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The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep d20
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<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4111681" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Adventure #20: The Night Platform of Colonel Endicott</span></p><p></p><p><strong>Part 2: Night Prowlers</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>The next morning, Colonel Endicottt picks them up in his truck and drives them to the mountain lodge. He is a boisterous, pugnacious man full of himself and his accomplishments, and they quickly tire of listening to him. He downplays the fact that five people have been mauled to death on his estate in the past three months, and says that they were probably fools running around in the bush without weapons. There can be some big cats and jackals out there, and Natalie thinks it is a rogue tiger (<span style="color: red">She also told Lester that HE was a tiger, turning him so red that he nearly suffocated</span>).</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/man2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The game lodge is large and swanky, but the investigators are the only occupants besides the Colonel and his servant Silent Joe, a Kenyan who never speaks. But he does roll his eyes as they unload trunks full of shotguns, ammo clips, pistols, dynamite, and bandoleers. They obviously don’t understand the meaning of “overkill.”</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/joe.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The party rests that night after poking around a bit, and after breakfast the next morning they head off into the woods. However, they do not leave until after they have stolen some of the Colonel's finest silverware and chopped it up in the machine shop. The idea is to stuff it down a shotgun barrel and KA-BLOOEY Mr. Werewolf. Or, just stab it to death with kitchen utensils. Unknown to them, Silent Joe secretly observes their theft…</p><p></p><p>The day progresses slowly, although Chad does manage to bring down a deer-like animal. They bring the corpse with them as a trophy to show Colonel Endicott, but the only strange thing they find are small children's footprints in the sand by the river. Suspicious, but not unreasonable. Natives claim this land as their territory.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle 4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The platform is roughly a mile from the lodge. It is near the river, raised up on stilts twenty feet high. A ladder is the only way up. There are three rooms, with some basic supplies, some extra rifles and ammunition and a fifth of good liquor. The group leaves the dead deer at the bottom as bait, and spends the evening talking quietly, until the sun goes down, when they all grow uneasy. The forest is quiet.</p><p></p><p>Almost too quiet. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle 3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>By midnight, everyone but Father Salvatore has drifted into half-slumber, when he hears a scratching sound at the bottom of the platform. Picking up a lantern, he steps to the edge of the exterior railing.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/night.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The ladder has already been removed for safety purposes, but leaning over, he sees a child-like form clambering up the support strut like a monkey! He shouts a warning to the others and unloads his weapon, blasting the thing in the head. With pale white skin and red feral eyes, he had no idea what it was. Almost human, but not quite. Regardless, it is dead now, its little limbs askew at the bottom of the platform, its head a mangled mass of bloody bone and brain.</p><p></p><p>And then the shrieking begins.</p><p></p><p>Father Salvatore’s heart leaps into his throat. The woods are filled with these things suddenly surging all around the platform, and everyone lurches up as creatures come screaming out of the dark, climbing the wooden legs from all four sides. They move with incredible speed and agility and are able to reach the top within seconds. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul attack.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>What ensues next is a long, tense battle for their lives. [<span style="color: red">GM Note: This took over 2 hours of game time</span>] The investigators are vastly outnumbered, but armed to the teeth, and they start shooting at the things as they climb up. There are too many though, and many reach the platform and rip into anyone they can find, biting, clawing, shredding and grappling. Blood splatters everywhere, both human and inhuman, among a tangled mesh of arms, legs and screams.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul attack2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>And then the large ones start scaling up, as tall as men with slick white or pink skin and hoofed feet. Shotguns only hold four shells, and there aren’t enough guns floating around to keep firing continuously. Ammo must be desperately reloaded, guns are flung back and forth to allies as they aim and fire, Ma’Moud screaming the whole time as claws push inside from the open windows. The boy is dragged out by his hair and nearly slaughtered, but Father Salvatore drags him back inside, leaving tufts of his hair in the thing’s grip. Chad slams the butt of his rifle across a creature and spins it off the perch, but stumbles himself when a large monster suddenly latches to his back, its mouth stretching open to rend a hole through his neck. Lester blasts it away at the last moment, saving his life. Two white monkeys leap to Salvatore’s shoulders and starts gnawing. The clergyman rams the rifle butt down the throat of one, followed by a load of buckshot to the face. Monsters continue clambering up as some of the investigators stumble precariously at the edge, saved from falling to doom only by the wooden railing, although there are several tense moments where that nearly happens. </p><p></p><p>And just when don’t think they can survive another moment of combat, just when they think the surge will never end, the creatures subside, slinking back into the darkness of the jungle. </p><p></p><p>“What the hell ARE those things?” gasps Chad.</p><p></p><p>Lucifer suspects that they are ghouls, abominations created from human stock and warped into feral marauders. Breathing heavily, they count their ammunition. It is low, but not out yet. They debate running for the hunting lodge, but fear that the risk is too great. On the ground, without benefit of height or cover, another wave of ghouls could easily overpower them, and the tall ones are hideously strong. </p><p></p><p>But not even an hour has passed before the wails begin again, an eerie cacophony that sweeps through the jungle, and a second wave rushes them, this time attacking the support struts first!</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoulattack3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The hunting platform sways under the assault, and everyone grabs for something, but the tower does not collapse. Yet. Teeth and claws tear into the wood, destroying it in chunks, like sharks rending at a boat. The investigators are terrified by this point. Soon enough the tower will crumble into the horde and they’ll be devoured, never to be seen again. Desperation inspires the use of dynamite, and by carefully measuring the wicks (and praying for no bounce-back rolls), explosives are tossed down at clumps of monsters not too close to the platform. Half a dozen are killed at a time, and soon the woods are awash in flame, but the horrible things still keep coming. </p><p> </p><p>The final attack comes from a ghoul leader (Cthulhu ghouls are very different than D&D ghouls) who casts three blindness spells at the investigators atop the platform. They see the monster briefly hiding in the gloom, digging its claws into a mangled human skull and pointing up at them. It hides and maneuvers to a new location, repeating its tactics several times. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul lord2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Lardlover feels it first, a pressure behind his eyeballs and his vision dims, but he is able to resist the dark magic. Hans and Lester are likewise targeted, but fortune is with them, and none are permanently blinded. Hissing in anger, the ghoul retreats.</p><p></p><p>And finally, several hours after the initial assault, the sun rises over the forest.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/sunrise.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Smoke billows everywhere, mixed with the stink of charred flesh and smoldering vegetation. The investigators warily climb down and sift through fifty dead ghouls littering the ground. It is a bloodbath. They themselves are drenched in the red stuff, some of it their own, most of it back-splatter from demolishing monsters at point blank range with a 12-gauge gun.</p><p></p><p>They want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible, before something worse than ghouls rears its ugly head. But before they leave they take time to cobble together a makeshift sling to carry some of the corpses back to the hunting lodge, and to casually ask Colonel Endicott, </p><p></p><p>"Sir…exactly what kind of bears are these?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4111681, member: 31465"] [size=4]Adventure #20: The Night Platform of Colonel Endicott[/size] [b]Part 2: Night Prowlers[/b] The next morning, Colonel Endicottt picks them up in his truck and drives them to the mountain lodge. He is a boisterous, pugnacious man full of himself and his accomplishments, and they quickly tire of listening to him. He downplays the fact that five people have been mauled to death on his estate in the past three months, and says that they were probably fools running around in the bush without weapons. There can be some big cats and jackals out there, and Natalie thinks it is a rogue tiger ([color=red]She also told Lester that HE was a tiger, turning him so red that he nearly suffocated[/color]). [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/man2.jpg[/img] The game lodge is large and swanky, but the investigators are the only occupants besides the Colonel and his servant Silent Joe, a Kenyan who never speaks. But he does roll his eyes as they unload trunks full of shotguns, ammo clips, pistols, dynamite, and bandoleers. They obviously don’t understand the meaning of “overkill.” [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/joe.jpg[/img] The party rests that night after poking around a bit, and after breakfast the next morning they head off into the woods. However, they do not leave until after they have stolen some of the Colonel's finest silverware and chopped it up in the machine shop. The idea is to stuff it down a shotgun barrel and KA-BLOOEY Mr. Werewolf. Or, just stab it to death with kitchen utensils. Unknown to them, Silent Joe secretly observes their theft… The day progresses slowly, although Chad does manage to bring down a deer-like animal. They bring the corpse with them as a trophy to show Colonel Endicott, but the only strange thing they find are small children's footprints in the sand by the river. Suspicious, but not unreasonable. Natives claim this land as their territory. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle 4.jpg[/img] The platform is roughly a mile from the lodge. It is near the river, raised up on stilts twenty feet high. A ladder is the only way up. There are three rooms, with some basic supplies, some extra rifles and ammunition and a fifth of good liquor. The group leaves the dead deer at the bottom as bait, and spends the evening talking quietly, until the sun goes down, when they all grow uneasy. The forest is quiet. Almost too quiet. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/jungle 3.jpg[/img] By midnight, everyone but Father Salvatore has drifted into half-slumber, when he hears a scratching sound at the bottom of the platform. Picking up a lantern, he steps to the edge of the exterior railing. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/night.jpg[/img] The ladder has already been removed for safety purposes, but leaning over, he sees a child-like form clambering up the support strut like a monkey! He shouts a warning to the others and unloads his weapon, blasting the thing in the head. With pale white skin and red feral eyes, he had no idea what it was. Almost human, but not quite. Regardless, it is dead now, its little limbs askew at the bottom of the platform, its head a mangled mass of bloody bone and brain. And then the shrieking begins. Father Salvatore’s heart leaps into his throat. The woods are filled with these things suddenly surging all around the platform, and everyone lurches up as creatures come screaming out of the dark, climbing the wooden legs from all four sides. They move with incredible speed and agility and are able to reach the top within seconds. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul attack.jpg[/img] What ensues next is a long, tense battle for their lives. [[color=red]GM Note: This took over 2 hours of game time[/color]] The investigators are vastly outnumbered, but armed to the teeth, and they start shooting at the things as they climb up. There are too many though, and many reach the platform and rip into anyone they can find, biting, clawing, shredding and grappling. Blood splatters everywhere, both human and inhuman, among a tangled mesh of arms, legs and screams. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul attack2.jpg[/img] And then the large ones start scaling up, as tall as men with slick white or pink skin and hoofed feet. Shotguns only hold four shells, and there aren’t enough guns floating around to keep firing continuously. Ammo must be desperately reloaded, guns are flung back and forth to allies as they aim and fire, Ma’Moud screaming the whole time as claws push inside from the open windows. The boy is dragged out by his hair and nearly slaughtered, but Father Salvatore drags him back inside, leaving tufts of his hair in the thing’s grip. Chad slams the butt of his rifle across a creature and spins it off the perch, but stumbles himself when a large monster suddenly latches to his back, its mouth stretching open to rend a hole through his neck. Lester blasts it away at the last moment, saving his life. Two white monkeys leap to Salvatore’s shoulders and starts gnawing. The clergyman rams the rifle butt down the throat of one, followed by a load of buckshot to the face. Monsters continue clambering up as some of the investigators stumble precariously at the edge, saved from falling to doom only by the wooden railing, although there are several tense moments where that nearly happens. And just when don’t think they can survive another moment of combat, just when they think the surge will never end, the creatures subside, slinking back into the darkness of the jungle. “What the hell ARE those things?” gasps Chad. Lucifer suspects that they are ghouls, abominations created from human stock and warped into feral marauders. Breathing heavily, they count their ammunition. It is low, but not out yet. They debate running for the hunting lodge, but fear that the risk is too great. On the ground, without benefit of height or cover, another wave of ghouls could easily overpower them, and the tall ones are hideously strong. But not even an hour has passed before the wails begin again, an eerie cacophony that sweeps through the jungle, and a second wave rushes them, this time attacking the support struts first! [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoulattack3.jpg[/img] The hunting platform sways under the assault, and everyone grabs for something, but the tower does not collapse. Yet. Teeth and claws tear into the wood, destroying it in chunks, like sharks rending at a boat. The investigators are terrified by this point. Soon enough the tower will crumble into the horde and they’ll be devoured, never to be seen again. Desperation inspires the use of dynamite, and by carefully measuring the wicks (and praying for no bounce-back rolls), explosives are tossed down at clumps of monsters not too close to the platform. Half a dozen are killed at a time, and soon the woods are awash in flame, but the horrible things still keep coming. The final attack comes from a ghoul leader (Cthulhu ghouls are very different than D&D ghouls) who casts three blindness spells at the investigators atop the platform. They see the monster briefly hiding in the gloom, digging its claws into a mangled human skull and pointing up at them. It hides and maneuvers to a new location, repeating its tactics several times. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/ghoul lord2.jpg[/img] Lardlover feels it first, a pressure behind his eyeballs and his vision dims, but he is able to resist the dark magic. Hans and Lester are likewise targeted, but fortune is with them, and none are permanently blinded. Hissing in anger, the ghoul retreats. And finally, several hours after the initial assault, the sun rises over the forest. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/sunrise.jpg[/img] Smoke billows everywhere, mixed with the stink of charred flesh and smoldering vegetation. The investigators warily climb down and sift through fifty dead ghouls littering the ground. It is a bloodbath. They themselves are drenched in the red stuff, some of it their own, most of it back-splatter from demolishing monsters at point blank range with a 12-gauge gun. They want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible, before something worse than ghouls rears its ugly head. But before they leave they take time to cobble together a makeshift sling to carry some of the corpses back to the hunting lodge, and to casually ask Colonel Endicott, "Sir…exactly what kind of bears are these?" [/QUOTE]
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