Episode 6
Episode 6 - Subterranean Homesick Devil
The Agents have succeeded in finally tracking down the unnatural predator responsible for the brutalization of the rural Ohio populace. However, they now find themselves at a disadvantage, trapped underground in a labyrinthine lair as the creature appears to have easily reversed the roles in this game of cat-and-mouse.
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Transcript
Hello?
Speaker B:What time is it?
Speaker C:Who is it?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker D:Situation.
Speaker C:Dream One below.
Speaker C:Sorry, honey, I have to take this.
Speaker A:Let's call Snedeker and get some.
Speaker B:Oh, shit.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Let me do this in character.
Speaker A:Let me do this in character.
Speaker C:Yes, please.
Speaker A:Romeo turns to the other agents in a quieter voice, says, let's make a call and get some more supplies for this.
Speaker A:More than just a pry bar and a spade.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Roizen hands him her phone.
Speaker E:She's like, you're calling this time?
Speaker C:It rings a few times and he picks up.
Speaker A:Agent, this is Romeo.
Speaker A:We believe we've found the source of the problem.
Speaker A:We're going to need somebody with the skills to burn it with fire and powder, and then we're gonna need to cover it under stone.
Speaker A:This is the information we've gathered.
Speaker A:We know where it is.
Speaker A:We'd like some further assistance before we move forward on this thing.
Speaker C:There's a long pause.
Speaker C:Agent, I'm trying to extrapolate from your words your meaning.
Speaker C:Can you be a little clearer?
Speaker C:It sounds like you.
Speaker C:You're asking me for the dispatch of a.
Speaker C:Of another human asset, someone with specific specialization in explosives and demolition.
Speaker C:Is that correct?
Speaker A:That is correct, Agent.
Speaker C:I don't know if I can serve you in that capacity in any timely fashion.
Speaker A:I thought it'd be worthy of asking.
Speaker C:If you need something that is percussive, or concussive, as the case may be, I might be able to help you.
Speaker C:But you will be on your own within the specializations that you and the rest of the team have.
Speaker C:Is that fair enough?
Speaker C:Going to be sufficient for what you have encountered?
Speaker A:If that's all you can get us, then we will have to make do with that.
Speaker C:I'm going to give you a call back in 20 minutes.
Speaker C:If I can get you a human asset in a respectable amount of time, I will.
Speaker C:Otherwise, I'll have something else for you.
Speaker C:He doesn't sound very hopeful when he says that last bit.
Speaker A:We appreciate it.
Speaker C:He hangs up.
Speaker C:You see the pastor holding his wife's face in his hands, whispering something to her, and she leaves the vestry, walking past you relic.
Speaker C:The pastor looks at each one of you.
Speaker C:He seems driven.
Speaker C:And you're not sure if it's by insanity or grief or something else.
Speaker C:But there's purpose behind his words and his movements now.
Speaker C:Strong purpose.
Speaker C:I'm gonna go get the wrecking bar, he says.
Speaker C:I'm gonna go get my spade.
Speaker C:I'm gonna go get my gun.
Speaker C:And we're gonna go down there and see.
Speaker C:See what's been below this church the entire time I've been testifying.
Speaker C:In the name of the Lord.
Speaker C:Right above.
Speaker C:We will stay right here.
Speaker D:I'm gonna head out to the vehicle and grab some of.
Speaker D:Some of our gear.
Speaker C:Nice.
Speaker C:So the pastor leaves the kind of subterranean basement or vestry relic you leave as well.
Speaker C:Other agents.
Speaker E:I have everything on me.
Speaker B:Ryan turns to Romeo and Royzen.
Speaker B:They're still in the room, right?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:When the voice told relic that we need to bury this in stone, I think of that as concrete.
Speaker B:Do we need to run to a hardware store and get some concrete?
Speaker A:I think that'd be very useful.
Speaker A:But, yeah, we'll have to do that.
Speaker A:We'll have to get a wheelbarrow concrete.
Speaker A:We should probably search that laptop for references of powder to make sure that that powder is not some particular powder.
Speaker A:Like we had to drink.
Speaker A:We had to wear aluminum and drink that stuff?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I guess I thought of gunpowder, but it makes a lot of sense that it might be something else.
Speaker B:For the sake of being resourceful, do we want to ask the pastor's wife to go pick up the concrete for us?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Why not keep her out of it as much as possible.
Speaker B:Picking up some concrete.
Speaker B:I don't think that that's involving her.
Speaker A:The less she knows, the better about.
Speaker B:What we just told her in front of her.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think Rya's gonna appease him in the moment and say okay, but head out of the room and walk back towards where the pastor is.
Speaker C:I expected some sarcastic comment about sweeping the vestry for bugs.
Speaker C:Too bad.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:I'm too focused.
Speaker B:We're so close to the end, I can taste it.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:You get a call back from Snediger in about 20 minutes.
Speaker C:Agent, I don't have any available resources in the area that fit your needs that can be there in a timely fashion.
Speaker C:It's just not going to work for us, or at least those whom we have to report to at the end of this thing.
Speaker C:Do you understand?
Speaker C:Yes, I do have.
Speaker C:I do have an address, though, that you could visit.
Speaker C:There is a public storage facility back in Columbus.
Speaker C:I'll text you the exact address, and I will read to you the last known combination.
Speaker C:This may not be correct.
Speaker C:I warn you.
Speaker C:Been told this particular facility hasn't been well brought up to speed with the changes in our organization in recent years.
Speaker C:But hopefully.
Speaker C:Hopefully you can gain access.
Speaker C:And hopefully the information I have is correct about it having what you need, what you've requested, at least materially.
Speaker C: Door code is: Speaker C:If that doesn't work and you're unable to get access, well, you'll need to get creative and improvisational instead.
Speaker A:Understood.
Speaker C:That's why you're there, Agent.
Speaker C:That's what you're good at.
Speaker C:Let me know if anything else comes up that I might be able to assist with.
Speaker C:Good luck.
Speaker C:Be seeing you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker C:He hangs up.
Speaker C:What's next, agents?
Speaker F:Well, it would make sense for two of us to go check out the box and two to get through the floor.
Speaker F:As long as you guys don't go under the church before we get back.
Speaker F:If you break through, you stop.
Speaker A:Okay, that's good.
Speaker B:Sounds like a good idea to me.
Speaker A:As long as that's.
Speaker A:That's the understanding.
Speaker A:Romeo would be fine with that.
Speaker C:What does he say?
Speaker D:I'll stay behind.
Speaker B:I'll stay behind as well.
Speaker A:I guess I'll.
Speaker A:I'll go get.
Speaker A:Get the parcel.
Speaker B:Royson, do you want to join him?
Speaker F:Sure.
Speaker F:I'm driving.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I'm fine with that.
Speaker B:Don't fall asleep, relic.
Speaker C:And Ryan, you are working side by side with Pastor Kemp, who has brought a wrecking bar as he mentioned, as well as several smaller crowbars, and begin smashing and ripping up the stone.
Speaker C:A very well placed stone that makes up the vestry floor.
Speaker C:After about 30, 45 minutes of hard, brutal work, you crack through and begin to reveal indeed significant space beneath the floor.
Speaker C:Rotting wood beams are present, but below that are tunnels about 5ft high.
Speaker C:They're substantive.
Speaker C:Tunnels seem to crisscross and move in every way.
Speaker C:When you bend down with a flashlight and look from side to side, the pastor asserts that looks exactly as it did when he was a child.
Speaker C:And that somewhere down there might be the creature that murdered his son.
Speaker C:At the same time, Agent Romeo and Roizen, you drive up to that public storage facility and you're able to use the code followed by the pound sign at the gate to gain entry.
Speaker C:And you roll up to the exact unit as instructed.
Speaker C:Now, this is not a roll top.
Speaker C:It's a much smaller unit with just a simple door and a keypad.
Speaker C:Thankfully, when you type in the number, it does register as the proper code and flashes green with a loud click.
Speaker C:Who's opening the door?
Speaker A:Romeo.
Speaker C:When you do, lights sputter on in the small 10 by 20 foot little storage room.
Speaker C:And immediately you two see three grenades fall from the top of the door and land at your feet.
Speaker C:It only takes seconds for the blood to begin pumping in your ears, and you notice the pins and safety spoons are clearly Missing.
Speaker A:Romeo grabs Royston and dives out of the.
Speaker A:Out of the area.
Speaker C:You both dive as fast as you can, rolling your Dodge or dexterity, whichever's higher.
Speaker F:Oh, thank goodness.
Speaker F:That's a pass from Horizon.
Speaker C:It's happening tonight.
Speaker D:All right.
Speaker C:What the hell?
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker A:Double success.
Speaker B:About damn time.
Speaker D:We're here to win.
Speaker B:Thanks Chris, for turning on the success algorithm.
Speaker B:In the background.
Speaker B:Unlike last time.
Speaker C:You both are on the concrete ground in this interior storage facilities hallway now outside and a good jump's length away from the entry into this, into this storage room.
Speaker C:No explosion, no loud bang.
Speaker C:And you both kind of slowly get up off the ground, brush yourselves off, look at.
Speaker C:Look at each each other and very carefully walk back to the entryway and peer in and you.
Speaker C:You see three grenades, spoons missing, pins missing.
Speaker C:As I said, you also notice a crumpled post IT note that fell to the ground as well.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Romeo picks up the post IT note and straightens it out.
Speaker C:It reads, stay on your toes.
Speaker C:Those could have been real B seeing you.
Speaker C:F cell.
Speaker A:Signed Fuck you, says Romeo under his breath and hands it to Royson.
Speaker F:She says something not terribly nice in another language.
Speaker A:Romeo raises an eyebrow at her and nods appreciatively and walks through the threshold of the storage room.
Speaker C:Yeah, again, it's.
Speaker C:It's a small 10x20, but on the ground in the middle of stacked boxes and some plastic cheap looking shelves which do have items on them.
Speaker C:There's a old camping sleeping bag there, looks like it's been used.
Speaker C:I'm just kind of left there.
Speaker C:It fills the small room with a faint scent of body odor.
Speaker C:But Roizen and Romeo, as you look around searching for anything that looks like explosives, you see an obvious item of note.
Speaker C:On one of the shelves is a very large, what looks to be an improvised flamethrower.
Speaker C:No doubt at all.
Speaker C:Both kind of peer at it, brows furrowed.
Speaker C:Y'all do y'all have pretty decent firearms?
Speaker C:I'm talking below or above 60.
Speaker F:Mine's only 50.
Speaker C:Any mechanical?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker C:Expertise?
Speaker A:Mechanical?
Speaker A:Mm, no.
Speaker C:Neither of you?
Speaker C:No heavy machinery.
Speaker C:What is that at?
Speaker F:It's only 10, so you can see.
Speaker C:That several refrigeration coils cover the entirety of this thing.
Speaker C:They've been bent around at kind of haphazard.
Speaker C:It's not uniform.
Speaker C:And you see that there's a rolling suitcase next to it with what looks like Pex tubing going inside.
Speaker C:And when you unzip it, you see two tanks in this rolling bag of apparently liquid nitrogen.
Speaker C:It doesn't really take any roles to realize that Somebody has stupidly created what they think is a freeze thrower or something of the.
Speaker C:Of the same effect.
Speaker C:Absolutely ridiculous.
Speaker C:Both of you think to yourselves, well.
Speaker A:Romeo out loud says this looks like something a friend of mine would have made.
Speaker C:Could be stupid enough to work, though.
Speaker A:Well, I don't think this is what we need.
Speaker A:That's about the gist of everything that we're seeing in here.
Speaker C:Agents, you continue to peruse these shelves and open up some wet and soggy cardboard boxes here.
Speaker C:The whole room kind of smells musty and like I mentioned, body odor because of the sleeping bag at your feet.
Speaker C:But you do see, well, in one of the boxes, a very large revolver.
Speaker C:Looks like its barrel was once much longer.
Speaker C:Somebody has sawed it down to become a shorter barrel, but it's.
Speaker C:It's a big boy still.
Speaker C:It is rusted out.
Speaker C:Looks like it's in quite terrible condition overall.
Speaker C:In fact, the entire frame is rusted.
Speaker C:Do you want to take a look at it?
Speaker C:Move on.
Speaker C:You just let me know.
Speaker A:Move on.
Speaker C:Okay, you look into a small plastic tray.
Speaker C:Agent Romeo and Roisin, you're welcome to return to that revolver at any time if you wish.
Speaker C:You look at that, a small plastic tray, and you see a little dropper of black liquid in a clear bottle.
Speaker C:As you kind of shake it around, you see it moves a lot like mercury, which you're now very familiar with.
Speaker A:Okay, moving on.
Speaker C:Roisin, you come across a book with an English title, but when you flip it open, it's in Vietnamese, or at least it appears to be.
Speaker C:But the title is Stories to Scare Children.
Speaker C:The Underside of the American war.
Speaker C:It's about 185 pages.
Speaker E:Yeah, we're gonna leave that there.
Speaker A:So we're looking for explosives.
Speaker C:As you continue to dig through, find a case of Bacardi Rum.
Speaker C:One bottle is missing.
Speaker C:You also find what looks like a bunch of sporting good equipment.
Speaker C:We're talking baseball gloves, baseball bats, aluminum bats, catcher's masks.
Speaker C:Just box after box of this of baseball in sporting good equipment.
Speaker C:But as far as explosives, you don't see anything.
Speaker A:All right, second best.
Speaker A:He goes back to the pistol and he looks to see if it's loaded.
Speaker C:The revolving cylinder does not want to come loose.
Speaker C:And you notice as you fiddle with it that it's carved with some very strange pictographs that you do not recognize.
Speaker A:Okay, well, forget about it.
Speaker A:All right, well, this is a wash.
Speaker A:We need to get out of here and head back.
Speaker E:Bryson's gonna grab a couple bottles of that rum.
Speaker C:Yep, you've got some bacardi now, if.
Speaker E:Nothing else, it's flammable.
Speaker A:You're not wrong.
Speaker E:Yeah, Bryson was just thinking, she's gonna take that pistol.
Speaker C:You pick up the revolver.
Speaker C:The rusted revolver feels very heavy in your hand.
Speaker C:You notice the engravings as well.
Speaker C:They are very intricate.
Speaker E:Well, they should be interesting.
Speaker A:Romeo says you don't know where.
Speaker A:What that's been through, I.
Speaker A:I wouldn't recommend taking that with you, but it's your life.
Speaker A:You ready to go?
Speaker E:Yeah, I'm.
Speaker E:I'm not seeing anything else here.
Speaker E:That is really what we need.
Speaker A:Well, on our way back, I'd like to check that laptop for powder and see if there's anything that pops up.
Speaker A:And that's what Romeo will spend his time doing while we're driving.
Speaker C:Sorry, laptop for powder.
Speaker C:Can you.
Speaker C:Can you remind me of what you're referring to?
Speaker C:Oh, the laptop you got from.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:Jeff's laptop we took.
Speaker C:Jeff, you're looking for powder.
Speaker C:Can you.
Speaker C:Can you help me understand?
Speaker C:I'm a little bit.
Speaker A:Well, because he mentioned burn with fire and powder.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:And Romeo knowing how weird things get, that his laptop was mentioning all kinds of weird shit.
Speaker C:Yeah, it looks like there.
Speaker C:There was a file that was partial photocopies of a book called Monsters and Their Kind, which is written in Middle English, and it's just all sorts of crazy gibberish and shit.
Speaker C:In fact, all four of you had.
Speaker C:All three of you had to speak together some of the words on a particular page that were just insanely difficult to get through.
Speaker C:So are you telling me you want to go start reading through this tome and paring through it, looking for the word powder?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Okay, well, you're.
Speaker C:You'll have.
Speaker C:You have time to basically look through maybe a couple pages.
Speaker C:It's incredibly dense.
Speaker C:It's very difficult to read because of the poor quality of the photocopies.
Speaker C:And you're not even sure that you're gonna be able to translate this properly.
Speaker C:It's just gonna take a good bit of time.
Speaker C:And by the time you're back at the Methodist church, you've gotten really nowhere with it.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:It's gonna be weeks of study.
Speaker A:You feel that's not worth the time, then, in this current situation?
Speaker A:Okay, so we're back, and we're ready to go in.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:When you two get back into the vestry, the pastor's wife, who introduces herself as Nagathlia Kemp, she brings you down into that basement area, and you can hear the sounds of metal hitting stone.
Speaker C:And when you get there, they've Made some pretty great progress.
Speaker C:There's a large hole now leading down into what is obviously a labyrinth.
Speaker C:Maze of tunnels, rotten wooden frames, and what look like newer concrete buttresses put in here in order to support the church's underpinnings.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:You guys made a lot of progress already.
Speaker A:I didn't expect it to be this far along.
Speaker A:Let me go get a thermos that I left in the SUV and I'll be right back.
Speaker A:And he goes and he grabs his thermos, which has kerosene in it.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Kerosene thermos.
Speaker E:Poison's gonna mention for him to grab one of those bottles as well.
Speaker C:Bacardi rum.
Speaker C:Got it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:You notice the bottle is not sealed.
Speaker C:And when you open to check the liquid inside, it is certainly not rum.
Speaker C:It is eye watering, maybe gasoline or something else.
Speaker C:But it smells about as flammable as anything agents.
Speaker C:At one point, the pastor mops his forehead.
Speaker C:He pulls himself out of the fairly large opening.
Speaker C:Now that you've broken away.
Speaker C:He picks up the shotgun that he brought with him along with the other tools.
Speaker C:Has a strap which he uses to sling it over his back.
Speaker C:It's an interesting shotgun in that it seems like it has a revolver chamber on it.
Speaker C:Something maybe y'all haven't seen before.
Speaker C:If your firearms is above 60, it's.
Speaker C:It's something you're familiar with.
Speaker D:That would be me.
Speaker D:Take a really takes a side look at that.
Speaker D:What am I seeing there?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a Rossi Circuit Judge shotgun.
Speaker C:It is a five chamber revolver shotgun.
Speaker C:It's kind of a hybrid.
Speaker C:It's an interesting weapon.
Speaker D:For passive.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's a.
Speaker D:That's quite the weapon you got there, sir.
Speaker C:He nods grimly.
Speaker C:It'll be helpful if we run into the thing.
Speaker C:The thing that took my son.
Speaker C:I think we're ready.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Romeo pulls out his gun.
Speaker C:You see him put a flashlight, a band around his forehead and turn on a headlamp.
Speaker C:And he says, I'll show you the way that I went years ago when I was a child.
Speaker B:Lead the way.
Speaker C:I'll show you some of the larger chambers that I found.
Speaker C:And maybe we'll find a trace of this thing.
Speaker C:Maybe you're right that it's been below us this whole time.
Speaker E:So, two things, gentlemen.
Speaker E:One, does anybody happen to have any chalk?
Speaker E:Because I don't want to get lost down there.
Speaker E:Two.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:But I do have bread.
Speaker A:Just kidding.
Speaker E:Second, Pastor, perhaps it would be better for us to let the gentlemen go ahead.
Speaker E:They are professionals after all.
Speaker A:Yeah, Pastor, if you don't mind leading from behind.
Speaker A:We'll.
Speaker A:We'll take whatever comes at us.
Speaker B:I'm not sure that's the best idea, guys.
Speaker B:The pastor's been down here before.
Speaker B:He's familiar with the territory, he's got the flashlight.
Speaker B:Plus it's his son.
Speaker B:I think that we should let him lead the way.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Ron just chucks another flashlight at you.
Speaker B:Ryan catches it, hands it to the pastor.
Speaker D:Relic attaches his tactical flashlight to the end of his shotgun.
Speaker D:Got one as well.
Speaker D:We've all got flashlights.
Speaker B:Ryan will concede, but look to the pastor to see if he does want to go first.
Speaker C:Just let me look at it.
Speaker C:Look it in the eyes at least once before you put it out of its.
Speaker C:God damned.
Speaker C:Pardon me?
Speaker C:He looks up.
Speaker C:Put it out of its misery.
Speaker E:You're coming with us, Pastor.
Speaker E:That'll happen Just.
Speaker E:Just in case it swings before anything else.
Speaker E:I'd rather have you bit in the back with me.
Speaker C:He nods.
Speaker A:Yeah, we know what we signed up for, sir.
Speaker C:Roll your persuade with that comment for me, please, Romeo.
Speaker C:Yes, please.
Speaker A:Passed.
Speaker C:You passed.
Speaker C:I know this is a weird day.
Speaker C:How many.
Speaker C:How many fails have we had so far?
Speaker C:Zero.
Speaker C:Almost saving it all for the.
Speaker C:Saving it all for the final confrontation.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker E:It's about to go really bad.
Speaker C:You all lower yourselves into this recent excavation, courtesy of Relic Ryan and Pastor Kemp.
Speaker C:You're lugging as much equipment as you feel comfortable with because the tunnels down here, some hewn from dirt, some from stone, others brick lines with rotten wood banisters and railings.
Speaker C:Again, frames that built who knows when and are rather waterlogged.
Speaker C:You all realize that Pastor Campus.
Speaker C:He directs you in in certain directions to take certain turns that the tunnels go up, they go down, they seem to curve back in on themselves.
Speaker C:In fact, before long you all feel fairly lost.
Speaker C:You realize if the pastor wasn't here to at least give you some sort of indication of where to go, well, you wouldn't have any hope to not get lost here below the village of Mechanicsburg.
Speaker C:The where you're going, you're not sure.
Speaker B:Determine a way to keep track of where we have gone.
Speaker B:I mean it was.
Speaker B:It was a good.
Speaker B:A legitimately good suggestion from Royson to have a way of tracking our steps, but I don't know if we had one.
Speaker C:I thought you had like a loaf of bread with you.
Speaker B:I mean, that was a breadcrumb joke, Chris.
Speaker A:Literal.
Speaker C:I mean, I take everything.
Speaker C:I don't have a sense of.
Speaker B:Do Methodists use communion?
Speaker C:They do not.
Speaker B:I didn't think So, I mean, is the.
Speaker B:I guess, let me ask this.
Speaker B:The tunnel is probably dusty.
Speaker B:Is it easy to see our footprints, foot tracks?
Speaker C:It is quite simple to see footprints in most of the tunnels.
Speaker C:Now, some of them have some stone hewn steps and some brick lined areas where it's impossible to really see much.
Speaker C:But yeah, without chalk or the Hansel and Gretel style, you know, leaving of candies or bread, yeah, you're.
Speaker C:You're in trouble without that.
Speaker E:Ryzen's going to pull a dart out of her hair and start using it to carve arrows on the wall as they go.
Speaker C:Got it?
Speaker C:It's quite easy.
Speaker C:The stone and the dirt is soft and gives simply to any measure of pressure.
Speaker C:And you're able to easily again create a trail this way that you could follow back.
Speaker C:Some of the tunnels here allow for standing height.
Speaker C:Sometimes space enough for three of you to walk abreast.
Speaker C:Other times they are quite cramped, forcing you to crouch, grunt, move in single file.
Speaker C:Time passes and begin to feel the oppressive mustiness of being underground.
Speaker C:Who knows where.
Speaker C:Somewhere in Ohio, being led by a pastor who was moments ago spouting off crazy heritage stories about demon stones, divine bolts of light from the sky, and bizarre community strife that drove a wedge so powerful that even the church split in two for a hundred years.
Speaker C:Before long, though, you end up in a large room.
Speaker C:It has more wooden supports than any of the tunnels you've yet traveled through.
Speaker C:There are alcoves here.
Speaker C:See that?
Speaker C:They're mostly empty as your lights shine from side to side, however, a few appear to contain dirty linen cloths, covering what must be human remains by the shape of them.
Speaker C:The ceiling here is about 8ft high, lined with red stone and brick.
Speaker C:And the entire dirt walled chamber is large.
Speaker C:It's about 30ft in diameter.
Speaker C:It's peppered with many of those nearly rotted vertical wooden supports.
Speaker C:The whole place looks like it could crumble down on top of you any moment.
Speaker C:You hear Pastor Kemp gasp.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker C:This is the old church's original vault.
Speaker C:I had no idea there were still remains interred here.
Speaker A:You mean this is a.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:He begins to look from alcove to alcove, examining the accoutrements and the linnets.
Speaker C:All four of you look around, your flashlight swinging from side to side in this large room.
Speaker C:And it doesn't take any skill to notice that there's dust all over the ground.
Speaker C:Dozens and dozens of overlapping clawed and padded tracks everywhere in the room.
Speaker C:They lead not only back into the tunnel you just emerged from, but to several other exits.
Speaker C:Around the periphery of this chamber.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Do you know where the demon stone is?
Speaker C:He looks back at you.
Speaker C:He's checking under one of the linens.
Speaker C:You can see there's what look like mummified and desiccated remains.
Speaker C:I have never been in this room, but it's.
Speaker C:It's the church's original vault.
Speaker C:I think this.
Speaker C:These might be my forebears.
Speaker D:Relic takes a closer look at the tracks.
Speaker D:Just to see if any of them.
Speaker C:Are roll your survival.
Speaker D:Yeah, I just want to see if they're.
Speaker D:How fresh they might be or not.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker C:Just waiting for that.
Speaker D:Want to get a sense of that one.
Speaker C:As he does that, he bends down and looks at the tracks.
Speaker C:I need everybody else to roll alertness, please.
Speaker B:No success on Ryan for alertness.
Speaker D:Do I need to roll alertness as well?
Speaker D:Chris?
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:I just wanted you to roll survival, please.
Speaker D:Oh, I failed.
Speaker E:So I failed that one.
Speaker B:There's the failures I passed.
Speaker C:There we are.
Speaker C:So as the tension begins, the fails roll on in.
Speaker C:Don't they?
Speaker C:Agent Relic, you're looking at these tracks and they do resemble those photographs you saw earlier today in the sheriff's office.
Speaker C:But now that you see them up close and in person.
Speaker C:Obviously not a bear's pad.
Speaker C:The claws are way too asymmetrically spaced.
Speaker C:And the pad itself is.
Speaker C:Well, it's much larger than what the police officer noted on the report.
Speaker C:You feel the hairs raise on the back of your neck.
Speaker C:Romeo.
Speaker C:Ryan, you hear or maybe even feel below your feet something heavy, thick, sliding underneath this chamber.
Speaker C:It stops almost abruptly as it began.
Speaker A:I think it's beneath us, says Romeo.
Speaker D:And I don't think it's a bear.
Speaker D:It's a lot bigger.
Speaker B:Do we get a sense of direction?
Speaker B:Like what part of is it coming from?
Speaker B:Like a side of the room.
Speaker B:Do we feel the vibrations emanating from.
Speaker C:From it's right beneath your feet.
Speaker C:It's like a giant heavy sliding.
Speaker C:It's such a large vibration that it's impossible to really understand directionality.
Speaker C:Roisin, you raise your flashlight to one of the other tunnel exits.
Speaker C:Out of this circular room you see what looks like a wall.
Speaker C:A dead end.
Speaker C:Large hand unfolds from the wall and sets itself down on the floor.
Speaker C:And just as suddenly it pushes off of the floor.
Speaker C:And you watch the wall slide by until there's nothing in the exit frame except for darkness.
Speaker B:So, guys, does only Royston see that?
Speaker C:That was a.
Speaker C:That was a Royston experience.
Speaker E:Guys, I just saw something move.
Speaker B:What did you see?
Speaker A:Romeo turns and points his Gun towards where she's looking.
Speaker C:It's an empty tunnel entrance.
Speaker C:Looks like it curves off to the right.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker C:Relic stands up after examining the tracks.
Speaker C:Relic, you look across the entire floor.
Speaker C:This is a very important area for whatever left these tracks.
Speaker C:Because it.
Speaker C:It has returned here over and over again over a long period of time.
Speaker D:We are right in its home.
Speaker D:Okay, everybody stay frosty.
Speaker D:I don't know what am I supposed to say now?
Speaker A:So what do we.
Speaker A:We want to draw it out in ambush.
Speaker D:Everybody stay alert.
Speaker A:Romeo backs himself up against a wall.
Speaker C:You look around the large 30 foot in diameter room.
Speaker C:You count seven exits here, including the one that you emerged from.
Speaker C:That somewhere somehow connects back to an open hole leading back into the church.
Speaker C:You hear all four of you now what sounds like very loud shuddering, very loud breathing.
Speaker C:The pastor looks up from his ministrations.
Speaker C:Did you hear that?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Get to a wall.
Speaker A:I think it's coming into this room.
Speaker A:We can ambush it.
Speaker C:He ignores you.
Speaker C:Places the linen back down on the remains that he was examining and moves to another alcove to examine another Pastor.
Speaker C:I need everyone to now roll your dexterities.
Speaker A:Pass.
Speaker B:Barely.
Speaker B:Pass for Ryan.
Speaker C:Ryan passes.
Speaker E:Risen passes.
Speaker C:Relic fails.
Speaker D:Oh, I failed.
Speaker D:I'm an old man.
Speaker C:Relic, as you look up, you realize you're right in the center of the room.
Speaker C:The others are against the walls, closing in on Romeo.
Speaker C:The other individual, who's off by themselves in an alcove, is our friend, the pastor.
Speaker C:Something dark and extremely quick whip cracks through the air.
Speaker C:It makes an incredibly loud cracking noise even, and slashes across the right arm of Relic.
Speaker C:Relic.
Speaker C:You feel horrific blinding pain in your right side.
Speaker C:You instinctively clutch your arm, stagger backward.
Speaker C:You look up at, well, where you think this came from.
Speaker C:And you see in the shimmering darkness something huge.
Speaker C:Something incredibly bulky, misshapen.
Speaker C:Skitter away out of sight.
Speaker C:You hear that shuddering noise again.
Speaker C:Disappear down the mouth of that tunnel.
Speaker C:You look down at your arm.
Speaker C:You can see that blood is flowing freely from your bicep.
Speaker B:But what a bicep.
Speaker D:It is hot.
Speaker A:Romeo.
Speaker D:Clever girl.
Speaker B:It's the best line of the episode.
Speaker C:So right now I have all five of you in a subterranean chamber beneath the village of Mechanicsburg.
Speaker C:Somewhere or maybe even further out, who knows.
Speaker C:Backed up against one of the walls here, one of the dirt and brick walls.
Speaker C:Almost all of you with Relic.
Speaker C:Closer to the center of this circular room, there are seven exits.
Speaker C:The exit across from most of the team is the one from which we just saw the shambling horror of something quite large.
Speaker C:Strike out and harm agent relic and then disappear again, creating a loud shuddering and slithering sound as it went on its merry way.
Speaker C:Ryan, you take this all in.
Speaker C:And moving a bit faster than the others in mind and body, you have a chance to react.
Speaker B:Ryan's going to move against a wall that is the most nearby yet out of the way from the door where the entrance where the monster.
Speaker B:Do we know if it's a monster yet?
Speaker B:Wherever the force came from, I guess we'll say so if we're in a circle.
Speaker B:Depending on where I am, I'm kind of going to a wall perpendicular from that entrance to try to be kind of out of the direct path.
Speaker B:Maybe crouching down, you know, one of the other tunnels just a couple feet out of the room.
Speaker B:Oh, my God, that's so scary.
Speaker D:Just get ready.
Speaker D:You're up next.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:I got another sound prompt.
Speaker A:Get ready.
Speaker A:You're up next.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's intense.
Speaker D:Just.
Speaker D:It just told me it's your.
Speaker D:It's your turn.
Speaker D:What do you do?
Speaker B:That happened to me, too.
Speaker B:I was like, jesus Christ.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker C:I'm not getting any of that.
Speaker C:It's like super silent and boring on my ends.
Speaker C:I'm glad you guys are getting the drama.
Speaker C:That's good.
Speaker C:Agent Relic, you were just struck, and you are now bleeding from something that moved out of your sight nearly immediately.
Speaker C:Whatever it is, it has a massive bulk.
Speaker C:You can hear it sliding along still down the tunnel, but it's also incredibly, incredibly fast.
Speaker C:It's no bear.
Speaker D:Got that right.
Speaker B:Is it a ghoul bear?
Speaker D:Do I have.
Speaker D:Can I see?
Speaker D:Do I see anything?
Speaker C:You can hear that it's moving down that tunnel.
Speaker D:Moving down that tunnel.
Speaker C:It's a very loud kind of shuddering, sliding sound.
Speaker D:So if I aim, you know, I've got my tactical light on the.
Speaker D:On the shotgun.
Speaker D:If I point it down that hallway, I don't see anything.
Speaker C:That's correct.
Speaker C:It turns off and up to the left.
Speaker C:If you ran over into the entrance of that tunnel, you might be able to catch a glimpse.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think that might be what I do.
Speaker D:I move towards.
Speaker D:Yeah, so I'm going to move towards that.
Speaker D:That door carefully, But I'm not going to go through.
Speaker D:I'm just going to get right up to that entrance and try to get a sight down that tunnel.
Speaker C:You do.
Speaker C:You turn your flashlight, your gun, and your face following the curve of the tunnel, and you do catch the glimpse of something that doesn't make a lot of sense to your mind.
Speaker C:Your brain is trying to catch up with what your eyes are seeing.
Speaker C:But it looks like a mottled wall of reptilian flesh.
Speaker C:It's got yellow and black spots, along with healthy dapples of sick gray.
Speaker C:But there are many different legs, Some thick, some spindly, with seemingly gratuitous points of articulation, Propelling this giant bulk away from you and continuing down the tunnel.
Speaker D:I mean, I've got my gun ready.
Speaker D:Do I have time to fire?
Speaker C:In this case, the way you describe this to me Is you very carefully and slowly made your way here so you have a chance next turn to fire.
Speaker D:If I could.
Speaker D:If I can still see it.
Speaker C:If you can still see it.
Speaker C:But it is moving out of view very quickly.
Speaker C:This is like kind of the final glimpses as you round the corner and shine your light down the tunnel.
Speaker C:Romeo, what would you like to do?
Speaker A:Romeo falls in behind.
Speaker A:Relic tries to get a beat on the creature.
Speaker A:If he can, he will shoot.
Speaker C:Okay, so you're going to sprint as fast as you can Past relic, who is very carefully and slowly making his way to this tunnel.
Speaker C:Is that correct?
Speaker C:Because that's the only way you would have a chance to shoot.
Speaker A:Okay, Yep.
Speaker A:That's what he'll do then.
Speaker C:Okay, so you run as fast as you can, and you jump into the tunnel ahead of relic and fire.
Speaker C:Go ahead and roll.
Speaker C:Minus 40%, please.
Speaker A:Oh, Jesus christ.
Speaker A:It is what it is.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:That's the roll.
Speaker A:If it was minus 40, it'd still be a fail.
Speaker C:So if it was minus 0, it would have been a fail.
Speaker C:So you jump in there as fast as you can.
Speaker C:You fire blindly into the dark tunnel.
Speaker C:It lights up the tunnel, and you see a passing fleeting glimpse of this terrible modeled wall of flesh and strange appendages.
Speaker C:You get a very good look at it, and you light this up for relic.
Speaker C:Both of you roll your sanities.
Speaker D:Thanks, eric.
Speaker A:That's what I'm here for, man.
Speaker C:Oh, right.
Speaker C:Love that.
Speaker E:That's not good.
Speaker C:The noise is deafening in this underground chamber.
Speaker C:You see the pastor instinctively raise his hands to his ear and his gun, which is slung around his back, still in the quick motion, Awkwardly slings to his hip.
Speaker C:The rest of you suffer the same deafening report as it ricochets from wall to wall.
Speaker B:Ryan yells, watch out.
Speaker C:Royza just saw romeo sprint as fast as he can and fire down a narrow tunnel from which you assume relic was attacked, because you do see blood on the floor, him clutching his arm.
Speaker C:He cried out in pain.
Speaker E:So roizen's first concern Is actually going to be the pastor so she's gonna grab him and try to drag him to the center of the room.
Speaker E:It seems like this thing is coming out of the edges, so if I'm in the middle and it comes out, maybe I'll have a chance.
Speaker C:Got it.
Speaker A:Do, do keep in mind, though, that's where relic got hit.
Speaker C:So, Roysen, you.
Speaker C:You make your way quickly over to the alcove where the pastor is examining maybe these remains, and you begin tugging on his shoulder and arm to move him against a wall.
Speaker C:He does not comply and fights against you.
Speaker C:You hear what sounds like an incredibly loud shuddering.
Speaker C:It reverberates through this room.
Speaker C:Dust and dirt fall from the beams above, shake loose some of the bricks.
Speaker C:Something groans from one of the other entryways, and you watch with horror as a terrible form emerges, sightless, with a large, toothy maw and several appendages pulling it through very quickly.
Speaker C:Before long, this large form is in the middle of the room, almost spinning as it does so.
Speaker C:Everybody else, roll your sanities who didn't before?
Speaker D:Hey, Chris.
Speaker D:There's a opportunity to, like, you know, use one of my bonds to help reduce sanity loss, since I don't know what I'm losing or gain.
Speaker C:I'm so sorry.
Speaker C:I always forget that rule.
Speaker C:Anytime you want to project on a bond, you can do so.
Speaker C:Okay, so all you have to do is say.
Speaker C:All you say is, hey, I.
Speaker C:I want to stay in the moment.
Speaker C:I'm going to project any loss onto my bond, and then I'll have you perform some roles, I'll do some math, and it'll all be happening behind the scenes, and I'll tell you how you react.
Speaker C:Sorry about that, y'all.
Speaker C:I meant to remind us at the beginning of today's session in case this happened.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah, I wasn't sure how because I don't know if.
Speaker D:Or what I.
Speaker D:Since we don't know if we failed or not or lost anything, I.
Speaker D:I don't know.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:Just assume you failed always.
Speaker C:So if you want to stay in the moment and try to hedge the possibility that you are going to enter some sort of temporary insanity reverie, just say, I want to project this onto my bond.
Speaker C:This is really important.
Speaker C:I stay in the.
Speaker C:In the moment.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Then I would like to do that.
Speaker B:Ryan's going to not, though.
Speaker C:Cool.
Speaker B:I'll take whatever hit.
Speaker C:So, yeah, let's.
Speaker C:Let's.
Speaker C:Let's retro that for you.
Speaker C:It's not going to change anything narratively, but I need to do a little bit of math.
Speaker C:Go ahead and roll me a 1D4, please.
Speaker B:Do we all have the same number of bonds?
Speaker C:No, it depends on your.
Speaker C:Your employee.
Speaker C:Mint the template.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that now.
Speaker C:All right, so go ahead and on your character sheet, take away four willpower.
Speaker C:This is you using your willpower to power through this horrifying event.
Speaker D:Okay, did that.
Speaker D:And then do you want me to role play it too?
Speaker D:Or.
Speaker D:Or just keep it in my own head?
Speaker C:It will be something for your home scene if you survive.
Speaker C:So keep.
Speaker C:Keep it in your.
Speaker C:In the.
Speaker C:In your mind that you are.
Speaker C:You are projecting this traumatic event onto your home life and it will affect it in some way.
Speaker C:Pastor.
Speaker C:Pastor Elazar Kemp Roysin.
Speaker C:He pushes you away and tears himself away from your grasp as best as he can, having difficulty.
Speaker C:But he rips off the linen in front of you and you see these desiccated, mummified, charred remains.
Speaker C:He seems intent on whatever is here in this alcove.
Speaker C:You're against the wall.
Speaker C:You've watched these events unfold nearly at the same time.
Speaker C:You've heard the report from Romeo's pistol.
Speaker C:But in the middle of this chamber is a large pulsating mass.
Speaker C:Halfway through this thing is enormous, one of the tunnels and making its way.
Speaker C:Well, you can't tell.
Speaker C:Is it going towards the backs of Relic and Romeo?
Speaker C:Is it coming towards you?
Speaker C:Is it going towards Roizen and the pastor?
Speaker C:It's covered with strangely articulated limbs, covered with claws, bristling with spike like protuberances.
Speaker C:And the noise it makes makes is.
Speaker C:Well, it's like a giant beast, shuddering, almost laughing.
Speaker C:What is this horror?
Speaker C:You're not sure, but you have seconds to react.
Speaker B:Am I not like just frozen from the shock of it, or is that my choice?
Speaker C:You are not frozen from the shock of it.
Speaker C:But this is an impossible beast, A horrible creature, some subterranean monster, for lack of a better, more scientific taxonomy, that has forced its way its awful mottled bulk through this tunnel's entrance into this room for some purpose, you know, cannot be good.
Speaker B:Ryan's gonna yell fire.
Speaker B:Use fire.
Speaker B:Looking over at Romeo, who had the flask of kerosene.
Speaker B:I don't know, time wise, like what all I can do within a turn.
Speaker C:You just tell me and I.
Speaker C:I help you out.
Speaker C:What do you want to do?
Speaker C:You can definitely yell that it's not.
Speaker C:Yeah, if you yell fire, burn it, that's totally fine.
Speaker C:Anything else you want to do?
Speaker B:I'm gonna run over by the pastor as well.
Speaker B:Royston was trying to shield him and I see his insistence and.
Speaker B:And go to look at the what?
Speaker B:What he's just revealed.
Speaker B:The corpse he's just revealed.
Speaker C:As you run along the perimeter of the chamber towards the alcove housing Roizen in Pastor Elazar Kemp, the thing's arms and other bizarre fingerless appendages seem to follow you like a sea anemone.
Speaker C:The front of it begins to turn towards you, and you see a slavering maw filled with huge bristling teeth.
Speaker C:Rows of them.
Speaker C:Thing doesn't seem to have eyes, but you feel its gaze upon you nonetheless.
Speaker C:Agent relic.
Speaker C:As you watch the thing's bulk disappear and this loud gunshot deafen your right ear, you instinctively wince and roll your alertness.
Speaker C:Minus 20%.
Speaker D:Well.
Speaker D:Minus 20.
Speaker D:That's a fail.
Speaker C:Indeed it is.
Speaker C:What would you like to do?
Speaker C:You do not know, unfortunately, that there is a massive pulsating bulk of unnatural horror in the room behind you.
Speaker D:Well, I'm gonna.
Speaker D:I'm gonna turn around, and I'm guessing that's all I'm gonna get to do this, this round.
Speaker C:You turn around, away from the retreating form of this terrible thing that you just glimpsed and was illuminated by the muzzle flash of Romeo's pistol.
Speaker C:And you see it's in the room now.
Speaker C:Part of it, at least.
Speaker C:It's far worse than you imagined.
Speaker C:It's far worse than the mottled skin wall that you.
Speaker C:That you saw moments before the end of it.
Speaker C:You assume.
Speaker C:Your mind tries to take in exactly what you're looking at, but it's just a chaotic mess of flesh.
Speaker C:Warty, bumpy, mottled gray flesh with bizarre coloring and patterns.
Speaker C:Yellow, a mossy green.
Speaker C:But worse, the worst is the arms, the little hands, the claws.
Speaker C:It all makes sense.
Speaker C:You have a little bit more you can do?
Speaker D:Well, if I'm able to, I'm.
Speaker D:I'm gonna shoot.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:This would typically be a point blank, but because of the surprise and the horror, it's gonna just be.
Speaker C:And the darkness of the room, it's just gonna be at base.
Speaker C:Okay, so just roll firearms for me.
Speaker C:39, roll your damage, please, just so I know how.
Speaker B:Cuz I've never done that.
Speaker B:How does the damage work?
Speaker C:Gotcha.
Speaker C:So depending on the weapon that he has, that I already have on his character sheet.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's part of the weapon.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker D:Had some options.
Speaker D:And I was like, I'm gonna bring the shotgun with slugs.
Speaker D:That's what we're doing.
Speaker C:So you roll the 10 total, you fire.
Speaker C:And if the team thought the report from Romeo's pistol was loud, this shotgun blast is another level.
Speaker C:The room shakes with the blast.
Speaker C:You hear a very odd squeal that turns into a all encompassing groan.
Speaker C:The entire length of this thing, which is still halfway invisible to the eye.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's coming out of one of these tunnel holes.
Speaker C:The entire length of it begins to reverberate with this groan.
Speaker C:It is God awful.
Speaker C:There's no other sound you've ever heard like this.
Speaker C:And it fills your ears.
Speaker C:It's all you can take in.
Speaker C:Your senses are just blasted by this long, deafening groan.
Speaker C:Agent Romeo, you hear this behind you after the shotgun blast reports off the walls of the chamber.
Speaker C:And the groan begins to shake your skull.
Speaker C:It vibrates with it.
Speaker C:You feel your eyes begin to blear up.
Speaker C:What would you like to do?
Speaker A:Is the creature still in my line of sight?
Speaker C:No, no, it's behind you now.
Speaker A:Okay, Romeo is going to backtrack to relic.
Speaker C:He's right.
Speaker C:He's right beside you.
Speaker C:You don't have to backtrack.
Speaker A:He's right beside me.
Speaker A:So Romeo's gonna back to back on him and guard the back end.
Speaker A:And it says behind you.
Speaker A:I'm behind you.
Speaker C:Okay, so just.
Speaker C:Just to make sure you.
Speaker C:You kind of understand that you are facing the empty tunnel with your back towards a huge monster in the room that Relic is fired at.
Speaker C:Is that your intention?
Speaker A:Well, just seconds ago.
Speaker A:Yeah, just seconds ago it was in.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:I just want to make sure.
Speaker C:I just want to make sure that's exactly what you want to do.
Speaker C:I get what you're.
Speaker C:What you're up to, but your back is to the bulk of this beast that has just entered the room behind you.
Speaker C:And that.
Speaker C:Is that your intention?
Speaker A:You are correct.
Speaker C:Okay, cool.
Speaker C:So you.
Speaker C:You post up and aim at the empty tunnel entryway in front of you, where it just moments ago disappeared with the intention to ensure that nothing comes through to harm you.
Speaker F:Rosen, where is this thing in the room in regards to the rest of us?
Speaker C:As you grapple with the uncooperative pastor, you turn around and face this wall of moving flesh and appendages.
Speaker C:Its maw is closest to you.
Speaker C:And now Ryan, who's kind of running around it.
Speaker F:Well, that's not good.
Speaker F:How far away is it?
Speaker C:Okay, well, I would say about 8 to 10ft away as it moves in your direction.
Speaker F:That's something, at least I think I'm gonna take that bottle of, well, not Bacardi and throw it at it.
Speaker F:Maybe we can use that to set it on fire or at least buy us some time.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:I think the best option for that is to throw it as hard as you can and hope it shatters on its strange hide.
Speaker C:Roll your athletics.
Speaker F:Well, that's a fail.
Speaker F:I really hope this isn't gonna go bad.
Speaker C:All right, one second.
Speaker C:Not necessarily.
Speaker C:It is a failure.
Speaker C:It is definitely a failure.
Speaker C:But what happens is the question.
Speaker C:You throw this Bacardi as fast as you can.
Speaker C:After quickly twisting off the top, it flies through the air, skitters across the top of the moving creature's strange body, and somewhere behind it, it's quickly twisting bulk.
Speaker C:You hear it crash against the floor.
Speaker F:Hopefully we got at least some on it.
Speaker F:Pastor, if you're gonna look this thing in the eye, you need to turn around and do it now.
Speaker C:Alright.
Speaker C:The thing, as it moves towards Roizen, it begins to twist and bunch up like a.
Speaker C:Like a bizarre inching caterpillar as its strange little anemone like claw covered protuberances propel it along the stone floor.
Speaker C:Its mouth stops and hovers and follows Ryan like a predator as the rest of its body twists and coils inside the chamber.
Speaker C:And it strikes out, snapping in the air, a bright neon blue saliva trailing behind it.
Speaker C:Ryan, you feel the whoosh of a great bulk twist past the back of your head and your left arm.
Speaker C:You hear the snap as you see out of the corner of your eye, your but tension focused on Roizen and the pastor ahead of you.
Speaker C:You see how the corner of the eye, these gleaming teeth barely miss your sprinting form.
Speaker C:The pastor, oblivious to all of this behind him, shrugging off.
Speaker C:Agent Roizen.
Speaker C:He says, this is him.
Speaker C:This is it.
Speaker C:The stone.
Speaker C:Agent Ryan, you're still sprinting towards the pair in the alcove.
Speaker C:What would you like to do?
Speaker B:Do I reach them on this turn?
Speaker C:Absolutely easily.
Speaker C:With.
Speaker C:With time to spare.
Speaker B:I'm going to pull a lighter out of my pocket as you grab this.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I hear the pastor say, this is it.
Speaker B:This is the stone.
Speaker B:I assume he's.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He grabs it.
Speaker B:He's holding it, right?
Speaker C:You do not see that happen?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:You just hear him yell that I.
Speaker B:Get close enough to him with time to spare.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:Either the stone is in his hand or it's against the body, wherever it is.
Speaker C:As you.
Speaker C:As you run up to this alcove, you see this charred ancient corpse and it is indeed holding something against its desiccated and collapsed chest.
Speaker C:It's a large, cracked viridian stone.
Speaker C:It's unnatural, unearthly.
Speaker C:You see the skeletal hands of the corpse.
Speaker C:They're Inexplicably fused into it.
Speaker C:You see shadowed bone twisting into the object, appearing as contorted spiraling veins beneath the stone's glossy surface.
Speaker B:I grab the stone, not even thinking so I'll take whatever consequence there is of that.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:You reach over past the pastor and past Roizen and place your hands on the stone and begin to pull at it.
Speaker C:That's going to be your turn, Agent Relic.
Speaker D:I'm going to shoot again.
Speaker C:Go for it.
Speaker C:Well done.
Speaker C:And then seven, you fire again.
Speaker C:The report once more deafening the room.
Speaker C:You're not sure if you struck the twisting modeled body as it continues to proceed with more and more bulk, filling and coiling through the room.
Speaker C:It's moving very quickly towards the sprinting form of Ryan and the alcove that you know has Roisin and Pastor Camp inside.
Speaker C:Romeo, you're still watching this empty tunnel frame.
Speaker C:You hear horrific snapping jaws behind you, as well as another report from Relic Shotgun.
Speaker A:So Romeo is going to risk pivoting shoulder to shoulder with Relic so that he's now facing the monster and shoot it.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker C:Fire again.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:Point blank bonus, unfortunately, because of the chaos and the low light situation.
Speaker A:Hey, all right, that's a success.
Speaker A:Need to just roll the damage.
Speaker A:Yeah, okay.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:You fire, lighting up the room again.
Speaker C:It's becoming a little strobe, like in this little chamber underneath Mechanicsburg.
Speaker C:But you fire.
Speaker C:You're not sure if you hit this rapidly moving shape, but certainly you did.
Speaker C:It's like the broadside of a barn at this point, Roysen.
Speaker E:Well, let's see if Ron has any luck shooting at this.
Speaker C:You turn, point your weapon.
Speaker C:You've got a good angle at at this thing as it seems to be again tracking Ryan, who has reached over past you and is grabbing at the corpse that's next to you and the.
Speaker E:Pastor, and that fails.
Speaker C:You fire, but you know the shot went wide.
Speaker C:As this thing twists in front of you, its body just defies understanding.
Speaker C:It's as if these appendages extend and retreat into its great bulk seamlessly.
Speaker C:It doesn't look right.
Speaker C:In another time, you would relish the opportunity to examine it.
Speaker E:I'm also going to yell at the pastor that if he wants to look this thing in the face, he needs to turn around.
Speaker C:Now the thing rears back, and it finally is completely emergent from the tunnel from which it is pouring through.
Speaker C:It coils up in the blink of an eye, filling most of the interior of the circular chamber.
Speaker C:And it dives past you, Ryan Roizen, into the tunnel nearest moving through so quickly that you only glimpse part of its strange rear set of dual tails, flipping about as it crawls out of view.
Speaker C:One of them whips across as it begins to disappear and slashes the face and chest of Ryan impossibly fast.
Speaker C:In fact, Ryan, you don't feel anything at all.
Speaker C:Just the wind, a gentle breeze across the front of your body, until blood begins to just pour forth from your chest and neck in great gouts, splattering against the stone floor, wetting the dust beneath your feet.
Speaker C:The pain comes soon after, filling your body with an intensity that you, well, have a hard time remembering anything like you grasp at the new wound as blood continues to pour forward down your shirt again, splattering and dropping onto the floor.
Speaker C:Your hands are shaking.
Speaker C:The pastor looks up at you.
Speaker C:His eyes go wide.
Speaker C:He says, my God, no.
