Show Notes
The hunt for Oderick continues as the party push deeper into the forest, following the trail with the help of Lurch’s keen nose.
Before long, they hear voices.
Armed men are moving through the woods, searching for someone. But who? Oderick? The party? Someone else entirely?
Keeping to the shadows, the company observe the strangers and quickly realise they’re not locals. Their accents are unfamiliar, their appearance unusual, and they seem to have come from lands far beyond the wilderness the party now finds themselves in.
Naturally, the Guild decide the best course of action is an ambush.
The attack is successful, if not entirely tidy. While Haldir and The Lonely attempt to take one of the men alive for questioning, Bungo contributes in the only way he knows how—by shooting him with an arrow.
The opportunity for answers dies with him.
Still, the party manage to gather one valuable clue before the bodies cool: the name Valtir.
Who he is, and why these men were searching the woods, remains a mystery.
Searching the corpses yields another lead. The coins they carry bear the mark of Minas Tirith, suggesting these strangers have travelled a very long way to be here.
But the biggest discovery is yet to come.
Determined to scout ahead, Haldir climbs a tree.
Very slowly.
After spending an impressive amount of time both climbing and counting, he finally spots the enemy encampment.
And it’s far larger than anyone expected.
At least fifty men.
Suddenly, the party begin to wonder whether they’re hunting a fugitive…
Or marching straight into an army.
More from G.I.A. Guild of Inept Adventurers
Welcome to Vaesen, a brand-new game for the Guild of Inept Adventurers! Set in 19th-century Scandinavia, this Swedish folk horror adventure follows three strangers brought together by a shared dream, a mysterious gift known as the Second Sight, and what can only be described as some truly questionable accents.
The Mortimer family’s secrets are finally beginning to unravel, and the trio find themselves increasingly convinced that something deeply sinister is happening at the vicarage. As dinner approaches, Nancy, Melissa and Blake search the house and discover disturbed linen, a hidden staircase and a chamber pot that raises rather more questions than it answers. Dinner proves even more suspicious. Blake attempts to avoid the meat by accidentally depositing the entire stew on the floor, only to discover a fingernail lurking amongst it. Then Eleanor attempts to drug Nancy’s wine. With the Squire unconscious and the evening taking a decidedly sinister turn, the trio are invited upstairs. Blake discreetly prepares for the worst by concealing a shotgun in his trousers, because apparently this is what passes for respectable Regency behaviour. Things quickly descend into chaos. Flintlock pistols are drawn, Beamish gets his throat cut, Blake is shot, Melissa is pistol-whipped and Nancy accidentally shoots her own maid. Then something monstrous emerges from the attic. Charlotte. Or what remains of her. The Reverend’s beloved late wife has returned as a terrifying ghoul, and she has a particular interest in who has been eating meat. As the trio desperately flee the burning vicarage, Charlotte tears Henry apart before turning her attention back towards them. They escape into the night, leaving the house ablaze behind them. But as the flames consume the attic, the creature screams a single word: Azathoth. And with that, the trio flee back towards London, hopefully with their lives, sanity and careers in society intact.
The trio have a plan. Nancy wants answers about the terrifying vision that changed her life, Melissa is determined to stand by her side, and Blake is increasingly concerned that his new residence may be less stately home and more murderous death trap. Then, during the night, Henry Mortimer wakes the household with screams, crying out to his dead wife Charlotte and demanding to know why she continues to haunt him. And Melissa sees something in the graveyard. A figure standing in the moonlight. Then it’s gone. As the day begins, the trio investigate the Mortimers’ home and discover some curious clues. A receipt for a coach journey to Portsmouth. Notes concerning herbology. And plans for a dinner that evening with Dr Beamish and Charlotte’s uncle, Squire Goodman. Naturally, Nancy needs a new gown. Because if you’re going to investigate a potentially supernatural conspiracy, you might as well look fabulous doing it. But their investigation soon takes a much darker turn. At the village church, something is horribly wrong. The hymns have been changed to songs celebrating Easter and resurrection, despite it being nowhere near Easter. And beneath the church, the trio discover something far worse. Bodies. Dismembered bodies. Outside Charlotte’s grave, they find another disturbing clue — cloven hoof prints in the earth. Whatever is happening around the Mortimers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to explain away. The Reverend has secrets. His dead wife may not be staying dead. And Nancy’s terrifying vision might be closer to reality than she ever imagined. The trio have finally uncovered the truth. Unfortunately, it’s really bloody weird.
It’s been a long time coming. Regency Cthulhu was one of the very first games we ever played together as a group, and it didn’t take long for us to fall completely in love with the wonderfully ridiculous combination of Regency manners, scandalous behaviour and cosmic horror. Years later, we’re finally returning to it. Nancy has spent the last few months confined to Bedlam following a terrifying encounter with something she still struggles to understand. But she has returned a changed woman. No longer content with her former life, Nancy is determined to become a respectable lady and find herself a wealthy and influential husband. Enter Reverend Henry Mortimer and his sister Eleanor. Their offer seems almost too good to refuse: Nancy can become the first student at Henry’s new finishing school, where they intend to transform her into a proper lady. But there’s a catch. A letter from the late Lord Farquhar reveals that Nancy has inherited a house at 50 Barclay Square. A generous gift, perhaps — if Blake Thompson hadn’t spent eight generations serving the Farquhar family only to discover that he’d been left absolutely bloody nothing. And the house itself has a reputation. As Nancy, Melissa and Blake settle into their new surroundings, strange details begin to emerge. Nancy secretly investigates the Mortimers. Blake overhears suspicious conversations. And whispers of natural philosophy, herbalism, secrets and mysterious deaths begin to make their presence felt. Then they travel to Hampshire to visit the Mortimers’ vicarage, where Nancy begins hearing voices again. Perhaps Bedlam didn’t cure her after all. As the trio start pulling at the threads surrounding the Mortimers, Nancy reveals the truth about the terrifying vision that changed her life — a vision of something monstrous that she has never been able to explain. And now she intends to find answers. If becoming a respectable lady means marrying her way into the circles of power and influence, then so be it. After all… What could possibly go wrong?
The G.I.A.’s investigation of Archive Room 9 finally starts to bear fruit, as they uncover a series of suspicious tax payouts for goods that mysteriously disappeared en route — including some rather substantial payments to something called the Directorate of Civic Prosperity. With shipments of building materials vanishing under increasingly dubious circumstances, it seems Gallowmere’s Trade Office may be hiding something rather more substantial than a few dodgy accounts.