of just burning it out from a distance."

Did Fritz ever tell us it was evil?

Is the door it's on wooden?

"Yorke, what's on the other side of that door -- or maybe I should say, what should be on the other side of that door."

"Yorke, what's on the other side of that door -- or maybe I should say, what should be on the other side of that door."

"The rest of the Asylum. A way out, maybe." Yorke's voice is grim. "Or maybe something even worse."

Kyleen moves in closer to the strange mass, trying to get a closer look at it and trying to determine whether her strange memories recall anything about this thing.

Move to within 10' of the thing and carefully examine the thing.

Use knowledge from above? Or should I reroll?

"A way out? Let's burn this monstrosity to the ground then. Shall we retreat and prepare or deal with it promptly?"

”Promptly, unless you can think of something to prepare for right away.”. Yordan pulls a vial of alchemists fire out of his back, bracing his glacier with his left hand.

Kyleen moves in closer to the strange mass, trying to get a closer look at it and trying to determine whether her strange memories recall anything about this thing.

Move to within 10' of the thing and carefully examine the thing.

Use knowledge from above? Or should I reroll?

You still don't know what it is, but a fragment of something pops into your head: Shape without form, shade without colour.

"Eyes I dare not meet in dreams," you say out loud, not knowing what you are saying, or why.

”Promptly, unless you can think of something to prepare for right away.”. Yordan pulls a vial of alchemists fire out of his back, bracing his glacier with his left hand.

Well if Yordan has a glacier to fight with, we have nothing to fear but climate change!

”Promptly, unless you can think of something to prepare for right away.”. Yordan pulls a vial of alchemists’ fire out of his pack, bracing his glaive with his left hand.

And muttering sundry curses on the thing called ‘auto-correct’...

Careful that mass is evil. I suspect the one trapped inside is beyond out help.

Ghelik draws his weapons and prepares himself for whatever might happen next.

He shrugs, Might as well see what it does.

Toss the fire. The goddess will protect us

Yordan throws the vial hard against the creature.

Ranged touch attack 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 - 2 = 11

I'm hoping immobile creatures have a low touch AC.

I'm hoping immobile creatures have a low touch AC.

They do! That counts as 0 Dex, or -5 to the touch AC.

The throw is a bit wobbly, but much of it splashes on the... whatever it is. And...

Yordan holds his breath...

"Aaaah! AHHHHHH! AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

The eye-thing opens a mouth -- a raw, wet, large, yet disturbingly human-looking mouth, forming out of the yellow fungal mass -- and starts screaming. Very, very loudly.

Everybody please make a San check (Will save).

A rogues best friend, willpower saves 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

The wizard winces at the screaming, hands moving up to cover his ears. "Let's destroy the fiend then!"

"I'm already sick..."

Will save: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 - 2 = 20

Kyleen puts her hands over her ears in an attempt to block the horrid noise.

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Wow, some hot rolling there guys. Paladin?

Sergeant Yorke rushes forward, hands clapped over his ears. "What are you damn fools doing? We have patients out here!"

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 +1 more since it is evil

The hideous screaming has you all backing away... except for the paladin. He's collapsed with his arms wrapped around his head. Sorry, Fritz: take 1d4 ⇒ 1 [huh, lucky you] Sanity damage.

Meanwhile,

After a few moments, the screaming fades away to racking sobs. Behind the curtain, you can hear some of the patients crying out in fear and confusion. Then suddenly, the fungal mass cries out in a terrible voice, like three distorted voices shouting together:

"OH, WHAT HAS BECOME OF US?"

It fades to a soft weeping.

You can see that the fire did some damage, as parts of the mass are burnt and oozing... but the thing is healing even as you watch. In a few moments the yellow fungal stuff has regenerated and the thing is much as it was.

"What, indeed? Who are you? Who were you? What shape? What form?"

Yordan peers intently at the fungal mass. "For a moment there ... I thought I saw something." Briefly, he describes his vision above.

Y'all can look under the spoiler with my name two posts up.

DM: Do either of those figures look like anyone we've met? Specifically, like that guy that kept talking about the Yellow Sign?

The yellow blur... you maybe saw something like that, back at the beginning. In that not-place by the lake. But you really don't like to think about that.

The silver haired man, you got nothin'.

Captain Yorke" "Whatever you just did, don't do it again! The patients are terrified!"

Well cover their ears. There is going to be a lot more screaming before we are all free of this place. We need to deal with that. For all we know the patients may improve if that thing is gone.

DM, did the thing show any sign of responding to my questions?

Yordan waits for a bit to let the thing answer. If there's no response,
he looks over at Kylee and Mrakala. "If fire doesn't burn it, how do we kill it?"

Having moved closer, Kyleen looks at the creature again trying to discern what it is.

Knowledge(everything): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Kyleen shrugs:
I have no clue what this thing is.