What Marcus Did Next: The Missing Egg, The Evil Eye and the Unknown Assailant...
Part 2 (of 3) of a three-part look at an epic Lovecraft mystery set in my home county
Last time we got started with the epic solo adventure, Alone Against Nylarathotep, a labour of love by Scarborough-born creator Lee Wade. Catch up via this link
When we left our newly-acquainted party of four, they had just been informed by the solicitor, Mr Grey, that the mischievous and deceased Edward Lombard had hidden a priceless Faberge Egg somewhere in the house and estate—and had decreed that anyone who found it could keep it!
It’s 5.30 pm, and we are starting to track time with a “time dice” and the provided time track. We’re opting for the Standard Mode, which means we’ll have a bit more time for exploration. Each time we do something, we move a d8 forward by 1 digit, and once we reach 8, we move to the next half-hour slot.
Put as simply as possible, each “action” takes 4 minutes (near as makes no difference)
Dinner will be served at 7.30 pm, so we have 2 hours before the gong sounds. Let’s explore and see if we might stumble upon the precious Egg.
The Party splits up at this point (It wouldn’t make sense for us to explore as a group, as only one person can own the Faberge Egg), and for the first time, we move into something of a “Sandbox” mode. Up until now, we’ve followed a linear path, but now the game starts to open up, and we can choose from a whole slew of locations that we can explore.
Exploring Lombard House
I start by doubling back into the study where Mr Grey is sitting quietly, reading his Agatha Christie novel.
And, praise be to Azatoth, I finally succeed on a Skill Check. It’s Spot Hidden, and I find an opening to a secret passage. Squeezing through the narrow opening, Marcus discovers weapons and bullets tucked away there. I quickly make a note, pocket the armaments and climb a narrow staircase to discover peepholes into one of the bedrooms. Hmmm. Why are they there? The bedroom is currently unoccupied, but I make a note and move on…
This game clearly requires extensive note-taking, and if that’s something that you don’t want to get involved with, then this game probably isn’t for you. I’ve already got pages of notes, together with “Entry Numbers”, so I can quickly refer back to where I’ve been, as there’s no way to keep all those details in my head!
Curiously, the corridor ends with entry into Bedroom 6, which happens to be Marcus’s room. That room allocation was random, so that’s just a happy accident—meaning I can slip through the secret corridor and spy on the occupant of whichever room is observable via the peepholes!
I take the opportunity to make a careful search of my own room, but there’s nothing useful here, so I decide to take a look upstairs in the attic (noting that there is an observatory there).
Shielded by the might of the ancient eye
Most of the attic is occupied by a splendid, well-equipped Observatory. Apparently, Mr Lombard was a keen astronomer!
I have the option to look through the telescope, and I thought, “Why not?”
Big mistake!
Instead of looking out into the night sky, I find myself staring into a single, unblinking eye that holds me transfixed by its malevolent gaze. I must pass a Sanity Check—and FAIL! I take a d8 loss to my Sanity, which comes up as an eight.
But that’s not the worst of it! With a loss of more than 5 Sanity, I must now roll an Intelligence Check, and I am promptly sent into Temporary Insanity.
Well, that escalated quickly…
Next, I’m told to roll against my Luck rating of 55. I hit 48, so it’s a success this time, and I discover a star map with strange markings and a date, November 8 2025—just a few days away!
Whatever is happening in five days cannot be good if that singular eye is anything to go by! Just what was Lombard wrapped up in? Marcus stumbles next door into the East Attic, a dusty room with piles of books and papers, mostly covered in sheets.
It will take me 30 minutes to search this room. I look at the time track, and it’s 6.40 pm. Plenty of time before dinner! Marcus thoroughly searches the room. He pulls a cloth from what seems to be a statue and uncovers a small Eldritch Creature…
Again, it’s a Sanity Check—which we pass. Closer inspection reveals that it is, in fact, only a stone statue of an Eldritch creature! Marcus’s mind is playing tricks on him!
Marcus decides that it’s probably best to stop exploring the house and to go down to the Lounge to clear his head before Dinner…
Mooching Around After Dinner
Major events such as meals and the will reading are noted on the timetrack and send us to an entry in the book which narrates what happens next, acting as narrative pauses in the story and allowing for things like swapping party members.
It made sense to me to pack Marcus off to his room to rest and recover, since it's only the passage of time that’s going to allow him to get a grip on reality again. I decide to “promote” Lieutenant Hackle to party leader and add the top-hatted, cricket-fan accountant William Boltwood to the group.
I’ll take a time jump here because I don’t want to bore you with a blow-by-blow telling of the three hours of exploration that took place between 9.00 pm and the Will reading at midnight.
Suffice it to say that we follow a simple game loop.
We read the next entry that we are directed to
We take any Skill Checks that occur
Our success or failure decides the next steps
Or we decide where to go next ourselves
Finally, The Last Will and Testament…
It’s midnight, and around a dozen people gather in the Great Hall of Lombard House. All of the Pre-Gen characters (even the bleary-eyed Marcus) are here, along with a few other beneficiaries who arrived during the evening.
Mr Grey opens a wax-sealed envelope and begins to read as the clock strikes midnight.
There’s more—much more—but the essence of it is that we must stick around for five days, deal with whatever fate throws at us and “complete” Mr Lombard’s life’s work (whatever that might mean). Only then will we (or at least those of us who are still sane) inherit our share of this most valuable estate.
With the reading of the Will complete, the characters move to the lounge for a nightcap and by 1.00 am, people are retiring for the night.
But don’t imagine that we will have a peaceful night’s slumber! This IS the world of H.P Lovecraft, after all…
The entry, which describes us going to our room and settling down for the night, takes a sudden, violent turn. It tells us that if there is an occupant in Room 6—and you might recall this is where Marcus is recuperating from his Eldritch horror—then that person is violently attacked by a garrotte-wielding assailant!
Yikes!
Without describing every gory detail, the result was that Dr Marcus Sykes is left lying in his bed, dead from the mysterious assault (although it doesn’t seem like anyone else notices or discovers this fact until the next day)
To sleep, perchance to dream
Even when sleep eventually comes, it is punctuated by vivid nightmares that chip away at the sanity, luck, or power of our characters—each of whom suffers a small reduction in those key stats.
It’s obvious by this stage that almost everything about Lombard House—whether it be the rooms, the unseen occupants and even the bedrooms—is potentially dangerous.
We’re going to do well to survive these next few days!
By the time we get to breakfast, served by the friendly Irish cook, Mrs O’Brien, there is a more sombre mood abroad. The book says I can have a party of three for today’s adventures. I decided to stick with Hustle in the lead investigator slot, with Miss French and Mr Boltwood for company, and allowing Capt. Mahoney to rest awhile.
Goodness only knows whether there’ll be any consequences from Marcus’s death, or even if his absence will be noticed 😳, but I feel sure that my characters will feel the weight of his loss in some sense, even if it doesn’t play into the story.
In the Dining Room, the scent of bacon on hot buttered toast mingled with the steam of Mrs O’Brien’s fussy tea making, yet an uncharacteristic chill hung over the table. Lieutenant Hustle checked his watch with sharp, military precision; it was well past the hour, and the empty chair remained pointedly vacant.
“The Doctor is not a man I would take for a sluggard,” Hustle remarked, his eyes flicking toward the painting of the late Edward Lombard that seemed to watch them from the wall. A General Practitioner from Edinburgh usually develops a certain... punctuality regarding the morning call”.
Emily French stirred her tea, the silver spoon making a delicate clink against the china. “He was assigned Bedroom 6, was he not?” she asked, her voice dropping an octave. She looked out the leaded window at the snow and the dark firs beyond. I passed that door on my way down. It was quite silent. Usually, a man of his years makes some small stir of activity.
At the head of the table, Mr Grey did not look up from the Yorkshire Post, “The Doctor is a man of his own mind,” the solicitor murmured vaguely. “Attendance at the midnight reading was the only imperative requirement. The breakfast table is merely a courtesy”.
“Mrs O’Brien,” Mr Boltwood called out as the housekeeper moved to clear a platter. “Have you seen Dr Sykes this morning?” The Irish housekeeper paused, her face maintaining its stern, professional mask. “I’ve not seen the gentleman since he retired, Sir,” she replied, her voice crisp. “Bedroom 6 was silent when I passed. I presumed he was simply... resting”.
The three investigators exchanged a look of mounting unease. In a house of forgotten history and unseen threats, an empty chair at breakfast was rarely just a matter of oversleeping
OK, what I’ll do next is play out the rest of the campaign until we either “solve it” or —more likely—my characters are dead or driven mad. Then, for the final part of this Three-Act Play, I’ll wrap things up with a (non-spoiler) summary of the campaign, together with my final thoughts.
See ya next week, investigators 😎
Yeah, if I don't show up for a breakfast made by an Irish cook, you'd better check that I'm not dead.
While I love actual plays in entirety, this summarization is also a nice change of pace. I'm really enjoying it!