This is it! Will "The Haunt" succeed in instigating a supernatural holy war? Will Shimmer and Nevermore be able to stop him in time? What will happen to Lenore? Find out now, in ACT III of this action-packed issue!
This is obviously a continuation of ACT II. You should click there if you haven't read it already. Or if this is all new to you, start at ACT I instead!
With the game wrapping up, we'll see what this whole experience looks like. It's not perfect, of course, because I'm playing all sides against myself, and while I'm not skipping anything, I'm trying to optimize everything to fit into a blog or three. In a sit-down game with friends, there's more room and time to explore tangents, and more minds with more ideas to work with.
But this is a blog, and I know that I, personally, don't read long blog posts, so I certainly don't expect you to. So I'm keeping this as tight as I reasonably can.
Anyway, to recap: Our Temu "Batman" and "Human-Torch-in-The-British-Sense-of-the-Word" investigate supernatural attacks on a local psychic celebrity and a fundamentalist church and connect the attacks to the "Cult of Dread". Navigating supernatural safeguards, they sneak into the Cult's hidden temple only to find that some kind of undead cult leader was ready for them the whole time and now has Nevermore's ghostly sidekick, Lenore, in their clutches!
The gameplay here is basically the same, but players have the option to "reincorporate" Fan Favorites or Subplots, adding them to their narration or answering the questions raised. Doing this gives them more control and might allow them to defeat an element of the Villain's plan. (Of course, if they roll poorly, the Villain might complete some or all of his machinations instead!)
I could do that right away, but with only two Hero players, that would bring the story to an immediate end. On the other hand, if I wait, the Villain might complete parts of (or even all of) their evil plans!
But the game is about the shared story, not about "winning", so I'll let things play out and see what feels right.
The Finale!
Continuing the Blue Villainous Phase...
The cultists draw blades and swarm the heroes! The Haunt makes a fist and Lenore begins to ripple!
"Cant you see that this is an abomination?!" the Haunt yells through the dead man's mouth. "The supernatural isn't natural for a reason! It is wrong and I will free us all from it!"
Lenore's ghostly glow begins to dim, the light around her seeming to be drawn into her like a gravitational pull! Her eyes become faint embers...
Nevermore hurls a fan of quill-darts at the surrounding cultist, and as they fall, clutching their wounds, he dive-rolls across the room to the Haunt's possessed corpse and upper-cuts it across the room!
...but even more cultists pour in from adjacent hallways!
Red Adventurous Phase...
Soon...
At the entrance to the caverns, the heroes fight their way past one last monster to reach the outside! Down below, in the distance, they can see the blazing lights of the city, but their attention is instead drawn to the arcing green energy coursing across the sky... from APEX Labs to the Tower of the Circle of Elder Wizards, where the Harmony Stone is stored!
At APEX Labs...
A bound Dr. Grey watches as a circle of cultists performs a ritual over the magical scepter, attempting to cause a feedback loop of corruption! The sky flashes purple as the balance of magic is thrown into chaos!
Blue, Stymie, Sublot, Villain Reincorporates...
"We have to get to the labs, quickly!" Nevermore says as he presses a button on his gauntlet. Nearby, a hover-jet de-cloaks... but is completely destroyed! Small green monsters, gremlins, scatter like cockroaches in the light!
Subplot: What important item was stolen from the Raven-Jet?
With no time to waste, Shimmer scoops up Nevermore by the arms and flies him toward the city!
Villain Reincorporation: Shadow-Baboons + Lenore.
Completes "Corrupt the
Harmony Stone".
As they approach the city, the Tower explodes in a shockwave of green lightning! Lenore shrieks, turning midnight-black, with glowing red eyes. She growls menacingly before fleeing into the night!
As they swoop into the city, they can see a crowd of Church of Holy Flame zealots surrounding a beleaguered Zoe Zelazney, who seems to be trying to hold them off with magic of her own!
Blue, Stymie, Villain Reincorporates...
Shimmer chooses to Reincorporate as well, ignoring the Stymie.
Shimmer drops Nevermore off behind the crowd and lands between the zealots and Zelazny.
"STOP!" she shouts in a booming, authoritative voice, surprising even herself. Her glowing energy emanates from her like flaming wings. "Is this the work of the just? Who are you to judge a gift as demonic or divine? I've studied the cosmos from the largest star to the smallest atom! And I can tell you that the universe is a lot more complicated than that! Go home! Think! Or pray or whatever!"
As she speaks, motes and rings begin to swirl around her like animations of a fractal universe.
Rather than leave, the zealots begin to kneel, and there can be heard scattered whispers of "angel"...
Hero Reincorporation: Holy Flame + Brilliant Scientist. Defeats "Instigate Church".
Behind her, Zoe calls out weakly, "Thank you. I'm not sure how much more I could take. I can barely..."
And then suddenly she screams as she is engulfed in green flame! She then cackles maniacally in the Haunt's voice!
"Muahahahaha! You gullible fools! I've been lying to you this whole time, luring you into evil with my 'psychic' trickery! You're all doomed to hell, and you have the Circle of Elder Wizards to thank for it!"
She then suddenly explodes into green flame, injuring many of the zealots, and is gone!
Villain Reincorporation: Green Flames + Possession. Completes "Kidnap Zelazny".
With only one player left who hasn't Reincorporated, the issue comes to an end. The last player adds an optional epilogue. -Editor
At the Roost, Alan Polansky pores over an old book looking for answers. He's obviously been drinking. Over the sound of the thunder of green lightning happening outside, he hears a tapping at his door. He opens it, peers into the empty darkness and whispers, "Lenore?"
Shimmer sits on an elaborate throne as members of the Church of the Holy Flame move about, repairing the burn damage to the building or bowing at her feet.
"This is ridiculous", she thinks. "I'm a woman of science. Of Truth! But
maybe, just maybe I can get these people to do some real good with a little...
glowing white... lie."
The End!
And that's it folks! I kind of wish I had answered a Subplot, but oh well.
The elements of the characters that got Reincorporated will be rewritten to reflect changes before the next issue. Lenore is now some kind of monster. Shimmer is a cult leader? Perhaps the Haunt is stuck in the body of Zoe Zelazny for now. But nothing in comic books is forever.
Anyway, it's not exactly art, and I don't know if I could do it "live" with friends (although maybe I could!), but it was kind of neat. Obviously, this isn't really "the end", because the bad guy basically won, at least partially, and the city is likely to be in chaos until the heroes can come together to fix it.
But that's a tale for another day!
Maybe now I can stop thinking about it constantly and get some other stuff done!
Until next time, true believers!
Ĝis la revido!
That was very interesting. And a fitting sort of end you would find in a comic. I think you got a good balance on condensing the content for the post to keep it engaging.
ReplyDeleteThanks! This was mostly just to get it out of my head and test my understanding of the rules. I hope to convince some people to try it with me IRL sometime with new heroes and a new villain.
DeleteBut for now, I've got to get back to Chrome Hammer stuff. :)