- Three more sessions before we conclude the ‘Finding Lucien’ plot-line. The PCs are in Enemy territory. The stakes are getting higher. This particular adventure (and write-up) was very hard to run. Ever since The Nightmare Kingdom supplement was released by Rite Publishing, I wanted to find a way to insert it into the game, but at the right time, and in a way that it was not immediately identifiable as a nightmare.
- There are rules to running horror and I’m not talking about “Call of Cthulhu” style. If one analyses horror movies or horror stories, the best horror is typically found in the familiar, or the ‘safe’. The alien within the norm, or the horrific within the beautiful. The best example that I can think of in literature is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein - where Frankenstein climbs to a top of a mountain peak - a sublime experience - and there surrounded by the beauty of the natural world does his creation (the monster) find him. But it also works very well where the familiar becomes the unfamiliar - e.g.: the home is no longer safe. I’m drifting towards the definition of “uncanny” here but I think you get the general idea. In many of these horror stories, the heroes are not in control of the adventure - they are ‘victims’ to get picked off by the horrors until they can find a way of asserting control/mastery of the situation.
- So how to create ‘fear’ in Grant? How to create ‘horror’? After all he is a ‘badass’ Lord of Gossamer with Umbra Mastery and a Primal Damage weapon. Fortunately Grant already has multiple weaknesses that I could exploit - his Umbra Mastery gives him gaps in his memories where he has exhibited a loss of control. Secondly, his relationship with Sophia. And that was just for starters. So I drew up a list, and was determined to push every button - to ‘deconstruct’ Grant.
- What actually happened when running this was that Lurker37 felt that the loss of control over his character was too much. As GM, I crossed a line, so I was put in the position where I had to brief him as to what was happening, and why he had lost control of his character to a significant degree. Then, Lurker37 understood, and we could go ‘to work’ on Grant. Going into this adventure, I thought this was a possibility - it happened, but we got over it and kept going.
- This adventure also marks the first time that I’ve put an adversary into the adventure who is more than one rank above both PCs. I’ll explain at the end how I expected it to play out, but of course that’s not how it really did play out.
Part 1 - The Nightmare Begins
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1995 (Brown Door)
- Grant wakes up in an alleyway. He’s a mess. He can’t remember what is going on or how he got here. It’s pouring with rain and his body seems to be melting away with the rain. His body has lost all coherency - his fingers are almost gone. His flesh is melting away and his mind appears damaged - he is having trouble thinking coherently. He assumes that he has surrendered to the Umbra which has resulted in a mental blackout (as this has happened before). His last strong memory is of a spaceship corridor with metal decking, where strange Brood-like things with supernaturally large teeth were coming through the walls and up through the floor. But he doesn’t remember what happened - it’s just a fragment.
- Grant can’t even see or hear in this form - he can barely ‘feel’ around him. He tries to feel for his body, and realises that the gemstone (infused with Eidolon) is the only thing which is preventing him from melting away completely. Two police officers the alleyway, and he leaps away like a shadowy octopus. They fire at him.
- Gradually he pieces a few things together. This isn’t some alien city - this is Sheffield where he and Ethan grew up. Things are not good here - the radiation from Chernobyl has spread to northern Europe and even the United Kingdom. Everywhere is in decay. (GM’s note - at the time there were fears that the radiation from Chernobyl would spread more widely, so it’s plausible in Grant’s mind that this came to pass) He still doesn’t remember how he got here, but he is determined to return to Westgate. This takes him some time given that he is still in a partially coherent shape, but eventually he manages this - stealing a lift here and there. He spots graffiti on a wall which chills him - “Beware Nira”. He has never heard the name Nira before but there is something oddly familiar about it.
- In Westgate, he is greeted by Socrates (GM’s note - Grant doesn’t know that Socrates is no longer in charge of Westgate, so his nightmare is based on what he does know) and he rests. He still finds it very difficult to remember what has happened. He finds that the year is 1995 - it has been almost a decade since he first stepped onto the Stair, but he is ‘missing’ at least seven of those years. Socrates fills him in, but Grant finds it very hard to recall the briefing - he finds even recent memories slipping quickly away.
Grand Stairway Section 0 - Proximate to Home Shadow
- Stepping onto the Stair, Grant feels anxious. He almost thinks he hears the sound of wolves baying in the distance - the sound stirs something deep within him. He thinks that he and Ethan were being chased. He has a bad feeling that stepping onto the Stair might have triggered something, so he heads for one of the nearest Doors.
Realm 3 - Tyndam (Green Door)
- Returning to Tyndam Manor, he is surprised to find the dark elf Arana in residence along with her servants Morant and Boswell. Both Morant and Boswell are moving more naturally now (clearly the spiders on their back have established much more coherent control of their hosts), and Arana greets him with deference. He accepts her offer of breakfast and a place to rest.
* Image by Wavebender on DeviantArt
- Grant finds his coherency returning faster in Tyndam, and he remembers more about the ‘space hulk’ corridors where Isabelle was seized and dragged off by one of the alien-things, with Ethan going to her rescue. The creatures were strong enough to tear steel with their claws. He remembers being separated from Ethan on the vessel.
- Wracking his brains, Grant remembers leaving Brairus and coming under attack shortly after. There were Dwimmerlaik ‘hounds’ - packs of them. He remembers killing many of them, and even killing one of the Dwimmerlaik hound-masters, but when the creature was hit by Gorgorin, white-blood splattered in all directions, including across him, going clean through his umbral shield. Grant remembers a burning sensation. He wonders if he has been cursed somehow.
- He is brought back to reality by Arana. She is practically purring in his ear, asking for orders. (GM’s note - given that Arana is ‘spider lady’ with lots of poisons etc, this was quite unsettling for Grant) Grant is perplexed by this, and he asks to be left alone while he heals. She leaves him be, but says that she will depart shortly unless he commands otherwise. This again leaves Grant with the impression that somehow Arana is now in his service.
- Shortly after, Grant overhears a melodious male voice asking Arana about his recovery. When he feels able and almost back to his normal self, Grant explores Tyndam Manor, and to his surprise finds one of Shimrod’s face plates at the entranceway, along with other cloaks and hats. (GM’s note - Grant ‘killed’ Shimrod way back in Session 8) He wanders further and finds Arana and Shimrod having tea in one of the rooms overlooking the gardens. However, with the faceplate removed, the man in the red robe is Meliander, one of Grant’s trusted friends. (GM’s note - Grant has never seen Shimrod’s true face, so putting Meliander as the man ‘behind the mask’ is classic nightmare/horror stuff) Shimrod embraces Grant (GM’s note - again, a hug from an enemy was unsettling for Grant), kisses him on the cheek and welcomes him back. Hiding his discomfort, Grant sits down and they talk. Like Arana, Shimrod defers to him, referring to Grant as ‘My Lord’. Grant listens and plays along, unsure as to what to make of all this. When Shimrod muses whether Grant would prefer to recuperate in more luxurious surroundings, Grant leaps upon the suggestion and asks if Shimrod could transport him to his residence on Marindar - which Shimrod duly agrees to.
* Image from DeviantArt, but I can’t locate the artist to give appropriate credit
- Replacing his mask, Shimrod gives a theatrical flourish and he conjures up a ring of cold fire that envelopes them both and they vanish.
Realm 15b - True Marindar (Grey Door)
- Grant finds himself in a palace with fountains, and a plethora of servants awaiting his every command. This is Marindar, but not as he remembers it. Shimrod excuses himself, explaining that he is tired after using a teleport spell to ‘breach Marindan defences’ (GM’s note - again, something that rings true to Grant) Grant settles down to a banquet (all for him), and he feels the presence of many many Doors (far more than when he was last here). A general briefs him on the state of the ‘war’, and informs him that there are now fifty-five active Doors into Marindar, and that he has total control of Marindar (the general was very proud of the fact that there was no resistance to Grant’s rule. (yes there are now many many soldiers in Marindar)
- What follows is even more baffling for Grant as he finds that many of the other Lords of Gossamer are now his enemies. Lord Drake has sworn a blood oath of vengeance against him, and even Lady Vala has returned to Shatterlight and has joined forces against him. The general mentions that Lord Mandragora (a 4th stage Usari warlord) still fights for the Marindan Empire (yes, the Empire) and this reminds Grant of Aramon Gard (an anagram for Mandragora) whom he left outside the World’s End Inn (back in Session 46).
Part 2 - The Death of Grant
- What follows is a montage of nightmare material leading to the death of Grant. Grant tries diplomacy with a number of the other Lords of Gossamer, but fails spectacularly - they either hate Grant, or have trusted him in the past and been betrayed. Even Mordecai who is willing to sign on with him for a time, then deserts him when holding the line would mean destruction of his legions at the hand of Drake. Nothing he tries works. Grant finds himself trapped - he Marindans look to him as their god-protector - but with fifty-five Doors open there are also fifty-five ways into Marindar. Grant tries recruiting from other realms, and fights in the canyons of Barados and in the forests of Farnwell but each time he is forced back. Even though Grant finds Ethan’s Icon, for some reason Ethan refuses to talk to him, saying only that the gemstone he left Grant with was his ‘final gift’, but he’ll never forgive Grant for what he did to Sophia. In despair, Grant goes looking for Lady Sophia and finds only a statue which apparently he erected years ago, dedicated to her memory. She is dead, long gone.
- Finally, his primary ally, Lord Mandragora ‘breaks’ and Grant is forced to commit himself to the fields of Ineswitrin for a final battle against Lord Drake. In the pouring rain the two armies clash, and Lord Drake cuts his way through the Marindan lines to do battle with Grant. They fight long and hard, hacking pieces off each other before finally Grant finds his own body crumbling and Drake delivers a deathblow.
Realm 32 - Hades (Black Wooden Door)
- Dead, reduced to a greyscale version of himself, Grant is presented to the Lord of the Underworld. The Lord remembers him well, and promises that this time he will not escape.
* Image by Kometani on DeviantArt
- In this place, Grant feels despair. Everywhere that he wanders, people shun him - either he has slain them, or he has contributed to their demise through his failure to defend them.
- Then, when it feels he has almost nothing left, he finds the Lady Sophia. She has been ‘waiting’ for him, but when she finally sees him, she is very sad. She explains that she was waiting for Grant, not for Nira.
- At that point, the full horror of his situation comes home to him (as only a nightmare can - where lots of disconnected bits don’t make sense until you reach one moment). Nira Kagnett, the destroyer of worlds, the man who killed Sophia and built the Marindan Empire, the master of Arana and Shimrod, whom Drake sworn a blood oath against - Nira Kagnett is an anagram of Grant Aitken. Grant is Nira. Nira is the person Grant becomes when the Umbra takes control.
Part 3 - Heldon’s Pass
Realm 46 - Heldon’s Pass (Black Door)
- (GM’s note - suddenly Grant is no longer in Hades any more. The Excalibur Pass which is still in Grant’s possession has enabled him to leave the Nightmare Kingdom, otherwise he would still be trapped) Grant appears in a large chamber with hundreds of others. His body is back in one piece, and for the first time in ages he can see and think clearly. A speaker above him begins addressing the group, welcoming them as the contingent of three hundred warriors from Finbar who will form part of the defence at Heldon’s Pass. The briefing continues to explain that Heldon’s Pass is divided into seventeen layers, and they will be safe in ‘subspace’ until a ‘High Lord’ is ready to assign missions to them. The High Lords in command of the defence of Heldon’s Pass are Lords Drake and Bastiano.
- Grant listens as the layout and defence of Heldon’s Pass is explained. For much of the year an Ice Wall blocks off the Enemy Door, but during the ‘high thaw’ (during the peak summer months), the Enemy is able to access Heldon’s Pass. Heldon’s Pass is considered critical to the High Lords because it is a junction leading to many other realms. The battle is fought on many different levels and both sides are able to scry upon the main battlegrounds and some of the parallel ‘layers’, hence only a small army is actually in place within the main fortifications below the pass. Both sides are able to employ sorcery and other techniques to bring armies and specialised troops to bear. The Enemy frequently uses ‘pathfinders’ to establish a beachhead, and then other groups can be committed to the battleground. The battle for Heldon’s Pass typically lasts many months, so the speaker assures the three hundred from Finbar that they will only be called upon when needed, and lives only committed when victory is likely.
- Many of the Finbar soldiers appear to be veterans, comfortable that they have been through this before. Grant however, feels a flood of memories coming back as he recalls what happened to Ethan, Isabelle and himself.
Part 4 - Memories
Grand Stairway Section 23 - Bluestone Corridors
- Grant remembers leaving Brairus, and soon after the three of them came under pursuit by strange hairless dog-things with unnaturally large jaws. They seemed to be controlled by some sort of Hound Master who was directing them. Grant wanted to fight, but Ethan and Isabelle wanted to run, so Grant went with them. Ultimately they ended up being pursued by more than one pack of these animals, and Grant slaughtered many of them, including one of the Hound Masters (a Dwimmerlaik). The touch of Gorgorin caused the Dwimmerlaik to explode, showering him with white blood that went clean through his Umbral Shield, leaving a stain that would not be removed. From there, more of the hound packs came after them, and eventually they made their way to a different section of Stair where there were many suspended gantries at different levels.
Grand Stairway Section 24 - Industrial Complex
- Surrounded by gleaming pipes, with catwalks, ladders and gantries extending up into the sky, the trio begun to climb. Still they were pursued by the hounds, driving them higher. Occasionally Grant would drive them back with a sweep of Umbral energy, but still they persisted and kept coming. Suddenly there was a grinding of metal from far above, and the sound of something massive falling. Caught between Doors, Grant took to the air in hawk-form, and Ethan expended a considerable amount of sorcerous power to deflect a massive metal silo that had fallen from somewhere far above. The gantry way above was ruined, forcing them to retreat. Grant cut loose once more against the hounds, but a buzzing sound from above put them all on edge. Spying a swarm of insects heading their way, the trio made a hasty exit through a nearby Door.
Realm 47 - The Void (Metal Door)
- Stepping onto a spacecraft with dimly lit corridors, Isabelle consulted with her compass and was able to find another Door which would lead them to Lucien, but this one was far away. They begun to explore, but quickly found that the vessel was infested with Brood-like creatures who had been sufficiently ‘touched’ by Eidolon to make destroying them with Umbra very difficult. The aliens were strong - strong enough to tear through the hardened steel walls and floors - and fast too. At first they were content to stalk the three of them, but then when the time was right, they attacked in large numbers.
- Coming through the walls and floors, the three of them realised that the horde would wear them down if they stayed. Unfortunately their retreat was cut short by Isabelle being grabbed by one of them, and Ethan charged through the rent in the floor to pursue it, leaving Grant to go on alone.
- The battle was long and brutal, with the alien things attacking in near endless waves - but at last they suddenly stopped attacking and Grant was able to push on, finding that Ethan had recovered Isabelle and cut his own path through them beyond an energy field which they would not cross. Weary and bloodied, the friends talked about their next course of action, and they decided to try to commandeer one of the ships. This actually took some time, as Ethan needed to restart an old warp drive system that had been inert for countless years and at last they managed to pull away a ‘small’ vessel, only a mile or so in length from the great mass of the space hulk.
- After ‘cleaning’ the ship of the alien infestation, the three of them spent almost a month on the vessel as it crossed the great black expanse. The ship was so vast that Ethan and Isabelle would frequently explore new sections, and Ethan seemed to enjoy tinkering with the ancient mechanisms and getting them working again. Occasionally Grant would duck away back to Marindar (sensing that three was sometimes a crowd) but after a day or so he would return with Marindan wine and a ‘care bundle’ of foodstuffs. At last, their destination became clear - a grey world surrounded by a blockade of ships. The armada of the Mandragora.
- Assessing that they were significantly outnumbered and outgunned, the friends decided to use the ship as a decoy, and rig charges to break sections away such that debris would be shed as required. Then they could slip away using a smaller shuttle. This ruse worked, and the Mandragorin fleet was suitably diverted, allowing Grant, Ethan and Isabelle to land on the nameless world.
- Unfortunately crossing the last ten miles was not so easy. The Door was well guarded and well defended, such that Grant and Ethan had to attack the garrison and make a run for it. The battle was hard fought, but they managed to reach the Door.
Realm 48 - The Nightmare Realm (??? Door)
- From this point, Grant is not able to tell where the Nightmare Realm actually began. He remembers a section of Stair that resembled something from within a Pharaoh’s tomb, and then a great lush garden where there were tiny fairies who greeted them with kisses and motes of light. But then his thoughts became jumbled. He remembers Isabelle consulting the compass but she was interrupted by something out of the shadows. There was a monster hiding amongst the bushes - something the fairies were keeping hidden which leapt out and attacked them. But then he must have also said something wrong to Ethan because he remembers Ethan backing away from him, shielding Isabelle. The fairy laughter sounded somewhat sinister in hindsight, even though their faces were friendly and seemed genuine. He remembers snow falling which felt very strange because it was bright sunshine - and there was the faint sound of Christmas bells.
- Grant doesn’t know what happened to him, but he knows that whatever it was is powerful enough to control the environment and alter Grant’s own perceptions. Whatever he encountered is dangerous.
Part 4 - Reinforcements
Realm 46 - Heldon’s Pass (Black Door)
- Grant can sense other Lords of Gossamer here and he makes a discreet exit from the others, quickly tracking down Lord Bastiano. Bastiano senses that Grant is a Lord of Gossamer, and he inquires who he is and why he is here. Grant identifies himself comments that he has met Narsaug before (a reference to Bastiano sending Narsaug to Marindar to ‘test its defences’) but Bastiano brushes off the inference. He asks whether Grant has seen combat before - he is polite but clearly keen to quickly assess whether Grant will be useful to him or not. Grant convinces Bastiano that he is worth his time and that he has combat experience - Bastiano gives him leave to familiarise himself with Heldon’s Pass but makes it clear that Grant is expected to follow his orders given that he is in command.
* Image by Jason Rainville
- Dismissed, Grant goes for a walk and decides what to do. He realises that only a few weeks have passed and yet the dream (nightmare) feels much much longer. He decides to travel to meet Drake, and boards Drake’s flagship, a colossal space battleship named “Righteous Fury” (which is also of spectacular size - miles long). There is greeted by Admiral Norris, and Grant does a double-take at the Admiral’s similarity to an action hero from Realm 0.
* Image by Steve Payne
- Grant is escorted to the bridge where he is reunited with Drake. Drake takes the time to listen to Grant (given that Grant has fought for him before) and Grant tells Drake all about the quest to find Lucien, the compass, and that they are very close to recovering him (the compass is able to tell how many Doors are between them and the target and they are down to single digits). Drake listens, and is able to identify the realm that Grant has recently escaped from as the “Nightmare Realm” - a realm controlled by a lord of nightmares who feeds off fear. Grant is keen to seek leave to return to the Nightmare Realm and rescue Ethan and Isabelle, but he knows that he is overmatched. Grant asks for Drake’s counsel. After a long pause, Drake offers to contact some of the other Lords who would assist Grant.
GM Observations - Part 2
- And that’s where we had to leave it for Session 52. Lurker37 surprised me for a few reasons. Firstly, I (as GM) had no idea that Grant knew about the compass - its function and its importance. Isabelle only shared this with Ethan very sparingly and Ethan was not one to pry into her affairs. So how did Grant somehow become Isabelle’s best buddy and find out all of this information? I asked Lurker37 a few times whether Grant would know in-character or whether Lurker37 was using out of character knowledge, and he assured me that Grant would know these things - which made it possible for Grant to share this information with Drake. I feel a bit deflated by that because information is precious in this sort of game, and Grant is Lurker37’s character and has somehow found out this information far more easily than Ethan. But I have to trust him that Grant knows for a good reason. Secondly, I did not expect Grant to ‘spill the beans’ to Drake and get help. I pointed out to Lurker37 that Ethan has been on this quest since Session 26, and to have Grant suddenly pull in a raft of other characters right at the end could ruin the plot-line unless it was done right. So we talked about it and agreed that it was in character for Grant to do this, and that it was in character for Drake to offer to help. But to avoid the storyline being taken over by NPCs, we decided to choose NPCs that we wanted to see as friends/allies/rivals in the game. (You’ll see who they are in the next session)
- Lastly, I had decided long ago how to beat the Nightmare Realm. The Lord of the Nightmare Realm greatly outranks Ethan, Grant and Isabelle in terms of Psyche. If the Lord of the Nightmare Realm outranks Ethan, then they are all stuffed - so the only way to beat the scenario is to work together - e.g.: Grant uses Umbra to find the weakness - and the answer is fear. This realm thrives on fear, so the only way to ‘win’ is to employ fear to become strong enough to wield influence over the realm itself. Grant might be able to find the weakness, but he would need Ethan to be able to get out because Ethan is the highest ranking Psyche character in the group.
And on that note, I won’t tell you yet which four NPCs will be joining Ethan and Grant, but three of them are from official Rite Publishing sourcebooks, however their builds will not be exactly as per the rules.
Finally, we haven't even touched upon what is Ethan's nightmare and what is Isabelle's nightmare.... those will be revealed in Session 53.
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