DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Horror ACS: Achtung! Cthulhu - The Black Sun ACS: The Forgotten Passage

Once they have all navigated the ladder and are in the cellar below the dairy, they find a cellar. At the edge of the dairy cellar, there are three tunnels leading off. The air is old and musty, and small niches and alcoves, carved and worn with time, suggest some ancient purpose forgotten by modern man. Nothing is currently stored here, but there are signs of foot traffic.

[OOC: A Reason + Survival test with a difficulty of 1 when inspecting the footprints... What other things do you do?]

Captain

Once they could no longer hear German being spoken above nor any sounds of movement, he gave them another couple of minutes. Finally, he said, "ok, pull out your torches, let's scout around." Kneeling he looks at the foot prints "doesn't look like anyone has been here in a long time." Even the foot prints have dust on them.


Captain Swann Look Around Target 13 2 successes
Pandemonium rolled 1d20,1d20 and got 4, 9

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques let out a silent sigh of relief from the top of the ladder, axe in hand. By the time he reached the bottom of the ladder, he was all smiles. He winked at the Austrian. "You see, eh? No problems here."

He nodded to the captain about the footprints and then, flicking on a torch, had a peek down each of the tunnels to see what his guts were telling him about the way to go.

Jean-Jacques Lupien
Cursory Look at the Footprints
Reason + Survival: Target 8
Vryx rolled d20,d20 and got 7, 9
One Success

Jean-Jacques Lupien
Peeking down tunnels
Insight + Observation: Target 10
Vryx rolled d20,d20 and got 19, 2
One success, a crit for Observation (Instincts), so that makes it two successes

[OOC: These passages are twisty and turney. Think of a honeycomb. They haven't been used in years with no traffic, so it isn't obvious which of the three passages is the correct one. However, we have 2 successes towards the undisclosed difficulty number for finding the right path. Going to let our other player contribute her successes and ideas on how to navigate before I add more NPC stuff. Just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you. ]

{Isabella}

She had climbed down into the tunnels and was impressed by the big Canuck's ability obfuscate their presence. Isabella couldn't help but grin back and nod when he winked at her. **Perhaps we do have some odds...** she thought.

As they made their way deeper, Isabella the archaeologist couldn't help but note how the honeycomb pattern of tunnels worked. She looked for clues amongst the niches with an eye to understanding when and why they were constructed. Based upon her experience and research, she knew that there was a reason that the Black Sun's were at this point and place. Unfortunately, Isabella hadn't had the chance to review maps of Ley-lines or any other such references. But...if this was a place of power, there would be clues to direct their path.


[OOC Not sure if these are the right skills, but Observation, Engineering, and Academia.
Isabella learning from the passageways
Lionhawke rolled 1d20,1d20,1d20 and got 19, 3, 9]

[OOC: The rolls are always a stat and a skill. We will say she pulled 1 Momentum so that you have the three dice, they are there to be used. I will adjust the running total. But two success for Isabella.]



As the archeologist looked around, she saw signs that these natural passages were used by humanity. There are niches carved out here and there, not large enough for a human body. She really doesn't know the function of much of what she sees. She surmises that much of the work is ornamental, though not pleasing to their eyes.

Her knowledge of humanity does allow her to help Jean narrow down the best choice. They pick the middle passage and begin to progress down it. As expected, it winds this way and that, and without their skills, this place would have more trouble. But this little well-prepared group of insurgents is able to make their way along.

The air is getting decidedly colder. Wisps of white mist slither like snakes, or perhaps tentacles, around your feet. There is a recessed wooden door here with no visible handle, but light shines through the cracks. Listening provides no clue as to what is beyond it, but you must be in the right spot.

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques had an unsettling feeling growing the further they wound through the underground labyrinth. It didn't make any sense to him. A tunnel should be like a road or a canal. You make it to go from here to there. Not this way and then that way all of a sudden and then back the other direction. Digging was hard work. A man only does as much work as he has to, to get what he wants, he figured. He gripped his axe and found himself wishing he were above ground again, big pines all around him, smelling like sap and life. This tunnel... to be stuck under here would be worse than death.

He muttered in French as they trooped, sometimes poking into the alcoves with his axe as if doubting they were really empty. By the time the curling mists and cold came around his boots he felt about ready to jump out of skin.

But before they ventured to the door, he pulled Swann aside. "Hey, Captain," he softly breathed. "You know me and Gregg, we both got these charges, eh? Once we get the villagers, we goin' be bringing 'em back this way, no? Maybe them Nazis be coming after us, eh? Maybe we set some charges and not make it so easy for them to follow us, eh?"

Captain Swann

"Planning for a retreat down here with booby traps is a good idea. Go ahead and prepare." The captain agreed with his suggestion. "Corral whoever you need to to get it done." He waved at Private Gregg and Sven in particular.

It took time to get things set up. But anyone chasing them would be in for a nasty surprise.

[OOC: Any other preparations?]

{Isabella}

As the soldiers began their preparations to cover their escape route from the Nazi's, Isabella considered who they were fighting. These were not ordinary rank and file Aryans, these were occult practitioners -- who no doubt had worked with otherworldly minions. Those beings wouldn't be bothered by fire or rock coming down upon them.

"Captain Swann, I'm going to require a few extra moments to prepare a trap of my own." Isabella went another 9 paces further back the tunnel and found a suitable spot that would capture something coming from multiple directions -- especially if barely phased by the physical trap.

Isabella pulled out her leather bound journal from beneath her coat pocket and started to trace an Ogham Sign banishment ritual in the space of the floor and walls.

Isabella's preparations are completed as the men have set up their traps. They are as ready as they can be, aren't they?

Is it time to deal with the slatted wall without a handle? If so how?

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques and Nilsen assisted Gregg, following the American Private's instructions with the delicate, dangerous work. The thin young man with the even thinner mustache even extinguished one of his ever-present Lucky Strikes and tucked it behind his ear while handling the explosives. He ran the wire and hid the detonator in one of the strange alcove niches just out of the blast radius, a safe distance away from the charges.

"Seventh on the left," the Private said. "Lucky seven." Unvoiced was the idea that since there was no guarantee of who might be coming back down the tunnel, it was best that they all knew how to blow it.

As for the door itself, Jean-Jacques had a tool in hand. He checked the door to see if he could wedge the edge of the axe against where a handle would be to pry it open, breaking any lock. If that didn't work, his next attempt would be to pry a wider gap in one of the holes with light shining through to reach a latch with his arm. And finally, to chop it down if neither of those worked.


((OOC Pande, how much of the demolitions were needed? Both Gregg and Lupien have 3 lbs in their demo kits. Each pound does 10D+1 in a blast, can be halved. Also, Gregg is MUCH better at Engineering + Coordination (14, crits on 4 or less) than Jean-Jacques or Sven (both a 9) so I think they'd let him handle the tricky bits.))

[OOC: Brawn + Athletics, 1 success needed to push or pry the door open. The axe can be used as an assistance tool if the roll is too high. I doubt it is an issue.

How much do you want to use? 1 lb is probably enough for anti-personnel purposes. But if you want to collapse the entire passage? Say 3 lbs concentrated in one area. You could set up several different blast points, depending on how elaborate you wish to be. You have time; the only thing that might happen is the poor, hapless villagers being led to their doom. What could go wrong there? As far as rolling, don't worry. We will deal with it on the exit run if that happens.

Assuming a successful roll...]

The group has found the secret entrance to the chateau, and it opens into a cellar below the ritual chamber. The reason there is no handle is because they are looking at the back of a bookshelf, which needs to be pushed out of the way. [OOC Hence the test.] Once it is pushed out of the way...

You have entered some sort of cellar; it is freezing, and the wisps of mist seem to be denser in here than in the tunnels. It seems long abandoned and is full of cobwebs and other detritus. At the top of the stairs is a thick wooden trapdoor, currently closed.

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques put his lumberjack shoulder against the door, utilizing leverage with the axe and easily opened it up into the misty cellar.

Jean-Jacques Lupien
Opening secret bookshelf door: (Brawn + Athletics, target 11)
Vryx rolled d20,d20 and got 11, 3
Two successes
I also was looking up the "Truths" rule. I wasn't sure if his "Built Like a Brick Outhouse" which I recorded as "Lumberjack" Characteristic would have made that any easier. The rules seem kind of squidgy there for me.

((OOC Let's say they used 2 charges, one from each of their Demo Kits. So, a lot of damage to personnel caught in the blast and enough to make it harder to get through the area but not completely closed off.))

{Isabella}

She was thankful that the big Canadian didn't have to chop down the door - wondering if there was any reaction to their entrance. Isabella shushed the team to confirm there was not other active movement their way. After it seemed safe for the moment, she visibly relaxed and examined the room.

Of course the bookshelf caught her eye, and Isabella scanned the titles of the tomes to understand what this room had been used for in the past. And trying to work out the relevance to their current predicament.

"We need to get a reconnaissance of the grounds. Where the prisoners are held. And confirm what the Black Suns are doing - which means a probable encounter with Herr Stoller. Do we split up or send small teams out?" She whispered.

From here, there is a trapdoor at the top of the stairs, and it seems to be the only place to go. Moving up to the top and listening will reveal a sonorous chanting in some ancient inhuman tongue on the other side.

The bookcase has rotten tomes clearly of no value. This place hasn't been used in quite some time, forgotten as the passage seemed to have been.

A quick check by someone skilled informs them that there is no lock nor latch of any kind on the trap door.

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques had a stormy expression upon his face retreating back down the stairs to report what he heard.

"I don't think we gonna get time for no recon, lady," he said to Isabella. "I think we right in the bouilli right here. They singing up there which can't be no good, eh?"

{Isabella}

After finding useless information in the space and books, Isabella crept up to where Jacques had heard the singing. Indeed, she couldn’t discern what was being chanted from this vantage - but it was clear that ceremonial preparations had already started. She came back down to the floor.

“I agree. C’est le moment.” She nodded, but they still didn’t have a plan. “We cannot just burst up and start to open fire. It is possible that there will be civilians ready for sacrifice. How can we gain a moment to pause and assess? Suggestions?”

Her plan was to let the soldiers storm while she identified the greatest threat with Fridge’s Wisdom. Yet, there wasn’t the same pull of energy that she would have expected if the ceremony was fully engaged. The enemy hadn’t fully gathered. That would complicated things.

Poking your head up out of the trapdoor, you find yourself in a small anteroom off of a larger chamber. The larger room into which you’re looking is circular, with an altar near the far wall, a single closed door on the left wall, and six supporting columns providing a degree of cover while reaching up to the ceiling four meters above your head. On each column, a civilian is tied. As you take in their appearance, you can see they are beaten, crying, and screaming in fear at something on the altar. You follow their gaze to the source of their terror, a stone slab red with the blood of sacrificial victims. Above, a glowing phosphorescent light surrounds a Black Sun Master, four Black Sun Novices, and a bizarre creature with fearsome claws and a slathering tongue instead of a head. Above, a dark presence seems to be forming in the air as the chanting of terrible ancient words continues.

((OOC Pande, when you say "above" do you mean that the Black Sun guys and the monster are floating above the altar? Or that the light is above them that surrounds them? Are they close enough to reach with a melee attack? And, it didn't seem like there are rules about problems with firing if allies were in range or if bystanders were near by?))

It is above the altar coming into being or this reality.

Though if you get close enough it could be attacked with a melee weapon.

If the shot goes awry complications could cause a shot to hit a friendly.

((OOC but the Black Sun guys are on the ground, correct? and the worm thing? And something ELSE is coming into being above them? And the chanting is the Black Sun guys?))

Correct, the Black Sun are at ground level. The tentacle thing is what is coming into being above the altar. Yes, the Black Sun guys are chanting, conducting some kind of a ritual.

Maybe this bit of description will help illuminate things.

The battlefield is made up of four zones: the antechamber, the main room, the altar where the ritual is taking place, and the side door leading to the ritual room. Cover Resistance of +2 may be provided by anyone hiding behind a pillar.

Jean-Jacques Lupien

Jean-Jacques Lupien had seen horrid, otherworldly things in his life. In Cape Cod, years past, he'd been hired to transport guests to an island manor and that place was not somewhere anyone should have gone. Strange happenings became more and more frightening until eventually he'd used all his guile to slip off the island, past undersea inhuman beings that had kept them trapped. By the time he had returned with the Coast Guard, the guests had for some reason not stayed in the barricaded manor house but had tried to leave themselves. Of them, or whatever had taken them, no signs were found and Jean-Jacques fell briefly under suspicion of foul play in their disappearances.

At another time, while working as a carny for a traveling freak show, some of the troupe's other workers were involved in some unholy dealings and had tried to use some macabre ceremony in an abandoned church to bring forth some foul being. He had flashbacks of that time now when he beheld what the Black Sun troops were attempting to do. Some part of him wanted to get down the ladder and back out of that tunnel as quickly as possible but he knew that this was the mission and his unfortunate prior experiences were why he was on it. He knew that whatever the Nazis were doing here had to be stopped and hopefully as many of the poor folk of Saint Sulac could be saved.

After a whispered, hurried plan was discussed, the urgency of trying to get the bystanders to some relative safety took precedence over immediately attacking the cultists and their creature. Jean-Jacques volunteered to sneak up and toward the pillars where they were tied, along with Walker. Crook whined very softly about being left behind as Walker gave his scruff a brisk rub and they were out.

Jean-Jacques was to go to the left, Walker the right, keeping to the shadows and aiming for the furthest two villagers first. They would be most in the line of fire from the rest of the unit. Jean-Jacques planned to communicate with the victim to keep them from giving them away or running madly in the wrong direction. Once freed, the plan was to get them behind cover of the pillars, moving between them when there was an opportunity.

((OOC I think both Walker and Jean-Jacques should take a Momentum from the pool on this check. Not sure how many successes are needed. Both of them for Agility + Stealth need an 11. Purchase of the die needs to happen before rolling.))


Jean-Jacques Lupien
Stealth, to free a prisoner, target 11, one extra die bought
Vryx rolled d20,d20,d20 and got 1, 7, 11
Wow, that's a good roll. I believe that is four successes!

[OOC: You are absolutely correct, 4 successes! Great roll!

Walker, however, not so much...
Walker Sneak to a villager in the summoning chamber
Pandemonium rolled 1d20,1d20,1d20 and got 20, 7, 15]

Jean, being a backwoodsman, moves with stealth befitting a hunter. His knife slits the rope of his villager and even gets her frightened form directed back toward the alcove.

Walker, however, while she does fine sneaking up to the pillar, as she silently explains the situation to the wide-eyed villager, the flash of the knife blade turns out to be too much for the young man. He begins to howl and whine "Don't kill me," he pleads. Of course, this causes a disturbance, and the nearest Black Sun trooper looks over in suspicion. In a moment, he grabs his machine gun and yells "Eindringlinge!" (Intruders!)

The gig was up, a fight was going to be necessary to stop these foul villains.

[OOC: I can create a new thread for the fight if you wish, or we can keep going here, I don't mind either way.]