CALL OF CTHULU- THE MASKS OF NYARLHOTEP (Inactive)

Game Master Daniel Penfold 351

Cthulhu Mythos (0%): 1d100 ⇒ 71

1d100 ⇒ 65 Cthulhu Mythos (02%)

"I have never seen such an abomination. Sylvia... That thing used to be Mrs. Shipley. Somehow she morphed into that...that... creature".

He then turns to look at the Doctor, seemingly for some reason thinking straight.

"Where is the son? What is happening with him"?

Jake and Colt, you do not recognise the creature.

Sylvia would you like to try.

Cthulu Mythos: 2: 1d100 ⇒ 70

Sylvia is unable to identify the snake creature.

"Where is the painter? Is he all right?" Asked Jake. He started to go back to the gallery to look for him.

Sylvia stops him with a hand on his arm. "Wait. Just...wait." She takes a few deep breaths. "The painter. He knew. What...what that was. He said...when you screamed, he said, 'He must be killing another one.' And before that he said that 'he' was the one who gave him drugs and told him what to paint." Realizing she still has her gun out in her other hand, she stows it carefully back in her bag.

"I don't think he's sane. Maybe he never was. And I don't think he'd hurt us himself, but...you needed to know. That he knew. Before we go up and start asking questions. Which we should do, but..." She doesn't seem quite sure how to finish that sentence. Quieter, she finally says, "I'm a doctor. I want to help him. I'm just not sure that's possible. Not if he could know and still just stand there giggling while that thing was killing people downstairs."

Colt follows Jake out the door, nodding at Sylvia's observation as he goes.

"Well. One way or another we've got to get to the bottom of this".

So you're heading upstairs?

Jake nodded.
"We have to ask." He said, before proceeding upstairs again.

Heading back upstairs to the garret you find Miles Shipley painting on a canvas and singing softly to himself.

Sylvia approaches warily, not getting within arm's reach. While she truly doesn't believe Miles intends them any particular harm, he's also an insane drug addict. They can be...unpredictable. Particularly if their supply has been disturbed.

"Hello again Miles." She tries to keep her voice soft and soothing. "We're back. We just met...Sasathaa, I believe?" Of the two names he'd mentioned, that one seemed the most likely to belong to a snake creature. "We'd like to ask you some more questions about him. How did you meet him?"

Keep things polite. Normal. And hopefully Miles would respond in kind.

Colt pulls Jake to the side when it appears that Miles is safe... if off his rocker, and whispers to him.

"As bad as I hate to say it... we're going to have to go see what's in that basement".

Colt and Jake you manage to open the basement door. This large room is cluttered with various junk. Boxes, crates, and broken chairs are stacked about, however a pathway of sorts leads to the south wall of the basement.

Spot Hidden rolls from Colt and Jake please

[i]Meanwhile Sylvia talks to Shipley...

"I met him in the Rose and Crown public house. I was a struggling artist. He introduced himself as Arthur Cotting and told me I had prospects. He gave me my medicine and I saw ...wonderful things.

He explained he was a member of an ancient snake race and he could help my pictures become more popular. In return I had to provide him with flesh. First he killed my mother and occasionally took her form. Then he made me pick up prostitutes by pretending I wanted them to model for me and then when I got them home he killed and consumed them."

1d100 ⇒ 14 Spot Hidden (40%)

"Looks like there is a way through here. Let's proceed carefully".

Colt moves forward brandishing his pistol in front of him.

There appears to be a button on the brick work. Pushing it reveals a hidden sub basement which is lit. There is a strong animal smell in this room. The shelves hold numerous jars filled with dark substances. At the foot of another wall is a bathlike stone tub, covered with a large sheet of metal.

Spot Hidden(25%): 1d100 ⇒ 10
Cautiously moving forward, Jake looked utterly lost.
"What... what is all this?" He said, pausing to look closely at a jar.
"I smell something animal-like. But I don't see where it's coming from..." He said.
Moving forward, he lifted the sheet of metal cautiously to see what was in the tub.

Lifting the lid on the tub you see the butchered remains of an anonymous young woman, mainly consisting of her severed head.

Sanity checks please.

Sanity Check (50%): 1d100 ⇒ 28

Jake Lose 1 point of Sanity.

Meanwhile- is Sylvia doing anything upstairs?

Sylvia struggles to keep any sign of disgust off her face. He's mad. He can't help it. Still, it's difficult to hear a man talking so casually about the murder of his own mother, along with who knew how many other people.

She always had preferred dealing with a patient's body rather than their mind. Bodies were complex, but they could be understood. Broken down into their component pieces...

Her eyes keep drifting to the paintings. To the eviscerated bodies, painted in such loving detail. It takes effort for her to focus on Miles' face. "I see. He helped you, and so you wanted to help him in return. Did he have any friends? Anyone else who knew what he really was, or who was also helping him with his...meals?"

"No he said he was the only member left of his race. His medicine helped me go back and forth in time and I saw his ancient race. They were snake people but they were driven away by things from beyond the stars, particularly something called Nya or something."

1d100 ⇒ 82 SAN Check (Currently 32%)

Colt peers over Jake's shoulder, and reels, as the stench, and sight overcome his already overwhelmed senses.

Colt lost 8 points earlier... so there is that...

Colt sanity loss: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Colt, you lose 5 points of sanity

Colt can you know make an Int roll please.

Colt begins to murmur something unintelligible over and under other his breath, and sway back and forth.

1d100 ⇒ 79 INT (60%)

temporary madness Colt: 1d10 ⇒ 2

Colt, you feel the need to flee the house.

Sorry disregard, the sanity checks are a bit back to front- Colt you manage to suppress the image and it does not significantly affect you.

Sorry disregard, the sanity checks are a bit back to front- Colt you manage to suppress the image and it does not significantly affect you.

Not sure what you mean by that?

Ok so the sanity rules are a bit weird.

Basically when you see something that affects your sanity you have to make a sanity check (as we've done previously).

If you lose 5 or more sanity as the result of one Sanity roll your sanity is further tested. (This is where the Int roll comes in).

So with the Int roll its basically determining whether the experience significantly affects you or not. So this is where things get a bit tricky. If you make the roll the rules explain it that you fully understand (their words) what you've seen so you gain a temporary insanity.

If you fail the Int check (as Colt did in the recent roll) the explanation is that the full horror of what you've seen has not made a significant impact as yet so you are not affected (hence me saying that Colt was not affected).

If you lose a fifth or more of your current sanity in one game 'day' you gain an indefinite insanity which has a more significant effect.

"'Nya?'" Sylvia frowns, thinking back over the things they've heard and read over their journey. Her memory is rather good, but it still takes several minutes for her to remember where she's heard a name like that before, (and another minute or so to puzzle out how to pronounce it). "Could it have been Nyarlthotep?" If so, then making a full study of Africa's Dark Sects will need to be her next project.

Ah. Thanks. Reading that part of the rules made my head hurt. You’re explanation was more concise. Unfortunately that is 13 of Colts original 40... so... ouch.

[i]Shipley pauses in his painting...

"Yes...yes, Nyarlthotep, that was the name. Never heard of it before or since."

@Colt- ah yes so you gain an indefinite insanity I'm afraid.

madness: 1d10 ⇒ 3

Colt, you turn and flee the house at your best possible speed.

Colt looks at Jake, his breathing intensifies, and be begins to fidget.

"Sorry".

He tears up the steps from the cellar, his big hat falling off as he runs, but he doesn't even slow down as he heads out the front door, not even bothering to close it. He runs up the street away from the house not stopping till he is way out of site of that cursed place.

Where am I?

Intermission- many, many hours later

Colt, you come to in hospital bed. You are battered and bruised, it appears that you have been robbed of some money. You are still afraid of what you saw and nothing would compel you to go back to Shipley's house. You are told by the nursing staff that your semiconscious body was found by the river on the London Embankment and you were brought here to Guy's hospital.

Jake looked back at Colt as he fidgeted.
What? He asked, just as Colt took off.
Jake blinked in astonishment before belatedly started to run after him.
"Colt. Colt! What are you doing?" He shouted, trying to catch up.
But he lost him at the street.
He went back in to see Sylvia and tell her that Colt had run off.

Did Colt drop his gun?

Hearing Jake's story, Sylvia's eyes go wide. "He ran off? What did you find?! ...Never mind, I probably don't want to know." She hesitates, looking from Jake, to Miles, to the door. "Jake, do you mind going after him? I'll go to the police, let them know that he's missing." And what's been going on here. She forces a smile onto her face. "Thank you Miles, you were very...helpful. Please just stay here for a bit, okay?"

She gives Jake a grim nod and rushes away to the police station. Once there, she tries to get the attention of an officer. "Um, excuse me..." She tries to think of how to explain this. "Is there an officer used to...unusual circumstances I could talk to? I need to report a crime but it's a bit...strange."

We can roleplay this or not, but basically Sylvia wants to make the police aware that several missing persons can be traced back to Sasathaa, that Miles isn't in his right mind and should probably be committed for his own safety, and that Colt is missing.

[i]Sylvia you head to the nearest police station and they direct you to an Inspector Barrington at Scotland Yard.

Arriving at Scotland Yard you are met by a slim moustached man in his early 40s.

"Good Morning, I understand you wanted to discuss an 'unusual case' miss?"

"Hello Inspector Barrington." Sylvia gives the man a firm handshake. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Under the circumstances I was concerned I'd be laughed out of the station if I tried to make a report. Please listen to my story, the whole story, and trust that I am telling nothing but the truth."

"My friends and I went to go visit a painter, Miles Shipley, who we'd heard had a reputation for strange, surrealistic artwork. During our visit, it became clear that he wasn't in his right mind, and he said he was taking strange drugs given to him by his 'mother.'" She gives that last word a particular emphasis. "Here's the part I didn't think would be believed. Miles' 'mother' wasn't actually his mother. She wasn't even human. She...or he...attacked us, and we were forced to defend ourselves with deadly force."

She looks the inspector in the eye. "You may not believe me when I say that creature wasn't human. You will after you go to Shipley's house and see the corpse for yourself. Miles admitted that the creature had killed his actual mother and assumed her form. He also killed...I don't know how many others. Apparently he coerced Miles into picking up prostitutes for his...consumption."

"Please. Whether you believe me or not. Go to the Shipley house. And if you could...one of the friends that was with me, Colt Malone, ran away from the house in a panic. I'd like the police to find him, if at all possible. I'm worried about him."

[b]"Miss Bouche is it? I heard you were coming to England from a mutual acquaintance Lt Poole of the NYPD. He did say you had some experience in dealing with the unusual. For my part there's been something about Shipley in recent months, rumours only saying he was seen in the company of loose women but they were never seen again. I will accompany you back to the house if you like to investigate further. As to your friend, I will send some men to look for him."

At Jake- no Colt would have kept his gun. Are you accompanying Sylvia back to the house?

Yes, I would accompany Sylvia.

Barrington heads back to the house with you. He is clearly shocked and surprised to see Sasathaa's body. He manages to arrest Shipley without too much trouble and says it'll never come to trial as Shipley is clearly insane. He'll make sure Shipley is incarcerated in an asylum.

Shortly after Shipley is taken away a constable comes along and informs you that Colt is a patient in Guy's hospital. He is battered and bruised and it is clear he has been robbed (Colt you have lost the $5 you were carrying).

You can all get some sanity back:

- For putting an end to Sasathaa everyone gets back 1d6 sanity

- For saving Shipley everyone gets 2 sanity back.

1d6 ⇒ 1 so get 3 san back.

What do you want to do next?

"Thank you for all your help, Inspector Barrington." Sylvia smiles wryly. "We can certainly keep what really happened a secret."

Once the news comes that Colt has been found, Sylvia rushes to the hospital. "Colt? Colt, are you alright? You had me worried." She spends a few minutes quickly checking over his injuries to make sure they're nothing serious. (Not that she doubts the professionals at the hospital, but it's best to be safe.)

Once they're all safe and have reconvened back at their hotel room, she busies herself with pouring a brandy, (or three, if anyone else wants one). "Well. That was...exciting. I didn't expect to find and kill a...whatever that was." She takes a long swallow. "A murderer, if nothing else. The world will be a little safer without that creature in it." She drains her glass and pours herself another, hands shaking slightly.

"Shipley said that...species had been driven away by Nyarlthotep. That name appears in Africa's Dark Sects, so I think I'll spend some time on research. Unfortunately that's the only link to Jackson or the Carlyle expedition, and it's a pretty thin one." She's clearly trying to focus on what they can do in order to distract herself from the horrors they've seen. "Otherwise...the Penhew Foundation still seems suspicious to me. Maybe we should keep an eye on Gavigan's comings and goings; try to figure out what he's up to."

Sanity Regain: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 I believe Sylvia was only down 2 Sanity, so she's back up to full.

Colt is both relieved and apprehensive when Sylvia shows up. After all he ran and deserted those depending upon him. When he sees how relieved she seems to be he croaks out a few words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to desert you guys. I don't know what came over me... it was... I don't know... just too much. But I feel better now".

He rises to his feet.

"Guess I'll need to find my suitcase and change clothes. They gave me some they had here in lost-and-found, but they are a bit baggy, and short".

1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 Sanity regained

And colt remains a bit shaky... jumping at every loud noise and quick movement.

I swear I've never had this many terrible rolls for characters in a PbP :-)