Robert Douglas’ Will.P3 Conclusion
FROM THE
BEGINNING:
(Essie/Whitney, Peter/Jordan, Phillip/Aaron, Jimmy/Graham, Richard/Jon)
2pm, 19 April: As Jimmy put the goggles
in his pack, Phillip asked, “Did Robert wear prescription glasses?” Essie didn’t
remember him wearing glasses in college and Jean denied seeing him wear any. Peter
sighed, “I guess our only lead is that airship.” Jimmy shared his news from his
morning meeting, “My local contact mentioned something about the airship
circling the lake at night these last months.” To which Jean spoke up, “So that’s
it! There were weird sounds the night Bob died, as if the echoes of cars racing
along the lake roads. By the time I finished my shower to go look, the sounds
were gone.” Which made them wonder, “Do you suppose the airship was hunting him
along with Chester?”
They piled into the car to return to Timmins. As they passed
the airfield (no airship), Essie noticed cars and trucks and men crowded round
the ticket-booth. They pulled in to overhear, “What do you mean they just
terminated their service?! We have equipment and goods to be shipped.” Others
pissed, “This was supposed to be a steady rigger job to keep us out of the
dangerous mines.” Jimmy tried to blend in with the crowd to learn more while
Peter and Phillip moved forward to protect the ticket agent obviously cornered and
threatened. Riche walked past them as if in charge and entered the hut, “Do you
have any idea who I am?! Give me the name and phone number of your boss.” Essie
slipped in with him to look for clues.
Finding Transportation: Riche used his Charm (extreme) and wealth to reason with the owner who tried to explain all refunds handled back in Montreal. Riche pushed, “Then get us transportation there and be quick about it.”
As the boss spoke about train schedules and
routes, Jimmy remembered seeing a seaplane at the lake during his meeting.
Peter was considering stealing it since Essie announced she had SOME piloting
experience. Jimmy thought best to convince the pilot with a little “cash lubrication.”
Riche chimed in while still on the phone, “Hold on, I’ve got him on the ropes.”
Jimmy clicked the receiver down, “I think we’ve come up with a faster plan.”
They were soon back in the car riding to the lake and an
office near the seaplane tied to the docks. Once again Riche the spokesperson
with Jimmy at his side. [Riche- extreme Charm with Jimmy Fast-Talking about a
family emergency] “I’ve already invested in your mining operations and now
impose on you to provide flight services.” A deal soon brokered but time needed
to track down the pilot. [failed Luck] 3-hours needed to fuel and prep the
plane and get the pilot sober.
5:30pm, dusk: George Little was
shocked, “It’s almost dark! You want me to fly now?! Boston; that’s like 7
hours away. We’d be landing after midnight.” Essie offered her experience, “I
can relieve you inflight so you can rest up before landing.” Others offered, “Boston
harbor will be well lit with dock lights.” Riche added, “You should feel
honored I as your passenger.” But instead of honored, the man now worried, “Can’t
you wait till morning when it’s safer?” Jimmy pulled him aside to whisper an offer,
“Do this and I can offer you a long-term lucrative business and you can still
work with the mining company. Win, win for all of us.” Peter was already
handling his pistol under his coat with thoughts of kidnapping and hijack, till
the pilot stepped on the pontoon and reached out to each, “Watch your step
while boarding.”
Takeoff and Landing: [Pilot-94] Essie
sat in the co-pilot seat to assist with takeoff; she screwed up the flap
setting which caused an aborted takeoff. George gave quick instructions before
making a 2nd attempt. Jimmy clung to his seat arms and cursed in
Italian. Riche knew enough Italian (cursing, beers, and bathroom the first
words known) and agreed. For the next 7 hours, Riche got a lesson in Italian
while Essie picked up more piloting skills. By the time they reached Boston, a
fog had settled with made landing more difficult (5% penalty). [Co-Pilot: 01
critical] This time Essie was on top of her game and deftly aided the pilot on
final approach. The seaplane set down gently and idled to the nearest buoy to
tie-up while a water-taxi approached to unload the passengers. Claude (Riche’s chauffeur)
was waiting at the docks with the car.
Peter and others wanted to return to Arkham to sleep from the
long flight, “We can find Chester in the morning.” But Jimmy knew better, “Trust
me, in my line of work, if we are going to catch them red-handed, we need to go
to Chandler Aviation Field tonight. Now!” Claude smiled, “Mr. Graves, I
anticipated your needs and retrieved your… equipment… from the trunk of your
car.” Riche oh so wanted to rest his sore rump from the bumpy landing but
begrudgingly relented. Peter mocked him as he checked the rifles Claude handed
over, “Just like a big game hunt but you can be our porter. Here, sling this
over your shoulder.”
2am, Chandler Field: Claude dimmed his
car lights as they pulled up to the airfield fence, “I’ll wait for you here.”
Jimmy was already at the locked gate when Peter suggested he step aside (as he
pulled out his lockpick set), “I’ve got this.” “Click” But Jimmy was smiling as
he swung open the gate, “No, I insist; after you.” Peter made a mental note
about his partner as he led the others inside the fence with only the
floodlight on the hanger (pointed at the external airship) to guide them. Riche followed even though confused as to
their purpose and plan, “Everyone is home sleeping. What do you hope to find?”
The external ticket booth was locked up, but the hanger
doors were slightly ajar. Jimmy and Phillip crept toward the hanger opening as
the others crept around the hanger looking for other doors. Windows too high to
look thru although they could tell there was lighting inside the hanger. Tense
minutes as Phillip stood watch on the airship and area while Jimmy peeked
inside to confirm no movement. Only an interior 2nd floor office (with
its light on) above a work area. Suddenly Jimmy heard Phillip slide his rifle
bolt in response to something from the other side of the hanger. Fortune Jimmy
recognized the outline of Peter and the others coming round the hanger. “We
thought you were just going to check the back and come right back.”
Inside the Hanger: With a chance to
prove his weight, Riche followed the others inside as they climbed the stairs
to the office. Jimmy stayed at the hanger doors as watch while Essie chose to check
out the interior workbenches on her own. Peter was undeterred by the creaking
of the stairs per the weight of 3 men (Peter, Riche, Phillip) climbing them. It
just quickened his pace to reach the office window and peek inside. No
movement. Cabinets and a desk with papers, lamp, phone, and cup of coffee. As
instructed, Riche opened the door and pushed it against the wall to confirm
no-one hiding behind it. [Peter remembered the mad scientist in that French
castle hiding behind the door.]
While Peter felt the cup (luke-warm) to determine when last used, Phillip shuffled the desk papers, “Here’s the captain’s journal!”
They
read with interest about that failed North Pole Expedition. Not for exploration
but rather a cult ritual to open a portal and call forth some demonic entity.
But the portal only offered them a crystalline object that later proved to be
an egg that hatched something called a dho-spawn. An entity that had touched
the minds of the men of the airship even while it just an embryo. Now born and
on the hunt for knowledge stored in the minds of the men it had touched. The
airship officers enslaved to do its bidding. The riggers: it only needed their
heads which stored their brains.
Again, the stairs protested all that weight. Essie shushed
them as she wheeled an acetylene torch, “Can’t you be quiet? Does anyone know
anything about wielding?” Jimmy shushed them as they exited, “That hanger was
like a trumpet echoing your noise!” [GM: I was rolling to see if the aircrew
heard you.] Peter reasoned they get out of the hanger’s light, "Get to the
fence and work our way in the dark toward the back of the airship." Jimmy
handed the goggles to Peter, “In case you need this.” He handed his flare-gun
to Phillip, “You’re a better shot.”
Who Goes There: They were just under the
rear of the airship, single file, when they saw the silhouette of a man calmly
smoking under the rear engine. Phillip used his rifle scope to get a better
look but not enough lighting. Riche/Jimmy/Peter approached the man who heard
them and turned and recognized them and whispered hoarsely, “You shouldn’t be
here. Leave now or you will join us in living death.” Riche recognized the man’s
voice as that of Lt Bambury (radio operator, Shakespeare book owner). “Sometimes
it allows us to sleep. Break from its control for a few moments of sanity. But
it can sense others. It might be able to…” His words tailed off as his eyes widened
as he froze in his stance. Peter recognized the man now controlled and wacked
him with his nightstick which peeled a flap of scalp. Only then did Bambury
fight back. Outnumbered, he was quickly hogtied.
Kicking the Anthill: [Sanity check]
They heard noise of others approaching, jumping from the airship engine planks.
More lowered than jumped. The zombie-like aircrew wielded long wrenches and other
tools as they approached. Riche relieved Peter to finish tying up their
captive. Phillip moved to the side and took a shot with his rifle, causing his
target to flinch from the impact. Enough damage to drop a normal man yet this
man righted himself and continued his advance! “Oh Shit!” Peter drew his sawed-off
shotgun and closed within 5 yards (point-blank, max damage). He blew another
crewman’s arm off, yet that man too righted himself although his weapon arm
missing. [Sanity checks for all]
Jimmy pulled his Tommygun and blasted at the airship
hovering over them; 15+ casings littered the ground around him. [Was he
expecting a detonation or it burst into flames? The airship was filled with
hydrogen that wouldn’t detonate unless exposed to flame] “Phillip, use the
flare-gun I gave you!” Essie actually had compassion for the aircrew that unwillingly
attacked. She considered climbing aboard the airship to confront the dho-spawn.
Yet when she began dragging the wheeled torch closer, [failed Luck] the bottle
tipped on its side and weighed her down. And that’s when the first crewmen
reached Peter who failed to dodge the wrench. [7 damage, over half his HP,
failed CON] Peter collapsed unconscious. Maybe his fortune as the other crewmen
from the middle of the airship threw glass vials against the ground that burst,
releasing a cloud of powder [Powder of Ibn-Ghazi].
[Sanity check] Powder that revealed tentacles attached to the
base of each man’s skull! Them being controlled like puppets on a string! [5+
sanity loss, failed INT check] Phillip and Essie saw the tentacles but did not
fully comprehend. [sanity loss greater than 20% = automatic Bout-Of-Madness=
Amnesia] Jimmy suddenly forgot why he was at the airfield.
Filled with fear and frustration, Riche pulled his
sword-cane and swiped at the tentacle attached to the closest crewman before
rushing to help Essie with the wheeled torch. Phillip got closer to the airship
and the holes Jimmy had produced with his Tommygun. He fired the flare and
cringed expecting the worst. [failed Luck that hydrogen had leaked this far] The
flare embedded in the skin of the airship but nothing else. [passed CON] Peter
slowly began to revive. Confused but seeing others fighting, Jimmy relied on
his instincts and raised his Tommygun to blast the airship once more.
[Only Peter, just before his unconscious collapsed, had
noticed Captain Moore approaching from the front of the airship]
[failed opposed POW] And that’s when Essie clutched her
chest as if onset of a sudden heart-attack. Her other hand locked onto the handle
of the wheeled upside-down torch bottle. Riche failed to break her hand free
and therefore wheeled about with Peter’s rifle and fired at the one-armed
crewman threatening Peter, severing the tentacle that controlled him. The man
dropped dead. And that’s when they all heard the “WOOSH” as hydrogen did reach
the still burning flare. The skin of the airship began to melt as the fire
grew. “RUN!” Phillip took off toward the hanger.
Peter scrambled to his feet and ignored the lone man
threatening him as he began to run towards Essie. Jimmy knew not why the call
to run but complied, following Phillip. [failed opposed POW] Essie still clutched
the cart-handle and her chest, unable to run. At first shocked he’d actually
fired the rifle successfully, Riche sprung into action to aid Essie.
And that’s when the crewmen screamed a horrible outcry. Only
Jimmy and Phillip looked back: to see the bodies of the men collapse as their
skull and spines floated upwards thru the burning frame of the airship. [failed
Sanity] A sight which prompted both to run faster.
Meanwhile, Essie’s heart-attack suddenly subsided just as
Peter broke her grip on the cart-handle. “RUN!” Flames and wreckage crashed to
the ground behind them as they sprinted away.
BEHIND
THE SCREEN
Most of the story is explained in Chester’s dialog along
with Capt Moore’s journal.
The Powder of Ibn-Ghazi allows one to see the unseeable.
In this case, the ethereal dho-spawn tentacles. The goggles were needed to see thru
the skin of the airship and see the actual dho-spawn hidden inside. Fortune you
did not look as to witness: SAN 1d4+2/1D20+2 (i.e. pass or fail your
Sanity check).
It was Capt Moore that Peter saw just before he collapsed
unconscious. Moore who attacked Essie with the opposed POW spell ‘Grasp Of
Cthulhu’. Yet when the airship caught fire, he lost focus on the spell and ran
to save his own life.
The dho-spawn departed the burning ship and flew skyward, into space, ripping the tentacles attached to the remaining airmen. Thus, their skull+spines floating upwards into the frame of the airship that was ablaze.
NEXT SCENARIO:
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