“Nineveh”

“Nineveh” (ΩLD01)
by John Tomlinson & David Agnew

Game Master: Brian   Players: Adam, Erin
Game Dates: 25 January 2020

Characters: The Doctor, Riddell
Allies: The Watcher, The (Young) Doctor, The (Old) Doctor, Flo, Kyrstal
Time: N/A
Space: Nineveh (The Afterlife)

Continuity: The final adventure featuring the Lost Doctor and John Riddell.

Synopsis: “Let the heavens cast their spray of light across the night-black sky, ‘twill not touch the dark of Nineveh, where Time Lords go to die. Twelve rejuvenations all, and not a season more, hath been the lot of Gallifrey since darker days of yore. Some call it the zone of silence, where dreams die unfulfill’d, where every chord and cadence of the song of life is still’d. Others talk of timeless joy and venerate the day that they might cut the skein of life upon dark Nineveh. So walk the ages, Time Lord, and disregard the sign, but know that where the Watcher waits, so waits the end of time.”

The Doctor is dead. In the wake of annihilation, the lost Time Lord finds himself alone in a shadowy wasteland, a winding dirt road leading the way to cold, dim lights on the indistinct horizon. Ahead, the spectral figure of the Watcher beckons him, signalling the start of his final journey. The Doctor recognizes these signs and omens from the whispered rhymes of his childhood. They are the morbid hallmarks of Nineveh, the afterlife described in the ancient folklore of Gallifrey. And they confirm his worst fears: there will be no cheating death this time, no regeneration.

Contemplating his seemingly inevitable fate, the Doctor follows the Watcher and begins the long and arduous journey to the hidden monument known as the Wall of Memory, enshrined deep within the Citadel of Lost Time Lords. If the legends are true, it is his only hope for peace and closure. Each twist in the road and shadow on the landscape brings its own challenge, however, its own figure of opposition. As the Doctor makes his way through this chaotic underworld, a motley band of familiar faces assembles to stir forgotten memories and to question his choices: John Riddell, Flo, the Dreilyn Kyrstal. Old friends and lost companions now vying for control of his ultimate fate. They are led by conflicting echoes of the Time Lord’s own larger-than-life persona: the Doctor, youthful and brimming with confidence, as stupidly reckless as he is bold; and the Doctor, ancient and frail, so desperate to preserve life that he no longer regards any risk as acceptable. Which of the two has made the correct choices? Which of the two is damned? Or is the Doctor forever fated to be undone by his foibles, no matter what choices he might make?

In the heart of the ghostly City of Lost Souls, where riddles and mazes obscure horrors greater than death itself, the fractured Doctor and his fractious companions will face the ultimate test—and determine whether the hero claims resurrection or everlasting damnation!

Teaser: “Nineveh”

SLOWLY, PAINFULLY, the Doctor opened his eyes. His mind was fogged, as though he was waking from an aeons-long slumber. He was laying prone, and his body ached like it had never ached before. His fingers scratched at the ground, clawing up cracked flakes of dried mud. Gazing directly upwards, the sky above was almost impossibly black, with not a single star in sight.

The night-black sky.

The phrase propelled itself into the Doctor’s head, intruding into his confused thoughts.

The dark of Nineveh.

Nineveh. The name was familiar, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Exodus of the Daleks”

“Exodus of the Daleks” (4LD04)
by Gary Gygax

Game Master: Brian   Players: Adam, Erin
Game Dates: 26 October 2019; 24 November 2019

Characters: The Doctor, Riddell
Adversaries: Davros, The Daleks
Time: 3-4 November 34876 CE
Space: Greylok, Constellation of Beriss

 

 

Synopsis: The people of Greylok face a terrible quandary. Deep inside the mountain fastness that lies beyond their duchy is a dungeon filled with the most terrible creatures, beasts of a strangeness and power never before seen on this world. As nearby villages and fortresses fall prey to these monsters, an expedition is assembled to face them. The Grand Duke has called upon the most expendable of his province’s talents: the wizard, whose lacklustre magic defies all good sense; the barbarian, whose bravery is matched only by his absent-mindedness; the monk, whose premonitory visions come at the most inconvenient of times; and the travellers, whose incredible journey through time and space has cursed them with a critical role in this risky affair—an affair that is prophesied to end in inescapable death!

Inside that fabled dungeon, the Doctor and John Riddell must confront horrors far beyond the scope of the myths and legends of Greylok, for the people’s superstitions veil the most abhorrent of the universe’s evils. Buried within the barrier peaks is a spacecraft of advanced design and appalling purpose. The electronic heartbeat of its infernal machinery is a signature the Doctor knows all too well. As the expedition takes the foolhardy adventurers through dark corridors and anti-grav tunnels and into the alien jungles of a sinister hidden preserve, the true scope of the nightmare that has befallen this primitive world is revealed. The Daleks have survived the destruction of their homeworld, and in this fallen saucer they have maintained its biosphere. The Ark of Skaro carries varga plants and slythers and vicious magnedons, the lethal flora and fauna of the universe’s most dangerous planet. At its core, in an underwater laboratory engaged in dangerous research, Davros, the creator, prepares to begin again.

As the Doctor and his party of gallant companions struggle to survive the deadliest of all ecosystems, they face an army of Daleks desperate to ensure their own survival. To stop Davros, to defeat the Daleks, to prevent the unnatural resurrection of the planet Skaro and break a never-ending cycle of death and destruction, the Doctor will have to make the ultimate sacrifice—and John Riddell may have to surrender his very soul!

Teaser: “Exodus of the Daleks”

THE BOLT arced through the air before finding its mark, burying itself deep into the centre of the crude wicker target.

“Bullseye!” roared Riddell in appreciation.

The flame-haired young girl dropped her crossbow and ran to retrieve the arrow, then skipped back to Riddell and pounced upon him with a warm embrace. The pair laughed. They cut a strange duo in some ways—Riddell outfitted in his full hunting gear, the girl in a simple tunic and leather sandals—but they enjoyed an easy familial chemistry.

A pale figure stepped onto the common from behind the pair, his cream linen suit resplendent and his panama shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun. “I never had you down as the paternal type, John,” teased the Doctor.

“The Cetacean Job”

“The Cetacean Job” (4LD03)
by Khadim Nasser

Game Master: Brian   Players: Adam, Erin
Game Date: 21 September 2019

Characters: The Doctor, Riddell
Adversaries: [Redacted]
Allies: The Hath, The Judoon
Time: 26 May 5681 CE
Space: The Turquoise Five-Finned Lifeform, Medusa Cascade

 

Synopsis: In the remarkable region of space known as the Medusa Cascade, star whales roam free. The Doctor recognizes these gentle beasts as one of the most majestic lifeforms in the universe, a spaceborne cetacean that migrates through the space between the stars. He also recognizes the eggs of these endangered wonders as utterly priceless. So when a platoon of Judoon locks down a Hath starship and announces that just such an egg has been stolen, the Doctor has questions regarding this impossible crime. Just how would one steal the egg of a star whale? And why? The Judoon don’t know how, and they don’t know why, but they’re not the type to waste time asking questions. They’ve already made an arrest and proving the suspect’s guilt is treated as nothing more than a technicality.

After speaking with the accused, the Doctor and Riddell launch an investigation of their own. Aboard this curious aquatic vessel on a mission of cultural exchange, there is no shortage of unusual suspects. The rebellious teenage stowaway from Raxacoricofallapatorius doesn’t trust anyone, and the larger-than-life Adiposean envoy can’t keep his mouth shut. The Hath cultural liaison has her own seemingly ridiculous agenda, and no one is sure if the glowing cube that’s been sent from the Cygnus system is even a lifeform at all. It will take some real detective work to explain the who, the why, and the how of the most astonishing heist in the cosmos!