The Tunnels
Johan is in a terrified state and wants to do anything that’ll prevent more worms. Or giving the maggot king more power. As Johan approaches Rachel, he notices that her eyes have gone very dark, almost black.
Rachel steps away from the gold lining, draws her gun and shoots at the gold lining. “Ms Katz please! Allow me!”, says Johan.
Bromley clutches his gun and pushes his back against the nearest wall. The shot hits. a piece of the ward is destroyed... hairline cracks appear in the walls and a horrible stench emanates from the cracks, along with more white maggots...
Two maggots squeeze out and head towards... Johan and Bromley. Johan squishes his with his cane. Bromley dances around, but the larva crawls up his trouser leg, leaving a caustic trail along the leg. In a panic, Bromley pulls his trousers down, while shouting for help!
Rachel fires more shots at the warding! The cracks widen....You can see something inhumanly large squirming behind the cracks... fortunately it's too difficult to see clearly.
Rachel screams "I see it-- we have to free it-- it's the only way to end this all!"
The larva slides around on Bromley, seeming looking for a way to enter his body - but fails. Bromley is also screaming, a mixture of fear and pain. Gustav runs up and jabs his torch at the larva but misses both it and Bromley’s abdomen.
Seeing Bromley struggle with the larva, Rachel attempts to wrench the larva off him, saying, "We've got to break the seal, stop playing with that thing!"
“I'm going to put the other piece back,” shouts Jackson. “That might stop it!”
Rachel grabs the larva and flings it against the wall, where it more or less explodes from the impact. "NOW BREAK THE SEAL.", she shouts. Bromley pulls up his trousers and scampers clear.
Murphy wants to know what's gotten into Rachel all of the sudden. He failed to notice any mental issues before, so he's surprised. "What's all this yer blatherin' about? Put that gun away before ye hit me with a ricochet!"
"Break the seal! That's how we end this and succeed!", replies Rachel.
"Succeed at what?" says Murphy.
"She's mad!" shouts Bromley from a distance. "YOU'RE THE ONE RUNNING AROUND WITH HIS PANTS OFF" Rachel screams back.
"Ma'am, breaking the seal means letting those maggots out. Surely you do not want that?' says Murphy soothingly.
"No, you don't understand-- we have to free it so the world is rid of it!"
Dermot does not like the sound of this. "Oh, yes, of course! We have to free it! Unfortunately, we're in the wrong pyramid! We have to wait until we get to the other one to free... it..."
"For as long as it's here, all these maggots will keep multiplying-- if we set it free, it'll leave, go back to where it came from!", says Rachel earnestly.
More maggots are starting to squeeze through the cracks...
Jackson has rounded the southern corner and is gone from sight.
Gustav suddenly jumps at Rachel and wrestles her to the ground, while saying 'I’m so very sorry, Ms. Katz but you'll kill us all of you continue to do that. Look at the maggots!'
Rachel struggles to break free. "ONCE WE GET BACK TO NEW YORK, I am filing an official complaint, Mr. Schmidt!". Bromley quickly bends down and takes her gun away.
Jackson calls from around the corner. "If you're done messing around, I could use a hand!"
Bromley turns the corner and sees Jackson further down the tunnel. He is close to a large crack in the wall where the missing piece of the ward was. In front of him is a pool of rancid white fat, making it difficult to reach the wall section. The pool is probably not too deep, but the surface of the pool moves constantly, as larvae within writhe around below the surface.
Bromley fishes one of the Molotovs out of his backpack and tells everyone to stand back. He flings it into the pool. The fat within the pool is highly flammable and catches light easily. Within seconds, it emits thick clouds of black smoke, making it difficult for anyone nearby to breathe. The fire rages wildly, leaving only a thick, tarry residue in the hole when it burns itself out after a few minutes. You are all choking and gasping for air.
Jackson wets a handkerchief with water and ties it around his face, suggesting you follow suit. After the pool is cleared, Jackson takes out the missing piece from his backpack and jams it back on the wall. “Let's try to fix the last holes!”, he says. “We need some gold!”
Bromley heads back to the southern room and fetches some gold sheets and trinkets. You cover up the bullet holes as best you can. you notice the air has cleared from the stench and there are now thousands of dead flies littering the floor. This takes a good while.
Rachel's eyes gradually lose their black luster and turn normal again. She shakes her head, waking up from what seemed to be a crazy dream. Looking up at Gustav, she looks around, trying to confirm if her conclusion was right. "Gustav-- Gustav, Larkin, he made me do it!"
"Made you do what, exactly?", he asks.
"Break the seals! He told me to break the seals-- there was something different about him. Sanchez was there too-- I think he might be in on it."
You become aware of horrible screams coming from the eastern room! You run towards the screams. In the eastern room, there’s only a pile of grey ash where the large man was sleeping. The old man has withered away to a desiccated corpse. The old woman is literally falling apart, screaming in fear and confusion in Spanish for the Father of Maggots to save her….
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:28, Thu 16 Aug 2018.