Okay, hopefully this will be the last post for this game; I'm already staying up past my bedtime to finish this, but hey it's the weekend.
Darrin "Flash" Williams
Jenny LeClerc
Vivian Lopez
A Madman
Flash didn't much like having to wade back through the Junk Room, but there was little enough choice; he knew that nothing he could do was going to have much effect on the Creepers he could hear growing up all around the house, but he'd received a sudden premonition that there was a Book in an Abandoned Room downstairs which contained the secret of the plants' absurdly accelerated growth - and how to reverse it. Heading back, he managed to convince the Madman to help him move things out of the way and get through in one piece; heading down the Grand Staircase, he found that a Creeper blocked his path; in order to get out of the room, he'd have to wrestle the Tip into submission, but he had no idea how strong it was and didn't want to risk letting it choke him, so he simply ended his turn, hoping he hadn't made a horrible mistake by coming this way.
Entirely abandoning all thought of opening the Wall Safe, Jenny gave the Vault dial one frantic spin, then gave up and hobbled down the Secret Stairs and back up into the Stairs From Basement, knowing full well there was little hope she could escape the pursuing vines.
Vivian had no particular agenda at the moment, being unable to attack the two youngsters to any real effect; she did still have the Spirit Board, however, and saw no reason not to use it to her advantage. Peeking at a non-ground-floor room she was unlikely to be able to reach, she moved her hands on the board, spelling out "S-T-O-R-E-R-O-O-M", but at the same time communicating to the proto-mind of the hungry vines that she was in the Abandoned Room. From the Chapel and Gardens, two Tips writhed toward her; two others reached into the Upper Landing, and the one in the Grand Staircase she of course ordered to remain where it was.
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The one in the Master Bedroom was...arguable; its path to her was 9 spaces by way of the Grand Staircase, and only 8 by way of the Secret Stairs to the Stairs to the Basement, but it seems dubious to say that going down two floors and back up 1 should count as a shortcut, so I decided that I'd go with the rules' suggestion of rolling a die to see whether it could work. 0 it's impossible, 2 it's possible. Rolled 0; okay, it'll stay where it is. Once it's actually moving itself, of course, it can move freely; it's just the definition of "toward" which was wickety here.
Another rules issue, which had an answer in an online FAQ I found easily, was the question of whether a traitor can fall through the Collapsed Room without taking damage. Confirming that this was "yes", I'm able to have Vivian reach the Storeroom; otherwise she'd have had to settle for taking it away from the other players by exploring a new Ground room, causing the non-Ground-allowed Storeroom to be discarded.
Climbing down an inanimate vine which had snaked its way through the Collapsed Room, which could twitch just enough to throw a climber off it, but which she cooed soothingly at using the secrets of the Book she'd read and discarded, Vivian made her way to the far side of the Chasm, whose bridge had also been reinforced by the Creepers so that she could cross it without fear. The Storeroom was there just as she'd expected, and she found an Axe therein, which she felt she ought to keep out of the two children's hands, lest they use it on one of her precious plants.
The Creepers writhed into animation, twitching lazily toward their targets; the one with a root in the Gardens ended up back in the Gardens after having briefly reached toward its mistress, while the one from the Chapel was now two rooms away, guarding the approach to the Book. The two from the Upper Landing wound their way down the Grand Staircase, and the one that was already there simply made a grab for Flash, but was terribly unlucky and wound up getting the worst of the struggle.
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About this time I read the note and learned that the Spirit Board doesn't work on Tips anyway, so I had to move the two back up to the Upper Landing, and one a space back toward the Chapel. Nevermind. On the plus side, this means the one from the Gardens didn't need to move back into it, and could instead come back the other way one space, into the Ballroom.
Flash made a dash and got as far as the Gardens, having had to weave around the Tip that was in his way. He was still far from out of the woods....
Jenny hadn't gazed into her crystal ball this entire time; there didn't seem to be much point now, but she had little enough else to try and do besides becoming fertilizer, so after walking up into the Ballroom, she gave it a shot. Summoning the courage to see what she hoped rather than what she feared, she learned that the next item someone would find would be the Healing Salve which she desperately needed.
Vivian spelled out S-E-R-V-A-N-T-S-Q-U-A-R-T-E-R-S on her Spirit Board before moving, then walked across the Chasm, through the Basement Landing, and out the far door of the Game Room into the Servants' Quarters, where she found a Holy Symbol. It all made sense now...the house had belonged to a deranged scientist experimenting on vegetation, but his groundskeeper had been a devotee of the Old Religion, and had used this mystic emblem to call up the power of the Cthonic Goddess to turn his experiment against him. Now she was retracing the path of that brave gardener, and summoning the power of the Green against a new generation of arrogant, destructive humans who cared only about themselves.
"But I don'wanna die," she mocked them aloud to herself.
"How selfish! The Mother Earth gave you your lives, and she can take them back anytime she pleases."
As if strengthened by their mistress's discovery, the Creepers redoubled their Speed this turn. Two Tips came down as far as the Foyer, and one wound down the Secret Stairs and back up into the Stairs From Basement; the one with a Root in the Chapel moved into the Gardens with Flash, and the one he'd Stunned woke back up rather than moving. The one in the Ballroom with Jenny made a grab for her, and both of them flailed about rather uselessly, but there was so much more vine to do the flailing that inevitably, she was entangled, her Crystal Ball rolling free from nerveless fingers.
Flash managed to tie his attacker in a knot, but then he faced a dilemma. He could run to the Abandoned Room, grab the Book and run back, but that would be leaving Jenny to her fate; not knowing exactly how Creepers work, he couldn't be sure how long she'd last. However he was still weaker than the Creepers, and if his luck ran out and the Creeper beat him, he'd be stuck, further away from the Book than he was now. Ultimately, he decided that he'd better not risk it; as has been previously established, he's something of a jerk. Upon gaining the Book, he came to understand what a coward he'd been (though this was the only thing he learned), and rather than heading back to his starting point, he went into the Statuary Corridor to try the Closet. Out fell a pair of Skeletons..."mother and child, still embracing"...and he was so shocked that he forgot everything the Book had taught him, except for that one fact.
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The Creeper rolled 3 successes on 5 dice, but Jenny rolled 1 success on 3. Once again, the attack against Flash had horrendously poor luck, enabling him to get the best of it. The issue with the grabbed Jenny is actually a rules problem; a grabbing creeper can't attack, but it's not clarified whether it can grab a second hero if that hero attacks it and fails, so I ultimately chose not to try due to flavor and to avoid the ambiguity. Going to the Closet made sense because I was hoping to draw an Event which moves your hero, of which there are several even now that the two Secret paths have been found; unfortunately what I got was the Skeletons, which dealt 2 mental damage to Flash and which require a Sanity roll to search, so he wasn't about to try it. The 2 Knowledge that he gained from the Book, then lost to the Skeletons, did not change his Knowledge total, and again I worked that into the narrative.
Jenny heaved and strained mightily, but could not break the Creeper's grasp.
Vivian took a leisurely stroll through the Catacombs, seeing in its carpet of bones only more evidence that individual lives are but specks of dust in the endless ocean of life (hey, she was evil, who was going to tell her not to mix her metaphors?), having not bothered to check the Spirit Board and confirm that the Wine Cellar was coming up. Here she found the Healing Salve that Jenny had hoped to acquire, immediately using it to refresh herself, not that it mattered much since it's not like she was in any danger. Still, it would keep those damn kids from prolonging the inevitable any further. This house was hers now, for however long it still stood; all its secrets were hers to divine, for the Mother's vines reached everywhere within it, even if most of them were ordinary, lazy tendrils rather than the hungry, powerful Creepers.
The Vines were as fast this turn as last; three of them awaited Flash in the Gardens, blocking him from any hope of getting through to the main hall. A fourth one then followed them into the room, while a fifth entered the Ballroom it had just left; this fourth vine, of course, carried a special cargo, whose name had previously been Jenny LeClerc, but was about to become "mud".
Knowing he could do nothing to help Jenny now, Flash raced into the Collapsed Room and threw himself down it; he was lucky enough to land well on the far side of the Chasm, but couldn't quite bring himself to cross it. Fortunately the Creepers would need a minute to follow him here.
Jenny's last, valiant effort to save herself almost succeeded. And, as if the universe itself couldn't bear to see her succumb, her vain effort just managed to slip her free. Knowing she could accomplish nothing other than to provide Flash with a distraction, she tumbled into the Hallway, able to get no further while the creepers lashed at her heels.
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The rules of the haunt are again unclear about what happens if you tie when trying to escape a Creeper; logic would suggest you probably don't, but what the hell, I'm allowing it just to heighten the drama of the story, even though letting Jenny die would marginally speed things up.
Having no particular agenda, Vivian wandered back through the Catacombs and across the Chasm, just able to make it that far, and gave the Axe a swing at Flash's face just for something to do. She wasn't much for muscle, but he was only a little better; he managed to bat the blow aside without harm but was unable to lash out at her in the process...but the Madman could!
"Blauuughlldeeblarfghlarrrng!" the maniac howled as he tore out a handful of Vivian's hair, slowing her down just a mite.
The Creepers crept at their usual pace, two coiling after Jenny while the others made a train for the Foyer and the Secret Stairs. The Garden-Creeper managed to entangle Jenny again.
Flash wasted no time dealing with Vivian, instead summoning all his Speed to hurl himself across the Chasm without daring to look down. He got as far as the Master Bedroom, where a Root posed no impediment to him.
Jenny failed to escape her Creeper.
Vivian sauntered up after Flash and took another swing at him with the Axe; he and his Madman again bested her and dished out a little damage.
This turn, the creepers were really fast, perhaps drawn to the scent of their mistress's spilled blood; two of them made it as far as Flash's room, and two more were in hot pursuit right behind. Creeper #3's root was right here in the Master Bedroom, so it was the one most interested in grabbing Flash; it would have a delicious dinner the very next turn if it could hold onto him long enough to drag him underground (well, out the window and underground, I guess, unless there's a really big windowbox just inside the Bedroom). His freakish luck had to run out eventually; the Creeper got a really good hold, and he couldn't escape.
Rolling against the Creeper holding him, Flash managed to just barely break away*, and could make it only 1 space. The Research Laboratory where he needed to go was still one more door away. He just hadn't been quite fast enough.
*
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Per the same houserule as with Jenni, that is.
Jenni managed to break completely free of the Creeper and then headed through the Secret Passage, getting back into the Gymnasium. Too bad there was nothing more she could do to help herself heal her wounds.
Vivian followed Flash and attacked him again, producing exactly the same result as before - one damage to herself. The difference was that this time, it took the last bit of wind out of her sails; her Speed fell to minimum.
The Creepers were slow when they needed not to be; only two of them managed to keep up with Flash. #3 grabbed at him, got a really good hold, and lost anyway as he and his Madman both exerted maximum possible force. The other Creeper, whose Root was back on the Grand Staircase, made an even more feeble effort, but Flash's luck did not hold and he was Grappled.
Summoning another improbable burst of strength, Flash managed to get away, and finally staggered into the Research Lab. Tossing the Book onto a workbench where it miraculously fell open to the page with a formula for "Plant Spray", he set to work and managed to brew up the lethal herbicide. He unfortunately had no energy left to go back into the Operating Lab and kill one of the plants which still threatened him.
Jenny frantically scampered up the Secret Stairs into the Vault room, where she spun the dial one more time, to no effect.
Vivian followed Darrin between the Labs and again made a chop with her axe; the Madman however got behind her, twisted the Axe in her grip, and pulled it backward, completely severing her head with the force of her own wild swing. Her bouncing cranium's last, fading thought was regret that she never got to write all this down; it would have made a great novel, and she guessed she did still care about books a little.
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Holy moley; Flash and the Madman rolled 8 successes for the second time in the last two turns, and with only 3 successes on Vivian's roll, she took 5 damage, more than enough to kill her stone-dead. This is not, however, one of the relative handful of Haunts which ends when the Traitor dies. If there was a player instead of me controlling Vivian, she'd remain in the game and continue operating the Creepers.
All four of the third-floor Creepers could easily reach Flash; one more made it upstairs to attack Jenny. #3, of course, took the first swing at Flash, and got him; he dropped the Plant Spray, though the Creepers couldn't do anything to it after that, and the other three in the room were somewhat useless; it might have been better to send two after Jenny. As it was, the one that was with her managed to lose the battle.
Flash failed to break the Creeper's grip.
Jenni remained slow and could not reach the room with the Spray.
Flash was reeled in back to Creeper #3's base, then three more Creepers dogpiled on Jenny, with the last two in the Vault room (one recovering from stun, the other back up from the third floor). Creeper #1 grappled Jenny with a roll she couldn't possibly oppose.
Jenni struggled free of the Creeper's grip*, stumbling into the next room and getting the Plant Spray. Again, she could move no further, nor do I believe the rules allow you to use an item the turn you pick it up from the ground (though it can generally be used the turn it first comes into existence, whether as a card or through a Haunt, or at least so I believe).
Out of turn, Flash just managed to break free of the Creeper*; having no need to go after the Plant Spray again, he tried for the Vault, not quite getting it open.
*
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Per the same houserule again.
Three creepers closed in on each hero. #3 failed miserably against Flash, #8 tied*, and #7 was just pathetic. #1 easily and inexorably captured Jenny.
Having stunned two of the three Creepers attacking him, Flash was actually able to get from the Vault room back to the Laboratory and reclaim the spray, though again I felt sure he couldn't yet use it. I decided that he must have picked up the Axe after Vivian's death, despite not having mentioned it before, so I figured he'd actually attack a Creeper to try and stun it, choosing to target #1 in the hope of freeing Jenny. With the Axe, he was even-up with the vine, but rolled poorly and tied.*
*
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It's clear that my ruling a tie sufficient to avoid entanglement has had a huge impact on this scenario, for the heroes' benefit but also for the player's tedium. Maybe next time I should just let them be screwed.
Unable to do anything more to help Flash, Jenni made a doomed attack on Creeper #1, but failed.
Creepers were slow, and only one of those in the Vault room could move anyway, plus #1 was busy dragging Jenni to its root back in the Drippy bedroom. (Her rolls to escape would actually be penalized here; I'm not sure whether or not it's appropriate that an annoying "Drip...Drip...Drip...." sound should make it harder to break free of a killer vine trying to mulch you.) This left only two to try and grapple Flash; could both of them fail? Well, one of them did. The other, however, did not, and the Plant Spray was dropped again (along with the Mask, Book, and Axe, which probably should have been dropped long ago).
Flash failed to break away from creeper #11.
Jenny succumbed to the hypnotic, lulling "Drip" and gave up the struggle, slipping into a dreamless sleep as her strength finally gave out.
The Creepers were slow, but for #1 of them, that didn't matter; it had its meal at long last, and it and Jenny were removed from the board. #11 dragged Flash back to the Grand Staircase.
Flash broke free of Creeper #11, continuing to show his contempt for the laws of statistics. He ran back upstairs, grabbed the Plant Spray, and had enough movement to run back to the Upper Landing again.
Creepers were really, really fast this turn; all four of the still-mobile ones lunged into the Grand Staircase and grabbed at Flash, starting with #3, which easily overpowered him. A
nd at this point, I decided that there was just zero possibility I was ever going to win this fight with either side; Flash couldn't possibly win all four attacks every single turn, and was just going to keep dropping the Plant Spray and picking it up again. The plants long ago would have won this if not for my generous houserule, and it was clear that the narrowest possible chance of the players actually pulling out a victory thanks to that houserule had failed; it was two hours past my intended bedtime and I was just going to call it a day.
So all three explorers died, and Mother Nature reclaimed the house. The end.
Well, that was an excellent way to kill six or seven hours and avoid utter mind-numbing boredom. Let me know if you're interested in hearing any more of these accounts.