It actually took us 2 sessions to finish up, since there was some real life stuff that cropped up. No biggie. And the conclusion was, I think, rather epic.
Pavel, Arkady, Felix and Olie (a soldier from a similar team) hunkered down in an old French castle while the rebels deciphered the books. As a week passed, they remembered their real lives, the horrible things Rocard had done, and the pitiful state of the world. They knew he had to be stopped.
They also still had lifetimes of memories from other people. They quickly found they had the skills and class abilities of all previous characters.
The rebels learned where R'lyeh was sunken and that Rocard would be able to complete the ritual in 2 days time (when the stars were right). The PCs would be dropped into the ocean, swim to the city as it rose, and stop Rocard (and his wife, Maria) once and for all. The rebel forces would attack Rocard's forces in the ocean around the city and hopefully buy them time before they were overrun.
In the fly over, Olie noticed a heat shimmer and Rocard and a strange lizard-woman appeared from nowhere. The team splashed down and hit the shore.
They encountered a patrol of lizardmen and confronted them, but at great cost. The majority were injured and Pavel gravely so. They opted for stealth to circumvent a shoggoth patrol, and that served them well.
When they made it to the city center, they found a ziggurat with Rocard and his wife atop it, already engaged in the ritual. There was resolve loss in seeing them both for the first time, as well as resolve loss from Maria's hauntingly alien song during the ritual.
The party's plan was thus: split into two groups, approach by stealth, and use their skills as vicars to try to incapacitate Maria. They hoped that what would bolster the resolve of the mortal would be enough to shatter the resolve of the unknown. This they did with surprising effect, including an apology and promise from Pavel, aka Pepe, that while he was unable to save her 700 years ago, he wouldn't fail her now.
As Maria fainted, Rocard spit a curse at Arkady that caused flesh-eating crabs to burst from his skin. The others wrested the idol and the book from Rocard with their attacks and severely injured him, but Pavel was mortally wounded.
Rocard fled between dimensions, but Arkady grabbed hold and was able to follow. Through the formless twilight the two fled until they entered a columned gate into another realm. Arkady stuck swiftly, but Rocard struck truer. Arkady died on an unnamed alien planet.
So in the end, they apprehended Maria, drove off Rocard, recovered the book and idol, and stopped the end of the world. Their success was mixed with failure, but in the end, they won out.
The players surprised me with their tactics. I hadn't planned on them striking at Maria's resolve, but I thought it was such a good idea I let it work. They dropped her resolve to the point, without a physical attack being sent her way.
The dice were definitely against them again that night, and that least to some mishaps. But I had fun, and I think they had fun too. I really liked the idea behind the adventure and I loved the revelations given to the players in pieces. It was neat seeing them question and begin to realize the situation.
Next week is a new system (one I'm writing) and a new adventure. More fun to come!
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