Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 3625599" data-attributes="member: 198">More Fun with Kids - Part IIIAnd the last bit...When the PCs make camp they notice that the change in the ambient light hasn't changed the color of their shadows, which remain as dark as if they were under the noonday sun. Two PCs who are best friends, Thaylar (elven) and Amaris (half-elf) take the first watch. Nothing untoward happens and when relieved, Amaris heads to bed and Thaylar slips into an elven trance. Which is when he dreams......he's running through knee-high mists with Amaris, sweat pouring down their faces. They've been on the run for the last day, and their companions had fallen behind. They'd cast a glance behind them, every so often, to see if it was still giving chase. It was. Every time he looks behind, it's still there. Always at the same pace, though it shouldn't be able to keep up at this speed. He says, "We have ... have to do something besides run." And then Thaylar looks to his side and Amaris isn't there. Nothing but low-lying mist surrounds him. "Amaris!" Thaylar becomes frantic, wondering whether to go into the mists to look for Amaris, or keep moving, in case it catches up with him? A scream erupts from behind him. The mist clears for a moment and Thaylar can make out Amaris' form, on the ground, reaching her hand out to him. "Thaylar... hel-" And then the mist washes back and Amaris' form is blotted out. She lets out another scream, this one higher... which trails off into a gurgling, incoherent death rattle. Thaylar runs as hard as he can, tears of fear streaming down his face. The mist is getting thicker, becoming as dark as shadow, and he's having trouble navigating over obstacles in his way. He casts another glance behind, though he knows he shouldn't have. He knows it's right behind him. He feels his foot strike something hard, and he knows the sensation of falling. Thaylar tumbles down into a ditch, landing on his back. He tries to rise and keep moving, but the pain in his lower leg makes it impossible. He can feel it out there, giggling at him. And then he sees it creeping towards him, finally emerging from the mist. He watches as the little girl pulls herself out of the mist with her arms, stumps where her legs used to be, trailing blood behind her. He's so paralyzed with fear that he can't move. She smiles at him and four tentacles slink out of her mouth, giving an anticipatory wiggle. The tentacles slide back into her mouth and she closes it, giving her the appearance of a little girl again. She slowly pulls herself up to Thaylar's legs and then pulls herself up his body. She's cold, cold as ice. Thaylar closes his eyes, as she pulls herself up to his chest. And then he can feel her moving higher. He feels his face being stroked and a cold breath on his face. It smells of death and putrefaction. Against his will, he opens his eyes one last time, gazing into those of the creature holding his face. She gives him the grin of an innocent child ... and then holds up a hand. As he watches, the nails expand till they are as big as daggers, cutting his cheek as they do, and he can feel the warm blood on his skin. The child leans forward, the tongues sliding out of her mouth, as she slowly licks her way up his cheek. He shudders, too far gone to even scream, and closes his eyes again. The child leans forward, putting her lips to his ear, and as she does, though he cannot see it, he feels her body change. The skin sloughs off it, leaving only slick, blood-covered muscle and flesh, pressed tightly against his. The lips touch his ear softly, and there is one, endless moment of anticipation before she whispers..."Play with me"Thaylar wakes up screaming, startling those on watch and awaking the others. He has a second of relief, as he realizes that it was just a dream (along with the split-second thought, "How did I have a dream?"), and then he realizes something. The dream has not completely faded. He can still feel the child's body pressed against his - under his blanket.Thaylar rises to his feet without any evident physical action, actually rising off the ground for a second, screaming at the top of his lungs and desperately flailing away the blanket. Beneath it, just as he felt, is the skinless child, with its clawed arms and bloody stumps wrapped tightly against him. As he desperately shoves it away, screaming, "Get it off! Get it off! Get it OFFFFF!!!", it smiles, showing long fangs and the split tongue, and then sinks its claws into his side.Seeing the strange sight, the other PCs are in the process of charging to his aid, when they suddenly find another such child attached to each of them, biting and clawing viciously. The resultant battle is short and bloody. The strange creatures are much stronger than their size would indicate, using claws and teeth with the power of a warrior swinging a sword, and move with surprising speed on their bloody stumps. Their skinless bodies are surprisingly tough and they apparently have a limited form of regeneration, their wounds closing slowly.When a PC finally manages to kill one of them, its form changes into that of a normal child, perhaps eight years old, except that it is naked and bears all the wounds that have just been inflicted on it. As it hits the ground, it fades away. As do the other 'children' one by one as they are slain, leaving behind only faint sobbing on the breeze.*  At the end of the session, Thaylar's player said, "You sick bastard - how do you sleep at night?" That's probably the nicest thing a player ever said to me <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

Verification