Make Your Peace

"Truly, there are terrible primal arcana of earth which had better be left unknown and unevoked; dread secrets which have nothing to do with man, and which man may learn only in exchange for peace and sanity; cryptic truths which make the knower evermore an alien among his kind, and cause him to walk alone on earth."
     –H.P. Lovecraft and William Lumley, The Diary of Alonzo Typer

Separated from the masses by their beliefs in sinister cults and strange, otherworldly forces, the investigators of Arkham Horror: The Card Game tread a lonely path.

They stare into the maw of evil. They confront the darkest of blasphemies. And they have no one to whom they can turn with the tales of the horrors they have seen. The lingering dread, the frayed sanity, the restless terrors that eat into their dreams and cause their fingers to shiver uncontrollably—these are burdens the investigators must shoulder in isolation.

Accordingly, it is no small wonder that these investigators aren't all driven mad eventually. Some are, of course, but what separates them from the investigators who—while still irrevocably altered—are able to walk among their fellow humans and endure the friendly chit-chat and engage in small talk? What keeps them from screaming in the face of such mundanity?

What prevents these lonely investigators from clawing out their eyes and decrying the meaninglessness of an existence that teeters perilously upon the abyss of an uncaring universe?

Investigator, Heal Thyself

These questions are likely to haunt you throughout your experience with The Dunwich Legacy. After all, the further you delve its mysteries, the more profoundly they change you.

Your search for two missing professors has led you into confrontations with terrible aberrations, ritual magic, and incomprehensible alien beings. You have seen the skies rip open, exposing portals to other worlds. You have studied the mind-altering prose of The Necronomicon. You have exposed the foul underbellies of quiet villages. And there are layers of mysteries still to explore.

So how do you survive the mental and physical traumas that scar you? How do you hold onto your sanity in the face of utter madness?

As you head toward the earth-shattering events of Where Doom Awaits, these are good questions to ask of yourself. How do you hold onto any fixed notion of reality while the world around you shifts and alters? How can you make sense of your thoughts while dark magic causes the winds to howl and the earth to tremor? How will you maintain your courage in the face of sinister cultists and unfathomable, many-mouthed and tentacled monstrosities they can summon into our world?

Certainly, no one else will help keep your mind from shattering. So as you tumble forward into the terrible events of Where Doom Awaits, you'll need your own recovery plan. Fortunately for you, the Mythos Pack's player cards offer you a variety of options from which you can choose.

Already, in the pack's announcement, we've seen what Guardians can gain from the new event "I've had worse…" (Where Doom Awaits, 261). But there are other options available, as well, and there's a theme that runs through them all—you cannot find peace in the midst of the madness you must confront; you have to make your own peace.

Be Fearless (Where Doom Awaits, 268) in your confrontations with evil Sorcerers and their dark magic, and you may retain that shred of sanity that allows you to keep placing one foot in front of the other.

And even though the world around you may be swimming in a sea of chaos, you might pause for just one moment—a Moment of Respite (Where Doom Awaits, 273).

The world may still rage around you, but if you can slow your mind and breathing for just this one beat, you just might be able to pull back from the terror and paranoia and panic that threatens to consume you. You may gain new clarity and find the strength to go on.

It takes discipline, though, to still your mind in the midst of madness. And there's no one who can heal you but yourself. No one else will believe you. No one else will understand you. You brave investigators, you delve these mysteries alone…

Your Day of Doom Approaches

What doom will you find in the hills outside of Dunwich? What doom would prompt a Mythos Pack full of player cards like "I've had worse…," Fearless, and Moment of Respite? What doom can spur rifts in reality, revealing other worlds in the abysses that open between the two halves of a New England hillside?

You'll face this doom—and struggle to retain your sanity—when Where Doom Awaits (AHC07) arrives at retailers next Thursday!