RQG 206 - It's Inside

## Content Warnings

Loss of consciousness, poisoning & drugging, physical violence, body horror. Discussions of: character death, human remains, murder & animal attacks. Mentions of: gore & blood, blades & stabbing, grief, bombs, emetophobia. SFX: bubbling, hissing, brief glitching/distortion sound, static & lightning, high-pitched tones, occasional beeping

## Summary

Join Alex, Helen, Bryn, Lydia, and Ben as they quickly find out their safe haven is anything but...
This week Cel examines the body, Hamid hears something ominous, Zolf demands the door be opened, and Azu gets quite a shock.

## Synopsis

Azu and Wilde find Tesla dead in his bedroom. Wilde instantly runs off to fetch everyone while Azu examines the body. She determines that Tesla has been dead for a few hours, and that he was likely attacked from behind. The attacker was something with high body mass that killed him with a bite to the back of the skull. Oddly, he was also stabbed several times. Wilde returns with Zolf and Cel, and they begin to examine the body.

Meanwhile, Hamid leaves Skraak by the secret door they discovered in the lab, and goes to tell everyone what they found. He instantly bumps into Wilde, and they share their respective news. In the bedroom, Cel has noticed a large bite pattern on the body, likely belonging to a bear or other large animal; they also notice that the teeth were changing shape as they bit. Hamid enters and explains that he found a tunnel, and Wilde runs off again to fetch Augusta, Einstein and Sumutneyrl.

Sumutneyrl enters and sees the body. Azu notices that they look ambivalent about the situation; Cel recounts everything they’ve deduced so far and Sumutneyrl collapses in shock, Azu manages to catch them. Since Barrett is missing, Zolf determines that he was likely the murderer. Hamid worries that Barrett will go after Ada if they don’t protect her. Wilde returns with Augusta, who is now in armour and carrying heavy weaponry. He announces that Einstein has gone missing as well. The party determine that protecting Ada and the lab is their top priority. Just as they begin to leave, the lights dim and go out entirely.

The party run towards the lab, Hamid hears a faint hissing sound but ignores it. He tries to get his new wings to grow, but they don’t cooperate. Everyone reaches the door to the lab and find it closed, locked and sealed. Ada explains that she’s been briefed not to let anyone in during situations like this. Suddenly, everyone apart from Azu, Cel and Zolf collapse on the floor. Cel identifies a gas in the air: the illicit drug ‘sweet dream’ that sends people into a blissful sleep for several hours. They reason that opening the door for a few seconds won’t fully contaminate the air in the lab, but Ada and Skraak will have to stand very far back so as not to inhale the gas. Cel explains this and Ada unlocks the door, then retreats. Azu, Zolf and Cel pick up their friends’ bodies and begin dragging them towards the door. Azu looks over her shoulder and notices a large humanoid figure briefly outlined, and suddenly everything goes white.

A bolt of lightning slams into Azu and then leaps to everyone else as the shadowy figure powers towards the group. Its features are difficult to identify, but it appears to distort the air around it. It seems to have a large head and six-foot blades for arms. Two slinky-like coils of matter emerge from its shoulders and launch towards Zolf, slicing his face and hovering around him. Cel throws two bombs and both miss, they grab Hamid in order to drag him through the door. One of the slinkies fails to attack Zolf, then quickly moves past him, phasing through the lab door.

Azu’s detect evil tells her that the creature is ludicrously evil, and she casts the spell holy whisper, forcing the creature to stagger backwards.

## Quotes

**Lydia**: "I would like you to imagine this with the new improved goggles zooming in and out, so it’s very much one of those remakes of sherlock holmes in a sort of steampunk magic universe of, which there are dozens"
**Helen**: "In my mind they kind of look like those glasses where you’ve got like a spring in each lens and they’re popping, they’re sort of boinging"
**Lydia**: "No! No levity here Helen, this is a serious remake!"
**Helen**: "Sorry!"
―Cel uses their new goggles

**Alex**: "The universe glitches momentarily, shudders, and then cel momentarily t-poses and then reappears completely fine."
―Alex retcons Cel's presence

**Alex**: "This thing is as if you tried to concentrate evil and then removed the bits, so it’s just the pure, squeezed, fresh evil. It’s nonsense evil."
**Helen**: "So the vantablack of evil?"
**Alex**: "absolutely, 100% yes."
―the new enemy is VERY evil

## Dice rolls & mechanics

* Azu makes a heal check: 21
* zolf makes heal check: failed roll
* Hamid recasts heroism on Skraak, giving them +2 on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks for 100 minutes.
* Cel rolls knowledge nature: 31
* Everyone makes a perception check:  Zolf (19), Azu (29), Hamid (22), Cel (17)
* Azu makes a reflex save to catch Sumutneyrl: 21
* Hamid activates mage armour, providing a +4 armour bonus to AC for one hour
* Everyone makes a perception check: Hamid (28), Azu (16), Cel (19), Zolf (24)
* Everyone makes a fort save: Cel (11), Azu (21), Hamid (16), Zolf (24)
* Azu makes a heal check: succeeds
* Cel rolls a craft alchemy check: 31
* Azu, Zolf and Cel make a reflex save: Azu (17), Zolf (22), Cel (27)

## Combat Breakdown

**Initiative:** Cel (24), Slinky 1, Azu(21), Slinky 2, Creature, Skraak (12), Ada, Zolf (6)

**Surprise round**

* Creature: attacks with chain lightning

**Round 1**

* Cel: throws two bombs, missing with a 26 and 3
* Slinky 1: fails to attacks zolf’s face, then moves through the lab door
* Azu: uses holy whisper, the creature fails its fort save and takes damage