Message:Like trying to join WoW on release?!?
Took me nearly twenty minutes and a half-dozen tries to get into Roll20. I called IronPax on the land-line to see if we should scrub. He told me he was successful (unlike his dice rolls). Persevere! The site ran fine after we all entered. I saw IronGreg trying but never reaching us.
We played the Backstory of Nile, on which one player had his second set of deaths and had to start his third character arc (of Inherited Roles). Lots of player deaths; lots of people wondering if their Stats were too high?
Lots of scary pictures of more horror images, foreshadow.
Eight Main Clues in Order:
A. The Memory Stones were an alien method of teaching mankind a series of scientific breakthroughs and steps to create a doomsday device. Also find image (Dog01); the title of the art is Dromx.
B. The goal was interrupted by one of our ancient ancestors, so that a single link in the chain of experiments was never started or never completed. By the end of this climax sequence, you will have started that chain willingly or accidentally. Perhaps it is morbid curiosity or the love of truth that compels you forward, even as you understand the doom. Your cabals are also eager to know what you will discover. Such power could be used to defeat your counterparts. Also find image (Dog02), Lædxngr.
C. By concentrating you (each) can tap something primeval and see pages of a divine masterplan, a Book of Revival. To do so, when the time comes test Recall to identify demonic hotspots and vulnerabilities. Also find image, Fenrxr (Dog03); the letters are words in old Germanic script but all seem to be nonsense scribbles. Maybe it's code and you can find a key?
D. The Memories stones were fashioned by a demon whose flesh is very tough, but can be eviscerated by oak stakes. You decide to fashion those and keep them close. To use them, when the time comes will test Ability.
E. The demonspawn that created the stones is named the Sentinel of Cthulhu. It lives in a void that can be reached by conjuring a portal with the three memory stones.
F. Eviscerating the Sentinel is not enough. The creature will need to be cut to ribbons, sliced apart, with each subsection sanitized, neutralized by chemical antiseptic or holy water. Use Genius Stat and a pump action flit gun to squirt cleanser.
G. Wait, there's more to know of the demon, Cthulhu's minion. The parts cannot be left even in death. Best to make atonement and use dynamite sticks, forced into open vulnerable crevices. Any spot of the Sentinel after it is cleansed and gashed needs a stick of Nobel's dynamite. Best not to risk a toss, you want to be right on top of the segment with the fuse already lit. Doing both, speaking and detonating will take Raconteur Stat.
H. A thought occurs that a Blunderbuss filled with silver capsules encasing mercury paste may be employed to both sear and gash. But such a weapon creates a spray that risks hitting others. Precise Eagle-Eye Stat to use the firearm. At your (group's) discretion only one person should be the gun guy when the time comes.
-^-^-^-^-
We finished eight Encounters (quickly). I like the format, but again I rushed. Not sure this adds anything. Maybe a choice for the players to attempt Backstory (image to resolve) or general Encounter. May just be filler to skip. Yet Encounters seem the best place to get Reward. At a point, the Rewards are dreaded, raising Stats close to breaking point of 20+
More to ponder (on Tree of Woe).
More next week Nile Encounters (truncated?) or enter Climax. We may have milked Indy-Jones enough?
Yours,
IronRed
18-Jan-2026