Chapter 6: The Apocalypse Has Office Hours

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague."

— Edgar Allan Poe

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Our slaughter yielded to a sudden, terrible stillness.

Upon the cold, damp flagstones of that abyssal vault, we five wretched souls crouched in the shadow of impending doom, watching with horrified fascination as a grotesque, nightmarish horde surged forward to claim their feast. Death, red and absolute, was but a breath away.

Then, from the impenetrable gloom, there arose a sound, a low, reverberating blare, like the solemn knell of some subterranean cathedral, vibrating through the very marrow of our bones.

In that single, agonizing instant, the frenzied carnage dissolved into an appalling silence. The hideous jaws snapped shut; the blood-drenched talons uncurled. As though bound by some invisible, unyielding decree, the ravenous specters turned in absolute, mechanical unison, retreating back into the dark recesses whence they came. Farther down the vaulted corridor, the pale, spectral runes of an adjacent gallery ignited with a sickly, phosphor light. We had not conquered the abyss; we had merely outlived its appointed hour. Beyond a dismal threshold, in this deep and suffocating place, some new and unimaginable terror had just been unleashed upon the night. For in those accursed depths, mercy is unknown, there is only the inexorable ticking of the clock, and the dread knowledge that salvation is but a fleeting reprieve before the chime strikes once more.

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DM Note: Three days after the events of "We Are the Radium Saints. Your campaign begins right here, in the horrifying aftermath of this assault. You survived, but barely.

Starting Status:

• Hit Points: Roll 1D10, that is your current HP total to start the session, regardless of your class or level.
  

Patch your wounds, sinch up your packs, and steady your hands. The sickly glow of the next section is humming to life, and whatever has just been released behind its doors.

If you read this on 9-14-2026, you get a bonus D6