Project Nemesis is a fan driven website for games that use the One-Roll Engine (like Nemesis, Wild Talents, Reign and Monsters) or Chaosium's Basic Roleplay System (BRP) (like Call of Cthulhu) and the Delta Green setting.
Upon mention of the ring a detailed image pops into the Bull’s mind, he could clearly see the ring in every detail.
EDWARD: “We need to get that ring, I think it’s important somehow.”
JIM: “I do think that is a terrible idea.”
EDWARD: “Alright, what can I do to make it a good idea?”
Their
discussion continues while the rest of the village awakes and begins a
more elaborate morning ritual. The young man that was picked for
marriage and his new wife seemed to be the center of the ritual along
with the eldest warrior who is carrying what seems to be a mummified
corpse until Al feels from it the sluggish thoughts of unconsciousness.
The
sailors watch in growing horror as a bridge is laid across the
village’s moat and the aged warrior disrobes and disarms. He begins his
walk.
GM: “He walks right into the jungle, the web, the body still
in his arms. He doesn’t flinch or cry out when the first spider leaps
to his neck to feast, but you sure do. You should make Cool rolls.”
ALBINUS’ PLAYER: “Al can’t see but the force of the man’s suffering will make him drop to his knees.”
EDWARD: (Fails) “Ah! God!
JIM’s PLAYER: (Fails) “Jim is too busy vomiting to cry out.”
GM: “You thought you were OK until you saw the spiders go for his eyes.”
AZAKA’S PLAYER: (Succeeds) “I’ll… grimace.”
Upon
the warrior’s death the young man takes up his clothes and assumes his
place as a man. The ritual concludes and the sailors notice that a
council of the warriors begins. Albinus telepathically listens in and
finds that their debate revolves around the tribal status of himself
and his companions. The other three, worried about being fed to the
‘web of life’ ask him to delve deeper, but Albinus instead seeks the
priest that the Bull had met earlier.
Apparently easily able to
rebuff the contact if he chose, the priest instead invited Albinus into
his mind, crafting the scene to resemble his monastery. When Albinus
explained that he had his abilities because he was cursed by God, the
priest offered to take his confession, and later to hold mass for him
in the mindscape church he had crafted.
While Albinus was
unconscious for several hours attending mass in the monk’s mind the
rest of the group was left without a translator. Feeling dangerously
close to becoming spider food, they agreed to make a break for the
beach as soon as the villagers were distracted. Azaka had assured them
that he could keep the spiders at bay.
Later that day they took
their chance when the villagers were beginning a long re-enactment of
their fall from grace. Azaka beseeched the Loa to open a way through
the jungle and the Bull bodily grabbed Albinus and they sped through
the opening webs. Distracted by the ritual, only four of the tribe’s
warriors pursued them, but with their experience with the terrain they
soon came within striking distance of Jim and Azaka. Until, that is,
Jim spied a shallow gorge, he grabbed Azaka and jumped for his life,
tumbling to the ground and outpacing the warriors.
Just as Azaka’s
power was waning they returned to the beach to find a confused priest
and a somehow more intact Demon’s Eye. Albinus and the priest scrambled
into the ship while Jim and Azaka went to defend the Bull as the big
man tried to dislodge the ship from the shore.
AZAKA’S PLAYER:
“I hold the spider carving I made earlier with a knife at its belly, I
want to intimidate the warriors.” (Fails Roll)
GM: “One warrior contemptuously bats the carving out of your hand, the other pommel strikes you in the chest.”
Jim
dodged, the Bull heaved and Azaka discovered the better part of valor.
As Azaka scrambled up the side of the ship the priest clung to the side
to ward off his attackers. The keen eyed Jim noticed that when the
priest struck his assailant with a gardening implement his whole arm
dropped to his side. One last herculean effort from the Bull and the
ship took to the water. Jim came through in the clinch to ward the
vessel away from the partial submerged coral and steer the Demon’s Eye
to open water.
…
With one mast, no idea where they were,
and two weeks of the meagerest of rations the five men sail West in
hopes of finding land. A few days of bed rest does them good and Azaka
takes up the cause of repairing the mast.
AZAKA’S PLAYER: “I will talk to each person, and ask them to join in a ritual to repair the mast.”
ALBINUS’ PLAYER: (Clapping)”I do believe in masts!”
GM: “What about the monk?”
AZAKA’S PLAYER: “I will leave him out but I won’t be secretive.”
GM:
“A bit after you start the ritual, with chanting and holding hands
around the broken mast the priest will move toward you with a very
disapproving look.”
AZAKA’S PLAYER: “I ignore him.”
GM: “He moves around to your side and puts a hand on your arm, he looks sad but firm like a father to his wayward child.”
AZAKA’S PLAYER: “I continue the ritual.”
PRIEST: (Intoned in Latin) “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”
GM: “Declare actions for combat.”
Jim
shoved Azaka to the deck, just barely in time to avoid the bladed
trowel that appeared in the monk’s hand, while the Bull attempted to
tackle him. Azaka ran to the aft of the ship while the Bull’s next
swing was cut short when the priest’s blade found his flesh and his arm
went numb. Jim’s rapier found the priest’s flank, but his geas to
strike only the unjust doubled him over in pain. Azaka released the
anchor and the combatants went flying, the Bull and the monk were flung
from the deck and barely managed to grip the side. The Bull aimed a
kick at the priest, who seemed to have started reciting the Lord’s
prayer and gripping his silver crucifix. Before Edward’s boot landed
the priest was gone inexplicably, outside even the range of Albinus’
senses.
After a day of recuperation Azaka finished the ritual and went further to ask the Loa for a strong Westerly.
…
Even
with only four people the food situation was becoming dire for our
sailors when they spied a French merchant vessel. Initially the
merchant set course to avoid their dark ship, but by improvising a flag
and sailing non-threateningly, they set up a meeting with the merchant
captain.
JIM: “We were once prisoners aboard this ship, but now
it is ours, we need food and a peek at your charts, and we have silver
to pay.” (Showing him a bar)
CAPTAIN: “How much silvehr exactly?”
JIM: “A few bars.” (Fails his Talespinner roll)
CAPTAIN: “Good, good. Ah ahm sure that as an Englishman you ah familiah with the laws of supply and dehmand.”
After
some haggling, the group pays one third of their silver (high seas
robbery for what they got) for enough food to make port and a good idea
of where the likely ports might be. There were worries about the
piratical appearance of their vessel and the difficulty of spending
Spanish silver in a Spanish port and so they decided to strike out
North for San Domingo and then on to Isla de Tortua, more commonly
known as Tortuga.
A day away from Port-au-prince the sailors weigh
anchor for the night in the company of a French galleon and a local
sloop. As Azaka takes the first watch he notices a cold fog roll in,
unseasonable at any time of the year. Distracted, he fails to notice a
sleek blue ship named le Cadeau Hecate (Hecate’s Gift) until she has
come along side the Galleon and begun to board. He races to the cabins
and wakes his companions, who decide that they will help the galleon
and set off in their long boat.
After clambering up the side of
Hecate’s Gift they saw the pirates who were busy plundering the nearly
defenseless galleon. The three gunners and the captain were left on the
sleek ship and they turned toward the invading sailors; all four of
them beautiful women, their captain the most striking of them all. With
her pure white hair glinting in the moonlight the captain of Hecate’s
Gift levels her blade at the party.
And on that scene the session closed.