A Study in Dust and Stone, Session 8: The tome

October 28th, 10:17 a.m. | Prof. St. Claire office

After the harrowing narrow escape from the Kraken, I secured two communicating rooms at the nearest hotel. Remy was in dire need of medical attention; I requested the receptionist summon a doctor to our suite immediately.

Remy: Recovers 2 HP from medical care + 1 HP from a full night’s rest.

The following morning, we made our way to Professor St. Claire’s office at the university.

Sterling: "Ah, Lorenzo, good to see you, my friend!" His eyes brightened the moment he saw the heavy tome in my hands. "You found it! Excellent work!"

Lorenzo: "Recovering this book was risky business, Sterling. It almost cost us our lives. The Cult of Summanus is far more dangerous than we anticipated—and not merely because of their numbers."

Sterling: "What do you mean? Do they have powerful political backing?"

Lorenzo: "Most likely. But beyond that… it is difficult to speak of, my friend. We witnessed something last night. Something unusual—something that defies both logic and science."

I glanced at Remy, who stepped forward.

Remy: "We fought their High Priest. He attacked us with… something."

Lorenzo: "A spell, Sterling. That is the only word for it. An energy blast struck Remy square in the chest; it nearly killed him."

Remy unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the blackened, angry skin on his chest. St. Claire stared in visible horror.

Sterling: "This… this is impossible."

Lorenzo: "It should be. And yet, it happened. There are forces at work here we do not understand. I believe Tuscan Rituals is the key to surviving what comes next."

I turned to my companion. "Remy, your sister is safe now. You have no further obligation to this madness."

Remy: "Nonsense. There is no way I’m turning away after what I’ve seen. These people must be stopped. I’m with you."

Lorenzo: "Thank you, Remy. I knew I could count on you. The study of this tome will likely take weeks, and it would be unwise to move against the Cult again until we are prepared. Return to your sister and your daily life for now. Keep your eyes open—if anything out of the ordinary happens, contact me at the hotel or here at the university."

With this, I consider concluded the first adventure of the campaign. Several threads remain frayed: the sigil in Lorenzo's home, the mysterious follower on the train, and the true reach of the Cult of Summanus.

But I feel I should take a break because I did not feel comfortable with the solo rules I've been using. I found the rules mechanics too basic and the random tables a bit lacking. So from now on I will switch to Mythic Game Master Emulator.

But before leaving Lorenzo and Remy, lets' do a quick upkeep/development session.

Remy's development phase

Psychology skill improvement roll
[D100]: [82] > 20 => skill improved by [D10]: [10]

Stealth skill improvement roll
[D100]: [90] > 70 => skill improved by [D10]: [2]

Sanity reward for stopping Thibodeaux: 2 SP

Luck recovery roll
[D100]: [80] > 35 => Remy recovers [D10]: [5] LP

Lorenzo's development phase

Library use skill improvement roll
[D100]: [73] < 80 => no improvement

Listen skill improvement roll
[D100]: [95] > 20 => skill improved by [D10]: [5]

Occult skill improvement roll
[D100]: [99] > 65 => skill improved by [D10]: [10]

Spot Hidden skill improvement roll
[D100]: [27] < 90 => no improvement

Sanity reward for stopping Thibodeaux: 2 SP

Luck recovery roll
[D100]: [46] < 46 => No luck recovered

Lorenzo performs an initial reading of the Tuscan Rituals
Language (italian) skil check
[D100]: [6] < 60 => success
Lorenzo gains 4% Cthulhu Mythos and loses 2 SP
[D4]: [4] spells are revealed: all spells present in the tome.

Lorenzo spends 8 weeks studying the tome
Cthulhu Mythos +1%, 3 Max Sanity lost
Italian skill improvement check
[D100]: [84] < 60 => skill improved by [D10]: [6]

Lorenzo tries to learn "Blessing of the Labyrinth"
Hard INT check:
[D100]: [23] < (70/2) => Success!
Lorenzo learns the spell and loses [D6]: [1] SP