Act 1 – Confrontation ( “Hey guys! I’m one with the wall!” )
Our story opens with the entire party (except SaraLynn) standing in the main hallway outside the control room of the Ice Daemon lair. They are all trying not to be seen. The doctor, decides to stealthily peek around the corner, to get a look at the control room.
Neal: “No! Don’t do that!”
John: “Let her try.”
Enise does an exceptional job of stealthing and manages to see the entire lay of the room without raising any alarms. The room is over sixty meters in length. In the center, directly in front of everyone, is a large device, presumably the teleportation pad that Wil had described to them. Above the pad, is the base of the crystal column they had spotted from outside the hill. The column is supported by four pillars that extend from floor to ceiling. The control console for the pad is also in front of them. Three technicians sit at the console with their backs to the party. There is also what appears to be a strategy board over on the far left-hand wall. SaraLynn is in the room, flanked by two guards, facing someone in a high-backed chair. The chair is turned so that Enise cannot see any sign of it’s occupant. There are also two guards flanking the very passageway that the party currently stands in.
As she turns back to describe the contents of the room to everyone, the lights in the room dim slightly, and a high-pitched hum begins to emanate from the teleporter. A brilliant flash of light later, there are three Yeti standing on the pad, each carrying a large crate. The Yeti adjust their burdens and begin walking single file toward the party’s passageway.
Neal: “Oh shit…”
Mike: “Scatter!”
Becky: “Hide!”
Everyone does their best to make like a rock formation, and holds their breath. Wil, does a particularly good job of concealing himself, and is quite proud of his accomplishment.
Neal: “Hey guys! I’m one with the wall!”
Meeho on the other hand does a fair enough job of hiding, but does so directly in the path of one of the Yeti. The Yeti plows right into him. Meeho does his best to scramble out of the Yeti’s way in what he hopes is a completely non-threatening manner. The Yeti has better things to do, and continues down the hall.
Wil is still very proud of himself…in fact, he is positively beaming! Enise peeks around the corner again. To her surprise, SaraLynn is looking directly at her, as if she has somehow been warned of their presence…
SaraLynn leaned heavily against the two guards. Her legs were still too weak to support her body without assistance. Before her sat the creature which had put her in this horrible physical and mental state. The creature who had raped her mind and made her reveal any secrets it desired. She tried not to look at the Ice Daemon. Even being in the same room caused an immediate sense of revulsion. The creature was, for the moment ignoring her so she tried to center herself mentally…to muster some sort of defense. Then she heard the thought…very faint…at first, but growing steadily louder:
“…I’m one with the wall…I am Wil…I am Wil…I’m one with the wall…I am Wil…I am Wil…Check it out! I’m one with the wall…”
At first she shook her head to get rid of the stray thought. Wil had, of course, been very much on her mind since her capture. She couldn’t figure out where the words were coming from though…Wil had never said that to her before! She looked in the direction of the entrance to the chamber. Moments later, the doctor’s face flashed around the corner of the stone arch…
The lone Yeti approached from the opposite direction this time. Thann hissed a warning to the others at its approach, and everyone tried to hide again…everyone that is except Wil, who was so caught up in his previous success, that he didn’t hear the warning. All Wil knew was that Meeho suddenly pressed himself against the wall, with the barrel of his gun pointed right at Wil’s face! Visions of Marcus lying dead in the snow flashed into Wil’s head…
WIL: “Hey! Point that thing somewhere else.”
The deafening silence, broken by that simple request was reflected on Meeho’s face. Wil turned around to find himself nose-to-chest with eight feet of suspicious Yeti.
WIL: “Doef!”
SaraLynn looked away from the arch as quickly as possible. She stared at her feet. She tried desperately to calm her suddenly pounding heart. She tried again to center herself. If the creature was able to read her thoughts, her friends would pay the price. But her willpower was already so decimated by the Ice Daemon, that try as she might, she couldn’t block out the increasingly vocal mantra:
“…I am Wil…I am…Doef!…I am Fucked!…I am Wil!…I’m totally Fucked”
The Ice Daemon put down the electronic device it had been working on. She felt its gaze. She felt its mind touch hers…
Jay watched from concealment as the shadow of the Yeti blocked the light in the tunnel. Why wasn’t Wil hiding? Why was he speaking? What the hell does Doef mean? The computer in his brain flashed a message:
Creature Classification: Yeti
Threat Potential: Immediate and Hostile
Creature Action: Attacking
A set of crosshairs superimposed themselves over his vision, centering on the Yeti’s back. Jay launched himself at the Yeti, knocking it into the far wall of the cavern and stunning it. Wil, managed to slip to one side and avoid being crushed. Meeho joined the fray, planting a well-placed roundhouse into the creature’s flank. At this point, Jay, Wil and Meeho seemed intent on kicking the Yeti to death. Enise had a better idea. She hit it with the stun stick, expending the last charge. Even as the creature slumped to the ground, the party was deciding to move in. Their cover was dangerously close to being blown…
A wail of despair escaped SaraLynn’s lips as the creature heard Wil through the window of her mind. Without a word the Ice Daemon tossed the device to the floor, and ran toward the teleportation platform. A high pitch hum began to fill the chamber…
The party arms weapons and begin forming up in the doorway. Baboon, Enise, Wil and Meeho spread out and take out the guards on either side of the passage. Jay spots a short, fuzzy, white and blue bug darting across the floor. The tracking computer locks on immediately:
Creature Classification: Yeti variant (insect)
Threat Potential: Limited
Creature Action: Escaping
Before the crosshairs even begin tracking the creature, Jay begins sprinting toward the teleportation platform. A moment later, Thann realizes that the teleporter is firing up again and begins running toward the control console.
It is a race for the teleporter between the Ice Daemon and Jay. The Ice Daemon is winning…barely. The creature hits the pad and skids to a stop. Jay leaps into the air and propels himself at the creature. As Jay’s body crosses the threshold of the platform, the brilliant flash of the teleport effect fills the chamber. When the party looks, both Jay and the Ice Daemon are gone…
Paula: “You can’t do that! You said you wouldn’t kill him if he wasn’t here!”
Mike: “You better not expect us to follow him!”
Neal: “I’m not going in there!”
Act 2 – The Ice Wyrm Cometh ( “I told you it wasn’t a herbivore!” )
As shocked as he is at the sudden disappearance of Jay, Thann continues his rush to the control console. The technician closest to the right end of the console begins fumbling to pull a gun out of his holster. A security guard that Enise failed to spot earlier steps from around an indentation in the wall and takes aim at Thann. Wil does his best to cover Thann, and the confusion of combat ensues. The second technician is typing wildly even as Thann is searching the screen in front of him for the key to controlling the huge device. Thann is able to detect where the data banks and power supply for the entire complex are located. Suddenly the screen indicates that the machinery has been activated once again…this time from the other side!
With the departure of the Ice Daemon, SaraLynn is finally able to focus her mental powers. She concentrates on invoking fear from the two guards flanking her. Apparently, she is only partially successful: One of the guards suddenly begins trembling and stares at the attacking party members. The other draws his weapon and shoots SaraLynn in the leg! SaraLynn is stunned that her mental assault failed. The sound of the machinery reaches a crescendo, and something begins materializing on the platform…something extremely large! The guard who has just shot SaraLynn sees the size of the thing coming through, turns and flees toward the far wall. SaraLynn can sense the sudden fear that is emanating from him and turns toward the platform…
The thing in the teleporter is enormous…it barely fits on the platform! Baboon, Wil and Meeho race toward the platform, drawing their bug sprayers and super-soakers. The new creature is an Ice Wyrm. It is an insectile snake, nearly 35 meters in length and 3 meters in diameter. It’s armor is composed of bluish white furry scales. It has two small arms, armed with pincers. Within a moment of complete materialization, the Wyrm begins uncoiling it’s huge body. The Super-Soaker Squad reacts as one, dousing the thing with comparatively small streams of gasoline.
John: “Hey! Bug sprayers! Now that’s appropriate…”
Wil draws Excalibur and fires an exploding shell into the creature’s flank. It ignites the gasoline immediately, and quickly envelopes the creature in flames.
A squeal of pain issues forth from the Ice Wyrm. It begins flailing it’s tremendous body from side-to-side in a futile attempt to douse the flames. It slides rapidly toward SaraLynn’s side of the platform, impacting against one of the crystal support pillars in the process. The pillar crumbles as it abruptly halts the sideways movement of the Wyrm. The Wyrm snaps it’s neck around and the party sees a familiar figure (that had been clinging to the creature’s back) go sailing through the air toward SaraLynn.
JAY: “Spooooooon!”
The cyborg, now slightly scorched, lands in a heap at SaraLynn’s feet.
Mike: “Way to go Jay!”
GM: “I told you not to worry.”
Thann is still trying to figure out the controls for the teleporter. If only he had more time! Jay lurches to his feet and grabbing SaraLynn’s arm, propels her toward the main entrance to the chamber. The Wyrm catches the sight of Jay and SaraLynn running, and lunges at the fleeing pair. The striking mandibles close mere inches away from Jay. The near miss was caused by the writhing body of the Wyrm crashing into a second support pillar. This pillar, like the first comes crashing down, causing chunks of rock and ice to come crashing in from the ceiling.
John: “Why would it knock down it’s own cave?”
Paula: “It wouldn’t do that. It’s too intelligent!”
GM: “Oh really? Says here, this things got an intelligence of one. That makes it about as intuitive as mud!”
Thann and SaraLynn are struck by some of the falling debris, but neither is hurt badly…this time. Baboon, Meeho and Wil are still spraying gasoline at the Wyrm.
THANN: “I’ve figured out where the power supply for this thing is! Somebody’s got to get down that side passageway and shut this thing down before they send another one of these bastards through!”
WIL: “I’ll go!”
Wil sprints toward the side tunnel and Enise steps in to take his place, firing her stolen Browning automatic-pistol at the Ice Wyrm.
THANN: “Meeho! go help him!”
Meeho turns and chases Wil down the side corridor, now running almost parallel to Jay and SaraLynn as they streak past the firing line. The Wyrm coils up for another strike at Jay and SaraLynn. This time the strike drives the Wyrm’s body into the teleporter console, ripping it loose from it’s moorings and raising it off the cave floor. Thann, realizing that he’s not going to get any more information out of a smashed console, turns and runs straight toward the main entrance along with Jay and SaraLynn. The curving flank of the Wyrm’s body crosses just behind him, effectively cutting off Enise’s escape route. Seeing no other alternative, she runs toward the side passage, following Wil and Meeho deeper into the cave complex. The Wyrm strikes at Enise, this time slamming into the third support pillar. The sudden stop of it’s momentum causes it to whip it’s head around in time to see Baboon attempting an orderly retreat. The third pillar crumbles and collapses, beginning a major cave-in. The Wyrm gets a-hold of Baboon and slashes open his left leg. The ceiling of the cave is now coming down in a big way, pelting the creature with debris. It flings Baboon toward the main entrance just as the ceiling completely collapses, burying the Ice Wyrm under tons of ice, snow and a large crystal column, which has dropped into the cave for a nice friendly visit. The celebration of Thann, Jay, SaraLynn, and even Baboon, in the main passage is cut short by two realizations: The first being that the still-active heat-exchanger column is now sucking up what little relative warmth there was in the cave. The second being that the side passage to the data core has also been buried, leaving Enise, Meeho and Wil trapped!
SaraLynn remembers that the cave complex has a substantial storage area, complete with digging equipment. She leads Thann and Jay to the storeroom, pausing only to pull an ID tag off one of the fallen guards. There is one nervous-looking Yeti in the storeroom. SaraLynn shows the tag to the Yeti, who then steps aside, and lets the three of them take several picks and shovels. On their way back to the control room, they see several humans fleeing the caves.
THANN: “Cool. They’re too busy to even fight.”
The first thing that Wil and Meeho do is locate the power plant…a small, air-cooled fission reactor. There is a locked panel that all of the power cables snake out of. Shooting the lock off, they find a huge circuit-breaker panel. They then start shutting off breakers, one at a time, until the lights in the data bank area go out. Since that is the only one they intend to keep running, they restore power to the data bank room, and then kill the rest of the breakers, effectively blacking out the rest of the cave complex.
The cave lights are shutting down, room by room as SaraLynn, Thann and Jay make it back to the wall of rubble in the control room. Fortunately, the collapsed ceiling is letting through plenty of daylight. The heat exchanger column no longer appears to be active, but the residual cold in the room is still bone-numbing. They climb the rubble heap and move to the area that should be next to the side-passage entrance. Together, they begin digging…
In the data bank area, Meeho and Wil are busy using their engineering abilities to try to shut down the small nuclear reactor.
WIL: “This primitive power plant could explode if not shut down properly.”
MEEHO: “Yeah. We aren’t exactly equipped to handle any hard radiation poisoning if we screw this up.”
ENISE: “Without the resources of a starship infirmary, we would all die of severe radiation poisoning. Don’t screw up.”
Even as she speaks, they can hear the sounds of digging at the collapsed end of the tunnel. Within 30 minutes, there is a person-sized hole at the end of the tunnel.
THANN: “Enise! You’ve got to help Baboon. He’s really hurt bad!”
MEEHO: “Thann! We need help with this computer down here.”
WIL(drawing Excalibur): “I’ll go with Enise.”
And so, Enise and Wil go back to the main entry passage to tend to the fallen marine. SaraLynn is standing outside the entrance to the data bank area, and everyone else is playing with the computer.
Suddenly a low rumble shakes the ground beneath SaraLynn’s feet. At first she thinks more of the ceiling is coming down, but then she sees that the floor is rising up next to her.
SARALYNN: “The Ice Wyrm isn’t dead yet!”
As if hearing it’s name, the Wyrm rises from the rubble and lunges right at her. SaraLynn dives into the hole to avoid its strike!
Enise manages to stabilize Baboon’s wound. The three of them sit behind the rubble pile, watching the Ice Wyrm stalking back and forth in front of the hole to the side passage.
ENISE: “They’re trapped in there.”
WIL(picking up a walkie talkie): “Hey Thann, do you want me to get it’s attention and lead it away from you?”
GM: “Are you sure you want to do that?”
THANN: “That thing will kill you!”
Paula: “Not necessarily. We don’t know if it even eats meat!”
John: “Does it look like a herbivore to you?”
Realizing that Wil is going to do something dangerous, Enise helps Baboon to his feet and leads him out of the tunnel and into the central cavern chamber. Wil waits for them to get out of the tunnel and then starts calling to the Wyrm. It takes surprisingly little time for it to notice him and lunge in his direction.
Neal: “Okay, now I run.”
GM: “Which way?”
Neal: “Toward the central chamber…I’ll just lead it outside.”
GM(checking some stats): “Okay…”
Wil sprints down the tunnel. The Wyrm, no longer tangled up in any support columns glides nimbly after him, quickly closing the distance.
WIL(suddenly worried): “How fast is that thing, anyway?”
GM(grinning): “Faster than you!”
Neal: “Oh now there’s a surprise. I think I’ll have a heart-attack and die from that surprise.”
Wil pours on as much speed as possible. The Wyrm continues to gain on him as he enters the central chamber. Just before the thing reaches him, he turns and begins firing Excalibur point blank at the thing’s face. The Wyrm snatches him up with it’s foreclaws and arches it’s back, hoisting him deftly off the ground.
John: “See, I told you it wasn’t a herbivore.”
Wil desperately empties his clip into the monster’s face. The explosive shells burst in succession across it’s chest and head. Huge chunks of armor and goo are sprayed in every direction. The Wyrm convulses once, flinging Wil across the chamber. The Wyrm convulses again and tries to draw it’s body back into a coil. The head crashes into the floor, and the creature dies.
Players: “Hooray!”
And there was much rejoicing…
Act 3 – Aftermath ( Wolf in the fold. )
Thann downloads the contents of the computer system onto a tape. His hope is that there is some information stored in this computer that will allow them to construct a portal that may take them home. A short time after that, he and Wil safely bring the reactor and computers down. Baboon supervises the positioning of their dynamite at what he is certain is a natural flaw in the crystal heat exchanger. The explosion neatly shatters the crystal into a number of smaller and irregularly shaped shards.
THANN: “Well, it looks like we’ve wrapped this up. Let’s go see if our ride is waiting.”
Enise is tending to Wil’s wounds. He is a bit dazed from his swan dive off the Ice Wyrm. The party decides to take advantage of the convenient hole in the hilltop, and climbs out into the open air. The clouds are no longer swirling around the hilltop, but are in fact, drifting lazily toward the east…breaking up as they go. The wind blowing across the snow-covered countryside seems warmer already. One by one, the party climbs to the overlook. As they look around, they see several wolves fleeing toward the north.
GM: “Wil, at the sight of the wolves, you feel a very strong compulsion to see them dead.”
Neal: “What do you mean?”
GM: “I mean, all you want to do, is race down this hill and kill every wolf in sight.”
Neal: “Oh…okay…”
Before anyone even realizes it, Wil shakes loose the protective hold of the doctor and slides down the northern slope of the hill.
WIL: “Bastards!!!!!!”
At the bottom of the hill, he sprints after the wolves, drawing his gun as he goes. Enise realizes that something is wrong with him, and slides down to give chase. Luckily, Wil’s injuries prevent him from going very fast, and Enise overtakes him with relative ease. She tackles him, and try’s pinning him to the ground.
WIL: “No! Let me go! They’ve all got to die! Let me GO!”
The doctor opens her medical kit, pulls out an injector, and administers the last dose of Slow-Drug to Wil. Within a minute, Wil has quietly dropped into suspended animation.
The party is understandably worried about what has just happened to Wil.
MEEHO: “What got into him?”
SARALYNN: “He’s a Neuropath. He has latent empathic abilities that have somehow been awakened.”
Neal: “On no! Not a Neuropath!”
GM: “Oh. Did you read that section?”
Neal: “Yeah.”
GM: “Good. Then you know how you’ll have to play this.”
Mike: “What are you guys talking about?”
SARALYNN: “Neuropaths are very powerful empaths. Their abilities can sometimes be awakened as a result of severe trauma. Wil’s was shot in the head…”
ENISE: “There are a lot of explanations for aberrant behavior after a serious headwound. How do you know that his behavior is a result of latent empathic abilities?”
SARALYNN: “I heard him in the caves…in my mind. He didn’t even realize it, but he was broadcasting his presence on a psychic level. That’s what ultimately tipped off the Ice Daemon to your presence.”
THANN: “But he’s never had any training.”
SARALYNN: “For some reason, Neuropaths can utilize all kinds of empathic skills without any training. The problem is that without that training, they lack the fine control to use those skills effectively…especially just after awakening. I remember hearing a story several years ago about a man who got a severe concussion after being involved in a car accident. The paramedics reported that through the whole ride to the hospital, objects were inexplicably flying around the ambulance. Once awake, he couldn’t make anything happen. But when he slept, thing were always toppling over in the room.”
ENISE: “Are you saying that Wil is dangerous?”
SARALYNN: “At the moment, very much so! His lack of training leaves him vulnerable to pushing his powers too far. Judging from his reaction to the wolves, I’d say that he’s already done that at least once. Wil has suffered a psychotic break which has taken the form of a compulsion to kill wolves. We’re lucky it didn’t manifest as hostility towards us!”
ENISE: “What can we do for him?”
SARALYNN: “He’s going to need psychiatric counseling. I can try to help him a little bit, but I’m no psychiatrist.”
Robert is still waiting in the Hummer when the party makes its way back to the road. The drive back to town takes place largely in silence. The clouds overhead are beginning to break up, allowing occasional shafts of sunlight to shine down on the winter-ravaged land. The road is now covered in melting slush and water as the outside temperature rises above freezing for the first time in almost a week. Arrival in the town is fairly low-key. The sheriff seems reluctant to admit that this group of strangers could possibly have done anything to affect the weather. The townspeople on the other hand are grateful enough that they offer to let them stay in the hotel for free. With a proud feeling of satisfaction, the party members bid Robert a good-night and retire to their rooms.
The next morning, Wil and Meeho head over to Jeb’s to get the dune-buggy.
JEB: “Dune buggy? Why that other feller you’uns were with drove off with it earlier this morning.”
WIL: “Robert stole the dune buggy!?”
JEB: “Well, I wouldn’t rightly call it stealing. He had the pink-slip for it and everything.”
John: “That bastard! He forged documents!”
MEEHO: “It was obviously a forgery!”
JEB: “Well, I reckon I’ve been doin’ this long enough to know a bona-fide pink-slip when I see one. And I seen one.”
BABOON: “If I find this guy, he’s a dead man. This here Gyrine don’t tolerate deserters.”
Paula: “Wolfgang wouldn’t have done that.”
GM: “Beg to differ, but that’s how he said to play it.”
Paula: “No forgery would be that good.”
GM: “Who says it’s a forgery?”
At this point, the party reads Wolfgang2’s Biography, which contains a rather amusing look at their own exploits from a slightly different point of view.
Neal: “Hey! Wait a minute. He got the other Robert’s hand!”
GM: “He got the big gun too.”
Mike: “No way!”
GM: “Way. Read the last write-up. You guys put the gun back on the buggy.”
Players: *grumble*
GM: “Hey, it’s a dark world out there.”
Jeb feels really bad about the whole confusion and offers to fix their van for free. Two days later, the van is loaded up with people and equipment. As the van pulls out of town, the sudden increase in space reminds them of their fallen comrade, Marcus. Outside, little melting piles of snow can still be seen here and there, but for the most part, the weather is returning to normal. As they neared the location of the hill, the party spotted a large pile of white fur lying out in the field. The vultures are feasting on Yeti remains. A short time later, the van is turned back onto I-10 and is heading eastward.
Act 4 – Skip to my Lou ( “…and a fully grown Bengal Tiger” )
The New Orleans metroplex exists in stark contrast to the Phoenix metroplex that the party had first seen. As they approached the city, they could see that it was completely shrouded by smog, with only four or five of the tallest corporate towers peeking out over the haze. Whereas the Phoenix metroplex was dark and sheathed in the grip of frozen shade and an oppressively dry heat, New Orleans is bathed in a harsh sunlight and even harsher humid heat. The Traveler scouts quickly realize that the quality of the solar light is indicative of an extremely thin ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. The UV radiation leaking through the hole in the ozone layer is strong enough to cause severe sunburn, and eye-fatigue, if not retinal damage. SaraLynn, who was born in New Orleans recommends that the party members stop to pick up some sunglasses and sun block. After the brief stop, they leave the interstate and follow an exit ramp down into the haze-enshrouded city streets. As they drive, SaraLynn explains how the city of New Orleans, has managed to maintain the cultural diversity it has always had, despite the changes forced upon it by the greater depression. Certainly, the citadels of corporate power represent a substantial change, but somehow, the color and atmosphere of New Orleans has remained in its neighborhoods. Although some may argue that New Orleans has been swallowed by the corporations, those who live in the city would maintain that it has yet to be digested.
Portions of the city seem to exist in a perpetual carnival atmosphere, with people dressed in light and bright colors. This is where the shops and street vendors can be seen. Almost everyone wears a hat and sunglasses. Crossing a bridge over a shallow and murky river, they seem to enter another world entirely. This section is stark and efficient with high walls surrounding security guarded towers of glass and stone. Then, as quickly as the last transition, they enter a section of cobble-stoned avenues and large stately houses, surrounded by high, plant-covered walls. Once again, they cross a river and the atmosphere darkens. In this area, the houses are smaller and closer together. The yards are small, and surrounded by metal fences. People watch from behind drawn curtains as the van passes by. Eventually SaraLynn pulls the van over in front of one of the smaller houses, unremarkable except for the fact that it is one of the few houses in the neighborhood that appear to be a single-family home.
SARALYNN: “This is where Lou lives.”
Knocking on Lou’s door produces no response. There is at least a week’s worth of mail piled up in Lou’s mailbox, which leads the party to believe that Lou hasn’t been home in a while. Baboon picks the lock on the front door and they enter the small house. The furnishings are sparse and all fairly old, except for a new TV and refrigerator. Lou’s interest in ecology is quickly established by the types of things found in the house. There are a number of videos, magazines and newspapers, all dealing in one way or another with the effects of contaminated water supplies. There is nothing in the house to indicate that Lou has chosen to leave his house for an extended period. There are messages on his answering machine…one of which is the one SaraLynn left over a week ago, announcing that she would be coming. They decide to talk to some of the neighbors:
The neighbors are, in general a surly and distrustful bunch. This lack of trust becomes understandable as the interviews continue. Lou is not the only person to disappear in the last week.
Bob’s Story: Bob is a cab driver and lives right across the street from Lou. He is too busy to talk…he wants to get back to watching his television. He does however tell the party that his apartment tenants disappeared without a trace several days ago. Their stuff is still upstairs. They just didn’t come home one night.
Martin’s Story: Martin lives next door to Bob and is an ecological activist. An example of his concern for nature can be seen right in his front yard. He has the only tree on the block that appears to be healthy, if not thriving. He also has a quick temper and an itchy trigger finger. After some doing, the party members get him to talk to them. He suspects that the water supply in New Orleans has been poisoned. He says that Lou had said some things that lead Martin to suspect New Orleans Biochem as the source of the contamination. Martin’s idea of a good way to deal with this problem is to bomb the corporate headquarters for New Orleans Biochem. SaraLynn and Meeho convince him to give them a few days to find out what’s going on before he carries out his plan.
George’s Story: George and his friends live around the corner from Lou’s. When SaraLynn visits the house, the inhabitants are so high on pot, that they don’t even know their own whereabouts…let alone Lou’s.
The old woman who lives next door to Lou won’t even talk to them. She is very concerned about the disappearances and is afraid of the party members. She tells them to come back later when her husband gets home.
Nobody they talk to has seen Lou in over a week. All of them have heard stories about the disappearances, and they all agree on one thing: the disappearances happen at night. With this in mind, the party settles into Lou’s house for the night. SaraLynn uses her empathic abilities to try to keep a watch in the astral proto-dimension for any signs of Dark Lord activity. Even under the best of circumstances, there is no guarantee that this sort of watch will prove helpful…as subsequent events prove…
Act 5 – Night of the Living Ooze ( “Oh, now there’s a surprise.” )
Predictably enough, the players are awakened in the middle of the night by the distant sounds of screams and gunshots. Everyone except Enise runs out to investigate. After a few anxious moments getting their bearings, they come to a spot two blocks away, where something has happened.
Wil uses IR goggles and finds a warm handgun…recently fired. The only other evidence of foul play are strange dragging scrape marks in the street. Determined to find something, Wil keeps looking until he miraculously finds a dime-sized puddle of slime.
Neal: “Oh cool! Ooze. I get a stick.”
GM: “Huh?”
Neal: “I pick up the slime with the end of the stick…but I try to keep it away from me in case it…you know, jumps at me or something.”
GM: “Okay, make a saving throw…difficult vs. agility.
Neal: “Oh god! Okay….Okay… *Roll*Roll*…There! I did it!”
GM: “Okay. The ooze…”
Neal: “Yeah?”
GM: “…it’s on the end of the stick…”
WIL “Yeah?”
GM: “…and it holds perfectly still. It doesn’t move. But you are ready for it…just in case it does.”
A police car pulls up to the party. The officers seem largely unconcerned over the alleged missing person, but seem grateful to not have to get out of their car. They take what information they can, and leave. On the way back to Lou’s, the party members spot a neighbor they haven’t spoken with yet watching them from his porch windows. As they approach the house he opens the window to talk to them.
PAUL: “Hey there. Are you guys with the newspapers or anything?”
SARALYNN: “No…I’m…Lou Roger’s sister. Have you seen him lately?”
PAUL: “Nope.”
THANN: “How come you aren’t afraid of us?”
PAUL: “Why should I be afraid of you? I know it ain’t people that are dragging folks off.”
SARALYNN: “What do you mean?”
PAUL: “I already told all this to that Tom Withers guy at the Tattler. It was a swamp monster of some sort. I saw it drag my neighbor, Martha down into the sewers.”
THANN: “A monster?”
PAUL: “Yeah, I heard Martha carrying on about something, and when I looked out my window, I saw some big vine-covered shape dragging her toward the manhole cover in the street. I went for my gun, but by the time I got outside, there was no sign of either of them. The cover was even back in place!”
The party members thank him for his help and resolve to talk to Tom Withers at the New Orleans Tattler in the morning.
When they get back to the house, Wil carefully seals the slime-drip in an empty mayonaise jar. Enise examines the slime, but is only able to determine that it isn’t any fluid from an animal.
Tom Withers, the reporter for the New Orleans Tattler suggests they take the sample Wil so cunningly captured to Dr. Sloan at the University of Louisiana. Dr. Sloan identifies it as resembling tree sap…but says that it is a little odd, because it contains no traces of chlorophyll. Other than that, he doesn’t have much to add.
To be continued…
This adventure originally took place on January 29, 1994.