Alright, a warm welcome back, folks! Thank you for joining us yet again! So, the rumors are confirmed and the surprise premise is revealed.

The new season is a bit of a break for all you long suffering folks who had to brave the wilderness alone in search of friends for a month in the previous seasons. Some of you never survived even meeting a person. This one is for you.

The story takes place in present day (as much as PZ inventory allows, but just assume yall have smartphones), in still rural region of Muldraugh Kentucky (because it's still to this day rural), and the players are a group of people who happened to be shopping at the mall at the time of The Event.

Everyone starts together and inside the mall, it's safe zone, at least for the time being. No visible monsters, no obvious threats.

Outside - rolls up a Mist. A man's chewed up bodypart flies at the window. Blood on the windows. People panic. A few run out to find out what the hell, and do not return. Gunshots outside, brief. A car runs into the front door and gets stuck, providing a barricade. People start reinforcing the rest of the mall. The mall for the time being is safe and the broken window breaches are sealed. There is electricity, food, and water, for now. There is some commotion and obvious sounds of slaughter in the distance and all around the mall. Something rattles in the vents. But the immediate surroundings of the mall inhabitants appear to be safe. Outside is the unknown.

The day is August 3rd, 2023.

Doors are closed. Mall is barricaded. People outside desperately tried to get in, those who could not, got snatched in the mist. Body parts and blood everywhere. Screaming. Chaos. But then, a lull.

Survivors organized inside, and dedicated an exit point to go out for food and supplies, to prevent starvation. It's time to learn what the terrible threats outside are.

Survivors have identified 4 factions at the moment. At least, so is their guess.

1. The Monsters.

These, so far encountered are:

1. Squidface (Locked in the freezer in a pool of blood) - resilient and sneaky, appear to have to die twice to truly die.

2. Spider Centaur - a terrifying, fast, aggressive and direct foe, requiring teamwork, and dangerous for solo wanderers. Four feet, two blades for arms. A shrilling screech when it attacks.

3. Shrimp Scorpion Crawler - an incredibly lethal, giant monster, its chirping chitter in the woods immediately strikes terror into hearts. A cunning, sneaky creature, sporting both stealth and massive strength, size, and speed.

4. Dinosaur? Some claim to have seen dinosaurs on the road???

5. The Cult. Phillip Byrnes and the 13 cultists appear to have conducted some sort of ritual in the Mall. A site was found. Is it the only ritual location? Notes were found on site, but what do they mean?

6. The Bandaged Man - this mysterious figure is so confusing it needs its own questline. At first it attempted to break into the ritual room, which helped survivors discover the church. It possessed incredible strength, shoving the biggest, heaviest, strongest of the survivors aside like a feather. Then, its motivations became more unforeseen. Covered in bandages and screaming incomprehensibly, one theory is that it's a mummified person.

7. The sentient squids. Also called The Hunters. Tactical, strategic, these variants of squid face mutants work in coordinated teams and know how to use equipment, drive vehicles, wield weapons and martial arts. Their motivations and relationships with the rest of the creatures is unknown and is still under observation and scrutiny. The Mall dwellers study them through the windows, and the Hunters study the Mall dwellers back. So far the relationship appears to be primarily hostile. No attempt to communicate was made so far.

Who is he? What does he want? Why did he break the wall into the ritual site? A wall nobody knew existed in the mall? Ever.

Survivors of the Mall visited Mercer Lane 1 and found out that The Bandaged Man was one of the cultists entangled with Phillip Byrne a.k.a. The Pioneer, and that the two had a falling out, the latter attempting to cross into the portal on the other side to find and kill Byrne. He was let back into the Mall, and crossed into the door. His fate at this time is unknown.

A terrifying low deep growl chills survivors' hearts as a new creature was spotted in the mist. Spiky was given many names: Mega bear, Diablo, Demon. After claiming the lives of several survivors, Spiky cemented itself as a true lord of terror among Crossroads Mall Survivors. Spikeys are rare and roam the land as bosses, surrounded by ArmBoys and their minions. They are high lords of the fields and forests, and few things threaten them. If you get Spikey's attention, expect trouble. Posing a mighty presence with his terrifying low growl, this ten foot tall abomination commands a respectable mid-to-high health pool and a terrifying melee proximity attack set, taking advantage of his two foot long claw spikes and his three foot long back spikes. A giant 10 foot tall mutant with spikes on its back and 2 foot long claws graced everyone with its presence. It delivers deep wounds with its terrible strikes, acts territorial, is hyper aggressive, and commands tremendous fortitude, a real bullet sponge, so be careful trading blows with it!

The months go on without any end to the mist in sight. As All Hallow's Eve nears, the survivors in the Mall have identified many more different species among the entities called mist creatures—or "Cryptomorphs", or "Xenos", or "Nightmare Creatures", depending on who you ask. This list was originally compiled by Jack 'V2' Jones, expanded by Doctor Tallulah Nasrin Taheri, and eventually rounded out with other survivor accounts. These are the different names people have used to designate them, and what is known of the different types.

• Zombies, Sprinters, Reanimated: All who die in the mist immediately reanimate as walking corpses. They are all fast. Individually, they can be fought easily by a strong or smart survivor. In large groups, they are a menace. According to the studies and autopsies performed by EMT Liam Crawford and Doctor Taheri, the reanimated are rapidly mutating, and some of them may turn into the other mist creatures over time.

• Legs, Divers, Cage-Heads: These humanoids are trapped underneath sheets, cloaks, fabric, or tarps, and they have things like diving gear or metal cages on their heads. They are not much different from the reanimated save for their strange appearance. Individually, they are not much stronger than the common reanimated, though it may be harder to land headshots on them. Clearly, people are not mutating into this form. Where are they coming from?

• Big Arms, Clubbers, Closers: Large humanoids with grotesquely oversized arms. They are stronger than your average person and can inflict a lot of damage when allowed up close.

• Mimics, Doppelgangers: In their natural form, they appear like fish-people. Their skin is a marked by a plethora of colors, and their hands are webbed. They are not much stronger than your average person, but their fearsome ability is that they can turn into anyone they have seen. They even morph their body to match the appearance of clothing and equipment, making them dangerous opponents if they mimic heavily-armored survivors. The greatest danger they pose is however when they attack in a brawl, giving cause to great confusion.

• Squid-Faces, Squiddies, Bloodsuckers, Blade-Twos: These humanoids are clearly no longer human. Their strong and resilient physique features numerous deformities, adaptations to their strange feeding and hunting habits, and they an array of spiked tentacles replaces a regular mouth. Their bites can cause tremendous blood loss, thus they should never be let close or killed quickly. The survivors however identify and distinguish two variants of this creature. One is feral and nude and possesses low intelligence, attacking any human on sight—these should be killed quickly before they can wreak any havoc. The other type tends to wear clothing and wield weapons, often referred to by veteran survivors as the "Gas Masks" or "Hunters"—these are not to be killed on sight as they hunt other mist creatures and return the Mall's dead to their doorstep. The Hunters may be strange allies in dark times, and their disposition, thus far, is not a hostile one.

• Shrimps, Tails, Longtails, Crawlers: Large, bug-like mutants with large, shrimp-like tails. They come in different shades of colors, such as red, blue, and green. These creatures are vicious in close combat and their carapace makes them hard to kill, even for powerful blades and high caliber bullets. Common consensus is that they should never be faced alone. Knock them to the ground to subdue before killing. When injured, these creatures display a cleverness—they retreat to attack again shortly after.

• Centaurs, Spiders: Resemble a mutated person's torso, complete with head and clawed arms, but with 4 clawed legs for the bottom half of their body, akin to a cross between a spider and a horse. They are much more intimidating than they look, and a skilled fighter can counter them in melee on their own. Nevertheless, it may be safer to snipe them from afar because they can inflict severe injuries, and in a larger group, they pose a significant threat.

• Strong Arms, Brutes, Thumpers: Tall and hulking humanoids with one arm that is grotesquely disproportionate in size to the other. They possess great strength in close combat but little more staying power than a human of excellent physique. When encountered in large groups, it's worth picking them off from afar before engaging, but a single capable fighter can usually handle these creatures in a one-on-one duel.

• Screamers: Short, squat, gray, and deformed, these mutants never attack. The moment they spot a human or they are injured, they flee, take a deep breath, and then scream. Unfortunately, this makes them very dangerous if they cannot be killed quickly, because their screams are so loud and ear-piercing that they not only cause minor temporary deafness, they tend to draw the attention of all other mist creatures in the immediate area. The window of time to kill a screamer between them taking a breath and emitting their shriek is a matter of seconds. They are a high-priority target in any situation.

• Vampires, Slurpers: These humanoid mutants have hulking bodies, making them taller and bulkier than the average person. Their skin is usually of a blue or green complexion and their wide heads end in a strange proboscis for a mouth. Though not physically much more intimidating than a human, they pose a massive threat in melee as they tend to tackle their prey and latch onto the neck to suck the blood straight out of the wound. Left alone, such wounds bleed profusely for days and can prove to be fatal within a matter of seconds. If you see anybody attacked up close by a vampire, you need to act quickly to save their life. Knock them off and help them bandage their neck as quickly as possible. If you are unfortunate enough to be victim of such a blood-drinking attack, you must bandage right away—do NOT risk continuing the fight.

• Spike-Claw, Spikeys, Demons: These hulking humanoids are covered in deadly spikes and their hands extend into knife-like claws, capable of piercing and rending through any material with ease. Even armor means little to their attacks, and most wounds they inflict are prone to excessive bleeding. Report sightings of these creatures as soon as possible, avoid them if you're alone at all cost, and altogether avoid them if you are unsure about your ability to fight them.

• Stone Giants, Stone-Fists: Hulking brutes with fists like wrecking balls. Their carapace is thick and filled with hardened cartilage that lends them the appearance of living rock. They should be avoided in close combat because every blow from their fists brings the risk of breaking bones.

• Dinosaurs, Hammertails: Giant brutes of creatures, walking on two hind legs, they have a skull as thick as concrete walls, and tails as powerful as wrecking balls. They resemble a strange hybrid between T-Rex, Pachycephalosaurus, and a common Pangolin. They possess vast amounts of strength and can only be killed by excessive brute force. Heavy weapons and high caliber are a must, and it is impossible to wrestle these creatures—if they are knocked down, don't even try to overpower them because they will throw you off and open you up for a deadly counterattack.

• Dragons, Stegosaurs, Burnies: Even dwarfing the so-called "dinosaurs", these creatures are the size of trucks. Large bony plates protrude from their backs like the stegosaurs from paleontology, though their scales and plates have been seen to possess brightly glowing and beautiful colors. They vomit acid and even their blood is acidic, wreaking havoc upon fighters when they are injured up close. They should therefore never be faced in close combat and dispatched from afar.

• Mega-Spiders, Starship Troopers, Carbusters: Even bigger than the saurian mutants, these massive spider-like bugs are as huge as a house. They accordingly possess incredible strength, and worse—upon death, their bodies burst open, and a litter of smaller spiders explodes from a sac inside their chitinous shells. They should be summarily avoided whenever possible.

• The Colossus: A monolithic creature of unknown origins and unclear proportions. It is so vast in size that it broke open a hole on the south-east corner of the Crossroads Mall when it brushed against it, and its thundering footsteps overturned and demolished dozens of cars where it walked. The cult of the Wheeled One worship this entity as a divine agent. It is unclear what the Colossus eats or if it is even hostile at all.

• Wings, Winged Critters: The size of a house cat or small dog, winged, and with brightly-colored eyes, this reptilian creature distantly resembles the historical archaeopteryx. It has claws and rows of tiny, needle-like teeth, and is quite capable of killing small animals like rodents and insects. So far, only one of these creatures has been encountered. Sister Maria Celeste dubbed it "Kitty" and it is a docile and helpful creature. It hunts and delivers vermin, and "Kitty" prefers vegetables and plants over meat.

Even after Rebecca's death, her knowledge went on to provide the survivors in the mall with a glimmer of hope. She was the wife of Philip Byrne, the mysterious owner of the Crossroads Mall. Philip was head of a cult responsible for performing a ritual inside the hidden room within the mall. They opened a portal, and the mist crossed through as Philip and his "apostles" crossed through that portal to the other side. It closed behind them, but the mist remained. And with the mist's arrival, the world began to change into what it was now.

Rebecca had come to the mall in hopes of finding the artifact Philip used in the ritual, an ancient tablet or book they called the Thaum of Thritain. Her belief was that it could be used to counteract the mist somehow. As the artifact was nowhere to be found within the Crossroads Mall, she also believed that one of the other cultists may have taken it to her home on Mercer Lane 1, in West Point.

Now that she's dead, she can no longer answer any questions. How would the artifact be used? How was the ritual performed? What could be done to reverse the damage?

All the survivors know is that their glimmer of hope now rests in another part of the county. A grim hope, as it is mired in uncertainty, and the roads to West Point are as perilous as the myriad monsters populating the path…

In mid November, Kid, Harley, Grace, Nails, Daniel, Carl, Maria, Sarah, and Trex had established a forward outpost near West Point with intent to go to Mercer Lane 1 to investigate. Priya Daniels came out with some important information that supposedly would render the trip moot, and disagreements at the outpost started, whether or not to undertake further risks. The group egressed into the streets of West Point and met high resistance, costing beloved Carl Winters his life. Saddened and enraged by this, Trex started planning revenge with stout determination. On November 22nd, Kid, Harley, and Trex took a repaired military pursuit interceptor, a speedy and maneuverable muscle car to force drive through the main street of West Point all the way to Mercer Lane 1. This spontaneous operation succeeded, and despite the vehicle not surviving the last leg of the journey back, the operators did.

Together they retrieved all documents and notes from Byrne's household, investigated the bodies on site, obtained the Deed to the Mall, $60,000 in cash, and a manual on how to use the Thaum of Thritain. Although the tome itself remains missing. Where is it? Who has it? Is that what Priya Daniels was trying to tell them in code?