TOE-FAT COUNTRYSIDE: Session Six

Picking up right where we left off, the group parked their truck outside the quiet zone's perimeter and proceeded on foot. Soon, they had entered a strange world of fog and distorted sounds. Thanks to the Taylor's wilderness survival skills, the team was able to evade four Leng Spiders disguised as men and riding a fifth Leng Spider as a "horse" long enough to brace themselves for the arachnid cavalry charge. It was harrowing and chaotic, but everyone kept their cool and somehow no one got bit or hurt. 

They wandered around until it got too dark and then made camp for the night. Jim had the second watch, and remained hidden as a passing band of refugees were attacked by sharp flying creatures. He ran to alert the others and they were able to save a few of the survivors. In the morning, the party was able to learn from them that the fog was not a portal to another world; the geography was the same, just with horrible things lurking in it. The Agents gave the refugees some supplies and pointed them off in a safe direction so as to avoid the ISI patrols. 

Using directions they got from the refugees, combined with some dead reckoning and their own printed-out maps of the zone, the Agents headed for the Punqai village where Andam Arsala was last seen. Upon arrival, they decided they had seen enough. It was time to head for the center of the zone, where presumably the source of the incursion was. I was a bit sad that they missed out on the other cool locations, but it was fun to see them correctly guess where the Black Vessel was, even though they didn't know what it even was.

They found a massive pit, covered with a web with a hole in the middle. Already having encountered the fearsome Leng spiders, they tested it by throwing rocks and a few grenades. Once satisfied that nothing was going to jump out at them, the Agents started exploring the web. Doc Taylor, although mostly knowledgeable about human biology, still knew a thing or two about spiders. "If these are anything like their tiny cousins in our world, that web will be a maze of safe parts and sticky traps." Big Bill cautiously poked and prodded his way towards the center, marking a safe path with rocks. He tossed an exploratory grenade down into the pit and caught a glimpse of the Black Vessel in the flash. Unfortunately, he also fumbled his Alertness roll, so as he turned around to tell the rest of the Agents about the pit, one of the Leng spiders reared up behind him and sunk its fangs into his back. I've never liked monster attacks that deal damage and inject a super-poison with a speed measured in combat rounds, so I changed it to minutes instead. 

The ensuing fight was a lot messier than their first encounter with the spiders. By the end of it, the web was pockmarked with grenade shrapnel and sizzling spider parts. Taylor was also bitten, but was able to use his Medicine skill to prep him and William Chester for the ensuing toxic shock. Both Agents were fortunate enough to not be dissolved from the inside out by the powerful Leng spider venom. Still, there was the matter of the Black Vessel to deal with.

After climbing down into the pit, the Agents explored the crashed 'UFO.' Special agent Almeida pocketed some rubies while no one was looking, and the group concluded that the ship was well and truly wrecked. This is actually one of my criticisms with the module. If no one has Demolitions or explosives to blow up the ship with, you're kind of stuck. You could fly it back into the Dreamlands, but all the descriptive text implies that the ship will never fly again. The Agents mulled over the issue, unsure of what to do. Big Bill told everyone to leave, he could handle this.

After playing through Enemy of the Tribes, Bill had studied the various osseous artifacts recovered from the Sand Dwellers and learned Whispers of the Dead (Tsathoggua), though he knew it as 'the croaking from N'kai. The ritual technically requires the operator to hotbox themselves underground with incense, but I ruled that Bill could make do with gasoline. I forget exactly where he got it from. After a few minutes, Tsathoggua appeared to him as a congealed shadow. Bill offered one of the moon beasts as a sacrifice, which she accepted. Then he asked Tsathoggua if he would close the rift between the Dreamlands and Earth. She laughed, and the alien ship shook violently. Technically the spell isn't supposed to do this, but we needed to finish up the scenario and the players had already talked themselves out of every other solution. He agreed, though on the condition that Bill would be marked as 'his,' and that he would serve his interests in the lands of the living. She reached out and branded Bill's left breast with her seal, right above his heart, as he sacrificed an additional point of POW to prove his worthiness.

The rest of the Agents had heard the rumble and were getting impatient. They radioed their teammate and got no response. Enough was enough. The three of them descended into the pit and found Bill face down, gnawing on the entrails of a man of Leng. Had the entire meeting with Saint Toad been a hallucination? It didn't matter. Almeida and Taylor grabbed him by the armpits and hauled him out while Jim climbed back up to make sure the coast was clear. The whole time, Bill was whistling an eerie tune. It was the second spell he had learned from the Sand Dweller's scrimshawed bones, though in his current state, it was harmless. 

Eventually, special agent Almeida just slung Bill over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, making full use of his 17 STR. The Agents hauled ass as the ground began to quake behind them. After a few hours, Gabriel craned his neck over Bill's body to see what was going on. The earth had split open like a giant mouth while a massive tongue slurped up the gray fog, stirring it into a tornado. This was enough to send him over his Breaking Point, whereupon he developed Paranoia as the rubies in his pocket seemed to grow heavier. No one else looked back. 

The scenario had a few hitches, but overall, I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to run some Delta Green overseas. Thanks to Jin Cardassian for writing it! It can be found in this google drive folder, along with some nifty handouts.