Joe (Zebra), Charlie (Pizza), Ursula (Wings), and Pete (Me) against Eihort. Dunwich and Dark Pharaoh with some Miskatonic and Organized Crime Institution.
Everyone but Pete took an opening Retainer; I only had a Press Pass and a Sword of Y’ha-talla, and I liked those. Joe proceeded to lose his Retainer at first opportunity, but Ursula never lost hers. The Sawbones was used several times, but the Black Market wasn’t.
Zebra was very intrigued with the Ancient Whispers—either that, or when there wasn’t anything obvious to do, he’d rather go there than to a clueless unstable Location—and had several Encounters throughout the game. Irritatingly, he only managed to score the Book of Anubis. Everyone else had one Encounter, but only Ursula found the Twin Scepters. (We lost more Exhibits to the **** box than we found!)
Wings was a bit overwhelmed with the ability to start ANYWHERE, but she discussed it thoroughly with her miniature and decided on the Woods. (How the two of them came to that decision is beyond our ability to understand…how very Mythos!) Ursula worked her way north to Dunwich for a lost Deep One (for her story) and all the rural Clues (every single one), not to mention both Sarah Danforth and Corinna Jones (Focus 4!). Dunwich didn’t so much as sniffle for the ENTIRE GAME; with Miskatonic, that’s pretty DAZZLING.
Charlie went to the Unvisited Isle for a Clue, where he was promptly Cursed. (Pizza has been Cursed every single game consecutively for six games, I think.) He decided to try the Bank (for his Safety Deposit Key and a possible Blessing) while earning Retainer money (and to stay close to the Newspaper). He had a chance to stop a robber for $10 and the Wanted Detriment, and though Zebra and I goaded him to take it to pass his Story, he wouldn’t do it. He managed to “six” his Curse for a True Magick Tome out of that deposit box, but then a portal threatened to suck away the vault guard, so Charlie Blessed away his Curse to go off to Leng instead of the guard (from which there was no exit yet). He expected to get LiTaS, but then a Proto-Shoggoth found him, and Charlie hadn’t a chance with just his fists. So instead he got LiTaS the hard way, losing his Retainer, but passing on an Injury.
The Dreamlands MotorGate showed up at the Science Building, but it came with The Stars Are Right Rumor. Everyone expected me to lose Duke to stop it, but I had a chance to complete Pete’s DAFT Story-with-the-WORST-time-limit, so I bounced into the Gate with more than enough to Seal (thank you, Press Pass). No one really seemed to notice until I told Wings to roll for the Rumor:
”I thought you were losing the dog!”
“I want my stupid Story first. I’ll take responsibility for each Doom Token that happens as a result of my delay.”
After three turns, I was able to (only) close the Gate (‘cuz it frakkin’ moved), pass my Story, and lose Duke to end the Rumor. During each turn, someone besides me rolled more than a 3 for the Rumor, causing me to exclaim each time, “Nothing happens! And I totally take responsibility for that Nothing happening!”
(Eventually, Pete ended up back at the Woods for multiple Clues, and had the Duke Encounter. But Duke did NOT forgive me, and I failed to reacquire him.
)
Joe became Psychic (Benefit), and almost every turn after had either a Lore or a Fight Skill switching to whomever needed to read, combat, or close a Gate. He was also getting fair use out of the Sawbones and a King James Bible, as his Street-sweeping usually involved forfeiting the Horror Check in order to completely devastate his opposition with a maxed Fight, his trusty .45, and the Sword Pete traded to him for a Carbine (thus having both Physical and Magical weapons).
Charlie reentered reality at the Hospital, but by now Icy Conditions was in play, crippling his ability to get anywhere. He moved to the Magic Shoppe, after which the Dhole moved to Uptown, locking him in. Charlie stayed there for several turns, afraid to get stuck on the Dhole…and then a Patrol…and then Curfew. He also failed to read his True Magic FOUR times, but neither of those is the most absurd thing about this. He encountered Miriam Beecher and got a Clue, then had her arrested for the PI Benefit, then encountered her AGAIN for any Spell in the deck. (Miss Beecher is apparently very forgiving when she's not insane.) I suggested Alchemical Process for his Story, or Greater Banishing for the Dhole; he chose the latter. Of course, THEN the Dhole moved.
The moment Charlie left, that mean ol' Proto-Shoggoth tracked him down from across the dimensions.
By this time, both Ursula and Pete had gone to Another Dimension in order to Seal the Unvisited Isle and close the OTHER MotorGate (dammit!). Once the Proto-Shoggoth tagged Charlie, the Dhole found the MotorGate, threatening to destroy whomever of us came out on it. Thus came some GREAT coordination: Charlie Banished the Dhole, then Evaded the Shoggie, so Joe swooped down to kill it, gathering all of his Story's Pass Conditions. Pete’s Other World Encounter allowed him to Scrounge the Greater Banishing back, and Ursula closed the MotorGate, removing a blasted Colour and a Dimensional Shambler, and passing Charlie enough cash to satisfy his Story's Conditions. When Pete returned, he Sealed the Isle, then killed Barnabas Marsh, and then Banished two Deep Ones, a Deep One Hybrid, and a Star Spawn that was perched on the Lodge, allowing Charlie (whom the Mythos had dumped off to the Abyss at the Witch House) to return through the R’lyss Gate, Seal the Lodge, and let Joe enter to pass his Story. We were riding pretty high then, even with Eihort on Doom 9.
The dreaded Clothing Drive came out, ignored Joe (Book of Anubis), and then disappeared the following turn for “A Sandstorm?!” Pizza made a point of announcing this Headline as an exclaiming question mark demands. I “dig” the Sandstorm and despise the Clothing Drive, so I wonder if the game was just buttering me up for what happened next.
Ursula Sealed the Graveyard, earning her second Brood Token. When Wings asked me what she had to roll…I don’t know WHAT I was frickin’ thinkin’, but what came out was, “Roll lower than your Brood Tokens. No wait! DON’T roll lower than your Brood Tokens!!” Somewhere in the middle of that, the dice were already in the air.
And like many of you in the last week or two, it was a 1.
As time hung in the air like a dead outlaw, I could feel the game in the back of my skull chuckling, “You told me to, genius.”
I’m pretty sure if she had had the capability, Wings would have Scannered my head with her mind. This was Wings’ first non-Final-Battle devour, and having done a great job building Ursula up, it was a really painful way to go: losing oodles of money and Clues, a Brazier of Souls, two Allies, a Skullcrackers Relationship, and our well-traveled Fight Skill. She was so upset, she entertained the notion of just walking away from the game (and presumably making a voodoo doll out of my hair). But she recovered—I think Zebra, with his record multiple devourings, helped a bit—and replaced Ursula with Mandy, a Shotgun, and an Elder Sign.
But, of course, the damage was done. Eihort was now too close to waking up for us to get Mandy past all the monsters in the Streets for our last Seal. Once Eihort woke up, and we all got our new Brood Token…I rolled a **** 1 for Pete!!! (Karma, you psychotic fickle witch!) I felt so bad sending the rest of them up against a strength-14 Eihort. Using all their Clues and Mandy’s reroll, they managed to get him down to 4, when four-brooded Charlie was devoured with two magic swords. Mandy and Joe just didn’t have enough firepower to do another 8 doom tokens by themselves. Mandy was last-woman-standing, but Eihort was impossibly full again. Without an EXTRAORDINARY early round with Eihort, you CANNOT beat him.
Everyone loves Organized Crime, and I know at least Zebra and I dig Dark Pharaoh. The four Investigators were appreciated on one level or another. Eihort is forever on Wings’ $#!%list, and if I were to try to defend Eihort as still one of the cleverest Ancient Ones, I’m pretty sure I would gubble flig zifstan joobol kwutch flairn. >UUURRRPPP<