This is part four of my Impossible Landscapes play report. You can find the previous part here or you can go to the first post in this series here.
The player character are:
- Agent KATE, FBI. She has the lowest SAN and the second-highest Corruption. She has two disorders, paranoia and claustrophobia.
- Agent KIERAN, author and occult expert. He has read the play, has consumed multiple gold bugs and has the highest Corruption.
- Agent KRATOS, diplomat working at the UN. He was seriously hurt during the STATIC chase. He has the lowest Corruption
- Agent KONSTANTIN, former US Army physician. He was shot in the back during the STATIC chase, but survived with 1 HP.
I had the players of KRATOS and KONSTANTIN roll a CONx5 check, to see if their Agents would suffer any permanent injuries. KONSTANTIN was lucky and will be able to fully recover. KRATOS now suffers from a crippled leg, his DEX is permanently reduced to 3.
Hotel Broadalbin
The Agents find themselves in the lobby of the Broadalbin, but they don't have time to relax. KONSTANTIN and KRATOS are still critically injured. They cry out for medical help and Elmer Losette and some bellhops come running to help. Two bellhops carry KONSTANTIN into the break room behind the front-desk, while another takes care of KRATOS' wounded leg.
While their comrades are attended to, Losette talks to KATE and KIERAN. He tells them that he has been expecting them and that there are rooms reserved for them. Their luggage is already in their rooms. He hands them keys and tokens for the dining room.
KRATOS' leg is put in bandages and he receives a crutch, so that he can move around. The Agents are told that KONSTANTIN is still unconscious but that he will survive. The Agents are relieved and decide to go get something to eat in the dining room.
While they are eating, the Agents are suddenly harried by a man in a prison uniform, who demands that they take him to the king. The Agents recognize the man as Ian Frederik Decraig.
In the meantime, KONSTANTIN wakes up in the break room. He is alone, but someone seems to have treated his wounds. He takes a look around and finds a hatch that leads into the basement, but he does not want to go down there alone. He leaves the break room and meets Elmer Losette, who tells him where he can find his friends.
Reunited once again, the Agents decide to go to their rooms. Charley, the elevator operator, takes them there. On the floor where their rooms are they meet Mark Roark, who apparently has a room next to them. He tells them that Charley might know how to find the Whisper Labyrinth, something that he has been looking for for a long time. He offers to share his equipment with them, if they take him with them.
Inside their rooms the Agents find unfamiliar luggage. It is filled with all kinds of objects that they have encountered before. Evidence from Abigail Wright's apartment, books from Vanfitz's library, etc.
The Agents have a restful night of sleep inside their rooms. The next day they are on their way to the dining room, when they run into Adrienne Daribondi, who is looking for her nephew Asa.
In the lobby of the hotel Agent KIERAN meets Emeline Fitzroy, he recognizes her as the author of A World Without Doors. She is reading an article that KIERAN wrote for a magazine. She tells him that he is a great author, much better than "that hack Linz". KIERAN is flattered and asks her about Linz. She tells him that he disappeared into the labyrinth and never came back. The same happened with Abigail, who she also met.
KRATOS talks to Charley and they quickly become friends. At least Charley thinks so. Charley tells KRATOS that he can show him the entrance to the labyrinth, if he can help him kill the rats that harass the other guests. He tells him to meet him in his apartment in the basement after the shift.
A few hours later, the Agents equip themselves for the rat hunt and make their way to Charley apartment. They see his strange dolls on the wall and KRATOS realizes that Charley started working on a doll that looks a lot like him. Charley tells them that they have to find the rat nest and destroy it, then he will show them the entrance to the labyrinth.
The Agents go deeper into the basements in search of the rats. They find the arboretum, where they see Mark Roark dig a deep hole. Mark reminds them of the deal they made and that they should come and get him when they find the labyrinth.
The Agents continue their search. They hear strange noises from the ventilation shafts and see water dropping from one vent. Agent KATE climbs on a ladder to look into the shaft and sees a drowned, long-dead child crawling towards her. She has a bout of temporary madness and starts shooting. She manages to kill the child, but in her madness she starts attacking her fellow Agents. They manage to subdue her without getting hurt.
After KATE has calmed down, the Agents follow the wet trail that the dead child has left inside the air vent. It leads them to the drowning room, where Asa Daribondi is crying and mumbling to himself. The Agents try talking to him and confront him with the terrible things he has done. But they realize he is beyond saving and shoot him.
They return to Charley and tell him that the rat problem is solved. Charley is thankful and is ready to lead them and Mark Roark to the labyrinth. Mark is sharing his equipment with them, as promised.
The group enters the labyrinth and soon they find themselves disoriented in the dark hallways, between the myriad of shelves and alcoves full of strange bottles. The Agents lose sight of Mark Roark, who is frantically looking for his bottles. But the Agents have only their own goal in mind: finding the bottle of Jaycy Linz.
The Agents stumble through the labyrinth for hours. They hear whispering and footsteps, but never meet another person. Agent KIERAN eats another gold bug, which gives him a vision of where to go next. And finally they arrive at their goal: the bottle of the author.
KIERAN takes the bottle, which opens the secret door in the alcove. The Agents ascend the stairs, until they are surrounded by fog and darkness. Then they wake up on the shore of Lake Hali. They have arrived in Carcosa.
Thoughts about Broadalbin
We spend two sessions in the Broadalbin and the Whisper Labyrinth, but it would have been easy to extend it to three or four sessions, there is more than enough content. But I was quite satisfied with the two sessions we spend there.
This part definitely had some cool moments. The dead child in the air vents made for a creepy moment, as well as Asa in the drowning room. Charley and his dolls were also unsettling for my players.
The Whisper Labyrinth was a bit disappointing, but that is mostly due to the lucky rolls of my players. They rolled normal successes on their first two Search rolls, so they did not encounter any manifestations. On the third roll I gave KIERAN a +20%, because he ate a gold bug. He rolled a crit, which meant that they found the bottle after only three in-game hours in the labyrinth. This was a bit disappointing. I was planning to have the Agents meet Michael Witwer, who is chased by the Paper Tiger. And I wanted to bring back Barbas as well. But maybe they can meet them in Carcosa instead.
You can find the next part of this series here.
No comments:
Post a Comment