27th session

Joyce's player sent me a transcript of an amusing phone call that Joyce made.

FBI Transcript of Joyce's Phone Call to Kirsten

I did a lot of prep work for this session, and it still didn't run as smoothly as I wanted to. I'm not talking about the roleplaying aspect, but about the mechanics. In an effort to keep folks from wanting or needing to break out of character to do arithmetic and odds calculations, I made myself some prep sheets. These consisted of half sheets of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper and of index cards that were nearly as big.

There were ten of these cheat sheets. I know this because I pasted or copied them into volume 4 of my gming notes. There were still places where folks needed to stop and do odds calculations or listen to me recapitulate the mechanics for the chapter. It seems to me that indicates an excessive complexity and that my sense that Way Too Many Rolls were called for was correct.

Yes, the text is very clear that any run of the campaign is an adaptation and that GMs should adapt as needed and desired for their own groups. But that said, this doesn't mean we're all equally good at grasping the full weight and consequence of the mechanics provided.

Darchen to Lake Manasarovar to Burang

In any case, this session opened with the group approaching Lake Mansarovar. Martin was uneager to go into it, but Jeremiah noted that this way, they could say they'd done it. He found the water freezing and the whole experience unpleasant enough that he didn't want to repeat it again, ever.

For Lillian, it was like a thousand meditations, a deeper peace than she'd ever known. Sure, her past lives covered more than the hundred whose sins were being washed away by the lake. Sure, the sense of peace wouldn't last. But then, as she said to Vito, one of the things that makes such moments pass faster is the attempt to cling to them.

I asked the other players to refresh my memory of what their characters experienced.

Joyce's Player: She poured water on Doug, hoping that it would help him let go of some of the horror he'd experienced. As for herself, she didn't feel anything. Joyce is very much in the omen-i-estel camp.

A Tolkien quote wasn't what I'd expected, but it's appropriate. (From the appendices in Return of the King: “Ónen i-estel edain, ú-chebin estel anim. (I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept none for myself.)"

I don't recall what Vito's experience was, but given his pillars, it was probably something like a deep enjoyment of the wonder of the natural world. Joyce talked with him afterwards.

Joyce: Vito, you're a good man, for all your Vitoness. Sure, you're a stone cold killer, and you do it for money. Been there. You've got people to go back to, and that's got to mean more than a ghost.

Joyce was quite convinced that she did not have people to go back to. Sure, there was her brother, Charlie, and his wife and two kids. But, Joyce figured that they were safer with her at a distance.

Joyce's Player: That would almost certainly be true even if the Mythos wasn't hunting Joyce down. She's not much of a family person.

The main thing was that Vito had people, real people, and Amelia was probably not even a ghost, probably more of an illusion so that when Vito thought he might be speaking with her, he was probably speaking with the King in Yellow.

Vito: You've got a habit of making a point like a sledgehammer.

Joyce: It's one of my more endearing qualities.

Vito acknowledged that Joyce was probably right about Amelia and, I think for the first time, spoke of Amelia in the past tense.

I think the topic of what would happen after the ascent of Mount Kailahs was raised, and possible plans were discussed.

Lillian: Unless we're eaten by horrible monsters beyond space and time.

Meanwhile, Pannu Singh was having a religious experience in Lake Mansarovar. This opened his eyes to the depths of his moral turpitude and returned him to his original faith. He shifted nervously, for, as he told his clients, he now wanted to return to his extended family in Delhi and not lead people up a mountain that his religion forbade climbing.

Vito: We can't make you do this.

Joyce looked as if she were prepared to argue the point, and certainly, Pannu Singh had not forgotten for a moment that she had eighteen mercenaries, all heavily armed, nor that she herself was heavily armed.

Martin quietly told the others that Pannu Singh was originally Hindu, although he'd converted to Christianity. The guide said that he'd wasted so much time in his sinful life, turning to alcohol for so long, and that now, he was being asked to do something that his religion considered quite sinful.

Folks acknowledged this, but Lillian took the guide aside and walked with him. While she could not speak his native language, she did have the Theological background necessary to convince him that his talk of wasting time was foolish. There was no such thing as wasting time. And, he had taken on a responsibility when he agreed to guide them up Mount Kailash. Surely, abandoning that responsibility would be wrong.

Lillian's player made a 1 point Theology spend. The previous session, Martin's player had made a 1 point Reassurance spend to help Pannu Singh get through the detoxification process and had already struck up a rapport with him. This, I figured, should be enough to get him to agree, however reluctantly, to finish the job he had accepted.

This was also an example of adapting the campaign, at least somewhat. As written, while there's certainly leeway about whether the guide will "have his eyes opened" by Lake Mansarovar, the text says that if he does, Reassurance will merely get him to agree not to tell the pilgrims what the PCs plan to do, while an actual spend of Reassurance, Flattery, or Intimidation will get him to agree to remain at Burang, the village nearest the mountain, to guide the group back to civilization after they return from the mountain.

Earlier, the text mentioned that it was a VERY good idea to have a guide for climbing the mountain. Did that suddenly become no longer a thing? Or can he somehow give amazingly good verbal advice for climbing a tough mountain that he himself has never climbed?

Then again, exactly how much is required to be able to attempt the ascent is a little unclear. Certainly, groups can forgo a guide altogether, according to the text, and travel with a group of pilgrims, so long as their intentions remain secret. The group should have the map that shows the route up the mountain, as the authors intended that the usual trope of streamlining things to the point where "there's a mounting we need to climb" is sufficient information -- in other words, going by the text, that map is an essential core clue.

Yet, apparently, where one goes on the mountain is not something one needs the map to show, given that where the group needs to go is "the summit". It may be that I am missing something, not being any kind of mountain climber, but does one really need a map to find the top of a mountain? I ask out of sheer ignorance, ignorance that the text does not address.

And, anyone with the appropriate skills can figure out a good route simply by walking around the mountain, looking up, and, optionally, making a spend. In other words, in theory, the guide is dispensable. Moreover, Joyce spent some time in the previous session doing a very careful flyover of the mountain. Even had I been inclined to rule that one absolutely HAD to have Pannu Singh to climb the mountain to its top, I would have allowed the many, many photographs Joyce took of the mountain over several days to stand in for the guide's services.

But, in the first place, I'm not convinced I should have to do that. Why does Pannu Singh have to fail to "have his eyes opened" to lead groups willing to make appropriate spends? Given 18 mercenaries with many weapons, I would think an Intimidate spend sufficient. Possibly, it should cost two points instead of one, but if we use that ruling, well, the group had already paid two points, one of Reassurance and one of Theology.

In the second place, and I think more important, one of the strengths of Eternal Lies and of this group of players is that we can reach a place where the mechanics support the emotional / narrative level rather than predetermining it. Or, to put it another way, the question isn't "What are the mechanics for making the guide lead us up the mountain?" The question is "What are you going to do when your guide looks at you nervously and says he'd really rather not violate the tenets of his religion further, given that you have been counting on him to lead you up this mountain?"

Do you threaten him? Do you try to convince him that you need him? Do you let him return home? The decision is about who the characters are, what they will and will not do to get what they believe they most need, not just about whether they can climb a mountain to reach the plot.

Folks reviewed their plans. Once they got to the top of Mount Kailash, Martin could cast the spell to open the sky, which would change local astronomical conditions and cause the Devouring Ravine to open even though the stars were not supposed to be right. Folks would then start with the plan to banish the Liar. Martin and Lillian had worked out the details of that spell, and Joyce and Vito had learned it.

Joyce was uneasy about the spell to open the sky. Sure, it sounded like a shortcut, and one that meant not needing to worry about when folks arrived, but did they really have no restrictions on time? Was it really that simple? Just when was the next time the ravine was due to open? And, if the spell would work, how costly would it be to Martin to cast it, given he was supposed to be the lead caster on the banishment spell, and given that he was the one who knew how to create Hyperspace Gates, something he fully intended to do to get everyone out of the ravine when they were done? Perhaps Joyce could learn that spell?

I had some vague memory about the text supplying a quick and dirty formula, something involving a bunch of d6, maybe 7. So, I grabbed 7d6 and rolled, and said that the next opening would be in three weeks from when Joyce had asked the question. Having checked the text, it turns out that that is indeed the formula the authors give GMs who feel they absolutely must calendar these things -- or who have some other reason for wanting a quick and random answer.

I also said that learning the Hyperspace Gate spell would take a few weeks, given that that's what it took Martin to learn it when he was going through Savitree Sirikhan's library, packing things up, and studying the most promising papers, including that spell. Joyce sighed and told Martin to start teaching her that spell.

By the time folks reached Darchen, the last town before the ascent. Well, village, really. Well, more of a way station for shepherds and their flocks. There were only two permanent buildings in the place, both intended as housing for the many pilgrims who came through on their way to circumambulate Mount Kailash.

Hm. We'd opened in Burang, which is where Joyce had raised the question, then moved to Lake Mansarovar, and now, folks were in Darchen. I'm not sure of the exact number of days that would take at a fast clip, and they weren't necessarily going at a fast clip. So, I said that about a week had passed by the time they got to Darchen.

Did they want to wait a couple of weeks, timing the climb to coincide with the opening of the rift? They'd need to go at a bit of a fast clip, but that would be one fewer spell to cast.

And, if they waited, Joyce would finish studying the Hyperspace Gate. She'd started a week ago. She had the Physics to understand the funny math involved. Folks decided to wait for her to learn the spell and for the stars to align.

(I'm honestly not sure whether I'll be up to running for PCs who can teleport after this campaign. Sure, Joyce's player says Joyce doesn't like to mess with the mythos, but between her drive and her practicality, I am dubious. Similarly, for all the Martin wants never to do this again, I am skeptical. While Joyce apparently never thought of using the spell for assassinations until Lillian's player suggested it, Martin actually _did_ use it to commit murder.)

Meanwhile, Vito said something about ordinary and extraordinary people. He said that if Carcosa and the events of the last year hadn't happened to him, he would probably still be running rackets and breaking legs, unlike his companions. Joyce, he said, would still be extraordinary.

Lillian: I would have been married to Richard by now.

I'm not sure if that's true, but it's certainly possible that Lillian would have talked herself into doing that.

Lillian's Player (commenting on this in email): I'm not sure if it's true either, or even if Lillian believes it's true, but it's how she was expressing how much less she would have been if she'd continued trying to be as "normal" as she was able, and how badly that would probably have turned out.

Vito (to Martin): You would have been a great scholar or an artist.

Martin: Sweet Vito, I would have committed suicide by some kind of drug overdose by now.

At one point, the topic turned to Russia, I think, though I forget the context.

Joyce: It's not in my nature to say nice things about Josef, but you know why they call him Stalin?

She explained the origin of the name.

During the stay at Darchen, Joyce and Pannu Singh learned what they could about Mount Kailash. Joyce had her photos and her mercenaries, who could go around the mountain, studying it from nearby or further off, as most made sense.

One person needed to be in charge of the climb. Joyce decided that Pannu Singh was the mountain climbing leader, although she was the overall expedition leader.

There were three areas Pannu Singh needed to decide how to focus on:

• Stealth
• Safety
• Speed (technically, Fast, but "Speed" continues the alliteration.)

Each started at 0. One stat could be raised by lowering another, but nothing could be lower than -3. Also, the guide could use his Outdoorsman points to raise any of the categories. He had 4 such points available.

Pannu: Which do you want me to prioritize?

Joyce: All of them, of course. What am I paying you for?

Joyce would probably have forgone safety, but Martin protested vociferously against that. I think the original plan was:

• Stealth +2
• Safety +1
• Speed +1

But, Martin is an extremely Stealthy person, so Stealthy, in fact, that the others could piggyback as per the standard Trail of Cthulhu rules. Sure, Pannu Singh and Puey Pramoj did not actually have any rating in Stealth, but Martin probably had enough points even so. Therefore, the revised plan was:

• Stealth 0
• Safety +2
• Speed +2

At that speed, folks could probably get to the summit in two days, time enough for the Devouring Ravine to open on schedule.

What, I asked, were folks doing on the night before they planned to make the ascent?

Martin was spending it with Jeremiah, at least when Jeremiah wasn't being pulled aside by someone else. I think Vito pulled him aside to give him a letter for Vito's son, Joey, to be delivered to him at St. Ignatius in Brooklyn, if Vito didn't return Vito himself spent much of the evening sketching.

Joyce also took Jeremiah aside, although not before finding and reading a note that he'd written.

Jeremiah's Letter to Joyce

Joyce: Listen, Jerry, I don't know what you are, but you've been good for Martin so far. If you do something human to hurt him, I don't care -- that's just people stuff. If you do monster stuff to hurt him, we will have words. But that's not happened so far. Maybe it's never going to happen. I don't know if you're human. I don't know if I'm human.

She then spoke of the other reason she'd pulled Jeremiah aside.

Joyce: I don't have to worry about Vito.

She figured he wouldn't allow himself to be taken alive, having both the means and will to blow his brains out. She figured that Lillian could take care of herself.

Joyce: I don't have to worry about me. I've been saving that last bullet since 1927.

Joyce took out a pill.

Joyce: I can't give it to Marty, and I can't give him a gun, cuz he'll shoot his nose off. You can give it to him, or not. Up to you.

Jeremiah (played, for the moment, by Martin's player): What is it?

Jocye: Something that puts you to sleep so you don't ever have to worry about waking up again.

She said that it was useful "if you're taken some place you don't want to go". She had gotten it from Russia, from her "friends" in the NKVD, and she admitted that it was nasty (likely cyanide, I'm thinking). She tossed the it to Jeremiah.

Martin's player described the scene as ending with a shot of Jeremiah looking down at it after catching it.

Lillian took out a small container, something like a tiny picnic basket.

Lillian's Player (clarifying for me via email, after the session): [It had] wine, scotch, tobacco, and related paraphernalia. Lillian was attempting to practice embodying restraint and so forth, so she was, among other things, trying to speak as little as possibly, the way she saw George Ayers behave. She couldn't talk to her comrades, so was spending time with them by performing small ceremonies, sort of along the lines of a tea ceremony, as she presented them with their goodies. I think Martin got scotch, Jeremiah and Vito got wine, and Joyce got a fresh rolled cigar (which I suppose isn't as good as properly aged on, unless the tobacco can age while still loose. I don't know from cigars).

Understandable, none of the alcohol was for Pannu Singh, who'd only recently been weaned off alcohol.

Joyce smoked her father's pipe.

Lillian's Player: After everyone's got their intoxicants...

She brought a cigar to Joyce, possibly also from her picnic basket.

Lillian moved to cut the end off so that Joyce could smoke it.

Joyce: No, don't do that! Save it for when you come down. That's traditional.

Joyce agreed, and I think she gave the cigar to Douglas Henslowe the next morning, telling him to keep it for her.

Joyce: I really don't want to climb a mountain and face a god a again. That's just bad plotting, Universe! Rule of threes!

(Presumably, this means that Joyce will do this at least once more...)

Somewhere around here, we got into a brief discussion about _Moby Dick_ and its symbolism. Joyce's player explained that Vito was basically Ahab, venting his rage on a mindless beast. The White Whale, then, was Carcosa.

Climbing the Mountain

Douglas and Jeremiah were left behind. Martin decided not to take the poison Joyce had given Jeremiah, but to prepare a strong dose of opium laced with alcohol, which, he figured, would work quickly and painlessly.

While there was no ideal time to climb the mountain,, as pilgrims circumambulated it at all hours, there was, as I recalled, one distinctly un-ideal time, dawn. That was when many pilgrims first started on their circuit.

Folks decided that they would do that as well, and would slip away and up the mountain well after the dawn rush. That made sense.

Martin's Player made the Stealth roll. While the target number was unknown, folks did know that the player needed to spend 4 extra points, as Pramoj and Singh both lacked Stealth. The player spent the entire pool of 9 points and rolled a 4 for a total of 13. This was not excessive, as the base difficulty suggested was 7, making the minimum total needed 11.

So, a total of 24 people (Joyce, Vito, Lillian, Martin, Puey, Pannu, and the 18 mercenaries (whom, we agreed, did have Stealth)) snuck quietly up the mountain. They froze in place as a group of pilgrims passed directly beneath them, taking at least 20 minute to get past where they might see the climbers, as this was an extremely devout group, prostrating with each prayer and crawling forward only as far as their hands reached during the prostration. But, none of them looked up and saw the violation of Mount Kailash.

At this point, folks needed to reach the summit in two days if they were to arrive in time for the opening of the Devouring Ravine. Given the +2 bonus on Speed, this was possible. That only left the question of safety.

The text calls for a Diff 5 Athletics test from each person each day of the ascent, and an additional Diff 7 Athletics test from the leader (Joyce) on the second day (if they're pushing to reach the mountain by the end of that day, rather than using the spell to open the sky). I decided to cut one of the Diff 5 Athletics tests, as the entire mountain-and-ravine section has a -lot- of tests and rolls. I think this was the correct call, the +2 Safety bonus notwithstanding.

So, folks reached the summit of Mount Kailash just as the sun was beginning to set. The view was spectacular, restoring 2 points of Stability to Vito, the only person down any Stability at that point. This was, I thought, particularly appropriate as one of Vito's pillars is The Beauty of Nature.

Joyce noted with delight that no one else had ever been up on the summit of Mount Kailash. I pointed out that Savitree's people had, and as the thought occurred to Joyce, it soured her mood. Her Drive is, after all, Adventure.

Lillian (offering to dance with Joyce leading): You can be pretty sure Savitree's people didn't waltz up here.

Joyce accepted, and I'm pretty sure that Lillian was correct.

Lillian was the first to notice the ground shaking, and she called a warning for folks to brace themselves (which was represented mechanically by a small pool of points that folks could draw on).

Martin: I hate earthquakes.

The shaking got worse, and, on top of that, folks were affected by visions or hallucinations, by sensations and emotions, and by a definite change in the local laws of reality.

Martin flashed back to an orgasmic Nectar high. Vito flashed back to an enraged Nectar sensation, feeling the arm he'd had amputated and burned, and in particular, the mouth on that arm. He managed to restrain himself from attacking anyone nearby, though he spent some time dry retching, as his entire body seemed to become suddenly capable of tasting and smelling, perceiving wet flesh, gory rotting, and less pleasant sensations.

Everyone saw the stars wheel, and had visions of gnashing mouths and wrinkled flesh, as well as visions of horrible violations visited upon their loved ones (something I did not feel the need to describe or to insist be dramatized -- squeamishness aside, there was quite enough going on as it way).

Folks managed to stay on the mountain, although one or two might have gotten bruised and battered. Finally, the shaking and the visions stopped, and folks gradually realized that a vast chasm which had not been there before had opened in the mountain top. This was the Devouring Ravine.

Even standing at the edge, they were standing in a billowing pillar stinking of the all too familiar mossy scent of Nectar. Everyone found that they needed to focus on their purpose, lest they become distracted, staring off into space or wandering away.

Martin's Player: Can Martin use cocaine to blow out his sense of smell?

GM: ... I don't see why not.

Martin's Player: While folks are kissing pictures of loved ones, Martin is doing a line of coke.

Joyce instructed Rasul and his brothers to wait at the top of the ravine. Given the cheat sheet I had for getting out of the ravine, this was an excellent precaution.

Joyce instructed Comrade Wu and the six members of The Fifth Interdisciplinary Workers' Council for the Propagation of Revolutionary Sporting Events and Activities to go with Lillian to establish a beachhead.

Vito would follow with Martin and Puey Pramoj, while Joyce would come last, with Fan, Ghengis, Semyon, and Smedley.

GM: What about Pannu Singh, your guide?

Joyce's Player: Is there any reason he has to come down the ravine?

None whatsoever. Leaving him at the top was prudent. It may well have saved his life and almost certainly saved his sanity.

Vito (to Martin): Do NOT stop for me!

Martin (high on cocaine): I don't think I can stop now. I don't know if this is a -good- thing.

The two were on the same page. Both wanted Martin to survive.

Martin: Don't let me die here.

Vito: Don't _you_ let you did here!

Whether they were going to use spells or explosives, it was clear that they had to go deep into the ravine. In game mechanics terms, there were three levels below the summit. The lower they got, the smaller the Liar's Inertia pool would be (and the more effective the dynamite would be if they'd chosen that plan).

Of course, at each level, there were a series of rolls to be made:

• Athletics (which got harder as one went lower)
• Cthulhu Mythos (ditto, although I was using the Stability Cap rules and knew what the cap would be for a few different permutations)
• Sense Trouble (which got easier as one went lower and dangers were more obvious)
• Possibly something else, depending on the result of the Sense Trouble roll.

Going Down to the Top Level

Lillian and the Fifth Interdisciplinary Workers' Council made it down to the top level and established a beachhead. There was a sudden spray from a Nectar plume which Lillian managed to duck, but a couple of the 5th IWC members got hit by the spray and busied themselves having sex.

Vito and Martin got down without incident, iirc. However, Martin looked at the rock he'd created from the material in Ethiopia, intended to block the Liar's scrying. It crumbled beneath his gaze.

Martin: Oh f*ck. (shows crumbling rock) I guess he knows we're coming!

Joyce: Can you still do what we need to do?

He could, as the rocks from the Yucatan pyramid were still intact. Lillian was somewhat taken aback by the hyperactive Martin, going quickly down the rock.

Joyce: How many lines did you do??

Martin: Enough to blow out my sense of smell!

I think that when Joyce was descending, her rope nearly snapped, due to either a newly formed Mouth or of a very sharp rock. But, she was able to do some maneuver to swing it over the obstacle in question, and she rejoined the others.

Once folks were all on the rock, they decided to consolidate. Mechanically, this means fewer rolls, as folks can use the piggybacking rules. This loophole suited me given the sheer number of rolls required, though it was also quite useful to have the ablative mooks in reserve as needed. And, indeed, they were needed.

At one point, possibly when Joyce was descending, possibly earlier or later, a giant mouth opened, one as huge as the ones they'd destroyed in Bangkok or Los Angeles or Mexico City or even Malta. I asked which of the mercenaries it had swallowed. Joyce's player noted that Semyon had nothing to lose, so it swallowed Smedley, leaving Joyce with nothing but his Master Sergeant patch. Comrade Wu was later swallowed up by a dfferent huge mouth -- assuming it was a mouth and not some other, less savory, orifice. I don't think any of the 5th IWC made it back. I think at one point, Joyce's player figured that Semyon had probably wandered off, which made sense given the effect of the Nectar on those who let their mind wander. And, I suspect tht Genghis also died in the ravine.

All of this, of course, happened over time. But right now, folks regrouped and prepared to head down another level.

Going Down to the Middle

At some point, Lillian kissed Martin on the mouth for luck. Joyce may tell George Lucas to do that in the future.

George Lucas: But she's he's -sister-!

Future Joyce: Don't worry -- it'll be great!

And I think we figured that when Joyce retires, she might become a stuntwoman, or she might teach others to do so.

Folks piggybacked on Lillian's Athletic pool, Joyce and Vito each spending two points, which meant that they'd paid for the privilege and given Lillian one extra point each. As they descended, reality continued to shift, the sky sometimes above or below them, sometimes somewhere very different.

Lillian (going down, pointing in a circle around the surreal landscape and to at her own head): All the time!

Martin: We're all mad here.

Lillian said that she'd been born for this, iirc. Her player elaborated via email.

Lillian's Player: Maybe more like the reason she doesn't function well in the normal world because she has to be able to function well in situations like this. This was partly inspired by Lillian succeeding at a short series of rolls, two stability rolls and an athletics roll I think, on which she spent no points.

Vito (sad): Time for me to go!

His player said that Vito's character arc has been Leaving Carcosa.

At some point, Joyce took out a kukri. I think Lillian (who has a kukri) / Lillian's Player asked how it was that Joyce had a kukri.

Joyce / Joyce's Player: It's 1938 -- we've -all- got kukris!

Martin / Martin's Player: We're -all- barbarians!

Joyce's Player (elaborating via email): She picked it up running around the Himalayas during her walkabout, because they're too bloody useful not to have. Notably, Joyce has the kind that is large and heavy, closer to a hatchet than a knife, mostly because for her it's a tool first and only a secondary weapon.

They reached the middle level. Martin could feel his endurance starting to fray.

Martin: Someone is going to have to -pull- me out of this f*cking pit!

Lillian: I will carry you out of here by your ass if I have to, just start the ritual!

Lillian grabbed his ass to punctuate the statement.

Martin: You are a beautiful woman, and if I swung that way, I'd f*ck you, especially as this place is -full- of f*cking Nectar

Joyce: Marty! Marty! When we get to the next level, you're going to cast the spell to save the universe.

Martin: I'm going to cast the spell to save my boyfriend. That's why I'm here. Cuz I'm the most -selfish- person. I'm never doing this again!

Vito (amused, to Joyce): That's what I said after Carcosa and what you said after East Africa!

Going Down to the Bottom

Martin declared himself thoroughly sick of mountains in much the same way that he had previously declared himself thoroughly sick of Bangkok's rainy season and Ethiopia's heat.

Martin: There shall be no mountains! I hate mountains! They're the worst!

My notes say that something happened that involved an Outdoorsman Spend by Joyce and Vito's Sense Trouble roll. I think this was something about Vito catching something with his hook and ropes, but I'm vague on the details.

Vito (to Joyce): Remember -- we set this up!

Vito: I didn't think that would actually work!

(At least, I think it was Vito, not Joyce, who said that.)

They had reached the bottom of the ravine. Vito held up his hook and shouted at the Liar, who was, essentially, all around them at that point.

Vito: This is what you cost me! My hand!

I have no idea of the context of this line:

Martin (to Joyce): I've rarely seen you be passive aggressive before.

Martin's Player, trying to fill in details via email, said it was probably "Something about her doing all the work and being alone forever." This is very plausible.

Banishing the Liar

Joyce realized that she didn't have to fire the stone from the Yucatan pyramid into the Liar. She could pretty much just put it down, so she did.

Joyce: Marty?

Martin: Yes?

Joyce: You're going to save the world now.

Martin: And that's supposed to make me feel good?

Not that he was backing out now, but he did want something after it was all done.

Martin: And someone's buying me wine. And scotch. And whiskey.

Lillian: I will bathe your naked body in it -- just cast the f*cking spell!

The two of them had created the spell, basically reverse engineering a spell to summon Gol-Goroth. In order to banish the Liar, the caster needed to chant in an alien language that inverted the Tongue of Lies and to "envision hyper-logical constructs while embodying restraint and moderation of action". In other words, it was a spell that was perfectly suited to the strengths of Martin and Lillian.

Martin: She's the restrained and moderation of actions. I just know linguistics.

At this point, the numbers entered into things, but I don't think that was a problem.

The Stability Test difficulty was 5 -- or 4 with the Rituals of Self Denial and 3 with a 1-point Rituals of Self Denial Spend. Martin had a single point to spend, this being why folks had spent a couple of weeks with George Ayers in the desert in Ethiopia. Martin's player rolled a 2, which, with that point, was just enough.

Next, the cost of the spell was 5 Stability or 10 Health (or some combination of the two in a 1:2 ratio). But, that 1 point rating in the Rituals of Self Denial reduced the damage to 4 Sanity or 8 Health, which Martin's player chose to take as 2 Sanity and 4 Health (all of which is assuming I'm interpreting the text correctly, but that was how we rolled).

Martin took off his jacket, despite the cold, and sat on the ground, cross-legged. He opened his mouth and what was essentially white noise came out.

Everyone else in turn made spends to guarantee success in a round of the contest, which had the standard Difficulty of 4. Joyce, Lillian, and Vito all knew the spell, so they only paid 1 Stability or 2 Health to buy in each round, and then 1 Stability or 2 Health for each additional point. (I ruled that the ablative mercenaries couldn't help here.)

• Lillian spent 2 Stability and 4 Health.
• Vito spent 1 Stability and 6 Health.
• Joyce spent 3 Stability and 2 Health.
• The Liar spent 3 points from its Inertia pool after each of these.

And, at this point, someone suggested we back up and describe what was going on. This was a great idea.

Martin was sitting on his coat doing his weird ventriloquism. The sounds like white noise came from his throat and just kept coming. He was doing something called circle breathing. (Actually, "circular breathing": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_breathing -- apparently, the acknowledged record is 47 minutes, 6 seconds. Whether Martin went longer than that is an interesting question, as I don't think anyone could have proved this to Guinness.)

It looked like he was taking damage from the cold, but not acknowledging it. He was trembling, and his teeth would be chattering if he hadn't been chanting.

Lillian moved to embody self-restraint.

My notes say "Eyes".

Lillian's Player (trying to unpack what that might have meant, via email): I think this might have been a callback to one of the ablative mooks, who was characterized by being quite. Since Lillian had until recently keeping quiet herself, I narrated the two of them silently rolling their eyes at all the talky-talk of the other PCs. Bit of a flashback at that point in the evening I suspect.

Lillian: The following things are blasphemous. Blood sacrifices are abhorrent to all decent gods.

IIRC, Lillian had cut herself and made a circle around her with her own blood either before, as, or after saying that.

Lillian: We do not do these -things-!

And the circle of blood went up in flames/

Lillian: We do not do these things!

Vito took off his coat, even thought it was obviously very cold there, and stood behind Martin.

Vito: Something Marty once said. There's no justice. There's Just Us. Gods are to be respected because -we- make them. (puts a hand on Martin's cheek (which is ice cold)) They're what we use to give ourselves answers in the dark -- that's why I will always respect them. Know what I believe in? I believe in him -- he is more powerful than you.

Joyce drew her kukri and cut her arm and spoke as the blood dripped down.

Joyce: Into you I pour my hate.

By now, I was rolling for the Liar. (Kudos to the authors for supplying a default Spend strategy, but minus a few points for not making the Inertia pool numbers divide neatly given that strategy. I tweaked the numbers to fix that.) And, for the longest time, I could not seem to roll anything but 5s and 6s. I muttered about swapping out the die, but Joyce's player said that it was fine, as it build a whole lot of tension. Eventually, I did swap out the die, as I was genuinely uncertain whether the one I'd been rolling was off. Naturally, the first roll on the new die was either a 5 or a 6.

We were now stopping after each player spend and GM roll to describe what was going one, but for simplicity's sake, I'm putting the next four rolls here.

• Martin spent 6 Health. The Liar spent 2 points from its Inertia pool.
• Lillian spent 2 Stability and 4 Health. The Liar spent the final point from its Inertia pool.
• Joyce spent 4 Health and 2 Stability.
• Vito spent 6 Health and 1 Stability

Martin's Player: Martin's not sitting in the correct way for someone doing extended vocal work. He's sort of slumped over. His nose starts to bleed. Then, his ears start to bleed. Then, his eyes start to bleed. There's blood under his fingernails. He moans, but keeps going.

Lillian uncurled from lotus position.

Lillian's Player: She's just sort of squatting on the ground -- standing sort of hurting right now.

Lillian: Okay. We're done with the denial. You think that you're hurting the world Oh no. No no no. We humans can do more than enough damage to the world, thank you very much.

Lillian's player reminds me that Lillian next "bitch[ed] about being a good girl/proper little holy warrior when she'd rather give in to her hedonistic impulses". She mocked the Liar for its "lust and wrath based temptations".

Lillian: I'm. Not. Giving. In. To. You. F*cker.

Joyce (as the blood drips down her arm): All that maddens and torments, all truth with malice in it, all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain, all the subtle demonisms of life and thought, I pour into you, with my hate.

Vito: Is that from Moby Dick?

Joyce: It's better in the original French!

(Joyce's player (via email after the session) gave the actual quote, which was from Chapter 41 of Moby Dick:

All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby-Dick. He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it.)

I couldn't get most of Vito's speech. I know he was standing behind Martin, and that he started by saying, "You know" and, I think, at one point, said "I will not allow you to". I'm sure there was more, but I have no idea what.

Martin spent 3 Stability.

Martin's Player: The white noise continues, but it's getting choppier. Martin's wearing thin.

Joyce: Vito, we don't have much time!

Vito (to Martin): Remember Jeremiah's face. Remember Jeremiah's smile!

Lillian: Please, please, Martin, keep the white noise going!

At this point, my notes get confusing.

Lillian (I think): No -- no no no no no -- This planet is mine!

My notes say: "J -- L = alien" -- I think this means that Joyce or Joyce's player made a comment to the effect of Joyce noting that Lillian seemed to be thinking of herself as an alien? Or something?

Lillian's player said something about this being "uncertain at best of time", which probably means that Lillian's player indicated that Lillian was uncertain about her own humanity or alienness even at the best of times.

Lillian spent 2 Health and 3 Stability. And, finally, I rolled a 1 on the die.

I don't have any notes on what Lillian said, so I asked the player.

Lillian's Player (via email): I might have repeated the theme. I was trying to make Lillian sound like she was EITHER claiming earth and humanity as the rightful habitat and prey of HER species of eldtrich horror, OR a brave, determined, crazy human spitting defiance in the face of the alien monster on behalf of her race. I hope some of that came across.

Vito: You know, I'm going about this the wrong way. (to Martin) I want you to see his smile beaming at you.

And we agreed that Joyce should have the last word here.

Joyce (to Liar): Just go to Hell!

And she fired her gun into it.

And, time stopped.

Folks could see every pebble, every drop of Nectar in the air, all suspended in a pattern they had seen before, through the slits in the observatory of the pyramid of Golxumal. They were flung across space and time as the stars wheeled around them and the pattern recurred, a pattern more familiar to Joyce and Martin than to the others, for those two had seen the painting _The Gazer's Perspective_, which showed the pattern of stars visible not from Earth, but from Golxumal, before Joyce had destroyed the painting.

The vision lasted for eternity and for only a split second, as they were thrown back into the crashing of the living Himalayan rock, and during it all, they heard a voice, hissing and vowel-ridden, as if speaking the Tongue of Lies. However, the voice was perfectly and horrifically intelligible, and more massive than their mind could contain.

The Voice: Turn your empty visage upon this rock, then. The human thing’s sacrifice is complete.

And, across the world, I described a few things, giving folks the option to decide that their characters were somehow mystically aware of them.

• In Ethiopia, George Ayers allowed himself to laugh for the first time in a decade as the calcified mouth on his stomach crumbled and died.
• In Valetta, Montgomery Donovan, Jr. sat up, his illness gone, and asked for his mommy and daddy, not yet realizing that both were dead.
• In Kolluli, the last surviving person from Dallol village stumbled in, mutilated, but clear headed, free of the voice in his head, and confused and horrified at what he and his fellow villagers had done. He was taken aside by Jerome, who talked quietly to him, introducing him to two women, as the four of them were the only ones who had anything approaching a full understanding for what had happened.

Joyce's Player: And in Los Angeles?

GM: Well, he's not peeling his skin off, like he was in Joyce's dream, but he is sitting in a wheelchair, screaming. Nyarlathotep isn't laughing, like he was in the dream. He's walking away, looking sad.

Martin's Player: Fortunately, Martin is drained and unaware of this.

Reviewing my notes, I see I'd also meant to describe the birds and other creatures that had been warped by Jonathan Brooks in Mexico City, terrifying creatures which were now dying.

And I called for a 5-point Mythos Stability test. Amazingly, Martin made it. Joyce spent 3 points and made it.

Lillian originally blew the roll, but the player decided to put saved points into Stability retroactively, creating a new Source of Stability. This made dramatic sense, and I'm thinking of it like this: As Lillian's mind reeled from the vision and the voice, she thought of the man who she now knew for sure was the father of her child, Jerome, a man who had dedicated his life to fighting the Liar.

Vito blew the roll, and I think the loss he took probably came later in the session, narratively and dramatically speaking.

On the other hand, anyone who had lost Sanity (and whose Cthulhu Mythos knowledge hadn't risen high enough to lock in the new total) now gained 2 points back.

Right then, however, folks tried to pull themselves together -- and up, for the Devouring Ravine began to collapse.

Escaping the Ravine

Just as folks had had to climb down three levels, they now had to climb up three levels. It got easier as they went, which was good, as folks were rapidly running out of the relevant skill points.

Joyce's planning was, quite literally, life saving here. She fired her flare gun (which I think we'd established she had waaaay back in the Los Angeles or Mexico City chapter) and Rasul's brothers started hauling on each of the three ropes to pull people up. Mechanically, each person pulling added a +1 bonus to whomever was being helped, and each person pulling could only help one person at a time.

This worked out to +2 for everyone. (Okay, technically, there were 3 sets of ropes with multiple people on them, and the PC distribution was Joyce (with Fan) on one rope, Martin and Lillian on another, and Vito on a third. I'm not sure how the authors would have divided things up, but I was definitely not about to create a more complicated formula.) Joyce's player asked if that counted for every test or just one, and I ruled that it counted for every test, which I still think is the most sensible way to do it.

Getting from the bottom to the middle required a total of 8 on an Athletics roll (or a Fleeing roll, but none of the PCs have Fleeing -- I'm still not convinced it's a good deal). But, people could spend a point of Outdoorman to cancel a failure -- or to negate damage taken after a failed roll. (This means that I misread the rules, but not in the way I thought, and that, in any case, spending an Outdoorsman point to not fail to go up a level was totally fine.)

• Joyce got a total of 8 on the Athletics roll for herself and Fan. This was enough.
• Vito got a total of 6 (spending 4 and rolling a 2, or vice versa) and spent his last Outdoorsman point.
• Whichever of Martin and Lillian were rolling failed, and negated the failure with an Outdoorsman point.

Moving from the middle to the top level:

• Joyce got a total of 3, which wasn't enough. She spent an Outdoorsman point, and the player described Joyce hastily shedding the armor she'd donned at the bottom of the ravine (which she absolutely had, even if I forgot to mention it before in this write up), and ordering Fan to drop his sword, which he did. Sword and armor fell into the ravine, but Joyce and Fan did not.
• Lillian spent 3 points and got a total of 6, which was enough. Martin was well aware that he was hanging on for dear life and going along for the ride.
• Vito failed his roll and fell...

Moving from the top to the summit and safety:

• Lillian and Martin made it.
• Joyce got a total of 3, which, again, wasn't enough.

GM: So, you got another Outdoorsman point left?

Joyce's Player: Yes.

She described the rope slipping as Joyce and Fan got to the top. Joyce grabbed the edge of the cliff with one hand.

Fan (as the camera pans to show his hand grabbing onto Joyce's belt): This was not in the contract!

Folks pulled the two to safety.

Joyce: Where's Vito?

He was, of course, nowhere to be seen.

Joyce's Player: I presume the ravine closes with a snap?

GM: Of course the ravine closes with a snap.

Lillian poured wine on the ground for him.

Joyce: That is not a tribute worthy of that good man!

I think if I could have recorded only one line from this session, that would have been the one.

Meanwhile, I took Vito's player aside, and described Vito hearing Amelia's voice as he fell. She was offering to lead him to safety. Misunderstanding exactly what was going on, the player first had Vito turn her down, despite her frantic explanation that she was not going to lead him to Carcosa, but to safety on Earth. I was willing to accept the player's decision to let Vito die, but it turned out that he hadn't realized that Vito was actually falling to his death and would die otherwise. I'm guessing he thought Vito was trying to climb up the ravine and Amelia, or Hastur's impersonation of Amelia, was trying to trick him.

Once the player understood the situation, he had Vito agree to follow Amelia, noting that Vito had a promise to keep. I'm not sure what that promise was, but I think it boiled down to staying out of Carcosa and trying to live on Earth.

So, he followed her. By now, we were back with the others, so, out of character, folks knew what was going on. In character, there was still subdued mourning, as there was still a mountain to climb back down.

Amelia: I'm sorry, Uncle Vito, but this is going to get very messy.

GM: You are in a sphincter. It's literally sh*tting you out.

Amused, Vito's player noted that he'd been expecting something like that pretty much from the moment folks saw the Devouring Ravine (and I'm fairly sure I remember him making a comment to that effect at the time).

Honest human hands hauled out both Vito and Amelia as the sphincter / mouth / whatever collapsed in on itself. And, Vito recognized Sivakumar Patel, the man who, a decade ago, had guided him, Amelia, Geoffrey, and John through India and Nepal.

As Vito and Amelia got cleaned up, Sivakumar explained that he -- well, he hadn't meant to become anything like an investigator, and for the most part, he hadn't. But, he had started noticing things and got some people together and -- well, he'd led an attack on cultists of the Liar and of the giant mouth / sphincter there, in Calcutta (Kolkata). Vito was happy.

And Now, The Bad News

As folks reached the base of Mount Kailash, they noticed that all of the pilgrims were gone. That couldn't be a good sign. Nor were there any pilgrims or locals -- or animals -- in Burang.

Martin looked for Jeremiah, while Joyce looked for Douglas. Both were there, and, if I recall correctly, Douglas had felt it when the Liar was banished. He was happy, and Joyce hoped that he might be regaining his sanity. Douglas asked after Vito, and Joyce told him that Vito hadn't made it.

Then, folks noticed a faint green light in the sky, slowly undulating across the heavens like some kind of foul aurora outside the polar regions.

Ten, green lightning started flashing across the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud, striking the ground both near and far.

Then, someone noticed a fine layer of ash on something that hadn't been moved in a while.

Then, they realized that ash was falling from the sky in a very fine powder.

Lillian: I hope I'm not the only one seeing this. It doen't look like my usual delusion.

Joyce: Pardon me for saying so, but this looks like the end of the world.

Lillian (indicating the green light): So, Y'golonac was the sacrifice to bring -- -that-?

In Calcutta, by the dead mouth / sphincter, folks were noticing the same things -- the light, the lightning, the ash.

Vito sent a telegram to a pre-arranged drop point, which folks agreed would probably be Delhi, which, the internet tells me, is about 1,462 kilometers or 908 miles from Calcutta.

Vito's telegram:

I AM IN CALCUTTA STOP I AM ALIVE AND WITH AMELIA STOP WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO GO STOP

Joyce (reading it): He's in Hell.

Martin: Well, where are we going?

Joyce: Calcutta.

Martin: Why can't he come to us?

Joyce: That's probably better.

Martin's telegram, first version:

DELHI

Lillian: Say Hello Amelia

Telegram, Revised:

DELHI STOP HELLO AMELIA STOP LILLIAN

Joyce (watching the skies): Is this localized or all over the world?

The strange phenomena were occurring all over the world.

Lillian: The answer to our questions is in Johns Hopkins. (to Joyce) Unless you broke him out, too.

She was referring to Edgar Job, whom Joyce did not "break out" when she took Douglas Henslowe from Johns Hopkins. Actually, all things considered, Joyce has always been restrained in her treatment of Edgar Job.

Meanwhile, Vito was starting to put things together on his end as well. Hastur had been very helpful in making sure that folks learned what they needed to banish the Liar, and had been remarkably generous, or so it had seemed, in bargaining with Martin and Vito, even keeping what Vito wanted as part of Martin's bargain after Vito decided the better of making any bargain himself. All this despite Hastur having been thwarted by Amelia, Vito, Geoffrey, and John from coming to Earth and destroying it.

Vito: We've played right into his hands.

He asked Amelia if she wanted to go back to Carcosa. Hastur had allowed her to return to Earth if she ever chose, but once she did choose to return to Earth, she could not come back to Carcosa. And Earth was being destroyed.

Vito (to Amelia): Come with me, baby.

They took the train to meet the others in Delhi.

Joyce's Player: I've got the tagline:

Doug and Joyce walking through the crowd in Delhi. Everyone's panicking. Joyce turns to Henslowe.

Joyce: So, we're going to do something you've wanted to do for eleven years. We're going to kill Edgar Job.

CREDITS.