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Story Hour
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep d20
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<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4036493" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Adventure #12: The Black Pharaoh</span>, continued...</p><p></p><p><strong>Part 2: The Bent Pyramid</strong></p><p></p><p>Once outside the Memphis dig, Morty tells everyone about Agatha Broadmoor and her bizarre warning. Apparently, there are three relics needed to return Nitcrosis to life: The Girdle, Necklace, and the Crown. And Agatha thinks that the cult has all but one item.</p><p></p><p>How Agatha obtained this knowledge still perplexes them, but they do not think she is lying. </p><p></p><p>The group isn’t sure what to make of the new revelation, so while musing it over, they board the next train to their final destination at the ruins of Dhashur. This is where the madman Warren Bessart claims to have seen the Carlyle Expedition enter the Bent Pyramid, vanish, and then return the next day, mysteriously changed and somehow younger looking. </p><p></p><p>A short while later, around four in the afternoon, they step off the train and gaze up at the ruins. The Bent Pyramid is well named. Skewed to one side, Nevelle explains that it happened due to an architectural glitch in the early design, a flaw rectified in later models. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bent2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They take the normal tour, as well as a quick look at the pink-hued granite structure nearby, The Red Pyramid. Neville has been here many times previously, and the party finds nothing unusual at either site except for a boarded off entrance on the south side of the Bent Pyramid.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/entrance.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>This, they think, warrants some more snooping. Curiously, Nevelle does not remember it being there before. </p><p></p><p>Flexing their investigative muscles, Morty and Gi-Gi break in while the others keep watch, and to offer distractions if needed. Naturally, GiGi’s wheelchair attendant Euni does most of the work, tearing the boards down and pushing her over the debris. Beyond the entrance lies a dim chamber supported by wide, thick pillars. Their flashlights splash across graven statues who eternally watch for intruders. Stone eyes seem to follow them, or maybe that is just their imagination.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bentpyr.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>But it is Morty, while taking photographs, who discovers a somewhat obvious secret entrance embedded within a massive column. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/morty.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>A hairline crack forms the outline of a door. They tell the others and unanimously decide to wait and hide until after dark when the guards and last train have departed, and then they will all sneak back inside. But Janwillen is unhappy being here, and afraid that Dr. Clive will hate him forever. He wants to leave, so taking Ma'moud, the archaeologist and boy return to Cairo. As for the rest of the group, giddy with excitement, they execute their plan to perfection, and by the time night has fallen, they are the sole living beings at the Bent Pyramid. </p><p></p><p>Upon closer inspection, the secret entrance inside is not very secret. In fact, it begs to be found. </p><p></p><p>At a mere touch, the crack opens to reveal a ramp leading up into the pyramid. The party cautiously ascends, intimidating the hired help to go first. </p><p></p><p>“B—but why me?” moans Nameless.</p><p></p><p>“Because of this,” answers Oscar, and waves money at him. Gulping, the Egyptian man continues. Euni pushes Gi-Gi in her wheelchair, her psychic senses shouting that this is a very, VERY bad idea.</p><p></p><p>Morty shifts his photographic equipment to the other shoulder, wondering what in God’s name is waiting for them. </p><p></p><p>Nevelle licks his lips, his mind racing a thousand miles an hour. A hidden entrance! Who would imagine that such a discovery had been here all this time? He knows it will be a greater find than Janwillen’s Black Rites…</p><p></p><p>Trundling along in her chair, GiGi speculates about her husband, and how his mysterious disappearance from the car wreck has led her to a pyramid outside Cairo. Life can be so, so strange…</p><p></p><p>And finally Oscar “Ocho” Ochenta. He snaps his cigarette lighter on and off, on and off, on and off, his fingers jittery from nervous tension. He has somehow been corralled into this expedition and is beginning to have serious doubts about following this group of nutcases around Cairo. Drug trafficking can be dangerous, yes, but this is just CRAZY. </p><p></p><p>But they will not make progress if they do not take risks, so ignoring Gi-Gi’s psychic counsel, they clamber ever onward. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: The investigators knew they were walking into trouble, but the desire to see what happened next overpowered all sense of self-preservation] </span></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ramp.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>At the top of the long ramp waits an unusually large room. By normal geometrical laws, a room this size and shape should not exist at the pinnacle of the pyramid. Eight short pedestals each support a fat red jewel, and at the rear of room rests a throne carved from black obsidian. Sitting on this throne is a desiccated corpse, and surrounding the throne on three sides are bizarre bas-relief murals.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/throne.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/corpse.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The mummified corpse is especially unnerving, and they take care to avoid it, but do not quit watching it either. That would be…unwise.</p><p></p><p>But they need to get closer to read the murals, so part of the group advances while the rest hang back. Morty sets up his tripod and starts taking pictures of everything, licking his lips and hoping for the best. </p><p></p><p>But they don’t fully understand what they’re looking at, not even when Neville leans in close, translating the ancient hieroglyphics carved above the throne. His fingers trace the dusty indentations, slowly revealing to him a horrifying tale. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/hieros.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/heiro.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>It tells a story that he can only partially translate, foretelling of a child to be born at a place called The Mountain of the Black Wind, and of world destruction ensuing soon after. </p><p></p><p>Another mural features a large world map. Upon the map are inlaid rubies connecting vague regions in Kenya, Australia, and China. A ribbon of ebony stones crosses the Indian Ocean. Arcane runes wrap around the circumference of the map, but no one is able to decipher them. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/map.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Lastly, there is star and planetary chart that seems to expand beyond the solar system! In fact, the map depicts stars, known and unknown, from the entire galaxy. The implications of this make them nearly woozy. Morty is sure to take multiple pictures of this chart, fearing the awful significance it holds. </p><p></p><p>Just then, closer to the entrance, GiGi and Nameless notice that one of the jewels on its pedestal has begun to quietly burn. </p><p></p><p>“Gentlemen,” she says in her firm, officious voice. “Something is happening. Quickly, come back! Now!”</p><p></p><p>The gems flare up one after the other in staggered sequence, no heat, until the final jewel glows and the entire chamber begins to shake. From the first warning everyone has been backing away from the throne, but bricks and flagstones suddenly begin building themselves up from the ground to form a rigid stone wall. The exit will be sealed within seconds!</p><p></p><p>Nameless throws himself at the exit, but is repelled by flying debris. </p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/sfx/evil laugh.wav" target="_blank">Laughter BOOMS</a> throughout the chamber, and the skeletal remains on the throne stir to life. Wind whips through the pyramid and the skeleton transforms before their very eyes into a young Egyptian man clad in pharaoh regalia, clearly in the bloom of health: </p><p></p><p>Nephren-Ka himself.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/pharoah.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/foolish.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Invisible demons screech to life at his left and right, and initiative rolls...no one was able to leap out the door before it sealed. Nameless and Euni start pounding on the stone until their fingernails crack, and everyone else crowds to the rear of the room, guns pulling out, as the figure on the throne haughtily gloats.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/witness_black.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They don’t really know what to think; they just react in sheer, blind, traumatized terror. </p><p></p><p>Neville Thornbottom pulls out all the stops, and recites the most powerful, potent magic he knows: The Bodywarping of Gorgorgoth. His flesh buckles and stretches, his limbs fatten and bulge, the pallor of his flesh transforms from pink to gray, and within moments he has shockingly become an adult male elephant!</p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: Neville suffers the rigid requirements for the spell; it is not magic to cast lightly. I allowed him to shapechange one size category larger than normal for extra penalties, so his Intelligence and Sanity were shredded by this spell]. </span></p><p></p><p>His companions had NO idea that this young man was about to change into a raging pachyderm, (or the GM for that matter) and it inadvertently knocks a few Sanity points off them as well. But that is the least of their worries.</p><p></p><p>Neville the Elephant trumpets and charges, but the invisible demons intercept him, lacerating Neville’s tough gray flesh. </p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/fight.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Oscar Ochenta, floundering in terror, (and regretting that he followed these <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />s) is targeted by Nephren-Ka and subjected to a vision so horrible, so HORRENDOUS, all he can do is babble and quiver. The others see Ocho stagger, and his eyes growing so wide they nearly explode from their sockets. The vision never quite leaves him.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/nyar.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Nephren Ka seems to thoroughly enjoy that.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/beg_black.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>A second ray streaks from the Pharaoh and randomly strikes Nameless. The man bursts into a pillar of flame, his eyeballs popping, his skin hissing and sloughing off, and he crumples into a charred heap of smoking black bone. In retrospect, it might have been a poor target. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/burn.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Nevelle the Elephant slams the demons aside, charges the Black Pharaoh, and thoroughly gores him! </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bent1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/gore.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Pharaoh is crushed into his own throne, tusks pinning him to the chair while the demons transform into a visible Star Vampire and Leng Spider. The demons skitter forward, but a hail of bullets meets them, a few punching through unnaturally tough chitin.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: The campaign book called for 2 hunting horrors, but for some reason hunting horrors in d20 are as strong as ancient red dragons. I just swapped them out for something easier. Plus, I had the painted minis].</span></p><p></p><p>Euni the eunuch goes fighting-mad and rushes the spider. He grapples the thing’s pincers, while everyone else (save GiGi so far) continues firing on whatever target is available. The elephant trumpets, stomps, and keeps Nephren-Ka trampled underfoot. He is an avatar of a god, yes, but one of decidedly mortal stature. A massive foot crushes his face and ruins a lethal spell.</p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: I didn’t quite know what a raging elephant could do. They were surprisingly powerful when we looked at the stats].</span></p><p></p><p>The Pharaoh’s laughter is not echoing through the chamber like it was before.</p><p></p><p>But the Leng spider is not a horror to be trifled with. Serrated claws crush the eunuch in a deadly embrace, and Euni is cut in twain by the beast, earning himself the new name “Dui” (it was much, much funnier if you were there).</p><p></p><p>Morty shoots a flaming gem and discovers that they can be destroyed in a burst of energy. He starts doing that, walking down the line, aiming, and clicking off shots, even as wheelchair-bound psychic investigator GiGi surprises everyone by pulling a hand-cannon from the undercarriage of her wheelchair. The kickback is so strong that she smacks straight back into a wall (missing her target anyway).</p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: Her character had snuck a huge gun into her repertoire without telling me. It was such an amusing mental image that I didn’t care how silly it might have been; she was like a crippled Dirty Harry].</span></p><p></p><p>Neville the elephant and multiple gunshots annihilate the star vampire, but the Leng Spider hooks its claws into Nevelle for horrible damage. The Black Pharaoh manages to wriggle away, battered by the attack, and his visage transforms for a second time. His skin glows golden, so disturbing that no one can stand to look at his face. </p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/angry.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Hands outstretched, Nephren-Ka launches a spell that paralyzes everyone...their feet root to the stone, their limbs freeze, and all they can do is watch as death approaches…except for the elephant! Neville makes the nearly impossible saving throw by the narrowest of margins.</p><p></p><p>Things look dire as the final dice spin…</p><p></p><p>Nephren-Ka casts magic again but the elephant makes a SECOND save, defying the odds with a 5% chance of success, and launches into the Pharaoh, finally dealing a full 100 points of damage [my predetermined threshold]. The corporeal body is destroyed, and with a whistling rush of air, the horrible avatar of Nyarlathoptep rises from the blasted corpse and disappears into a halo of sickly light, sucking the leng spider with it. Through pure luck, the party makes most of their Sanity checks (except Oscar Ochenta, who has single digits left and permanent psychotic disorder) and avoid the debilitating penalties from witnessing so much supernatural mayhem. </p><p></p><p>They have somehow fended off an icon of evil, and only the hired servants perished. </p><p></p><p>Neville reverts to human form upon the conditions of the spell being met [The Black Pharaoh dead, and nothing less], but he is woozy, injured, and brain-fried. They have to carry him out. Oscar Ochenta is even worse off, convulsing on the floor and choking on his own puke. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/crazy oscar.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: This was NOT how I expected the encounter to go, proof that players will always, always surprise you. This was supposed to be more about torture and taunting, and then the Black Pharaoh would release the PC’s, leaving them alive but permanently scarred. The Black Pharaoh would scare them, lie to them, and hurt them for his own nefarious reasons. Although it worked out contrary to what probably should have happened, it did not diminish the terror or fun].</span></p><p></p><p>But events at the Bent Pyramid are not over. The entire back mural depicting the birth of the spawn of Nyarlathotep vanishes to be replaced by a stunningly realistic pre-Dynastic Egypt. </p><p></p><p>In fact, it IS real. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ancient.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Natural warm air blows through the gateway. The smell of sand and food wafts in, accented by hints of frankincense and myrrh, and the faint fishy whiff of the Nile River. But no one steps through the portal. Justly, they suspect a trap, and soon the gateway vanishes and the previous mural returns.</p><p></p><p>The wall that erected itself earlier crumbles to dust, and the investigators stagger into the cool desert night, enormously lucky to be alive and mentally whole. </p><p></p><p>It is the first time and last they will be so fortunate battling a god.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4036493, member: 31465"] [SIZE=3]Adventure #12: The Black Pharaoh[/SIZE], continued... [b]Part 2: The Bent Pyramid[/b] Once outside the Memphis dig, Morty tells everyone about Agatha Broadmoor and her bizarre warning. Apparently, there are three relics needed to return Nitcrosis to life: The Girdle, Necklace, and the Crown. And Agatha thinks that the cult has all but one item. How Agatha obtained this knowledge still perplexes them, but they do not think she is lying. The group isn’t sure what to make of the new revelation, so while musing it over, they board the next train to their final destination at the ruins of Dhashur. This is where the madman Warren Bessart claims to have seen the Carlyle Expedition enter the Bent Pyramid, vanish, and then return the next day, mysteriously changed and somehow younger looking. A short while later, around four in the afternoon, they step off the train and gaze up at the ruins. The Bent Pyramid is well named. Skewed to one side, Nevelle explains that it happened due to an architectural glitch in the early design, a flaw rectified in later models. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bent2.jpg[/img] They take the normal tour, as well as a quick look at the pink-hued granite structure nearby, The Red Pyramid. Neville has been here many times previously, and the party finds nothing unusual at either site except for a boarded off entrance on the south side of the Bent Pyramid. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/entrance.jpg[/img] This, they think, warrants some more snooping. Curiously, Nevelle does not remember it being there before. Flexing their investigative muscles, Morty and Gi-Gi break in while the others keep watch, and to offer distractions if needed. Naturally, GiGi’s wheelchair attendant Euni does most of the work, tearing the boards down and pushing her over the debris. Beyond the entrance lies a dim chamber supported by wide, thick pillars. Their flashlights splash across graven statues who eternally watch for intruders. Stone eyes seem to follow them, or maybe that is just their imagination. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bentpyr.jpg[/img] But it is Morty, while taking photographs, who discovers a somewhat obvious secret entrance embedded within a massive column. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/morty.jpg[/img] A hairline crack forms the outline of a door. They tell the others and unanimously decide to wait and hide until after dark when the guards and last train have departed, and then they will all sneak back inside. But Janwillen is unhappy being here, and afraid that Dr. Clive will hate him forever. He wants to leave, so taking Ma'moud, the archaeologist and boy return to Cairo. As for the rest of the group, giddy with excitement, they execute their plan to perfection, and by the time night has fallen, they are the sole living beings at the Bent Pyramid. Upon closer inspection, the secret entrance inside is not very secret. In fact, it begs to be found. At a mere touch, the crack opens to reveal a ramp leading up into the pyramid. The party cautiously ascends, intimidating the hired help to go first. “B—but why me?” moans Nameless. “Because of this,” answers Oscar, and waves money at him. Gulping, the Egyptian man continues. Euni pushes Gi-Gi in her wheelchair, her psychic senses shouting that this is a very, VERY bad idea. Morty shifts his photographic equipment to the other shoulder, wondering what in God’s name is waiting for them. Nevelle licks his lips, his mind racing a thousand miles an hour. A hidden entrance! Who would imagine that such a discovery had been here all this time? He knows it will be a greater find than Janwillen’s Black Rites… Trundling along in her chair, GiGi speculates about her husband, and how his mysterious disappearance from the car wreck has led her to a pyramid outside Cairo. Life can be so, so strange… And finally Oscar “Ocho” Ochenta. He snaps his cigarette lighter on and off, on and off, on and off, his fingers jittery from nervous tension. He has somehow been corralled into this expedition and is beginning to have serious doubts about following this group of nutcases around Cairo. Drug trafficking can be dangerous, yes, but this is just CRAZY. But they will not make progress if they do not take risks, so ignoring Gi-Gi’s psychic counsel, they clamber ever onward. [color=red][GM Note: The investigators knew they were walking into trouble, but the desire to see what happened next overpowered all sense of self-preservation] [/color] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ramp.jpg[/img] At the top of the long ramp waits an unusually large room. By normal geometrical laws, a room this size and shape should not exist at the pinnacle of the pyramid. Eight short pedestals each support a fat red jewel, and at the rear of room rests a throne carved from black obsidian. Sitting on this throne is a desiccated corpse, and surrounding the throne on three sides are bizarre bas-relief murals. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/throne.jpg[/img] [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/corpse.jpg[/img][/center] The mummified corpse is especially unnerving, and they take care to avoid it, but do not quit watching it either. That would be…unwise. But they need to get closer to read the murals, so part of the group advances while the rest hang back. Morty sets up his tripod and starts taking pictures of everything, licking his lips and hoping for the best. But they don’t fully understand what they’re looking at, not even when Neville leans in close, translating the ancient hieroglyphics carved above the throne. His fingers trace the dusty indentations, slowly revealing to him a horrifying tale. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/hieros.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/heiro.jpg[/img] It tells a story that he can only partially translate, foretelling of a child to be born at a place called The Mountain of the Black Wind, and of world destruction ensuing soon after. Another mural features a large world map. Upon the map are inlaid rubies connecting vague regions in Kenya, Australia, and China. A ribbon of ebony stones crosses the Indian Ocean. Arcane runes wrap around the circumference of the map, but no one is able to decipher them. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/map.jpg[/img] Lastly, there is star and planetary chart that seems to expand beyond the solar system! In fact, the map depicts stars, known and unknown, from the entire galaxy. The implications of this make them nearly woozy. Morty is sure to take multiple pictures of this chart, fearing the awful significance it holds. Just then, closer to the entrance, GiGi and Nameless notice that one of the jewels on its pedestal has begun to quietly burn. “Gentlemen,” she says in her firm, officious voice. “Something is happening. Quickly, come back! Now!” The gems flare up one after the other in staggered sequence, no heat, until the final jewel glows and the entire chamber begins to shake. From the first warning everyone has been backing away from the throne, but bricks and flagstones suddenly begin building themselves up from the ground to form a rigid stone wall. The exit will be sealed within seconds! Nameless throws himself at the exit, but is repelled by flying debris. [url=http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/sfx/evil laugh.wav]Laughter BOOMS[/url] throughout the chamber, and the skeletal remains on the throne stir to life. Wind whips through the pyramid and the skeleton transforms before their very eyes into a young Egyptian man clad in pharaoh regalia, clearly in the bloom of health: Nephren-Ka himself. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/pharoah.jpg[/img] [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/foolish.jpg[/img][/center] Invisible demons screech to life at his left and right, and initiative rolls...no one was able to leap out the door before it sealed. Nameless and Euni start pounding on the stone until their fingernails crack, and everyone else crowds to the rear of the room, guns pulling out, as the figure on the throne haughtily gloats. [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/witness_black.jpg[/img][/center] They don’t really know what to think; they just react in sheer, blind, traumatized terror. Neville Thornbottom pulls out all the stops, and recites the most powerful, potent magic he knows: The Bodywarping of Gorgorgoth. His flesh buckles and stretches, his limbs fatten and bulge, the pallor of his flesh transforms from pink to gray, and within moments he has shockingly become an adult male elephant! [color=red] [GM Note: Neville suffers the rigid requirements for the spell; it is not magic to cast lightly. I allowed him to shapechange one size category larger than normal for extra penalties, so his Intelligence and Sanity were shredded by this spell]. [/color] His companions had NO idea that this young man was about to change into a raging pachyderm, (or the GM for that matter) and it inadvertently knocks a few Sanity points off them as well. But that is the least of their worries. Neville the Elephant trumpets and charges, but the invisible demons intercept him, lacerating Neville’s tough gray flesh. [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/fight.jpg[/img][/center] Oscar Ochenta, floundering in terror, (and regretting that he followed these :):):):):):):)s) is targeted by Nephren-Ka and subjected to a vision so horrible, so HORRENDOUS, all he can do is babble and quiver. The others see Ocho stagger, and his eyes growing so wide they nearly explode from their sockets. The vision never quite leaves him. [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/nyar.jpg[/img][/center] Nephren Ka seems to thoroughly enjoy that. [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/beg_black.jpg[/img][/center] A second ray streaks from the Pharaoh and randomly strikes Nameless. The man bursts into a pillar of flame, his eyeballs popping, his skin hissing and sloughing off, and he crumples into a charred heap of smoking black bone. In retrospect, it might have been a poor target. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/burn.jpg[/img] Nevelle the Elephant slams the demons aside, charges the Black Pharaoh, and thoroughly gores him! [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/bent1.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/gore.jpg[/img] The Pharaoh is crushed into his own throne, tusks pinning him to the chair while the demons transform into a visible Star Vampire and Leng Spider. The demons skitter forward, but a hail of bullets meets them, a few punching through unnaturally tough chitin. [color=red][GM Note: The campaign book called for 2 hunting horrors, but for some reason hunting horrors in d20 are as strong as ancient red dragons. I just swapped them out for something easier. Plus, I had the painted minis].[/color] Euni the eunuch goes fighting-mad and rushes the spider. He grapples the thing’s pincers, while everyone else (save GiGi so far) continues firing on whatever target is available. The elephant trumpets, stomps, and keeps Nephren-Ka trampled underfoot. He is an avatar of a god, yes, but one of decidedly mortal stature. A massive foot crushes his face and ruins a lethal spell. [color=red] [GM Note: I didn’t quite know what a raging elephant could do. They were surprisingly powerful when we looked at the stats].[/color] The Pharaoh’s laughter is not echoing through the chamber like it was before. But the Leng spider is not a horror to be trifled with. Serrated claws crush the eunuch in a deadly embrace, and Euni is cut in twain by the beast, earning himself the new name “Dui” (it was much, much funnier if you were there). Morty shoots a flaming gem and discovers that they can be destroyed in a burst of energy. He starts doing that, walking down the line, aiming, and clicking off shots, even as wheelchair-bound psychic investigator GiGi surprises everyone by pulling a hand-cannon from the undercarriage of her wheelchair. The kickback is so strong that she smacks straight back into a wall (missing her target anyway). [color=red] [GM Note: Her character had snuck a huge gun into her repertoire without telling me. It was such an amusing mental image that I didn’t care how silly it might have been; she was like a crippled Dirty Harry].[/color] Neville the elephant and multiple gunshots annihilate the star vampire, but the Leng Spider hooks its claws into Nevelle for horrible damage. The Black Pharaoh manages to wriggle away, battered by the attack, and his visage transforms for a second time. His skin glows golden, so disturbing that no one can stand to look at his face. [center][img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/angry.jpg[/img][/center] Hands outstretched, Nephren-Ka launches a spell that paralyzes everyone...their feet root to the stone, their limbs freeze, and all they can do is watch as death approaches…except for the elephant! Neville makes the nearly impossible saving throw by the narrowest of margins. Things look dire as the final dice spin… Nephren-Ka casts magic again but the elephant makes a SECOND save, defying the odds with a 5% chance of success, and launches into the Pharaoh, finally dealing a full 100 points of damage [my predetermined threshold]. The corporeal body is destroyed, and with a whistling rush of air, the horrible avatar of Nyarlathoptep rises from the blasted corpse and disappears into a halo of sickly light, sucking the leng spider with it. Through pure luck, the party makes most of their Sanity checks (except Oscar Ochenta, who has single digits left and permanent psychotic disorder) and avoid the debilitating penalties from witnessing so much supernatural mayhem. They have somehow fended off an icon of evil, and only the hired servants perished. Neville reverts to human form upon the conditions of the spell being met [The Black Pharaoh dead, and nothing less], but he is woozy, injured, and brain-fried. They have to carry him out. Oscar Ochenta is even worse off, convulsing on the floor and choking on his own puke. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/crazy oscar.jpg[/img] [color=red] [GM Note: This was NOT how I expected the encounter to go, proof that players will always, always surprise you. This was supposed to be more about torture and taunting, and then the Black Pharaoh would release the PC’s, leaving them alive but permanently scarred. The Black Pharaoh would scare them, lie to them, and hurt them for his own nefarious reasons. Although it worked out contrary to what probably should have happened, it did not diminish the terror or fun].[/color] But events at the Bent Pyramid are not over. The entire back mural depicting the birth of the spawn of Nyarlathotep vanishes to be replaced by a stunningly realistic pre-Dynastic Egypt. In fact, it IS real. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ancient.jpg[/img] Natural warm air blows through the gateway. The smell of sand and food wafts in, accented by hints of frankincense and myrrh, and the faint fishy whiff of the Nile River. But no one steps through the portal. Justly, they suspect a trap, and soon the gateway vanishes and the previous mural returns. The wall that erected itself earlier crumbles to dust, and the investigators stagger into the cool desert night, enormously lucky to be alive and mentally whole. It is the first time and last they will be so fortunate battling a god. [/QUOTE]
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The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep d20
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