The party cautiously made their way across the boardwalk, wary of random encounters with monsters. The nearby sea was eerily still. On the horizon, Moptop could see the outline of a dark figure, and, upon the party's approach, he realized it was the Vicar, the boss of this level. As the man smiled menacingly, Moptop readied his chain. As they inched forward, Moptop noticed a tip jar at the Vicar's feet, alongside a sign that read "atonement."
"What is this?" queried Moptop. "Is this some sort of . . . penitence challenge?"
The Vicar suddenly became much more friendly, and fished out a couple coins from the tip jar. "Yes!" he replied cheerily, tossing the spare change to Moptop.
"Oh. Cool. Thanks."
Once they took another turn on the boardwalk, the Vicar appeared again.
"Another moral lesson?" asked Moptop.
"Yes!" the Vicar shouted. "Prepare to feel my wrath!" With this, the Vicar leaped at the party, cracking his whip and, oddly enough, throwing snakes.
Moptop screamed and charged at the villain, swinging his chain madly. His attack failed to reach its intended target, however, so Moptop decided it would be best to bypass this nonsense and keep running.
Along with the other surviving party members, Moptop reached the house and entered. Everyone was hit by a flashback of the professor who once lived here--the man who discovered the source of the extraplanar madness.
"Watch out for my uncle," Mearle whispered. "He might still be around."
Moptop had another flashback, which revealed that her uncle had died attempting to exit the house through a window. He thought it best to keep this information to himself.
The group entered the bedroom and Moptop closed the door to the adjacent bathroom to hide the copious amount of blood on the floor. Just then, the portal in the room opened, and the living shadows swarmed into the room--servants of the Great Old Ones.
"This really would make a good RPG," thought Moptop as he prepared for battle.
