Silent Legions solo - Part 11: Wake up dark

 

Experiment in Horror #4

I wanted to continue with my Silent Legions campaign, but I wasn't sure what the next adventure should be. All I knew was that, at the end of my last one, I determined the new adventure would start in (1d4+2=) 3 weeks. I hit upon a way to start playing without having to make any decisions, though perceptive readers will note that I in fact had to come up with 2 random opening scenes instead of just one.

The experiment, then, was to try a non-linear adventure. I started out intending  to use the simple form of the non-linear narrative, i.e. starting somewhere near the climax for the first scene, then rolling the clock back for the next scene and following the story until it gets there, then continuing from that point until the end.

But some random events came up and a second main thread developed (mostly with Mary) that necessitated playing some of the scenes out-of-order. This was less of a headache than it sounds to keep track of; I just wrote a quick note about when things needed to progress at the bottom of my .txt file and typed my notes for the intervening scenes out above it, so it was constantly there as a reminder.

As this is a solo rpg adventure and not a plotted story, there were additional considerations to be made. The most obvious was the question of Plot Armour, since the PC(s) in the initial scene had to survive the rest of the adventure. Luckily, my horror adventures are pretty low on combat, so this didn't come up. Had the dice killed a PC, I'd probably have left them alive, but doomed to die by the conclusion no matter what the dice said from then on. Perhaps they would be afflicted by some sort of gruesome, creeping transmutation -- the genre offers great possibilities in this respect.

Madness was also an issue. I took the easy route, and decided that Madness loss would accrue as scenes were played, so Dark Visions (SL optional rule, p.173) might occur out of the normal sequence, in a scene when accumulated Madness-over-time would have technically been less. This didn't really impact the game, as it's not something where the strict numerical values indicate actual thresholds in any non-mechanical sense.

For the first scene, I decided to make it easy for myself; since I didn't have any idea where the PCs were or what they were doing, I decided they shouldn't either; more on this later. The actual set-up would involve many Oracle questions, Silent Legions tables, and The Big Book of Little Spaces: Haunts, which I'd been wanting to try out for ages. I rolled so many dice for the first bit that it would make an absolute mess if I included it with the narrative. Instead, I'll post my raw notes at the very end with a few annotations for anyone who's interested in my process.

My toolbox:

Silent Legions for the rules
Mythic GME with my MCSV for the oracle
UNE for NPC conversations
d30 Sandbox Companion for random horror effects & items
Big Book of Little Spaces: Haunts for the beginning (part of this bundle)

Right, enough with the introductory remarks. Let's start...

The Adventure

It's not the first time that Cat has woken up on a damp concrete floor, but getting clean meant it wasn't supposed to happen again. The last waves of sickly euphoria lap at her brain and she starts to pick bits of consciousness out of the ebb. What the hell did she do to herself this time?

She tries to raise her head and look around, but the purple splotches dancing through her vision refuse to go away when she opens her eyes. Wait, that's just the darkness. She lowers her cheek gently back onto the cold floor and tries to take stock of her situation.

She feels swollen all over, and her mouth tastes like drain unblocker. Everything aches, every muscle, every sinew. Her spine is on fire. A sharp shock of adrenaline: this isn't like any comedown she's ever had.

She pushes herself onto her side, rolls into a foetal position. A sharp pain in her stomach. Her hands fly to it on instinct, and she feels her clothing soaked through. Nervous fingertips find a loose makeshift bandage, a crusty wound beneath. At least she hasn't pissed herself.

Waves of nausea are pushing out the euphoria and the burning. She reaches out to her surroundings, trying to centre herself in the now. The concrete is gritty but pleasantly cool, and sticky where she bled. She can smell the mould and damp even through nostrils full of dust.

Cat puts out a hand and finds the rough concrete wall just before her. She rolls over again -- her stomach hurts less now she's expecting it --  and forces herself to sit up against the wall. Sitting is good. Just sit for a while.

There's a drone in her ears, but someone is mumbling to her over it. 'Don't fall asleep, Cat.' No, that's her, talking to herself. 'Shut the fuck up, Cat.'

There's a dim slash of light on her foot. She follows it up. There's a door, sitting uneasily in its frame. Cat edges over to it. It's heavy and solid, but gives way slightly when she pushes. She pivots on her arse, then gives the door a solid kick with both feet. It scrapes open on screaming, rusty hinges.

The light pours in, dim but still blinding. Cat blinks a few times, then looks round. She's sat on the floor of a bare concrete cell, scarcely wider than the doorframe and maybe twice as deep. Outside is a gloomy basement, with stacks of old and broken furniture. An insect-speckled fluorescent striplight casts an unhealthy pallor over the scene. Cat can hear its buzzing clearly now.

She uses the doorframe to pull herself up, then takes a few tentative steps outside. She see two more doors in a recess near her own cell. One is slightly open, and the shape inside... it's Elgin.

He's sat cross-legged on the floor, head in his hands. He hears her pull the door open all the way, looks up in panic.

"Gah! Oh... Cat?"

"Yeah. I, uh.... you ok?"

"I feel dreadful."

"Yeah. Same. But like... I dunno... something wrong with it."

"Same. It's like... shit, Cat, is-- is that your blood?"

"Yeah. We'd prolly best find our way out of... this place."

"You don't remember either? Help me up and let's get moving."

Cat pulls him to his feet, and they stagger about for a few moments. Cat insists on searching the pile of furniture to find a chair leg or summat they could use as a weapon, but there's nothing useful to be had. They abruptly decide to stop looking through the pile when Cat finds a decaying human hand, grey and shrivelled, still sporting bright pink acrylic nails.

Elgin says he's going to be sick, and dry heaves a few times. Cat tries to wipe the uncleanness off her fingers, but just smears blood on everything. Then a low moaning stops them short. They aren't alone.

The sound is coming from behind the door of the third cell. Cat opens the door, and the overwhelming smell of decay assaults her nostrils. She steadies herself against the wall, and hears Elgin retching behind her.

The form of a small person is lying in the far corner of the cell, wrapped in filthy rags or slimy clothing. It moves unsteadily to look up at them, then pulls the wet, threadbare blanket over its face.

"Don't look," it says in a soft, feminine voice. "You shouldn't see me like this."

"Who are you?" asks Cat. "What's going on? Where are we?"

"I... I am.... still... Angharad."

Cat shoots Elgin a look, but he seems equally baffled. But something tugs at Cat's memory. "We were... we were looking for you."

"They found you first."

"Who are they?"

"I don't know... I-- it's all confused."

"Let us help you--"

"No! It's too late. Leave me here... leave..."

"Are you hurt?"

"I... I am... no..."

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's too late. Leave me... I found what I was after in the end, all I desired was there, in that Chamber. But not as I imagined it. I should never have gone looking for it. Forget me...."

The shape lies back down wetly in the corner, whimpering or cooing to itself. Cat lets the door fall half closed.

"Should we... can we try to help?" asks Cat.

"Maybe we should find the way out first," says Elgin.

"Maybe you're right."

They look for an exit. None is immediately visible. There's just the buzzing light, and shadows dancing on the wall, which they jump at more than once. In their drugged state, the shadows seem like other people.

Cat finds a door which blends neatly into wall. It takes her a few seconds to realise she's been holding on to the doorknob to steady herself.

"It's starting to clear a little," says Elgin. "The fog in my head."

"You're lucky mate. I still feel like I'm swimming through custard. Surprised it's lingering so long..."

"Maybe our captors know about your history, gave you an extra helping to put you down."

"I wish I could remember who we're dealing with..."

Cat opens the door to reveal a dingy stairwell. They climb up to the first landing.

"Wait... just a... second..." Elgin looks like he's going to topple over, and steadies himself against the railing.

"Something's coming back to me," he continues. "I remember sitting in my flat one night, reading, when the shadows in the room started to deepen and move a little. I thought my eyes were just tired, but... then they sort of detached from the wall and started to whisper to me."

"Um...."

"They warned me not to interfere with the... the... I don't remember what they said, but they promised that if I surrendered myself to the chamber -- in the chamber? -- then all would be perfected."

"Perfected?"

"No idea. But I'm sure that was the word."

There's a door on the landing. They open it to peek out.

A long, brightly-lit corridor extends before them. So long they can't see the end. There's a draught of cold air -- colder even than the basement. The carpet is stained with black mould, and squelches a bit beneath their feet. The corridor seems to stretch as they go down it, but it could just be the drugs...

[I'm switching back to normal adventure format from this point. Rolls on Big Book of Little Spaces tables will be highlighted, in the format Section : Sense - Description - Element]

Abandoned Places : Taste - Tart - Statue

They stumble by an alcove, with a life-sized statue marble statue of the whitest marble. At first Cat thinks it's Persephone holding a pomegranate, then she notices the squareness of the object in her lovely hands. It's Pandora. Probably an appropriate figure, she thinks, but damned if she can think why.

[Q: Is the statue anomalous in some way? 50/50 (4+): O3 C6 - no]

Then Elgin is pulling her bodily away. "Tha can stare at girls later, Cat."

[I gave them both a Luck saving throw to avoid attracting attention / random encounters (both need 12+): C d20=15, ok; E 18, ok]

Ghostly Effects : Touch - Slimy - Door

The corridor doesn't go on for ever. They find a door at the end. Cat tries the handle, and finds it greasy -- too slick for her to turn. She makes the mistake of sniffing the gunk on her hand to see what it is [Phys save fails]. The putrid smell makes her gag. It reminds her of the decaying odour of the basement prisoner.

She wipes hand on the wall and they continue on round the bend.

Creepy Copses (x2) : Sight - Tree - Grassy
: Hearing - Wind - Scream

They pass a long window, which looks out on a night-time scene, lit only by lights shining from with the building. They see an overgrown lawn with unmanicured hedge rows, and beyond it a stand of trees. The wind howls, rippling across the grass, and the window glass rattles with each gust.

[Q: Can window be opened? Unlikely (5+): O2 C7 - no]

"There's no latch," say Cat. "Just glass."

"Are we in a hotel?" asks Elgin.

[For the next section, the result was 'Roll Three Times': Hallways, Hallways, Ghostly Effects]

Hallways (x3) : Smell - Apparition - Caustic
: Taste - Lighting - Velvety
: Touch - Ceiling - Powdery

As they look out at the stormy scene, a caustic chemical smell wafts down the hallway. The lights seem to dim and grow hazy. Dust falls from the ceiling.

Hallways : Touch - Mirrors - Scratched
Ghostly Effects : Touch - Fluids - Soaked

They hurry forward. At the corridor's end hangs a full length mirror. The surface is scratched, and a purplish, oily fluid leaks from the gashes.

[1d3 Madness: C +1 to 31, E +3 to 22. Passing 20 Madness gives Elgin a Dark Vision.

Sense Affected=Sight (not rolling, as this seems obvious from a mirror)
Type of Insight Granted (d8): Location of something important to the adventure.
Side Effect of the Vision (d20) Any occult entities there immediately focus on the PC.]

"Cat, look! In the mirror behind us."

"I don't see anything behind us. Just the corridor."

"The way out -- the front door. It's right there!"

Elgin turns and staggers off. Cat turns too -- and the door is indeed but a dozen paces away, right there where they came from. Now the mirror is gone, and a corridor stretches vertiginously out behind them.

[+1d6 Madness for rationally impossible situation (per Madness chart) C +4 to 35, E +6 to 28]

She rushes up behind Elgin, who is already throwing the bolt...


next post: how it all started


---

Below are the raw game notes I promised. I've added a few explanatory notes in bold type to explain my thought process a little better.

Experiment in Horror #4

Big Book of Little Spaces: Haunts

Appendix 1: Alternate Methods: 1d10=roll twice - Horrid Hallways, Scary Basements I wasn't too strict in my interpretations of the tables; they didn't, for instance, start in a basement hallway

Horrid Hallways:
Hearing - Lighting - Flat
=low buzz of electric lights

Scary Basements:
Touch - Clothing - sticky
=bloodsoaked

Q: How many PCs are present? 1d4=2, Cat and (1d3=) Elgin
Q: Are they both covered in blood? 50/50 (4+): O2 C6 - no. 1d2= just Cat
Q: Whose? (1d8): 1-3 hers, 4-6 someone else's, 7-8 both: 2
1d12=6 damage (7 current HP)
Her wounds are: Naturally / Glorious - slash across upper arm, nasty stomach wound, both rudely bandaged

Q: Is Elgin OK? Unlikely (5+): O4 C6 - no
1d6=1 damage, 6hp left
just some bruising I gave both PCs a chance to be down to 1hp, thus the different damage dice (they conveniently have 13 & 7 max hp). The dice rolled had nothing to do with the sources of the damage. Elgin's injury (minor spoiler: he crashed into a bookcase trying to flee) certainly wouldn't have caused 1-6 damage. 

Q: Is there a body here from a recent fight? 50/50 (4+): o1 C5 - no.

What’s Wrong About This Place? SL p177 A wretched victim of cult amusements may still live.

The easiest way for the PCs to have no immediate idea of their circumstances was to give them short-term memory loss from being drugged/poisoned. I made a quick recovery track:
Phys Save (+Con mod) evry 15 minutes to shake off effect of drug (attack rolls & evasion saves / skill rolls)
-4/-2, -2/-1, -1/-1, 0/-1, recovered

Starting saves: both fail

Search surroundings: Wis/Perception 8+: C 2d6+1-2=8, E 2d6-1-2=5

Finds: Nicely / Disgusting
decaying human hand with fancy acrylic nails

+1d4 Madness, both 1 (C to 30, E to 14)

Q: Any possible weapons about? 50/50 (4+): O2 C5 - no.

3 cells before them, 2 doors open

low moaning coming from behind 3rd. they open to reveal...

SL p 154 The basic horror of the Thing: 1d12= body horror
(BBLS:H) Sight - Hazy, Smell - Putrescent this was definitely the 'wretched victim of cult amusements' I'd rolled above

form in corner, wrapped in filty rags or slimy clothing
smell of decay assaults their nostrils - phys saves - c ok, E retches

the shape moves to look at them them, then pulls wet, threadbare blanket over face

don't look! you shouldn't see me like this
who are you? what's going on? where are we?

Q: Does the person know anything? 50/50 (4+): O1 C3 - no, but...
Q: Do they recognise the PCs? Unknown 1d6=1: O2 C8

I... I am.... still... Angharad

Q: Name mean anything to them at the mo? 50/50 (4+): O4 C8

We were... we were looking for you.
They found you first.
Who are they?
I don't know... I-- it's all confused.
Let us help you--
No! It's too late. Leave me here... leave...
Are you hurt?
I... I am... no...
Then what's wrong?
It's too late. Leave me... I found what I was after in the end, all I desired was there, in that chamber. But not as I imagined it. I should never have gone looking for it. Forget me....

[UNE:knowing - news - last scene:
as Rumour
clue - major, neutral (+0): desire / chamber]

The name Angharad was just off the top of my head. desire/chamber sounded suitably mystical, so now I knew the crux of the adventure, albeit in the vaguest possible sense. And I had an NPC to work in.

the shape lies back down wetly in the corner, whimpering or cooing to itself

Maybe we should find the way out first, says E
Maybe you're right.

1d3-1=0 visible exits

C&E set about searching: Int/Perception 6+: C 2d6+1-2=10, E 2d6+0-2=5

Q: Anything happen as they search? Unlikely (5+): O4 C3 - no, but...

just the buzzing lights, and shadows dancing on the wall, which they jump at more tha once. in their drugged state, the shadows seem like other people

C finds door which blends neatly into wall

new saves: C fail, E succeeds (he is now at -2/-1)

It's starting to clear a little, says E, the fog in my head.
You're lucky mate. I still feel like I'm swimming through custard. Surprised it's lingering so long...
Maybe our captives know about your hstory, gave you an extra helping to put you down.
I wish I could remember who we're dealing with...


Open door to dingy stairwell, climb up to landing,

[Q: Does it go further up? 50/50 (6+): O6 C6 - yes
+Event:  Horror - PC - think / conversation
1d6 1 M, 2 A, 3-4 C, 5-6 E: 5

[UNE:mysterious - shadows - history]

Wait... just a... second...

E looks like he's going to topple over, steadies himself against the railing

something's coming back to me... I remember sitting in my flat one night, reading when the shadows in the room started to deepen and move a little. I thought my eyes were just tired, but... then they sort of detached from the wall and started to whisper to me.
Um....
They warned me not to interfere with the... the... I don't remember what they said, but they promised that if I surrendered myself to the chamber -- in the chamber? -- then all would be perfected. [hostile - surrender - previous scene (1d3 person,place,thing: 2)]
Perfected?
No idea. But I'm sure that was the word.

+1d6=5 Madness (to 19)


they open the door to peek out

Horrid Hallways
Sight - Disatance - Hidden
can't see end

Smell - rug - rank
Smell - Temperature - Cloying
cold & damp, mouldy carpet

The hallway result gave me the first clue to their location: a fancy hotel somewhere in the countryside. The Cloying smell & Temperature made it obviously abandoned. Until now I'd been assuming they were still somewhere in London.

Q: Anyone present? Unknown 1d6=6: O2 C3 - no, but... might be detected

Dex/Stealth rolls : C 2d6+1-2=7, E 2d6-1-1=8
vs. 2d6+1=5, not detected

Wis/Perception rolls to hear anyone as they pass
8+: both fail

hallway seems to stretch as they go down it, but could just be the drugs

come to...

Abandoned Places
Taste - Tart - Statue