Time to get to work again.... Time to get these old bones moving once more.... Arthur will be needing council, no doubt.... The world is apt to be quite different from the one I recall.... Let's see how these clever little monkeys have progressed....
Well, this is a mess indeed. When the stars were lined up, some stupid little monkey couldn't help but press the Shiny Red Button.... Monkey sees button, monkey pushes button.... I suppose it was inevitable.... Already woven out that way by old Arachne.... The horror, the madness.... Pity the little children.... A pox on the stupid, greedy, narcissistic, power-mad son-of-a-whore that took it upon himself to wake up Cthulhu.... I hope he was first to soil his breeches and lament his awful choice....
Well, best wake The Lady of the Lake.... Arthur will be needing his sword again, what with Cthulhu's damned monsters hopping, crawling, and slithering all over creation.... Excalibur will make quick work of that nasty lot.... Oh, it's going to be great fun, fighting the Evil One again with Arthur and his knights!.... Apparently, Arthur has been reborn in a warmer clime.... Calling himself Derrik now, the silly boy.... We've much work to do....
Derrik shakes his head wearing a different helmet while his set of armor was.. set up in his room. It still obscures his visage and the tank top over his under-armor clothing showing his physique and not much else. As Jewels flaunts he places an arm around her waist and leans in to whisper.
" Please.. Do not torture her.... And I don't think rape is the right word. I do bounce back pretty fast and your tusks dig deep. Lets just enjoy this time we have shall we? "
Leaning back and nodding to Amber " I hope you enjoy the clothes.. yours took alot of consideration Amber. Don't let Jewels upset you... She might act like this but you'd be surprised how she really is... I-"
His sentence stopped midway feeling.. odd for a moment and losing his train of thought What was that.. feeling..?
Derrik shakes his head wearing a different helmet while his set of armor was.. set up in his room. It still obscures his visage and the tank top over his under-armor clothing showing his physique and not much else. As Jewels flaunts he places an arm around her waist and leans in to whisper.
" Please.. Do not torture her.... And I don't think rape is the right word. I do bounce back pretty fast and your tusks dig deep. Lets just enjoy this time we have shall we? "
Leaning back and nodding to Amber " I hope you enjoy the clothes.. yours took alot of consideration Amber. Don't let Jewels upset you... She might act like this but you'd be surprised how she really is... I-"
His sentence stopped midway feeling.. odd for a moment and losing his train of thought What was that.. feeling..?
You okay, baby? You looked kinda zonked out there, babe....
Jewels smiles at Derrik with sweet concern.
Derrik is quiet for about 5 seconds before shaking his head and giving an assuring wave that everything was fine.. with a playful pinch at Jewels' side with a chuckle
" I'm not sure.. It made me lose my train of thought.. Don't worry you of all people should know how resilient I am. Heh. Why don't we enjoy something else this fine day.. We never know when we have to head out again my dear.
Dwayne can almost hear Jeb's voice in his head....
Doc told me to tell ya.... Daisy's in Tombstone.... You got to get yourself up there, bubba.... Bring your new friends.... You'll need 'em.....
Down in the dark, icy depths of the North Sea, gripped in the gauntleted skeletal hand of an eons-dead god of thunder and war, it still crackled with cosmic power.... Mjolnir, it was named.... Crusher of giants and demons, bringer of thunder and lightning, hammer of the gods....
For millennia it lay there, as the icy currents of the North Sea washed over it, as crabs crawled over it, as schools of fish swam over it....
Not far from the ancient bones of Thor, god of thunder, who finally used it to slay the World Serpent, Jormungandr, only to drown in the dying wyrm's venomous ichor, half-buried in the ocean floor, stretches the long, sinuous skeleton of the fabled serpent itself.... Jormungandr, the World Serpent....
For eons, the bones lay, and Mjolnir with them, undisturbed, while the ghosts of god and wyrm continued their ancient Ragnorok in the icy darkness....
Suddenly, for the first time since Thor's lightning lit up the depths during his titanic battle with Jormungandr, a beam of light pierced the darkness.... A long, sleek shape cut through the water behind the beam--The Kraken, a WWII German U-boat, restored and modified by Captain Wolfhart Von Ulrik.
Captain Von Ulrik knew it was here. He had studied the myths and legends as a boy, had always dreamt of wielding the Hammer of Thor, and with it, the power of a thunder-god.... It had been a kind of totem for him while serving in the German navy during the Cold War years, a personal symbol of relentless might. He even had a stylized hammer tattooed on his right forearm during his years of naval service....
He first began to believe the myths as historic fact after he was given the gift of undeath in 1989. The Cold War was over, and he had felt very tired and very old, having just turned 60 years old. It was on a cold, dark night in Hamburg, and he had spent the night on the infamous Reapersbahn getting drunk with some comrades. The one who gave him the gift looked like a beautiful young fräulein with blond hair and ice-blue eyes.... The eyes had captured him, somehow, enthralled him, and it had been easy for her to get him alone in a dark alley....
Now he would never feel tired and old again. But immortality had come with its own terrible price.... The thirst for living blood must be quenched each night, and never again would he look upon the Sun without bursting into flames.... He was a creature of night and darkness, bound by timeless laws never to enter a private dwelling uninvited, or to cross running water, or trespass on sanctified grounds.... He could no longer abide the presence of symbols of spiritual faith presented with conviction, nor could he long tolerate the scent of garlic.... He was what his folk called nosferatu, and what the modern world would call a vampire.
This rebirth as a creature of myth and legend opened his eyes to a new reality.... A reality filled with magic, and with true Good and true Evil.... A world in which fairies, angels, gods, and demons were real, and so were artifacts and relics of great power.... Objects that could be used to bend the world to one's will.... He had discovered a few such objects already, and desired more.... But none had he ever desired more than Mjolnir, Hammer of Thor....
He had spent countless hours and millions of euros researching and hunting for the hammer, but it wasn't until he communed with The Opener of Ways that he could be certain of its location.... The Opener of Ways--Yog-Sothoth--had become his personal patron after he had discovered and studied a hand-scribed copy of the Necronomicon in the library of his familial castle in Bavaria.... Some of his forefathers had been warlocks, and secretly worshipped Yog-Sothoth with dark rites in the dark of night....
The Kraken glided through the inky water like a great sea serpent, passing over the massive ridge of Jormungandr's spinal processes, and the vast serpentine skull, and slowing to hover above the great armored bones of the thunder-god....and the massive hammer resting in its gauntleted right hand.... At long last.... Mjolnir would belong to the Vampire Von Ulrik!
The sun blazed above the desert sands and ancient stone mastabas of the Necropolis, baking the City of the Dead as it had for many millennia, bleaching the stones of the ancient tombs as white as the bones entombed within them....
Lavinia rode in the shade of a litter born by tireless mummy porters, but the heat or shade made little difference to her, for she felt neither hot nor cold. She felt nothing but the utter emptiness, the vast, mind-shriveling vacuum of undeath. Even in the heat of the desert sun, her pallid, misproportioned body exuded an aura of chill....the cold of the grave.... Her frizzy red hair a wild mane around her white, almost luminous skull, her sunken eye sockets smoldering with a red glow, her decayed teeth jaggedly protruding from her rotten gums in her gaping mouth.... She was somehow grossly fat in her jowls, flabby white arms, hips, and belly, and yet almost skeletal along her spine and lower limbs, with almost birdlike lower legs and feet, and bony, gnarled, claw-like hands....
The Book of Thoth.... I know it be here.... Down in the dark, under the sand where the scorpions creep.... My pa swore it be here.... He done read it in the Big Book.... I'm fixin' to find it and make its secrets 'n powers mine! I'll be the greatest witch since Baba Yaga!
With the mummy-born litter traveled Lavinia's son, Wilbur Whateley, or at least the grotesque, malformed, stitched-together frame that ambled ploddingly along next to the litter had been formed of Wilbur Whateley's mortal remains.... Now Wilbur was more machine than man, a fleshy automaton animated by Lavinia's dark witchcraft.
Them as what stopped us afore be long dead.... Pathetic, snooty scholars.... Men o' science, they called themselves.... Nobody'll stop my Beloved from a-comin' to this here world, and claiming his dear Lavinny.... We'll get justice for what they done to my poor boy.... My poor Wilbur.... The world's a-squealin' and a-squawkin' now that old Cthulhu done come up from the deep with all his kin.... How the world'll scream for death when MY BELOVED come into the world! Every knee shall bend before Yog-Sothoth!
Playing with his new pet , Grimm discovers that it can use some of the chemical enhancements he concocts with Hoffman. The two are becoming increasingly close friends, even though Hoffman scares Grimm a bit. Grimm also seems to be enjoying leisure time with Kerm , shooting the bull ; fishing , practical jokes. His relationship with Kate seems to be cooling off though. He is losing the energy to keep it exciting, especially since he has been putting in long hours researching this gun that he keeps hearing so much about from Dwayne Lee. Late nights, experimental research, libations all start to take a toll on the Doctor. To clear his mind , he adds minute grooves to his ammo and fills th hem with poisons.
Maybe I'll try and get Kate a puppy. Grimm thinks to himself.
On the morning of Monday, April 8th, Team Lido is again assembled at the dock in the Pandora's Box marina where Captain Kermit awaits them aboard The Chuul's Folly, ready to transport them on their 4th voyage to Lido Key to salvage precious supplies. Having had six days to recuperate from their last harrowing trip, in which their companion Kinyama fell to a pack of ravenous sinspawn....
Dr Hoffman, Professor Dirge, Sgt Gore Illa, Hell-No Kitty, Monkey Dude, Sister Maria, Amber Lynn, Aaron Crux, and Sun Mi are all present to wish them a successful mission. Jewels shouts words of love to Derrik from a nearby dock, where she and her teammates on Team Siesta--Okki the goblin ninja, Prue Silversmith the halfling holy gun, Lakra the half-Orc rogue, Grizzy Bear the goblin alchemist, and Nature Boy the elf Druid--are boarding their own pontoon, captained by Captain Pokey, the only normal-looking human of the bunch....
Captain Kermit motors The Chuul's Folly along the familiar channels through the Big Cyprus Swamp, emerging out onto the Gulf of Mexico as the morning sun rises higher in the clear blue dome of the sky. The pontoon rides the aquamarine waves, following the Sun Coast up to the Keys, often keeping pace with the pontoon bearing Team Siesta to their destination.
Around 3:45 PM, Teams Lido and Siesta call out farewells and good lucks to each other as their pontoons part ways, Cpt Pokey ferrying Team Siesta to the east side of Siesta Key and out of sight, and Cpt Kermit ferrying Team Lido further north to their own destination--Lido Key.
Now that St Armand's Circle and two of the beach resorts on Lido Key have been explored and looted, Team Lido is left with the choice of exploring more of the beach resorts and hotels on the west side of the island, exploring the residences on the east side of the island, or exploring the mangrove swamp and nature trail that lies between the residential area and South Lido Park....and from whence the unwholesome croaking could be heard by the team on the previous foray to Lido Key....
Shall we drop in on Lord of the Flies Hotel and see how our little Utopia is coming along? asks Kermit as The Chuul's Folly nears the beachfront of the Sarasota Sands Resort....
Derrik waves off to Jewels, telling her to come back in all her lovely green-ness and wish her and the rest of Team Siesta luck. He uses over the time they had to rest and still mourned Kinyama in his own way; Well aware of the sudden change in Hell-no Kitty and some of the other residents of PB. When Kerm speaks it naps Derrik out of his intense thought.. noticing the beach of Lido was already in sight.
" I think that would be best... I want to.. screen them just in case those creatures from before are amongst them.. as we have little way of telling them apart. Besides.. our Job here is not finished.. and If we can rid this area of most of the Elder One's grasp perhaps humanity can rebuild... but as it is now, I believe we simply uproot the hierarchy and might make the life of the people here worse. "
"It couldn't hurt Kermit. Weve told them to expect us from time to time. I'd like to see how they are doing."
1st: Ray of Enfeeblement, Obscuring Mist x2, Burning Hands x2
2nd: False Life, Scorching Ray, Levitate
Aye-aye, mates.... We'll just pull up onto the beach here.... Oh, no.... What the f@~$!!
Captain Kermit is suddenly horrified as he notices the buzzards, crows, seagulls, and flies swarming the bloating corpses impaled on long palm stakes driven into the sand of the beach in front of the Sarasota Sands Resort, and propped up against patios or on balconies! The gulf breeze is not strong enough to blow away the stench of decay as the pontoon reaches the shore....
Derrik... is shaken a bit gripping his plate where his heart would be looking upon the carnage.... " I knew it.. this.. this was my fault.. I should have stayed... DAMMIT! " Marshaling himself to the front he places a hand upon Kermit's shoulder and grips.
" DAMMIT I knew we should have MADE SURE... WE Need to see if there are any survivors... Whatever or Whoever has done this... DAMN THEM! I'll find out one way.. OR ANOTHER "
His voice obviously enraged much more than usual.. and Kermit could feel him shaking due to it.
Some gruesome fate has befallen the hapless survivors.... Some horror beyond comprehension.... Curiously, all of the bodies impaled on stakes are male.... There are no female corpses, impaled or otherwise, anywhere on the property....
An inspection of the ground around the Sarasota Sands Resorts clearly shows many tracks and bloodstains, as well as the occasional broken trident or club, implying that a bloody skirmish was fought here in the last few days.... But none here can now tell the tale....
A subsequent inspection of the Helmsley Sandcastle reveals the same alarming status--all the men dead and impaled, and all the women missing! A clear and threatening message has been left behind for The Fierce Ones of Team Lido....
What sick monster did THIS!? Where are the women??.... Oh, God.... Oh, no.... They.... They needed the women....alive....
Kate grimaces and then bends over and wretches for a moment....
Only thing worse than getting killed by a monster is getting f&@$ed by a monster.... Poor, poor girls.... Kermit shakes his head sadly....
With a grimace Derrik reaches down.. focusing on the blood marks and tracks... with much less anger and more thought he speaks to Kermit, choosing his words carefully.
" Kerm.. assist me.. in tracking these markings... there may be still time... We can right our wrong.. in some way. These.. poor people had no protection and I lead to this.. I WILL NOT LET MYSELF IDLY STAND BY AND LET THIS HAPPEN. WILL YOU HELP ME?"
Punching the ground next to the tracks as he loses focus a bit.
Damn them.. Damn them.. DAMN THEM ... these monster spit on every hope we try to muster.. right now they could be.... What have I done?
Speechless (a rarity), Captain Kermit springs from the deck of The Chuul's Folly and lands lightly on the wet shore, hops over to where Derrik kneels in the sand, trembling with rage, and squats to examine the bloody tracks....
Survival check to track
A large band....maybe 40 or so....bipeds with webbed feet, kinda like mine, but different.... I'd guess more of those fish-dudes you guys fought up at the Circle....and something else, more like dog prints, but bigger, and bipefal.... Came and fought a nasty battle here with the survivors, and.... Well, you can see who won.... Looks like they dragged off some 40 or so women.... Headed north up the beach.... I can follow where they lead, no problem, yep....
The Fierce Ones follow Kermit as he tracks the large band of monstrous raiders and human captives north along the beach, past all the beachfront resorts and the public beach, then east toward the bridge crossing the canal to St Armand's Circle.
Just as the bridge comes into view, a high squeal blown on a conch-shell horn alerts the team to the fact that they have been sighted and an alert has been sounded! Four monstrous guards--2 skum and 2 sinspawn--rise from their haunches near the bridge, where they were just gnawing on the bloody bones of a human woman, and snarl at the approaching team....
Initiatives please....
Initiative
Initiative
Initiative
Initiative
Initiative
Initiative
Radsworth silently observes as Derrik takes the lead and starts organizing a search. This place.. this was to be an example. Proof that humanity could survive the worst things Cthulu could throw at it..
Trudging along behind the others, he is actually glad for the conch signaling their discovery. Revenge would be swift.
The Fierce Ones stand on John Ringling Blvd facing east, just north of where Ben Franklin Dr bends east and becomes JR Blvd, about 60 ft west of the 15-ft-wide bridge that spans the 20-ft-wide canal encircling St Armand's Circle.
Derrik, Kermit, and Koran are in the front rank, followed 10 ft behind by Krar, Kate, and Grimm, followed closely by Radsworth and Mephos.
Two skum and two sinspawn stand in a line blocking the near side of the bridge. The conch-blower, a skum, is visible on the balcony deck of Tommy Bahama Cafe another 100 ft to the east, on the south side of JR Blvd. No other enemies are apparent....yet....
About 70 ft from any of the two skum and two sinspawn guarding the canal bridge.
Dr Grimm!
Faceless stalkers!
Kate!
Slime-Shrouded Master!
Skum!
Sinspawn!
Derrik!
Radsworth!
Cpt Kermit!
Koran!
Krar!
Dwayne Lee and Mephos TBD!
Eeeeeeeksies!!!!
Initiative (after The SSM, before the skum)
Mephos's initiative
Mephos's initiative [dice=initiative]1d20+7
Okay, Mephos goes after the skum but before the sinspawn.
(After Grimm) the faceless stalkers hiding inside the nearest couple of abandoned cars parked along John Ringling Blvd suddenly throw open the car doors and emerge from hiding! Four faceless stalkers, all in their true, disgustingly worm-like forms, and all armed with long swords, approach the bridge from the far side, getting to about 15 ft east of the canal....
WHERE ARE THE GIRLS, YOU UGLY, SICK SACKS OF S*$~!?
Kate takes a full defensive stance (+2 to AC for -4 to attack rolls), staff held out in front of her with both hands, ready to block attacks....
The water in the canal just on the south side of the bridge churns and splashes as a huge, slimy, finned monster, like a whale-sized catfish with three blood-red eyes, stacked in a vertical line along its snout, and long slimy tentacles whipping at its sides rises halfway out of the water and hisses at The Fierce Ones!
DAMN!! That's a helluva big-ass catfish! We gonna eat good, tonight!
Dwayne Lee moves up 30 ft, to within 45 ft of monstrous catfish-like horror that just rose halfway out of the canal, and fires a burst with his AR-15 (at -2 distance penalty).... ....but the shot misses, churning up the water a few inches left of the monster!
Grimm pops a mutagen mixed to enhance his dexterity quickly, he twitches a bit and huncehes over while hacking as he feels his molecules re-aligning. His eyes turn yellow with narrow pupils and his hands become slim and nimbler.
Holding still, Grimm grabs his rifle to deliver a bullet full of 'drow' poison to one of the sinspawn.
The Doc's third arm grabs a fiery alchemical bomb from his bandolier to use when they are closer in range.
The two skum at the bridge hold the line, thrusting tridents at The Fierce Ones threateningly and hissing, but neither advancing nor retreating, as if they intend to keep anyone from crossing the bridge....
Another four skum emerge from the canal, scrambling up the sea wall onto the grass to either side of the bridge and John Ringling Blvd, and unslinging tridents from their backs!
Mephos chants strange words as koran doubles in size.
(After Mephos) the two sinspawn guarding the bridge stand their ground, while another four sinspawn emerge from Kilwin's Chocolates on the far side of the canal, getting to about 10 ft from the east side of the bridge....
Grimm pops a mutagen mixed to enhance his dexterity quickly, he twitches a bit and huncehes over while hacking as he feels his molecules re-aligning. His eyes turn yellow with narrow pupils and his hands become slim and nimbler.
Holding still, Grimm grabs his rifle to deliver a bullet full of 'drow' poison to one of the sinspawn.
The Doc's third arm grabs a fiery alchemical bomb from his bandolier to use when they are closer in range.
One of the sinspawn in front of the bridge jerks as Doc's poisoned bullet strikes it in the chest.... Fort save .... It suddenly staggers drunkenly and then collapses in a stupor!