With the heatwave broken and the sanitation strike lifted, the Irregulars can breathe a quick sigh of relief; the city’s rats no longer seem to be boiling out of every sewer grate and basement apartment. This relief is short-lived; the coven is operating more openly now, and unnatural phenomena have returned to the university district.
"So you've seen some of these red bathrobe guys?" Guy asked as he handed over a pack of cigarettes. The old guy nodded, pulling a cigarette out and lighting it.
"They've been all over the damn place," he said. "Never seen nothin' like it."
"Hey, thanks man, that's a big help," Guy replied.
***
"Aw hell no, Carpenter! Ain't you supposed to be retired or somethin'? Get outta here!" Captain Loomis said, waving Paul away with a pudgy hand.
"C'mon, Cap, it's me," Paul said. The captain shook his head.
"If I'm seen talkin' to you, Carpenter, it's my ass in the smoker. Commissioner's orders! You pissed off somebody real high up with this voodoo bullshit!"
[With one success and one failure in the narrative scene, it's a Draw. Half the Irregulars deploy on one randomly-determined table edge, and the other half on the opposite.]
Turn 1
With no enemies to be seen, Paul moved into the doughnut shop to look for clues, but didn't have the actions available to search. Meanwhile, Lisa investigated the ramen restaurant, collecting a Clue from one of the booths.
Guy moved up and snatched a Clue from the open window of the Mustang and then continued on his way, pausing to examine the menu at the taco truck.
Carrie entered the liquor store and successfully found a Clue there - with three Points of Interest cleared, the Nexus would be appearing soon. Steve moved towards the center of the board, ready to support his teammates [went on Overwatch against potential Dark Spawn appearances].
Two cultists spawned from Portal #1, while the Nexus erupted from the ground in Quadrant 3.
Steve, prepared, hurled a Repellent at them; choking on fumes, the cultists lost their activations for this turn, pinned where they were.
Turn 2
Paul and Guy moved forward and opened fire on the cultists, with Paul killing one of them.
Steve moved forward, threw a flashbang at the remaining cultist, leaving the red-robed foe stunned. Steve then moved up and tried to stab the blinded, flailing cultist and missed.
Meanwhile, Carrie and Lisa move into contact with the Nexus, but don't have enough activation dice remaining to start harvesting Arcana.
Cultists spawned from Portals 1 and 2. Steve got slashed by one, while the other charged towards Guy but couldn't reach him.
Turn 3
Paul snapped off a quick shot at the cultist charging Guy, dropping him. He then twisted and aimed carefully.
"Down, Carter!" He barked, squeezing the trigger.
The cultist attacking Steve took a bullet to the head and dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.
Steve dropped to one knee, stabbed the still-blinded cultist, and then sprinted towards the portal. Guy chased after him, pulling a First Aid kit from his bag. He performed some First Aid, restoring a wound to Steve.
Lisa pulled a Clue and 5 Arcana from the Nexus, while Carrie pulled 8 Arcana and then closed it [her "Arcane Dominion" ability, which lets her auto-close portals and Nexuses by spending an action die, has come very much in handy this campaign!].
Cultists spawned at Portal 1 (again!) and 3, and Guy and Lisa were targeted by attacks, injuring both of them.
Turn 4
Guy clobbered the new cultist, but was injured in the robed maniac's death throes. He still managed to harvest 4 Arcana from the portal before Steve shut it down. Steve then took off running for the next portal.
Paul moved towards Carrie and Lisa, gun drawn, adrenaline surging. He stopped next to the VW van, aimed, and shot the cultist threatening Lisa. Carrie cast "Heal" on Lisa, then moved cautiously towards Portal 3, taking up an Overwatch position.
Lisa moved carefully towards Portal 4, stopping a healthy distance away.
Two cultists each emerged from Portals 3 and 4.
One charged and slashed Lisa, while the other rounded the ramen restaurant and closed with Paul, though didn't have enough action dice left to attack.
Carrie swore and spat. "I don't have time for this," she growled, raising her hand, arcana crackling between her fingers. She cast "Elemental Fury" on the cultists, blasting them off their feet and into the next world.
Turn 5
Lisa spent two action dice to Slip Beyond the Veil, teleporting 8" away from the cultist threatening her (and thus escaping combat without the cultist getting a free attack on her) and then chugged a Kaiju Energy Drink and tried to taser the cultist but missed.
Carrie moved up to Portal 3 and extracted 4 Arcana. Steve moved into contact with Portal 2 and extracted 5 Arcana.
Guy moved across the table, while Paul withdrew from melee with the cultist, getting hit with the cultist's free attack and then tried to shoot, but the cultist succeeded on his Dodge Defend roll to resist.
A new foe, a Succubus (a Terror-level Dark Spawn) emerged from Portal 3; there was supposed to be a second one, but she rolled a "1" twice, meaning she was trying to come through the closed portal.
Spreading her wings, she flapped across the table and sank her claws into Carrie's back. Meanwhile, cultists moved back into contact with Paul and Lisa but failed to injure them.
Turn 6
Paul pulled out his pistol and shot the cultist attacking him in the belly, killing him and then moved to support Lisa.
Steve closed Portal 2 and moved off the table. Lisa tasered the cultist in front of her in the neck, dropping him, and left the table. Guy also left the table.
Carrie twisted and blasted the Succubus with a bolt of Elemental Fury, waves of arcane energy washing over the demon who simply shrugged it off.
"You have no power here," the demon purred, licking her lips. "My sisters are on their way, and together we will clear a path for Malphetorix' rise to power."
"Go to Hell where you belong, you bat-winged bimbo," Carrie snarled.
"Hell is coming here, Carrie Ravencroft. Then what will you do?"
The Succubus slashed again and again with her claws; Carrie managed to block two hits, but one got through, leaving her bleeding.
"What...where are my sisters?" The Succubus hissed, looking around.
Carrie chuckled.
"We blocked enough portals to keep 'em out for now," she grunted, clutching her stomach.
"This isn't over, mortal," the Succubus hissed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
***
Another successful (?) mission! All of the Irregulars survived, we closed two portals and the Nexus and gathered enough clues to advance to game 5. All together they harvested 26 Arcana, a respectable amount that will help a lot going forward. I haven't calculated out the rest of the experience points yet.
Astonishingly, no enemies spawned on Turn 6; I rolled a 1 and a 2 to determine what portals a total of four Succubi would be spawning from, which were the closed portals. I re-rolled, and the dice came up 1 and 2 again, meaning nothing showed up.
In order to achieve my goal of playing Game 6 on Halloween, I'm going to play Game 5 tomorrow, so keep an eye out for the next play report then!
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