So...where did we leave off....oh right. The group upon questioning and pressing Larkin, force out the aspect of Nyarlathotep that is inhabiting Larkin. A failed sanity check later and the group decided it was best to back off for now. I decided to toss a wrench into their plans though, as they were headed back down to the hotel lobby to leave and regroup, I brought de Mendoza in the front door of the hotel. The showdown in the lobby...both groups pausing waiting for the other to make a move, queue the Western music!
De Mendoza reveals his true aspect, the jutted jaw and rows of teeth, his monstrous form prompting a sanity check. The "muscle" in the group, a big-game hunter wastes no time, pulling his pistol and rolling an impaling strike, The Call of Cthulhu term for critical hit essentially. Instant kill...or so the group thought, upon examination, I reveal the wounds appear to be slowly healing. After some discussion with the authorities and some hotel clean up, de Mendoza is taken away to the morgue...for now. Also, can we talk about just how lethal CoC can be? Most investigators will only have between 10-15 hit points standard which will never increase through the life of the game. They are all just one bad dice throw away from instant death.
The expedition took off as planned on the following Monday, Larkin swearing off any knowledge of de Mendoza's roll in the killing of Riza, the professors aid, in the previous session. It was a 3-day journey to the Southern Peruvian city of Puno near the site of the pyramid. I had one social encounter during the journey with the player who was playing the PI of the group...I wanted to hint at Larkin's potential ability should Nyarlathotep take over. Casting a spell on him, that I conveniently had Jackson Elias interrupt. Hopefully the players are taking notes at these hints as I bread crumb them along.
Arriving in Puno, I gave the group a chance to load up on any supplies they may need for the final leg to the pyramid which mostly be on foot. Jackson was going to meet with the local spiritual healer and wise woman located in Puno, Nayra. This was the last chance for the players to gleam any bit of information about the pyramid...2 of the investigators tag along with Jackson to visit the wise woman. Traveling out to a small island village on the neighboring Lake Titicaca, the wise woman provided some insight into the lore behind the pyramid and that of the vampire menace plaguing the group. Once the discussion was over, with the fog rolling in on the lake, a group of vampire made their attack on the investigators and Nayra. One of the investigators suffering a bout of madness while watching one of the creatures feed upon the local villager. With Jackson help, they are able to kill off the creature before too much harm could be done, but the circle was beginning to tighten around the group.
In the morning, the group sets out for the last leg of the journey towards the highlands and the location of the pyramid, which only Larkin knows of, definitely not suspicious at all. A brief encounter with a local farmer and his son whom had recently had a run in with the vampire creatures, alerted the group to more trouble on the way, before coming across the pyramid itself, located in a forgotten valley...miasma of black smoke seemingly seeping out of the top of the structure.
As the investigators approached, Larkin became more anxious, ever closer to achieving the goal of his master's bidding in removing the golden ward currently containing the Father of Maggots within the structure. The group definitely played it cautious here to their credit, finally discovering a means down into the structure. Upon first entering they find two of the vampiric creatures sleeping in a room adjacent to the tunnels. Quickly dispatching them before they awaken, they also find a large treasure collection that creatures had nabbed from figures over the countless years of their existence.
Larkin,ever so close to success, now fully takes on the aspect of Nyarlathotep. Commanding them to do his bidding, signifying this by casting a withering spell upon one of the players. At first they did not know fully what to do....I almost thought they would go for it, stripping the golden ward, but just as things looked bleakest, the big-game hunter of the group fires his sidearm and yet another impaling strike. Larkin is finished. It was at this point that the doctor, whom had discovered the broken section of warding long stripped from the pyramid, revealed to the group that he had it in his possession. The group cautiously hunted the base of the structure for the missing section, finally discovering near a pool of the foul fat that had been nourishing the Father of Maggots all of these years. Some careful planning and a suggestion from Jackson helped to clear the larvae infested pool and replace the missing piece of the ward and sealing the pyramid fully once again.
Overall, I had a pretty good time with the Peru section, I feel like my group of players is still struggling a bit to adapt to the CoC style of play. This chapter is certainly a pretty good intro to the game if for nothing else it felt fairly safe that all of the investigators would survive. Before I start the New York section of Masks of Nyarlathotep, I'm going to insert another scenario given the time break between those chapters, things are about to get a little more intense for the investigators.
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