0:30

Hello! Happy to be be back on

0:32

how we actually role Very much looking

0:34

forward to today. We certainly will be

0:37

coming to an ending of sorts sooner

0:39

rather than later. And while I'm curious,

0:42

Why I have things I have in

0:44

store for curious how they will go

0:46

down. I'm sure. Tony called simply. you

0:48

know, staff himself a few times. Come

0:50

on everyone to love him and he

0:52

will be the new Lord of the

0:54

underworld before we done. Good.

0:58

Then well for our recap. Of

1:00

things happened last session. Things.

1:03

Got quite. Intense. It

1:06

seemed Finally that Richard

1:08

Sinclair. Had found his

1:10

missing frame Brandon and finally

1:12

they would be une reunited

1:15

and many questions would be

1:17

answered. Unfortunately, Richard is getting

1:19

more and more impatience these

1:21

days and so decided to.

1:23

Instead of calmly supporting his

1:26

friend and talking to him,

1:28

trying to help them through

1:30

is obvious trauma, give him

1:32

more trauma. And then get really

1:34

angry at. Him where he seemed to be suffering

1:37

from the said trauma that he just had inflicted

1:39

on him by Richard. The. To.

1:42

Be fair, he was stopping his girlfriend. Perhaps.

1:46

You. Don't really know until really

1:48

get back a straight answer.

1:50

but yes, Richard. Got.

1:53

Some answers, but maybe they weren't quite what he

1:55

wanted. And this led to

1:57

Brendan running and screaming in terror. Meanwhile,

1:59

the other ally who you Balthazar had

2:02

met who to form june you a

2:04

special importance and that they were happy

2:06

to see you that they could help

2:09

you. Was. Dead because

2:11

toady cop decided it was vital

2:13

that someone died today and it

2:15

wasn't a to be him. So

2:18

unfortunately, they also met their ends.

2:20

So if you're to. Allies.

2:24

Now. Dead So no one day because

2:27

the a woman died shortly later because

2:29

it turned out the people who be

2:31

pursuing you the whole time finally had

2:33

caught up with and seems quite abuse

2:36

that you had slain all. Seems.

2:38

That maybe you were helping them out. so

2:40

maybe they got you some good guy. Point

2:42

sir. The. Leader of this

2:44

group is that was willing to

2:46

let you richards join them for

2:49

you had proven yourself the other

2:51

two unfortunately. Are not given this offer.

2:53

Well, actually, spouses I wasn't

2:56

Tony. Was. On.

2:58

The small little thing off like all you got

3:00

to do that made that joke or results. That.

3:04

Didn't go down will Tony. And

3:06

Tony released upon them his mighty

3:09

word which is always was very

3:11

successful. Began causing

3:13

great dissent among the

3:15

cultists. don't Fortunately, It

3:18

doesn't seem as if the cultists was. Expecting

3:21

this. Or was simply happy to

3:23

go along with it. And so as

3:25

their leader with Drew. On

3:27

my rules. And

3:30

all resignees from beyond nightmares

3:32

was suddenly. Means

3:35

that even summoned by all

3:37

the bloodletting better toady just

3:39

initiated, who knows. Suffice to

3:42

say, are Free Heroes suddenly

3:44

found themselves in a rather

3:46

intense situation, surrounded almost from

3:49

all sides by violence and

3:51

mayhem. And. So

3:53

I think I would like you Balthazar

3:56

to roll for your bow and as

3:58

the see he gets. The more.

4:01

Extra. Help here! And

4:03

day. Sixteen

4:06

Then that gives you.

4:08

I think free. You

4:11

know four holes? Feel free to use

4:13

all of them if you serve Wish.

4:17

And I think that will be kids because I think

4:19

that a double check. Tony

4:22

is very happy at the My

4:24

when he's definitely not my yes

4:26

the be a fanatic not a

4:28

dozen me to roll. There are

4:30

no ghosts here yet and few

4:32

richard your stocks are. In

4:35

great number A gathers the such as

4:38

us. In

4:40

that case, we shall enter.

4:42

Perhaps are closing chapters of

4:45

our ties below. Time.

4:49

Stops. For a most. As

4:52

you are all surrounded by car

4:54

needs and mayhem. For.

4:56

The moments that us focus on

4:58

each character. And see

5:01

what is going through their minds.

5:03

Has the scene unfold before we

5:05

continue? Balthazar? Perhaps.

5:08

For you. This. Scene is

5:10

the worst of all. Have

5:12

to Rule Richards. Has

5:14

gone somewhere you do not know

5:16

where. And well maybe this

5:19

is utility was all along. but I

5:21

think the you. This. Is a

5:23

little unsettling? Tell me, what are

5:25

you thinking? As. All

5:27

around you are people

5:29

merger each other quite

5:31

happily, some more heavily

5:33

than others They seem

5:35

to be almost. feral

5:38

bad eyes glazed over at

5:40

the others similar who more

5:43

stable but still quite happily

5:45

murdering their brothers and sisters

5:47

eat have no idea what's

5:49

relationships are in this group

5:51

more importantly a being for

5:54

nightmare has also entered the

5:56

building a creature may yet

5:58

that's your best guess from

6:01

bodies and sewage,

6:04

combined in some horrific amalgamation.

6:07

It seems to

6:09

move and have limbs, but

6:12

beyond that it's very difficult to tell

6:15

where the slime begins and where the

6:17

corpses end. While

6:22

I'm shitting myself, just for a start, I

6:25

kind of went from almost a badass

6:27

trip with Tony Cobb going from mildly

6:31

creepy and distasteful religious

6:33

fanatic to genuinely

6:36

terrifying evil son of a bitch.

6:41

Then as people start murdering each other

6:44

with wandsome glee, I will have

6:46

seen gang violence

6:50

and been involved, probably been at

6:53

undercover and drug trades that went south

6:56

with lots of massacres, but this is just

6:58

on a whole lot. So at

7:01

best, Bal is just so dazed and confused

7:03

by everything that's going on that he's a

7:05

little bit numb. At

7:08

worst, he's about a

7:10

hair's breath on from a full-blown panic

7:13

attack. Mm. Would

7:16

you please roll to keep it together as

7:19

you take all this in, especially

7:21

this being, itself, that is

7:23

just almost a little too

7:25

much. Okay, I

7:27

rolled a fourteen and

7:30

willpower, so that makes it a fifteen.

7:34

Very good. Tell me, what

7:37

is it that despite all this,

7:39

all this horror, you

7:42

managed to keep it contained? At

7:44

least for now. What is it? How do you do this?

7:48

I think I translated it into terms that

7:51

I'm familiar with. I don't

7:53

know why these people are killing each other. I don't

7:55

know what's going on or why,

7:57

but I know my priorities.

10:00

And I think now he doesn't feel he's

10:02

got anything left. I think the whole thing

10:05

feels like a nightmare. It feels like he's

10:07

already dead and trapped in this hell, and

10:10

he's acting completely irrationally. And

10:14

doesn't really feel he's got anything to live for anymore.

10:17

Indeed. And as this settles

10:19

over you, if you are so, please roll to

10:21

keep it together. That's

10:23

11 plus two. It's just 13. Hmm.

10:27

I think you said it yourself. You're

10:30

not doing well. You're not

10:32

completely out of it. There's almost a

10:34

clarity now to how you are, but

10:36

it's still a struggle. You

10:39

lose one stability and are

10:41

overcome with an emotion of your choice. Sounds...

10:44

Now, you tell me, what emotion would you like if

10:46

you ever come by? What

10:48

would probably make sense would be fear. I'm

10:51

now in critical stress, acting

10:54

irrationally. Hmm. So

10:57

I'm almost empty. Horrors at

10:59

full instability. Oh, boy.

11:02

Yes. Don't worry again

11:04

in cults. It's not

11:07

quite like other games where you

11:09

break, you lose. It's different because

11:11

stability in cult is less your

11:13

mental state and

11:16

more just how your stress begins to make the

11:18

world around you and your reality alter. Hence,

11:21

for example, right now you actually got a

11:23

bonus to seeing through the illusion of any

11:26

soul moves. So,

11:28

yes, minus one stability. Tony

11:31

Cobb. Hmm. You

11:34

are certainly in an interesting

11:36

situation. On one hand,

11:38

I feel maybe there's some satisfaction knowing

11:41

once again your voice has carried. There

11:43

are people here now willing to die for

11:45

you. They don't know why, but

11:48

they will. Granted, putting

11:51

effect on their brothers and sisters

11:53

isn't what you maybe expected, because

11:55

most of the time when people's

11:57

friends and co-workers... Oh, yeah.

12:00

On them they are horrified. Business

12:02

case, they seem to be quite

12:04

happy to just murder their companions.

12:06

Your maybe bit irritated that your

12:08

voice is quite carry. To

12:11

that ledge where your challenger

12:13

was. He seems to have

12:16

got away for the moments.

12:20

And that of course there is this

12:22

thing in front of you which again

12:24

perhaps for Tony for the first time

12:26

might actually be a surprise for he

12:29

has never. In. Any vision seen.

12:34

This. so tell me what?

12:38

This is a difficult moment for

12:40

Tony because Tony has come

12:42

down here off the strings, visions

12:44

and face He's come down here

12:47

because he see themselves as being

12:49

and guide primarily to Richard but

12:52

also to some extent bow

12:54

to take them to where they've

12:56

been ordained to beasts and this

12:58

is all been some pass the

13:01

plan. And

13:03

that. He's

13:05

now having this moment

13:07

of doubt way he

13:09

doesn't really understand what

13:11

the plan is. The

13:15

his relationship with this

13:17

isn't necessarily quite what

13:19

the of his assume

13:21

it's a sunset Tony.

13:24

Fancies. Himself primarily as being

13:26

a seekers as he really

13:28

wants to make contacts with

13:30

whatever she sits on the

13:32

other side with whatever it

13:34

is that bridges the world's

13:36

his life and death. Find.

13:39

That the act of killing, the act of

13:41

dying is. Give

13:45

a flying fuck about people dying around him

13:47

at the moment and then they don't matter.

13:51

What's important to him at

13:53

the moment? He is making

13:55

sure that. Richard and

13:57

Bow get where they came.

14:00

here for, or what they

14:02

were destined to receive here. And

14:04

that Tony tries to

14:06

get some of the answers he needs out of

14:08

the whole thing. And

14:11

seeing this creature turn up,

14:13

seeing the carnage around him,

14:15

they're frightening, they're a bit

14:17

confusing, but at

14:20

the same time, they're not actually that

14:22

important to him. Indeed.

14:26

I feel if it was only

14:28

that, you would not

14:30

need to roll. But it's almost

14:32

in this moment of serenity that

14:34

then your eyes just are settled on

14:37

the creature. And

14:39

then there's something that comes from it that,

14:41

let us see, that will make

14:43

you need to roll to keep it together. Don't

14:46

get me wrong. This isn't serenity that he's feeling.

14:49

If anything, this is doubt. He's almost

14:51

having a crisis of faith at the

14:53

moment. This is pretty much the

14:55

opposite of serenity for Tony is just that he

14:58

shows it in a different way. That's

15:00

true. That's true. So yes, but let us see. Roll to

15:03

keep it together. Let us see. Okay.

15:05

That is a nine. Oh,

15:09

so let us see. I

15:12

feel you are going to suffer minus

15:15

four. Stability. As

15:18

this experience alters you

15:20

for the worst. You

15:23

tell us what is it? Is it the

15:25

doubt or something else that

15:27

suddenly just finally

15:30

shakes your resolve? It

15:32

is the doubt. It's the fact that

15:35

this man who was mocking

15:37

Tony's faith seemed to understand so much

15:39

more and seemed to be implying

15:42

that Tony was wrong about so many

15:44

things that has planted the seed of

15:46

doubt in his mind and

15:49

basically at this stage,

15:51

everyone around him could get ripped to shreds.

15:54

A Thousand monsters could come through that hole

15:56

and it wouldn't hurt him as much as

15:58

that one seed of doubt. The city away

16:00

inside of him. In

16:02

either, perhaps it was the fact

16:05

that he didn't deny your moment

16:07

So many people as they said

16:09

what you talking about, what nonsense

16:11

but he flat out suggested he

16:14

acknowledged your god. Simpli This

16:16

it was the room. One. Yeah,

16:19

that's as don't write it all.

16:22

And. So.

16:25

As are. Re. Commences.

16:28

I will once again paint a

16:30

picture just in case you have

16:32

forgotten exactly where things are. You

16:34

are in a large underground chamber

16:36

behind you. Is the tunnel

16:38

leading back to where you just came from?

16:41

You know this is a dead end. To.

16:43

The Less and Rights or

16:46

other small circular tunnels. There.

16:48

Is also one dead. Ahead. It

16:51

is from the one dead ahead

16:54

to wear. This being has emerged

16:56

and still is emerging. It is

16:58

gigantic in size, But

17:01

the letter reads well. At

17:03

was started by these. Cultists.

17:06

They came in and will guarding both

17:08

those exits, but now they are in

17:10

turmoil of both those exits left or

17:13

right. So no

17:15

longer impenetrable, you could us to

17:17

try going straight forward, but unfortunately

17:20

that would be in the domain

17:22

of this beast. Most of the

17:24

people admittedly seem a little distracted

17:27

trying to kill each other. Tony

17:30

it seems managed to bring some

17:33

skills side for you. don't really

17:35

know thera on your side and

17:37

simply just attacking things for you.

17:40

Again they are fighting with their

17:42

brothers and sisters. However,

17:44

the been that has entered has

17:47

its attention solely on all three

17:49

of you, although mainly Richard for

17:51

he was the one just. Such.

17:56

as is being screams in

17:58

the ass of course voices.

18:01

It's almost as if it doesn't scream

18:03

from one orifice, but several. What

18:06

do you do, Richard? No.

18:11

No, what the fuck is that? What

18:13

the hell is that? And

18:16

I think he just, he turns around

18:18

and tries to run back in the direction

18:20

he came from. Will you

18:22

try running straight back, or

18:25

to the left or right? Obviously

18:27

there's chaos around him at this moment, so I

18:29

think you'll try and pick a route that looks,

18:32

like I don't think he can pull out panic, but enough so

18:34

that he just wants to get out of there. So

18:37

yeah, the most direct route you can. Certainly.

18:40

I would say left or right. Let's say

18:42

left, both seem equal at this point in

18:44

time. You don't want to run straight back

18:46

because you know that's a dead end. You

18:48

do not want to be in a dead

18:50

end. So you barrel

18:53

to the left. In front

18:55

of you are three or four

18:57

people engaged in mortal combat. Quite

18:59

literally stabbing each other with basic

19:02

knives, hatches, saws.

19:06

It's like they just found whatever they could. It's

19:08

caught hard and they're using them on each other.

19:11

You have no idea which ones are on

19:13

your side, if any, and which aren't, but

19:15

they at least are distracted. What

19:18

are you going to do as you run towards

19:20

this tunnel they're in? Are you going to try

19:22

and barge through them? Are you going to try

19:25

and get around them? I mean,

19:27

he's got this metal bar and he's in full

19:29

out fear mode. So I think he's

19:31

going to go, like, not into

19:33

combat, but if combat finds him, I don't

19:35

think he'll just swing the bar at them

19:37

and then carry on running. Indeed.

19:40

In that case, let us roll, act

19:42

under pressure, roll your coolness to see

19:44

if you are able to swiftly and

19:46

quickly just get past these people.

19:50

That's nine minus one

19:52

eight. Eight. Mmm.

19:57

Yes. begin

20:00

running. And as you

20:02

do, you're about to sort of get

20:05

past these people when the being lurches

20:08

forward. A great

20:12

arm is perhaps the

20:14

word we will use, even though it isn't

20:16

really an arm. It's more like a body

20:19

combined with another body extending

20:22

out to you in a strange

20:24

shape. And so

20:26

the arm crashes

20:29

down in front of you, barring

20:31

your path. From the

20:33

arm you can see a face, one

20:36

of its eyes as stares at you

20:38

and screams as it blocks your passage.

20:41

It then moves

20:43

towards you suddenly. You're

20:46

going to need to roll reflexes to

20:49

avoid this attack. So

20:51

that's 12 plus one 13. 13.

20:55

Hmm. You

20:58

duck. Not quite sure why, you just

21:00

duck. And this arm thing

21:03

just sweeps over your head. But

21:05

unfortunately in doing so you find

21:07

yourself on the ground almost sprawling

21:10

and slightly in a

21:12

bad situation. Balthazar, what

21:15

do you do? You see, Richard, suddenly

21:18

go from being extremely

21:20

confident to completely terrified,

21:22

running for the left. This being sweeps

21:25

at him, he falls to the ground,

21:27

but he's okay for now. You think

21:29

you see what he was trying to

21:31

do though? Run to the left. What

21:33

do you do? I

21:36

think at this point, though, the panic of the situation

21:39

basically just makes Balth

21:41

call on every

21:43

subconscious thing he's ever sort

21:46

of intuitively used in his

21:48

entire life to get

21:50

him out of sticky situations. Particularly

21:53

in this instance, he's

21:56

hoping, yearning, reaching

21:58

out. out trying to

22:01

stop and hurt this thing. And I

22:03

guess I roll Inner Power. Yes,

22:06

please do. Ooh!

22:09

Twelve. Twelve? Not

22:12

too bad. That means you

22:14

inflict your harm only on

22:16

one target. I'm

22:19

assuming it's the creature. Yes.

22:22

Because everybody else is pretty well distracted, aren't

22:24

they? Candy, they are.

22:28

You extend this power. It's

22:31

strange, because once again you feel

22:33

this steam coming

22:35

from somewhere. Your

22:38

arms, you look down and just

22:40

see that from somewhere, from those

22:42

old scars, steam

22:45

or powder. You've

22:47

never quite known what it is, but it's

22:50

almost more like powder than steam. Now you

22:52

look at it. It just sort

22:54

of sprays out of your arms. Condenses

22:57

on this creature. The

22:59

creature lets out this bipedual

23:02

howl. As you can see, bits

23:04

of it begin to flake and

23:06

be scratched at and bleed. It's

23:09

definitely very angry.

23:12

You are definitely hurting it, but

23:14

there's just so much of it. Still,

23:18

you think you've done something, as for a moment

23:20

it sort of begins to focus its attention

23:22

upon you. You think, Tony,

23:27

what do you do? Balthazar seems

23:29

to have angered this being. He

23:31

has hurt it, you think, although again,

23:33

there's a lot of it to hurt. But

23:36

what do you do? You see Richard to the

23:38

left trying to get out of this area. He's

23:40

fallen down, though. And you for the moment are

23:42

fine. After all, you

23:44

have cultists defending you. Well,

23:47

I think what's most important to this stage

23:50

is to try to figure out what the

23:52

right thing to do is, rather

23:54

than just act in a panic or

23:56

reflexively. Now, these cultists

24:00

around here and now effectively

24:02

following my word because I've taught

24:04

them into this and

24:07

they're killing each other which

24:09

seems to be an act of sacrifice. I am going

24:14

to treat this as a ritual and

24:17

use my cult leader ability to

24:20

try to get some answers. You

24:23

know I like this

24:26

but I'll add

24:28

one extra little bump. I'd like

24:31

you to act under pressure first

24:33

because even your rituals require an

24:35

element of inner concentration

24:37

and anything could happen at any

24:39

moment so act under

24:41

pressure first but then yes I

24:43

think there is enough blood being shed for a ritual. Aha!

24:48

I rolled a 14 and act

24:52

under my coolness is plus 115. Wow!

24:58

Somehow despite everything Tony

25:01

closes his eyes and

25:04

well Tony take it away what ritual

25:06

do you suddenly and very quickly do?

25:08

You don't have time for

25:10

one of the longer ones. This

25:13

is something entirely improvised

25:16

this is just him calling upon

25:18

all the death that is happening

25:21

around him all the

25:23

people whose blood is being shed

25:26

whose spirits are passing over calling

25:29

upon the wisdom of the psychopaths

25:31

who he believes must be being called

25:33

to all this bloodshed and

25:36

getting them to provide him with the

25:38

answers he needs. Wonderful

25:40

in that case please roll

25:43

cult leader. Okay so this

25:45

is plus three and I've

25:47

rolled 17 so that's

25:52

20.

25:54

So I can receive up to

25:56

three visions. The

25:58

first vision that I want to

26:00

gain. It's

26:02

the cult's enemies. Obviously,

26:04

there's a lot of bloodshed all

26:07

around, and there's this mysterious man

26:09

who's just run away and who's

26:12

saying weird things, and there's this creature. But

26:16

Tony doesn't want to assume that any of

26:18

these things are his

26:20

or his god's enemies. So

26:23

the first thing he's looking for here is

26:25

clarity as to who

26:27

his actual enemies are. Certainly.

26:31

You have this feeling spread out from

26:33

your heart. All

26:36

of them. The being before you,

26:39

these beings that

26:41

follow it, it, it, beyond, again.

26:45

Before you felt it, in the first vision,

26:47

it was something below. It

26:49

is no longer below. Now it is on your

26:51

level. Not

26:53

here, not here, but connected

26:55

to all of these people.

26:59

Not so much the being. No,

27:02

that's not connected to it, but it's a

27:04

similar energy, actually.

27:06

It's just the being in front of

27:09

you now is a

27:11

weaker version of whatever it

27:13

is that connects all of them. And

27:15

that is a great enemy of

27:17

yours that wishes nothing but to consume you.

27:22

Okay. The

27:24

second vision that I

27:27

want is

27:29

what my deity's wishes are

27:31

in this situation, because obviously

27:33

I've been brought here to

27:35

try to

27:37

help Richard, to try to help Barland for

27:39

other reasons, but now I'm

27:41

here and now all the shit is going down. What

27:45

does death actually want from

27:47

me? To

27:49

continue along the path, you

27:53

are so close. The

27:55

gate is waiting. All

27:58

you need is to... Enter through.

28:01

You will need to pay your own

28:03

price. The others not

28:06

so much. But

28:08

yes, he is

28:10

still useful. He has almost fulfilled

28:13

his initial purpose, but he still

28:16

could serve a secondary purpose. That

28:19

is not so certain, but for

28:22

now that gate still awaits you.

28:24

It's further down. Further

28:26

down. Okay,

28:28

and then the third thing I

28:31

want, and this is

28:33

something I think that is going to

28:35

happen purely subconsciously from Tony's point of

28:37

view, this isn't

28:41

something he necessarily thinks he wants,

28:44

but it's something he desperately needs, which

28:47

is a creature's true form.

28:50

And when I say creature's true form, I

28:52

don't mean this. Rampaging wants to listen in front

28:54

of us. I mean, whatever

28:56

this invisible entity is that's been whispering

28:59

in his ear all this time. Hmm.

29:04

You extend your thoughts

29:06

outward, beyond the

29:09

sea, beyond countless

29:11

floating bodies

29:14

of souls, and

29:16

you keep going and you see then

29:19

something beyond the darkness. You've

29:21

experienced this before your whole

29:23

life. You've often got to this point,

29:26

but then you go further as

29:28

a sense of adrenaline

29:31

as you realize you have never

29:33

bypassed this barrier. But

29:35

suddenly now you can. And

29:38

as you go beyond it, you just see an eye, a strange

29:41

floating eye, in a void, not

29:48

a void of darkness, not a void of light,

29:50

a void of nothing. You

29:53

can't really describe it. It's

29:56

not darkness, it's Nothing..

30:00

And then there is a

30:02

blinding flash and you hear

30:04

something say. Oh

30:06

most not yet. Almost

30:09

not here. Come.

30:12

To the. And

30:15

with that Sony will shake

30:17

his head shot. Himself

30:21

back. And tell

30:23

us a real that may be and

30:25

oversee. Yes, his first goal is to

30:28

try to get. Richard

30:30

I'm bout to safety to the

30:32

other side's past type creature. Now.

30:37

He has been commanding these

30:39

people. These cultists find the

30:41

command he has of them

30:44

is they will fight for

30:46

him. So.

30:49

He's gotta just shout

30:52

outs. Brothers,

30:54

Sisters. Stop.

30:56

Kill each other. You are fighting

30:58

the wrong enemy. The true enemy

31:00

is there. And who just pointed

31:02

the creature? Destroy

31:05

it. Cool. Free.

31:08

Individuals begin to break

31:10

from their fights, staring

31:12

you blindly, one screaming

31:15

the throw profits and

31:17

speaking charging at this

31:19

be hands. Yes, Doesn't

31:22

I'm sorry? Well now post me

31:24

stating a to as one or

31:26

two reached the being. Trying

31:30

to stab lemme see some

31:32

sort of to spherules food

31:34

as it tries stabbing into his

31:36

screams in agony just like against

31:39

the creature is a sizzling

31:41

sound as in the body

31:43

just. Slurps.

31:45

He is just half now

31:48

in the creature part of

31:50

it now another is simply

31:53

cast aside by another tendril

31:55

like arm. but they are

31:58

selecting damage upon. it Again,

32:00

it's hard to tell if you're hurting it because, okay,

32:03

there's a face, it stabs into a face, the

32:05

face is injured, but does it care that its

32:08

face is injured? You don't know. I

32:10

don't care if the face is injured, all I want

32:12

is for them to provide distraction. Mr

32:15

Hartman, Mr Sinclair, our path lies

32:17

down there. Run! And

32:21

with that, Tony's gonna start running down

32:23

the passageway while the creature is busy

32:25

with the cultists. Indeed.

32:28

Tony, you sprint and

32:31

just go. Richard,

32:33

what are you doing? You see all this

32:36

happening, you have time to stumble up, but again, you

32:38

need to stumble up because you're on the ground. There

32:41

are still a few people in front of you.

32:43

You think one or two in a final fight,

32:45

behind you you see other people attacking this

32:48

being and just dying

32:50

in quite horrific manners. What

32:53

do you do? Memories

32:55

of recent events are very, very solid

32:59

in Richard's memory and I think he's

33:01

gonna see Tony run towards the tunnel

33:03

and he's gonna think twice and run

33:05

towards the opposite tunnel. Mmm.

33:10

As you begin running to this tunnel, you notice

33:13

there are far more individuals in your way. But,

33:17

run you do. Once again, act

33:19

under pressure to see if we are able to

33:21

avoid getting harmed in any way right now. Ooh.

33:27

It's minus one, but I get 17 for 16

33:29

total. You

33:34

barrel forwards, taking

33:36

a moment to stop, seeing

33:38

an individual turn, raise a

33:41

dagger, make

33:43

to strike you with the dagger, and

33:45

then from behind another person just cuts

33:47

his throat, dragging him

33:49

back. You use that moment and just

33:52

burst past them, going to the

33:54

right, to the opposite tunnel to where Tony was

33:56

heading. Balthazar.

34:00

You have extended your power. It has hurt

34:02

this being. And now an awful lot of

34:04

people are trying to hurt it more physically.

34:07

And yet still it's flashing, it's wailing, coming

34:09

towards you. You look and

34:12

see Tony and Richard

34:14

are now heading in completely different directions. Not

34:16

really much of a choice. I think

34:19

you got the right idea, Rich. And I

34:21

run after Richard. My

34:23

watchers. Is this

34:25

a thing I can call upon? It

34:28

certainly is. Although if you

34:31

call upon it now, it can't be

34:33

used later. Now

34:35

seems like a good idea. So

34:38

again, Bao is very subconsciously just like,

34:40

I need something to give

34:43

me some kind of fucking distraction. And

34:46

sort of focuses on the path to

34:48

this other tunnel. Alphys,

34:51

are you charged forwards? Again,

34:54

though, as you do, the creature has

34:56

attention on you to surges forward. It

34:59

lets out an ear piercing shriek

35:02

from several mouths, as again, it

35:04

just tries to lumber towards you.

35:08

And you're trying to focus on that power again,

35:10

but you find it's not like a

35:12

light switch. You can't just keep using it without a

35:14

little bit of time, it seems. And

35:16

then suddenly, you see

35:19

strange shapes sort of form before

35:22

you. You think that's humanoid,

35:26

but almost not. More like

35:28

wisps of dark cloud. It's

35:31

very surreal. And you don't really have time

35:33

to focus before whatever these things are. They

35:36

just form a blockade, a hissing

35:38

blockade. The being crashes against them,

35:41

and then recoils again, one of

35:43

its mouths beginning to bleed as

35:45

these things begin just tacky it,

35:47

trying to dig into its mound

35:50

of existence. They don't

35:52

do much damage to give you

35:54

what you need at the moment to quickly

35:56

dart to Richard's side and be with him

35:58

in this new tunnel again. Again, around

36:01

you are corpses. Fresh

36:03

corpses. But both of you

36:05

are now in a tunnel, and maybe are

36:07

about to be clear. Tony?

36:11

You see your companions trying to

36:13

flee the complete opposite direction to

36:15

you. You also see these strange

36:17

shadowy things, and maybe at

36:19

this point you're not really concerned with so

36:21

many of the weird things going on. But

36:23

even this is completely... you have no idea

36:26

what these things are. But what do you

36:28

do? I've been given

36:30

the direction to go in, so

36:32

I'm going to carry on heading in that

36:34

direction and trust

36:37

that they will be guided in the

36:39

right direction as well. I

36:42

can't make the run. All I can

36:44

do is assume that at some point they will

36:46

have to follow. Granted

36:49

as you are thinking this, an

36:51

after image comes to you, implying

36:54

it didn't matter which way

36:56

they both go down. I

36:59

guess we all follow our own paths, but

37:02

we all meet the same end. Mmm.

37:06

And you step over. Granted,

37:08

just as you're exiting, there is one

37:10

person left staring at you wide-eyed, keen

37:13

to follow your commands. What do you

37:15

do? I'll

37:18

just smile and

37:21

nod and look

37:23

at her sadly and just

37:28

say, we'll see

37:30

each other again soon enough, and

37:32

then walk off and leave them. You

37:35

see the being person about to maybe

37:37

say something in complaint

37:39

or resignation, but it

37:41

doesn't matter because then the tendril reaches

37:44

through their chest, crushes

37:46

them from within and then draws them back

37:49

into the mass. If

37:51

anyone was to look behind them one more time, they would

37:53

see that all the damage you may have done to this

37:55

creature seems to simply be being undone

37:57

by the corpses just being added to it.

38:00

It adds them to itself

38:04

in a horrific, crunching manner.

38:07

But yes, as you go down separate paths,

38:09

it does seem as if the being is

38:11

unsure which to follow. Richard,

38:17

before you, you see a

38:19

great twisting stairway going

38:22

downwards like a spiral. It

38:24

connects to a wall. It seems

38:27

you are in a mighty shaft. The

38:30

walls are stained a reddish

38:32

copper colour, as these stone

38:34

stairs descend downwards. This is

38:37

the only way to go. What do you do? Behind

38:39

you you can hear this creature, perhaps

38:41

it's following you. It must

38:43

be, yes, it's slowly slurping in the

38:45

direction you are heading. But it

38:48

couldn't fit on those stairs. It's too big,

38:50

right? You hope? It

38:52

spins round wide-eyed with fear and stares at

38:54

the creature for a moment, and maybe too

38:56

long as he's kind of caught up in

38:59

the magnitude of how terrible this

39:01

thing is. And as soon as

39:03

he's got his thoughts, he again spins

39:05

back towards the stairs and begins

39:07

to leap down, skipping steps as he

39:10

goes recklessly. Just

39:12

before you do this, when

39:15

you turn to look at it, for

39:17

a moment the whisper returns. Louder,

39:21

clearer, it is a

39:23

discordant voice. It is coming from

39:25

the creature, from several of its mouths, but

39:27

it's also in your mind. Cease

39:31

resisting, join

39:33

me, join me,

39:35

and I will forgive you.

39:39

Is that the voice of the stalker,

39:42

the guy that I've been seeing throughout his

39:45

travels? It's not the man's voice

39:47

that you saw, the strange man who lead these

39:50

people. This is the voice you've been hearing all

39:52

while you've been down here, this strange, low voice,

39:54

now the loudest it has ever been. It's both

39:58

in your mind and also coming from the creature. creature

40:00

from several mouths. I

40:02

think he clutches his hands to his head

40:04

and says, No, leave me

40:06

alone, what have I done? Please,

40:10

no. And then that's when

40:12

he spins and leaps down the stairs. Balthazar,

40:15

you do not hear any strange whispers,

40:18

but you do see Richard run

40:20

straight down the stairway to who knows

40:23

where it goes. Again,

40:25

you can see these shadows,

40:27

but slowly they're vanishing. They

40:30

don't last forever, it seems, whatever they were. What

40:32

do you do? Ah, fuck

40:35

it. Do you know where you're

40:37

going, Richard? I keep running after him.

40:40

And down you run, fleeing this

40:42

being. Truney,

40:45

you can see whatever it is has

40:47

decided to follow them, and you are

40:49

now also in a tunnel. It also

40:52

descends down. Although yours is

40:54

not a spiral staircase, yours is

40:56

more a straight passageway down into

40:58

the dark. Then

41:01

I shall follow the passage wherever it takes

41:03

me. I know I'm on

41:05

the right path. Slowly the

41:07

three of you begin to leave this chamber,

41:11

filling up rapidly now. You

41:13

don't think a single one of those individuals

41:15

has survived? Although all

41:19

of you here echoing on the wind a

41:21

voice, this is not the voice

41:23

that you've been hearing in your mind, Richard. This

41:25

is a mortal's voice, you think, a

41:27

sort of echo from somewhere. You

41:31

can all run, my little children

41:33

of the underworld, but we will

41:35

always guard the way. Flea

41:38

to your horrors in hell. You

41:40

shall never pass into Elysium. We

41:43

will always be watching, lad, always.

41:47

That just echoes, echoes, echoes. What

41:51

do you think to yourself, Richard, after all? You're

41:54

probably the one of all of these three who

41:56

thinks you know that voice well now. He

42:00

doesn't really know what's

42:02

happened with what's happening.

42:05

None of this is real. I think he's

42:07

still trying to put everything together. But one

42:09

thing he knows, and knows for certain that

42:11

he does not want to join that man,

42:13

and that man said

42:15

it so, then he will do everything to

42:17

make it not so. Indeed.

42:21

And run, you do. Down

42:23

and down you go. You

42:25

Balthazar notice as you're following Richard, at this

42:27

place. There

42:29

are other places. There's places to the left

42:31

and right. No, no, no,

42:34

not the left. That's a chasm.

42:36

Did the right of you though. But

42:38

Richard's running. He's just running down and down.

42:41

And at one point you see something moving

42:43

from the right. And you

42:45

notice Tony. Tony is

42:47

just equally running quite

42:50

fast. And it seems wherever you

42:52

are now, he has found a way

42:54

to join you. Tony, you

42:56

see Balthazar just ahead. What

42:59

do you do? You do hear Balth

43:01

from the opposite side of the other. Well, fuck,

43:03

I thought I'd left that cut behind. Tony

43:07

just smiles and

43:10

carries on his way. Our

43:12

paths will join very soon. Until

43:15

then, there's nothing that needs to be done.

43:18

Indeed. And Tony, wordlessly, joins the

43:20

three of you, now all on

43:23

the same spiraling staircase. And

43:25

just as he joins you, you hear

43:27

a noise. A noise from behind him.

43:30

A sort of chittering, barking. And

43:33

then, as you keep running, I assume, you

43:35

see just behind you in the darkness, movement.

43:40

Lots of movement. There

43:42

are things. The things. Those

43:44

zeloths. They

43:47

are coming. They are clawing up from the chasm. They

43:50

are coming from behind. 10,

43:52

20, following you like a pack of hounds. What

43:56

do you all do? What are

43:58

those things? Why are they following us? Are

44:01

you following me? I

44:04

suggest that we

44:06

worry about questions like that

44:08

later. For

44:10

now, let's just avoid them. Indeed.

44:14

Where the fuck did you come from, Toni? We

44:17

were always destined to end up in

44:19

the same place. You

44:21

stay away. No,

44:23

no, that's not right. You're not right.

44:26

No, I'm not having it. And then Richard

44:28

spins and then sprints down the staircase as

44:31

fast as he can go. It

44:33

does seem to be the only logical way

44:35

to go, straight down, as

44:38

these things clearly are gathering in number,

44:40

hunting you. It's

44:43

such a good part to maybe stop for

44:45

now. I think

44:48

that does a perfect place to stop now, thank

44:50

you. And thank you everyone at home for listening

44:52

and supporting the show. And thank you everyone for

44:54

playing tonight. We'll do some very

44:56

quick sign-offs. If you're not getting content with me,

44:58

probably the easiest way is either through the podcast

45:00

Discord, and hopefully you're in there already, because if

45:02

you're on Patreon, there are definite perks for being

45:04

on there, or through Twitter. You

45:07

can contact me directly at JoTheGM, which is

45:09

a profile I'm

45:11

trying to grow, or the podcast itself,

45:13

which is at HWL Podcast. Dave,

45:16

again, thank you so much for playing tonight. How

45:19

can people get in contact with you? Is there anything you want

45:21

to talk about? I can be found

45:23

on our Discord. Nothing really to talk about.

45:29

The patio goes apace, but now

45:31

it's just several days of breaking

45:33

rocks with a sledgehammer. Very exciting,

45:35

I'm afraid. Cathartic, though,

45:37

isn't it? A little bit. Till

45:40

my shoulder tonight perks up,

45:42

and then I'm like, well, great.

45:45

Yay! Scott,

45:47

again, thank you so much for playing

45:49

tonight. Again, anything you want to

45:51

share, talk about, mention? Yes, thank you. If people

45:54

want to talk to me, you can find me

45:56

on the Discord server. You

45:58

can find me on Twitter at sdol. or

46:01

you can find the other podcast that

46:03

I do, The Good Friends of Jackson

46:05

and Lice, at blasphemastomes.com where

46:08

we talk about Call of Cthulhu, weird

46:10

fiction, horror films and also other

46:12

creepy good stuff. And I will say, I mean

46:15

this will be a few weeks ago when this

46:17

is actually released, but I was listening to your

46:19

most recent episodes about Albert Fish. Oh,

46:22

there's a creepy character. Yeah. When

46:25

you were talking about those letters, I was like, I'm going to look them up.

46:27

And then I was like, no, no, I'm not. I'm

46:29

not going to do that. If

46:33

Scott says that's creepy, then that's enough.

46:36

Yeah. Usually

46:39

if Scott said, this is a really good

46:41

book, that's enough for me. Great book.

46:44

Oh, no, I'm working my way through Scott's recommendation.

46:47

Again, on the Discovery, we've got

46:49

a book channel and there's been some fantastic

46:51

recommendations recently. Yes, the Book

46:53

Hub's Guide to Vampire Hunting, whatever it's called. That's

46:56

brilliant. I've just finished that recently. Yeah,

46:58

Grady Hendricks is a fantastic writer. And

47:01

really well narrated, I think. I really enjoyed

47:03

the order. Anyway, getting sidelined. Craig,

47:09

again, thank you so much for taking us through the

47:11

mayhem. It's been a real pleasure.

47:13

Where can people find more of you? Thank

47:16

you. Hey. Well,

47:18

first of all, I thought that went very

47:21

smoothly because, yes, our characters did the very

47:23

logical thing of running away. When you run

47:25

away from things, suddenly fights are very easy.

47:27

So if you fight, you just fucking run.

47:31

Thank you so much for having me, folks.

47:33

I'm really happy to be here. You can

47:36

find me at redwindrollplaying.com, where we continue to

47:38

have dark stories and dark worlds. Sometimes

47:41

not so dark worlds, but many dark worlds. So

47:43

if you've been enjoying our style

47:45

and how we've been doing things, please

47:47

come over to www.redwindrollplaying.com and check us

47:49

out. We would love to have you listen. Highly

47:53

recommended. Again,

47:55

thank you again for listening, and we'll be back very

47:57

soon with the next episode. You