Kari Weer |
In a soto-whisper, Kari points to the ceiling, "Monster?" She looks around for an obvious way the monster would get down to them. Still quiet, "Or it could just be rats that got in through the damaged roof." She considers the laptop, "Just take it?"
Even as she asks, Kari takes a quick video of the ritual space so that it can be examined in the safety of not-being-attacked by a monster.
She pauses, looks horrified, "Or do we have to go up there to figure out just what he may have done?"
Charlie Speck |
Charlie shrugs at Kari's question, and gestures to the library. "Depends on how much reading you can do with a monster in the house, I guess."
Jalopy |
As though in response to your conversation, you hear something titter upstairs. And then a low, raspy voice. Muttering. You can't quite make out what it's saying. More scrabbling.
It sounds like it moved towards the stairs, then back into another room instead when it heard you speaking.
At this, Martha bursts into tears. "She threw herself in her husband's garbage truck to be crushed! Crushed! Did someone poison our water? Are we being punished for something?" She totters a bit, gripping the handrail of the stairs to her porch and sitting down on the steps.
"Pastor Adams just says we need to pray harder, but just this morning, I heard a voice from my dreams." She looks at you, horrified. "I was awake, Father." She refers to you by your old title, though you did imply you are priest no longer. "I prayed and prayed, I cleaned my kitchen, went on a walk, and the voices slipped away. But what if I hear them tomorrow? What if I can't stop hearing them?"
After she expresses that, you can see that familiar slump in her posture as she starts to sob. She's a mess, but these are the thoughts she was holding onto so tightly before someone gave her permission to let them go.
Kari Weer |
"In case we have to run away." She says, a little defensively. She picks up the umbrella (or something similar) she found near the door and nods at Terry.
She looks at Charlie, confused, "There's a junkyard?"
Terry-with-a-Y |
He thinks for a moment, and turns to Charlie. "You have the taser. I will ... oh hell I don't know."
Terry turns and heads toward the stairs, looks down the corridor, and up the stairs, then starts up the stairs cautiously.
Brian Kincade |
"I know this is difficult," he says gently. "Can you tell me what the voice said?" He gives her a look that gives her permission not to answer if it is too painful or hard.
Brian knows that any piece of information he can glean could be vitally important, but Martha's well-being is just as important to him, so he won't pry any harder than absolutely necessary. What she's said so far may be enough, depending on what the rest of the team has uncovered.
Jalopy |
As soon as Terry's foot hits the first step of the stairs, the skittering stops, but the muttering gets more urgent. You can't be sure, as the voice is very low, but it sounds like whatever the thing is, it's speaking in several different languages.
Then it darts by the top of the stairs, crossing from one room to another in the process. It looked like a large rat… but you'd swear you glimpsed a human's face on the thing. And you heard one word clearly before it disappeared into another room.
"Arschloch!"
Having bled the poison that was this set of horrifying images and thoughts, she wipes at her face and looks a little ashamed for breaking down in front of a stranger. Even a well intentioned one.
"I'm sorry," she says as she composes herself. "Ah, at first they were just mumbling nonsense, which I chalked up to dream-stuff. But this morning…" she concentrates, closing her eyes to recapture the memory, "all I really remember the voice saying was 'come to the rusty water' and 'pray at the iron'." She sits up a little straighter. "And I will do no such thing." This last bit is said with a firm defiance to whatever it is trying to order her somewhere nefarious. Or maybe she's saying it to remind herself, and her God, that she's not going to worship anything but Him.
"Thank you, Father." She looks back to you, a small smile on her tired face. "I was so resistant to the idea of talking about any of this, but of course, talking about it is always the thing that helps."
Through the course of this conversation, it's safe to take away that there are two types of people in this town now - cultists, and victims that are slowly being encouraged and summoned to take part in whatever is happening in the salvage yard to the east.
Charlie Speck |
Kari Weer |
She thinks, "Nope. Don't remember the story well enough at all. Charlie, what did Brown Jenkins do in the stories? Do you think we can talk to him and get information or do you think we have to capture him?"
Charlie Speck |
Charlie pauses. "We need a cage. A kennel. Maybe we can knock it out long enough to pick one up from a pet store? Wait, Brian!"
Charlie takes out his phone and calls Brian.
Terry-with-a-Y |
"The insanity," he says quietly, and sighs.
"No promises," to Charlie, without turning his head from the direction that the ... thing ... went in.
Terry pauses on the stairs, since Charlie is making a phone call.
Jalopy |
Awesome, I love it. Martha appreciates it too :)
Now that the band is back together, you bring Brian up to speed on Brown Jenkin, the Lovecraftian rat man familiar scrabbling around in the upstairs of Mason's house.
There is one little pet store in town that has a couple of crates that are large enough to comfortably house a cat or small dog. Or a Brown Jenkin. Probably best not to mention that last bit to the clerk, though.
"Deine Mutter geht in der Stadt huren!"
Although you have all heard it muttering in other languages, it seems to really enjoy cursing in German.
Brian Kincade |
"I think Ms. Ashby will be ok," Brian says quietly. "Especially if we can clear this mess up."
"I think we have two populations in this town, based on my talk with Martha. The cultists, and innocents that are being summoned through dreams to take part in some upcoming ritual."
"Martha heard a voice from her dreams exhort her--while she was awake---to 'come to the rusty water' and 'pray at the iron'. I assume the salvage yard."
Jalopy |
And because I need to get into the habit of doing this...
Brian - You are awarded 2 XP, for staying behind to counsel a woman who couldn't turn to her own church leader for guidance during this crazy time. Please give 1 XP to another player with a reason as to why you're awarding it.
Charlie - You are awarded 2 XP, for successfully identifying a piece of Lovecraftian lore after breaking into an ex-Agent's home. Please give 1 XP to another player with a reason as to why you're awarding it.
You guys do not have to award this RIGHT NOW, but please do this within the next day or two. You don't even have to award it for something another person did in character, it can be for something they said OOC with regard to the game. Whatever floats your boat.
Let me know if you have any questions about this! I will post this in Discord as well.
Jalopy |
And guided you are, as the creature doesn't stay still for long, and neither does it stay silent.
You hear both mutterings and skitterings in the furthest room away from you. At the top of the stairs, straight ahead, a bathroom. Standing at the top of the stairs, to your right, a guest room that looks like it hasn't seen a guest in quite some time, judging by the layer of dust you see. If you move down the hall past the bathroom, a door is closed to your right. At the end of the hall, a peek at what looks like the master bedroom, where Brown Jenkin is making noises.
"The Black Man misses his messenger, oh yes, it needs me, it needs me, and I cannot leave."
Jalopy |
Close enough to confirm that this is the master bedroom, you also see Brown Jenkin jump onto the bed. It's about the size of a large cat, which is really much too large for a rat. Especially a rat with an ugly, misshapen human face on it. And clawed human hands instead of paws.
It sniffs the air. "You are not Mason. Not my Mason. Not the false Mason. die Hure. What are goldfish crackers, what is it you want? Are you to send me home with a message?" It asks hopefully. Its voice is guttural and deep. The scent of rotting flesh and fish wafts to you in the wake of its breath.
Terry, or anyone who wants to try and persuade this thing into the carrier, make a Persuasion/Int roll for me. Challege rating 3.
Brian Kincade |
Brian, via Natural Charisma, is trained in "all social interactions, whether they involve charm, learning a person’s secrets, or intimidating others." I think that involves getting a rat into a cage. So CR 2 for me.
Persuasion: 1d20 ⇒ 13
"Friend," Brian says soothingly to the rat-like thing, "It will be better for everyone, including you, if you willingly come with us in this carrier."
Terry-with-a-Y |
Terry takes a step back at the sheer unnaturalness of the Brown Jenkin.
"Goldfish cracker is a snack," he says. "If you come with us, you can have a snack."
Terry will spend an Effort (no Edge), 3 pts from Intellect pool, to drop the CR to 2 as well
Of course it wants a snack: 1d20 ⇒ 1
Jalopy |
Brown Jenkin seems unsure of how to react when Brian speaks to him soothingly. It's very likely no one has ever spoken soothingly to it before in its life.
"Friend…" it tries the word out, rasping it across jagged teeth.
It takes a step forward. But as soon as Terry takes a step back and speaks to it again, it rears up on hind legs, hissing wildly. "Fear! Fear! You are lesser, there is no room for fear, you will bow to the Crawling Chaos, you will forever be hunted by the Faceless God, you will…"
And so on.
There is no way this thing is going in that crate without physical effort. It's not seeking to attack you, but it's kicking up quite a fuss.
"Filthy swine, dreckige Hure!"
Kari Weer |
Kari pat on the cage, presumably with goldfish crackers in it. "We just want you to be someplace safe while we figure out how to get you home." Her voice soft, "You want to go home, right? Home your your Mason?" A smile in the voice, "Safe away from the fake Mason who didn't take care of you?" And with absolute sincerity, "Trust me, we want you to go home." All the while trying very hard to hold and keep the little monster's attention.
Action = Distract! Spending 0 Intellect. Spin Encouragement: Decrease the difficulty of Charlie's attack by one step.
Jalopy |
Brian soothed it, Terry confused it, Kari soothed it again, and finally... Charlie tased Brown Jenkin.
With one swift movement, Charlie's attack lands successfully, as the little man-faced rat is focused on the only woman in the room, talking about Mason.
Brown Jenkin doesn't have much to say after it's tased, and from there, it's no trouble at all to stuff it into your carrier and latch the door shut.
There's a wet spot on the bed, steaming slightly and singeing the fibers of the blanket, and the rat is now twitching and muttering in German again in the cage.
Charlie Speck |
"Never shot a witch's familiar before," Charlie muses, putting the taser away. He's trembling a little, but even he doesn't seem to notice it. "I can't stop thinking about the intersection of story and reality. Was Brown Jenkin real and Lovecraft saw through dimensions? Or was he created because someone with power was a Lovecraft fan?" Charlie shakes it off.
"Let's give this place another look, grab anything that looks important and portable. I'd like to sit on this place, just in case he comes back..." Charlie trails off. "Or maybe we should just go question the monster. Does anybody speak German?"
Jalopy |
"Foul not that language with your mouth," Brown Jenkin adds helpfully from the crate. "Send me home, send me home."
It's not in danger of breaking free, but it seems to have mostly shaken off the immediately effects of being tased. Its little human-like fingers wrap around the front of the crate, testing and pulling on the metal.
Kari Weer |
Kari leans down to be at the same level as the cage, "Trust me, we want you to go home." She shrugs, "In order to do that we need you to help us, so that we know how to get you home, okay?"
"When the fake Mason bring you here? Why did he want you here? When did you last see him?" A small smile, no teeth showing, "The more you help us, the more we can help you."
Action. Spend 1 Intellect point to Study Brown Jenkins.
Jalopy |
When Kari locks eyes with Brown Jenkin, it seems to settle down. A little.
For just a moment, you get a glimpse of a city under a sea, and something vast there that your brain refuses to wrap itself around. And, lastly, distinct and warring feelings that you should stop looking at what's in the city, but you should also never stop looking at what's in the city.
This feeling doesn't persist as you maintain eye contact, it's a relatively quick 'blip' of crazy. Noted that all challenges you encounter specifically with Brown Jenkin will be one step easier.
"I was to deliver a message a fortnight ago." It mutters. "False Mason wants what all humans want, in the end. To let in the Crawling Chaos, to serve at the feet of their Masters. I saw him... yesterday? Yesterday." Then, "die Drecksau."
Charlie Speck |
Terry-with-a-Y wrote:"Do you think it would be a bad idea to go downstairs and subtly break that summoning circle?""I don't know if it's a good idea or not," says Brian. "But I know I'd feel better if it was broken."
"Sometimes summoning circles are meant to keep things in rather than out. In Lovecraft's work, and the work he inspired, this usually was found in the idea of certain geometries reaching across dimensional borders, so that where you and I might see a line of powdered chalk and chicken blood, a Hound of Tindalos might see a wall. Actually, that's a bad example, since the Hounds manifested exclusively through angles...in a sense moving through space as we move through time and moving through time as we move through space. Pretend I said dimensional shamblers."
Charlie shakes his head. "I'm going to have a quick look and see if I can figure out what kind of circle that is. If not, I'll err on the side of destruction."
Kari Weer |
"I was to deliver a message a fortnight ago." It mutters. "False Mason wants what all humans want, in the end. To let in the Crawling Chaos, to serve at the feet of their Masters. I saw him... yesterday? Yesterday." Then, "die Drecksau."
Right before Brown Jenkins speaks, Kari's eyes go way too wide and she starts to rock on her heels. She shuts her eyes hard, takes a deep breath and then responds to the rat-creature. "What message did you deliver?"
"Do you think it would be a bad idea to go downstairs and subtly break that summoning circle?"
"Not using Lovecraft for working knowledge but there are traditions were breaking an active working causes an explosion." Kari blinks, "Which is my way of supporting Charlie figuring out what kind of circle it is before we decide on breaking it."
"I wonder if the breaks into reality tend towards pulling only from one alternate reality. Which means the authors who kitchen sink their worlds create far more dangerous dimensions." Kari stops, realizing she is babbling. "I can try the computer, if you think it would be helpful."
Jalopy |
Give me an Int / Memory check!
Brown Jenkin presses its face into the bars of its cage. "I delivered messages of great tidings, of welcome, of worship." It hisses. "What other messages would be worthy of my Master?"
Anyone paying attention to Brown Jenkin sees that it keeps darting its eyes between Terry and Kari.
Jalopy |
Your quick trip from the rest of the group to investigate the circle does conjure up something in your memory about this particular layout. This is a summoning circle, and one that was intended to be left open as a beacon for other things.
You're no Lovecraftian scholar, but this circle was crafted with such expertise that you're surprised the house isn't absolutely full of horrors are this point. There must be something missing in the completion of the ritual, or a symbol not drawn as precisely as it should have been.
Regardless, a horrible situation was avoided, at least in this house. You'd be safe in breaking the circle.
Charlie Speck |
After a few minutes, Charlie returns upstairs. He hands Kari the laptop unless she already took it. "Shall we get out of here?"
Kari Weer |
Brown Jenkin presses its face into the bars of its cage. "I delivered messages of great tidings, of welcome, of worship." It hisses. "What other messages would be worthy of my Master?"
"Did you come through the circle or did fake Mason make that after you were here?"
"Shall we get out of here?"
"Yes." Kari says, "But two questions. Are we doing anything with the circle? And are we just going to wander around with Brown Jenkins in a cat cage?" She looks around, "Cause people will notice that, I'd think."
Charlie Speck |
"I can cover the cage with my coat," Terry says. "Or we could probably grab something from a closet here. Charlie, how did the circle go?"
"Well, it's better now," he says. "That thing was...it's not good. It's a good thing Mason isn't as good as he thinks he is." He pauses, and then, to Kari: "It's Brown Jenkin. No s."
Kari Weer |
"I can cover the cage with my coat," Terry says. "Or we could probably grab something from a closet here. Charlie, how did the circle go?""A coat." Kari blinks, "I would have never thought of that. Good. So can you carry Brown J.."
"It's Brown Jenkin. No s."
"Thank you." She looks at the human-faced rat, "I'm very sorry for having been calling you by the wrong name." She isn't being sarcastic.