Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep d20
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4206431" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Adventure #25: Escape from the Mountain</span></p><p></p><p><strong>Part 2: No More Room in Hell...</strong></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/zom.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Hundreds of corpses slowly lurch to their feet. Throats are slashed. Entrails pulled out. Arms blasted off and legs missing. The dead are randomly interspersed among the living, and the dead do not discriminate between who they attack. They fall upon anyone close enough to reach, tearing out chunks of flesh devouring them, and the investigators have reached ground level right in the middle of this chaos. To escape the valley, they must push ahead, reach the far side, climb up the hill and plunge into the jungle.</p><p></p><p>They don't have time to wait. Even as they huddle at the base of the mountain, the dead have noticed them and begun to advance, hands stretched out, their jaws gnashing in hunger. Using the bewildered Gas Mule as a shield, Lester keeps close to it, and the group dashes forward, using their superior speed and maneuverability to weave among the zombies. Still, there are far too many to fully avoid them all, and claws rake them as they run by. Chad is bitten savagely on the shoulder, tearing out chunks of muscle, and Chang attempts to throw a drum of gasoline as an incendiary diversion. He throws well enough, but both Lester and Chad shoot...and miss! Cursing, Chang doesn't have time to fire himself, the zombies will surround him, and so he keeps running.</p><p></p><p>And if that weren't bad enough, they hear the bird-like screeching behind them as something bone-white and slick emerges onto the ledge, croaking like a malignant vulture. Chad risks a glance back at it and sees the thing spread its diseased wings...</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/horse.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>...but it is what Chad sees atop the mountain that chills the blood in the veins.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/wind.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>An avalanche of black fog is rolling down the mountainside! Consuming the entire landscape, devouring everything like a terrible wave of malignancy, and it will soon sweep the valley floor and engulf them all. Chad screams at everyone to run faster, so they do, pushing dead people out of the way in their haste. The flying creature leaps off from the ledge and swoops down, plucking someone right off the ground, and soars up into the night sky, its shrieks receding. They finally break through the ranks of zombies and have a clear run uphill to the crest of the valley, and a straight shot to the jungle beyond where they can hide, but they just aren't fast enough to escape the wave of black fog.</p><p></p><p>It spills around them, cold, chilling, clammy, invading their noses and lungs. Everyone is overcome by horrible coughing, but only Chad Slambody is able to resist the affliction. Chang, Lester, Okumo and the Mook are stopped by pain and debilitating cramps, moving at only half speed. They all instantly lose several points of Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma or Strength, and Chad is forced to slow down and find them in the fog, rather than running ahead on his own.</p><p></p><p>The group finally tears into the jungle, wheezing and coughing, and the black fog is left behind. They find a place to camp as close as they dare, and fall into an exhausted and nightmare-plagued sleep. But the morning does not relieve their ailments. Chang and Lester lose many more points of ability scores, the Mook and Okumo are coughing up blood, and the group is easily five days from civilization. And without the guidance of Okumo or the Mook, they lack the survival skills to navigate the jungle at all. Even worse, as Lester and Okumo suspect, they have been inflicted with a magical disease they no one can heal. </p><p></p><p>They will all surely die unless they can reach Old Bundari in time.</p><p></p><p>It takes them a week to find Nairobi at their reduced snail's pace, and along the way, the Mook finally succumbs in a froth of blood. Which is good news for Chad Slambody! His necrophilia affliction has been haunting him for days now, and he finally spies an opportunity to take full advantage of it. He volunteers to haul the dead man back to his home in the Boyova village, which spawned one of the best/worst quotes from the adventure:</p><p></p><p><strong>Leo: "But I don't want to leave him behind."</strong></p><p><strong>Dave: "No, you just don't want to LEAVE his behind..."</strong></p><p></p><p>With only a few relevant ability score points keeping them alive, Old Bundari begins a magical ritual to bring Chang, Lester and Okumo back to full health. It is a tricky, highly time-intensive procedure that will take several months to fully complete. In the meantime, still hale and whole, Chad meets some allies in Nairobi and their predetermined spot at the Hampton House Inn (the same one partially burned down by the fire vampires). As planned, Dr. Anthony Cowles, Dr. David Dodge, and his old companion Gi-Gi from Cairo have come to Nairobi while on their way to Australia.</p><p></p><p>ABOUT COWLES and DODGE:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/cowles.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/dodge2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/gigi.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Dr. Ali Kafour of the Cairo Museum (and one of the party's most trusted allies) has had extensive conversations with these two distinguished Australian scholars. They have been giving a series of lectures around the world concerning a Cult of the Sand Bat in central Australia, and after spending much time with Dr. Kafour, they have come to the mutual agreement that something dark and disastrous is brewing in the Outback. Dr. Kafour believes that a new cult of the Dark One has been resurrected, and that they are up to no good. This is the sole reason why he put the investigators in touch with Dr. Dodge and Dr. Cowles. Like the investigators, Ali Kafour is well aware of the significance of the map found in the Bent Pyramid, and the locations in Kenya, Australia and China that form a tridiagonal mystery. The professors are more interested in the possibility of a buried city from an archaeological standpoint.</p><p></p><p>However, whatever the investigators decide to do once Chang and Lester have recovered, Old Bundari has some unsettling news first.</p><p></p><p>One full month has passed since the destruction of the Spawn. In the wake of that incident, the worst plague of malaria, Yellow Fever, and a new ailment--Black Fever (which is what Lester and Chang have) has swept over Kenya. Floods, fires and other calamities have raged out of control in the rural areas, and they know that this is the wrath of Nyarlathotep unleashed. His son is dead, but M'Weru is still alive somewhere.</p><p></p><p>They are all gathered around a campfire in Boyova with Old Bundari. He has just woken from his reverie, bathed in sweat, his old eyes dark with worry. Okumo is there to translate his Swahili to English:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/okumo.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/oldbundari.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>"I have seen a vision. A dream of the future. A time when a great cloud descends upon the whole world. A cloud of evil, so vile and hateful that none can escape it. I have seen this, and know it to be possible. Listen...and heed this warning:</p><p></p><p>...If there is no more room in Hell, the Dead Shall Walk the Earth!"</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red">[GM Note: This quote is from George Romero – Dawn of the Dead]</span></p><p></p><p>That is Old Bundari's dire prophecy, and the investigators finally understand the implication of their success...or failure. If Nyarlathotep succeeds in his plan, the world will be subjugated to an unparalleled holocaust of doom, and the cancer will spread across the globe and devour the living until none are left at all...</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/globe.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>And there we stopped. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red">[GM Note: This was a significant departure from the campaign book, which sort of leaves it open as to what might happen, but with the suggestion that things continue on just like they are today, with an escalation in war, immorality, and selfishness in human society, a sure sign that Nyarlathotep walks among us. I opted for a more cinematic alternative]. </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4206431, member: 31465"] [SIZE=4]Adventure #25: Escape from the Mountain[/SIZE] [B]Part 2: No More Room in Hell...[/B] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/zom.jpg[/img] Hundreds of corpses slowly lurch to their feet. Throats are slashed. Entrails pulled out. Arms blasted off and legs missing. The dead are randomly interspersed among the living, and the dead do not discriminate between who they attack. They fall upon anyone close enough to reach, tearing out chunks of flesh devouring them, and the investigators have reached ground level right in the middle of this chaos. To escape the valley, they must push ahead, reach the far side, climb up the hill and plunge into the jungle. They don't have time to wait. Even as they huddle at the base of the mountain, the dead have noticed them and begun to advance, hands stretched out, their jaws gnashing in hunger. Using the bewildered Gas Mule as a shield, Lester keeps close to it, and the group dashes forward, using their superior speed and maneuverability to weave among the zombies. Still, there are far too many to fully avoid them all, and claws rake them as they run by. Chad is bitten savagely on the shoulder, tearing out chunks of muscle, and Chang attempts to throw a drum of gasoline as an incendiary diversion. He throws well enough, but both Lester and Chad shoot...and miss! Cursing, Chang doesn't have time to fire himself, the zombies will surround him, and so he keeps running. And if that weren't bad enough, they hear the bird-like screeching behind them as something bone-white and slick emerges onto the ledge, croaking like a malignant vulture. Chad risks a glance back at it and sees the thing spread its diseased wings... [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/horse.jpg[/img] ...but it is what Chad sees atop the mountain that chills the blood in the veins. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/wind.jpg[/img] An avalanche of black fog is rolling down the mountainside! Consuming the entire landscape, devouring everything like a terrible wave of malignancy, and it will soon sweep the valley floor and engulf them all. Chad screams at everyone to run faster, so they do, pushing dead people out of the way in their haste. The flying creature leaps off from the ledge and swoops down, plucking someone right off the ground, and soars up into the night sky, its shrieks receding. They finally break through the ranks of zombies and have a clear run uphill to the crest of the valley, and a straight shot to the jungle beyond where they can hide, but they just aren't fast enough to escape the wave of black fog. It spills around them, cold, chilling, clammy, invading their noses and lungs. Everyone is overcome by horrible coughing, but only Chad Slambody is able to resist the affliction. Chang, Lester, Okumo and the Mook are stopped by pain and debilitating cramps, moving at only half speed. They all instantly lose several points of Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma or Strength, and Chad is forced to slow down and find them in the fog, rather than running ahead on his own. The group finally tears into the jungle, wheezing and coughing, and the black fog is left behind. They find a place to camp as close as they dare, and fall into an exhausted and nightmare-plagued sleep. But the morning does not relieve their ailments. Chang and Lester lose many more points of ability scores, the Mook and Okumo are coughing up blood, and the group is easily five days from civilization. And without the guidance of Okumo or the Mook, they lack the survival skills to navigate the jungle at all. Even worse, as Lester and Okumo suspect, they have been inflicted with a magical disease they no one can heal. They will all surely die unless they can reach Old Bundari in time. It takes them a week to find Nairobi at their reduced snail's pace, and along the way, the Mook finally succumbs in a froth of blood. Which is good news for Chad Slambody! His necrophilia affliction has been haunting him for days now, and he finally spies an opportunity to take full advantage of it. He volunteers to haul the dead man back to his home in the Boyova village, which spawned one of the best/worst quotes from the adventure: [B]Leo: "But I don't want to leave him behind." Dave: "No, you just don't want to LEAVE his behind..."[/B] With only a few relevant ability score points keeping them alive, Old Bundari begins a magical ritual to bring Chang, Lester and Okumo back to full health. It is a tricky, highly time-intensive procedure that will take several months to fully complete. In the meantime, still hale and whole, Chad meets some allies in Nairobi and their predetermined spot at the Hampton House Inn (the same one partially burned down by the fire vampires). As planned, Dr. Anthony Cowles, Dr. David Dodge, and his old companion Gi-Gi from Cairo have come to Nairobi while on their way to Australia. ABOUT COWLES and DODGE: [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/cowles.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/dodge2.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/gigi.jpg[/img] Dr. Ali Kafour of the Cairo Museum (and one of the party's most trusted allies) has had extensive conversations with these two distinguished Australian scholars. They have been giving a series of lectures around the world concerning a Cult of the Sand Bat in central Australia, and after spending much time with Dr. Kafour, they have come to the mutual agreement that something dark and disastrous is brewing in the Outback. Dr. Kafour believes that a new cult of the Dark One has been resurrected, and that they are up to no good. This is the sole reason why he put the investigators in touch with Dr. Dodge and Dr. Cowles. Like the investigators, Ali Kafour is well aware of the significance of the map found in the Bent Pyramid, and the locations in Kenya, Australia and China that form a tridiagonal mystery. The professors are more interested in the possibility of a buried city from an archaeological standpoint. However, whatever the investigators decide to do once Chang and Lester have recovered, Old Bundari has some unsettling news first. One full month has passed since the destruction of the Spawn. In the wake of that incident, the worst plague of malaria, Yellow Fever, and a new ailment--Black Fever (which is what Lester and Chang have) has swept over Kenya. Floods, fires and other calamities have raged out of control in the rural areas, and they know that this is the wrath of Nyarlathotep unleashed. His son is dead, but M'Weru is still alive somewhere. They are all gathered around a campfire in Boyova with Old Bundari. He has just woken from his reverie, bathed in sweat, his old eyes dark with worry. Okumo is there to translate his Swahili to English: [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/okumo.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/oldbundari.jpg[/img] "I have seen a vision. A dream of the future. A time when a great cloud descends upon the whole world. A cloud of evil, so vile and hateful that none can escape it. I have seen this, and know it to be possible. Listen...and heed this warning: ...If there is no more room in Hell, the Dead Shall Walk the Earth!" [COLOR=Red][GM Note: This quote is from George Romero – Dawn of the Dead][/COLOR] That is Old Bundari's dire prophecy, and the investigators finally understand the implication of their success...or failure. If Nyarlathotep succeeds in his plan, the world will be subjugated to an unparalleled holocaust of doom, and the cancer will spread across the globe and devour the living until none are left at all... [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/globe.jpg[/img] And there we stopped. [COLOR=Red][GM Note: This was a significant departure from the campaign book, which sort of leaves it open as to what might happen, but with the suggestion that things continue on just like they are today, with an escalation in war, immorality, and selfishness in human society, a sure sign that Nyarlathotep walks among us. I opted for a more cinematic alternative]. [/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep d20
Top