PARALLAX, Session 10: Hypergeometry

Scene setup

Scene Expectations

Lawrence goes visit Jo. The rest of the team might spot Robertson outside the hospital

Expected scene test

Scene Proceeds Normally!

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Playing the scene

We head for Charity Hospital. Pariah and Phalanx take up positions outside with a clear view of the entrance and the parking lot. I head in alone.

It takes a few minutes to find Jo’s room. A uniform is posted outside, looking bored to tears. I flash my badge, murmur something about a “colleague visit,” and he steps aside.

Jo: “Law! Weren’t you on vacation? What are you doing here?”

Lawrence: “Always here for a friend in need, Jo. You know that.”

Jo: “Yeah, sure—especially if there’s whiskey involved.”

She looks strained, her “tough detective” act fraying at the edges. I sit by her side and take her hand.

Lawrence: “You okay?”

Jo: “I will be. Especially when we catch that bastard.”

She’s in a hospital gown. Checking for the mark won’t be hard if I play my cards right. I pick up her chart and start scanning it with a professional scowl.

Jo: “Don’t even start, Law. I’m fine.”

Lawrence: “No, you don’t start. Let me do my job. These ER docs miss things in the rush. They might have overlooked a secondary injury.”

Jo: “Did you seriously just ask to see me naked?”

Lawrence: “I suppose I did. For a just cause.”

Jo: “I bet that’s what every perv says.”

Persuade roll
[D100]: [48] < 60 => success

I give her my best “worried friend” look, and she finally relents with a groan.

Q: (nearly impossible because Robertson does not seem to be infected): Is Jo infected?
A: Exceptional No! => I see an embarassing tattoo

I perform a quick, clinical checkup. No pulsating colors. No shifting geometry. Just a name tattooed near her navel: ‘Steve’.

Lawrence: “Now, who the hell is Steve?”

Jo (rolling her eyes): “Shit. I knew this was a mistake. Get out, Law.”

Lawrence: “You’re fine, Jo. Clean bill of health. But tell me—did you notice anything unusual during the attack?”

FQ: did jo notice something unusual during the aggression?
A: Yes
Description meaning: Helplessly + Reassuring

Jo: “I did, actually. After he broke my arm, I was helpless. I thought he was going to finish me. Instead… he was almost reassuring. He actually apologized for doing it. Can you believe that?”

I leave with a promise of tacos and whiskey, but as I exit, my heart is still pounding. What if she had been infected? Would I have been able to ‘cleanse’ her?

Sanity check (0/1)
(D100): (20) => success, no sanity loss

I push the thought away, but the cold dread lingers.

FQ (likely because he probably is stalking Jo): does Pariah or Phalanx spot Robertson?
A: Yes

A vibration in my pocket. A text from Pariah: “R spotted. Parking lot, now.”

I bolt out of the hospital. Pariah is waiting by the SUV.

Pariah: “Phalanx spotted Robertson. He’s in a perch with a clear view of your friend’s room. He probably saw you in there.”

We find Phalanx sitting on a bench across from the hospital, eyes fixed on a nearby building.

Phalanx: “Roof of the building at my twelve. I saw a lens flare—binoculars, hopefully not a scope.”

Lawrence: “He’s not here to kill her. And she’s not infected, which means he probably isn’t either.”

Phalanx: “Maybe. But I’m not taking chances with a Ranger. Here’s the play: The roof has one entrance. Placebo, you cover the exit. If he slips past us, you take the shot. Pariah, you and I go up and flank him. If he draws, we put him down.”

Phalanx stealth roll:
(D100): (88) > 50 => Critical failure!

We reach the roof door. Phalanx tries to ease it open, but it catches a metal bucket acting as a makeshift alarm. CLANG.

Phalanx: “Shit! Stealth is blown!”

Lawrence: “Wait! Let me talk to him. He’s trapped up there.”

I step into the doorway, keeping my hands visible. “Robertson! We aren’t enemies! We just want to talk! We know about Kaminski!”

A tense silence follows. Then, a gruff voice from behind a ventilation duct: “Who the hell are you?”

Lawrence persuade roll:
(D100): (96) > 60 => failure => Roberston will refuse to come in direct contact with the agents for now

Lawrence: “I’m the guy you just saw in the hospital. We’re trying to stop the tattoo from spreading. Are you infected? We can help.”

Robertson: “My ass. In this business, ‘help’ usually means a bullet. But I’m clean. I wouldn’t be talking to you if I wasn’t.”

Lawrence: “Is that why you’re looking for her body? To stop the spread?”

Robertson: “That shit has to be contained. One way or another.”

FQ (likely): Does robertson know how kaminski got infected?
A: Exceptional Yes! => he was with her looking for the book
My interpretation: he knows how she got infected AND the means of infection
Q: was she infected by the book?
A: yes

Lawrence: “We’re on the same side, then. Kaminski’s body is secure. My partner here is a Marine. We’re trying to avoid a disaster.”

Robertson stands up slowly. “I saw how it started. Kaminski was the first. That damned book… The King in Yellow.”

Lawrence: “She found it in Paris?”

Robertson: “We were hired by Hastur & Associates to find it. Orders were: don’t read it. But Kaminski was greedy. She looked. When we got back, she started talking about ‘The Yellow Sign.’ I saw the mark on her arm—it made my nose bleed just looking at it. She went mad, bolted with the book, and then she killed that paramedic.”

Lawrence: “Where is the book now?”

Robertson: “Gone. I think ‘they’ already took it. Hastur.”

FQ: does he know anything more about Hastur?
A: Unexpected Random Event!
NPC action
Trap Elements
NPC list roll: choose or roll again => I choose Hastur
My interpretation: Hastur was onto Robertson an has laid a trap for him near the hospital. Some kind of elemental magic/ritual

Breath of The Deep
The target’s lungs fill with seawater, potentially causing an unpleasant death by drowning. The caster must be able to see the target. After mentally intoning the spell for a round, the spell takes effect if the caster wins an opposed POW roll with the target. If successful, the target begins to drown—falling to the floor, choking on seawater, and taking 1D6 damage each round. The target should make a CON roll after taking damage each round, if the roll is successful the salt water has been expelled and the effects of the spell cease. Note that the caster may cease the spell at any point. I am assuming 2 casters, targeting Robertson and myself. I assume Robertson has a constitution of 15 and Pow 10, caster assumed to have power 16 (cultist priest stat)

Spell targeting Robertson
Pow opposed roll
Robertson: [D100]: [47] < 50 => success
Hastur’s cultist: [D100]: [75] < 80 => success
Tie, but cultist wins because he rolled higher
[1D6] damage: [4]
CON check: [D100]: [16] < 75 => spell ceases

Spell targeting Lawrence
Pow opposed roll
Lawrence: [D100]: [31] < 70 => success
Hastur’s cultist: [D100]: [40] < 80 => success
Tie, but cultist wins because he rolled higher
[1D6] damage: [2] HP
CON check: [D100]: [48] < 50 => spell ceases
SAN check [2/4]: [D100]: [52] => success => 2 sanity loss (unnatural)

“Who are these Hastur people?” I ask, but before he can answer, the air in my lungs turns to ice.

Suddenly, I can’t breathe. My throat isn’t constricted—it’s full. I collapse, clutching my chest as freezing saltwater gushes from my mouth and nose. A few meters away, Robertson is in the same agonizing throes, thrashing on the gravel.

It feels like my lungs are bursting. I struggle, coughing violently, fighting the impossible weight of the sea inside my chest. I finally heave a massive spray of brine onto the roof and gasp for air. My mind screams in protest—I was drowning on a dry rooftop in the middle of New Orleans.

Phalanx points toward the hospital roof across the way. Two silhouettes in dark coats are watching us. They linger for a second, then vanish into the stairwell.

Pariah: “Hypergeometric ritual. They were targeting both of you.”

Robertson (wheezing): “Call it what it is… that was black magic. Hastur cleaning up their mess. I was a damn fool to come here.”

Pariah: “Enough. We need to move before they try something else. Robertson—you’re coming with us. We have a lot more to share, and you’re officially out of friends.”

He nods, shaking the water from his hair. We don’t look back as we run for the stairs.

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Scene bookkeeping

Chaos Factor

8 (+1)

Thread list

One new entry for Hastur & Associates

Character list

One new entry for Hastur & Associates