Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home

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Spider gave the order to go.  To his surprise, he was obeyed pretty well.  He squared off against the crablike things, the flamethrower clearly on its last drops of fuel.  Everyone else scrambled through the open doorway into the five-sided room.  Fritz and Thorne got the sled moving, Ben whistled to the huskies, and the Agents were out of the tunnel.  Jack, shaking from exhaustion, got Spider out just as the flamethrower cut out for good. By some great good fortune, the stone panel slid shut just as the small monstrosities surged forward; one husky didn't make it out in time.

The Agents were reeling from weariness.  Bruno slumped next to Thorne, who was sitting on the small sled, next to the disc reader.  Ben had lost his thin silvery blanket and was clutching his hand to his chest.  The panel indentations had some sort of blade in them, and had cut deeply into his fingers.  On the other side of the stone slab, they could hear the creatures scrabbling, trying to get through it, but fortunately, it was not shifting.  On the side the Agents were on, they could see the stone had been carved with one of the Elder Thing murals, this one depicting an Elder Thing hovering over a number of creatures, including a Shoggoth and some animals that looked like worms, spiny mollusks, and trilobites.  If you didn't know where to look, it would never have been thought of as a doorway.

More huskies came galloping into the area, all of them stridently demanding food.  The Agents realised that they had been down in the city for longer than they'd thought.  At least two full days had elapsed.  Fritz trudged out towards the stored sleds, the huskies swarming after him, Bruno limping along behind, and soon he returned with a spare coat for Ben - Nolan's coat.  "We have food, water, and a new map," the German reported, holding up a folded map. "The Carstairs 2, off the Ross Ice Shelf, is no longer an option.   The Navy is looking for us.  Another ship is waiting near Berkner Island, off the Ronne Ice Shelf.  It is 500 miles."

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GM: Please respond with actions, etc, for the next hour of game time, by Saturday, 26 June.  The Agents are OUT of the Elder Things' city !  Alive !  So far !  Next post Sunday.
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Spider sighed.  "We rest for an hour at most.  Then we need to get moving.  I don't trust these things not to find a way to come out after us.  And 500 miles is a long way.  Everyone eat and rest, then we get moving.  At least for a few miles before we actually camp."  He paused, then added, "Are any of our base camps along the way to the Ronnie Shelf?"

[Sorry so late. I hope everyone in the US is enjoying the three-day weekend and remembering why we have it.]
Jack agrees with Spider. He will pass out pick-me-up patches to anyone who can safely use one, and then assist Ben with bandaging his hand. Other than that — it’s time to go!

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 2

Fritz held the map open for Spider to look at.  It was more detailed than any other map they'd had, and made of some kind of warp-resistant fabric.  "The route is marked, and on the way we have two camps set up, by the Temporals.  The camps are camouflaged to be hidden from the air.   Our other gear is all intact, the huskies are eating their pemmican cakes."

Jack helped Ben with his injured hand.  "You know, I think we'll have more trouble with those things," his boss said, nodding at the closed panel, where the little monstrosities were still scrabbling at the door.

The Agents rested and ate, finding that they were quite hungry.  The huskies seemed none the worse for wear.  Bruno was limping less and less, the healing rate for hellhounds being somewhat supernatural.  Fritz and Spider rigged up the sleds and harnesses.  Precious the husky slept next to Thorne, while Bruno crunched through a bucket of charcoal.  As they prepared to leave, there were signs of a storm rolling in from the Ross Sea - from the direction they'd left the Carstairs 2.  Dark clouds were sighted on the horizon, with streaks of bright lightning, visible from their location in the Mountains of Madness.  Wind was whistling across the black basalt peaks again, eliciting the keening piping sounds that had plagued their ears for far too long.

Their new map directed them to head away from the storm, across the Polar Plateau to the Ronne Ice Shelf.  There were mountains in the way but nothing as steep as the Mountains of Madness, and a pass was clearly marked along the Transantarctic Mountains.  The first camp site was on the Plateau, about two hundred miles along the way, but the going should be easy across the Plateau.  The huskies were well rested, even if the Agents were not.  With varying degrees of alertness and willpower, the Agents set about getting away from the Mountains of Madness.

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GM: Actions, etc, for the next hour of game time, please respond by Saturday 3 June, next post is Sunday.  May we all honour the sacrifices of the soldiers who have fallen in war to preserve the United States of America.
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Jack is starting to feel optimistic about their escape, but does not let his guard down. He double checks that the technological stuff they took is secure for the trip, and then settles in somewhere he can keep an eye on Ben for the journey. He also bears in mind Ben's warning that they may not have seen the last of the little critters, and keeps looking askance at every crevice and shadow that might be a hole they could pop out of!

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 3

Jack took the rear guard, after checking that the Agents had secured their finds.  The strange box Ben had struggled to keep hold of was still working, and seemed to be showing them a map exactly like the one Fritz had brought to the Agents.  As for Ben, he was helping Fritz load Thorne into one of the sleds.  The load of the small sled was being redistributed to the other three larger sleds, as Bruno would be unable to haul anything.  They were abandoning the small sled and any equipment that was deemed unnecessary. Spider was checking the harnesses and the horizon.  As the oncoming storm darkened the skies at their backs, bringing with it a lethal, icy wind, the Agents began to move out across the frozen plateau, past the last ridges of the Mountains of Madness.    Spider led the way, with Ben on his sled, Fritz and Thorne on the second sled, and Jack, on the third sled.  Bruno kept pace with the second sled; now every husky they had left was in harness.  The sleds moved well over the plateau, their huskies being well-rested and recently fed.

So it was Jack, who was in charge of the third and last sled, who saw something emerge from the city; a mishappen four-legged thing, struggling to move in a cohesive manner.   Its flesh boils and bulges, failing to maintain its integrity - at once half a dog, and half a monster.   Abruptly it collapses in the snow, as the sleds move away from the area.  (Jack, please roll Sanity %).

The sleds moved quickly, as the storm threatened to overtake the Agents in their departure from the Mountains of Madness.


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GM:  Please respond with actions, etc, for the next hour of game time, by Saturday 10 June, next post is Sunday
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Jack tries to keep cool and calmly tell his comrades that a disintegrating monster is behind them — but fails miserably!
(Roll sent via email — 96!)

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 4


Jack, who was mushing the last of the three sleds, saw the full horror of the Thing that came from the City of the Elder Things, a creature derived from cosmic insanity.  It was enough to paralyze him, the shock shaking him to the marrow, made colder still by the antarctic weather.  He fell from the sled, rolling in the snow, and opened his eyes to see the flopping monstrosity rising again from the ice pack.

Time seemed to freeze for Jack, and pass quickly for the Thing; it pointed its heaving, monstrous snout in his direction and hauled itself towards him on legs, tentacles, and amorphous limbs.   It was Death itself, or if his fears were valid, something else much more insidious......

NPCs roll for reaction:

Fritz-70%
Thorne-77%
Ben-48%
Bruno-53%

Spider was surprised when Ben suddenly looked back, and without hesitation, jumped off the lead sled, rolling clear of the second sled into the snow.   Bruno likewise skidded to a halt and ran back towards the City.

Jack barely heard the thud of the creature's awkward limbs as it tried to move towards him across the snow, dimly registering the sleds moving away.  His gaze was locked on the Thing, shock paralyzing him.  Then someone stumbled and fell next to him, holding up a hand with fingers spread, a summoning gesture.  He heard Ben's voice, with the crack and woosh of fire pouring out of nowhere, inches from Ben's palm.  The blast of heat was turning the snow to slush in an instant.

The monster was caught full in the fiery blast, squealing and struggling to escape before it collapsed again into burnt cinders.  Something big stood over him, heavy clawed paws digging deep into the snow; Bruno, and Ben was collapsed in the snow next to him, laid out as if dead.

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GM:  Actions, etc, for the next few minutes of game time, please respond by 17 Saturday, next post Sunday.
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Spider was still trying to get the big rifle ready when Ben fried it with magic fire.  He dropped the rifle on the sled and fished out what medical supplies they had left and dashed for Ben and Jack, ready to offer aid as best he could.

Jack tries to recover his composure by remembering that they have faced and beaten otherworldly abominations before; whether stirring up these memories is a good tactic remains to be seen.
He is immensely relieved when his fellows rush to his aid. “Good boy,” he says to Bruno in an absurdly incongruous moment of normalcy.
The sight of Ben laid out motionless is sobering indeed, and Jack will focus on protecting and helping him as soon as his own crisis permits.