Thank goodness I don't have these problems in real life

: 'One Thing' by Finger Eleven
: Productive 
 
One of the special things about our Cthulhu game is that it has depth, ethics, and a sense of sacrifice to it.  This goes way beyond chopping up tentacled things in the sewers (yes, Hellboy was an excellent movie for gamers).
 
No...every week we deal with trying to protect humans from eldritch horrors (and sometimes, themselves) with very little thanks from the world (who, after all, is not supposed to know about what we do, in order to protect their sanity).  But I can live with that.  We, all, so to speak, 'signed up for the Corps'.
 
No, the complicated thing is to minimise collateral damage to the innocents.  Our characters are not allowed to kill humans--or at least humans who have not given themselves over to the 'Dark side except in self-defence, and only if it can't be avoided.  We can't kill with our enchanted mystical blades at all, without having a feedback that literally will enforce those vows.
 
Unfortunately the bad guys have no such code.  So whilst we were slowing trying to gain information to prevent one of our own who had been taken over as an avatar of the Haunter in the Dark form of Nyarlothotep, we got an unexpected twist.  The character's wife, who was caring for her own children and some of the rest of our character's, was kidnapped, along with all but one of the children.  They are meant to be sacrifices for the Starry Widom cult within a couple of weeks, when 'the stars are right' and a comet hangs in the sky.  So, we know where Ash is, and therefore where the children will most likely be taken,  but we can't move because with his powers he could literally make us stop breathing before we could even get near him.  Also, if saving the world wasn't enough incentive, there are now six children's lives hanging in the balance, including two of my characters'.  Sigh.  The only good news?  A wraith whose entire existence is to preserve the Trevanian family line is inside the evil's headquarters and she has two of her descendants and one cousin on the way there, because the kids are related to her.  Go, Rowan!
 
Stepping outside of the game, I know most of this won't make sense to some of you, although those who have gamed and those familiar with HP Lovecraft will get it.  And so will the other three in our game.  As an aside, Dee was able to come back and play (she's been on hiatus for school) just in time to put her science character to work coming up with astronomical alignments.  Much better than answering the phone in the background for several months. :)
 
Anyway, I'm home now.  I've fed the animals, cleaned the cat boxes, taken out the trash, swept the floors, and put cleaner in the toilet bowl.  In other words, weekend chores.  I'll mop in a little while, but for now I think I'm going to go look at a book of artwork that one of the hospital volunteers brought in because she knew I liked ancient Aegypt.  It's a collection done by David Roberts, a Scottish artist, and has delicately coloured lithographs painted before much of the Aegyptian artefacts were plundered by the West.  She belongs to a book club and got a very nice deal.  I'll have to ask her if she can still order one, because it would literally save $100 and it's a lovely book for anyone interested in the subject.  (It's also in a Harrods Knightsbridge bag, which thrills the Anglophile who never has escaped the former Colonies). :)  She included a photo album of her own trip to Cairo and the surrounding area and the captions show quite a puckish humour, including a comment on infidel tourists getting in the way of Muslim worship (they also got in the way of several otherwise splendid shots, particularly of mosques).
 
Oh...one last thing.  It's hard to believe, but Brenda was dropped off by her 17-year-old today, who was the first child (outside my family) where I knew the mom whilst in the baby was in the womb and kept contact with the family over time--he was born in 1987.  I was 20 years old and starting my junior year of college.  I was up during the summer for the first time and going to SCA events with friends.  I remember how uncomfortably pregnant Brenda was for Border Wars that year.  That wasn't too long ago.  Really.   Was it? This bothers me a bit.  Where did the years go, anyway?