Island of Ignorance, The Third Cthulhu Companion (Dewm)

ISLAND OF IGNORANCE—THE THIRD CTHULHU COMPANION Copyright © 2013 by Golden Goblin Press. LLC (pending) All Rights Reserved. Except in this publication and related advertising, artwork original to Island of Ignorance—The Third Cthulhu Companion remains the property of the artists, and is copyright by them under their individual copyrights. Chaosium and Call of Cthulhu logos which are used under licence. Call of Cthulhu is a Registered Trademark of Chaosium Inc., and is used with permission. www.chaosium.com For more information, contact Golden Goblin Press via our website at http://www.goldengoblinpress.com and our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGoblinPress. Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/GoldenGoblinP, and contact us via our email at [emailprotected]. Published in the United States by: Golden Goblin Press 90-48 210th Street Queens Village, New York 11428 ISBN 978-0-9895603-0-6 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Written by Geoff Gillan, Daniel Harms, Scott David Aniolowski, Tyler Hudak, Eckhard Huelshoff, Tom Lynch, Brian M. Sammons, Mark Shireman, Oscar Rios, Jeff Moeller, and Jon Hook

Cover Art and Interior Art by Reuben Dodd of Sorrowking Studio

Maps by Alyssa Faden of The Cartography of Alyssa Faden

Handouts and Player Aids by Dean Engelhardt of Cthulhu Reborn

Digital Art by Jessica Fisher

Cover Design by Tom Lynch

Edited by Oscar Rios and Lisa Padol

Layout and Design by Badger McInnes of Squamous Studios

Clear Credit There are many voices in the chorus that made up Island of Ignorance—The Third Cthulhu Companion. Articles: Geoff Gillan gives us “The Golden Goblin” for which our company is named; Daniel Harms introduces us to “The Walshes: A Cthulhu Cult”; Scott David Aniolowski teaches us a lesson on “Massa Di Requiem Per Shuggay: A History of the Devil’s Opera”; Tyler Hudak warns us about the “Dwellers in Darkness”; Eckhard Huelshoff hands us “The Knjiga Mrtva (or Book of the Dead)”; Tom Lynch entangles us in “The Silks of Irem”; Oscar Rios gives us a look into the lives of Great War veterans and hoboes in “Johnny Came Marching Home: Mechanics for Playing a Military Veteran” and “Raggedy Clothes and Worn Out Shoes: A Look at the American Hobo”. Scenarios: Brian M. Sammons starts us off with an appetizer in “Consumption”; Mark Shireman horrifies us with “Let the Children Come to Me”; Oscar Rios strands us at ”The Lonely Point Lighthouse”; Jeff Moeller takes us to Key West for The Worst Vacation Ever in “With Blue Uncertain Stumbling”; and Jon Hook brings us all Back to New England with “Darkness Illuminated”. Reuben Dodd created our cover and interior art. Alyssa Faden provided our maps. Dean Engelhardt designed our handouts, player aids, and character sheets. Badger McInnes did our layout and book design. Tom Lynch designed our cover. Mark Shireman and Dave Perillo designed our company logo and website. Oscar Rios and Lisa Padol edited, copy edited, and proofread the manuscript with assistance from Tyler Hudak and Brian Sammons. Joe Broers sculpted our pendants and Golden Goblin idols. Sean Foster assisted with the pre-generated investigators. A special thank you to Edward D. Baker, Executive Director of the New London Historical Society for his assistance and expertise.

Dedication This book is dedicated first to the goblin horde, those three hundred and twenty five backers of the Island of Ignorance—The Third Cthulhu Companion Kickstarter. Your generosity turned this dream into a reality. Also, I’d like to dedicate this book to a true unsung hero of the Call of Cthulhu® Roleplaying Game, Dustin Wright, who gave an entire crop of enthusiastic fans a way to learn their craft and become part of the industry they loved.

Personal Thanks To Mitzi Rios, my wife—Without your unwavering support, none of this would have been possible. To Reuben Dodd—So glad we finally got to do this; the stars came right for both of us. To Lisa Padol—Your strong work ethic and constant over-thinking of everything helped keep this project focused and moving forward. To our dozens of playtesters—You are the duct tape that keeps everything watertight! To my entire production team—You guys rock like warrior poets. It was an honor to work with each of you. Oscar Rios—President, Golden Goblin Press

THE GOLDEN GOBLIN BACKERS A Very Special Thank You to the Golden Goblin Level Backers:

Ken Finlayson

Crista Barvincak Moeller

Scott Kehl

Thank you to the backers of Island of Ignorance—The Third Cthulhu Companion Mika Lietzén Jason Williams Earl Gatchalian Joerg Sterner Michael Miley Joe Kontor Jonathan Wilson Bret Kramer Mark Morrison Tristan Goss Cthulhu Reborn Vivienne Dunstan revnye Markus Widmer Tristan Oberon Matt “trollboy” Wiseman Andrew Fattorusso David WJ Smith Christian Lehmann Calum McDonald Robert Andersson Paul Maclean Magnus Gillberg Alex Moore Marc Margelli Simon Ding Robert Biskin Matt Cowger Frank Troise Matthew Sanderson Tyler Hudak Stuart Boon Robert Biddle Sven “DOC” Berglowe James Van Horn Randall Padilla Barrantes Simon Jennings Doug Fales Michael Beck Matt “Gladius” Puccio Chris Miles Regina Mireau Phredd Groves Søren Hagge Ed Kowalczewski Kristoffer Saylor Tristan Lhomme Steven Vest Steven Dempsey Nick Edwards Juan Felipe Castillo Jeremy Butler Paulo Pereira Adam Crossingham Matthew Carpenter Ben W Bell Bill Stowers Marek Szkaradek Gerald Udowiczenko Mark Bussey Nathan Lewis W. Mark Woodhouse Jason Wright Graeme Price Yukihiro Terada MartinO23 John Fiala

David “Rugose” Bagdan Aaron Vanek Bryce Undy Brett Bozeman Jean-Francois Boivin Jay Dugger Mark Grehan David Lai Peter Thomas Scott Keenan Jake Collingwood Eric Priehs Francis O’Sullivan Tina Perkins Paul D Watts Richard Thomas Sapper Joe Karsten Brand Tuomas Sorto Tom Lynch Mike Dukes Brian Hobgood Yves Larochelle Kirk Troy Arthur Wyatt Peter Frazier Ed Possing Chitin Proctor Andrew Rodwell Mark Kadas Derek Rompot Andrew G. Smith Alex Hebmuller-Pearson Marc Engelhardt David Farnell Colleen Morgan Marco Subias Anya Santana Erich Becker David Gilbert Pete Hurley Paul Sudlow Peter Cerda-Pavia Belinda Kelly Go Miyauchi Dave Walsh Osvaldo “Oz” Costabile Stephen Bradshaw TheDiceShopOnline Matthew Ruane Gonzalo Rodriguez Garcia Michael Sprague Temoore Manuel Baraja Escudero Matthew Higgins Matthias Weeks Lisa Bauer & Daniel Rice Chris Jarocha-Ernst Greg Simmons Svend Andersen Roxysteve Adrian Smith Jim Calabrese James King Simon Brunning Koin Avabane Gregory Davis

Christopher Wong Charles Hammond Alexander Lucard/ DiehardGameFAN.com Arc Dream Publishing Brian Bethel Afraid of the Dark Phil Ward Dr. Ryan Roth Joseph Potenza Ignatius Montenegro Terrell Scoggins William Z Cohen, MSGT, USMC, ret. James Lister Cameron Heath Wesley Dodds, Mystery Theater Sandman Morten Kjeldseth Petterson Adria Amenti Matt Whalley Lippai Peter Tara Imbery Mikel Engstrom Laurence J. Cornford David Rodemaker Mark Hanna M. Sean Molley David M Jacobs Dan Martin John Stavropoulos & Terry Romero Carl Foner Manuel Correia Ramos Gauthier Descamps Michael Charles Keehn Conrad Kinch of Kingstown, Ireland Veronica Saunders Thomas Dahmen Mark “The Ineffable”Rajic Thomas P Lynch Karl Wolfemann Eric Dodd Brian “Keeper Murph” Murphy Iain Smedley John Wilson Andrew Byers Stephen Joseph Ellis Peter Risby Tony Gaitskell Danny Hatcher Nelson Mas Frederic Moll D. Cardillo Brandon Smith Marcus Bone Mick Reddick Pablo “Hersho” Dominguez Phil Lee Matthew H. Lipparelli, O.D. Ralph Kellernes Hai Mayne Jeremy D. Milsom Paul Hill Filthy Monkey John “Chipmunk” Jones

Neil Mahoney Rich Pingree Richard Watkins Sean Murphy Ian Sandford Tyson Fultz David Larkins Gray Tanner Jeff Troutman Colin Thompson Michael Daumen Michael Bowman J. Stuart Pate Monnie Robinson Dean Keith Nick Vertodoulos Marc Di Lazzaro Dereck Curry Vladimir T. See Cody Reichenau Edouard Contesse Shane T. Rogers Richard Lantz Emrys Hopkins James W. Wood Gene “Grizzled Veteran” Lancaster Mr. Shiny Zed Lopez Takeshi “Night walker” Segi Ryan Bomalaski David Bradley Benjamin Kaye Sara Peters and Toast, Minion of Cathulhu James Burke Dr. B.P. Overton Robert Kim Jean-Michel Abrassart Robin Low Nathaniel Dozier Gerall Kahla Darren Fong Matthew Strachan Mario & Cathy Ortiz Steve Robinson Arion Hypes Samael the Butterdragon Bentley Burnham Chris Hirst Jeff Hessell Seany “TarrekNoire” Connor Magnus Nordlander Henric Nilsson Gary McBride Evan Franke Rory Hughes Alistair Warmington Patrick Olekas Ian MacLean Nick Allen Olivier Vigneresse Roberto Bravo Sánchez James Millar Antoine Bertier Steve Rubin Trevor Boyd

Jim Ryan Larry Eldritch Angrimson Jacob T. Bond Gregory Stanyer Chalupa Batman Chris Jackson Aaron & Lauren Rob Schultz Hugh Ashman Alan C. Beardsley John “Shadowcat” Ickes Matthew Muth Nicolas Voss Jordi Rabionet Hernandez Anonymous Stephen Holowczyk Mark “the Encaffeinated ONE” Kilfoil Jeff Campbell Frédérik Rating Gilbert Isla Martin Costello Tomas Aleksander Tjomsland Rich (Brock) Palij Heran Duyker Chad Damn Harding Riccardo Nauti Simon Whorlow Norbert Baer Géraud “myvyrrian” G. Norman Logan Silvio Herrera Gea Jason Lindsey Adrian Maddocks Patrick Manson Emily Graham Craig Hackl Shawn Kehoe M.R. Innes Mike Domino Sean Whittaker Doug Foley Michael “FunGuyFrom Yuggoth” Salazar Lorraine Bret Warburton Jason Breti Philip C. Robinson Roberto Linteau Jonathan Bagelman Joe Broers Jeff Grubb

aTABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES The Golden Goblin

by Geoff Gillan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Meet the Walsh Family

by Daniel Harms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Requiem for Shaggai: A History of The Devil’s Opera

by Scott David Aniolowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

When Johnny Came Marching Home

by Oscar Rios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Dweller in Darkness

by Tyler Hudak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

The Knjiga Mrtva (or Book of the Dead)

by Eckhard Huelshoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The Silks of Irem

by Tom Lynch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Raggedy Clothes and Worn Out Shoes: A Look at the American Hobo

by Oscar Rios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

SCENARIOS Consumption

by Brian M. Sammons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Let the Children Come to Me

by Mark Shireman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

The Lonely Point Lighthouse

by Oscar Rios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

With Blue Uncertain Stumbling

by Jeff Moeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Darkness Illuminated

by Jon Hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Equipment List Point System Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Eighteen Pre-Generated Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Maps and Handouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Th e Go l d e n G o b l i n b y G eoff G i l l a n

Keeper’s Introduction

Native American origin of similar creatures. Part of the background of the Goblin was inspired by Howard’s other horror writing, including The Gods of Bal-Sagoth, “The Children of the Night”, and People of the Dark. Elements from all of these approaches have been incorporated into the treatment below.

The Golden Goblin is a creature inspired by the fictional Golden Goblin Press, a Cthulhu Mythos publisher created by Robert E. Howard, which was named after a statuette belonging to the Press’s founders. The creature is most commonly encountered bound into a golden statuette of around eight inches tall. The history below covers the Goblin and the original statuette, and also the possibility that other statuettes were made with the same process and are scattered in the Americas. Keepers may, at their discretion, elect to create other statuettes, sharing a similar origin but differing in how they may have come into possession of investigators or NPCs. Keepers may also wish to do away with the statuette entirely and use the Goblin as a summoned or encountered enemy. The statistics below support both approaches.

History of the Golden Goblin The Golden Goblin is one of a Lesser Servitor Race consecrated to the service of Gol-Goroth and invoked in rituals by those debased folk who count themselves as worshippers of that dire entity. In Bal-Sagoth, a dread city on a remote island in the Atlantic, the Goblin was summoned during rituals to Gol-Goroth and sealed in a likeness of its own foul form, which could be made of anything from precious metal to a mixture of clay and ordure. Once bound, the Goblin would whisper secrets to those who knew how to control it. It was said that the purest and best container for the Goblin was gold, to match its golden hide. Such idols were precious, few, and cherished. Vikings raiding Bal-Sagoth looted many treasures and took numerous slaves. Many of the captives were secret worshipers of Gol-Goroth, and hidden among the coins and jewels stolen from Bal-Sagoth were several goblin idols of copper, silver, and gold. Thus, the cult of Gol-Goroth reached Europe, through both the enslaved worshippers and the whispers of the goblin idols. The rituals of Bal-Sagoth were incorporated into ancient rites of great antiquity by debased worshippers of the dark gods, such as the followers of the Black Stone in Hungary. In 1519, among the Conquistadors under Cortez, journeying from Spain to the New World, was the degenerate Captain Suciosa. Suciosa was secretly a cultist of Gol-Goroth

Further Reading The Golden Goblin Press and its mascot, a golden statue of a goblin said to be of Native American origin, first appeared in Robert E. Howard’s Cthulhu Mythos stories, “The Black Stone” and “The Thing on the Roof ”. Howard invented Golden Goblin Press as the publisher of a bowdlerized version of the Unaussprechlichen Kulten. Other authors have offered further publications of the fictional press. A list can be found in Daniel Harms’s indispensable Cthulhu Encyclopedia. The most detailed history of Golden Goblin Press is in Stephen Marc Harris’s imaginative “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”. Dean Shomshak’s “Unspeakable Secrets Made Easy”, from Dragon Magazine 150, postulates one fate of the Addleton Brothers, the owners of Golden Goblin Press. Manly Wade Wellman’s story “The Golden Goblins” reveals a

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

it truly was, since the folk tales underestimated the goblin’s true hideous nature. By the early twentieth century, the Golden Goblin statuette was found in the burial mound of a Native American medicine man, wrapped in rawhide like a fetish bundle. The discoverer was the noted explorer Wilson Colins, who sent the statue to Samuel Addleton, the younger of the two Addleton brothers. In 1908, the Addleton brothers, John and Samuel, formed a publishing house to publish the strange and occult works that had fascinated them both. They named the publishing house after the statue, calling it Golden Goblin Press. Speculation alone exists as to what the brothers knew of the strange story of the statue and the Goblin and its terrible powers. Nor is there anyone alive today to attest to whether the Goblin worked its malign influence on the brothers. Perhaps it was the Goblin that encouraged them to publish occult texts and try to spread them to a wider audience. It may have been the Goblin’s influence that suggested they make the books so unique and expensive that their publishing house soon suffered financial collapse, for the Goblin loved nothing so much as chaos and ruin. The Goblin was also said to be a protector of the secrets of the Great Old Ones; perhaps it was this power that ensured the Golden Goblin Press’s most famous book, Nameless Cults, a 1909 reprint of Von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten, was famously expurgated, with a quarter of its text missing.

and skilled in magical practice. He found that the brutality of the conquest of the Aztecs suited him, and he quickly established a cult around himself. When Cortez amassed Aztec gold, Suciosa saw a chance for the perfect receptacle for the Golden Goblin. The gold was said to be cursed by Aztec priests or perhaps simply by the blood and barbarity with which it was won. Suciosa could not have been more pleased. He had goldsmiths secretly at work creating goblin statuettes about eight inches tall. Then Suciosa summoned Goblin after Goblin and, in the name of Gol-Goroth, bound them into the goblin statuettes, sending them abroad with followers. No one knows how many Suciosa created before Cortez and his commanders found him out and executed him for blasphemy and witchcraft. Most of the goblin statuettes were lost to history, said to be scattered to the far corners of the Americas. But one at least made its way north, finally to be found among the native peoples of Wisconsin a few decades before the Revolution. By now, it had acquired a new and partially erroneous reputation. The rituals and beliefs surrounding the statuette became conflated with native folklore, where the Goblin was known among tribes such as the Ojibwe as a manifestation of the Pukwudgie. This was a goblin that could be alternately helpful, vicious, or mischievous, but was always capricious. Control of the goblin depended largely on the strength and knowledge of the medicine man of the people who used it. The statuette thus came to be seen as less evil in nature than

TH E G O L D EN G O B L I N Statue Only Curse: The goblin statue is cast in cursed Aztec gold. The goblin can curse individuals, but has only one chance for success. Match POW vs POW. If the goblin wins, the victim automatically fails Luck rolls and has no access to any kind of Luck benefit until the curse is lifted by the destruction of the statue form. This can be done by doing more than 10 points of damage to the statue after armor is taken into account.

Mystery still surrounds the final fate of the Addleton brothers and their publishing house. Some say they ceased publishing books in the Great Depression and went abroad in search of further mysteries, never to return. Others attest to Golden Goblin Publications emerging in the 1940s and subsequent decades, as late as the 1980s. Certainly, the fire that swept the New York warehouse that held much Golden Goblin stock was real, as was the grim discovery of two bodies, burned beyond recognition, the hands of each entwined around a single object: the golden statuette of a grinning goblin.

Goblin and Statue Whispering Trickery: the goblin can fool people into working against their own good. Match INT vs INT with the goblin. On a failure, the victim decides to do something foolhardy and risky that the goblin suggests. Only on a successful INT x 5 roll does the intended victim realizes the suggestion has come from some outside agency, rather than his or her own mind. If the goblin fails, it cannot attack the victim until another lunar month has passed. It must come up with a new suggestion and initiate another Whispering Trickery attack. This power can only be employed by the goblin, successfully or not, three times per lunar month. Guardian / Grantor of Secrets: The goblin both guards and imparts the dark secrets of the Great Old Ones. Each time the goblin uses this ability, it forces a POW vs POW contest between itself and the victim. This power can be used against the owner of the statue at an unlimited distance, or on any one random person within 100 feet of the goblin. If a person wishes to learn a secret in order to forward the aims of the Great Old Ones, or attempt something which causes harm to him / herself or others, the goblin is likely to assist him or her. In a contest of POW, if the victim loses— and the victim can willingly lose and surrender to the lure of forbidden knowledge—the victim instantly succeeds at a Cthulhu Mythos, Occult Check, or a roll in attempting to learn a spell. However, this gift drains 1D3 points of Sanity and grants the victim a +1% to the Cthulhu Mythos score. If a person wishes to use the knowledge of the mythos to oppose the Great Old Ones, the goblin actively tries to prevent that person from doing so. In a contest of POW, if the goblin wins, the victim decides to suppress, keep hidden, or fail to learn any knowledge that falls under the Cthulhu Mythos or Occult skill. If the victim wins, he or she is allowed to act normally. However, the goblin will immediately employ its Whispering Trickery ability and try to trick the victim into harming or acting so foolishly as to discredit him/herself, so the secret can be kept.

GOLDEN GOBLINS. Lesser Servitor Race Statue Form The Golden Goblin appears as a grotesque statue of around eight inches tall, appearing to be sculpted from a single nugget of gold. The figure is bent slightly forward as if about to spring or lunge. Its body is gaunt, but suggests a rangy power, with long arms and clutching hands tipped with claws. The legs are thin, but muscular. The goblin wears a ragged loincloth. It has a leering humanoid face, bat-like ears, black obsidian eyes, a long nose, a mocking grin full of serrated teeth, and a pointed head and chin. Its whole attitude is one of mockery, challenge, and spite. When the Golden Goblin whispers and cajoles its victims, its eyes flash red, and its visage grows more pointed and feral. This can only be seen if the goblin is quickly glimpsed from the side or its image caught in a mirror. Viewing it directly detects no change. The statue can be destroyed by mundane means, but this releases the goblin within. Those expecting the goblin’s gratitude will be disappointed. Goblin Form If the Golden Goblin manifests as a creature, it resembles the statue, except its features are more exaggerated and alarming. Its golden skin is leathery, and its spine and buttocks are crusted with short barbed golden hairs. In this form, it moves with horrid quickness and can leap many times its height. Native Cat If the Goblin takes the form of a giant cat, it is always rangy and of a golden hue, with a wicked drooling mouth full of sharp teeth and a lolling panting tongue. Attacks and Special Effects Typically a Golden Goblin is encountered bound into a statue. In this form, only its Curse, Whispering Trickery, and Guardian of Secrets abilities are available. The goblin cannot release itself from the statue. This must be done by destroying the statue or releasing the goblin with magic. In its native goblin form, it uses the full range of statistics, losing only Curse. It can also duplicate itself at the rate of one additional goblin per round up to a number equal to its current POW. It can also take Goblin Native Cat form once per night. This form has only its bestial abilities and cannot use its Curse, Whispering Trickery, Guardian of Secrets, or Duplication powers.

Goblin Only Duplication: the goblin can create duplicates of its goblin form at the rate of one additional goblin per round up to a number equal to its current POW. These resemble the original exactly except they have an INT 3 and a limited autonomy, existing mainly to serve their progenitor. The duplicates only last 2D6 rounds. Goblin Native Cat form: once per night, the goblin can take the form of a native cat. This ability is not usable in conjunction with duplication. So, a duplicated goblin cannot also form itself into a cat. Only the original goblin can do this.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE New spell: Summon/Bind Golden Goblin

The Cat has no access to the Goblin’s other powers and is used when the goblin needs a fighting form.

The spell is cast as part of a supplication ritual to Gol-Goroth and can be found in any writing about that god. The caster must have a suitable receptacle ready-made in the shape of the goblin, a drawing of which is usually found with the spell instructions. The ritual requires some sacrifice of the caster’s bodily fluids, burned in a golden dish. The caster must succeed in a POW vs POW test against the goblin to bind it successfully. Failure results in an attack by the goblin. The spell costs a permanent point of POW and 1D4 Sanity to cast.

GOLDEN GOBLINS, Malevolent Tricksters and Servants of Gol-Goroth char. rolls averages STR 1D6 3-4 CON 1D6 3-4 SIZ 1D3 2 INT 3D6+2 12-13 POW 3D6 10-11 DEX 3D6+1 11-12 Move 8, Jump 12 HP 3-4 Av. Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Bite and Claw 35%, damage 1D6-1D6, minimum of 1. Armor: 2-point leathery, bristly hide. Its statue form has 10 points. Powers (see full description under Attacks and Special Effects): Curses. Test POW vs POW. If the Goblin wins, the victim automatically fails Luck rolls and has no access to any kind of Luck benefit until the curse is lifted. Whispering Trickery. The goblin can fool people into working against their own good. Test INT vs INT with the goblin. Guardian / Grantor of Secrets. The goblin guards and grants the dark secrets of the Great Old Ones, spreading or suppressing such knowledge at it sees fit. Test POW vs POW against the Goblin to resist its will. The victim can choose not to resist. Duplication. Create duplicates of its goblin form at the rate of 1 additional goblin per round up to a number equal to its current POW. These duplicates last 2D6 rounds. Spells: none. The goblin guards its secrets well. At the Keeper’s discretion, it can impart false spells which lead to its victim’s destruction by being not quite accurate. Keepers should have such spells rebound on the caster or offer no protection. Sanity Loss: 1/1D4 (Seeing Duplication costs an additional 0/1 Sanity Loss) Native Cat Form Use stats for Mountain Lion in Call of Cthulhu, but with the Goblin’s POW and INT.

Th e wa l s h e s: a c t hu l hu c u lt b y Da ni el H a r m s

“problem” individuals off of the hands of local crime bosses to make sacrifices to their god. With regard to the criminal community on land, the gang keeps up cordial and businesslike arrangements with the bosses in Boston, Arkham, and every other major town between Gloucester and Scituate. After all, a rumrunner’s drop-off or escape plans must sometimes change suddenly, and it’s best to have friends in many places. Paul has retained the Boston firm of Lindemuth and North in the event of legal trouble (Law 75%). This is not his preferred means of handling trouble, as it is often easier to use kidnapping or assault to accomplish his end, but he realizes its usefulness. One place that the gang steers clear of is Innsmouth. When the Walshes landed liquor there a couple of years ago, John got into a knife fight with one of the young Gilman boys who drank a little too much and was looking to cause trouble. Ernest Gilman got a knife in his chest, but survived the encounter. The elder Walsh walked away with a beautiful golden ring set with a pink conch pearl, which he considered a proper compensation for sparing Ernest’s life. The ring carries great worth in money and prestige, and The Esoteric Order of Dagon wants it back. They will not take it by force out of respect for the Walshes’ faith, but they might be happy to resort to other means, such as recruiting outsiders to help. In the meantime, the hybrids and the Walshes maintain a respectful distance. As for the Deep Ones themselves, the Walshes see them as useful but occasional allies. The Walshes’ headquarters is a small country farmhouse, with a barn and boathouse, on an isolated cove overgrown with trees. A sandbar at the cove entrance can only be crossed by boat without the craft sinking by one who knows the exact route. The grounds are small, but isolated and wooded, with three vicious mongrel dogs roaming them at all times (see rulebook: all stat rolls at +3, up to maximum value). At the cove, the barn serves as the center of worship, featuring a twelve-foot statue of Cthulhu in sheet metal that Paul cobbled together. Before it sits a large cauldron of salt

hen he was seven, Paul Walsh hid himself on his father’s fishing boat, the Catherine II, when it pulled out into Boston Harbor. A storm came up, and Paul washed overboard. His father and brother pulled him in, but it was five minutes before the boy regained consciousness. With his revival came a new perspective on the world, one in which the crashing and lapping of the ocean settled in his heart and vast shapes far beneath the surface called to him. Paul worked with his father until the old man died, leaving the boat to Paul’s older brother, John. Paul found peace in the sea, but John sought a more glamorous life. Prohibition brought new opportunities to both of them through rumrunning. The first time a rival operator tried to take over a shipment, Paul fought back viciously, with a boathook, eviscerating the man. The blood that dripped onto the deck opened up his mind once again. Something wanted more. Now, the Walshes are among the most notorious rumrunners on the coast of Massachusetts. Their boat, the Catherine III, makes regular runs out past the twenty-one mile limit of coastal jurisdiction, where foreign ships wait to sell smugglers hundreds or thousands of cases of booze. The Walshes work for whoever will pay them. They load up on whiskey, rum, champagne, and other liquor, run the cargo past the Coast Guard patrol boats, and drop it off with contacts from the local criminal syndicates at prearranged points They make much use of the usual rumrunner techniques for warding off the law—nocturnal runs in the dark of the moon, smokescreens, heavy armaments, and bribing of local officials to reveal patrol routes. Their rites performed to the drowned god of R’lyeh provide other benefits: spells to provide cover or to set ambushes, and Paul’s preternatural knowledge of tides, currents, and dangers at sea. The gang is more brazen and violent than most of its brethren. The Walshes regularly hijack boats of less wellarmed competitors, steal the cargo, scuttle the craft, and either kill or sacrifice their victims. They also sometimes take

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE water, with chains and shackles attached to a winch above. Sacrifices are chained and lowered into the cauldron, left until they have drowned. The bodies are then dumped at sea, where the currents take them out.

Note: Items in italics may be added to the cult at the Keeper’s discretion.

John Walsh John is the face of the duo to the eastern Massachusetts underworld, and outsiders consider him the leader of the Walshes’ operation. John has an easy grin set off by cruel brown eyes under bushy black eyebrows. John dresses in the best suits and hats Boston has to offer, and wears a ring of Innsmouth gold that he toys with as he talks. John loves money, women, parties, and the finer things in life, although all of this is secondary to his devotion to the Lord of R’lyeh.

Scenario Seeds ❖ The investigator is approached by a worried occultist, who has found references to a mysterious ring granting mystical power over the ocean. He believes it is in the hands of smugglers, and he would like to see it taken away from them. In fact, the occultist is a normal human working with the hybrid Marsh family of Innsmouth, and he will reacquire the ring from the investigators if they manage to acquire it.

STR 14 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 16 POW 17 DEX 12 APP 14 EDU 8 SAN 0 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4. Weapons: Fist 70%, damage 1D3+db Boathook 35%, D 1D8+db .38 Caliber Revolver 60%, damage 1D10, RoF 2, 6 rounds Thompson submachine gun 25%, damage 1D10+2, RoF 1 or burst, 20 rounds Skills: Bargain 65%, Cthulhu Mythos 7%, Fast Talk 50%, Law 30%, Persuade 40%, Pilot Boat 65%, Swim 55%, Throw 50%. Spells: Breath of the Deep, Command Shark.

❖ A friend of the investigators—a rumrunner, gangster, or friend in debt to a crime boss—vanishes and is handed over to the Walshes. The investigators must work quickly to save the person by infiltrating the Walshes’ estate, or finding a way to stop them at sea. ❖ A Coast Guard cutter is found smashed to pieces on a calm night, with all hands lost. Navigational charts show no underwater obstacles nearby. Talking to Coast Guard sailors on other ships reveals that the captain had been attempting to catch the Walshes, but found them too clever.

Paul Walsh Paul is an introvert who prefers to let his brother shine while he takes a role in the background. His eyes shift around the

TH E M A R S H E S : A C TH U L H U C U LT Adam Nolan

room as he talks, and he hesitates to speak, as if listening to another conversation nearby. He wears a well-tailored but rumpled suit, and an out-of-date “lucky” fedora. He has a plain but kindly face, and a naive manner that masks craftiness. If approached with tales of dark rites, he might pretend to be shocked to hear that his brother is involved, and then lure his foes into a trap.

A huge man with hands like ham hocks, whose crookedtoothed grin looks like nothing less than the mouth of a shark, Adam was formerly a Gloucester sailor who worked long hours during the week and indulged in casual assault on the weekend. He beat a man to death with a gaff hook for making fun of his looks, and received two years in jail before escaping. He has seen the monsters the Walshes called, and he is utterly devoted to both. He spends most of his time on the boat or at the farm, where he lives in the farmhouse attic.

STR 10 CON 11 SIZ 13 INT 17 POW 21 DEX 15 APP 12 EDU 14 SAN 0 HP 12 Damage Bonus: none. Weapon: Fist 50%, damage 1D3 Knife (enchanted) 40%, damage 1D4+2 .38 Caliber Revolver 55%, damage 1D10, RoF 2, 6 rounds Thompson submachine gun 25%, damage 1D10+2, RoF 1 or burst, 20 rounds Skills: Bargain 30%, Cthulhu Mythos 12%, Dodge 35%, Fast Talk 60%, Law 40%, Natural History 35%, Navigate 99% (sea, no penalties for darkness or weather), Persuade 55%, Pilot Boat 85%, Psychology 60%, Swim 99% Spells: Breath of the Deep, Command Shark, Contact Deep Ones, Contact Deity / Cthulhu, Contact Star-Spawn of Cthulhu, Create Mist of Releh, Grasp of Cthulhu.

STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 18 INT 9 POW 9 DEX 9 APP 5 EDU 6 SAN 0 HP 17 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Weapons: Fist 77%, damage 1D3+1D6 Head butt 65%, damage 1D4+1D6 Gaff hook 65%, damage 1D4+1D6 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun 45%, damage 4D6/1D6, RoF 1 or 2, 2 rounds Skills: Climb 77%, Credit Rating 0%, Cthulhu Mythos 7%, Natural History 22%, Navigate 55%, Pilot Boat 60%, Swim 65%, Throw 45%.

Other Gang Members

The Catherine III

The Walshes recruit the other members of the gang from among the rumrunners who are too antisocial or psychotic to work productively with other operators. A trip out to sea and a quick visit from a star spawn brings them onboard quickly; if not, they become shark food soon thereafter. All are male and quite insane. No member willingly gives up any information on the gang, but they see the Walshes as invincible. A Psychoanalysis roll after an hour of conversation, followed with a Psychology roll to play off it, might make one of them open up enough to divulge critical information.

This 45 foot boat features two converted aircraft engines with underwater silencers, bulletproof armor on the hull and pilot house (50% chance of absorbing 8 points of damage), and a Browning M1917 machine gun and tripod hidden in a secret compartment near the mast. It can reach 40 knots unladen, or 37 knots when filled with its maximum cargo of 1,000 cases of alcohol.

Typical Walsh Gang Member STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 16 INT 9 POW 8 DEX 10 APP 7 EDU 6 SAN 0 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D3+db; Oar 35%, D 1D6+db Boathook 35%, D 1D8+db .38 Caliber Revolver 35%, damage 1D10, RoF 2, 6 rounds. (2) 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun 40%, damage 4D6/1D6, RoF 1 or 2, 2 rounds (2) Thompson submachine gun 25%, damage 1D10+2, RoF 1 or burst, 20 rounds Browning M1917A1 machine gun (mounted on boat) 30%, damage 2D6+3, RoF burst, 250 rounds Skills: Pilot (Boat) 20%, Swim 40%

Massa di Requiem per Shuggay: A H i s t o r y o f T h e Dev i l ’s O pe ra

b y S c o t t Da v i d A ni ol ows k i

The musical score, however, is consistent throughout, and is conjectured by some musical historians to be the uncredited work of famed Italian composer Antonio Salieri (18 August 1750–7 May 1825). Scholars suggest that Salieri, a rival and contemporary of Amadeus Mozart, wrote the funeral mass in his youth, during a period wherein he later destroyed most of his work for unknown reasons. It has been suggested by some that Salieri, succumbing to madness, poisoned Mozart before living out his days in an asylum in Vienna. The opera was banned in 1769 by Pope Clement XIII. Clement XIII died shortly thereafter, and his successor Pope Clement XIV ordered a formal inquest of the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay. In 1770, the blasphemous opera was declared heretical by the Papacy, and all existing copies were ordered to be destroyed, with the Church calling for the imprisonment of those responsible for the opera’s existence. No composer was ever identified, so no one was ever jailed. The Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is a three act opera with two expository acts ending with a proper classic Italian funeral mass in the third act. The main cast of characters are:

he Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is a three act funeral mass composed in 1768, an Imperial Folio consisting of 79 oversized (21”x14”) vellum sheets of music bound in deep red boards with black cord. The score is illustrated throughout with Arabesque illuminations of celestial bodies and insects. The stiff cover features a black illustration of three hooded and robed figures in silhouette, each bearing a triangular lantern. Behind the three figures hovers a gigantic full moon with a single enormous eye blazing. “Massa di Requiem per Shuggay” (“Requiem Mass for Shuggay”) is illuminated across top of the cover and “Messa funebre per i Viaggiatori come sussurrava a Benevento Chieti Bordighera” (“Funeral mass for the Travelers as whispered at Benevento Chieti Bordighera”) along the bottom. The opera was never published, and only four hand-written copies are known to exist, although rumors of a fifth copy persist. The opera is composed in the form of a short-score with several notes designating repetition of the same material. Some musicians have claimed that the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is unperformable, at least without extensive deciphering; some suggest that it is incomplete or simply incomprehensible. The leading authority on the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay, Doctor Mikael Hedberg of Lund University, Lund, Sweden, made his life’s work the study of the score, and, in his 1873 book Musikhistorisk kuriosa, claimed that sections had been composed for unknown instruments. There has been much speculation and confusion as to the origin and history of this infamous 18th century Italian opera—the only piece of music ever banned by the Vatican. The Massa di Requiem per Shuggay—or properly, Requiem di Massa per Shuggay—has long been attributed to a mysterious and otherwise unknown composer named “Benevento Chieti Bordighera.” In fact, Benevento, Chieti, and Bordighera are not names of a composer, but rather three Italian villages where the libretto was found and presumed written. In the original manuscript, three distinctly different hands inscribed the libretto of each act of the opera, suggesting three different authors, although none is identified.

Savio, the youngest son of Rafael and incestuous lover of his sister Ida. Savio becomes the King in the final act of the opera. He is called Pietro in some versions of the libretto. Ida, the only daughter of Rafael and incestuous lover of her brother Savio. Ida becomes Queen in the final act of the opera. She is called Maria in some versions of the libretto. Orso, Rafael’s oldest son and the Hero of Shuggay. He becomes King in the second act of the opera. He is called Armand in some versions of the libretto. Rafael, the King of Shuggay and father of Savio, Ida, and Orso. He is called Rafael in all versions of the libretto. Vico, Remo, and Pio, the three Explorers. Wise men of Shuggay who guide the people to the New Kingdom. They are called simply the Wise Men in some versions of the libretto. Baron Sukamog, the figure of Death. He is called Scomparsa in some versions of the libretto. Aesutout, the God of Shuggay. He is called Fiamma in

M ASSA D I RE Q U I EM PE R SH UG GAY

some versions of the libretto. Act one is set in the faraway kingdom of Shuggay. King Rafael discovers that a great cataclysm is soon to befall Shuggay and orders all his subjects to flee. The King’s eldest son Orso, the Hero of Shuggay, leads the people away, while the King remains behind to light a beacon for their god Aesutout and perishes when the kingdom falls. The final person to leave the dying Shuggay is Baron Sukamog, a Death figure of the Kingdom. In act two, the people of Shuggay, guided by the three Explorers Vico, Remo, and Pio, have made their way through the wilderness after a long and dangerous journey, acquiring slaves along the way from the many strange lands they have traveled through. While the slaves toil to build the New Kingdom, the people of Shuggay wallow in decadence and debauchery. Orso, now the King, is confronted by his brother and sister, Savio and Ida, incestuous lovers who want the people of Shuggay to move on to better land for their god Aesutout. King Orso refuses, saying the people of Shuggay no longer need gods. The three Explorers convince Savio to light a beacon on the highest building to show Aesutout the way to the New Kingdom. Enraged, King Orso tries to extinguish the beacon before Aesutout can see it, but is struck down and killed by his brother Savio. In the final act, Savio becomes King and weds his sister Ida, and together they lead a vast funeral mass for all of those lost when Shuggay fell and during the long journey to the New Kingdom. In a final act of contrition, the three Explor-

ers Vico, Remo, and Pio, climb the highest hill and light a beacon to finally call Aesutout to the New Kingdom. As the flame of the beacon sputters to life, the three Explorers die. All of the people of Shuggay begin to sing, and the voices of the unseen dead join in from beyond the grave. The new King and Queen, Savio and Ida, lead the people in rejoicing at the approach of their god Aesutout. The people of Shuggay, in one enormous writhing heap of degeneracy and hedonism, sing out to the stars, welcoming Aesutout. The sky begins to burn brightly, and the curtain falls. Those familiar with the opera’s complex and haunting score say that it, coupled with the decadent libretto and its themes of murder, incest, debauchery, and corruption, induce delusions, hallucinations, and heightened feelings of suicidal hopelessness or murderous lust. The Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is known to have been performed only twice and recorded once or twice. Its first performance was in 1769 in the Campania Italy town of Benevento. As the In Paradisum reached its triumphant crescendo in the final act, the theater was consumed by fire, killing dozens of patrons. Guillaume du Tillot, the minister of the Duchy of Parma, was in the audience for that fateful performance and later bore witness of the horrific events to Louis XII. The opera was not performed again until 1928, when a copy was spirited out of the vaults of the Vatican by misguided Papal archivist Pietro Trabaci and transcribed for the New York City Metropolitan Opera. The opera’s single performance in New York was also marred by tragedy.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE but dead, I shall love you forever.’ In 2005 a Finish performer called Saaamaaa released a cassette of dark ambient industrial music titled Mass di Requiem per Shuggay for Cthulhic Dawn Productions. Although haunting and unusual, this electronic music does not appear to be composed of any (or much) of the original musical score from the blasphemous opera. The blasphemous opera has been an inspiration for various props, fakes, and forgeries throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as colliding with pop culture. The Massa di Requiem per Shuggay and manuscripts of similar ilk were in vogue in the 1970s, during the heyday of the interest in and popularity of the supernatural, astrology, bigfoot, UFOs, and other paranormal topics. In 1980, the Leonard Nimoy television show In Search of… featured the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay in an episode entitled “Mysterious Manuscripts”, alongside other elusive and enigmatic books such as the Ghorl Nigral, The Book of Judas, and another mysterious opera, Don Juan Triumphant. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, a small Toronto-based radical political and religious group calling itself The Sons of October claimed to adhere to certain precepts of the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay; the group was eventually broken up after years of diligent investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

The sparse scenery notes included in the manuscript leave set decorations and costuming fully to the whim of the director. Although no record remains of the set or costumes for the original 1769 production of the Mass di Requiem per Shuggay, the 1928 Metropolitan Opera version was done in lavish German Expressionistic style. The few recorded accounts from those in attendance in 1928 describe the staging as “otherworldly” and “surreal” and suggest that the stage was made to appear to transform into an alien landscape. Of utmost significance in both performances was the inclusion of three beacons: during the course of each act, a light is ignited high above the stage floor by one of the characters. The Massa di Requiem per Shuggay was recorded in the 1970s by the German art band Knochen Maschine, who combined avant-garde rock music with classical orchestration. Although the opera’s score was rearranged, the libretto was left intact. Tiziana Salarezza and Enrico Fabbri, two classically-trained Italian opera singers, were hired to sing the parts of Maria (Ida) and Pietro (Savio). Upon completion of the ‘Duet Macabre’ from act one, the pair left the studio, and were both killed by a bus as they crossed the street. The infamous and ironic lines from the libretto haunt fans still today: Maria asks, ‘But why, my love, must I die for you?’ To this, Pietro replies, ‘Because alive, I love you only for a day,

The Keeper’s Look at the Truth Behind the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay In game terms, the truth behind the Devil’s Opera is simple: insects from a shan hive infested the minds of three hapless victims and, through their bodies, wrote the libretto for the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay, telling the story (through the use of human characters) of the fall of their homeworld and their escape to Earth. Antonio Salieri was the anonymous composer, although he was not infected by the shan. He was simply sensitive and disturbed enough in his youth to be “inspired” by the shan unknowingly, although it was this proverbial “deal with the devil” which started the brilliant maestro on his downward spiral into eventual madness. The lines of music declared unplayable are, in fact, written for the flutes of the servitors of the Outer Gods, who are called down during the performance of the opera and lend their help in the final act to summon Azathoth from his Court of Madness in the center of time and space. During the performance of the full opera, three shan are summoned in the first act and possess three patrons who later are used to ensure that the three beacons are lit to call down Azathoth successfully. At the beginning of the final act, a servitor of the Outer Gods is summoned, its piping melding with the orchestra and rising to a maddening crescendo that culminates in the catastrophic appearance of the Daemon Sultan. If the three shan have been summoned, and if the three beacons have been lit, and if the servitor has been summoned, Azathoth will descend upon the performance, blasting and searing everything and everyone in sight, and causing damage and chaos on a cataclysmic level. If any of these things have been stopped, Azathoth still has a chance, although diminished, of showing up. The libretto is in Italian and requires familiarity with that language to read and comprehend. Musical skill is required to decipher the score. The Sanity loss for reading the libretto or hearing or viewing a full performance is 1D3/1D6 Sanity points, and +4% Cthulhu Mythos knowledge is gained. Although technically the spell Call Azathoth is woven into the score and libretto, it cannot be learned simply be studying the opera. The spell works only by fully performing the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay as written.

M ASSA D I RE Q U I EM PE R SH UG GAY Dr. Douglas Windthrope is known to have had a copy of the opera in his collection at the time of his disappearance in 1940, and experts argue whether this was the “Lady in Red” copy or the mysterious rumored fifth copy. However many copies truly exist, and wherever they may lie hidden, the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is a truly disturbing work, and one of rare and haunting dark beauty. It is at once enticing and revolting, euphoric and disturbing. Those who hear it become obsessed; those who study it give themselves over to otherworldly desires and visions. A man’s deepest, darkest carnal desires are fulfilled as madness overtakes him and sweeps him away on the Devil’s Opera.

although the two leaders of the sect fled Toronto and remain at large. In 2005, a man in Berlin alleged to have the “original unexpurgated” edition of the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay which he claimed to have found in an old church in Italy; this was later determined to be a fake. The four known hand-inscribed copies of the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay have had a shadowy and elusive history. While the original libretto is known to have been found in three parts in the towns of Benevento, Chieti, and Bordighera Italy in 1768, it is not known where the three copies were made or by whom, although it is theorized that they were all made within three to five years of the discovery of the original manuscript. One copy is known to be in the archives of the British Museum and one in Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale still today. The Church of the Starry Wisdom in Providence, Rhode Island offered a copy of the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay in an 1877 rare book auction; the only existing record of who purchased the opera is a note in a ledger saying “Massa di Requiem purchased by Lady in Red.” The Vatican held a copy (thought by many to be the original) in its Z-Collection until it was stolen in the late 1920s and taken to New York City, where it was on display in the Metropolitan Opera. The copy at the Met vanished the night of the ill-fated performance there, and its whereabouts are unknown. Famed British occultist and parapsychologist

jo h n n y C a m e M a r chi ng Hom e : Mechan i c s fo r Pl ayi n g a Milit ary Ve te ran b y Os ca r r i os

Suddenly, out of the darkness came a rushing figure and the flash of steel. A robed man lunged forward, wielding a long curved knife. John Dunn, a taxi driver, reacted before either of his companions. With fluid motions, he stepped back and jerked the barrel of his rifle upwards and left, roughly slamming the man’s forearm and ruining his attack. John then shifted his weight and reversed the motion of his rifle. The man’s hands were wide open now, tossed above his head by the unexpected parry. Before the man could recover, John’s rifle’s butt slammed squarely into the attacker’s face. There was a sickening crack of bone, and the man dropped like a sack of flour, blood pouring from a broken nose and shattered front teeth. John raised his foot, about to slam his boot down on the helpless man’s temple, but stopped himself and stepped away. Behind him, his companions, Edwin, a police officer, and Simon, a private eye, stood dumbstruck. They’d barely raised their handguns, but the battle was already over. They searched the now unconscious attacker, putting him in handcuffs and stuffing a rag into his mouth to gag him. Edwin and Simon, who’d worked together investigating strange supernatural cases for years, turned to the mild mannered taxi driver they’d met just yesterday. John had insisted on helping them in the search for Penelope Yolen, a missing nine year old abducted by the mysterious worshippers of The King in Yellow. They couldn’t really say no; Penelope was his niece. “Okay, Officer 440,” Simon jested, referring to a popular secret agent movie serial hero, “where’d a taxi driver learn moves like that?” John turned, his eyes sudden cold. He whispered, “In the Marines. 2nd Division, American Expeditionary Force. Now, let’s wake this bastard up, and find out where they took my sister’s baby girl.”

had suffered grave injuries, both physical and psychological. They returned as heroes to a country in the grips of an economic depression, where jobs were few and hard to come by. They had the respect of their countrymen, and they supported one another long after the conflict ended, but they felt forgotten by the government they fought to defend. The Great War Veteran has long been a favored backstory for many a Call of Cthulhu investigator. Players have often distributed their skills creatively in an attempt to reflect their investigator’s military experiences. However, without a formalized mechanic to follow, such efforts often prove hit and miss. This article hopes to set a structured framework for building an investigator of any profession who is also a Great War veteran. These investigators have advantages as well as penalties, reflection of their medals and scars, their victories and sacrifices, the friends they made and the ones they lost too soon. The following rules are specifically written for male, American Great War veterans. The experience of veterans from other nations differs from that of the American servicemen, as their wars were longer, their casualties and likelihood of frontline service greater. Also, while women did serve in the militaries of many nations, their experience was also much different. Keepers can alter these rules as they see fit to better suit the creation of female Great War veterans, or veterans from other nations.

The Veteran Investigator

rom April 1917 until November 1918, the United States sent its sons to fight and die in the deadliest conflict the world had ever seen, The Great War. Afterwards, four and a half million men came home and re-entered American society. But, these were not the same men who had left. Many

The veteran isn’t a profession, but a history. Players choose a profession for their investigator and then decide whether that character is also a military veteran. A librarian, mechanic, milkman, accountant, policeman, or gangster could all have

J OHN N Y CAM E M A RCH I N G HOM E served their country during the Great War. While four and a half million American men returned from military service, less than a quarter of them saw actual combat. To reflect this disparity, the Veteran Background is divided into two types, Non-Combat Veterans and Combat Veterans.

economic depression. The national unemployment rate was about 16% and was especially high among returning veterans, especially those with physical or mental disabilities. Unemployed veterans began calling themselves “Forgotten Men.” To reflect this situation, Great War Veteran Investigators fall into the lowest possible income bracket for their civilian profession, as listed in The 1920’s Investigator’s Companion. For example, a standard Pharmacist Investigator earns between a Middle Class ($2,500–$6,000) and an Upper Middle Class ($6,000–$25,000) yearly wage. If the same Pharmacist happened to be a Great War Veteran, his income could only be Middle Class. The man who returned home from military service had a hard time finding work, and his earning potential suffered because of it.

Military Training Veterans enlisted in the armed forces and underwent military training. Most never saw combat, likely due to being posted to non-frontline areas or assigned to logistical duties. For every man who fights, many men must support his effort to do so. An Investigator who’s a Non-Combat Veteran receives an additional point of EDU to reflect the training he received. Players must age such characters one additional year. Veterans who saw combat receive three additional points of EDU, one for their training and two more to reflect their battlefield experience. However, combat veterans are also subjected to certain penalties due to their horrors they faced (See The Horrors of War). Great War Veteran Investigators have access to several Occupation Skills in addition to the ones allowed from their standard professions. The exact skills vary depending on their rank and the branch of the military they served in. For example, the skills of a veteran naval officer differ from those of a veteran frontline marine. Veteran characters have access to one skill for every 3 points of INT. For example, a veteran with an INT of 13 starts play with 4 skills chosen from those listed in the occupation skills of the branch he served in. The following Occupation Skills are taken from The 1920’s Investigator’s Companion—A Core Game Book for Players.

Social Support Returning veterans were considered heroes, brave men who went forth to fight for freedom on foreign shores. Many of these returning veterans never lost the esprit de corp or forgot their brothers in arms. Veterans groups, promoting mutual social, economic, and political support, were soon common. To reflect this, all veteran investigators receive a +10% to their Credit Rating score to reflect this network of support and admiration. In play, this can be reflected in a person’s respect (“You boys did a good thing over there…”), a personal connection (“My brother died fighting the Huns…”), or camaraderie (“I was over there too, with the 1st division outside of Nancy…”).

The Horrors of War (Combat Veteran Penalty)

Military Officer Bargain, Credit Rating, Dodge, Fast Talk, Fist/Punch, Grapple, Handgun, Head Butt, Hide, Jump, Kick, Navigate, Persuade, Psychology, Sneak. Sailor

The combat veterans of the Great War faced battlefield conditions and perils never before seen in human history. Machine guns, poison gas, barbed wire, military aircraft, the nightmares of no-man’s land, and disease-breeding trench warfare all combined to test this generation of soldiers like none before it. Medical advances in surgery and sanitation ensured that wounded men who would have died in earlier conflicts survived their injuries. Those who returned home were both hardened and broken by their ordeal. Players creating Combat Veteran Investigators begin play with a starting Sanity Score of POW x4, as opposed to the standard POW x5. This reflects the general mental trauma of their battlefield experience. The investigators’ maximum Sanity Score is unaffected, and the points lost during the war can be recovered. The Combat Veteran Investigators returned home haunted men, missing some of the spirit and vigor they once had. With time and healing, they may regain much of what they lost as they move forward with their lives. In addition to the mental trauma the Great War Veteran Investigators suffered, the players must also choose one of

Climb, Fist/Punch, Grapple, Handgun, Head Butt, Jump, Kick, Navigate, Rifle, Swim, only 1 of the following: Artillery, Mechanical Repair, Operate Heavy Machinery, Pilot Boat. Soldier/Marine Bayonet, Fist/Punch, Grapple, Head Butt, Kick, Knife, Rifle, Throw, only 1 of the following: Artillery, Drive Tank, Electrical Repair, Mechanical Repair, Medicine.

Economic Hardships With the war’s end, four and a half million servicemen were quickly mustered out of service, released from their bases to return home. America was ill-prepared for so many men re-entering the workforce; no organized program or network was in place to assist them in finding employment. Government financial support for veterans was slow to come as America slipped further into what was becoming a global

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

the following penalties for their investigators. It is strongly recommended that Keepers and players should discuss the choice before play begins:

heroin, marijuana, and morphine were also obtainable. Investigators suffering from this penalty begin play addicted to one or more of these substances. They face a daily struggle, reflected by POW x 5 checks, to manage their addiction and resist the urge to abuse the drug to which they are enslaved. These investigators also face a possible -20% penalties to all rolls for being under the influence of their drug or experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. Also, depending on the substance they use, the state they are in, and the precise year, they may be committing a criminal act. Thus, supplying their addiction and concealing it from authorities is another issue addicted investigators must face. Keepers and players should consult the Mental Disorders chapter of the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook, particularly the section Substance Abuse Disorder on pages 129-130, for details.

Physical Disability The investigator suffered one or more traumatic injuries from which a full recovery was impossible. The player must subtract a total of 2 points from the following attribute scores: STR, CON, DEX, or APP. These points can be spread across two attributes, such as -1 APP and -1 DEX. Lost STR could be due to a physical injury, such as a weakened back. Lost CON could be caused by tuberculosis brought on by exposure to Mustard Gas or a disease such as trench foot, cholera, typhoid, or Spanish flu (part of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic). One third of all Great War military casualties, in every army involved, were caused by disease. Lost DEX could come from damaged joints or lost appendages. Lost APP could be from scars, missing eyes or limbs, or other disfigurements.

Shell Shocked The investigator possesses the specific anxiety disorder known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, referred to at the time as “Shell Shock”. The investigator experiences persistent thoughts, flashbacks, and dreams about his battlefield experiences. He may suffer from night terrors or mood swings, or lose interest in daily activities. Periods of Shell Shock are often triggered by traumatic events, which, in the case of a mythos investigator, could be any sanity check resulting in temporary, indefinite, or permanent insanity. The player and Keeper should discuss one or more horrific battlefield events

Addiction Many returning veterans turned to substance abuse as a way to ease the pain of physical and mental injury, or as a way to deal with the social isolation they felt and to cope with the pressures of civilian life. While the drug of choice was alcohol, it was by no means the only one available to them. Cocaine,

J OHN N Y CAM E M A RCH I N G HOM E which plague the veteran’s mind. For more information on Shell Shock, Keepers and players should again consult the Mental Disorders chapter of the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook, specifically the section Anxiety Disorders on pages 130-131, for complete details.

It was over. Penelope was safe. Mercifully, the cultists had drugged the child when they kidnapped her. She was still asleep and, with luck, wouldn’t remember any of this. Simon and Edwin looked at one another and then looked over at John, their new best friend. They knew they’d probably have found her without John’s help, but they were certain they wouldn’t have survived long after that. While Simon and Edwin made short work of the insane actors and poets worshipping some Yellow King, the entity they’d summoned to save them was another matter. Like a combination of vulture, man, and rotting corpse, the creature flew out of the night and came crashing through the abandoned theater’s window. John had dealt with it. Without even blinking, he fired round after round into the monster. The man’s hands had quickly worked the bolt on his high powered rifle with practiced ease. Bullets hit their mark before the thing even touched the floor, and it was dead after taking just three steps. John hadn’t even flinched. “Nice work John! Holy Smoke, we’d be dead for sure if you hadn’t be here,“ said Edwin. Simon quickly added, “Yeah, glad you’re on our side, pal. Listen, we fall into this sort of thing now and again. You should come with us next time.” “Thanks, Sergeant,” John replied, “Grab the kid. We need to move. Gerry is sure to try and retake the position.” Edwin and Simon issued the same reply in the same confused tone, “What?”

Building a Great War Combat Veteran, John Dunn A Call of Cthulhu player is creating a new investigator, using The 1920’s Investigator’s Companion—A Core Game Book for Players. He rolls up John Dunn, a taxi driver, and chooses to make him a Great War Veteran. His rolls are STR 15, CON 14, POW 13, DEX 11, APP 10, SIZ 14, INT 13, and EDU 11. As a Taxi Driver, his EDU suffers a -2 penalty, reducing it to 9. However, as a Great War Veteran, the Investigator gets either a bonus of +1 EDU for being a non-combat veteran or +3 EDU for being a combat veteran. The player chooses to make John Dunn a Combat Veteran, which raises his EDU to 12. The player adds an additional year to his character age, making John’s minimum age 18 (EDU + 6 years). This is younger than the player wanted, so he ages John 10 years. This makes John Dunn 28 years old, and further raises his EDU to 13, without incurring a penalty for advanced age. However, being a Great War combat veteran reduces John’s starting Sanity Score to 52 (POW 13 x 4), while his maximum Sanity Score stands as 65 (POW 13 x 5). The player begins distributing John’s 260 Occupation Points (EDU 13 x 20). The Taxi Driver professional occupation skills are: Accounting, Bargain, Drive Auto, Electrical Repair, Fast Talk, Mechanical Repair, Navigate, Persuade, and Psychology. The player selects John’s branch of military service, choosing to make him a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. The investigator has an INT of 13, which allows him to choose four additional occupation skills from the Soldier/Marine occupation list. The player adds Fist/ Punch, Grapple, Knife, and Rifle to the investigator’s occupation skills. The player factors in John’s +10% to Credit Rating for being a veteran. He distributes the character’s Personal Interest points normally. John Dunn begins play with a Lower Class income, making between $251–$500 a year, the lowest income bracket a Taxi Driver can fall into. The character is nearly complete, except for the Combat Veteran’s Penalty. The player chooses Shell Shocked, starting the investigator with a pre-existing anxiety disorder. Both he and his Keeper agree upon a specific traumatic event, in which one of John’s friends and brothers in arms was blown apart by a mortar shell during a mass infantry change of German trenches. John wasn’t badly hurt, but was knocked down by flying parts of his friend’s body. Should the player fail a sanity check resulting in any form of insanity, it is likely that John Dunn will experience flash backs or nightmares of this horrific event.

D w e l l e r i n Da r k ne ss b y T y l er H uda k

went to retrieve something from under his bed only to find Boogsesh waiting for him. While it cannot be proven, this is likely the origination of the Boogey-man, the creature used by parents to scare their children into staying in bed at night. Bugg-Shash is known as a Drowner for its method of killing: covering the victims in slimy ooze until they have suffocated and can be devoured. This is known as the Kiss of Bugg-Shash. Any who are able to escape after they have been “kissed” discover that Bugg-Shash can find them whenever they enter an area of darkness. This often causes those with the Kiss to develop insomnia or achluophobia (the fear of the dark). A ritual exists to dispel Bugg-Shash and remove the Kiss of Bugg-Shash from those who are cursed. However, there are two catches to this ritual. First, if the spell is chanted in reverse, it will be undone. The Kiss will return, as will BuggShash. Second, the “cure” only protects the victim in life. Once a cursed person dies, Bugg-Shash can reanimate the victim as a zombie to do its bidding.

ithin the Cthulhu mythos are countless entities of incredible power, such as the Great Old Ones. Some Great Old Ones have fostered worship among humanity, encouraging the formation of cults whose membership range from a few individuals to flocks of thousands. However, some Great Old Ones show little interest in mankind. They do not garner large cults and are only worshiped by solitary sorcerers or madmen. One such being is Bugg-Shash.

Bugg-Shash Bugg-Shash, also known as The Drowner, The Black One, or The Filler of Space, is a wall of jelly-like ooze filled with floating eyes and sucking mouths, black as the night itself. It is rarely summoned or worshiped by cultists or sorcerers due to its dangerous and single-minded purpose: death. If a pentagram of containment is not prepared, or a sacrifice is not present, the summoner, and all around him or her, will be immediately attacked and covered in slime. This is known as the Kiss of Bugg-Shash. Bugg-Shash will then not return from whence it came until all who share its “Kiss” have been killed. The Great Old One is adverse to light and disappears if exposed to anything stronger than a single candle. It is a mistake to think that this dispels Bugg-Shash, and those who think so quickly realize their error once it becomes dark. In reality, Bugg-Shash is able to fold itself into any area of darkness, no matter how small, and anyone entering the darkness will find Bugg-Shash waiting for them. A rare pamphlet from the 1790s entitled “The Darkness and Those That Dwell Within” relates a story of a wizard that summoned “Boogsesh”, a creature remarkably similar to Bugg-Shash. The wizard did not prepare the necessary protections, and mistakenly thought he dispelled the demon when a nearby lantern was unhooded. Later, the wizard

The Ysior Bugg-Shash has creatures that serve it in the pits of darkness in which it resides. The rare English occult tome Mad Berkley’s Book states, “Within the hellish pit it lives, Bugg-Shash writhes upon those that take its form. These Ysior take the shape on any form they choose, but their true casting is that of their master.” The Ysior are miniature versions of Bugg-Shash, around the size of a small dog. When summoned, BuggShash will have 4-5 Ysior hiding within its slimy folds. While their true form is a translucent, slimy creature filled with never-blinking eyes and gaping maws, Ysior are able to shape shift into any form of their size. They use this ability to disguise themselves in a darkened room, as a beloved family pet, for example, waiting for the opportune time to strike out. The darkness does a good job of concealing them, but a

D W E L LE R I N D A RK N ES S barely discernible raspy breathing is a sign they are present. Unlike their master, Ysior do not disappear when exposed to light. Under illumination, these creatures appear translucent, and are not able to manifest fully in our dimension. In this state, all damage caused by their attacks is decreased by half. Additionally, all damage suffered by them is reduced by half, as they are only partially formed in this dimension. Ysior are rarely found alone, and if one is seen, the viewer can be assured there are more nearby. Since they are easily controlled, Ysior are often summoned by sorcerers and cultists, and used as purveyors of death. A tell-tale sign that someone has been killed by Ysior is dark slime on the face, surrounded by dozens of tiny bitemarks. This differs from the sign of victims of Bugg-Shash, who are often found drowned in its alien slime.

San Franciscan folklore tells of one such example, a Chinese immigrant named Han Tou Yu, who was a proprietor of an apothecary in Chinatown, around 1860. Han Tou Yu was described as a blind, old man with long mustache and goatee, always wearing a traditional red jacket, and smoking a pungent pipe that would announce his presence before he did. Visitors would find his apothecary cluttered with Chinese herbs and tinctures, along with other unusual items from the Orient. However, if a secret word was muttered to Yu, they would be taken to a backroom filled with mystical and occult items and symbols. There Yu peddled his other service—that of a powerful sorcerer who acted as an intermediary between those who wanted someone killed and the spirit world. He was said to do this by summoning a great demon that would engulf its victims in darkness, an obvious allusion to BuggShash. Yu disappeared in 1901, after he was allegedly hired to kill a rich councilman. While it was presumed that he died, the immigrants of San Francisco’s Chinatown believe that he is immortal and can be found by those who seek revenge. Rumors of his appearance surface every few years, and as recently as 1919, when a thief was found murdered in a dark alley, his body covered in a drying black ichor. Another cultist of Bugg-Shash is Belle Summerset, the Norwegian immigrant who made headlines in 1922. A short, pudgy woman, Belle moved to America in 1913, married

Cultists of Bugg-Shash Major occult sources, including the Necronomicon and Cthaat Aquadingen, contain only a warning against summoning The Black One. Only Mad Berkley’s Book contains sufficient information for a summoning ritual. Due to the scarcity of information, cultists of Bugg-Shash are rare. Only those unlucky, or fool-hardy, enough to find or seek out Bugg-Shash become its worshippers.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

New Monster

Arkham native Roger Summerset, and bought a farm just outside the city. In 1918, Roger was found dead from a “tragic kitchen accident.” No inquest was performed, although rumors abounded that it was not an accident at all. Shortly after Roger’s death, Belle posted matrimonial ads in major newspapers around the country, including the Arkham Advertiser, asking for gentlemen looking to “join fortunes” on her farm. Many men answered and came to visit her, bringing money that they would deposit into her bank account. All disappeared. If questioned, Belle would reply that she had never met the men, or that they had left shortly after arriving. By early 1922, suspicions surrounding Belle and the disappearing men were high, and the Arkham police finally decided to visit her formally. However, a fire broke out in her house before they could. Inside, a burnt corpse of a headless woman was found in the basem*nt of the farmhouse. This, however, was not the most gruesome thing encountered. As police searched the house, they discovered that the fire had partially collapsed a brick wall in the basem*nt, revealing a secret room. Police reports stated that a rookie officer had to be hospitalized due to what was contained therein, but no other information was available. Six months later, a reporter from the Arkham Advertiser tracked down a police officer who was present during the discovery of the room and published an article detailing what was found. According to the officer, upon entering the secret room, the police found a disturbing sight. Four sconces lined each wall of the room, barely illuminating a large pentagram that had been meticulously drawn onto the floor. A pedestal stood at one end of the room, a copy of Mad Berkley’s Book open upon it. The floor between the pedestal and the pentagram was littered with bones, all covered in a black ichor. The article did not contain any additional information, but a clear connection between Belle and The Drowner can be made. Belle Summerset would take her suitors down into the secret room, and sacrifice them to Bugg-Shash. For her, this was a money-making scheme; she would trick suitors into giving her money, and then sacrifice them to her dark god. More cultists dedicated to Bugg-Shash can be found if one looks hard enough. Throughout history are reports of unexplained murders where the victims are found covered in dark slime. Those investigating these murders often find a lone individual who has stumbled across the right materials to summon Bugg-Shash or its minions. However, most of The Drowner’s cultists eventually pay a heavy price for worshiping a Great Old One as dangerous as Bugg-Shash. The entity is persistent and lacks any notion of mercy or forgiveness. If the preparations are not correct—for example, if the pentagram is mis-aligned, or if there is no sacrifice—Bugg-Shash turns on its summoner. For those Kissed by Bugg-Shash, there is no end to their torment; even death will not save them. The statistics for Bugg-Shash are located in the Malleus Monstrorum on page 131.

YSIOR, Lesser Servitor Race char. rolls averages STR 1D4 2-3 CON 2D6 7 SIZ 1D4+1 3 INT 2D6 7 POW 2D6 7 DEX 3D6 10-11 Move 8 HP 5 Av. Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Bite 65%, damage 1D4+db Grapple 45%, (see below) Armor: special. Skills: Sneak 50%, Hide 60%, Shape Shift 75% Sanity Loss: 1/1D6.

Slimy, translucent creatures, Ysior are the servants of BuggShash. They are small, shapeless creatures, filled with neverblinking eyes and gaping maws of razor sharp teeth, no larger than a small dog. If Ysior are exposed to light more powerful than a single candle, they will fade partially out of our dimension, becoming translucent. A successful Spot Hidden roll is required to see them if the investigator is not already aware of their presence. In this form, Ysior take and do half damage. Ysior are able to shape shift into any form equal to that of their size, although they are unable to replicate any details of that form. Ysior make a raspy, breathing sound that can be heard with a successful Listen roll. Whenever Bugg-Shash is summoned, it will have 1d4+1 Ysior hidden on its body. Ysior are also rarely alone; when an Ysior is found, there will usually be 1d6 nearby. Attacks: While the creature’s preferred method of attack is suffocation, only a single Ysior may employ this attack per victim. If an Ysior makes a successful grapple attack, it attaches itself to the victim’s head. The victim must then make rolls as per the suffocation rules. Victims who fail a suffocation roll take 1d6 points of damage per round as the Ysior painfully forces itself down their nose and throat. As many as three other Ysior can attack a victim with bites, while a fourth attempts to suffocate them.

New Spell Summon/Bind Ysior: summons 1D6 Ysior, the servants of Bugg-Shash. The spell costs one magic point per 10 percentiles chance for success; a result of 96-00 is always a failure. Each casting of the spell costs 1D3 Sanity points. The spell must be cast in a darkened room, with light no brighter than that of a single candle. The caster must chant the spell while cutting him or herself with an enchanted knife, dripping the blood onto the candle’s flame. The Ysior will then appear through a black swirling portal.

D W E L LE R I N D A RK N ES S

TOMES

to kill the target. The people of Chinatown believe that he does this to right the wrongs people have suffered. In reality, Yu does this to facilitate sacrifices to extend his life. Yu is currently missing, although some within Chinatown know how to get in contact with him...for the right price.

The Darkness and Those That Dwell Within English pamphlet, author unknown, 1790s. Details various demonic and occult entities. Contains reference to a number of mythos creatures, including Bugg-Shash. Sanity loss 0/1; Occult +1d4 percentiles; Cthulhu Mythos +1 percentile; average 1 week to comprehend, 4 hours to skim.

BELLE SUMMERSET, Age 39, Serial Killer Cultist STR 13 CON 11 SIZ 15 INT 11 POW 12 DEX 11 APP 8 EDU 12 SAN 0 HP 13 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapon: Fist 60%, damage 1D3+db Cleaver 45%, damage 1D6+db Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Occult 45%, Dodge 22%, Listen 65%, Norwegian 75%, English 50%, Poison 35%, Spot Hidden 45%, Persuade 35% Spells: Charm Person, Call/Dispel Bugg-Shash, Summon/Bind Ysior

Mad Berkley’s Book English book, author known as Berkley, early 1800s. Occult lore and spell book that contains information from various other mythos books, including the Necronomicon and the Cthaat Aquadingen. Contains the complete ritual to summon Bugg-Shash. Sanity loss 1d3/1d6; Occult +1d6 percentiles; Cthulhu Mythos +1d4 percentiles; average 32 weeks to comprehend, 20 hours to skim.

A pudgy, homely Norwegian immigrant, Belle Summerset moved to a farm just outside of Arkham, Massachusetts with her husband in 1916. There, she found a copy of Mad Berkley’s Book hidden in the attic. The book introduced her to the mythos, and in particular, to the worship of BuggShash. After murdering her husband, she walled off part of the basem*nt to use as a sacrificial chamber to her new master. Belle then began to place matrimonial advertisem*nts in various national newspapers. She would convince suitors to visit her, seducing them with magic once they arrived. After they deposited money into her bank account, she would drug them and use them as sacrifices to Bugg-Shash. This lasted until 1922, when she found out that the police were on to her. She kidnapped a prostitute from Arkham, decapitated her, and set her farmhouse on fire. Her present location is unknown.

NPCS HAN TOU YU, Appears as 80, Ancient Chinese Sorcerer and Cultist STR 10 CON 11 SIZ 11 INT 17 POW 15 DEX 9 APP 8 EDU 12 SAN 0 HP 11 Damage Bonus: none. Weapon: Fist 50%, damage 1D3 Dagger 45%, damage 1D6 Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 35%, Occult 70%, Alchemy 75%, Poisons 65%, Listen 65%, Spot Hidden 40%, Sneak 45%, Dodge 18% Spells: Call/Dispel Bugg-Shash, Summon/Bind Ysior, 8-10 additional spells of the Keeper’s choice

Han Tou Yu is a blind Chinese sorcerer, born around 1400AD. He appears as an old man with a long mustache and goatee, wearing a traditional red jacket, and smoking a pungent pipe. Despite being blind and appearing to be in his late 80s, Yu is quite dangerous and is always acutely aware of his surroundings. In his early age, Yu studied the Chinese mystics and eventually stumbled into the mythos and learned of the Great Old Ones. In exchange for worshiping and providing sacrifices, he received additional knowledge which he used to extend his life. In the early 1860s, Yu set up an apothecary in San Francisco’s Chinatown and used the store as a front to practice his sorcery. Those who give him a secret password can hire him to kill someone who has done them wrong. He does this by summoning some Ysior, or perhaps Bugg-Shash,

Th e K n ji ga M r t v a of th e D e ad )

(or Book

b y E c k h a r d H uel s h off

death, the undead. Most of the faculty did not take him seriously and dissuaded him from such inquiries. There was one exception: Professor Hans Wohlgemuth, who taught Ancient Languages and History, saw a kindred spirit in the young Croat. The professor took Kolar to the old medieval graveyard outside the town, where they spent the night in observation of the local ghoul pack, as the professor considered ghouls to be a form of undead. Rather than being frightened, Kolar was fascinated. Dr. Marin Kolar finished his studies in 1793 and became a surgeon at the hospital in Novi Sad. He used his position to finance his further research into the undead. In 1795, he stumbled upon evidence of vampirism in Belgrade and began an investigation, ultimately leading him to a Turkish vampire called Topak. After defeating the creature and barely escaping with his life, Dr. Kolar began to record details of his various investigations into the undead. These journals would eventually form the core of his book, the Knjiga Mrtva, or Book of the Dead. In 1780, Dr. Kolar returned to his hometown of Sombor, where he continued working as a doctor, out of a private practice. Secretly, he remained a vampire hunter and continued his studies of the occult. He traveled extensively across the Balkans and Eastern Europe, even venturing as far east as Great Britain. While in London, he purchased a copy of Cultes des Goules and learned that there were even darker truths than he had expected. Thereafter, his studies were expanded to include the dark forces of the Cthulhu Mythos as well as the undead. After nearly twenty eight years of active investigation into the dark and dangerous unknown, Dr. Kolar vanished. He was last seen in 1823, leaving a ship in the Port of Ierapetra, on the island of Crete. Dr. Kolar must have suspected his end was near because, before his journey, he sent a package to his nephew Branko Markovic, in Subotica. The package contained his manuscript, his journals, and various other documents, including a letter to his nephew. The letter stated Dr. Kolar’s final wish: to have this material published.

he Knjiga Mrtva (Ken-yee-gaw Mert-waw) is a book written by Dr. Marin Kolar and published posthumously by his nephew Markovic in 1825. It is about 250 pages long, modestly bound, with only the title and author visible on the simple cover. The Knjiga Mrtva is a mix of travelogue, diary, and observations on various undead beings and horrors of the Balkans. This Serbian language text was banned by Ferdinand I of Austria of the House of Habsburg in 1826.

History Dr. Marin Kolar (1770–1823) was a doctor in the town of Sombor, in the region of Vojvodina, in what is now Northern Serbia. The Vojvodina region has been ruled by Romans, Serbs, Turks, Hungarians, and the House of Habsburg. Even the Mongols have fought battles there. In the 1920s, the region is part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the nation formed following the collapse of both the AustroHungarian and Ottoman Empires after the Great War. In 1929, King Alexander I renames the country Yugoslavia. During Dr. Kolar’s life, most of Serbia was under the reign of the Ottoman Empire, while the region around Sombor was part of the Habsburg Empire. It was an area of high tension, with both conflict between the Habsburg Empire and the Turks, and a rising Serbian independence movement. Ethnically, Marin Kolar was a Croat, which is rather common in the ethnic melting pot of Vojvodina, where Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, and even Germans live alongside one another. Born the fourth child of a wealthy family, Kolar enjoyed the best education possible. He studied medicine and theology at the University of Ingolstadt, where he befriended a fellow medical student named Victor Frankenstein. While his friend was fascinated by the possibility of creating life, Kolar was fascinated by the phenomenon of death itself. The young medical student questioned his professors about the local legends of beings existing beyond physical

TH E K NJ I G A M R T VA Markovic fulfilled his uncle’s last wish by convincing his old friend, Neven Milosevic, to publish the manuscript under the title Knjiga Mrtva. Unfortunately, Markovic chose to edit much of the manuscript to organize it better, as well as to protect his family’s good name and his uncle’s reputation, before submitting the manuscript for publication. While this made the Knjiga Mrtva more readable and structured, as it also lead to various errors and the loss of numerous important details. About 200 copies were printed in 1825, but, a year later, the Habsburg authorities intervened. They banning the book and issued arrest warrants for both Markovic Kolar and Neven Milosevic, under fabricated charges. Markovic Kolar was arrested and quickly executed without a trial, but the publisher, Neven Milosevic, escaped. Milosevic fled to the Ottoman Empire, taking with him several dozen of copies of the Knjiga Mrtva. What happened to the original manuscript is unknown.

tion gain a +10% bonus to their Occult scores when dealing with vampires.

The Fish-Men of Backa Sade In Backa Sade, Dr. Kolar encountered villagers showing signs of degeneration and inbreeding. Upon investigation, he discovered the cause was a small colony of creatures living in the nearby Danube River, humanoid monsters which resembled the local species of carp and catfish. He describes how the villagers of Backa Sada would sometimes interbreed with these creatures and postulates this may be the cause of some of the deformities he witnessed.

The Cult of the Skinless One A short chapter details Dr. Kolar’s dealing with a strange cult while traveling through Turkey and Serbia. He made contact with The Cult of the Skinless One and managed to attend four of their meetings using an assumed name and disguise. Dr. Kolar learned several dark secrets and witnessed numerous horrific things. His luck ran out in 1818, while attending a cult meeting in Belgrade, when the Skinless One itself manifested. Dr. Kolar barely escaped with his life and remained fearful of being hunted down by the Cult of the Skinless One and the entity it worshipped for the rest of his days.

Content of the Knjiga Mrtva The Book of the Dead is a mix of travelogue and articles, covering over thirty years of Dr. Kolar’s research, from 1791 to 1823. There is a recognizable development in Kolar’s text concerning his understanding of the mythos. The book begins with descriptions of vampirism and the undead across the Balkans. Dr. Kolar describes several encounters with both vampires and ghouls, the latter of which he initially considered to be a form of undead. There is a dramatic change of tone after Doctor Kolar read the Cultes des Goules. At this point, he acknowledges ghouls as a race and not a form of undead. For the last half of the text, the focus of the Knjiga Mrtva becomes more mythos specific. Among the things covered by Dr. Kolar are:

Mother of the Fields In northern Voijvodina, where the fields are abundant with fruit and grain, Dr. Kolar discovered a secretive sect, an old faith from pagan times that survived Christianization. The sect believed in a deity that it called “Mother of the Fields”. Those who believed in her said she kept their fields fertile and fruitful. The book hints that there are at least three stone circles in the region where human sacrifices take place. Dr. Kolar claims that many of the sect’s rituals have found their way into the local area’s practices of Catholicism (The region, even though part of Serbia, is mainly populated by Croats, who are predominately Catholic). The Virgin Mother is sometimes addressed as the Mother of Fields and Fruit. Some villages even have a special mass for thanksgiving dedicated to this aspect of the Virgin Mary. Effigies of the Mother of Fields and Fruit show her weeping and carrying a sack of grain, sometimes with additional eyes on the palms of her hands. Most priests have some traditional explanation for the strange depiction. Although some Catholics addressing the Mother of Fields and Fruit are aware that their practices are unorthodox, none are aware that they actually praying to a dark pagan deity, whom Dr. Kolar correctly theorized was an avatar of the Outer God Shub Niggurath.

Ghouls There is quite a lot about the ghouls Dr. Kolar found living underneath the graveyards of Vojvodina. Over the years, he corrected his first thesis that they belonged to the “Undead”, and later identified them as “a race alarmingly similar to mankind”. He even made direct contact with the ghouls in his hometown of Sombor and learned much about ghoul history and culture, and how widespread the race was, from interviews with Sombor-pack members.

Vampires The Knjiga Mrtva gives detailed accounts of Dr. Kolar’s hunting of four different vampires, hinting at possibly a half dozen others. It lists several methods for detecting vampires, the best ways to resist their powers, and practical tips for how to destroy them. While the book recommends hunting vampires with at least two other sturdy companions, Dr. Kolar usually worked alone on such cases. Those reading this sec-

The Final Mission The book ends in a rather obscure way, with Kolar planning to journey to Crete in order to do some research into a series of kidnappings possibly connected to a cult and to legends surrounding the Knossos Labyrinth.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Editions and Versions

and Les Morts was popular among the avant-gardes of the mid-19th century. It is rumored that both Jean Paul Sartre and Serge Gainsbourg owned copies of Les Morts. Sanity loss 0 / 1D4; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; 3 days to study and comprehend. Spells: Contact Deep One.

Knjiga Mrtva (1825 Edition) Neven Milosevic managed to rescue dozens of copies from the bonfires of the Habsburg authorities. Some found their way into the special departments of major libraries, while others can be found in private occult collections in the Balkans and Turkey. The original printing is a tome of 250 pages bound in brown leather. The paper is still of surprisingly high quality. The book is written in the Serbian language, but in the Arabic alphabet. It is readable by anyone with a skill in Serbian, Croatian, or the Serbocroatian language. Sanity loss: 1D3 / 1D8+1; Cthulhu Mythos +7 percentiles; average 2 weeks to study and comprehend. Spells: Contact Ghoul, Contact Deep One, Control Skin, Detect Enchantment, Lame/Heal Animal.

Other Versions There seem to be some handwritten translation of the Knjiga Mrtva into the Turkish language. Not much is known about them, but, according to rumor, they are pretty detailed and without major errors. It is possible these originate not from the 1825 published version, but from the original journals of Dr. Kolar. As for the fate of Dr. Kolar’s original manuscript, the journals themselves, and the other documents he sent to his nephew, little is known. It is possible they may have been destroyed by the Hapsburg authorities, smuggled out by Nevan Milosevic, or stolen from the ransacked offices of his publishing house. This original, unedited manuscript would be much more valuable and informative than any of the existing editions today, if it were ever discovered.

Les Morts (The Dead) Les Morts is an 1854 condensed version of the Knjiga Mrtva, loosely translated into French by Mr. Yann Guillerme. Guillerme, a poet from the town of Brest, was convinced that the original text was fiction. He learned the truth in 1856, whilst loudly reciting the Contact Deep One spell on the coast of Brittany, shortly after Les Morts was released. He was never seen again. There are quite a few copies circulating,

Th e s il k s o f i r e m b y Tom Ly nch

The Doom of Alhazred

ittle is known about the true circ*mstances of the demise of the Mad Arab. From his twisted writings, we can assume he was desperately trying to escape his fate, but greater forces had other ideas. Research into that mysterious event has uncovered an interesting piece of information: when he died, Abdul Alhazred was wrapped in a large, elaborately decorated silken sheet. When the sheet was extracted from what was left of his stiffened corpse, the pattern embroidered onto the fabric hurt witnesses’ eyes, and made otherwise sturdy men dizzy. But what was its purpose? What did Alhazred hope to achieve? What exactly were, or rather are, the Silks of Irem?

His brush with death while lost in the City of Pillars and his encounter with The Most Ancient One only fueled the poet’s thirst for knowledge. He researched his prize and learned its powers and nature, yet still he was not content. Alhazred pushed further and unlocked the secret of creating such magical silks to suit his own purpose. Yet, such powers were not to be controlled by mortal man; so decreed Yog-Sothoth. A powerful invisible entity was sent by the Outer God to silence the poet. Alhazred realized that, for documenting all that he’d learned of the Mythos within the Al Azif, awesome and terrible forces would be after him. It is assumed that Alhazred was attempting to transport himself to another place, or time, by wrapping himself in the magical fabric as he died. Circ*mstances, however, were not on his side. He was ambushed and met his end, rather than enacting an escape. The Silk survived the ordeal unscathed; not a thread was damaged despite the fact that the man who’d been wrapped in that Silk was torn to pieces. After Alhazred’s death, the witnesses considered anything associated with him to be cursed. The Silk was shunned by all who remembered or knew of its origins. Eventually, the item found its way into a cloth merchant’s box. The merchant, Omar BelíTarul, packed it away, for those who saw refused to buy it, and several of them screamed in terror and were struck mad. The lone Silk of Irem stayed in its box, forgotten for a time.

Origin While exploring the ruined half-buried city of Irem, the lost City of Pillars, Abdul Alhazred learned many dark secrets of the mythos. However, he became lost as the shifting sands blocked the way he entered the city. The poet wandered for days until he encountered a strange figure, heavily cloaked and veiled, shaped like a man but standing nearly a dozen feet tall. Without speaking the figure placed a message into the poet’s mind: “Follow.” For over an hour, Alhazred trailed the figure through the twisting chaotic ruins until they both reached the edge of the city. When the poet turned to thank his mysterious guide the entity had vanished, leaving only one of its many veils behind. Alhazred took up the strange and wondrous silk as he left Irem, and he soon became determined to learn all he could of its otherworldly powers. Unbeknownst to the mad Arabic poet, his guide had been Tawil At’Umr, The Most Ancient One, a guide to travelers and an avatar of the Outer God Yog-Sothoth.

What Are They? The Silk is no longer a unique item, as Abdul Alhazred discovered how to create more and wrote down how to do so, although he himself never had the chance to create a Silk. Similar to the portable gate concept behind the Gate

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Box (from Shadows of Yog-Sothoth), the Silks of Irem are portable, flexible, and foldable gates. Each Silk forms one end of a magical tunnel, so each Silk of Irem has at least one sibling. Later Silks were constructed with three or more possible destinations. Common uses for such items include portable escape routes and easy kidnapping tools, among others. Both the original and copies of the Silk of Irem can be folded as any other fabric can. Copies of the Silk of Irem can be destroyed if cut by an enchanted blade or burned by magical flames. The original Silk of Irem cannot be harmed in any way known to man. Those daring to use or create such items face many risks. Unless they know where the sibling to the Silk they possess leads, they are literally stepping into the unknown. Those passing through Silks of Irem lose 1 Sanity point and 10 MP. Those reduced to 0 or less MP while traveling between two connected silks are killed, their cold lifeless corpse emerging on the other side. Multiple people may use the Silks. A Silk may not be brought through another Silk. Each Silk of Irem, both the original and copies, must be open to function. If one Silk is folded over on itself, the gate of which it is an end is closed and cannot be used. Travelers using Silks of Irem with multiple destinations can choose which Silk they emerge from. The creator of a particular set of Silks can tell the difference between each Silk, but does not know where they are if someone has moved them from their last known locations. There is an additional risk for those using copies of the original Silks of Irem, as such travelers may be randomly targeted by Yog-Sothoth for punishment. They must roll vs their POW x2, plus 5% for every time they have used the Silks, to determine whether or not they suffer the wrath of Tawil At’Umr. For example, an investigator with 14 POW uses a gate made from copies of the Silk of Irem for the fourth

time. The investigator now has a 48% chance of drawing the attention of the Guardian of the Gate and being punished. Keepers must roll on Table 1 to determine the nature of Tawil At’Umr’s punishment.

The Silks in the Necronomicon The Arabic poet recorded his research into the Silk of Irem, including instructions on how to create a copy of the item, within the scrolls of the Al Azif. The earliest copies of this text contain detailed instructions for the spell necessary to create copies of the Silk of Irem. Those attempting to create one using later copies and versions of the text, especially any translation known as the Necronomicon (see Table 2), have mixed results. Very few of these are actually detailed enough to work, due to mistranslations and missing text. Since a Silk of Irem is only one end of a magical tunnel, the spell must create two or more Silks, allowing travel between them.

New Spell: Create Silks of Irem

First, the caster must acquire two or more eight-foot by eight-foot squares of pure silk, dyed a single color. Next, smaller pieces of fabric, paint, or colored thread can be used to create the pattern on the Silks. Some kind of Art check, such as Painting, Sewing, or Embroidery, must be made to ensure the pattern is accurately represented. Once complete, the pattern appears to be a complex three-dimensional optical illusion. Once the fabrics are prepared, their enchantment can begin. As with the Create Gate spell, the creation of the Silks of Irem requires the permanent expenditure of POW. However as the distance between the two points can vary and the amount of POW sacrificed cannot, a standard 10 points of POW must be permanently sacrificed to make a connected pair of Silks of Irem function as intended. 4 additional points of POW are needed for each additional 01–25%: The user steps in, and oozes back out, having been functioning Silk being made. All Silks in a turned inside out, as if examined by the Great Race. Since the single set must be created at the same time. technology to support life in that state will not be present, the The POW necessary for this spell can be character dies, and all witnesses suffer 1D4/1D10 SAN. supplied in three ways. Single casters can permanently sacrifice their own POW, although 26–50%: The user expends the Magic Points and Sanity cost of few casters would willingly pay such a steep traveling, but exits exactly back where he or she started. price. A group of casters can cast this spell 51–75%: The user loses double the Magic Points and Sanity as a ritual, with each caster contributing an of a normal trip. Note that a loss of 20 MP will be fatal to normal equal amount of POW to satisfy the spell’s rehuman beings. quirements. During ritual castings, any excess POW is lost to the universe (For example, two 76–100%: The user enters the gate and is not heard from or casters would lose 5 POW each, while three seen ever again, lost in the inter-dimensional space between casters would each lose 4 points for a total of gates for eternity. 12 points). Lastly, sentient beings can be ritually sacrificed during the casting, with their

Table 1: The Wrath of Tawil At’Umr

TH E S I LK S O F I R EM life force supplying half of their POW (rounded down) towards the spell. Sacrificial victims do not survive the spell’s casting.

Chances and Consequences of Failure If the symbols are not properly created with a successful Art check (see previous section) the Silks will not function properly even if all other aspects of the spell are performed correctly. Likewise, most recorded spells are deeply flawed, depending on the source, and are quite risky to attempt (see Table 2).

The (Original) Silk of Irem During Dark Ages

Table 2: Sources of the Spell to Create Silks of Irem Source

Chance of Spell Failure

Al Azif (730 AD, Arabic) Necromonicon (950 AD, Greek) Necromonicon (1228 AD, Latin) Necomonicon (1586 AD, English) Sussex Manuscript (1597 AD, English)

Many books and artifacts of an arcane or esoteric nature were lost, if not actively sought out and destroyed as heretical in nature. The Silk’s magical properties kept it from physical harm, as it did not burn like so many blasphemous texts did. Indeed, the Silk was found in the embers of a burning building belonging to suspected devilworshipper during the First Crusade (1096–1099). Hugues

10% 25% 50% 75% 90%

de Payens, who later founded the Knights Templar, recovered the relic and knew its significance. The knight brought it back to France from the Holy Land and was wise enough keep its existence secret. Grand Master De Payens and The Knights Templar kept

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE the artifact hidden away with other relics and famous riches until just before de Payens’s death. At that point, he gave the Silk to his trusted friend and advisor Bernard of Clairvaux. De Paynes’s will instructed Bernard to do what his conscience dictated with regards to the strange silk and, being a devout man of God, Sir Bernard immediately attempted to destroy it. However, the knight found that he could not harm it. The Silk eventually ended up with a young monk, Brother Johannes, who was traveling to England’s Barking Abbey. Brother Johannes was instructed to bury the strange silk on holy ground, without any explanation as to what it was or why he was doing so. The Cistercian order Johannes belonged to was strict and valued obedience. Brother Johannes did exactly as he was told, burying the Silk under a flagstone in the abbey floor, and he remained silent on the topic until he died.

The Silk of Irem during the Medieval Period In 1539, King Henry VIII ordered the Barking Abbey dissolved, and the lands where it stood became a quarry and farm. Workers dismantled the monastery stone by stone, carting the stones away for use elsewhere. That was when young Richard Longton happened across the remains of a decayed wooden box, and a bolt of fabric inside. Struggling to put food on the table for his family, he stuffed it into his shirt and hurried off to London. There he sold the Silk of Irem for two shillings, enough to feed his family for a week. The Silk floated between various black market profiteers for many years, until Adolphus Woodford saw the Silk for sale in a small, out-of-the-way London shop in 1847. He bought the odd fabric with the apparently shifting pattern, and the Silk stayed in Woodford’s possession until his death in 1887. He passed on several coded documents and the Silk to a friend and freemason named William Wynn

Wescottt, who eventually decoded what became known as the Cipher Manuscripts. Through work on those documents, a new organization was born: the Hermetical Order of the Golden Dawn.

The Silk of Irem During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries The Hermetical Order of the Golden Dawn kept its secrets close. Various members requested and were granted access to the original Silk of Irem and studied the pattern, but could not replicate it. They did not know of the connection to Alhazred and the Necronomicon. No one in the Order made the connection until the Silk came to the attention of Aleister Crowley in 1906. Crowley studied the Silk and

Table 3: Effects of Creating Flawed Silks of Irem 0–20%: The fabric’s pattern appears to twist and undulate, but doesn’t; it is an optical illusion. (Alternatively, at the Keeper’s discretion, the pattern actually does twist and undulate slowly, requiring all who look at it to make a SAN roll for 0/1 point of sanity.) The Silks have no magical properties (except, optionally, the moving pattern). 21–40%: No sooner is the spell completed than the Silks fold in on themselves, over and over again until they wink out of existence, costing all who see this 1/1D6 SAN. 41–60%: There is a burst of energy as the Silks explode outward. Everything and everyone within 50 yards is aged 3D20 years. 61–80%: A swirling vortex of time and space forms as the Silks implode, drawing everyone and everything within 50 yards into it, whereupon all drawn into the vortex emerge in another time period. This could be a few years, decades, centuries, or even millennia into the past or future. Keepers have the option of transporting the investigators between Call of Cthulhu settings, such as Invictus, Dark Ages, Gaslight, or Cthulhu Now. 81–100%: The Silks disintegrate into floating ash, which then settles on the forehead of everyone within 50 yards. The ashes on each forehead coalesce into a burning rune that vanishes to human sight after several minutes, but marks the victims for attack. A powerful mythos creature, such as a Hound of Tindalos or Hunting Horror, is then sent to kill everyone who has been marked by such a rune. If the creature is destroyed, another is sent in its place. Targets are attacked once every 1D3 days, for a number of days equal to that person’s POW score. Targets who survive until a number of days equal to their POW score passes are forgiven their transgression by Tawil At’Umr and no longer attacked. (For example, if three people with POW of 10, 15, and 18 respectively are marked, while attacks will only occur every 1D3 days, attacks on the first person will cease after 10 days, attacks on the second will cease after 15 days, and attacks on the third will cease after 18 days.)

TH E S I LK S O F I R EM cross-referenced images of the pattern and mentions of silks with strange properties and odd histories with information he found in the Necromonicon. Shortly after this discovery, Crowley and the Golden Dawn parted ways, and the Silk vanished from the vaults of the Order. Unbeknownst to the Golden Dawn, Crowley had taken the Silk with him to use as a draping over his shoulders during rituals. Tragedy struck when Crowley tried to use the Silk by draping it over one of his mistresses. She instantly disappeared and, fearing scandal and retribution, Crowley donated the Silk to the British Museum and immediately left the country.

Necromonicon, he became fascinated with the descriptions of the Silks of Irem. After a fruitless search for the original Silk, Maidstone attempted to fabricate his own copy of the artifact. He used Miskatonic’s copy of the Necronomicon as a guideline for the ritual, and was never seen alive again. When Dr. Armitage returned from leave, he found the Necronomicon removed from the restricted section and lying open on a table in the Orne Library. Beside this was an elaborate fabric pinned to the wall and a pile of decaying human organs lying on the floor.

The Silk of Irem During the 1920s In 1922, Howard Maidstone, an overzealous graduate student at Miskatonic University and assistant to Dr. Henry Armitage at the Orne Library, made some startling connections. In researching the mythic figure Abdul Alhazred, author of the

R a g g e d y C lo t h e s a n d Wor n Ou t Sho e s : A lo o k th e Ame ri c an H o b o

b y Os ca r Ri os

sidered themselves workers, nomadic and homeless due to the economic pressures they were forced to contend with. Hoboes developed a complex culture all their own as they faced discrimination and danger, yet endured to become an important part of American culture.

He knows the fright of hunger and thirst, And of cold and rain as well; Of raggedy clothes and out-worn shoes, An awful tale he can tell —Hobo Poem

Attitudes towards Hoboes

What is a Hobo?

How hoboes are viewed by society varies wildly. Many consider them free spirited wanders and defenders of the common man. As railway barons are some of the richest people in America, stealing rides on railroads marks hoboes as heroes. Hoboes are depicted in movies, comic strips, and advertising as harmless comical figures, moving from one adventure to the next and leading lazy, carefree lives. To many, they are as beloved as the cowboy of the American West, well deserving of an opportunity to work, a few meals, or the donation of a coin or two. To others, hoboes are a valuable and vital source of labor, especially in areas suffering from a manpower shortage. When there are large construction projects, such as railroad building, or crops in need of harvesting, especially in the mid-western wheat belt, hoboes are welcomed with open arms. Once these projects are done, the hoboes are paid, and they move on to the next job somewhere else. However, many people view hoboes as a menace. In areas where unemployment is already high, homeless strangers seeking work are an unwelcome sight. Petty theft, panhandling, loitering, squatting, drunkenness, and raiding dumpsters are seen as distasteful and threatening to local residents. Many towns have passed anti-tramp legislation which allows their police forces to arrest, imprison, or quickly drive hoboes out of their communities. Sometimes, numerous hoboes are rounded up and loaded onto trucks by local police. They are then driven to the nearest state or county line and simply dumped off to become another community’s problem. This is known as the Hobo Express system.

he word “hobo” conjures many images. Some picture a lazy, homeless n’er-do-well riding the rails, begging and committing petty thefts to survive. Others picture a free spirited nomad, wandering from place to place, working where he can while trying to stay out of trouble. Society portrays the hobo as both a villain and a hero, a wise mystical sage or a comical clown, a vagabond poet or shiftless criminal. The hobo was an undesirable to be driven away or a valued source of manpower to various industries. Truth be told, the hobo is all these things and none of them. In the late 19th century, the American economy shifted from agrarian to industrial. This caused many once necessary workers to become obsolete, their labor no longer required. Many found themselves without work and homeless, desperate to find any way to survive. Some chose a life wandering in search of work, often sneaking onto and off of trains as a way to travel from one possible job to the next. At the end of the Civil War, there were thirty thousand such wanders; by 1916, their numbers had grown to nearly a quarter of a million, and, by the 1930s, there were over one million such homeless nomads. The American Hobo was born. While society not make such distinctions, hoboes define themselves as being different from tramps and bums: The hobo works and wanders. The tramp dreams and wanders. The bum drinks and only wanders when forced to. The separate, yet related, occupations for both Tramps and Bums are included at the end of this article. Hoboes con-

R A G G E D Y C LOTH ES AN D W O R N O UT S H O ES

Threats to the Hobo

Hobo Arts

In addition to the daily struggle to find work, food, clothing, and some form of shelter, Hoboes also face other dangers. Dishonest businessmen and farmers sometimes employ large numbers of hoboes for projects, and then refuse them payment upon completion of their labor. The cheated hoboes have little recourse, as local authorities seldom take their word or their side in an argument against that of an established, often respected member of the community. Many communities despise hoboes, and their local police force actively, sometimes violently, drives them off. Hoboes can be arrested, beaten, and escorted out of town without ever committing a crime. Angry townspeople can also be a danger, as hoboes are convenient scapegoats for any recently committed crimes, whether a hobo is involved or not. sad*stic railroad workers and security guards are often a serious threat as well, as many are quite eager to brutally beat or even murder a hobo. Black hoboes often face the additional dangers associated with racial prejudice. Female hoboes and young boys are sometimes tragic victims of sexual assaults from both townspeople and other hoboes, even though committing such heinous acts is strictly prohibited by the established hobo code of conduct. Hoboes might also become targeted for robbery, especially after many of them received payment for a large job, such as bringing in a harvest. The robbers, usually working in pairs or larger groups, are called Jackrollers and prey upon the hoboes like wolf packs. When it comes to matters of protection, justice, and fair play, hoboes are on their own. They are well aware that very few people care what happens to them, and those committing crimes against them are seldom, if ever, punished or prosecuted. This forces hoboes to be ever wary, take precautions to ensure their safety, and be ready to flee from danger or defend themselves at a moment’s notice.

Hoboes often have long periods of inactivity while riding the rails or camping for the night. During these times, they find ways to entertain one another. This sparked a tradition of story-telling, tall tales, and poetry among hoboes. Music is also important, with songs sung and music performed on makeshift or portable instruments, such as the harmonica. The popular children’s song “Big Rock Candy Mountain” was recorded in 1928 by Harry McClintock, who claimed it was a hobo song which he wrote during his misspent youth riding the rails.

Hobo Camps Often, near important railway switching points or water towers, where hoboes can easily get on and off trains, settlements are constructed. These simple camps are called Jungles and offer hoboes a place to socialize, share a communal fire, and rest in relative safety. Hoboes wishing to stay at a Jungle are required to help support the camp. Food can be shared, camp chores such as gathering wood or water can be performed, or other important tasks can be assigned to visiting hoboes.

Hobo Etiquette A code of behavior is widely accepted among hoboes, voted upon during the 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Trains, rail yards, and railway workers must always be respected, with hoboes acting almost as if they were unofficial crew members. The code stresses having respect for local laws and officials. There are prohibitions against littering, public drunkenness, or taking advantage of people’s generosity. Hoboes are expected to aid one another, to stay as clean as possible, and to seek out work whenever possible, especially work no one else wants. Hoboes must always protect children and urge runaways to return home. Anyone molesting a child is to be turned over to the local authorities immediately; such individuals are considered to be the lowest of the low. Hoboes who shirk their camp responsibilities, a serious breach of hobo etiquette, are called Jungle Buzzards. Such individuals are often given a match, usually accompanied by a cold threatening stare. This is the “Rule of the Match” which signals exile from the Jungle. Its meaning is simple: you are not welcome at our fire; go make your own fire someplace else.

Tourist Union #63 A group of clever hoboes found a way to avoid prosecution for vagrancy: unionize. As members of a union, the hoboes couldn’t be arrested for being homeless if they were looking for work. They drew up articles for a confederation and registered as a union. There were sixty three founding members, both men and women, so the union became known as the Tourist Union #63. Each August, the union would have a convention. It traveled from city to city each year, through 1899. In 1900, the convention was held at the town of Brit, Iowa, which had invited the hoboes to make their town the convention’s permanent home.

Hobo Names Among themselves, hoboes are usually known by their nicknames, called “traveling names”. Often, these are the only names they are known by, both to fellow hoboes and outsiders. Famous hobo names include: Seasick Steve, Boxcar Bertha, Haywire, Sidetrack, A No.1, Steam Train Maurie, T-Bone Slim, and Utah Phillips. Within my own Call of Cthulhu campaign, there is a famous hobo, Walt “Mashed Potatoes” Johnson.

Hobo Culture Like many groups bound together by circ*mstance, hoboes developed a culture all their own.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Hobo Slang and Cant

If the hobo successfully rolls the Climb check, he or she accomplishes this without injury. Hoboes who fail the Climb check take 1D6 points of damage while attempting to board or safely hop off the train. Hoboes who critically fail the Climb check must make a Luck roll. If they succeed in their Luck roll, they take 2D4 points of damage while suffering a serious injury, such as a broken bone or severed extremity (Keeper’s choice). Hoboes failing this Luck check “catch the westbound”, i.e., die.

Hoboes developed a vast lexicon of slang terms. These words coupled with odd pronunciation of common words, are part of a pidgin dialect all its own, a secret language of the hoboes. All hobo investigators begin play speaking this language, the Hobo Cant.

Hobo Signs

The Hobo as a Mythos Investigator

These simple runic signs are used by hoboes to convey important information to one another. This information could be warnings to other hoboes about the dangers various places offered or tips for where one could find work or charitable people. All hobo investigators begin play with the Hobo Signs skill.

A hobo is uniquely suited to the life of a mythos investigator. Without a steady job, set residence, or an overabundance of social connections, they can fight cultists, aliens, and ancient evil deities, with little fear of reprisals. They are hardened survivors, versatile and resourceful, able to travel great distances rapidly, and seldom taken to be a serious threat or credible witness by others. Their transient nature makes them hard to find by their enemies or the authorities, and fellow hoboes are code bound to assist such investigators whenever possible.

Riding the Rails An essential part of being a hobo is riding the rails—sneaking onto and off of railway cars to travel. Sometimes, a hobo must get on or off a moving train, which can be a hazardous proposition. The ideal time to attempt this is when a train slows down while taking a turn or incline, and hoboes can accomplish this easily. Otherwise, a hobo must attempt a Climb check to move onto or off of a moving train safely.

Earnings Pauper ($0–$250 per year) Contacts Other hoboes, a few friendly railroad guards, and soft touches (generous persons willing to provide handouts) in numerous towns.

Some Examples of Hobo Slang

Special (New Skills): Hobo, Tramp, and Bum investigators begin play with the following two new skills at a score equal to their EDU x5. Other Language: Hobo Cant Hoboes, Tramps, and Bums have a special language only they can easily understand.

Bindle—A bedroll. Bull—A policeman. Canned Heat— Strained Sterno consumed for the Alcohol content. Catch the Westbound—Die. Cinder Bull—A railroad policeman. Courtesy Call—A night in jail without arrest, usually for a meal and warm place to sleep. Dumpster Diving—Searching through dumpsters for food and supplies. Gun Boat—A large empty can used for cooking. Knee-shaker—A handout on a plate at the backdoor of a house, eaten on one’s knees. Jackroller—A person who assaults and robs hoboes. Lump—A pre-packaged handout. Sit Down—A meal offered inside a person’s kitchen. Walking Dandruff—Lice.

Hobo Signs Hoboes, Tramps, and Bums have a secret pictorial communication system which they use to convey important information, such as warnings, directions, and tips. THE HOBO You are without a permanent home or steady job, riding the rails, continually on the move from one town to the next. You take work when you find it and do your best to live from one day to the next. You’re a survivor, plain and simple, the master of your own destiny. Skills Bargain, Climb, Fast Talk, Hide, Jump, Listen, Natural History, Sneak, Spot Hidden, Persuade. THE TRAMP You are a nomad poet, going where the winds of chance

R A G G E D Y C LOTH ES AN D W O R N O UT S H O ES

Special Ability / Penalty All Bum investigators begin play as alcoholics (see Substance Abuse Disorder, page 129–130 of the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook). When it comes to somehow avoiding injury, Bums are unusually lucky, as a special providence apparently protects fools, children, and drunkards. Once per day, Bums can reduce the damage suffered from a single attack or accident by half if they make a successful Luck check.

blow you and making the best of wherever you land. Food, clothing, and comfort will come or it won’t. Either way, you follow your heart while depending on your luck and the generosity of others. You’ve always got a joke or story to tell, a song to sing or play, and a desire to bring a smile to others. Skills Art (choose singing, poetry, or a portable musical instrument), Bargain, Climb, Hide, History, Listen, Navigate, Occult, Spot Hidden, Persuade.

Notable Hoboes of Lovecraft Country

Special Ability Tramps are inherently gifted Dreamers. Should a tramp every learn the Dreaming skill, his or her base score begins at POW x3 instead of the standard POW x1 (see Dreaming, page 12 of the 5th edition of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands). Tramps do not begin with the Dreaming skill, but must learn it during play. THE BUM

Walt “Mashed Potatoes” Johnson (Hobo)

You don’t have a home or a job and wouldn’t have it any other way. You live on your own terms, answer to no one, and set your own hours. Work is for suckers! Trading your life away for a handful of nickels while making other men rich off your labor, no way, not you, no sir! Sure, you take a drink now and again, so what?

From lonely stretches of the Aylesbury Turnpike to the wild hills of Dunwich, from the hallowed halls of Miskatonic University to the misty streets of Kingsport, one man always seems to turn up. Armed with a fireplace poker, a quick wit, and more luck than any one man has any right to claim is Walt “Mashed Potatoes” Johnson. He has faced the forces of the mythos on many occasions and, so far, has come out alive every time. For more information on Walt “Mashed Potatoes” Johnson, see Heroes and Heroines of Lovecraft Country.

Skills Climb, Conceal, Chemistry, Dodge, Fast Talk, Hide, Listen, Locksmith, Sneak, Spot Hidden.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Czarina Peaches (Tramp)

Fur-Toad (Hobo)

Most people in the city of Kingsport know and adore, the woman known as Czarina Peaches. She always has a smile, a kind word, and a fantastic and entertaining story to tell. This loveable tramp of about thirty years old is the darling of a several cafes, galleries, and coffee houses whose staff keep her well fed and shelter her when the weather turns cold or wet. Some say she was once a housewife whose plumber husband died in a sewer accident, while others claim she is descended from the founding families of Kingsport. Whatever the truth is, this tramp is never seen without her trademark oversized hat or her cat, Rufus, a large orange tabby with a chewed left ear. Czarina Peaches often talks to Rufus and, when no one else is around, the cat talks back. Unknown to most, this tramp is one of the most powerful dreamers in Kingsport. In the Dreamlands, she is known as Miranda Rose, an almost legendary adventuress. Miranda Rose has been a slave, a courtesan, a pirate captain and mercenary commander, a general and a spymaster, a tea shop owner and a tattoo artist, a diplomat, and a traveling bard. On her greatest adventure, it is rumored that she seduced the Elder God Nodens and secured his aid against The Thing Hanging In The Void. While Miranda never speaks of her encounter with Nodens, afterwards, her traveling companion, Rufus the Cat, gained the ability to travel freely between the Dreamlands and the Waking World. The amazing stories Czarina Peaches tells in Kingsport are all true, accounts of her countless adventures in the Dreamlands.

This charismatic hobo has recently gained a bit of celebrity among the Jungles of New England. After a pair of sad*stic railway guards who attacked a group he was with mysteriously fell blind, it became known that friends of Fur-Toad were going to be protected. Fur-Toad now travels with about a half dozen other hoboes, tramps, and bums, all of whom call him Deacon Fur-Toad. This hobo was once known as Bottle-Cap Bob. Two winters ago, he and a group of other hoboes broke into a long abandoned house to seek shelter from a blizzard. While looking for things to burn, Bottle-Cap found an old book, the Pnakotic Manuscripts. The hoboes got snowed in, and Bob started reading. Four days later, everyone but Bob was dead, killed by a formless creature of black ooze. The hobo read, understood, and embraced the teachings within the Mythos Tome he’d discovered. After pledging himself to The Sleeper of N’kai, its Formless Spawn ignored him. The hobo changed his name to Fur-Toad and now worships the Great Old One Tsathoggua. Currently, Deacon Fur-Toad has only used the powers at his command to protect himself and others, but that is showing signs of changing. His reactions are becoming more brutal, and he’s begun teaching his followers about alien gods who grant their worshippers power. Fur-Toad is dangerously close to founding a Tsathoggua Cult, and is considering summoning a Formless Spawn to defend a Jungle currently being harassed by Jackrollers.

Mumbles One-Thumb (Bum)

The following sources were extremely helpful in the writing of this article: Colin Beesley “The American Hobo”, Accessed June 12, 2013, http:www/northbankfredcolin1.html. “Hobo News”, accessed June 12, 2013, http://hobo.com/ foundation.html. Bobb Hopkins, The American Hobo, directed by Bobb Hopkins, 2003.

This ancient, bushy bearded bum is a recent arrival to hobo circles, but has quickly managed to establish a reputation among them. His right thumb is missing, and his tongue has been cut out. He carries a set of a dozen small signs, which he employs to communicate and beg with. Mumbles never stays anywhere for long and covers his tracks, as if fearful of being followed. This bum does a good job of somehow staying drunk all the time. Many hoboes take pity on him due to his advanced age and physical disabilities, despite the fact that he seldom contributes anything to Jungles and is often filthy and crawling with lice. Mumbles One-Thumb has many secrets, knows dark truths, and has seen many horrible things. Born in Innsmouth, Massachusetts nearly a century ago, this bum is none other than Zadok Allen. He ran afoul of the Deep One hybrids in Innsmouth for revealing certain secrets to an outsider named Robert Olmstead. Just how he escaped from the clutches of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, or whether he was let go, is unknown. Either way, it seems apparent that the Order made some brutal efforts to silence him once and for all. At this point, a barrel full of whiskey couldn’t get Mumbles One-Thumb to discuss anything to do with Innsmouth, even if he were able to.

Sample Hobo Signs

scenarios

C o nsu m pt i o n

b y B r i a n M . Sa m m ons

covered that Abner was 85 years old and remarkably healthy. Also during that time, Bell used his Latin to read Regnum Congo, the strange book he found Abner clutching. Combining the horrible claims in that tome with the long-lived, remarkably spry elderly man in his spare room, insane possibilities filled the doctor’s mind. He was fascinated as a man of learning that such wild possibilities might be true. He tried to ignore them, but they kept gnawing at the back of his mind, until one night when he put his morals on hold. Dr. Bell tried them out personally, devouring a terminally ill patient of his, an old widow no one would miss. When he discovered the book did not lie, a horrible plan began to form. Bell slowly introduced a select few to the benefits of cannibalism, those who could either help him procure new meals or aid in covering up his tracks. Not really a cult, as there are no religious underpinnings, this secret society of feasters abducts and consumes people for their own selfish reasons. They also eat the dead from time to time, although all prefer fresh meat when they can get it. These cannibals have been doing this for years now, but ironically, just as this nightmare began with someone collapsing on a deserted road, so does it hopefully begin to end.

his scenario is all about investigation. There are no Great Old Ones or other Mythos creatures, just monsters of humanity bolstered by the blackest of magic and a complete lack of conscience. While investigators could win through brute force alone, there are many factors making that difficult, not the least of which are legal ones. Unless the investigators find solid evidence of wrongdoing, their opponents, some of whom are considered pillars of the community, have all the power. Keepers should portray the antagonists as canny, cunning, and ruthless. They are not trying to awaken some sleeping god, nor are they slaves to powers from beyond space and time. They are motivated by their own selfish desires.

A Dark History “Consumption” is a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Picture in the House”, which Keepers should read before running this scenario, if possible. In brief, an elderly cannibal named Abner Crumpler lived in an isolated house on the road between Dunwich and Arkham, eating those unlucky enough to cross his path. One November night in 1896, a bolt of lightning, perhaps heaven sent, smote his house and set it ablaze. Whereas Lovecraft’s story ends there, this scenario says that the old cannibal did not die in the blaze. With his flesh burning, he grabbed his only prized possession: a musty old tome that he couldn’t even read. He then ran through the woods before collapsing on the road in front of a horse drawn carriage driven by Arkham doctor, James Bell. Bell, a compassionate individual, took the charred man home and treated him, assuming he would not survive the journey to the closest hospital. Bell was amazed the next day that the man still drew breath with all his burns and astonished at how quickly he recovered. The doctor learned his patient was Abner Crumpler, a reclusive hermit that no one had seen for years. Looking into county records, Dr. Bell dis-

Our Story Begins . . . One foggy night in early March, a woman stumbles out of the woods and onto that same lonely road between Dunwich and Arkham. She’s using a splintered broom as a crutch, and collapses, dying from blood loss within moments. The easiest way to involve the investigators in this scenario is to have this happen right in front of them. Should the investigators be driving an automobile, have the one behind the wheel make a Drive Auto roll to avoid hitting the unfortunate woman. She was going to die anyway, but if the vehicle hits her, this extra guilt and shock requires the investigator driving to make a 0/1D3 Sanity check. If the Keeper does not want to use this

CON S UM PT I ON

introduction, the investigators can become involved in this ghastly case when called in by authorities, if their characters are investigator types recognized by the law. The horrible state of the victim costs 0/1D6 SAN to see. Her left leg has been recently sawed off mid-thigh. A leather belt acts as a tourniquet but it loosened during her escape, hence the blood loss and death. Close examination reveals her tongue has been cut out and the stump cauterized. A Medicine roll informs the investigators that the burn scar is about three days old. One wrist and her remaining ankle have coarse rope tied to them. The ropes are each nearly a foot in length and end with a fresh cut. Her left hand is bloody, raw, and slightly misshapen. Tracking checks to follow the woman’s trail receive a bonus of +20% because of the mud, melting snow, and her blood. Failing this, investigators making a Spot Hidden check at +10% notice the path leading to the burnt out shell of a long abandoned house.

tracks in the snow, and Investigators making a Spot Hidden roll identify at least two different vehicles, based on width and tread type. The tracks appear recent, perhaps a day or two old. There is nothing to be found in the ruins, but behind them is a crude structure built from fire-damaged wood salvaged from the house. The blackened door to the shed is open, and the faint glow of candle light can be seen within. A Tracking roll at the door locates two sets of tracks: the dead woman’s barefoot, blood-splattered trail and a pair of booted prints. Twenty feet along the woman’s trail, Investigators making a Spot Hidden Roll discover a knife which is still wet with blood. The booted prints, those of Abner Crumpler, lead into the woods and roughly run parallel with the road heading towards Arkham. This trail eventually leads to harder, dryer land before disappearing a mile from the shed should the investigators follow it.

The Shed

The Charred House

The shed is a house of horrors, and entering it costs 0/1D4 SAN. A wooden chair and table is in a corner of the single room. Upon the table rests a lantern and a pyramid of ten human skulls. Close examination of the pyramid allows investigators to find small items stuffed into an eye socket of each skull. Anyone entering the shed notices these items

The scorched remains of an old, once two-story, wooden house is located twenty yards through the woods. A driveway a quarter mile further up the road leads to this property, which is why the investigators didn’t see it. There are tire

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Keeper’s Information

with a successful Spot Hidden. These are trophies taken by a diabolical hunter. An earring, a bit of monographed man’s handkerchief, a brooch, and a rolled up piece of paper (Consumption Papers #1) are a few of the items found here.

This is the hovel of Abner Crumpler, the old cannibal from Lovecraft’s story “The Picture in the House”. He often shares his shed with those abducted by the Arkham cannibals. The victims are imprisoned here, safely out of town, until they are slaughtered for a feast. In addition to jailer, Abner acts as the groups’ butcher and cook, tasks he loves doing. He was in the process of harvesting the choice cuts from their latest victim, after eating the woman’s tongue to keep her quiet and because he finds it a delicacy. He disassembles victims alive to keep the meat as fresh as possible, and because he likes causing their suffering. During the amputation of her leg, in desperation spurred on by unimaginable pain, the woman pulled her hand free from the bindings. She grabbed a nearby knife and stabbed Abner in the face. As the cannibal howled in pain, she cut herself free. Before Abner could pull himself together, she picked up a nearby broom to use as a crutch, dropped the knife outside, and escaped. Before Abner recovered enough to follow his captive, he heard the investigators talking on the road. The old man decided to make a run for Dr. Bell’s house in Arkham to let him know what happened. The reason Abner still draws breath despite his advanced years and burned body is that he is a cannibal. Even without reading the cannibalistic rituals found in his old copy of Regnum Congo, Abner gained some benefits of this unwholesome diet. Once Dr. Bell read the dread tome, he taught some of the proper rituals to Abner. He also gave Abner the pictures from the book, as the old man would not part with them and Dr. Bell knew the true prize was within the tome’s text. As for the poor dead woman, her body proves impossible to identify. Without identification, the name of this unfortunate out of state traveler will never be known. No one matching her description is ever reported missing. Keepers shouldn’t stop the investigators from looking into this, but their efforts ultimately prove fruitless, and if the body is turned over to the authorities, the victim is designated as a Jane Doe. The clues to finding some of the Arkham cannibals lie scattered in Abner’s shack: the ID found in the skull, the medical instruments from St. Mary’s, and the once fine, personalized luggage. As investigators research those links, more will be discovered, possibly leading them to the identities of all of the flesh-eaters. Then the question becomes: what do the investigators do about it?

Consumption Papers #1 On a wall, a frame of wood and leather straps stretches out the skinned torso of a man. A successful Natural History roll can identify the contraption as a tanning rack used to dry the hides of animals. In one corner of the room are a mattress and some blankets; in another is a filthy bed on a stout wood frame. That bed is stained with blood, urine, and fecal matter. On two of the bed’s posters, lengths of cut rope can be seen, with blood and bits of skin ground into the rough fibers. A gory handsaw lies on the floor next to the bed. On a charred nightstand beside the bed is a selection of medical instruments with “St. Mary’s M103” stamped into some of them. On a rickety shelf is a horrible little handmade book. A Medicine or Biology roll determines that the cover is made out of human skin. Inside are fifteen pen and ink illustrations, crudely stitched together, which have obviously been torn from some other tome. The paper is old, and each picture depicts various acts of cannibalism done by individuals appearing to be African tribesman. Handling this book and/or looking at the pictures costs 0/1D4 SAN. Finally, three matching suitcases sit at the foot of the poster bed. They are empty, but the insides of each are coated with dried blood. The large suitcases are old and battered, but they were once an expensive set and still bear the embroidered initials J.E.E.

Researching the House Investigators making a successful Library Use roll at the Arkham Hall of Records find out the following. This information may also be found at a standard library if the Keeper wishes it or the investigators don’t think of going to the Hall of Records. ❖ The house and land belonged to Abner Crumpler. He

CON S UM PT I ON purchased the property in 1854, but the state reclaimed the property in 1900.

Approaching Dr. Morrison in the morgue, where he spends most of his time, is difficult. The general public isn’t allowed in the hospital’s basem*nt. Being an authority such as a doctor or policeman, bribery or successful rolls of Persuasion or Fast Talk against hospital staff, or a successful Sneak check to get past the staff is required to get into St. Mary’s Hospital morgue. If investigators ask the county coroner about the instruments, the man is genuinely surprised they were missing. He thinks about it for a bit, and says: “Oh yes, I do remember some tools missing some three or four years back. I put in the paperwork for another set.” A Psychology roll determines that he is telling the truth. If the investigators mention where they found the instruments or the dead woman, Dr. Morrison claims to know nothing about either, but a Psychology roll determines that he is hiding something. Even if that roll fails, Keepers can tell their players that he looks a bit nervous at the news, if they want to throw the investigators a bone. If the dead woman is mentioned, he suggests they report it to Detective Cooper of the Arkham police department, as he usually handles homicides. Dr. Morrison then says he is quite busy and should the investigators not have the proper authority to be in his morgue, he asks them to leave. If the investigators push him further, the coroner summons hospital security. Should the investigators want to keep an eye on the doctor after leaving the morgue, they can locate an unlocked supply closet across the hall. A few minutes after the investigators leave, Dr. Morrison rushes out of the morgue and goes into his office down the hall. Investigators making a successful Sneak and Listen roll can approach the door and eavesdrop on Dr. Morrison dialing a telephone and his following conversation.

Investigators conducting research on Abner Crumpler discover the following facts with a successful Library Use roll. ❖ Abner Crumpler moved to Essex County in 1849, but there is no record of where he originally hailed from. He claimed to have been born 1811 and was 85 years old at the time of his death in 1896. He was unmarried and childless. Investigators researching property via old newspapers at a library or newspaper morgue must make a successful Library Use roll to find the following information. ❖ In 1896, the Crumpler house burnt down. The fire raged for hours before anyone reported it, due to the house’s isolated location. Three charred skeletons were removed from the house. One is believed to be Abner; the identities of the other two (a women and a man) are unknown. Keeper’s Information: The bodies found in the burnt house were Abner’s last guest from the Lovecraft story and two of his previous victims.

Looking into the Medical Instruments Clever investigators, or those making a successful Idea roll, figure out that the instruments found in Abner’s shack are from Miskatonic University’s St. Mary’s Teaching Hospital, as they are clearly marked “St. Mary’s M103”. Finding someone willing to discuss this is more difficult unless one of the investigators is a medical doctor. Non-physician investigators must make either a successful Luck roll or a Persuade check to locate someone willing to take a moment out of their hectic day to talk to them. If successful, a doctor, nurse, or even an orderly tells the investigators:

❖ “James, it’s Fred. I just had some people in here saying they were out at Abner’s shack and… wait, what? He did what? Oh dear God. I told you that crazy bastard would… So what are we going to do about these people? OK, what about the others? No, not now. Yes, fine, I’ll be there.” Confronting the doctor now does no good as he denies everything. He’s not alone in the hospital basem*nt, so will call for help if cornered or confronted. Several nurses, med students, or a pair of large orderlies quickly come to his aid. However, investigators overhearing his comment of “I’ll be there” might decide to keep their eyes on Dr. Morrison.

❖ “Some years back, medical equipment started disappearing, so the administrator had all the hospital’s tools engraved to keep better track of them and hopefully discourage thieves. Hmmm, M103? I believe the ‘m’ stands for morgue, so that’s probably where they came from. You’ll want to talk to Dr. Morrison about that, as he’s in charge of the morgue.”

Looking into the Suitcases

The original theft was committed by none other than Dr. Herbert West. Because of his actions, St. Mary’s Hospital began marking their medical instruments, allowing investigators to track the ones recovered from the shack to the facility’s morgue. That morgue is overseen by Dr. Fredrick Morrison, the county corner and a member of the Arkham cannibals. The tools were pilfered from him by Abner several years ago, when he was picking up a body that no one would miss for an upcoming feast. Abner liked how shiny the tools were, so he took them when Dr. Morrison wasn’t looking.

Despite being ragged and bloodstained, it is obvious that the matching luggage set was once very expensive, with handtooled leather, silver fittings, hand-painted fabric, etc. A Credit Rating or Idea roll by anyone familiar with Arkham realizes that only one place in town would sell such fine luggage: Miller’s on 177 W. Main St. Looking in a phonebook or asking about town could also point investigators to this shop. If the investigators need help looking in this direction, a half torn tag can be found in one of the bags with “Mil-” and

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE underneath that, in smaller letters, “Arkha-”. Simply named Miller’s, because the proper people in Arkham already know about it and those who don’t probably cannot afford to shop there, the shop sells a bit of everything: Once investigators make the connection between the horGerman silverware, original art, Swiss clocks, rible shack on Abner’s old property, the coroner Morrison, and Persian rugs, fine hats, handmade Italian undertaker Eleazar, they may jump to the mistaken conclusion shoes, and the finest luggage. Everything is that ghouls are somehow involved. This scenario does not have of the highest quality and the prices reflect a single supernatural creature in it; the only monsters are the huthis, with items purchased in Miller’s listed man kind. Even the magic employed by the cannibal cult is less at twice or more than the price of their more Mythos-tinged and more akin to traditional concepts of human common counterparts. black magic. This makes the scenario rare in Call of Cthulhu, and it is suggested that the Keeper not alter this aspect. Stephen Miller runs the high-end shop However, if the Keeper can’t resist adding a Mythos element and recognizes the personalized suitcases into the scenario, then undertaker Eleazar may have entered into if shown them. They stick in his memory a bargain with a warren of local ghouls. Keepers should have because he needed to hire someone to add the undertaker not embalm certain corpses, as is now the law, the initials. While he says he sold it many so the ghouls can feed upon them. In exchange, the ghouls give years back (“a good decade or more”) he the greedy man grave-plundered treasurer. If so, Keepers should doesn’t remember to whom. “Even if I did,” add the Contact Ghoul spell to Jaspar’s arcane repertoire, allowhe smugly says, “I wouldn’t tell you. I respect ing him to call upon his subterranean allies for help against the my customers’ privacy.” investigators should they become a nuisance. Persuade and Fast Talk rolls are useless in prying the information out of the stuffy shop owner, unless done by someone with a vestigators attempting to break in will either have to break Credit Rating score over 60% combined with the purchase a window, kick down a door (STR 17 for front, STR 22 for of something costing more than $50. A sizable bribe might rear), or pick the lock of the front door right out on Main also work, but anything less than $100 insults the man, who Street. Each of these actions requires the one doing the explains that it wouldn’t be worth his time going through breaking and entering to make a Luck roll not to be seen or past receipts from over a decade ago. Should the investigators heard and reported to the police. Investigators breaking into convince Stephen to look up the old receipt, he tells them the shop must make a Library Use roll to find the receipt in to come back tomorrow. When they return, he hands them Miller’s extensive and overly-complicated filling system. Consumption Papers #2. Looking into Virginia Crews reveals that she was a local Investigators may also break into the shop after it closes. seamstress who died of liver disease (Hepatitis) in 1918. Ms. The back door to Miller’s is barred from the inside, so inCrews plays no part in this scenario, but keepers should allow

Ghoulish Possibilities

investigators to follow that lead should they choose. Dr. Bell wasn’t her physician nor was her body cannibalized, but her funeral was handled by Jaspar Eleazar. Investigators familiar with Arkham can make a Know roll to recognize the name Eleazar from Eleazar’s Funeral Home on S. French Hill Street. Otherwise, the information is easily learned in multiple ways, such as from a phone book or newspaper advertisem*nt.

Consumption Papers #2

Eleazar’s Funeral Home This once richly furnished two story house is now somewhat shabby and dusty. It serves as both Jaspar’s residence and place of business. The second floor is where Jaspar lives with his long suffering and thoroughly unhappy wife, Mildred, who is not privy to Jaspar’s cannibalistic leanings. The ground floor is for his business and is comprised of a casket showroom, two viewing rooms for funeral services, Jaspar’s office, a large storage area/loading bay, and a small room rented to William Toomy, Jaspar’s only employee. The basem*nt is where the embalming and other corpse preparation takes place.

CON S UM PT I ON Dr. Bell brought Jaspar into his secret society because of his access to the dead and his easily purchased morality, not necessarily for his access to edible corpses that won’t be missed, although the cannibals have dined on occasional cold treats obtained by Eleazar. However, the funeral home is a great way to get rid of leftover human remains. Jasper tosses these picked-clean bones into an empty grave and covers them with a few inches of dirt before laying a coffin on atop them. Even before Dr. Bell approached Jaspar with his proposal, the undertaker was already involved in various shady activities. Because of this, Jaspar is secretive and paranoid, as well as a gifted liar. Should investigators try to roll Psychology to determine Jasper’s truthfulness, they must make their checks with a -25% penalty. Investigators approaching Jaspar and asking about the suitcases are told by the mortician that he threw those old things out years ago, which is actually true. What he doesn’t tell investigators is that Abner picked them out of his garbage and uses them to transport freshly butchered meat from his shack to wherever the cannibals gather for a feast. Jaspar forgot the bags had his initials on them; otherwise, he never would have allowed Abner to take them. For most other questions, he feigns ignorance, telling investigators that he’s extremely busy and has no more time to for them. When the investigators leave, Jaspar calls James Bell and has nearly the same conversation as Dr. Morrison had earlier, should the investigators eavesdrop on it. He also sends out his lackey (although non-cannibal) assistant, William Toomy, to keep tabs on the investigators. Should investigators make a Listen roll while in the funeral home, they hear creaking floorboards or the occasional smoker’s cough coming from the second floor. Failing this, a Spot Hidden roll may see the woman glaring down at them from the top of the stairs. This is Mildred, who never comes downstairs or involves herself in the funeral business, although she sees and hears a lot. If the investigators can somehow speak with the bitter woman

Map Key 1 2 3 4

5 6

St. Mary’s Teaching Hospital Miller’s (Luggage Store) Elazar’s Funeral Home Dr. Morrison (a) & The Cooper Homes (b) Christchurch Cemetery Dr. Bell’s Private Practice Office

Dr. Bell’s Home

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE without her husband present, she is more than happy to dish some dirt on the undertaker. ❖ “That good for nothing husband of mine. He’s the reason we never had children, if you get my meaning. If he’s not out gambling away all our money, then he’s out with his oh-so fancy friends that are obviously too good for me. Meets with them a few times every month, but has never once invited me along. Who? Well, there is Dr. Bell and Dr. Morrison. I’ve seen both of them drive over in their fancy cars and pick Jaspar up. And I’ve heard him talking to someone named Michael. But when I asked him about it, he said it was the police and ‘death business’ so he couldn’t talk about it. Yeah, right. I tell you, the only reason I’m still with that man is because I’m Catholic. That, and he is finally making some good money. How? I don’t know. Maybe he stopped gambling?”

WILLIAM TOOMY, age 28, thuggish watcher William has been an accessory to Jaspar’s shady dealings for years. He rents a room in the back of Eleazar’s funeral home, so is always on hand should Jaspar need him. He won’t murder anyone, as he’s a thug and a criminal, but not a murderer. However, the large man gladly follows investigators, reports back to his boss, and robs or “scares them off” with a beating if asked to do so. Should anyone attack him, he fights back with deadly intent. STR 16 CON 13 SIZ 17 INT 11 POW 12 DEX 14 APP 10 EDU 11 SAN 0 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Weapons: Fist/punch (with roll of quarters in it) 70%, damage 1D3 +1 + db Switchblade 45%, damage 1D4 + db Skills: Ask No Questions 80%, Embalming 55%, Fast Talk 60%, Listen 45%, Shadowing (following someone unseen) 50%, Spot Hidden 60%.

Looking for William Simmons

How the Cannibals Work Dr. Bell carefully selected just who he invited into his secret cannibal society, so each person fulfills a specific need of the group. He was stuck with Abner, the wild card of the bunch, but even he has his uses. He acts at the cannibals’ jailor, butcher, and cook, for he has no mercy and a real love for the “wet work”. With his Consume Likeness spell, he can also

Going to the address on the found ID discovers the Seeley family, not the Simmons. The Seeleys have been living at that address for four years. The husband, Daniel, believes that the previous owners were named Simmons, although he purchased the house from the bank. Doing research at a library for information on the missing Simmons family finds an old copy of the Arkham Advertiser from 1922 with an obituary (Consumption Papers #3). Investigators looking into William Simmons’s disappearance must make another Library Use roll to discover another Arkham Advertiser article (Consumption Papers #4) from 1921. With this information, investigators should realize that the road Mr. Simmons would have taken to and from Dunwich is the same road where they found the poor butchered woman. If the investigators don’t think of it themselves, Keepers should have the investigators make an Idea roll and point this out. The missing William Simmons was abducted by Abner on his way back to Arkham, when his truck broke down. William was eventually eaten by the Arkham cannibals. Detective Cooper handled the missing person case to make sure it led nowhere. When Mrs. Simmons wouldn’t stop asking questions, she was killed by Dr. Bell and then “buried” by Jaspar Eleazar. In reality, Susan Simmons was also consumed by the cannibals. Without evidence, the investigators can’t prove any of this. However, they will have some suspects to follow up on and may begin to notice suspicious patters emerging.

Consumption Papers #3

CON S UM PT I ON change his normally hideous appearance and act as a spy or, more to Abner’s taste, assassin. Dr. Morrison can explain away unusual deaths as the county coroner. He and Eleazar, who can get rid of unwanted leftovers, can actually “kill and bury” people who won’t be missed (like the investigators) while they are still actually alive and being butchered for upcoming meals. All that’s required is the proper paperwork and an empty coffin. Edith Cooper was brought into the fold just to get her husband, police detective Michael Cooper, under Dr. Bell’s thumb. Det. Cooper is a well-regarded and highly trusted member of the Arkham police and has used that position to cover the tracks of the cannibals on numerous occasions. He also arranges things so the full weight of the Arkham Police Department comes down on those he wants to do away with. He is a powerhouse of strength thanks to his Devour Enemy’s Strength spell and can easily cave in a man’s skull with a single swing of his nightstick. Detective Cooper can act as the cannibals’ enforcer if necessary.

Investigating the Leads Investigators should first attempt to identify those whom they are up against. The connections to Dr. Morrison and Jaspar Eleazar are direct links from clues found in Abner’s shack. Dr. Bell and Detective Cooper are alluded to in old newspaper stories relating to the missing William Simmons. Edith Cooper may come as a surprise as she plays up her simple housewife routine, and Abner could be a very nasty

Consumption Papers #4

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE shock as he is thought to be dead. Should the investigators spook a member of the Arkham cannibals through overly direct questioning or being noticed snooping about, Dr. Bell is immediately informed. They ask him what is being done to ensure that their cover is not blown. Furthermore, unless the investigators draw attention to themselves, the cannibals are set to get together at Dr. Morrison’s house for a feast three days after the start of the scenario. As Morrison is a widower, lives alone, and owns his own home, he usually hosts most of the Arkham Cannibal diners. Should the investigators follow any of the cannibals to this gathering, it would be a great opportunity to identify all of the man-eaters and perhaps get the drop on them. Some possibilities for investigations of the individual cannibals follow.

trophies. Abner refused to torch his home, but will destroy all the incriminating evidence, save for his picture book, which he will never give up. The stuff he can burn will go into a fire pit behind his shack. The rest, like bones and such, he places in a large sack weighted with stones and tosses it into to the Miskatonic River. He then goes to Dr. Morrison’s house, and Dr. Bell orders him to stay there until the investigators are dealt with. However, Abner has other plans. His intention is to hunt down and kill the investigators. If the investigators have taken the book, Abner will hunt them for daring to steal it. If they have turned the book in to the authorities, Detective Cooper returns it to Abner, who hunts the investigators for daring to touch his prized possession.

Dr. Morrison

Abner

The old doctor is clever and cagy. There is very little evidence linking him to his cannibalistic activates either at his business or home. But he is not completely clean. Investigators examining the muddy tires on his car and making an Idea roll realize the tread pattern looks quite similar to the tire tracks seen outside Abner’s shack on the first night of this scenario, if those tracks were examined. If they were not, at the Keeper’s option, investigators may make a second Idea roll to recall the pattern. Should the investigators break into his home at 230 East

If the investigators stake out Abner’s shack after discovering the dead woman on the road, he returns to it two nights later, around midnight. He will either be in a magically altered form, or his own grotesque visage (Keeper’s choice). Keepers could have him arrive on foot through the woods or be dropped off by Dr. Bell, as he has been hiding out in the man’s cellar since the woman made her escaped. While likely too late to do any good now, Bell has ordered Abner to burn his shack to get rid of any lingering evidence or

CON S UM PT I ON Derby Street and search his basem*nt, investigators making a successful Spot Hidden find an old sack buried under a layer of coal in the bin beside his furnace. Inside the sack are human bones, picked clean by the cannibals during their last feast. Jaspar Eleazar was supposed to pick up and dispose of them, but hasn’t done it yet. Investigators examining the bones and making a successful a Biology or Medicine roll learn that they are male, were boiled, and have gnaw marks on them made by human teeth. Investigators watching this house from afar after 10 PM and making a successful Luck check see Jaspar arrive. He enters Dr. Morrison’s house, collects that bag of bones and takes it to the Potter’s Field on Garrison Street. There he dumps the bones into an open grave (which is to be filled the following morning by the casket of an unrelated funeral) and covers them up with a foot or so of dirt. Jasper might even have William Toomy with him (Keeper’s choice).

perfect children, and before Edith’s illness, the entire family did volunteer work at their local church. One thing the investigators can learn about is Edith’s tuberculosis. She contracted the illness about four years ago, and it progressed rapidly to the point where everyone assumed she’d soon be dead. But then, a year after first falling sick, she took a dramatic turn for the better. While Edith still has consumption, as there is no cure for it, she looks and acts hale and healthy. She still isn’t seen much in public, but when she is, Edith credits her remarkable turnabout to clean living, the Good Lord, a change in diet, and Dr. Bell’s care. Any of the Coopers’ neighbors can attest to the above. The investigators could get another hint that the Coopers aren’t what they seem by staking out their home. Investigators making a successful Luck roll observe Michael working on the family car. He drops a tool which rolls underneath the automobile. After looking for witnesses and seeing none, the police officer lifts up the front of his car off the ground retrieve the dropped tool with his foot. This clear display of Michael’s preternatural strength should be a clue and a warning to the investigators.

Jaspar Eleazar Keeping an eye on Eleazar may lead to investigators observing criminal activity. At the Keeper’s discretion, one night, about 11PM, Eleazar and William Toomy drive out to Christchurch Cemetery at the southern edge of Arkham. They hop the stone wall with Toomy carrying a pry bar and Eleazar a leather bag (like a doctor’s bag). They go to one of the larger mausoleums, with the family name of Beckworth ornately carved into its front. Investigators making An Idea roll remember a small newspaper story from that morning announcing the funeral for wealthy financier/developer Robert Beckworth. Failing that, investigators can research the name tomorrow, uncovering the same information with a successful Library Use roll. Eleazar and Toomy break into the mausoleum, Robert’s vault, and the coffin. Eleazar has Toomy watching out the door of the mausoleum “to make sure no one is coming.” This means Toomy has a chance of spotting investigators sneaking about. Eleazar decapitates the corpse and stores the head in his bag. Afterwards the grave robbers replace the coffin, reseal the vault, shut the mausoleum, and drive back to Eleazar’s funeral home. Toomy assumed they were pilfering the corpse, and was paid a few dollars for his grunt work. However, Eleazar wanted the rich man’s brain to consume in order to access Robert Beckworth’s memories and secrets. Eleazar had to rob the grave because his funeral home didn’t handle Robert Beckworth’s funeral.

Dr. Bell James formed his cannibal society to insulate him from the risks his new diet created. However, the clever man has made a few mistakes along the way. James stores copies of his records at his private practice on 550 N. Garrison Street in the Northside neighborhood, at the office where he does some consultation work at St. Mary’s Hospital, and at his home in the Lower Southside neighborhood. Getting to his medical records at any of these places would take some work. Investigators can gain access to these records at St. Mary’s with a successful Persuade or Fast Talk check. Should investigators fail to talk their way past the hospital staff, they can try sneaking into Dr. Bell’s office at the hospital. Their final option into is to break into his office at St. Mary’s, his private practice, or his home. Dr. Bell’s secretary, Sally, at his private practice has explicit instructions never to allow anyone in his office without his presence. If the investigators gain access to these records, a successful Medicine or Idea roll tells them the mortality rate of Dr. Bell’s patients has increased dramatically over the years, starting about 1897. It is more pronounced than what can be explained by bad luck or even incompetence. Should the investigators later get paperwork or similar records pertaining to Dr. Morrison and Jaspar Eleazar, and compare them, they quickly notice the same names of patients, death certificates, and burial customers, over and over again. Investigators keeping a close, but secretive, eye on Dr. Bell see him meet with Jaspar Eleazar, Dr. Morrison, and Detective Cooper individually over the next few days before the upcoming big feast. He also meets with many others people, like patients, which have nothing to do with this scenario. If the investigators take the daring measure of breaking into Dr. Bell’s home on the corner of East Washington and

The Coopers Michael and Edith Cooper are by far the most normal appearing of all the Arkham Cannibals. They have a modest, but charming, house on 216 East Derby Street, just a few doors away from Dr. Morrison’s home. That means the three cannibals can quickly come to each other’s aid if need be. Michael was once a well-liked, honest police officer who never abused his authority. No one would think for a moment that he could ever be corrupt, let alone a diabolical killer. Edith is the picture of a dutiful mother and wife. They even have two

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE South Parsonage in Arkham, they find a locked library on the ground floor containing a locked roll-top desk. Inside that desk is a critical piece of evidence: Abner Crumpler’s old, fire-scarred copy of Regnum Congo. Lastly, in a locked trunk in the basem*nt of Bell’s house, the investigators may find a truly damning item of evidence; a newly made vest of human skin. This is the end result

of Dr. Bell’s Second Skin spell (see nearby boxed text). He keeps this ghastly garment here in case he needs an extra 14 hit points of protection should the second skin he currently has on falls apart.

Regnum Congo This leather bound, metal fitted, tome was written by Filippo Pigfetta and bears a publishing mark from Frankfurt, Germany, 1858. This copy is fire-singed and missing its original illustrations, which have been torn out. The text is written in Latin and contains little actual Cthulhu Mythos lore, expect for when the Mythos crosses paths with cannibalism and the many feasting rituals detailed within. While unlabeled, there are several spells hidden within the tome pertaining to cannibalism. Each requires an INT x 3 roll to learn. Sanity loss 2/1D8; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; average 7 weeks to study and comprehend. Spells: Consume Likeness, Devour Enemy’s Strength, Feast of Cleansing, Food of Life, Ingest Thoughts, Second Skin.

Spells Consume Likeness: From the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook. Devour Enemy’s Strength: Many cannibals believe that eating the heart of their enemy gives them their strength. With this ritual, they are right. This spell requires the heart of a person be eaten raw while muttering a mantra to reach a trance-like state. The spell fails if the heart was removed more than an hour ago. Once consumed, the eater gains a boost to his or her STR equal to half of the STR of the person who owned the heart. That bonus STR decreases by 1 point per day until it returns to the eater’s normal STR score. However, during the last day of having the enhanced strength, if the cannibal rolls a successful POW x1, his or her STR is permanently increased by 1. This spell costs 10 magic points and 1D10+1 SAN. Feast of Cleansing: This ritual involves a single caster creating of a stew of kidneys, liver, and lungs—the organs responsible for cleansing the body. This process costs 12 magic points and 1D8 SAN, and when completed, the stew can feed up to three people. Eating the stew while knowing its contents costs feasters 1D6 SAN if they aren’t the caster of the spell. This feast cures sickness, disease, and poison, and restores 2D6 Hit Points. For any terminal illness, this feast forces the affliction into remission and prolongs life for a month, after which time the symptoms return in force unless another Cleansing Feast is consumed. Food of Life: From the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook. Ingest Thoughts: This spell requires eating the entire brain of victim, costing 10 magic points and 2D6+2 SAN. When the meal is done, the eater knows the memories of the person whose brain was eaten. Not every memory makes the transfer, and Keepers determine what knowledge is gleaned from this horrible spell. For every five minds ingested, the eater gains a permanent +1 to INT and EDU which in turn raises his or her Idea and Know by 5%. Second Skin: This abhorrent enchantment requires that a living victim of SIZ equal to or greater than the caster has the skin flayed from his or her body. Skinning a person alive costs 1D10 SAN. Afterwards, the skin is stretched, tanned, treated, and covered in arcane symbols. This part of the enchantment costs 1D8 SAN and 10 magic points. When finished, this grisly vest bestows the life force of the victim onto the one wearing it against his or her own bare skin. This grants the wearer extra hit points equal to the maximum hit points of the victim. Should the wearer take damage, the initial hit points lost are taken from the vest. Damage to the vest cannot be restored, and once the garment reaches zero hit points, it is rendered useless and falls apart.

CON S UM PT I ON

The Cannibals’ Response

bals. Between Bell and Deniker, they could commit a number of the investigators to the asylum against their wishes “for the public good”. Once institutionalized, any number of staged accidents could happen to the investigators from sickness, to a tragic run in with a psychotic patient, to a lobotomy to cure them of “violent tendencies”. Dr. Bell might even try to bring one or more of investigators into the fold. He would seed the conversation with the investigators in his favor beforehand, of course. Dr. Bell would collect some of Mrs. Cooper’s tuberculosis-infected phlegm, as she still carries the disease. This would then be secreted into the food or drink of one or more investigators by a magically disguised Abner or Dr. Morrison. Then Bell could approach the investigators, inform them of the death sentence he has given them, and offer them a reprieve, if they are willing to take it. Kindly Keepers may want to give their investigators a chance to resist the infection by matching their CON vs. the POT 15 of the disease on the Resistance Table. Should the investigators become infected, Dr. Bell says that they must join his society and do as he commands from now on, if they wish to live. This bit of nasty work would force infected investigators to make a tough decision. Welcome to Call of Cthulhu. These are just some examples of what the Arkham cannibals can do in addition to the standard violent confrontation.

Dr. Bell’s society is atypical of most threats in a Call of Cthulhu scenario. Its members are not slobbering monsters or even a cult of fanatics that exist completely outside the law. They are well regarded and highly placed within the Arkham community and, in some instances, like Detective Cooper, they are the law. The investigators can’t accuse these people of wrongdoing without rock solid evidence, such as trustworthy and independent eye witnesses, photos of the man eaters in action, or arranging for the authorities to catch the group red-handed. The cannibals have formidable resources at their disposal should they wish to do away with the investigators. In addition to the usual standby of just killing the investigators, Detective Cooper could trump up charges against them. The cannibals can plant evidence in the investigators’ homes, cars, or hotel rooms linking them to several unexplained disappearances. If this happens, it would then be the investigators’ word against a seasoned and respected police detective. Dr. Morrison, as county medical examiner, could give expert testimony on the planted evidence, bones, and other grisly items at their trial should it come to that. Dr. Bell is not above recruiting new members into his organization if there’s a good reason to do so. He has long had his eye on adding Dr. Calvin Deniker, a psychologist currently working at Arkham Sanitarium, to the Arkham canni-

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Defeating the Man-eaters

easily. For example, Detective Cooper could be the young and amiable Detective Harrigan; Dr. Bell could become Dr. Horton Wilson, and Jaspar Edgar Eleazar is already from the Arkham Unveiled book. New characters are used in this scenario so that previous characters need not be modified, but some Keepers may want these wolves in sheep’s clothing to be people the investigators have interacted with previously to make their sinister secret all the more shocking.

All of the cannibals must be either killed or arrested in order to stop their abhorrent practices. Should the investigators kill one of the cannibals, the rest will be on high alert as soon as they find out. They will always be armed and ready for trouble from then on. Should they already know of the investigators, the cannibals immediately take steps to eliminate them. If Detective Cooper is still alive, he spearheads the police investigation of who killed his cannibal buddies. Should Cooper be dead, then the investigators have the entire Arkham police department gunning for them. The police are never so motivated to catch a killer as when the victim is one of their own. If one of the investigators is also a cop, that might mitigate this response, as would evidence of Cooper’s cannibalistic tendencies. Should the investigators learn of the cannibals’ upcoming feast at Dr. Morrison’s house, provided Bell and company are not on high alert and call it off, this would be a good time to deal with them. If the investigators are the bloodthirsty sort, they could possibly take out the man-eaters in one fell swoop. However, Dr. Morrison’s house is in a residential area, so gunshots are quickly reported to the police. Trapping the cannibals inside and setting the house ablaze is also an option, but one unlikely to eliminate every member of the group successfully, and it would surely bring an enthusiastic investigation into the arson. One possibility would be photographing the feasters eating man-shaped morsels and taking that to the authorities. Perhaps the investigators can convince the police to raid the clandestine feast and catch the cannibals literally red handed. However, with so many respected members of Arkham society, not to mention one of their own, Detective Cooper, being involved, before the police take action, the investigators need undeniable proof of murder at the very least. If the investigators don’t take care of every member of the Arkham cannibal society, whether through death or arrest, they will never truly be safe. Every member is a killer, vengeful, and insane.

Dr. James Bell James is the founder and leader of the Arkham cannibals. Black of hair and beard, this tall, bright-eyed man is a commanding presence, and self-confidence all but radiates off of him. This wasn’t always the case, and those that know Dr. Bell from some years in back say that he has really come into his own. James has a wife, Mabel, and two grown sons that don’t live with him anymore. None of them know about James’s abhorrent appetite. James is the keeper of the dreaded book Regnum Congo, knows all of its secrets, and is the one to decide which of his fellow cannibals learns what rituals. Motivation: Power. James has always been one of the overlooked. He was never the most popular, wealthy, or intelligent in any given room, but neither was he the least. He has always been the one to fade into the background. That has left him always hungry for something more, but until he found the Regnum Congo, he never knew how to obtain it. Then, what started off as morbid “scientific” curiosity became dreams of professional grandeur, and they feed Dr. Bell’s now overstuffed ego. He simply does what he does now because he can, and having the other members of the Arkham cannibals under his thumb, to be the one calling the shot, is as addictive to him as his craving for human flesh. DR. JAMES BELL, age 51, leader of the feasters STR 14 CON 15 SIZ 17 INT 16 POW 15 DEX 11 APP 8 EDU 18 SAN 0 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: .38 Revolver 40%, damage 1D10 Scalpel 50%, damage 1D4 + db Armor: 13 bonus hit points due to Second Skin (see spell description) Skills: Biology 60%, Credit Rating 65%, First Aid 75%, Latin 60%, Listen 50%, Medicine 70%, Occult 60%, Persuade 50%, Pharmacy 55%. Spells: Consume Likeness, Devour Enemy’s Strength, Feast of Cleansing, Food of Life, Ingest Thoughts, Second Skin.

Rewards Defeating all of the cannibals either through death or incarceration grants +1D10 SAN. Destroying the Regnum Congo so that it can never again taint the easily corruptible grants +1D6 SAN.

Abner Crumpler The original cannibal from Lovecraft’s story, Abner was severely burned when a bolt of lightning struck his house back in 1896. Only because of his supernaturally bolstered health did he survive the ordeal. The man-eater is now badly scarred over most of his body. Because of this, Dr. Bell taught him the Consume Likeness spell to hide his gruesome form, but Abner is so psychotic he prefers to wear the skins of his victims as a grotesque flesh-suit whenever he can. He takes another’s form through magic if he must, but always reverts

The Arkham Cannibals Here you will find the members of this secretive, sinister society and a brief description of their motivation for becoming a cannibal, so the Keeper can better play each character. Furthermore, for a Keeper with players familiar with Arkham as presented in the Arkham Unveiled book, the names of these cannibals could be changed to preexisting characters rather

CON S UM PT I ON Detective Michael Cooper

back to his true, hideous visage and dons the flesh of others. Because of this and his other insanities, Abner usually stays in his shack, far away from society. Motivation: Psychotic desires. Abner always had aberrant and morbid thoughts, but after receiving his copy of Regnum Congo, began to act on them. As he continued to feed his diabolical obsession, he discovered a taste not only for cannibalism, but also for murder, torture, and all around ghoulishness. He is now crazier than ever, an absolute monster inside and out. He is so far gone that Dr. Bell is giving serious thought to putting him down like the mad dog he has become. But he is a faithful hound, and relishes the “wet work” that some of the other feasters still find upsetting. However, once the meddling investigators are taken care of, who knows…

Michael has always been a big, strong man, but these days he seems to radiate strength. He is a good cop, a good father, and a pillar of the community of Arkham, but he is an amazing husband. How many husbands would turn their backs on all they were raised to believe and become a murderous cannibal just for the sake of their sick wife? That’s what sandy-haired, hazeleyed, bushy-mustached Michael did when Dr. Bell “cured” his beloved wife. Motivation: Love for Edith. The only reason the Dr. Bell brought Edith Cooper into his group of cannibals was to draw Michael into it. Having a policeman in Bell’s debt would allow for some aspects of his crimes to get swept under the rug. That is the price Michael has been paying to keep Edith, the love of his life and mother of his children, alive. And over time, as he was made to partake of the fiendish feasts to ensure his silence and loyalty, he has actually come to like the frequent “get togethers” with the other man-eaters.

ABNER CRUMPLER, age 115, elderly crazed cannibal STR 13 CON 16 SIZ 14 INT 10 POW 12 DEX 12 APP 4 EDU 9 SAN 0 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: Meat cleaver 50%, damage 1D6 + 1 + db Armor: 2-points metal butcher’s apron Skills: Butchery/Tanning 70%, Cooking 65%, Fast Talk 45%, Hide 50%, History 40%, Natural History 55%, Sneak 60%, Torture 65%, Track 70%. Spells: Consume Likeness, Feast of Cleansing, Food of Life. Sanity Loss: 0/1D4 to see Abner in his skin suit.

Edith Cooper Once quite the beauty, with her blond hair, blue eyes, and high cheek bones, her bout with consumption took its toll not only on the woman’s health, but also on her looks. That is, until recently. All of the sudden, it’s like she is the old Edith Cooper that everyone loved. However, she keeps a horrible secret about her new found health, not to mention a wellhidden butcher’s knife on her at all times. Edith and her cannibal husband, Michael, have a young son and daughter. Neither child knows of their parents’ deadly diet. The Coopers are the picture of the perfect family. Motivation: Staying alive. A young woman given a death sentence by contracting tuberculosis, she was angry, scared, and on death’s door when her friendly family physician, Dr. Bell, approached her with a “cure”. Yes, it actually worked, but only for a little while. It wasn’t until her fourth meal that Dr. Bell told her what, and who, she was eating. By then, the woman was willing to do anything, and kill anyone, not to be sick anymore.

DETECTIVE MICHAEL COOPER, age 30, killer cop and devoted husband STR 23* CON 16 SIZ 16 INT 12 POW 12 DEX 14 APP 11 EDU 14 SAN 0 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Weapons: .45 Revolver 50%, damage 1D10+2 Nightstick 60%, damage 1D6 + db Fist/Punch 75%, damage 1D3 + db Skills: Dodge 65%, Drive Auto 55%, Fast Talk 50%, Grapple 65%, Law 70%, Psychology 55%, Spot Hidden 60%. Spells: Devour Enemy’s Strength, Feast of Cleansing. *Michael’s STR score should be modified by an additional 3D6 / 2 the first time the investigators meet him due to his Devour Enemy’s Strength spell. That bonus STR decreases by 1 each day after that. This will change Michael’s Damage Bonus to +2D6.

Jaspar Edgar Eleazar

EDITH COOPER, age 27, terminal man-eater

The Eleazar Funeral Home is the oldest funeral home in Arkham. It has been run by the Eleazar family for generations, and over all that time, it made the family very wealthy. That is, until Jaspar took it over when his father died. Jaspar had no head for business and a gambling addiction to boot. That bad combination left the portly, bulging-eyed, prematurely balding man always scrambling to make money. In fact, there is gossip around Arkham that Jaspar has buried bodies for the Irish mob, is a grave robber, or sold corpses of his clients to the university’s medical school without their

STR 7 CON 10 SIZ 12 INT 14 POW 16 DEX 12 APP 14 EDU 13 SAN 0 HP 11 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Butcher knife 45%, damage 1D6 + db. Skills: Bargain 50%, Cooking 65%. Conceal 50%, Fast Talk 55%, Listen 60%, Persuade 65%, Pharmacy 40%, Spot Hidden 60%. Spells: Feast of Cleansing.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Motivation: Staying young. Like many people, as Fredrick got older, thoughts of his own mortality began to occupy more and more of his time. The fact that he was the coroner and dealt with death every day only made things worse. Dr. Bell knew that, so he approached the elderly medical examiner with a way not only to keep him from getting any older, but also to reverse the aging process. With trepidation at first, Dr. Morrison took a chance, and found the results most desirable indeed. He hasn’t felt this good in years. The pain in his joints has vanished, and his eyesight and hearing have returned. Now that Fredrick has found the key to eternal life, he will do whatever it takes to hang on to it.

families knowing. Those rumors were true a few years back, but not anymore. Now Jaspar has a whole new way of making money. Motivation: Greed. Jaspar always resented the poor, but he hated his dwindling family fortune even more. Rumors of his economic plight reached Dr. Bell, who offered him a chance to know the secrets of the wealthiest men in Arkham. Jaspar, squeamish at first, has now given up his gambling addiction to consume the thoughts of others. Business dealings, hidden fortunes, insider stock tips, and secrets useful for blackmail are all now known to the man who now both buries and eats the dead. Thanks to his new found power, Jaspar has been steadily amassing a fortune, and he will do anything not only to hang on to it, but also to expand upon it. He also has grand ambitions and has begun fantasizing about replacing Dr. Bell as head of the cannibals or killing off his incessantly nagging wife, Mildred.

DR. FREDRICK MORRISON, age 71, morbid medical examiner STR 11 CON 12 SIZ 14 INT 17 POW 17 DEX 13 APP 10 EDU 19 SAN 0 HP 13 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Scalpel 40%, damage 1D4 + db Poison Syringe 50%, damage POT 18 poison resist or cardiac arrest Double Barrel 12-gauge Shotgun (only if encountered at home) 45%, damage 1D10+6 (slugs) Skills: Biology 70%, Credit Rating 45%, First Aid 50%, Latin 50%, Listen 60%, Medicine 75%, Persuade 55%, Pharmacy 55%, Spot Hidden 60%. Spells: Consume Likeness, Feast of Cleansing, Food of Life.

JASPAR EDGAR ELEAZAR, age 43, greedy undertaker STR 8 CON 13 SIZ 15 INT 19 POW 16 DEX 10 APP 8 EDU 21 SAN 0 HP 14 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: .32 Automatic 35%, damage 1D8 Shovel 50%, damage 1D8 + db Skills: Accounting 60%, Bargain 70%, Biology 55%, Chemistry 45%, Credit Rating 35%, Persuasion 60%, Undertaking (embalming, cosmetology, etc.) 80%. Spells: Feast of Cleansing, Ingest Thoughts.

Dr. Fredrick Morrison Grey-haired, brown-eyed, perpetually pipe-smoking Dr. Morrison is the head coroner at Miskatonic University’s St. Mary’s Teaching Hospital. He is also a widower who has outlived his wife and son, lost to a heart attack and the Great War respectively. Because of this and his advancing age, death has been all the man could think about for years. He thought it might be a blessing to pass on and see his wife and son again, but as old age continued to creep up on him, his fears got the better of him. As the knowledgeable, if always dour, doctor would be a nice addition to Dr. Bell’s growing collection of cannibals, Bell made Morrison an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Let the Children C om e t o M e b y M a r k Sh i r em a n

Several years went by, the Children steadily growing in power and corruption, until one day, they disappeared. One and all, the Children of the Goat, along with any evidence of their settlement, simply vanished. So did the sacred grove with its blasphemous altar and statue. All that was left behind was virgin forest. The remaining tribes of the region were relieved to see the end of the Children, and any mention of them in the oral histories moved into the realm of legend, becoming tales with which to frighten naughty children into obedience.

Trigger Warning: This scenario contains references to child abuse and sexual assault. This material is mature in nature and may not be suitable or enjoyable for every group. Keepers running this scenario are strongly urged to talk with their players and make sure that everyone is comfortable with the material before attempting to run this scenario.

Introduction

Flash forward to 1926...

In centuries past...

On a warm early evening in August, a frightened and traumatized girl, just barely 13 years old, flees into the woods on the outskirts of Aylesbury, Massachusetts, her threadbare work dress torn and blood flowing from between her thighs. An orphaned child worker at the local Hollingsworth Textiles Mill, she flees from Curtiss Evans, the foreman who raped her. She knows these woods like the back of her hand, but, in her tearful flight, she stumbles into a grove she has never seen before. She trips on a raised root midway through and lands painfully on an outcropping of wood and stone. Finally brought to a halt, she sobs, her tears pooling at the base of the formation, along with her blood and the remains of her attacker’s discharge. Looming above her, shrouded by the accumulated vines, mosses, and lichen of centuries, the eyes of the statue begin to glow with an unearthly, pallid light...

In the wooded forests along the coast of what would one day be called New England, a group of roughly two dozen native people established a small settlement along the banks of a river. These people had been exiled from their tribes for their worship of a forbidden goddess. Their medicine people led them to a place of great dark power, a place where they could raise a shrine to their goddess’s majestic glory. In a grove not far from the banks of the river they called Miskatonic, they constructed an altar crafted from stone and wood, stained dark with blood, bile, and other humours, and lacquered with tears, sweat, and the mingled fluids of copulation. Surmounting the altar, like a queen surveying her subjects, perched a statue of their goddess, whose name was ShubNiggurath—Black Goat of the Woods, mistress of nature, protector of mothers, and twisted goddess of fertility. Here her worshippers conducted their debauched rituals to honor their foul deity, literal orgies of blood and flesh, burnt offerings, and sacrifices both willing and unwilling. They fed power to their goddess, and she responded in kind, sending her Dark Young to serve them and to destroy the enemies of the new tribe. Tribes from the surrounding areas came to call them “Children of the Goat,” and quickly learned to avoid them.

Keeper’s Information The Children of the Goat worshipped Shub-Niggurath in her aspect of the prolific Great Mother. The sacred grove in which they established their shrine was already a place of

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE strengthening Shub-Niggurath’s anchor to the mortal plane. To that end, Gracie, now largely controlled by the Outer God, set out to rebuild the tribe of the Children of the Goat. Gracie’s disappearance caused relatively little stir in town. Those who knew of it assumed that the orphan girl had run away. In reality, she has set up home in the grove, clearing the detritus of centuries from the altar and its surroundings. The Great Mother protects her from the elements and provides nourishment, summoning small animals to the grove for the girl to consume. Over the course of several months, Gracie furtively made contact with several of the children she used to work with at the mill. One by one, she led them to the grove, introduced them to the glory of the Great Mother, and explained to them how the Mother needs their help. In that place of power, it was easy for the Outer God to bind these children to herself through the altar. After spending anywhere from 3-5 days in the grove, these children would return to their lives in the village, acting as if nothing were wrong and insistent that they had not been missing at all. Panic and uproar has been muted by the fact that every child except for Gracie has returned, healthy and hale and apparently none the worse for wear. The impoverished residents of Aylesbury are still frightened and confused, though, and some can be heard complaining that if rich children were the victims, the mystery would already be solved. Gracie requires a tribe of at least 9 other children in order

great natural power, which their debased rituals and worship only served to bolster. They were, in fact, quite close to being able to usher forth an avatar of Shub-Niggurath to the earthly plane when their plans were thwarted by the interference of a great Nipmuc warrior named Stalking Wolf. He disrupted the ritual with the ultimate sacrifice—his own life—causing all physical trace of their settlement and worship to vanish without a trace, and causing the sacred grove to become disconnected from mainstream reality, reappearing only in special circ*mstances that draw the direct attention of the Great Mother. The unfortunate situation of 13-year-old Gracie Portman represented the perfect storm of factors that drew the notice of Shub-Niggurath, because, unknown to Gracie, her rape had transformed her into the one thing a fertility goddess values above all others: an expectant mother. The unintended physical offering of the fluids on the altar, in conjunction with the loss of the girl’s innocence, has created a powerful bond between Gracie and Shub-Niggurath, transforming the girl into a devoted servant under the mental sway of the Great Mother, no longer fully in control of her actions and certainly not in her right mind, and a bearer of the vessel through which the deity will soon be physically brought into the world. Summoning the Great Mother is a task well beyond the means of a lone 13-year-old girl, however. The necessary rituals require that more worshippers be brought into the fold,

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E

Local Police, Sheriff’s Office, and State Police Corruption has long been a problem with the local Aylesbury police force. Two years ago, an outsider from Boston named Paul Bovey was hired to become the new police chief. He has worked hard to reform his department, but some work still remains to be done. Chief Bovey is willing to investigate charges of corruption, but only if presented with actual evidence of wrongdoing. Crimes outside of the city limits of Aylesbury fall under the jurisdiction of local Sheriff’s Office, headed by Sheriff Tim Houghton. His department is woefully underfunded and understaffed; its main function is to run the area jail. It lacks the resources for any detailed investigations, and this has led to a bitter rivalry between the Sheriff’s Office and the Aylesbury Police Department. Also in the area are the Troop E Barracks of the Massachusetts State Police, headed by Lieutenant Guy Robinson. His force is dedicated to law enforcement in the rural areas of the state, and his police travel via cars, motorcycles, and horses. While they have a cordial relationship with the local sheriff’s office, they look down on the Aylesbury police, as the corruption scandals of the past are still fresh in the minds of many. The three different divisions of law enforcement have not coordinated their efforts with regards to investigating the child disappearances. The vanishings inside Alyesbury are the jurisdiction of the local police; events occurring at the mill would fall to the Sheriff’s Office; the wooded areas north of the mill would fall to the State Police. The low priority of this case (poor children who all returned, save one, unharmed a short time after they disappeared) has each department trying to shift this case to another law enforcement agency, ensuring that nothing will get done unless the investigators become directly involved.

Evans for use in the ritual. When the residents of Aylesbury wake on Saturday morning, all of the children who had previously disappeared are discovered to be missing once again. Investigators who make a successful Track roll will be able to discern that the children appear to have gone into the woods in the vicinity of the mill, seemingly by themselves and with no signs of struggle. If no investigators have the Track skill or they fail the roll, they may consult with the Sheriff, who can tell them about the tracks with a successful Persuade or Fast Talk roll.

Starting the Investigation There are many possible ways that the investigators can be introduced to this storyline. Some suggestions are:

❖ The investigators are hired by Margaret Ellison, a 22-year-old Boston law clerk well on her way to becoming a lawyer herself. Ellison was once an orphan at the Sheltering Pines Children’s Home along with Gracie Portman, whom she considered something of a little sister. Margaret has plans to adopt Gracie once she has established herself as a lawyer and married her boyfriend, James Garrett, a sergeant in the Massachusetts State Police. It has taken quite some time for news of Gracie’s disappearance to reach Margaret, and the news has left her panicked and worried. She pledges that she and James will lend any assistance they can to the investigators’ efforts. (If this isn’t used as the hook, Margaret and James may still, at the Keeper’s discretion, be used as NPCs who are investigating Gracie’s disappearance independently. Alternatively, they could become investigators.)

to conduct the ritual to bring forth Shub-Niggurath’s essence into the fetus growing within her. Once her tribe is complete, they must bring the father of the nascent vessel to the grove and offer up his heart’s blood at the altar beneath the light of the full moon. Upon completion of that ritual, the essence of the Great Mother will be channeled into the baby, and Gracie will give birth to the goddess.

Play Begins

MARGARET ELLISON, age 22, Legal clerk and former resident of Sheltering Pine

By the time the scenario begins, Gracie has successfully inducted 8 of the 9 children she needs to complete her tribe. The final recruit went missing on Wednesday, the evening prior to the investigators’ arrival in Aylesbury. Gracie’s new tribe currently has the six surviving members of the original Children of the Goat and a single Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath at its disposal. The dark young remains in the sacred grove until Gracie sends it out on Saturday evening to retrieve Curtiss

STR 12 CON 13 SIZ 12 INT 18 POW 18 DEX 14 APP 16 EDU 17 SAN 85 HP 13 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: .38 caliber revolver 35%, damage 1D10 Blackjack 20%, damage 1D6 Skills: Bargain 45%, Credit Rating 40%, Fast Talk 40%, Hide 40%, Law 50%, Library Use 45%, Locksmith 40%, Persuade 60%, Psychology 45%.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE JAMES GARRETT, Age 24, Sergeant, Massachusetts State Police

immediately adjacent, where the sacred grove of the Children of the Goat is located. The ephemeral nature of the grove will be described later. STR 16 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 16 POW 11 Aylesbury itself is home to most modern conveniences DEX 14 APP 15 EDU 15 SAN 70 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4 and accommodations that investigators may need to avail Weapons: .38 caliber revolver 85%, damage 1D10 themselves of, including a hospital, a department store, and Fist/Punch 65%, damage 1d3+db a well-stocked pharmacy. The local library and Historical Grapple 55% Society may provide opportunities for research. Investigators Nightstick 60%, damage 1D6+db with police credentials or contacts may choose to touch base Skills: Drive Auto 50%, Dodge 55%, Fast Talk 50%, First Aid 45%, with the local police department, the local sheriff ’s office, or Law 50%, Persuade 40%. Psychology 45%, Spot Hidden 45%, the Troop E State Police Barracks. Track 30%. If the investigators do not have knowledge of the child disappearances prior to their arrival in Aylesbury, they will ❖ One (or more) of the investigators might receive a become aware of the situation quite quickly. The article of panicked telegram or telephone call from their friend or relathe day’s issue of The Aylesbury Transcript can be found on tive Martha Travers, whose child Preston is the most recent the next page (Children Papers #1). to disappear. With only a few hours of research, at the archives of The Aylesbury Transcript or at the local police department or ❖ Research relevant to a different case the investigators are sheriff ’s office or the Troop E State Police Barracks, investigaworking on could bring them to Aylesbury, where word of tors can compile a detailed list of the disappearances so far the most recent disappearance is the talk of the town. This (see Table 1). option is particularly effective to incorporate this scenario as Investigators will likely want to interview the parents of a “side-plot” for a longer-spanning campaign. the children involved with the disappearances, as well as the children themselves. All of the families are of meager means, but otherwise there appears to be no other pertinent commonalities between the children or their families. There is no information of consequence that can be gleaned from the parents, children, or Ms. Chapman other than the information in Table 1: Aylesbury Child Disappearances, Basic Data. Except for the formerly missing children, all interviewees (parents, orphanage staff, friends, and co-workers) will have While the investigators will likely be operating from Aylestheir own theories about the situation (some wilder than bury, as well as doing possible research and interviews there, others, i.e., kidnapped by rum runners, caught in faerie this scenario is primarily centered upon the textile mill, locircles, etc.), but none have any concrete facts to add to the cated approximately 2.5 miles outside of town, on the banks investigation. of the Miskatonic River, as well as the large swath of forest If investigators interview or re-interview the parents and the staff at Sheltering Pines on Saturday morning or later, the children have vanished again. All are understandably frantic with worry. The other children have even wilder theories than before; the mill and orphanage are abuzz with rumors as the 7pm, Wednesday, April 27: Preston Travers children alternate between trying to soothe each disappears. other, voicing their own fears, and trying to top each 9am, Thursday, April 28: Investigators arrive in other’s theories. Aylesbury.

Locations

Aylesbury and Environs

Timeline of Events

11pm, Friday, April 29: Grove materializes, and Gracie calls the tribe to her. Midnight, Saturday, April 30: Members of Gracie’s tribe disappear en masse. 2am, Saturday, April 30: Grove phases back out of reality. 8am, Saturday, April 30: Police first notified about mass disappearances as parents and orphanage staff discover them. 11pm, Saturday, April 30: Grove materializes, and Gracie dispatches the Dark Young to fetch Evans. 10pm, Sunday, May 1: Ritual begins, barring any interference.

The Children Who Vanished and Returned When questioned about their disappearance, the children will remain adamant that they were only gone for mere moments and that nothing happened to them while they were gone. They do understand that they returned days later, with no memory of their missing time, but they do not know how to explain this. Investigators making a successful Psy-

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E The Parents

chology roll realize that the children are being completely truthful. While the sacred grove is not manifested within this reality, the children have no memory of any of the time they spent there. Once the grove re-enters this reality, their memory returns, and they obey the call to come back to it.

The Morris family lives in a small, rundown house on the outskirts of Aylesbury. John works around town performing odd jobs and is well-known for his love of drink and his quick temper. Elizabeth is shy and reserved, and performs some mending and laundry services to supplement the family income. Temperance and Sylvia Drake live in a onebedroom apartment above a local restaurant, where Temperance works washing dishes. Temperance’s husband abandoned them several years ago. Joseph Belknap is a widower whose wife died giving birth to Lydia. He works as a laborer on a local farm, just outside of town, and they live in a small shack on the farm. Elijah Travers was sent to fight in the Great War a month after his son was born and returned having lost an arm and a leg to the conflict. Martha’s income from her job as a ladies’ maid was barely sufficient to support the family in a two-room loft near the tannery, and when Preston turned 10, he decided to go to work at the mill to help support the family.

Sheltering Pines Children’s Home Formerly the livery stable of Aylesbury General Hospital, the building now known as Sheltering Pines Children’s Home is home to forty seven of the area’s unfortunate youths. Supported mainly by charitable donation, the Home constantly struggles to become self-sufficient, sending many of the older children to work at the local mills and factories to earn their keep. 41-year-old Penelope Chapman is the sole administrator at the facility, leading a staff of only four others, and is extremely stressed and frazzled as a result. A stout, unmarried woman of plain features and a careworn air, she appears to genuinely care about the welfare of the children, but with so many of them in her care, she has little one-on-one interaction with her charges.

Aylesbury Municipal Library If the investigators choose to research the recent disappearances at the local library, it will take at least 4 hours of research to gather all of the information listed in Table 1: Aylesbury Child Disappearances, Basic Data. This research time can be divided by the total number of investigators who roll a successful Library Use skill check (minimum time is 1 hour).

Children Papers #1

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Table 1: Aylesbury Child Disappearances, Basic Data Name Gracie Portman Jessica Morris James Hollings Yancy Beatty Sylvia Drake Jake Torrance Chastity Willis Polly Murray Lydia Belknap Preston Travers

Age 13 12 11 13 10 9 11 10 12 11

Disappeared 7/18/1926 8/22/1926 11/9/1926 11/29/1926 12/14/1926 1/3/1927 2/12/1927 3/8/1927 3/28/1927 4/27/1927

Reappeared N/A 8/26/1926 11/12/1926 12/3/1926 12/19/1926 1/6/1927 2/16/1927 3/13/1927 3/31/1927 Still Missing

Legal Guardian Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines John & Elizabeth Morris Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines Temperance Drake Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines Penelope Chapman—Sheltering Pines Joseph Belknap Elijah & Martha Travers

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E

Aylesbury Historical Society

long handled tomahawk decorated with wolf teeth, hawk feathers, and symbols is embedded in its trunk. A successful Anthropology or Archaeology roll will allow the investigators to identify the symbols as the mark of Stalking Wolf, a legendary Nipmuc warrior. Investigators who have seen the actual tomahawk realize that it is the same as the one in the paintings. The Historical Society also has a number of artifacts and exhibits of local historical significance on display, including some ancient Native American items. A successful Idea roll will let the investigators realize that the Indian artifacts might have considerable value to the local Nipmuc, and that acquiring one or more of them on behalf of the tribe may prove helpful in gaining its trust and cooperation. If any of the investigators are employees of a museum or other cultural institution, they will understand that the number of items on display is only a small percentage of the total collection; other investigators should be allowed an Idea roll to recognize that fact. Should the investigators inquire about searching the archives, a successful Persuade, Fast Talk, or Bargain roll will get them access. Searching the Historical Society archives will take the investigators four full hours. Each successful roll reveals one of the following:

Any investigation into mysterious happenings in the region from a wider historical perspective will require the investigators to head to the Aylesbury Historical Society. Upon entering the establishment, the investigators will notice a slight commotion at the curator’s desk in the back, where a spirited discussion is occurring between the curator and a visitor who appears to be Native American. By listening for a few moments, the investigators will overhear that the visitor is a representative of the Nipmuc, and is unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate for the return of Nipmuc artifacts to the tribe. Upon noticing the entrance of the investigators, the obviously unsympathetic curator will take advantage of the moment to shut down the discussion, and the Nipmuc representative will leave the premises in a huff. With each hour of research and successful Library Use skill check, the investigators will uncover one of the following legends and stories: ❖ Local Nipmuc legends portray the region of woods immediately adjacent to the Hollingsworth Textiles Mill as cursed, and no member of the tribe will set foot there. 17th century ethnologists compiled much of the oral history of regional tribes, and while the Nipmuc shared much of their history and legends, they steadfastly refused to discuss that subject.

Ann Bishop Parker’s Diary Discovered years after her execution, this journal details Parker’s introduction to and subsequent worship of a goddess she called The Great Mother. The diary requires two hours to skim, six hours to read, and five weeks to study in order to attempt learning the spell contained therein. Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D6; Cthulhu Mythos +4 percentiles. Spells: Contact Shub-Niggurauth, Compulsion, Enthrall Victim, Bind Enemy, Summon/Bind Dark Young. See Children Papers #2.

❖ An unusual incident occurred during the construction of the mill in 1844. Reports of strange noises in the woods prompted two site workers to investigate. When neither returned, a search party was sent out. One worker was found wandering blindly through the woods, gibbering and incoherent, muttering that the tree had eaten his friend. The only clue to the fate of the missing man was a large swath of bloody forest floor.

Stalking Wolf ’s Tomahawk

❖ In 1694, a local woman named Ann Bishop Parker and her

slave Iyabo were convicted of witchcraft and executed. Parker allegedly bewitched her own husband and a local young girl named Bridget Foster. Legend has it that Foster became pregnant with a demon child which was killed shortly after birth. Parker reputedly had a witch’s altar somewhere in the woods outside Aylesbury, but no evidence of such was ever discovered.

This Native American weapon is estimated to be over 1,000 years old. The axe-head is made of antler or bone of some sort, and the long shaft is crafted from ash. The tomahawk is decorated with wolf teeth, hawk feathers, and carved symbols. A successful Anthropology or Archaeology skill roll will allow the investigators to decipher the carven symbols on the shaft, which indicate that the weapon was crafted by the Nipmuc warrior Stalking Wolf. With a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll, one of the carvings on the blade can be identified as the mark of the Elder God Vorvadoss, signifying a pact has been made for granting power in return for self sacrifice. Any investigator who has seen Hewitt’s sketches realizes that this is the tomahawk shown in the pictographs. This weapon does 1D8+2 +DB and causes double damage against inhuman servitors of the Outer Gods.

❖ In 1911, pictographs estimated at over a thousand years

old were discovered in a cave on the south bank of the Miskatonic, 3 miles upstream from the Hollingsworth Mill. Benton Hewitt, who discovered the paintings, went mad soon after their discovery and destroyed the site with explosives, causing a massive cave-in, with himself inside. The only remaining records of the pictographs are sketches Hewitt created prior to the cave-in. They depict a powerful Indian warrior in an open area of the forest, doing battle with an all-black, goat-headed humanoid. Prone human figures surround the two, most bearing a black symbol shaped like a hoof print. A gnarled, twisted, blackened tree lies among the dead; a

Nipmuc Cultural Artifacts Only found if the investigators made successful rolls in Anthropology or Archaeology (or, at Keeper’s discretion, with a Spot Hidden roll if the Nipmuc have described them to the

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Children Papers #2

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E While others at the mill attend to daily operations, Evans became a general terror to the staff. Female workers were constantly subjected to his lewd comments and unwanted attention. More than one silently submitted to his lusts, desperate to keep their jobs. The children were often beaten, berated, or worse. The men turned a blind eye to Evans’ misconduct, similarly dependent on the meager income that work at the mill provided. Approximately 8 months prior to the investigators’ arrival in town, Evans held one of the child workers, Gracie Portman, after the rest of the workers had gone home for the day. The girl had caught his eye earlier in the day, and he decided that she needed a little “special” attention from him. Once he was done, he tossed her outside and locked down the mill for the night. The girl did not return for her shift the following day, nor in the weeks that followed. Months passed, and Evans grew bolder. He picked a new favorite from his child workers, Jessica Morris, but this time, he was interrupted. One of the older employees, 19-year-old Holly Jeffers, burst into the room to notify Evans of an accident involving one of the looms. Seeing the situation, she tried to pull Evans off Morris. As Evans turned to deal with Jeffers, Morris was able to flee from the mill. Evans proceeded to grab Jeffers. He attacked her, leaving bruises, and warned her that if she breathed a word of what she saw to anyone, he would kill her. The following day, he arrived to news that Jessica Morris had gone missing. He hoped fervently that she would simply stay gone, like the Portman girl, but four days later, she reappeared. To his amazement, however, she made no mention of the incident to anyone, and seemed to be normal, healthy, and happy. By the time the scenario starts, Evans has reined in his more egregious behaviors. He is by no means reformed, but having come so close to allowing his passions to undo him and land him in jail, he has become slightly paranoid and avoids doing anything that may draw undue attention. Investigators with a Psychology skill of 45% or greater may, upon a successful skill check, notice symptoms of paranoia and anxiety in Evans’ behavior. There is very little information that can be gleaned from investigating the mill outside the normal work hours of 6 am to 7 pm. There is no obvious physical evidence of anything unusual either inside the building or on the immediate grounds. When the investigators arrive at the mill during work hours, they will notice an automobile with the markings of the Aylesbury Sheriff ’s Department parked outside.

investigators), these are a pipe, a bowl for grinding grain, a beaded necklace and a turtle shell drum, all of which have significant cultural value to the local Nipmuc tribe. If the investigators acquire these artifacts, each will provide a +10% bonus to negotiations with Chief Soaring Hawk. Acquiring any of the items owned by the Historical Society will require either a successful Bargain and/or a successful Credit Rating skill check (Keeper’s discretion) in order to purchase them legally. Stealing or “borrowing” any of the items from the archives will require a successful Conceal roll when leaving, whereas stealing any items on active display will need a Conceal roll at a -25% penalty due to the presence of the curator in the room. Also, there is a 25% cumulative chance per hour that the absence of any item stolen from the active exhibit will be noticed and reported to the local police.

The Textile Mill The Hollingsworth Textiles Mill, located three miles west of Aylesbury proper, was a major employer for the townsfolk until the construction of the coal-powered Langley Mill. The Langley Mill’s proximity to the town center and its modern machinery drew the skilled mill labor away from the Hollingsworth Mill. Struggling to compete, the owners of the mill have resorted to using child labor as much as possible. Children from the local orphanage, as well as the children of poorer families in town, work upwards of 12-14 hours per day in the mill, at wages less than half those of adult workers. A bare minimum of adults work at the mill, completing the tasks that the children, lacking in physical stature and strength, cannot perform. Overseeing them all is the mill foreman, Curtiss Evans. CURTISS EVANS, Age 39, textile mill foreman and rapist STR 16 CON 13 SIZ 16 INT 11 POW 11 DEX 12 APP 9 EDU 11 SAN 70 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: .38 caliber semiautomatic pistol 55%, damage 1D10 Fist/Punch 60%, damage 1d3+db Knife 45%, damage 1D4+db Grapple 65% Skills: Bargain 60%, Conceal 45%, Drive Auto 35%, Fast Talk 45%, Hide 45%, Persuade 45%, Psychology 40%, Sneak 40%.

In addition to being cruel, vindictive, petty, and vicious, Curtiss Evans is a blackmailer, serial rapist, and pedophile. Once a petty criminal involved with bootlegging and prostitution, he stumbled upon an opportunity to improve his lot when he discovered that Alfred Hollingsworth, heir to the Hollingsworth Textiles fortune, had fathered a child out of wedlock with a mistress. Should this become public, the resulting scandal could cost Hollingsworth his wife, his family, his social standing, and even his fortune. With so much to lose, Hollingsworth capitulated when faced with Evans’s ultimatum: Evans would be hired into a comfy, do-nothing position at the mill with a more-than-generous salary, and evidence of Hollingsworth’s indiscretion would remain hidden.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Evans will be found in the foreman’s office. With him will be his cousin, Officer Stanley Barstow of the Aylesbury Police Department. Stanley came to the mill to let Curtiss know about the disappearance of Preston Travers, acting not so much as an officer of the law, but more as a family member looking out for his own. If the investigators first visit the mill on Saturday morning, Barstow and Evans have not yet heard about the mass disappearance of the previously missing children. Barstow is far from a sterling example of a police officer, and will not hesitate to abuse his position and authority if it seems to him that the investigators are getting too nosy for their own good.

Shortly after the investigators enter the mill, allow them to make a Spot Hidden roll. Those who succeed will notice a young woman, Holly Jeffers, trying to attract their attention surreptitiously before they speak with Evans. If they notice her, she will slip quietly out of the back of the building near the waterwheel. If they fail to notice, she will take the riskier route of “accidentally” bumping into one of the investigators with a stack of fabric remnants in her arms. While scrambling to recover her scattered burden, she will attempt to pass a strip of fabric to one of the investigators, upon which she has written “Have information. Need help.” She signals to them, pointing outside and making a circular motion with her hand, before slipping outside to wait by the waterwheel. If the investigators choose to meet with her, she will explain that she is in danger from Evans and that the police officer is his cousin. Jeffers explains that she has information that may relate to the disappearances, but in return for her it she needs assurances that the investigators will protect her from Evans’ retaliation or, better still, provide her with a new dress, new shoes, and a train ticket back to Nebraska. If they agree, she will pass on all of the information that she has about Evans, especially his penchant for violence and sexually assaulting young girls. Any other staff that the investigators speak to will have nothing substantive to tell them beyond what the general public knows of the situation. Any further questioning will be referred to the foreman.

STANLEY BARSTOW, Age 32, Crooked Aylesbury Police Officer and Cousin to Curtiss Evans. STR 17 CON 16 SIZ 16 INT 12 POW 9 DEX 11 APP 11 EDU 10 SAN 85 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Weapons: .38 Caliber Revolver 75%, damage 1D10 Fist / Punch 70%, damage 1D3+db Nightstick 55%, damage 1D6+db Grapple 75% Skills: Dodge 35%, Drive Auto 50%, Fast Talk 60%, Law 40%, Psychology 30%, Spot Hidden 35%,

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E

Nipmuc Indian Reservation

Soaring Hawk is an expert on the geography of the region and its history relevant to Native American culture. He speaks fluent English, in addition to Narragansett, Massachusett, and Mahican. Soaring Hawk will reluctantly agree to meet with the investigators, even though he is quite clearly very distrustful of the “white man” and outsiders. If the investigators ask what Soaring Hawk knows about the disappearances, he will reveal that he knows only what can be found in the newspapers, although he has not yet heard about the most recent disappearance unless the investigators inform him. A successful Psychology roll will reveal that he is very unnerved by the disappearances. If pressed about the subject of the cursed wood and the tribe’s reluctance to discuss it, Soaring Hawk will reveal that the area is indeed considered cursed by the tribe and that the prohibition on any discussion of it was instituted by the tribe’s medicine elders in the times before the white man came. He notes that, while some traditions have fallen by the wayside, the medicine elders have been adamant down through the years that to speak of the cursed wood without great need would bring doom down upon the tribe. Only the tribe’s practitioner of traditional medicine may speak of such things. Chief Soaring Hawk will be very resistant to the idea of allowing the investigators to speak with Nisquanem, the tribe’s principal medicine man. If the investigators have not yet been to the Historical Society, Soaring Hawk will inform them that, if they can acquire any of the artifacts that are currently in the Society’s collection and return them to the Nipmuc, the tribe’s gratitude would be significant and would go far to convincing them to share information about the cursed wood. As noted in the Historical Society section, any items of cultural significance to the Nipmuc that the investigators have already acquired may improve their negotiations with Soaring Hawk. Additional factors that can affect negotiations include:

Located 5 miles south of Aylesbury proper, the Nipmuc reservation is the last bastion of the native culture of the Aylesbury region. The Nipmuc struggle to retain their heritage as more and more of their young are lost to the grip of alcoholism or assimilated by the white men. If the investigators arrive in a motorcar, they will have to park about a quarter of a mile away from the main settlement. The encroachment of modern American culture has taken its toll on the population of the reservation. While some traditional wigwams still serve as shelter, many of the more modern dwellings are little more than shacks. It is painfully obvious that the reservation is in need of significant resources, including food, medicine, and agricultural equipment. As they are being led through the camp to meet with the chief, investigators making a successful Idea or Spot Hidden roll notice a unique wigwam, tucked back away from the main group of structures. The dwelling is festooned with charms and fetishes, and has elaborate painting on its walls. A successful Occult roll reveals that many of the symbols and fetishes are variations on ancient protective wards, while a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll identifies at least one of the symbols on the wall as a variant Elder Sign. If the investigators’ discussions with Soaring Hawk are successful, he will identify the wigwam as that of the tribe’s medicine man, Nisquanem. While most of the tribe knows the legends of the cursed forest and the original Children of the Goat, they will steadfastly refuse to discuss the subject with outsiders and will direct all questions to the tribe’s chief, Soaring Hawk. Investigators will be asked to leave any weapons in a woven basket inside the entrance of the chief’s dwelling. Investigators who refuse to surrender their weapons will be refused entry to the chief’s wigwam. If all of the investigators refuse, they will be respectfully escorted off the reservation. CHIEF SOARING HAWK, Age 47, Nipmuc Tribe Chieftain

❖ If any of the investigators can speak with any level of proficiency in the Narragansett, Massachusett, or Mahican dialects, they receive a +10% bonus to their Persuade, Fast Talk, Bargain, or Credit Rating attempt(s).

STR 14 CON 16 SIZ 13 INT 15 POW 16 DEX 12 APP 12 EDU 9 SAN 80 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: M1903 Springfield Rifle (.30-06) 65%, damage 2D6+4 Hatchet 55%, damage 1D6+db Knife 45%, damage 1D4+db Skills: Bargain 55%, Climb 60%, Dodge 35%, Listen 45%, History (Native) 35%, Natural History 45%, Persuade 45%. Psychology 50%, Spot Hidden 45%, Throw 40%, Track 50%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%.

❖ If any of the investigators shows solid knowledge of Nipmuc culture (succeeds in a History or Anthropology roll), the respect that such knowledge engenders in Soaring Hawk will grant them a +10% bonus to their Persuade, Fast Talk, Bargain, or Credit Rating attempt(s).

AVERAGE NIPMUC WARRIOR

❖ Any overt disrespect to the tribe or breach of their hospitality (getting caught sneaking around the reservation, stealing, etc.) will result in an additional -25% penalty to all negotiations.

STR 15 CON 16 SIZ 13 INT 13 POW 10 DEX 14 APP 12 EDU 9 SAN 50 HP 15 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: M1903 Springfield Rifle (.30-06) 50%, damage 2D6+4 Hatchet 45%, damage 1D6+db Knife 35%, damage 1D4+db Grapple 55% Skills: Climb 60%, Dodge 30%, Natural History 40%, Sneak 40%, Spot Hidden 40%, Throw 45%, Track 50%.

❖ If the investigators possess Stalking Wolf ’s Tomahawk when they visit Soaring Hawk and show it to him, he will immediately take them to see Nisquanem, no negotiations necessary.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE them, they would drown in their own corruption. Sadly, that was not the case. They grew in their power and depravity, aided by unnatural beings sent to them by the entity they worshiped, and their very bodies twisted into new shapes, granting them inhuman strength and speed. They began to prey on the surrounding tribal villages for sacrifices, both animal and human. Laughing Crow, a wise and powerful medicine woman, went Dreamwalking to try to determine what the Children were up to, but whatever she saw on her Dreamwalk broke her mind. ‘They bring Her here...’ were the only words she spoke before she took a cutting stone to her own throat. “The Children then made the error of abducting the wife of Stalking Wolf. Stalking Wolf was a renowned warrior of the Nipmuc, and the son of the eldest medicine man of the tribe. He sent a messenger to the Children to negotiate for the return of his wife. The answer they returned sealed their fate. Stalking Wolf woke the following morning to the flayed body of his messenger mounted upon a spear outside his wigwam, his wife’s bloody scalp stuffed in the messenger’s mouth. “Nobody knows precisely what happened next. Stalking Wolf sealed himself inside his wigwam for an entire week, taking no visitors, nor food and drink. Strange chanting and other sounds could be heard from within. At the end of the week, he emerged, pale and gaunt. Saying nothing to anyone, he stalked into the woods in the deep of night, never to be seen again. The stories tell of our villagers hearing the sounds of an epic battle taking place in the depths of the woods, where the settlement of the Children was. They heard inhuman cries, bellows of some huge creature, the crashing of falling trees. Then, after hours of this, all at once: silence. “When dawn finally broke, our tribe slowly ventured out to where the battle had taken place to find...nothing. No battleground, no settlement—nothing. It was as if the Children and Stalking Wolf had never existed, and the grove had never been anything other than a simple clearing in the woods. It was only after extensive searching that one of our warriors found Stalking Wolf ’s tomahawk embedded in a tree near the edge of the grove, the only evidence that anything had occurred there. “Because of that incident, our medicine people declared that area of woods to be cursed, off-limits to all of our people for the rest of time. To even mention the legend outside of the tribe is to invite disaster, as if even the mere mention of the cursed Children would invoke their wrath. I fear, however, that we may be well past that now and that the Children have returned.”

❖ If any of the investigators has any weapon larger than a small knife concealed on his or her person, allow Soaring Hawk a Spot Hidden roll versus that investigator’s Conceal roll. If he notices the concealed weapon, he will refuse further negotiations and demand that the investigators leave the reservation. If the concealed weapon in question is Stalking Wolf ’s Tomahawk and Soaring Hawk realizes that the investigators were deliberately hiding it from him, he will let loose a war cry, calling his tribe’s warriors to escort the investigators from the reservation. If negotiations with Chief Soaring Hawk are successful, he will have the investigators escorted to Nisquanem’s wigwam. NISQUANEM, Age 61, Nipmuc Tribe Medicine Man STR 8 CON 14 SIZ 11 INT 18 POW 20 DEX 11 APP 9 EDU 9 SAN 65 HP 13 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Knife 60%, damage 1D6 Grapple 35%. Skills: Astronomy 70%, Craft (Native Fetish/Totem) 90%, Listen 45%, Occult 65%, Medicine (Native) 55%, History (Native) 35%, Natural History (Native) 45%, Spot Hidden 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 27%, Spells: Create Elder Sign, Circle of Warding, Deflect Harm, Powder of Ibn Ghazi.

Upon entering Nisquanem’s wigwam, any investigators who succeed at a POW x2 roll will be aware of strong wards protecting the dwelling. The medicine man is a short, but stocky, figure draped in fetishes and charms. He welcomes the investigators in warmly, promptly shooing away Soaring Hawk, despite the latter’s protestations. Nisquanem retrieves a smoldering pipe that appears to be packed with fragrant herbs and offers it to the investigators, after first taking a deep drag himself. Any investigators who accept his offer will gain +15% to their Idea and Luck rolls for 1D3 hours. After introductions, the medicine man will sit patiently as the investigators explain what they know of the situation and what information they hope he can provide. News of the disappearances had filtered into the tribe, but details were few, and since there was no direct impact on the tribe, little was thought of it. If the investigators relate that all of the disappearances happened in close proximity to the cursed grove, Nisquanem will become clearly distressed and will relate the following: “Hundreds of years ago, some foolish members of our tribe began to worship a being of darkness. They referred to her as the Great Mother and held profane rituals and sacrifices to her honor. For this, they were cast out from the tribe, marked as exiles from the People. After a period of wandering, they established their own village deep in the woods, where they continued their foul practices. They raised there an altar, surmounted by a statue of their twisted Great Mother, a goat-headed monstrosity with seven eyes. It was this that earned them the name ‘The Children of the Goat’. “The elders of our tribe had hoped that if we ignored

If the investigators have Stalking Wolf ’s tomahawk and Nisquanem is aware of it, he will encourage them to use it in battle against the evil that threatens to rise in the cursed wood. The tribe’s warriors will be needed to secure the reservation against possible attack, but the tomahawk will do the most good in the hands of those facing the imminent threat. However, they must swear to return it if they succeed. The investigators will have some short time to ask questions of Nisquanem, but it soon becomes quite evident that the audience is over. If the investigators linger overlong, he

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E will actually become a bit snappish and brusquely ask them to leave so that he can begin preparing the tribe to defend itself against the threat he perceives.

A Dangerous Encounter A few minutes after the investigators leave the main area of the reservation, they will hear (no Listen check required) what sounds like an Indian war cry coming from the path leading back toward town. If they came to the reservation in a motorcar, they quickly discover that all of the vehicle’s tires have been vandalized once they return to where they parked, effectively stranding it, as the route back to the main road consists of 2-3 miles of unpaved dirt road. Any attempt to drive the car back to town will result in a broken axle. If the investigators walked from town, they will encounter the shredded remains of what they believe to be a medium-sized woodland creature strewn across a wide swath of path about a quarter mile from the reservation proper. While the investigators discuss how to handle the vandalized vehicle or examine the carcass, allow each investigator a Spot Hidden or Listen roll (whichever the investigator has the higher skill in). Any investigator who succeeds will not be surprised by the gof ’nn hupadgh dropping from the trees. All of the gof ’nn hupadgh will drop down from the surrounding trees and attack. The sound of gunfire and combat will alert the nearby reservation, but it will take four full rounds of combat for assistance to arrive, in the form of Chief Soaring Hawk and three warriors of the tribe. The gof ’nn hupadgh will attack until the investigators are dead or 1/3 of the creatures have been killed or disabled. If any of the investigators brandishes Stalking Wolf ’s tomahawk, that person will become an immediate target of all of the creatures, who will attempt to seize possession of the weapon. If any of the creatures successfully wrests the tomahawk away from the investigators, it will immediately attempt to flee combat with the artifact and return to the Sacred Grove with its prize. If the tomahawk is successfully stolen, the gof ’nn hupadgh will place it as an offering at the base of the statue in the grove. A successful Spot Hidden roll (it is not technically hidden, but there will be ample competition for their attention) will allow the investigators to notice the weapon upon their arrival at the grove. If they do not notice it before combat starts, allow additional rolls at the beginning of each combat round. Once the encounter is over, Soaring Hawk and his warriors will be able to identify the creatures as having once been members of the Children of the Goat, noting the presence of tattoos and scarification on the bodies. Investigators may recognize the symbols as being related to Shub-Niggurath via a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll.

The Original Children of the Goat Under Gracie’s control are a minimum of six creatures (Keepers should feel free to add more for larger groups of investigators or to increase the difficulty of the scenario)

known as “gof ’nn hupadgh Shub-Niggurath” or “blessed of Shub-Niggurath.” These mutated beings were members of the original Children of the Goat tribe, and were phased out of our base reality, along with the sacred grove, when the tribe was defeated centuries ago. The gof ’nn hupadgh will remain inside the “phased” grove either until Saturday evening, when the Dark Young goes to retrieve Evans, or until the investigators visit the Nipmuc reservation. If the Dark Young fails in its task, the gof ’nn hupadgh will attempt to complete it. When the grove is phased into normal reality, they will prowl around the immediate perimeter, patrolling for any trespassers. Gof ’nn Hupadgh Shub-Niggurath, Lesser Servitor Race #1

STR 10 10 11 14 13 15 CON 16 17 16 18 19 18 SIZ 12 13 12 15 14 15 INT 11 10 10 8 7 9 POW 16 17 16 15 14 17 DEX 10 11 11 12 11 10 HP 14 15 14 17 17 17 DB +0 +0 +0 +1D4 +1D4 +1D4 Move 8 Weapons: Claw / Hoof / Fist 30% damage 1D6 + db Bite 30% damage 1D4. #1—Tomahawk 40%, damage 1D8 #2 & 3—War Club 40%, damage 1D6 #4, 5, 6—Gore Attack 30%, damage 1D6+db Armor: None. Regenerates 1D6 HP per round until dead. Spells: Call Shub-Niggurath, Summon/Bind Dark Young of ShubNiggurath, Body Warping, Become Spectral Hunter, Scarlet Circles, +1D3 other spells of Keeper’s choice. Skills: Hide 90%, Sneak 70%, Climb 40%, Conceal 30%, Dodge 30%, Spot Hidden 45%, Swim 20%, Throw 20%, Track 30%. #1–#3—Disguise 35%. Sanity Loss: 0/1D4 for sanity points for seeing Gof ’nh Haupadgh #1–3 1/1D6 for sanity points for seeing Gof ’nh Haupadgh #4–6 (who are extremely mutated and bestial in appearance)

Description: These creatures are servants to the Black Goat, created when humans are ritually sacrificed and “reborn” through rituals or the powers of Shub-Niggurath’s minions. No two are the same, and some are more horribly mutated than others, but they are almost always humanoid and are the basis of many folk tales and legends about “goblins.” Many may have goat-like aspects to their mutations. While they may be humanoid in form, there is no mistaking these creatures for humans.

The Sacrifice On Saturday evening (approximately 11pm), Gracie will send the Dark Young to the Hollingsworth Mill to retrieve Curtiss Evans at all costs. If Evans isn’t at the mill because he is incarcerated or in hiding, the Children of the Goat, wearing disguises to appear somewhat human, could be sent to capture him. No matter where he hides The Black Goat of the Woods

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE tacles at the top and short, stumpy legs at the bottom, terminating in massive hooves. A multitude of rough, puckered maws pockmark the surface of the trunk and drip foul, green goo. The creature reeks with a foul odor reminiscent of the smell of open graves.

with a Thousand Young will find him. If, by this point, Evans has been killed, the Outer God’s servitors retrieve his corpse or remains and bring them to the sacred grove. Here, the awesome power of Shub-Niggurauth restores the man to life long enough for him to die upon her altar and complete the ritual. Should the investigators somehow thwart the Goddess from recovering Evans, dead or alive, the Outer God sends her minions to bring his closest male relative to die in his stead, with Stanley Barstow being the most likely candidate.

New Spell: Create Gof ’nn Hupadgh Usable only on a Dark Young’s target that is completely drained of Strength, this spell requires one complete combat action to cast and costs the Dark Young 5 MP. On the following combat round, the target transforms into a gof ’nn hupadgh, completely loyal to the Outer God Shub-Niggurath. This process is irreversible, and the investigator is now an NPC under the control of the Keeper.

Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, Greater Servitor Race STR 44 CON 20 SIZ 48 INT 16 POW 17 DEX 19 Move 8 HP 34 Damage Bonus: +4D6. Weapon: Tentacles (x4) 80%, damage=db+ STR Drain Trample 40%, damage 2D6+db Armor: dark young are of non-terrene material and make-up, so that any successful firearm attack does only 1 point of damage. A firearm impale does 2 points of damage. Shotguns are exceptions, and do minimum possible damage, whatever that is. Hand-to-hand weapons do normal damage; attacks dependant on heat, blast, corrosion, electrical discharge, or poisoning have no effect. Spells: Alter Weather, Cause Blindness, Create Gof ’nn Hupadgh, Sense Life, Wither Limb. Skills: Hide in Woods 80%, Sneak 60%. Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D10 for seeing a dark young.

Finding the Sacred Grove What the investigators discover at the site of the sacred grove depends greatly on timing. If investigators arrive between 12am–2am or after 11pm on Saturday, April 30, they find the grove fully materialized and come under immediate attack from the grove’s powerful defenders. Investigators arriving at any other time find no trace of the grove, as it is not manifested within this reality. It is simply a wooded area indistinguishable from the surrounding forest. Tracks found on Saturday morning after the mass disappearance lead to the general vicinity of the grove, which won’t appear again until 11pm that evening.

Description: This huge, treelike creature stands upwards of 20 feet tall and is comprised of a mass of ropy black ten-

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E Investigators witnessing the sacred grove phase into existence must make a Sanity Check for 1/1D8 points. Upon its full manifestation, Gracie and all of her tribe will be present, as will any remaining gof ’nn hupadgh. Faced with surprise opposition, Gracie attempts to perform the ritual immediately.

severed, and, for the first time in your existence, you realize that you are truly and utterly alone. Finally, you scream in pain, in terror, and in unspeakable misery. You sense an offer being extended to you—cease your opposition and rejoin with your God, be welcomed back to the safety and comfort of the womb of the Great Mother...”

The Sacred Grove

Have the investigators make a Sanity Roll of 1/1D8 as they are forced to relive a clear memory of their own births. If any of the investigators choose to accept Shub-Niggurath’s offer, collect the player’s character sheet and treat the character as an NPC under the control of the goddess. This attack/ offer will only occur once. Investigators who decline should also take 1 HP of damage as they bleed from their navels, as though newly severed from an umbilical cord.

The grove is an open area roughly 80 feet in diameter and generally circular in shape. The ground within is mostly covered in grass, moss, and normal forest floor vegetation, with several large boulders peeking out here and there. At the center of the open area lies the altar to Shub-Niggurath, a construction of stone and wood engraved with petroglyphs that defy human comprehension. The mensa (table portion) of the altar is canted at a 30–40° angle and shows signs of ancient blood encrusted in the carvings and crevices. Surmounting the elevated end of the mensa is a stone statue depicting Shub-Niggurath as the Children of the Goat perceived her: a heavily pregnant human female with satyr-like goat legs and the head of a goat with seven eyes and great horns spiraling back from either side of the head. Investigators who see the altar and statue should take 1/1D6 sanity loss. Gracie will be kneeling at the base of the altar, head down and eyes closed. Due to Stalking Wolf ’s disruption of the Children of the Goat’s summoning ritual hundreds of years ago (see “A Vision Of The Past”), the grove has become dimensionally “unstuck.” It exists as an isolated pocket dimension, only manifesting when a free-willed being (i.e. not a member of a servitor race) blessed by Shub-Niggurath (inducted into the tribe of the Children of the Goat) wills it to manifest in the earthly plane or when events particularly relevant to Shub-Niggurath’s interest occur in the immediate vicinity. Currently, the grove only manifests when Gracie wills it. If Gracie’s connection to Shub-Niggurath is somehow severed (severing the link to the other children as well), the grove will phase back out of reality, trapping any of Shub-Niggurath’s minions still present in the grove at the time. The grove needs to be fully manifested in the earthly realm for the ritual to take place. As soon as the investigators cross the outer boundary of the grove, the sentience controlling Gracie will lash out with a psychic attack. Read the following (or paraphrase) to the investigators:

A Vision Of The Past If any of the investigators has Stalking Wolf ’s tomahawk in his or her possession at the time of the psychic attack, that investigator (limited to a single bearer) is spared from the assault and instead receives a different vision: the last moments of Stalking Wolf ’s life. “You fight your way through the Children of the Goat, desperately trying to reach the altar upon which your wife’s mutilated corpse lays. You are mere steps away from the altar when the tentacle of a Dark Young plunges through your chest from the back (Sanity loss 1/1D8). In your final moments, you crawl to the altar, shove your hand inside the gaping wound in your chest and breathe your dying curse as you place your bloody hand on the altar. The ritual is disrupted, all of the cultists shrivel into gof ’nn hupadgh, and the grove and its contents vanish, leaving only your tomahawk, embedded in what now appears to be a mere fallen tree (the corpse of a Dark Young).” The subject of this vision will then realize that one way to stop the ritual without harming Gracie or any of the children is to bathe the altar and statue in the lifeblood (i.e. blood from a fatal wound) of someone of pure intent.

The Ritual The Dark Young will place Evans, screaming and struggling, upon the mensa of the altar, feet toward the ground and head closest to the statue. The vines that entwine the altar and statue will come alive and bind Evans’s neck, torso, arms, and legs, to the altar. Gracie kneels at the base of the mensa, facing Evans, head down. Surrounding them in a ring rotating counter-clockwise, holding hands and singing, are the missing children of Aylesbury. A successful Listen roll will allow the investigators to realize that the children are singing “Ring Around The Rosie.” As the ritual proceeds, Gracie will lift her head, eyes still closed, and stand with her back to the altar. She will throw her arms out to her sides, and, at the same time, thick, gnarled

“It is completely dark, but you float in warm silence, protected and safe. Suddenly you feel that you are being crushed and constricted, forced from this place of utter tranquility. You are ejected into bright light and blaring sound, and strange, alien beings toss you about. You are hung upsidedown, swung, and struck. A shocking pain unlike anything you’ve ever felt races through your entire body, and you struggle, desperately, to fill your lungs to scream. Until now, you’ve always felt safe and cared for, but that is over. And just when you think the worst is over, your link to God is violently

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Rounds 3–9: Chanting continues. Investigators or Margret Ellison can attempt to reach Gracie’s consciousness and sever her link to Shub-Niggurath, or interfere in some other way.

vines will unfurl from either side of the altar, mimicking her actions. She will fold her arms in, grabbing the center of her dress over her chest, and as she does so, the thorny ends of the vines thrust themselves toward the center of the altar, embedding themselves in the center of Evans’s chest. In a sudden motion, Gracie will move her hands down the center of her torso, and the vines will proceed to rip open Evans’s chest in synchronized motion (3/1D6 Sanity loss). She will thrust her arms in front of her, hands curled around each other, and then open her hands. In response, the vines will tear the beating heart from the man’s chest and hold it forth over the girl’s head, squeezing so that the heart’s blood pours down upon her. Once she is drenched in blood, she will shout out a few incomprehensible words and open her eyes, which blaze forth with an unearthly and unholy light. At the same time, the seven eyes on the statue open as well, shining in the same way. Another 1D4/1D10 Sanity loss occurs as the investigators witness a writhing within Gracie’s distended belly, stretching it beyond the normal limits that a human body should be able to accommodate.

Round 10: Evans dies. Gracie is showered with blood. The ritual is successfully completed.

Defenders of the Grove Defending the grove and preventing investigators from disrupting the ritual are all remaining Gof ’nn Hupadgh and the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurauth. During this time, these servitors of the Great Mother do everything within their power to ensure that the ritual is not interrupted and any invaders to this sacred place are destroyed. Should the investigators manage to defeat these creatures, they can approach the altar, with only a ring of nine children between themselves and Gracie.

A Shield of Children The children cannot do any appreciable damage to the investigators, but they will selflessly put themselves between Gracie and any danger. If approached, the children attempt to grapple investigators, grabbing onto their arms and legs. If a child successfully grapples an investigator, that investigator’s movement and all skill checks are reduced by half. If two

Timeline of Ritual Round 1: Dark Young places Evans on the altar. Round 2: Living vines bind Evans to sacrificial table, Gracie kneels, children chant.

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E children successful Grapple an investigator, that investigator is grappled and must free him or herself before taking further action.

man. If all nine of the children are rendered unconscious, they are rescued from Shub-Niggurauth’s control, the ritual ends, and Keepers should go to Outcome Two.

THE NEW CHILDREN OF THE GOAT, Missing Children (x9)

Method Two: Destroy the Altar, Kill Curtiss Evans, and/or Gracie Portman

STR 6 CON 6 SIZ 6 DEX 11 APP 11 EDU 17 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Grapple 25% Skills: Art: Singing 35%.

INT 6 SAN 85

POW 10 HP 6

Once the protective field, fueled by the life force of the missing children, is disabled, investigators can attack the priestess, sacrifice, or the altar itself. The statue of Shub-Niggurauth is large and immobile; Keepers may allow investigators a +10% bonus to all attacks made on it. If the statue takes 30 points of damage before the ritual ends, it falls over, cracks into several pieces, and emits a foul smelling black smoke. With this conduit to the powers of Shub-Niggurath severed, the ritual fails, and Keepers should proceed to Outcome One. Evans is held fast by the vines, and Keepers may grant the investigators a +10% bonus to attacks made on him. The man is barely alive after his rough treatment by the Dark Young and living vines, having only 5 remaining HP. If Evans is killed mid-ritual, the spell fails, and Keepers should proceed to Outcome One. Gracie is somewhat protected from harm by the powers of The Great Mother, but she does not move from her ceremonial position, even if attacked. She does not flinch or react to any damage, although wounds do form on her body. If Gracie is rendered unconscious or killed, the ritual fails, and Keepers should proceed to Outcome One. Investigators killing Gracie suffer a 1/1D4 Sanity check for their actions.

The children are all bound together by a thin veil of foulsmelling black mist. This living cloud of vapor connects them to the statue and altar, as well as to Gracie and Evans. These tendrils of mist cannot be physically affected, and investigators can clearly see that some dark enchantment binds them all together. If a child is directly attacked and either killed or rendered unconscious, the tendril of black vapor linking them to the others vanishes. This black mist binds the life force of the children together, forming a powerful protective barrier over the physical altar, the priestess (Gracie), and sacrifice (Evans). Damage from any attacks made on the altar, the priestess, or the sacrifice is magically transferred to the ring of nine mist-bound children. The children represent a 54 HP protective barrier, and for every 6 HP of damage inflicted on Evans, Gracie, or the altar, one of the children falls dead. For every child the investigators separate from the mists, via direct attacks or rendering the child unconscious, the strength of the field diminishes. Damage is transferred in one direction only; attacks to the children do not harm the altar, Gracie, or Evans in any way. Once investigators witness the damage transference effect, Keepers may allow them an Idea roll. If successful, the investigators realize that, if the children of the tribe are rendered unconscious, their connection to Gracie, Evans, and the altar will be broken, and they will no longer be subject to the damage transference.

GRACIE PORTMAN, Enthralled Priestess of Shub-Niggurauth

Disrupting the Ritual

STR 7 CON 8 SIZ 7 INT 6 POW 20* DEX 10 APP 12 EDU 7 SAN 0** HP 8 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: none. Armor: Takes 1/2 damage from non-magical attacks due to the protection of Shub-Niggurauth. Skills: Conduct ritual to birth avatar of Shub-Niggurauth 100% (unless stopped). *(12 if freed from control) **(40 if freed from control)

Investigators have four possible ways to disrupt this ritual once it has begun. These four methods result in two quite different outcomes, all of which are detailed below.

Method Three: Breaking Shub-Niggurath’s Hold on Gracie During the ritual, Gracie is almost completely in the thrall of Shub-Niggurath, but some of her consciousness remains. Investigators can attempt to break the Outer God’s control over the child by making a successful Persuade check, but only if they can physically reach her. Male investigators receive a -50% penalty to this roll, due to Grace’s recent traumatic experience at the hands of Curtiss Evans. Female investigators fare a bit better, but still receive a -25% penalty. If Margaret Ellison is present she tries to reach Gracie at all costs. Should Margaret reach Gracie, she passionately apologies for leaving the child and pleads with Gracie to remember her and the promise that they would one day be part of a family. She tells Gracie about James and begs her to stop

Method One: Neutralize the Children in the Ritual Ring Investigators can disrupt the ritual by targeting the children assisting in the ritual. If all nine children die before the end of the ritual, the spell fails, and Keepers should go to Outcome One: The Twisted Abomination. If the children are neutralized with at least one of them surviving (i.e., knocked unconscious), the ritual continues, but the protective field over Evans, Grace, and the altar is gone. These three targets can now be attacked, and investigators may attempt Method Two: Destroy the Altar, Kill Curiss Evans, and/or Gracie Port-

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE smell of open graves. The twisted abomination has a pair of larger tentacles which it uses to batter opponents. It can strike two separate targets per round.

this so they can all go to a place far away from the horrors of the grove. This succeeds in breaking Sub-Niggurath’s hold on the Gracie; the ritual is ruined, and Keepers should proceed to Outcome Two.

Outcome Two: The Stillborn Goddess

Method Four: Noble Blood Sacrifice Should an investigator bear Stalking Wolf ’s tomahawk, he or she received a vision on how to stop this ritual with a noble blood sacrifice: a hero or heroine freely giving his or her life to banish the grove. Any investigator choosing to do this in order to stop the ritual must die in such a way that blood from the killing blow is spilled upon some portion of the altar. If Margaret is present and informed of this option, she offers up her life if she is assured that Gracie will be saved by her sacrifice. If either Margaret or a willing investigator successfully performs the noble blood sacrifice, the ritual immediately ends. Keepers should proceed to Outcome Two.

Once freed of the influence of Shub-Niggurauth, either by a Noble Blood Sacrifice or by others managing to reach her inner consciousness, Gracie is back in control of her mind and body. The child will be terrified and confused, unable to do more than cry and cling to whoever managed to reach her. Curtiss Evans screams in pain as the vines pull tight, cutting through his body and slicing him into dozens of sections. Gracie suddenly begins crying out in pain, while clutching her abdomen. Investigators quickly realize that Gracie is in labor. After about half an hour, she gives birth to a stillborn thing which vaguely resembles a human infant. The thing appears to be a hermaphrodite with curved horns, hooves, multiple eyes, and several tentacles. Those seeing the Stillborn Goddess must make a Sanity Check for 1/1D4.

Outcome One: The Twisted Abomination

Ritual Resolution

If Evans dies mid-ritual, Gracie screams out in incredible pain as she falls to the ground and is wracked in convulsions. If Gracie is killed or rendered unconscious mid-ritual, Evans is shredded as the vines clamp down, cutting through flesh and bone until they reach the bare stone of the sacrificial table. If all nine of the children bound by the dark mists die mid-ritual, Gracie dies, collapsing as her eyes burst outward, with blood pouring from her ears and nose, and Evans is shredded by the vines. Dead or alive, Gracie’s body rapidly expands before being torn apart with sounds of snapping bone and ripping flesh. From the bloody remains the Twisted Abomination, an incomplete manifestation of Shub-Niggurauth, takes form in this reality. The creature takes a single combat round to orient itself before attacking anything and everything within reach.

If the investigators are successful, they have disrupted the ritual, reaching either Outcome One or Two. With the death of the Twisted Abomination or the birth of the Stillborn Goddess, the link to Shub-Niggurath is severed, and the grove phases out of existence immediately. Any children still linked to Shub-Niggurath, all servitor creatures (dead or alive), and the bodies of those slain within the grove vanish with it. If the investigators fail to stop the ritual by the tenth round, the spell succeeds. Gracie gives birth to the avatar of Shub-Niggurath. The Great Mother, fully twenty feet tall and identical in form to the statue on the altar emerges from Gracie in an impossible stretching of the girl’s frail human form. Those witnessing the horrific glory of the birth must make a sanity check for 1/1D8, and then for 1D10/1D100 for seeing the Outer God incarnate on the mortal plane. Gracie survives the delivery, but is forever after a thrall of the Great Mother, either as a dedicated human priestess or as a powerful gof ’nn hupadgh (Keeper’s choice). The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young then spends the next three combat rounds trying to kill everyone within reach who isn’t a servitor or worshipper. After that, it picks up Gracie and rampages through the woods, emerging near Hollingsworth Mill. The Outer God turns the structure into kindling, completely leveling the place before vanishing. Keepers can have the Outer God reappear at the Sheltering Pines Children Home, which it then similarly destroys. Should all this occur, the scenario concludes, and the investigation ends in failure.

TWISTED ABOMINATION, Failed Material Manifestation of Shub-Niggurath STR 25 CON 38 SIZ 20 INT 3 POW 15 DEX 12 Move 5 HP 29 Damage Bonus: +2D6 Weapons: Tentacles (x2) 60%, damage 1D4+db Armor: The non-terrene nature of this creature protects it from physical attacks. Any successful firearm or melee attack does only 1/2 damage. Impaling attack do normal damage, as do enchanted weapons. Damage from heat, blast, corrosion, electrical discharge, or poisoning attacks are similarly reduced by 1/2 damage. Spells: none. Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D10 for seeing the twisted abomination.

Description: This creature is a twisted mass of ropy tentacles, interspersed with malformed human and goat limbs. The abomination reeks with a foul odor reminiscent of the

LET TH E CH I L D R EN C O M E TO M E

Sanity Awards

SHUB-NIGGURATH, The Black Goat of the Woods STR 72 CON 170 SIZ 120 INT 21 POW 70 DEX 28 Move 15 HP 145 Damage Bonus: +11D6 Weapons: Tentacles 100%, damage automatic catch Trample 75%, damage 11D6 Bite 100%, damage 1D6 STR drain per round Armor: Shub-Niggurath has no armor, but her slimy mist body is immune to physical weapons. Magical weapons, or fire, electricity, or similar energies damage her normally. Her ropy tentacles and gooey vapors can rejoin, effectively allowing her to regenerate points of damage. Each magic point she expends enables her to heal 2 points damage. Spells: Shub-Niggurath knows at minimum all spells pertaining to the Outer Gods; she is known to have imparted Create Gate, Curse of Azathoth, and Voorish Sign to favorites. Sanity Loss: 1D10/1D100 Sanity points to see Shub-Niggurath.

For returning the cultural artifacts to the Nipmuc Tribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+1 Sanity Point For removing Curtiss Evans as Foreman of the Hollingsworth Mill . . . . . . . . . . . +1D3 Sanity Points For each gof ’nn hupadgh defeated . . . . . . .+1 Sanity Point For defeating the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D10 Sanity Points For disrupting the ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D6 Sanity Points For each child killed during the ritual . . . . . -1 Sanity Point For each child saved during the ritual . . . . .+1 Sanity Point If Gracie Portman dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1D4 Sanity Points If Gracie Portman survives . . . . . . . . . . +1D4 Sanity Points If Margaret Ellison dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1D3 Sanity Points If Shub-Niggurath is successfully summoned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1D12 Sanity Points If Margaret Ellison, James Garrett, and Gracie Portman all survive and become a family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D6 Sanity Points

Aftermath Depending on the outcome, investigators are likely to have some explaining to do. If the ritual was successfully disrupted, the bodies of those killed within the grove and anyone linked to Shub-Niggurath have now vanished, never to be seen again. Any rescued children must be returned, with an explanation for both the authorities and their guardians. If Margaret was lost, investigators must then deal with her understandably enraged fiancé James Garret, the State Trooper with a handgun. If Margaret, Gracie, and James survive the scenario, things go well for them. Margaret and James marry in a short civic service, adopting Gracie as quickly as the law allows afterwards. Physically, Grace has been rendered infertile, but otherwise makes a full recovery from her ordeal. While Gracie and the other surviving children suffer from periodic night terrors for the remainder of their lives, they have little conscious memory of their time within the grove in the service of Shub-Niggurath.

Th e lo ne l y po i nt l i g ht ho u se b y Os ca r Ri os

Introduction

be $1.50 per night for The Waterford. They are being paid $5 a day, plus expenses, for their services between March 11th and 14th. On the morning of Friday, March 12th, the investigators will be ferried out to the Lonely Point, a small island about two miles off the Connecticut coast. They’ll have a short time to do research, question locals, and gather supplies before traveling to the Lonely Point Lighthouse. Once at the lighthouse, they’ll be completely cut off from the outside world for twenty four hours, or so they’re told. Poor weather can, and will, delay their return to New London for several days.

The investigators are hired by the New London City Council to do a formal paranormal investigation of a supposedly haunted facility, the Lonely Point Lighthouse. Since the death of the facility’s original keeper, Morris Fitch, six years ago, people have reported hearing strange sounds: tapping, moans, and scratching. It was their accounts that lead to the stories about the lighthouse being haunted. The last three lighthouse keepers hired by the Chamber of Commerce all quit within their first year. The Lonely Point Lighthouse has stood vacant for nearly two years now. The counsel is under pressure to resolve the situation because of a recent tragedy. Four months ago, The White Queen, a luxury yacht, nearly ran aground on Lonely Point Island, likely because the facility was dark. She was trying to reach New London during a storm, but was damaged by her near grounding and sank a few hundred yards away into a deep ocean trench the locals call Moray Drop. The owner of the yacht and sole occupant, Francis Bracken, was never seen again and is assumed to have gone down with her. The City Council of New London is deeply embarrassed by this tragedy and wants the issue of its “haunted lighthouse” settled once and for all. It would like to hire and retain a full time lighthouse keeper and hopes a formal investigation will put these wild stories to rest.

The investigators begin with the following items of information: ❖ The Lonely Point Lighthouse was run by Morris Fitch from its opening in 1881 until 1920. ❖ Morris Fitch and his wife Bessie raised two children, Gary and Michelle, while living on Lonely Point. The Fitch family never mentioned anything about a strange noises, ghosts, or sea monsters in the lighthouse, or on or around the Lonely Point. ❖ Gary Fitch is considered a local hero for being posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in France. A statue of him was erected last year outside Bulkeley High School, which he attended.

Play Begins

❖ Three lighthouse keepers have resigned since the death of Morris Fitch: Allen Metcalf (employed from April 1921 until March 1922), Ray Chapin (employed between August and November, 1922), and Chester Wade (employed between February and December 1924). Each reported hearing strange noises, such as scratches, taps, and moans, inside the lighthouse, noises which seemed to come from everywhere at once.

The investigators arrive in New London, Connecticut on Wednesday or Thursday, the 10th or 11th of March 1926. Their employer, the local City Clerk’s office, has paid for their room at The Waterford, a comfortable local hotel, starting on the night of the 11th. Investigators can arrive a day early, but are responsible for their own accommodations, which would

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E But she wasn’t alone; with her was a small, hideous creature somewhat like herself, only more monstrous. It resembled a Deep One, but bore some physical characteristics which were rather sharklike. Morris could tell Deep Ones apart and realized that this small creature looked very much like his wife. Without even an apology for her long absence, Bessie asked, in sign language, that Morris help her to teach this young boy the English language (as she could no longer form the words herself). Morris realized the heartbreaking truth: his unfaithful wife had borne a son with a new lover. He suspected the father was likely the huge bull shark he’d seen haunting the waters around Lonely Point in recent years. Something within the lonely lighthouse keeper’s mind snapped. Morris agreed to his wife’s request, but only so he could plot his revenge.

❖ Starting in 1924, several locals began claiming to see a strange creature swimming in the area around Lonely Point. Most sightings are fleeting, and no clear photograph has been taken of the supposed sea monster. Several local businesses want to promote the creature as The Sea Monster of Moray Drop to attract tourists.

Keeper’s Information The Calm Surface The first keepers of the Lonely Point Lighthouse were Morris and Bessie Fitch, who moved in as newlyweds in 1881. While a tad reclusive, they were an integral part of the community of New London for more than thirty years. The Fitches raised two children at the lighthouse, a son, Gary, born in 1893, and a daughter, Michelle, who was born a year later, in 1894. The family lived happily, although Bessie and her daughter had a strained relationship since Michelle’s teen years. Both Fitch children left the New London area shortly after graduating high school. Gary joined the United States Marine Corps in 1910, and Michelle got engaged in 1911 while visiting relatives in Dayton, Ohio. On the surface, everything about the family seemed perfectly normal.

Vengeance A few weeks later, when Bessie visited with her new son, Morris put his plan into action. He drugged his wife into unconsciousness and drove her child back into the sea, by firing a shotgun into the air. Morris dragged his sedated wife into the lighthouse, chained her to a wall and bricked over her prison behind a false wall. He further secured his wife in her prison by placing an Elder Sign before her. Weakened by the Elder Sign and without any leverage, the Deep One who’d been Bessie Fitch could not free herself. Morris then warded Lonely Point with a ring of enchanted standing stones and further warded the entrance to the lighthouse. Her son, terrified and alone for the first time, could not reach his mother. The vengeful Morris then hired a local fisherman, Jessie Holland, to help him in killing “a troublesome bull shark”. Morris and Holland caught and killed the shark, although the fisherman took note of the lighthouse keeper’s illogical cruelty to the large fish. The hybrid child witnessed the act and learned to fear man, his hooks, and his guns. Three years passed. The half shark-half Deep One creature grew in size and never strayed far from Lonely Point, where his mother was being kept. Morris Fitch kept his wife prisoner, feeding her through a slot in the wall and keeping her damp with buckets of water. Bessie Fitch could not free herself from the prison her insane husband had created for her.

The Secret But Bessie Fitch had a secret. Her maiden name was Elliot, of the Innsmouth Elliots, and she was a Deep One Hybrid. Her husband knew; she’d been honest with him from the start. They had a good life together for many years, but in 1903, at the age of thirty eight, Bessie began to change. By 1908, Bessie stopped appearing in public, as her physical transformation could no longer be hidden or explained away. The couple became hermits in the lighthouse; their children left shortly thereafter to start their own lives elsewhere. Morris became his wife’s full time caretaker, as Bessie’s slow and painful metamorphosis eventually left her bedridden. Yet his love never wavered during that decade of change, and by 1913, Bessie Fitch had become a full blooded Deep One.

The “Haunting” Begins

The Betrayal

Then, in September of 1920, Morris Fitch fell down the stairs of the lighthouse tower and died. It was weeks before the body was discovered, and during that time, Bessie Fitch withered away from hunger and thirst, becoming a mummified husk within her prison. When Morris was discovered, no sign of his long unseen wife was found. Many suspected she had died and Morris had buried her on the island. Others whispered that he might have murdered her and dumped her body into the sea. But, because of Gary Fitch’s fame within New London, no formal investigation of possible wrongdoing concerning his missing mother was made.

Freed from the pain of her change, Bessie regained her mobility. For a time, the couple happily lived as they had before, with the only difference being communicating through an elaborate sign language. But Bessie longed for a life below the waves of the sea. She began spending more and more time in the ocean, leaving Morris for longer and longer periods of time. The life of a lighthouse keeper can be a lonely one, and Morris grew bitter and resentful. Then, one May evening in 1917, Bessie returned to Lonely Point Lighthouse, after an absence of over six months.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE But Deep Ones are immortal, and Bessie Fitch cannot die of natural causes. Whenever there is a serious storm, cracks in the roof leak water onto her mummified form. The withered husk of the Deep One then soaks up the water like a sponge and regains consciousness. During these times, Bessie Fitch scratches, taps, and moans in desperation for her freedom. She cannot form human words or sounds, and she is incredibly weak and half crazed with thirst. Hearing these strange, terrifying sounds caused the last three lighthouse keepers to resign after only a few months. Their stories formed the basis of the rumors of Lonely Point Lighthouse being haunted.

The Sea Monster The moans of Bessie Fitch also attract the now fully grown half shark-half Deep One hybrid, which then swims about Lonely Point Island looking for a way to rescue its mother. Sightings of the creature have given rise to the rumors in New London of a local sea monster. For nine years, the horrific creature has been barred from moving onto Lonely Point Island by the wards placed by Morris Fitch, but that has changed. When The White Queen nearly ran aground on the island four months ago, it knocked one of the standing stones down, destroying the protective barrier around the island. During the very next heavy storm, when Bessie Fitch once again

New London, Connecticut This city, first settled in 1648, has an excellent deep water harbor and lies about midway between New York and Boston. New London was a major naval base during the American Revolution and nearly burned to the ground during the Battle of Groton Heights. In the 19th century, New London became the second busiest whaling port in the world, and much of its architecture reflects the wealth of that period. Over the years, much of what was once New London became other towns, such as Groton (in 1705), Montville (in 1786), and Waterford (in 1801). According to the 1920 Census, New London has a population of about 26,000 people.

regains consciousness, her youngest child, the Sea Monster of Moray Drop, will discover it can crawl onto the island.

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E

Lines of Investigation

all public records, property deeds, vital statistics, and genealogical documents.

Investigators have a day, possibly two, to conduct research in New London before being taken out to Lonely Point. They begin play with a little information about the Fitch family and the last three lighthouse keepers. Investigators can learn a great deal from speaking to locals and conducting archival research in New London. Some likely initial topics the investigators may choose to look into are: The History of Lonely Point Island, the Last Three Lighthouse Keepers, The Fitch Family, The Haunted Lighthouse, and The Sea Monster of Moray Drop.

❖ The offices of The Day (47 Main Street), the local newspaper founded in 1881.

Places to Conduct Research

Many residents of New London have opinions about the haunting at the Lonely Point Lighthouse, the Sea Monster of Moray Drop, and the Fitch Family. Most of what they know is rumor and opinion, but a few facts can be discovered. Investigators more suited to conversation than academic research can speak to various people across New London, but get the best results seeking out those few who interacted with the Fitch family, or visited Lonely Point.

❖ The Bulkeley High School (for boys) and the Williams Institute (for girls), where the school records for Gary and Michelle Fitch are located respectively. ❖ St. James Episcopal Church (76 Federal Street)

Speaking to Locals

New London has several good places for investigators to do research. Most of the documents the investigators are searching for can be found at multiple locations. While Keepers can add other locations, some likely places for the investigators to do research are:

Such people would include:

❖ The New London Historical Society (11 Blinman Street), founded in 1870 and opened to the public at The Shaw Mansion in 1907.

John Chester, Donald Kelly, and Ralph Tolman—Local Fishermen. Leo Peaks—Maintenance worker who’s serviced the Lonely Point Lighthouse for 20 years.

❖ The New London Public Library (63 Huntington Street), which opened in 1891. It possesses a complete run of the local paper, The Day, and the town genealogical records.

Bernard Stafford—15 year civic employee, dealt with Morris Fitch and the last three keepers.

❖ The City Clerk’s Office (181 State Street), which contains

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Dr. Davis Pel—The Fitch family physician.

17th, 1922, details Allen Metcalf quitting his position at Lonely Point. 2. Haunted Lighthouse Claims 2nd Keeper!—Dated November 12th, 1922, details Ray Chapin quitting his position at Lonely Point. 3. Another Keeper Flees in Terror from Haunted Lighthouse— Dated December 20th, 1924, details Chester Wade’s resignation from Lonely Point.

Reverend Julian Ruggles – Priest in charge of St. James Episcopal church since 1912 (Reverend Carl Aldermen, who was here when the Fitch family attended services died in 1914 of natural causes). Harrison Venderhoff—Shopkeeper and delivery man who keeps Lonely Point supplied. Vernon Wells, Peter Fallen, Clara Sturry, and Bernice Hopton—Some of the older teachers at the Bulkeley High School or Williams Institute, who taught either Gary or Michelle Fitch.

The Last Three Lighthouse Keepers Investigators may want to speak with the last three lighthouse keepers, to hear about their firsthand experience. Such interviews provide the investigators little information beyond what they already know. Tracking the men down doesn’t take much work, but getting the men to tell their stories is another matter. That requires a Persuade check, as the men are nervous about being viewed as crazy or publicly ridiculed. Allen Metcalf works as a bank clerk and is living in nearby Groton (4 miles from New London). Ray Chapin is a postman and resident of New London. Chester Wade is an aspiring sculptor living in Kingsport, Massachusetts. The men all say that the work was simple, but the job difficult due to the solitude. Each was a bachelor at the time and lived alone on the island. If convinced to talk about their haunting experiences, the men give very similar stories:

Julia Warwick, Eva Little, Philip Moore, and Melvin Lacy— Some of the classmates of either Gary or Michelle Fitch at Bulkeley High School or the Williams Institute.

Researching the History of Lonely Point Island and Lighthouse Investigators consulting historical archives, libraries, public records, or talking to locals find very little about Lonely Point Island or Lighthouse. Those making a successful Library Use roll (for records) or Luck and Persuade roll (for speaking to locals) can learn the following.

❖ Things could be calm and normal for weeks at a time between periods of haunting. ❖ Moans, scratches, tapping, and the sound of chains rattling would echo throughout the lighthouse; they could never determine the source of the sounds.

❖ Lonely Point Island is a small island (two miles long, half a mile wide, 640 acres) south of New London, between Fishers Island and Plum Island.

❖ The haunting seemed to get worse whenever there was a large storm and could last for several days.

❖ Lonely Point Island sits in a channel of water called The Race, about 2 miles northeast of Little Gull Island, its closest neighboring island.

❖ If investigators pass their Persuade roll by more than 20%, the former keeper adds the following: The man they are currently talking to never told anyone this before, but he’d seen something large and grayish colored swimming around the island. It would sometimes appear at dawn or dusk after a storm. He suspects it’s what everyone calling the Sea Monster of Moray Drop. (This only applies to the first man with whom the investigators pass their Persuade roll by more than 20%, even if they track down one or both of the other former lighthouse keepers and are similarly persuasive.)

❖ The local (Pequot) Indians never lived on Lonely Point Island nor are there any legends among their people concerning it (records only). ❖ Lonely Point Island was uninhabited until the lighthouse was built there in 1886 (records only). ❖ The first keeper of the Lonely Point Lighthouse was Morris Fitch, who moved in with his wife Bessie, in April of 1886. ❖ The waters around Lonely Point Island have a tricky current and a dangerous shoal which, combined, can cause serious damage to vessels. This is the reason for the lighthouse.

The Fitch Family

❖ About a quarter mile of a north of Lonely Point is a deep ocean trench which locals call Moray Drop (speaking only).

Investigators researching the Fitch family must swim against a current of revisionist history. Before 1917, the Fitch family was considered odd, not hated per se, but not well liked or well thought of. Morris and Bessie were loners, Gary and Michelle misfits and outcasts in the local schools. But, all that changed when Gary Fitch became a war hero. Now, investigators will be hard pressed to find anyone in New London who’d say a single bad thing about them. Even some unflat-

❖ Bull sharks are common around Lonely Point (speaking only). ❖ Fishing and crabbing have been awful for miles around Lonely Point for about the past 10 years (speaking only). ❖ Three short newspaper storied from The Day can be found (records only): 1. Lighthouse Keeper Driven off by Ghost!—Dated March

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E years before falling ill.

tering records have been made more difficult to find by local archivists. This area of investigation is broken up between conversations with locals and records.

❖ She contracted some long term illness, gout or polio, and both she and her husband stopped coming to the mainland about 20 years ago (1908).

Conversations with Locals

❖ No one is really sure when she died. Negative comments about Bessie Fitch (requires a successful Persuade check):

About the Family:

❖ She may have had too firm a hand with her children. ❖ The Fitch family was a quiet bunch of people who mostly kept to themselves.

❖ She had an explosive temper, especially with her children’s behavior.

❖ Morris was from Vermont, and Bessie was from Massachusetts.

❖ She had a difficult relationship with her daughter, Michelle, and the two were estranged.

❖ They were newlyweds when Morris became the first lighthouse keeper at Lonely Point, moving in on the day of the lighthouse’s grand opening.

❖ Even though the family said she had a serious long term illness, she was never treated by a doctor. If questioned, the local physician Dr. Pel, who occasionally cared for the Fitch family, suspects the condition as being a form of muscular dystrophy.

❖ They raised two children on Lonely Point, who both left the New London area shortly after graduating from the local high schools.

❖ Some say she was murdered by her husband and her ghost still haunts Lonely Point.

About Morris Fitch: About Gary Fitch:

❖ Morris was originally from Vermont. ❖ He was probably the hardest working lighthouse keeper in all of New England.

❖ He was quiet, a good student and active in high school sports (a lie).

❖ He was a loving father to his children, Gary and Michelle.

❖ He was one of the most popular kids in New London (lie).

❖ He spent many years caring for his wife, who became ill and bedridden.

❖ He joined the army right out of high school. ❖ Everyone is so proud of him and what he did overseas for his country.

❖ Morris Fitch died of a fall while tending the lighthouse. He probably should have retired before then, but his dedication kept him working.

Negative comments about Gary Fitch (requires a successful Persuade check):

Negative comments about Morris Fitch (requires a successful Persuade roll):

❖ He wasn’t very popular or handsome and didn’t really have any friends.

❖ Morris went off the deep end a bit while his son was fighting in France. He had Jessie Holland help him catch a large bull shark. People say that after they hooked the fish, Morris shot it several times with a shotgun while screaming and cursing at it.

❖ He had a bit of a temper, but wasn’t really a trouble maker. ❖ He was suspended a couple of times for fighting after being picked on.

About Michelle Fitch:

❖ When Morris Fitch was found dead, no sign of his wife was found. He had said she was ill and confined to bed, but it seemed that he’d been living alone for years. People think she died of whatever illness she had and the lonely old man couldn’t face it. Some folks think he buried her somewhere, or put her body in the sea, and just kept pretending she was alive.

❖ She was a good student, popular, and active with the high school pep squad (lie). ❖ She moved out of state after high school to live with her aunt in Ohio.

❖ Some say Morris Fitch went a little crazy from caring for his bedridden wife and killed her. Her body was never found.

❖ She got married and had a couple of kids.

About Bessie Fitch:

❖ She had her mother’s temper, and the two had some very ugly, very public fights.

Negative comments about Michelle Fitch (requires a successful Persuade check):

❖ Bessie was of strong New England stock. ❖ She was a firm disciplinarian to her children.

❖ She was considered weird and homely by her classmates, who often picked on her.

❖ She was active at St. James Episcopal Church for many

❖ She was the alternate and “gopher” for the pep squad; she

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE only got to participate if someone else was sick.

About Jessie Holland

❖ She got married in Ohio because she got herself “in trouble” with a boy there while visiting her aunt the summer after graduation.

Investigators can learn more about this man, by asking locals or making a successful Library Use rolls. Jessie Holland was a New London native and fisherman, who sometimes did charter work for tourists. On July 22nd, 1919, he went missing, and his boat was found abandoned, anchored a mile south of Plum Island. Three days later, parts of his body washed up on Bluff Point, four miles southeast of New London. The local coroner lists the cause of death as “probably shark attack”. In truth, Jessie Holland was murdered in retaliation for his part in the death of the bull shark by the creature known as the Monster of Moray Drop. The attack took place on the second anniversary of the fishing trip with Morris Fitch, and the shark killed that day was the creature’s father.

Local Records Birth and Death Records: ❖ Morris Fitch died of a fall, in 1920, and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. ❖ There is no death certificate for Bessie Fitch. ❖ Gary Fitch was born in 1893 and died in 1918 (while fighting in France). ❖ Bessie Fitch was born in 1894.

Local Denial Regarding the Ohio Murders (see Lighthouse Papers #4)

Newspaper Stories (+20% to Library Use roll for investigators to locate):

No one in New London will accept the truth of this story. Very few of them even acknowledge the murders and suicide in Dayton Ohio, and if they do, they steadfastly claim that Michelle Gannon is not Michelle Fitch. Any suggestion the sister of local hero Gary Fitch murdered her own children and herself is met by angry, if not violent, refusal of that slanderous claim. Investigators are firmly told they were hired to debunk claims of a haunting as a publicity stunt and not to dishonor the name of the greatest war hero New London has ever produced. However, investigators making a critical success on either a Fast Talk or Persuade roll calm the situation enough to get a more measured response. In such cases, the person does confess that the story is likely true. They advise investigators that most residents of New London don’t want their local hero’s reputation sullied by stories of his eccentric father and disturbed murderous sister.

❖ There are two newspaper stories regarding the Fitch Family, which can be easily located by the investigators. (See Lighthouse Papers #1 and #2.) Negative Newspaper Stories (-10% to Library Use roll for investigators to locate due to being intentionally misfiled, See Lighthouse Papers #3 and #4.)

About James Gannon Investigators trying to learn more about James Gannon, widow of Michelle Fitch Gannon, must make a successful Library Use check with a -15% penalty. After the murder of his children at the hands of his wife, Mr. Gannon experienced long periods of depression, ultimately resulting in his commitment to the Athens Lunatic Asylum, located in Athens, Ohio. He remains there to this day and is not allowed outside visitors or contacts. Investigators wishing to further pursue this lead must journey to Athens, Ohio and somehow bypass, convince, or fool security into allowing them access to the bereaved widower James Gannon. If they do speak with him, there is little he can tell them. Michelle never spoke of her mother or her ancestry, and she did not give her husband any indication of what she was planning. All he knows is that, some time before she murdered their children and committed suicide, she had nightmares and began to suffer from something that was probably some form of muscular dystrophy. The investigators can learn that and everything else they need to know in New London and Lonely Point, without going all the way to Ohio to see James Gannon.

Lighthouse Papers #1

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E ❖ The creature is friendly, has saved several drowning children, and is often seen being ridden by a mermaid (this story usually has the teller smirking and other locals groaning or throwing things).

The Trip to Lonely Point The investigators are due to leave the morning of Friday, May 12th. They’ve been given the name and address of a local merchant, Harrison Venderhoff. Mr. Venderhoff delivers supplies to Lonely Point when there is a keeper in residence. He’s an older man, born and raised in New London, and he was friends with Morris and Bessie Fitch when they were all much younger. However, that bond faded once the pair stopped being social in 1908. If the investigators need more time to conduct research before leaving, they’ll need to make arrangements with Mr. Venderhoff. This requires a successful Persuade roll, as the merchant wants to deliver the investigators to Lonely Point as soon as possible. The reason for his urgency is because, starting Thursday evening (March 11th), the weather seems to be taking a turn. He’ll warn the investigators that the longer they delay heading out, the rougher the trip could be. Mr. Venderhoff also explains that he might not be able to pick them up safely on Sunday as planned, saying “Nor’Easter might be rolling up. Skies sure showing the signs of such…” His ship, The Megan, is small but sturdy, built more for delivering goods than the comfort of passengers. He knows the seas around Lonely Point well and delivers the investigators there safely. The trip takes about an hour and a half, during which time investigators can engage the old man in conversation. If the investigators missed key information while in New London, Keepers can have Mr. Venerhoff inform the investigators of it. The old man tries not to speak ill of the dead, seeks to protect the good name of Gary Fitch, and has some sympathy for poor Morris Fitch. He may comment, “Poor old man out there, all alone. His son died in the war and daughter hadn’t so much as spoken to him in o’er ten years.” Once on the island, Mr. Venderhoff helps the investigators carry their supplies inside. The Chamber of Commerce sends the investigators off quite well stocked. There are boxes filled with enough food, coal, and kerosene to meet their needs for five days, seven if they ration it carefully. (This is longer than the investigation should last.) Harrison Venderhoff helps the investigators fire up the furnace and shows them how to

Lighthouse Papers #2 The Haunted Lighthouse There are actually no printed stories about the lighthouse at Lonely Point being haunted, other than what’s hinted at in the resignation stories regarding the last three keepers. There is some gossip being spread about the place, which is completely false. Some examples are: ❖ The ghost of Bessie Fitch is sometimes seen at the top of the lighthouse during storms. ❖ Even when deserted, the lighthouse sometimes lights up of its own accord. ❖ The spirit of Morris Fitch drove out the last few keepers because, even after death, he refuses to retire.

The Monster of Moray Drop There are no printed stories about the Monster of Moray Drop, as the local editor thinks little of sensationalism and is aware that New London City Council is trying to dispel the rumors. However, it is a popular topic for locals to discuss, often in a tongue-in-cheek way. ❖ The creature is a beast from the prehistoric age. ❖ The monster is a gigantic moray eel, a big bull shark, or maybe an enormous seal. ❖ The creature killed a local fisherman who went missing (actually true, Jessie Holland).

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE keep it running. He also demonstrates how to safely fill, light, and operate the many kerosene lamps, as Lonely Point is not equipped with electricity. He wishes them well and departs, supposedly to return 48 hours later. Fate and the weather have other plans.

Lonely Point Within three hours of the investigators’ arrival, it begins to rain, slowly at first, but a very powerful storm soon develops, marked by howling winds and crashing waves. Nor’Easter storms tend to move slowly, lingering in place for long periods and having bands of heavy precipitation between periods of calm. This particular storm is an ugly one, a mix of sleet, hail, and freezing rain. Keepers can use the ebb and flow of the storm to build tension for the investigators. The storm also lasts as long as the Keeper desires, likely until investigators resolve the scenario. It is quite possible for Keepers to have the storm raging well into the middle of the following week, stranding the investigators on Lonely Point one or two days longer than originally planned.

Lonely Point Island This small oval island, just a half mile wide and two miles long, lies nine miles south of New London between Plum Island and Fishers Island. A small wooded area rises in the

Lighthouse Papers #3

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E

The Lonely Point Lighthouse This large home and lighthouse has no electricity, phone, or radio. Heat is provided by a coal burning furnace and stove; lights are supplied by kerosene lamps and fixtures. Water is supplied by a pump powered reservoir, but water should be boiled before drinking and used sparingly. While mostly structurally sound, the place is in need of a good dusting, some airing out, and a coat of paint. The roof could use some repairs as well, which becomes apparent after the storm begins in earnest and leaks begin dripping onto the upper floor.

Lighthouse Challenges To keep the lighthouse heated, investigators must stoke the furnace with coal every six hours. Should the investigators desire hot food, they must use the coal burning stove. Perishables are stored in an ice box, powered by an ice block, located in an unheated corner of the kitchen. Rooms must be illuminated by lighting the room’s kerosene burning fixtures or a portable lamp. The dark rooms make performing searches more difficult as well, with every Spot Hidden and Library Use attempt (whether successful or not) taking a full hour. Keepers may also impose -10% penalties to the investigators’ Listen checks, due to the howling winds outside. The idea is to use the flow of game time between rolls to pace the unraveling of the mystery as investigators start slowly finding the many clues in the house.

Lighthouse Papers #4 middle of the island, and the coastline is mostly gravel, although rocky cliffs mark the western shore. Other than the lighthouse, there is very little to see on Lonely Point, but thorough investigators can find some useful clues.

The Standing Stones Around the island are several pillars made from large natural stones. These stones are between four and five feet high and appear smoothed by years of crashing surf. Investigators only discover these stones should they walk the coastline of the island or if making a successful Spot Hidden roll while atop the lighthouse’s tower. Each has been carved with a single strange figure resembling a six limbed branch (the Clark Aston Smith version of the Elder Sign). One pillar along the eastern shore lies fallen over on its side in an area of shoreline marked by deep gouges and drag marks. Investigators making an Idea roll realize that this is where the yacht The White Queen must have run aground, thereby toppling the stone. If the fallen stone is pushed back upright, it hums and buzzes for a moment before shattering into dozens of smaller pieces. Anyone viewing this happen must make a Sanity check for 1/1D3 points. Investigators making a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll realize that the standing stones were part of a carefully prepared ward protecting Lonely Point from mythos intrusion. However, when one stone was knocked out of place, the magic was dispelled, and the island is no longer so protected.

Clues within the Lonely Point Lighthouse Clue #1, The Masonry Supplies (Basem*nt, Storage Area) Investigators making a successful Spot Hidden check here discover some unusual items hidden behind some boards and under a tarp. They find a pile of bricks, a bag of mortar mix, and a belt of masonry hand tools (trowels, a hammer, and a chisel). In addition to these, there are a can of glue and a faded roll of wallpaper. The thick layer of dust over the tarp suggests that no one has disturbed this cache in maybe a decade.

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Clue #2, Two Odd Books (2nd Floor, Library)

be enchanted on an Equinox or Solstice, making it impossible for the investigators to accomplish durning the scenario.

This well stocked library is filled with books, fiction and non-fiction, as well as old newspapers and magazines. If the investigators have missed finding clues while in New London, Keepers should feel free to allow those clues to be discovered here. Investigators making a successful Spot Hidden and/or Library Use check discover two odd books. They are partially hidden behind a ship in a bottle and show signs of much use. The first book is a collection of short stories by Edger Allen Poe. If handled, it falls open to the middle of the story “The Cask of Amontillado”. In this tale, a person is chained to a wall and then sealed up behind a wall of mortared brick. The pages of this story are much more worn than any others in the collection. This, combined with the masonry tools, should give the investigators a fairly good idea what became of Bessie Fitch. The second book is quite old and rare. It is a copy of the Mythos Tome Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan (see page 97 of the 6th edition Call of Cthulhu rulebook), with the name Montgomery Elliot written on the inside cover. Shoved into the book are several loose pages of hand written notes. If examined and the investigators make a Cthulhu Mythos roll, they realize these notes are simplified guidelines to creating protection wards (Elder Signs) and properly arranging them to form a sanctified barrier against demons, witches, and other unnatural beings. Among these notes is a rough map of Lonely Point. Anyone reading these notes gains a +20% bonus to learning the spell Create Elder Sign. However, the notes are written so that the wards can only

Clue #3, The Diary of Michelle Fitch (1 st Floor, Bathroom) Investigators making a successful Spot Hidden roll here discover, stashed behind a pipe under the sink, a diary. The book, once belonging to Michelle Fitch, is more than fifteen years old and heavily damaged by mildew. The script remains legible, but care must be taken to avoid pulling the weakened book apart. Mostly, Michelle wrote about people picking on her at school, boys she likes, and teachers she doesn’t—the typical ramblings of a teenage girl. Mixed within are six entries hinting at something more sinister, each requiring 20 minutes of careful examination to discover (see Lighthouse Papers #5).

Clue #4, An Unopened Letter and an Old Photograph (2nd Floor, Sewing Room) These items are inside a box of mixed documents belonging to the Fitch family, stored here. To find the box, the investigators must make a successful Spot Hidden check and locating the letter within requires 3D10 minutes of searching. The envelope is addressed to a Michelle Gannon of Dayton Ohio and post marked September 18th, 1915. Return to Sender is written in large red ink on the envelope, and it was postmarked to return September 29th, 1915, without having been opened (see Lighthouse Papers #6). The photograph, in a frame with broken glass, is old and water damaged. On the

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E

back of the photograph is written, “Bessie Elliot Fitch, 1909”.

Map Key

Clue #5, An Unfinished Letter (1 st Floor, Office)

1st Floor

This unfinished letter sits crumpled in a ball and wedged behind a desk drawer. It was written by Morris Fitch and intended for his son, Gary. It was never completed because Morris spilled ink on it, and tossed it towards a wastepaper basket. However, the throw was a poor one, and the crumpled letter landed behind the heavy writing desk. It has lain here undisturbed for nearly a decade (see Lighthouse Papers #7).

The Doors (1 st Floor—Front and Back Door) All these doors have an unusual decoration, a wooden plaque, nailed onto each. Brass tacks are nailed into the plaque in the pattern of the sun. In the center of the sun is embedded a large round stone carved with a strange symbol. The symbol

Sewing Room (Storage)

Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Bathroom

Entrance

Foyer

Family Room

Office

Dining Room

Kitchen

Basem*nt

Pantry

Boiler Room

Bathroom

Storage

Reservoir

Attic

2nd Floor

Unfinished room

Storage

Library

resembles a five pointed star with a candle flame in its center (the August Derleth version of the Elder Sign). Investigators making a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll, or those who’ve found the copy of Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan in the first floor study, can properly identify this symbol. These are secondary barriers, protections in addition to the standing stone wards placed around the island.

Bessie Elliot Fitch, 1909

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

The Prison Cell (2nd Floor— Master Bedroom)

Lighthouse Papers #5

Those making a Spot Hidden roll in this room realize that the pattern on the wallpaper covering the west wall, while very similar to the pattern on the wallpaper in the rest of the room, does not quite match it. The wallpaper on the west wall also seems newer than the wallpaper covering the remainder of the room. Also on the west wall, at eye level, hangs a large wedding portrait of a young couple. The man is dressed in a Merchant Marines uniform. The woman wears a wedding gown with an odd pale gold tiara pinning down her veil. The portrait is

nailed into the wall, and removing it requires either the use of tools or a STR vs. STR check of 16. Embedded into the back of the portrait is a smooth stone engraved with the star shaped (August Derleth) version of the Elder Sign. Behind the portrait is a bare brick wall, uncovered by wallpaper. In the center of this unpapered section are several loose, unmortared bricks. These bricks can easily be removed, revealing a narrow opening barely 18 inches wide where Bessie Fitch has been imprisoned for nearly ten years (See Bessie Fitch, Imprisoned Deep One).

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E

The Storm Rages and the Haunting Begins At 1pm on March 12th, the first day the investigators are on Lonely Point, rain begins to fall in earnest. Soon, the wind and waves pick up, and the sky darkens considerably. By 3pm, a Nor’Easter is blowing full force outside, the sky inky black. Sheets of water pound down on the roof, and vicious winds rattle the windows. The thunderous crash of waves is audible even inside the house. By 5pm, the weakened roof becomes saturated and leaks form in the ceiling of several rooms on

Lighthouse Papers #5 the second floor. Investigators may contain the mess by placing pots from the kitchen under the leaks, should they choose to do so. However, these leaks trigger the “haunting”, which begins shortly after 7pm.

Tapping, Scratching, and Moaning A Deep One unable to reach water for long periods becomes a desiccated husk of a Deep One and, while remaining alive, slips into a form of hibernation. When rehydrated, such hibernating Deep Ones slowly regain consciousness. For the Deep One who was once Bessie Fitch, this process of

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

The Sea Monster of Moray Drop

prolonged desiccation interrupted by brief periods of partial rehydration has been agonizing and torturous. Once she regains consciousness, Bessie Fitch is incredibly weak. She is only able to scratch and tap with her fingertips while uttering weak moans, pitiful whimpers, and the occasional desperate cry. As the entire structure was built with cavity walls (where a narrow space exists between an inner and outer wall), these sounds echoed throughout every chamber of the lighthouse. Investigators can make Listen Checks to try and narrow down where the sound is coming from, but unless making a critical success, they are attracted to a false location, such as a vent or light fixture which projects the sounds louder than the actual source. While finding Bessie Fitch is the key to the “haunting”, the investigators’ main focus should be solving the mystery of what happened here. Finding Bessie Fitch by following the sounds she makes should be nearly impossible, taking at least four hours of trial and error and a critical success on a Listen skill checks. Keepers can dissuade their investigators from this tactic by having the sounds made by the imprisoned woman mysteriously stop from time to time. Such efforts could also be derailed by the timely arrival of Bessie’s surviving son arrive, The Sea Monster of Moray Drop.

Around 10pm on March 12th, the child of a large bull shark and the Deep One once known as Bessie Fitch swims up from the depths to Lonely Point. It resembles a huge, greenish blue bull elephant seal, with a shark-like head with black eyes and three rows of razor sharp teeth. The monster has claw tipped flippers, and a vertical shark-like tail fin. The creature, a Deep One-shark hybrid, discovers the protective wards are now removed, and it lumbers onto land. The creature undulates to move on land, slowly circling the lighthouse, keeping just out of the reach of lights. Keepers can build tension by having the creature peer into windows, knock and scratch at the shutters, or roar in fury between the flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder as the storm rages on. Investigators catching glimpses of the creature, possibly through a window during a flash of lightning, must make a SAN check for 0/1 point. The creature cannot enter the lighthouse easily, as the doorways are all warded with Elder Signs. If investigators remove any of the protective plaques from the structure’s doorways, the creature realizes they are now unprotected. Should an investigator open or break a window, the creature

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E

Lighthouse Papers #6

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Lighthouse Papers #7

TH E LO N E L Y P O I N T L I G H TH O US E also figures out that those passages aren’t warded at all and can be used to enter the building. The incredibly powerful beast can easily smash through a wall to gain entry, but hasn’t figured that out yet; its mind is childlike and not overly intelligent. Should the investigators approach the creature in a nonviolent way and attempt to communicate, it may be receptive. The creature does not understand English and has no real language, but tries to convey messages with the tone of its grunts, hisses, and roars. It is wary of both people and firearms, so behaves cautiously and suspiciously. Its only goals are to remain safe and rescue its imprisoned mother. Should investigators act in a threatening manner, or attack, the creature either attacks or flees depending on the number of large firearms visible at to it at the time. The monstrous son of Bessie Fitch wishes to free her somehow, yet is wary of people. It clearly recognizes weapons like rifles and shotguns. If desperate, the creature may force its way into the lighthouse in an effort to rescue its mother, killing anyone standing in its way. Should an investigator be killed from a single bite, Keepers should describe the creature swallowing a huge portion of its victim’s body, leaving behind a partial torso, a few scattered limbs, and possibly a severed head. Anyone witnessing such a horrific sight must make a Sanity Check for 0/1D3. If the creature hears its mother crying out in pain or suddenly falling silent, or the sound of gunfire, it charges into the lighthouse through a wall. If badly injured by investigators, the creature may retreat to return later, as its incredible constitution allows it to heal 1 hit point per two hours.

Resolution

THE SEA MONSTER OF MORAY DROP, Deep One-Shark Hybrid), son of Bessie Elliott Fitch

STR 14 CON 11 SIZ 16 INT 13 DEX 11 Move 8 / 10 swim Damage Bonus: +1D4. Weapons: Claws 25%, 1D6+db Armor: 1-point skin and scales. Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 for seeing a Deep One.

Bessie can no longer speak English words, but she may try to communicate non-verbally. She initially attempts to communicate using Deep One sign language, in hopes that the investigators are members of the Church of Dagon. Unless rescued by her surviving child, the creature is at the investigator’s mercy. If investigators kill the weakened Bessie Fitch, they trigger an immediate attack by her monstrous child (See The Sea Monster of Moray Drop). If investigators then manage to drive off or slay her son, the scenario is over, and the haunting of the Lonely Point lighthouse ends. All that remains to do is dispose of the evidence and create a plausible cover story for their employers, as the truth is too terrible and fantastic to be easily believed. However, investigators may choose to free the weakened and helpless Bessie. Investigators can pull down the brick wall, chiseling open her chains (requires three STR vs. STR 20 checks, or tools and four rounds of effort) and place the Elder Sign affixed to the back of the wedding portrait in another room. Once freed, the withered creature will stumble out of her prison and crawl towards any available source of water, such as sinks, bathtubs, pots, and buckets of rain water, or she will stagger outside and simply stand in the rain. Her nearly mummified body soaks up water like a sponge, and she quickly (1D4+1 minutes) rehydrates into a fully restored Deep One. DEEP ONE, Bessie Elliot Fitch (Restored)

STR 31 CON 22 SIZ 26 INT 6 POW 11 DEX 14 Move 4/12 swim HP 24 Damage Bonus: +2D6 Weapons: Bite 75%, 1D8+db Tail Slap 50%, 2D6+db Clawed Flippers 25%, 1D6+db Armor: 4-point skin. Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 for seeing the Sea Monster of Moray Drop.

If attacked, she defends herself and fights back, but the Deep One will not initiate an attack on the investigators. Any combat with her triggers an immediate attack from her son. Should this happen and investigators dispatch both the Deep One and the Sea Monster of Moray Drop, the scenario is over. The “haunting” of the Lonely Point Lighthouse ends. Unless attacked, the restored Deep One once known as Bessie Elliot Fitch tries to communicate with the investigators using sign language and bestial vocalizations. The Deep One reaches down to her belt, pulls off the tiara she wore on her wedding day (worth $1500) and hands it to the investigators as a reward before attempting to reach the ocean. Once outside, the Deep One is met by her son, but her raised hand prevents the hulking brute from attacking her liberators. The reunited creatures move away from the lighthouse and into the sea, diving down into the depths, never to be seen again. Should this happen the scenario is over. The “haunting” of the Lonely Point Lighthouse ends.

Bessie Fitch, Imprisoned Deep One Chained to a wall, which was then bricked over, is Bessie Elliot Fitch, a fully changed Deep One. She is weak and helpless; her body is withered and nearly skeletal even when revived by the dripping rainwater leaking through the roof. She is wearing an old rotted wedding gown, the same one she wore in the wedding portrait. Those seeing her must make a Sanity check for 0/1D6 points. DEEP ONE, Bessie Elliot Fitch (Weakened) STR 7 CON 5 SIZ 8 INT 12 DEX 5 Move 2 Damage Bonus: -1D4. Weapon: Claws 5%, 1D6-db Armor: 1-point skin and scales. Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 for seeing a Deep One.

POW 11 HP 14

POW 11 HP 7

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE No Escape

BULL SHARKS (x2), siblings of the Sea Monster of Moray Point

Investigators may fail to resolve the mystery of the haunting. Should investigators leave Lonely Point without freeing Bessie Fitch, or if they kill her and fail to destroy her son, they suffer grave consequences. When the storm ends, Harrison Venderhoff picks up the investigators to return them to New London, but his boat, the Megan, is attacked. The Sea Monster of Moray Drop rams the Megan with such force that it knocks a small hole in the hull. The Megan begins to sink, and Mr. Venderhoff activates the boat’s pumps, confident that they’ll make it to shore safely, so long as nothing else happens. However, investigators making a successful Spot Hidden check notice a pair of bull sharks circling the boat and making ready to further ram the vessel. If the Megan takes another 30 points of ramming damage, she sinks within 1D12 minutes. Unless the investigators drive off these two bull sharks, companions of the Sea Monster of Moray Drop, the Megan sinks before reaching New London. Once the boat sinks, and the investigators and Mr. Venderhoff are in the water, the bull sharks and the Sea Monster move in to finish them off. Even if the investigators survive the shark and Sea Monster attacks, they must still make a successful Swim check to reach shore alive.

STR 27 CON 21 SIZ 22 DEX 13 Move 9 swim Damage Bonus: +2D6 Weapons: Bite 65%, 1D8+db Ram Boat 50%, 1D6+db Armor: 4-point skin.

POW 13 HP 22

Sanity Awards Killing Bessie Elliot Fitch (helpless): . . . . . .+1 Sanity Point Killing Bessie Elliot Fitch (restored): . . +1D3 Sanity Points Killing the Sea Monster of Moray Drop: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D6 Sanity Points Ending the haunting of the Lonely Point Lighthouse (with violence): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D4 Sanity Points Ending the haunting of the Lonely Point Lighthouse (without violence): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D8 Sanity Points Releasing Bessie Elliot Fitch while believing she should be destroyed: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1D3 Sanity Points

With Blue Uncertain S tu m b l i ng b y J eff M oel l er

Introduction and Overview

life forms. Eva’s plan is to possess a new, younger, healthier, body (she was dying of tuberculosis) of a woman with a similar personality to her own, using Mythos sorcery to reassemble her soul in the new body. She allowed herself to die on Key West, and was interred in a mausoleum in the main cemetery on the island. Part of her soul remains with her corpse; part (her reflection) has migrated into the bodies of the scads of grave worms, maggots, and flies (and their descendants) that are feeding on her corpse; and part (her shadow) lurks in the subconscious of Johnny Johnson, the slow-witted gravedigger who works in the cemetery. Johnny suffers from periodic blackouts as Eva occasionally imposes her will and has him undertake tasks to prepare for her resurrection. She can only do this briefly and cannot do this all the time, so she moves cautiously. His shadow does not match his body’s, and Eva subtly steers him to avoid the clear daylight. The flies, maggots, and grave worms can be collectively motivated by Eva to swarm, or to undertake tasks within their limited capacities, but their reflections are hers. This is the explanation for the ghostly reflections; they are actually the mismatched reflections of a member of her fly swarm. (Not every fly on the island is so corrupted, just the ones that have fed on her corpse and their descendants. Unfortunately for the investigators, that is a fairly large number). When the opportunity presents itself, Eva will have Johnny drag a victim into her mausoleum. The flies, maggots, and Johnny will force-feed parts of themselves and Eva’s corpse to the victim, infusing all of the severed parts of Eva’s soul into the victim and giving her new life. The attention that the ghostly apparitions have attracted, though, now includes the investigators, who might foil Eva’s plan—or become a part of it. A hurricane is about to provide an ideal distraction for her to make an attempt.

This scenario is set in Key West, Florida during the 1920s, and in the late summer, August or September. (The late summer of 1926 is suggested). It presents itself, initially, as an investigation into a ghostly apparition seen at a ritzy beachside resort, the Casa Marina. For about the past year, people around the island have been claiming to have seen a ghostly apparition which only appears in reflections: glass, puddles, mirrors, and the like. Some of these claimants are telling the truth; others are just jumping on the bandwagon. In each true instance, the reflection appears the same: a beautiful young woman in a long white dress, with dark hair and empty, staring eyes. Last week, on a hot Friday evening, an engagement party in the swanky dining room of the Casa Marina generated some more concrete proof. Several different witnesses saw the apparition at the same time, in the mirror behind the bar. A photographer, taking a picture of the bride-to-be’s father, photographed the apparition in a mirror behind him. No woman appears in the foreground where she ought to be. This peculiar event is the talk of the town, and has been the subject of some lighthearted news stories picked up by the wire services. The apparition is Eva Esterhazy, a recently deceased Mythos sorceress of Hungarian origin. She came to Key West specifically to die, so that her soul could survive and eventually seize control of another body. Key West, as the native Calusan Amerinds realized when they made it their ceremonial burial ground, lies at a dimensional nexus point. Burial on Key West helps preserve the soul, and particularly powerful souls (like that of Eva) who die on the island can transubstantiate. Their souls split into three parts: the pupils, which remain with the body of the deceased; the shadow; and the reflection. The shadow and the reflection segments can, given a powerful enough soul, like Eva’s, possess lesser

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Pertinent History and Background for Key West, Florida

were accomplished above ground, in crypts or mausoleums. This is because it is a coral island with comparatively little topsoil; digging into the ground, before long, involves digging into a difficult limestone substrate.

Involving the Investigators

Key West was (in 1926) one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Florida. It is situated on a coral island of the same name, roughly four miles in length and two miles wide, at the southern tip of the Florida Keys island chain. The island lies about 90 miles north of Cuba and 120 miles southwest of Miami. (It is not the farthest island west in the chain; its name is a corruption of the Spanish for something else entirely, see below). The island is densely populated, with around 20,000 people, although the population is on the decline. It is (in 1926) an important Caribbean seaport for the United States, with an industrial base focusing on cigar making, a sizable naval station, salt harvesting, and marine salvage. It is also a bit of a playground for the rich, and there are several resort hotels. The population is diverse, with a plurality of people of Cuban ancestry. In the next several years, it will become a haven for authors, artists, and dilettantes (such as Ernest Hemingway), but they have yet to arrive. During Prohibition, rum-running is rampant, and people trusted by the local establishments can openly obtain alcohol. There are several technically illegal speakeasies, which the local authorities largely turn a blind eye to. Access to the island from the Florida mainland is primarily by rail or by sea. Many people come by an overseas railway, the Florida East Coast Railway. There was no automobile highway completely connecting to the mainland until 1938, but some islands of the Florida Keys chain were connected by bridge to Key West. Car ferry service to Key West, however, did not start until 1928. On Key West itself, electric street cars were replaced with buses in July 1926. In late summer 1926, the hurricane which devastated Miami incidentally killed a Key West real estate boom, and South Florida economic development began to shift to Miami as it rebuilt. The climate is subtropical: hot, windy, and rainy. Summer storms are not uncommon, and violent tropical storms and hurricanes occur in late summer. The city is run by a mayor (Leslie A. Curry in 1926). In 1926, Key West was also the travel portal to Cuba. A precursor to Pan American Airways was founded in Key West in 1926, and had the exclusive commercial landing rights and mail contract to fly back and forth to Havana. (The service operated with seaplanes that year, and was then called American International Airways). The airport is just to the east of the old town. The island’s name, Key West, is an Anglicized corruption of the Spanish Cayo Hueso, which translates as Key (or Isle) of Bones. When “discovered” by Ponce de Leon c. 1521, it was uninhabited, but littered with bones. See With Blue Uncertain Papers #2 for theories about the bones. Note that most burials (at least at the time) on Key West

An investigator with a reputation for solving odd mysteries, with expertise in the occult, or ideally both, is contacted and hired by the Casa Marina Resort in Key West, Florida. A story has been going around the island for about the past year about a ghostly woman who is seen in panes of glass and mirrors, a woman with dead eyes, dark hair, and a white dress. Ghost stories are all well and good for the tourists, but this particular spook was not only seen in the heat of the early evening in the Casa Marina’s ballroom, it was photographed. Several people saw it, and it scared the bejeezus out of them. The once cute ghost story has now become a drag on business, and Casa Marina’s management is displeased. The investigators are given a copy of the photograph (With Blue Uncertain Papers #1). They are offered up to two plane tickets via floatplane to Key West, up to a week’s accommodation for two at the Casa Marina, and an appropriate fee to investigate the phenomenon and provide a scientific explanation that will calm the nerves of potential guests. Others are welcome to tag along, but on their own nickel. Alternatively, the investigators could be already vacationing on Key West and staying at the Casa Marina when the event occurs. If so, they might see the ghostly figure in the ballroom’s mirror quite clearly for themselves, while attending the engagement party. The evening is hot, and a photographer is struggling with the lighting in the room. Shortly before the ghost appears in the mirror, the photographer opens up the veranda doors to adjust the lighting. More information on the photographic process appears below.

Research and Interviews Interview, Casa Marina Staff & Guests Casa Marina is a beachside resort on Key West, with a hotel and a Copacabana-style ballroom (a Portugese style named after a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro). There is live entertainment in the evenings (and copious alcohol, to which the authorities turn a blind eye). The ghost has not been seen since the incident. The veranda doors in the ballroom are almost always kept closed during the day, and the staff is normally vigilant about keeping insects down. The ballroom relies heavily on artificial lighting even during the day; it is heavily shaded by plants to keep the heat down. Investigators attempting to take photographs or light measurements in preparation for photographs should note this, assuming at least 25% in Photography or a successful Photography roll. At least several dozen partygoers—all local upper-class

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G members of society from the Mallett (bridal) and Graham (groom’s) families, and their friends and acquaintances— saw the apparition in the mirror. Most have no idea what it was, and not everyone saw it or will admit to seeing it. A few superstitious ones believe that they saw a ghost. The investigators should be given an opportunity to meet Millicent Mallett, the bride-to-be. Millicent is a 21-year-old, beautiful blonde who comes across as a little ditzy. Never far from her side is her favorite cousin, Klara Kalashnik, who has traveled to the United States from the Ukraine to attend the ceremony. Klara is a dark haired, vain, and unmarried woman. She comes across as quite unlikable, constantly berating the Casa Marina staff in a thick eastern European accent. The women should be encountered on the beach or the veranda of the resort, sunning themselves and having their nails done. They are almost matter-of-fact about what they saw: Both got a very good view of the ghost, “or whatever it was.” During their interview, Millicent keeps shooing away an aggressive fly. In fact, there is always a fly around the pair, almost as though it were keeping an eye on their movements. Which, of course, it is. A couple members of the wait staff saw the apparition as well. Mabel, a member of the wait staff with important information, did not see it, as she was in the restroom at the time washing a fly bite. More on Mabel follows in the next section.

Blue Uncertain Papers 1: The Photograph The photograph appears below. An accompanying note explains that the photographer was taking pictures at an engagement party in the ballroom in the Casa Marina resort on Key West. He took a picture of the father of the bride-tobe and caught this image in the mirror behind the man. Numerous witnesses saw the ghostly reflection in the mirror, including the bride-to-be, Millicent Mallett.

The Photographer and Mabel The photographer, Ernst Krebs, is an elderly German expatriate with a past as a photojournalist. He was hired to take photographs of the engagement party by the Mallett family. He used a standard, portable, Zeiss-Ikon camera with no unusual settings, which he will allow the investigators to inspect. Nothing is funny about the camera. He was shooting a

Blue Uncertain Papers #1

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE the ghost. She had been swatting at some big fly that Krebs had let in, and it bit her. She was in the bathroom washing the bite when chaos erupted. The bite on her neck is bandaged, infected, and nasty to look at. A Medicine roll might reveal that it appears to be from a blowfly, suggesting something decaying nearby, but searches in the vicinity of the resort come up empty.

variety of pictures to document the party, and had been there for about an hour when he decided to take a picture of Mr. Mallett. He saw the apparition in the mirror, heard several gasps behind him, and clicked the shutter. If asked, Krebs mentions that he was having trouble with the lighting in the room, and opened up the veranda doors about five minutes before the ghost was seen to let natural light into the room. He remembers that the staff told him to close them as soon as he was done, because that would let flies and heat in. Krebs can show the investigators his entire sequence of photos in the order that he took them. Observant investigators (either Spot Hidden, or looking specifically for the pattern) can notice several things: First, the early photos are framed to take advantage of nearby artificial lighting. Second, the few photos right before that of the ghost benefit from natural lighting. Third, in one picture one of the wait staff, Mabel, is waving her hands at her head in the background; this is the picture immediately before the “ghost picture”. Krebs took that picture a few minutes after opening the veranda doors. After he took it, Mabel yelled at him for opening the doors. Mabel excused herself between the time that she yelled at Krebs for opening the veranda doors and the appearance of

Map Key Top of map is NE. Area 1 to Area 2 is about 1 mile. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Casa Marina Resort Key West Cemetery Docks area (Customs, Smuggler Bars, Madame LePointe) Central Business District (Bank, Property & Tax Records, Jail) St. Peregrine’s Sanitarium

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G Occult and Mythos Research, Ghostly Reflections Ghosts that are seen in reflective surfaces are quite common stories in “standard” occult circles. An Occult roll or appropriate research suggests that such stories transcend particular cultures. There is, however, a local legend (discussed in the next section) particular to Key West. A successful Cthulhu Mythos role suggests that the ghosts of wizards might be seen in reflective surfaces for some time after their deaths. Some writers maintain that this is because the soul or essence of wizards exists both in our world and others, and simply dying in this world does not necessarily imply death in the others. Reflections bend and alter light, offering expanded glimpses of what lies beneath the surface of our world.

Research, Calusan Lore, & The Isle of Bones A local legend should be brought to the attention of any investigator making any diligent research effort. They might find this in a book of local legends, but it is more fun to send them down to the docks to meet with a local traditional storyteller over rum and cigars, and amidst magic charms and Caribbean traditional folklore items. Madame LePointe is a figurative zillion years old, and apart from telling fortunes and selling traditional medicine items, knows the old history of Key West. She is a likable sort, so if the investigators need some motivation to act, she is a good target for death. She can (for an appropriate consultation fee) tell the investigators about the etymology of “Key West”, and the island’s history as a graveyard for the Calusan Indians in general and mystics in particular. See Blue Uncertain Papers #2. She should have no idea, however, that someone might be able to reintegrate their soul from beyond the grave, or how someone might go about it, and she has never heard of Eva Esterhazy. The important take-away is that (particularly in the case of mystics) people wanted to die and be buried on Key West for the perceived supernatural benefit of clinging to existence in this world. The fly swarm might later pay Madame LePointe a visit that the investigators hear about, leaving behind a horrible, maggot-ridden corpse that flies just will not leave alone. SAN loss 1/1D3. MADAME LEPOINTE, Eccentric Folklorist STR 6 CON 12 SIZ 8 INT 13 POW 13 DEX 8 APP 10 EDU 9 SAN 65 HP 10 Damage Bonus: -1D4. Weapons: none above base. Skills: Bargain 35%, Fast Talk 50%, History (Key West) 75%, Local Gossip 75%, Natural History 45%, Occult 50%, Own Language (English) 75%, Other Language (Creole) 25%, Other Language (Spanish) 25%, Pharmacy 25%. Spells: none.

Notes: Madame Louisa LePointe (real name: Ethel McIntyre) was born in New York City in the 1840s. Her father joined the Navy in the Civil War and after the war, was posted at the Key West naval base. Here, McIntyre settled into a life as a

faux medium, spiritualist, fortune teller, and seller of occult trinkets, patent medicines, and barely legal substances. She comes complete with a library of Caribbean (standard) occult texts, a crystal ball, tarot cards, lots of clanking jewelry, and decades of sticking her nose into other’s people’s business.

Occult and Mythos Research, Mismatched Shadows One topic on which conventional occult sources and Cthulhu Mythos research sources agree is that mismatched shadows are a sign of possession by a ghost, or the soul of a witch or wizard.

Who’s That Lady/Immigration Records (Failed Efforts At Entry) The investigators should eventually deduce that, whoever the ghost is, she died on the island about a year ago and (per the Calusan legends) is persisting in three pieces: one with her bodily remains (her pupils), one with the flies (her reflection), and one part (her shadow) unaccounted for. The time frame can be established because about a year ago is when the ghost started being seen in reflections. Investigators, armed with the photograph, should try to figure out how the mysterious woman got to Key West and where she might be buried. If she were a U.S. citizen or otherwise previously landed in the U.S., there might be property or tax records, but there are not. If she had been on Key West for some period of time, someone might recognize her, but no one that the investigators can easily find will recognize her as a long-time resident. (In fact, she barely made it here before she died). Those that did have some contact with her are discussed in their own subsections, and consist of one smuggler, the sanitarium/TB ward personnel, and the County Sexton. Clever investigators might realize that, as a result of the foregoing absence of records and witnesses, she may have been a recent arrival from abroad, and check into arrival records. If so, they should be rewarded with automatic successes at the U.S. Customs Office. Assuming that this scenario is being run in the summer of 1926, the investigators will find one effort at entry through the port of Key West by a woman matching the photograph, in the early summer of 1925. There is a photograph of a woman (clearly the same one) named Eva Esterhazy, bearing a passport issued by Austria-Hungary from before World War I, as well as a report. She was being processed as an immigrant to the U.S., but was suspected of being contagious for tuberculosis (TB) based on the observations of the civil surgeon, and therefore turned away. If asked about the file, the customs officials remember that case very well, since she later somehow slipped off the ship that she was being returned to Cuba on, and she offered a large ($10,000) bribe in gold coins to the customs clerk on duty, in a second effort to get through. That customs clerk turned her in, and she was summarily deported. The customs officials will cooperate with reasonable questions, as they remember and are not fond of the woman, who made “evil eye” gestures at them and spat at them when they

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Blue Uncertain Papers #2

100

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G shipped her out. Given that she apparently had TB, the spitting in particular did not endear her to them. The customs clerk that she tried, and failed, to bribe is sadly not available to be interviewed. He was murdered a week later in a gruesome fashion. His body was found floating in the marina, with both of his wrists slit. The murder remains unsolved.

and around the docks will be starting to worry about the weather reports: it is hurricane season, and it sounds like a big one is coming. Those not directly involved in the matter, if suitably bribed, may have heard rumors that a Mr. Estefan, a man with a floatplane and a reputation for smuggling anything in (or out) for a price, brought in a sick woman for a very large sum of money last summer. (Smuggling someone with TB into the U.S. in violation of immigration protocols would be a serious matter, so Mr. Estefan denies everything). Apart from questions about smuggling in a woman dying of tuberculosis, the investigators might ask questions about the somewhat shady County Sexton, Ronald Bloom. If the smugglers’ community’s collective memory is again refreshed with bribes, it might remember an odd package, about the size of a breadbox that was smuggled in for him (again by Mr. Estefan, who again denies everything). At least, they assume that it was for Mr. Bloom, because his simpleminded gravedigger met Mr. Estefan down at the dock and (rumor has it) paid him $200 for the package. This happened a couple of months after Mr. Estefan smuggled in the woman, and a few people at the bars saw the midnight exchange between the gravedigger and Mr. Estefan. (The Keeper might allow an Idea roll to realize that this tale is odd, if and when they make Johnny Johnson’s acquaintance, as he is not together enough to swap some valuable package at a midnight rendezvous, let alone carry $200 around). Questions about Johnny Johnson might also reveal that, while he does not frequent bars, he used to visit them occasionally to act like a lovesick puppy dog over Jeannie Dominguez, a young, attractive, and somewhat vain brunette barfly with a serious alcohol problem. She had no time for him (although she would let him buy her drinks), but he has not been around for about the past year or so. Jeannie is easy to find; if the bars are open, she’s in one of them. Apart from being a shallow, vain, and not terribly bright drunk, sharp-eyed investigators might notice that there are always flies somewhere nearby her, as though they were keeping an eye on her. And, of course, they are.

Who’s That Lady/Occult Rumor Mill, Or, All About Eva. Circulating the photograph among the investigators’ offisland occult acquaintances, or sharing its description, might net a bit of Eva’s background story. This is particularly true if the investigators know that she was originally Hungarian and if someone who can translate from Old Hungarian is available, or her penchant for slitting the wrists of young, brunette women is known. Research in a Mythos tome with good Eastern European coverage (such as the Knjiga Mrtva) should also lead to this information. The clues all suggest a legendary witch named (not coincidentally) Eva Esterhazy. Rumored to have been born in Pest in the early 1500s, she nonetheless is described as young and vivacious by Ludvig Prinn in De Vermis Mysteriis over a century later. Eva is accounted by Prinn as an authority on life extension, sympathetic magic, and the transmigration of the soul. Eva is also discussed in the Knjiga Mrtva, from the 1800s, as well as in any other source, of whatever era, that might plausibly describe her. All accounts of her, regardless of the year, describe her as a young, vivacious, and rather vain brunette. Most accounts also mention accusations that she is a ruthless killer of young brunette women, slitting their wrists and bathing in their blood to maintain her youth and vitality every so often. She prefers women that closely resemble her as victims, both physically and temperamentally, believing that there are sympathetic magic benefits to bathing in their blood in particular. (Sympathetic magic posits that there are benefits in maintaining maximum affinity between means and ends: better results and more certain outcomes flow from working magic at the right time, in the best place, and using aids and focuses that ring true in light of what one is trying to accomplish). Eva is hardly recounted as the most powerful witch that ever lived, however; she is more of a “Blister” whose power is limited.

Who’s That Lady/Property, Tax, and Death Records Diligent searching through property, tax, and death records does not reveal any evidence that Eva Esterhazy (if the investigators stumble onto her name) ever acquired any real property or registered for tax purposes on Key West. This might not strike them as odd, since she might have used an alias that they cannot identify. However, (Law roll, halved Idea roll, or appropriate inquiry) all deaths must be attended—especially deaths associated with a communicable disease—so if she died on Key West in any sense, there ought to be at least a corresponding “Jane Doe” death certificate from about a year ago. And yet, there is not, which is very irregular. The County Coroner can advise that sometimes people fall through the cracks, but that if an attending physician was involved, either he or the County Sexton, Ronald Bloom, should have arranged for a death certificate.

Who’s That Lady/Smugglers and Rum Dives Failed efforts to immigrate properly, plus evidence that she died on the island anyway, should eventually add up in the investigators’ minds to smuggling, particularly given Key West’s notoriety for such things. This line of investigation is a valuable opportunity to play up atmosphere, so make it as simple as need be to encourage the investigators to pursue it. Hot, humid dock bars paying little mind to Prohibition, packed with Cuban dockworkers and cigar wrappers, shady fishermen, Navy men turning a blind eye to the whole thing, and Huey Long-esque politicos should be the order of the day. In addition, people in the bars

101

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Who’s That Lady/Sanitarium and A Few Odd Things

However, if you want to amp up the overt horror level, you can stage an incident either at the sanitarium, or right after the investigators leave there. A lone investigator, or the helpful senior nurse, might be assaulted by an incredibly dense swarm of biting flies (stats under the Mausoleum section). Have the investigator manage to fend off the obviously supernatural attack by escaping out into the rain, or diving into the ocean after a half-mile dash, a good scare, and several rounds of gnawing. Or, the investigators might hear news the next morning of a mysterious death at the sanitarium, and see the dead body of the senior nurse, crawling with maggots and having choked to death on . . . something . . . as flies just won’t seem to leave the body alone. SAN loss is 1/1D3.

Eventually, finding no evidence that Eva took up residence anywhere after somehow arriving on Key West, but realizing that she apparently died on the island, the investigators should think to look into whether she sought out any health care. Locals or common sense can tell the investigators that someone with late stage TB (or possible TB) would have been confined by any scrupulous health professional to a closed ward pending a contagion evaluation. Only one place on Key West has such facilities: a small sanitarium called St. Peregrine’s (Map Area 5). Showing the ghostly photo around St. Peregrine’s leads one of the senior nurses to recall that a young-seeming woman, generally matching that description, was admitted for a few days early last autumn. She refused to give her name and was admitted as a Jane Doe. She spoke English with an exotic accent, and paid for a week’s stay and palliative care in cash. She had advanced and terminal TB, but did not seem especially close to death, which made it seem strange when she promptly died at the end of the week that she had paid for. She had no visitors according to the log. However, the log (Persuade or other appropriate roll to inspect directly, or a pointed question) also reflects that Ronald Bloom, the County Sexton, arrived almost immediately to pick up her body, without being called. As there was no doctor immediately at hand, the County Sexton agreed to arrange for the completion of a death certificate. The junior nurse who took care of “Jane Doe” is (again) a young, attractive, and somewhat vain brunette named Cecilia Carter. And again, sharp-eyed investigators might notice that flies are always around her, watching, waiting. If questioned about anything odd happening during the week that Jane Doe was staying at St. Peregrine’s, the nursing staff is reluctant to discuss it. Appropriate Persuade rolls, or good role-playing at St. Peregrine’s or at the sheriff ’s office, reveal yet another unsolved murder. This time, a young, brunette, female TB patient was found, with both of her wrists slit, in a tub in the ward, bloody residue staining the sides of the tub. She apparently died in the middle of the night. Her death is described as a suspected suicide, although the investigators might rightly wonder at this conclusion.

Interview, County Sexton and Gravedigger Key West Cemetery is about a mile inland from the Casa Marina resort. Ronald Bloom, the County Sexton, is an appointed government official in charge of managing the cemeteries and graveyards on Key West. He is slightly corrupt and starts to squirm and become uncomfortable if the questions become too probing. He does remember, about a year ago, that an unknown benefactor purchased and had constructed a mausoleum on the grounds. He will admit (if confronted with evidence) that he picked up a “Jane Doe” from St. Peregrine’s, and either way will allow the investigators to inspect the county records showing that a “Jane Doe” was interred in said mausoleum the same day as her body left St. Peregrine’s. He can identify a picture of Eva Esterhazy as that “Jane Doe”. Bloom gets quite uncooperative if someone asks whether he knows anything about the absence of a death certificate for “Jane Doe”, or why the window on the mausoleum was left open. (He was bribed to ensure that the body was not cremated or disturbed by an autopsy, and to leave the window on the mausoleum improperly open. Mausoleums are supposed to be sealed to keep down vermin. He does not know why his mysterious benefactor wished matters otherwise, and does not really care). The investigators might also talk to Johnny Johnson, the gravedigger and handyman at Key West Cemetery who might be seen keeping the grounds around the cemetery. He is a huge, hulking brute of a man, but simpleminded and friendly, at least on the surface. He takes great pains to avoid being seen in the sun, when he might cast a shadow. He will be out working at night or when the sky is overcast—even in a driving rainstorm. Although he is simple on the surface, a Psychology roll might, if he is engaged in a lengthy conversation, reveal that Johnny is uncomfortable with questions about the mausoleum or his shadow. Generally, Eva simply exists as a background influence in his mind, but her fears and impulses might subtly leak out. She can also (briefly) assume either partial or total control over his form, at which point Johnny gets much smarter (and his efforts to hide it might be seen through or sensed). Eva can only assume this level of control over Johnny for very short periods of time, however, and the amount of control that she can assert wanes the farther that

Incident at the Sanitarium? Although Eva has eyes (literally) across the island—anywhere that Johnny Johnson is, or where one of her flies might be— for the most part, she leaves nosy investigators unmolested. She cannot risk Johnny Johnson to thwart an investigation unless her plans are in dire straits—she would have to be convinced, with her high level of intelligence, that she would get away with a murder or obfuscation and not draw any new attention. This can lead to the sort of investigation that some players like—a very “purist”, cerebral clue trail, with only hints of madness and lots of mood and foreshadowing in the form of storm warnings, winds picking up, power brownouts, plywood going up over storefronts, and the like.

102

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G JOHNNY JOHNSON, Now With 1/3 More Soul

Johnny gets from the mausoleum. Off of the island, she can only subtly nudge him. Johnny, when seen, is working, sticking by the mausoleum on breaks. Unaided by Eva, he is capable of correctly performing very rote tasks. He mows the lawn and cleans very mechanically, follows precise, predictable patterns, and runs off if confronted with anything out of the ordinary—unless Eva decides otherwise, of course. Ronald Bloom has a caretaker’s cottage on the cemetery grounds. Johnny Johnson has a single room with a separate door at the rear, with a connecting door to the rest of the cottage. Johnny keeps his room locked at all times. More on what the investigators might find inside Johnny Johnson’s room follows in a later section. For a map of the Key West Cemetery, please see below. Please note that it is surrounded by densely populated urban neighborhoods.

STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 18 INT 05/18* POW 05/18* DEX 12 APP 8 EDU 5/20* SAN 4 HP 17 Damage Bonus: +1D6. Weapons: Big Shovel (or other potentially lethal caretaking implement), 50%, 1D6+1+db. Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 25%*, Listen 50%, Mechanical Repair 25% (only well-learned tasks around the cemetery), Natural History 25%, Occult 90%*, Old Hungarian 99%*, Own Language (English) 25%/99%* (spoken only, unless Eva is helping), Spot Hidden 50%. Spells: Reintegration of the Soul. Fortunately for the investigators, Eva cannot use any of her own spells in this “form”. Indefinite Insanities and Other Oddities: Blacks out when Eva briefly assumes total control of his body. Hears voices that he finds it difficult to resist when she otherwise tries to steer his conduct. His shadow is much smaller than would fit his burly form, and he subconsciously avoids going out in clear daylight. SAN loss for noticing how his shadow does not match his size or movements is 0/1. *Only applies when Eva Esterhazy is overtly exerting her will, which she is only able to do for short periods of time, between ten and twenty minutes, as determined by the Keeper. She subconsciously influences him on a continual basis, however.

The Mausoleum The mausoleum to which Ronald Bloom and/or county records can direct the investigators is a tiny affair, more like

103

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE an aboveground cairn. It is made of white marble, about five feet wide, seven feet high, and ten feet long. It is plain and undecorated, and is accessible at two points. There is a single door, opening outward, made of steel and locked with a padlock. The padlock is STR 20 and eventually could be defeated by a crowbar or bolt cutter, or a strong effort at lock-picking. Perhaps more inviting is a window on the opposite side, 2’ x 2’ square, near the top of the mausoleum. While this window certainly ought to be shut to keep out vermin, someone has left it cracked open. If the investigators watch during appropriate daylight and weather conditions, they might see a number of big, fat blowflies flit in and out. Keepers should allow a Natural History or similar roll to conclude that, given how long “Jane Doe” has been buried in there, flies shouldn’t still be hanging around in any numbers. Yet, they are. The window is easily climbed in, although this takes several rounds of boosting up and wriggling through. Bear this transit time in mind if the investigators foolishly go in this way and leave the door bolted, since it will take them several rounds (Keeper’s discretion) with their backs to the coffin to try to escape, during which time they will be sitting ducks. There is at most room for two investigators, squashed together, inside the tiny interior of the mausoleum.

pet of them, inches deep. This is clearly unnatural (SAN loss 0/1). There is also a very oppressive feeling of an unseen presence; the investigators feel as though they are being stared at. Inside the coffin is a woman’s skeleton, which has, by this point, been totally denuded of flesh. A few wispy strands of black hair cling to her skull; her white dress is in tatters. There are a lot more living flies, of various flesh-eating types, inside the coffin—it is basically full to the brim, infesting every nook, cranny, and bony opening. This is quite clearly unnatural (SAN loss 1/1D3). Maggots roil and spill out onto the investigators’ shoes as soon as the lid is opened, and the adults pour out in a swarm. Engraved on the inside of the coffin lid are some strange looking runes. Unless the investigators happen to be proficient in Old Hungarian, they are totally incomprehensible. Should the investigators copy them down and track down an academic proficient in languages, they are easily enough translated (although this will involve air mail or a phone call carefully describing the inscription). The runes read, “From one, many; from one, three; the eyes, the reflection, and the shadow; when the eyes, the reflection, and the shadow are gathered up again, the many shall be one.” The Keeper might allow a Cthulhu Mythos roll to recollect certain occult stories that the grave worms who feast on the flesh of a dead wizard are said to partake of some of the wizard’s soul and share some of his memories. Either way, this information is both reflective of the Calusan legends about the island, and should the investigators find the Saracenic Rituals, the key to what Eva is up to.

Inside the Mausoleum It is hot, tiny, cramped, and rather dark. Inside is a coffin. Around the coffin are a lot of dead flies and fly casings, a car-

104

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G

How The Ritual Works, And Why Eva Is Being So Cautious Eva is a practitioner of sympathetic magic. She is also only a “B-list” sorceress; she is competent at what she does (life extension, general witchcraft), but the level of magic that reintegrating her soul into a new body involves is well outside of her comfort zone. She is down to her last strike on preserving her existence, and is focused on optimizing her chances. She is reasonably confident (and correctly so) that reintegrating her soul will work if everything goes according to her optimal plan, but she simply does not know how much margin for error she has. First, her optimal plan for the ritual calls for it to be conducted at the mausoleum. This is where she was laid to rest and where her soul began to split into three components. The connection between the fragments is strongest here. Her soul’s components are naturally drawn to one another, which is why Johnny lingers near the graveyard and why the fly swarm is concentrated here. Location matters. Second, she needs as much raw material to be present as possible. Bulk matters. She needs as much of her body present as possible and as much of the fly swarm as possible, and Johnny Johnson needs to give up his life’s blood. Third, the nature of the victim matters. Eva has centuries of experience extending her existence through the victimization of young women who bear similarities of appearance and temperament to herself. Eva reasons that choosing the body of such a woman can only help her chances, and frankly, she would rather not be an old woman or a man for the rest of her existence. It has taken her some time to select potential hosts. Fourth, the mausoleum has been prepared; her coffin lid is a sympathetic magic charm designed to help the whole process work. Most importantly, however, she only gets one shot at the process. Johnny Johnson is her Achilles’ heel because part of her soul is stuck in him, and she has no one else to cast the spell. Johnny needs to know the spell very well, because Eva is going to have to fight with him for control of his body when the time comes to slit his wrists. It has taken her a long time to achieve this level of control and to ensure that Johnny has memorized the spell. She also needs to do whatever she can to ensure that there are no interruptions, such as waiting until a predictable seasonal hurricane distracts any would-be meddlers from interfering with an abduction attempt. The upcoming storms are the first such island-wide distractions that have come along since she died. (Remember, she died last autumn, and needed time to educate Johnny Johnson and find suitable vessels). She can only control Johnny Johnson in an absolute sense for short periods of time, and if he ends up dead or imprisoned, her plans are seriously delayed at best and thwarted at worst. Dominating Johnny Johnson permanently and retreating en masse to some cabin in the woods away from Key West with all of her components simply is not an available course of action. Eva cannot dominate Johnny to that extent (or at all off of the island), moving the fly swarm off Key West is logistically impractical, and location matters. Indeed, since Key West’s peculiarity is the reason that Eva’s soul continues to subsist at all, moving any part of it off the island for a significant amount of time, about 3–4 days, risks permanent dissolution. Eva knows this, which is why she will react to efforts to relocate her remains or Johnny off the island. If Johnny stays off of the island for too long, the fragment of her soul that is in him might dissipate. This would take more than a day or two, Eva figures, but since she does not know how long she might have, she considers any movement of Johnny off the island as a serious threat to her plans. If pressed hard and faced with extinction, Eva will try to reintegrate herself under less than ideal circ*mstances, doing the best she can with what she has. But this is taking a chance with her precious continued existence, and unless and until she must take a chance, it is illogical for her to do so. She does not know what can and cannot be dispensed with, and so she bides her time until she can “do it right” and maximize her chance of success.

105

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE A critical success on an Occult roll reveals that the runes appear to be a sympathetic magic device, a focus intended to help some sort of magical working succeed. (Destroying it will not prevent the reintegration process from succeeding, in the end analysis). This information is also available in Eva’s copy of the Saracenic Rituals.

swarm sees with a lone investigator in a compromised position and Eva thinks that she can get away with it, the flies might just eat him. Use dramatic timing for this possibility. MAGGOT AND FLY SWARM (Now With 1/3 More Soul) STR 1 DEX 15

CON 1 SIZ 1* Move 12 swarming

POW 18 HP Special

*can slip through tiny openings or under doors. Damage Bonus: n/a Weapons: at full strength, the horde consists of 18 effectiveness levels. (See staging notes for the possibility of scaling this up for larger groups of investigators). Each effectiveness level gives a 5% chance of a successful attack. (Thus, the horde acting with purpose and all in one place has a 90% to hit). Any sizable concentration of the horde (1 effectiveness level or more) does 1 point per round (automatic in successive rounds once a hit is achieved, as the victim is covered and worried by them). A really huge pile (10 effectiveness levels or more) does 1d3 damage per round. Death is slow and by asphyxiation as a HUGE pile of vermin acting in concert forces itself into every orifice and down the victim’s throat. Spells: Reintegration of the Soul. Armor: immune to firearms, edged weapons, or most physical attacks. Attacks that affect an area (flamethrower, smoke, bug spray, flood of water, or otherwise at the Keeper’s discretion) decrease the horde by one effectiveness level (or more, if large enough, at the Keeper’s discretion). Sanity Loss: 0/1 to see the sickening horde en masse; 1/1d6 to see it moving or acting with intelligent design.

The Worms Are Fat And Instructed The maggots, blowflies, and grave worms, at this high level of concentration and this close to Eva’s remains, are, of course, sentient. Their job is to protect Eva’s plan to reintegrate her soul, but they proceed about their task in an intelligent fashion. Generally speaking, they prefer to avoid a fight that they have little chance of winning. If Eva’s corpse is moved (within limits), chopped up, buried, burnt, or similarly disturbed, they may or may not react, depending on whether they think they can win the fight and how worried Eva is about what the particular disturbance means for her optimal plan. Generally, though, as long as a good bit of Eva’s bodily remains are somewhere within the swarm’s or Johnny Johnson’s power to get to (and bring back to the mausoleum), they are likely to tolerate some disturbance. General poking around is tolerated. Killing the insects (even a significant portion of them), does not likely provoke them—as long as any decent amount of them survive, anywhere on the island, Eva’s planned reintegration ritual can proceed apace. Only a couple of things provoke them to drop their feigned status as a large pile of ordinary creepy-crawlies. One is moving all of Eva’s remains to a place where the swarm and/or Johnny Johnson might not be able to access them. This includes burial at sea. It also includes removing Eva’s body (or obviously intending to) anywhere off the island, as that would prevent the ritual. Eva is rightly concerned that her soul fragments would dissipate if moved off island. The fly swarm will also protect Johnny Johnson from mortal harm or being moved off the island. The investigators might wrongly assume that burning the corpse or squashing a lot of bugs wins the game. This is not necessarily so, and the fly swarm might just play possum. Cautious or sharp-eyed investigators may notice, however, that if they start moving the body around, there are always flies nearby, even in the wind and rain. (Spot Hidden or just paying specific attention notices this). And if the fly

Hazards and Perils After The Mausoleum, And Forcing The Issue If Eva thinks that the investigators are a threat to her, she may take slight chances to eliminate them, but only if it can be done without risking her optimal plan. This means hitting an investigator with some of the fly swarm when he is alone, or influencing Johnny Johnson to bribe a bunch of knife wielding thugs to assault them. Johnny Johnson is not risked via direct assault. THREE DOCKSIDE TOUGHS, Not Above Knifing Someone For Money (Or Clubbing Them, For That Matter) Alfonso Bob Charlie STR 14 15 16 CON 12 14 17 SIZ 12 14 17 INT 12 11 9 POW 11 10 9 DEX 16 12 8 APP 8 10 9 EDU 11 8 8 SAN 45 40 35 HP 13 14 17 DB +1D4 +1D4 +1D6 Weapons: Big Club (Charlie), 50%, 1D8 +db. Big Knife (Alfonso and Bob), 55%, 1D6 +db. Skills: Dodge 50%, Spot Hidden 50%.

106

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G background keeps predicting a hurricane; the surf picks up and gets rough; people start closing shutters and generally going to ground when whitecaps appear in the sea (which, not coincidentally, relieves the pressure from the flies). Little hints of Eva Esterhazy accompany her soul and are intended as subtle clues to the investigators. Her reflection only appears when one of her flies scoots in front of a reflecting surface. People bitten by one of her flies might start to cough uncontrollably or spit up some blood, although they suffer no lasting physical effects, The flies seem drawn to brunettes more than blondes, and to women more than men.

The investigators may try to take any number of preemptive actions against Eva. A popular one is calling the police and reporting Mr. Bloom’s various violations of the law. This may get Bloom arrested, although he will make bail. It will not result in any serious disruption to Eva’s plans. No proper authority is going to sanction moving Eva’s body, cremating it against her burial instructions, or similar disruptive actions. The investigators may try to kill Johnny Johnson, which will trigger an end game (see below), but note that, as far as the police are concerned, he is an innocent, mentally-challenged man who does not bother anyone. They might also try to burn the mausoleum, which, while a decent idea, will not kill all of the flies nor completely destroy Eva’s body. Eva will not be pleased, and will weigh her concerns about proceeding in an optimal fashion against the possibility that she can game the outcome of the investigators’ actions, get them jailed, and proceed without further interference. All that is really, in fact, needed for the reintegration ceremony are a goodly swarm of flies (coalescing from around the island), plus Johnny Johnson, plus some bone fragments or ash from Eva’s skull, plus a victim. However, Eva is unsure about what the bottom line truly is, so the more damage that the investigators do, the more likely she is to be flushed out.

Back in the Ballroom/Experimentation The investigators might put more of the picture together if they actually spend some time on the mystery of how the reflection appeared in the ballroom’s mirror. If they have annoyed Eva enough, to the point where her flies are pestering them more or less full time, they could go back to the

The Importance of Atmosphere and Staging (Or, Rain, Wind, Staring, and Reflections) The author strongly suggests emphasizing tone and mood, and using the arrival of the hurricane as a timing device to move the plot. The basic thematic point is that the soul of a Mythos sorceress has subtly infused itself into a goodly portion of the insect life of the island, and that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Go out of your way to describe the eyes of everyone that the investigators encounter: color, liveliness, weariness, wisdom, dullness. As the scenario wears on, people seem to be staring at the investigators. Remember that flies come out when the weather is hot and the wind is down, and (generally, except when acting intelligently) dissipate when the wind picks up or the rain starts. And, it rains off and on every day. Have the investigators be bitten and pestered by flies when the weather is appropriate, only to be glad for the wind and rain. Use foreshadowing: the radio in the

107

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE ballroom with flies in tow, or lay out some bait, and see what happens. This works, and as one or more of the flies flits in front of the mirror, they see her reflection (or multiple reflections, assuming multiple flies). SAN loss 0/1.

convenience and pull the safety deposit box. The Keeper might time the arrival of the hurricane to coincide with this event—the bank employees are busy closing down, and the investigators have to plead with them for just a few minutes of their time, only to have the power finally get knocked out by rising winds as soon as they are inside. Eva will soon take note of the key’s absence, so unless the investigators carefully return it, things will move to the endgame quickly thereafter. Discovery of the theft is particularly likely if the investigators are not careful about keeping flies out of the room, or if they let any in behind them at the bank. At the bank, the investigators receive odd stares from the bank tellers when they ask for that safety deposit box. Appropriate roleplaying or rolls (Persuade, Fast Talk) with the bank staff can get the investigators the story. Several times a week over the past year, Johnny Johnson has come in, sat down in the viewing room, pulled a book out of the safety deposit box, opened it somewhere in the middle, and then mumbled to himself the same incomprehensible phrase, over and over again. He usually came at noon, or when it was raining. At times, he would switch to English and complain that he was tired, that his head hurt, and that he had it memorized, as though he was arguing with someone. (Reminder: Johnny can read only when Eva is helping him). Lately, Johnny hasn’t been by, however. Inside the safety deposit box is an old grimoire. Much of it is in Old Hungarian, although some passages are copied verbatim from other languages. These include a chapter from “Clergyman X”’s English translation of the Saracenic Rituals concerning cycles of reincarnation, the transmigration of the soul, and how happy towns are that have never known the corpse of a wizard. A summary report, as if compiled by one of the investigators, appears in Blue Uncertain Papers #3. The chapter from the Saracenic Rituals is what the book falls open to/where its spine is broken. This chapter takes eight hours to read, requires a successful Read English roll, costs 1 SAN, gains +1% to Cthulhu Mythos, and has one spell available: Reintegration of the Soul. Studying the entire grimoire should be a major undertaking. It requires a successful Read Old Hungarian roll and 30 weeks of time to read, costs 1D4/1D8 SAN, gains +6% to Cthulhu Mythos, and contains spells and leads to other adventures at the Keeper’s discretion. Suggestions for spells include Enchant Blade, Contact Narlato, and a variant Food of Life spell that requires bathing in the victim’s blood rather than eating the victim. Note that if the chant from the chapter on the Saracenic Rituals is repeated to the bank staff, staff members can confirm that this is what they have heard Johnny Johnson drilling on and arguing with himself about for much of the last year.

The Gravedigger (During the Day)/The Shadow Assuming that the investigators have not thoroughly alienated him, Ronald Bloom can tell them that Johnny Johnson used to prefer to work during the day, and that he was afraid of the dark, until about a year ago. (Yes, this happens to coincide with when Eva Esterhazy died). At that time, he did something quite uncharacteristic: expressed unhappiness and asked for a change to night hours. The investigators might think that Johnny keeps to his room and sleeps during the day, but in fact, he is rarely there. If there is any chance of his casting a shadow, he rests in the shadow of the mausoleum. If Eva is keeping to the background of his subconscious, he honestly has no idea why he is doing this. If Eva is briefly fully active, and a lone investigator happens to confront him about this—particularly by starting to ask questions about shadows—Eva must choose between trying to kill (and maybe reintegrate her soul into) the investigator, or playing dumb.

The Gravedigger’s Room/The Saracenic Rituals If the investigators manage to gain access to Johnny’s room, they will find it very disappointing, at least at first. It is very spartan, very clean, and there is very little in it. Johnny knows how to make his bed, clean his room, and do some laundry, in a very rote sort of way. He has a few dishes, several sets of work clothes, and not much else. He has a Bible on his bed stand (not unusual even for the illiterate of the era) and a photograph of his deceased parents. He also has a Sunday suit for churchgoing purposes, although he has not been seen at his church for (again) about a year. Searching his room thoroughly, however (Spot Hidden or an hour of thorough, top to bottom ransacking, including peeling up floorboards and looking for hidey holes) turns up something odd: a receipt for a safety deposit box signed by Johnny Johnson (with an oddly passable signature), and a key. Again, this is not the sort of thing that a simpleton ought to be hiding in his room. This is an important clue, so failing the Spot Hidden roll should still give the investigators the clue, but instead result in some negative collateral consequence (e.g., being discovered and having to deal with legal consequences). The safety deposit box is set up to be accessed by the bearer of the document and/or the key (not any named person), so the investigators can go to the bank at their

Endgames For date sticklers, if you are running this as suggested in 1926, the Keys are hit by a minor tropical precursor storm

108

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G

Blue Uncertain Papers #3

109

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

If Your Investigators Tend To Shoot First, Ask Questions Later, And Murder Raps Be Damned The physical obstacles of the investigation (the fly swarm, Johnny Johnson) are scaled for a small number of players. If you are playing with more than two investigators, but they are willing to play within the spirit of an investigative game, you should double or even triple the number of effectiveness levels of the fly swarm. This means that the swarm can better protect Johnny Johnson and/ or effectively menace larger numbers of nosy investigators. Have enough flies at your disposal to make stopping Johnny Johnson in mid-abduction or mid-ritual, or just shooting him, a challenging prospect. Have the flies act proactively; if the investigators are stalking Johnny Johnson, have them attack before they get close enough to do any violence to him. Eva’s eyes are everywhere, remember. But there are certainly groups of investigators, of any size, that will not do all the research, but will simply murder Johnny Johnson at the first sign of anything hinky, and worry about the legal consequences later. Here are some tips for handling those guys: Be careful to have Johnny Johnson stick close by the mausoleum. Key West is not a big place, and the cemetery is basically a square block or so of a crowded downtown area, surrounded by houses, businesses, and lots of people. They may kill Johnny, but then what? How do they dispose of the body? They don’t have a car of their own—there is no car traffic from the mainland, and they took a floatplane here. Do they burn the body? Proper cremation is not an easy thing to do for those without a very specialized skill set. And, even if the investigators know how to do it, how do they do it in a cemetery in the middle of a densely populated urban area without being noticed? Do they bury it? Where? Key West is a coral island. Do they drag the body to the sea? That’s a mile in any direction through a crowded urban area. By all means, allow the players to be innovative, but in all likelihood, they are going to dump the body in one of the mausoleums. It might even be Eva’s. If Johnny Johnson is killed, but (as is quite likely) his body cannot be disposed of thoroughly (and remember, the fly swarm must still be contended with), the questions become “What becomes of the soul fragment stuck in his corpse? Is there anything that Eva can still do?” If Johnny’s body is close to Eva’s mausoleum, then perhaps, with a supreme effort, the fly swarm can infest his body, briefly raising it up in a spasmodic, roiling, festering, maggoty mass of awfulness, along these lines:

Undead, Flyblown Johnny Johnson, Now With 2/3 More Soul (But Not His Own) STR 18 CON 20 SIZ 18 INT 18 POW 18 DEX 8 HP 19 Damage Bonus: +1D6. Armor: Physical attacks do minimum possible damage. Fire or magic work normally. Weapons: Clubbing Blow, 70%, 1D6 +db. Fly Swarm: Johnny is now accompanied by 10 effectiveness levels of the fly swarm, which can separate from his body without impairing its functionality. See page 104 for the capabilities of the fly swarm. Spells: Reintegration of the Soul. SAN Loss: 1d3/1d8 to see the shambling, fly-manipulated corpse of Johnny Johnson.

a much lighter walloping from the largely spent hurricane on September 21, after it moves across the Florida Peninsula. Wikipedia’s entry on “List of Florida Hurricanes 1900-1949” provides a comprehensive list of other contemporary hurricanes for your chaos-wreaking pleasure. You will want to start your game on September 15th, run the investigators to shelter on the 17th, and then have the investigators race to finish their investigation against time and

on September 17, 1926. People batten down the hatches, but damage is light. Still, the storm shuts things down and clears the streets for a day. The next day, September 18, the Great Miami Hurricane (Category 4) lands at Miami and nearly wipes out what is then a largish town. This causes an evacuation surge in the Keys, and many people (but not all) flee on whatever they can find. Others stubbornly stick around. The Keys then get

110

W I TH B L U E UN C E R TA I N S T UM B L I N G

If Your Investigators Tend To Shoot First, Ask Questions Later, And Murder Raps Be Damned, continued Eva waits until the hurricane hits to manipulate Johnny’s gestalt corpse into rising up and seizing a victim, but otherwise, proceeds as best she is able. What happens when the fly-blown revenant, temporarily fully possessed by Eva, croaks out the spell through roiling maggots spilling from its mouth, and dumps its larvae ridden “blood” into the victim? That’s up to you. Maybe the spell works the way that it is supposed to. Maybe “ye liveliest awfulness” results in the victim, and she goes on a rampage. Maybe the spell backfires and Eva’s soul is fractured and scattered among all present, including the investigators, who then are tormented by her memories for the rest of their lives. The things that she has seen and done, plus the horror of the psychic infestation, should give the investigators +1d10% Cthulhu Mythos, cost them 2d6 SAN, and give them some fitful knowledge of Old Hungarian.

Ye Liveliest Awfulness, With Less Soul Than Would Be Normally Appropriate STR 20 CON 20 SIZ 12 INT 3 POW 1 DEX 8 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D6. Weapons: Rending, Gnashing, and Flailing, 70%, 1D3 +db. Armor: Physical attacks do half damage due to sheer berserk rage and disinterest in pain. Ignores shock checks. Skills: Listen to Reason 0%, Rampage Berserkly 99%. Spells: none. SAN Loss: Initially, the host body of a failed soul reintegration will look human enough, albeit disoriented and terrified. But this rapidly gives way to hopeless, homicidal rage, complete with biting throats and faces, gouging eyes, and an insatiable appetite for gore. 1/1d6 SAN loss to see the mouth-oozing, jerking, mindless, rampaging, shell of a victim once the gore begins.

open, the fly swarm finally dispersing, and Johnny Johnson dead and crawling with maggots, having, to all appearances, slit his own wrists with a gardening implement. SAN loss is 1/1D6. This all assumes that clever investigators have not disrupted aspects of the optimal plan. They may have been staking out the mausoleum and/or shadowing Johnny Johnson, hopefully somewhere where Eva’s flies will not have noticed them (a long way away, with binoculars), or after having put fly distractions in the area (a big chunk of rotting meat a distance away, for example). Or, they may have been staking out the three potential brunette victims. If they manage to stay off of the flies’ radar screens, they might see the ritual going down and successfully intercede, having now a justifiable story to tell law enforcement about why they killed Johnny Johnson. The fly swarm viciously attacks any investigators that it notices approaching the mausoleum at this point (even in the rain), and protects Johnny Johnson to the best of its ability. The surest way to foil Eva, perversely, is to let her succeed, kill her new host, and bury the new host at sea. Plan B is what happens if the investigators are aggressive early on in the proceedings, before the storm sets in. If measures are taken toward disrupting the planned ritual, and Eva concludes that they may be effective, Eva may react by trying to stage the ritual at her earliest possible opportunity, with whomever or whatever is at hand—whatever she thinks her

a tide of people who want to get off of the island. The critical people and institutions should all stay open and remain on the island, although they may be difficult to find or get to through howling winds and driving rain. This is the distraction and chaotic opportunity to escape in the confusion that Eva Esterhazy has been waiting for, and she tries to take advantage of it. Eva’s Plan A is to wait for the streets to clear, for the storms to hit in earnest, and then, in the chaos, (acting through Johnny Johnson) to abduct one of the three young, vain, brunette women that she has been stalking through her fly swarm (Klara, Jeannie, or Cecilia). Said woman is (ideally) simply clubbed over the head by an influenced Johnny Johnson, tossed over his shoulder, and dragged into the mausoleum. Play up the effects of the storm on pursuing investigators, with howling winds, shadows, frightened people staring at them through shutters, and reflections of Eva in every puddle. Then, in the privacy of the mausoleum, the victim is (ideally) force-fed a goodly chunk of Eva’s skull, Johnny’s lifeblood, and some of the fly swarm, as Johnny casts Reintegration of the Soul. Eva can only dominate Johnny completely for a brief time, which she does in order to make him slit his own wrists. It takes Johnny/Eva 10 uninterrupted rounds to cast the spell. Eva’s entire soul then possesses and thoroughly dominates the victim. She dusts herself off, dons a prearranged change of clothing, and slips away in the confusion of the storm. The aftermath finds the mausoleum door left

111

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE best chance at success to be. In truth, and although Eva is uncertain as to what is a bridge too far, effectively disrupting the ritual is hard to do. Burning the corpse isn’t good enough, as long as there is some ash left from the skull. Incarcerating Johnny Johnson is difficult, because he has done nothing unlawful. Killing Johnny Johnson (absent a claim of self-defense or defense of others) results in a murder charge, and the fly swarm congregates and tries to defend him. Eliminating enough of the fly swarm to foil the ritual is next to impossible. Removing Johnny Johnson from Key West buys time, but if he returns fairly quickly, within 3–4 days, the plan can move forward. Removing Johnny from Key West long term would work (as Eva fears), and that prospect forces her hand. Removing Eva’s body from Key West, or putting it beyond the reach of the fly swarm and Johnny Johnson (burial at sea, loading it on board an American International seaplane bound for Cuba) likewise forces her hand. Doing this will wreck the ritual, and Eva knows it. If her hand is forced, the fly swarm strikes at its most opportune moment, Johnny Johnson tries to perform the ritual the best that he can, and the investigators (if they are clever) might even turn Eva’s improvisation into a trap.

open for a while on a hot day. Have a second incident happen, with them on the scene, if they are not of a mind to reconstruct the incident themselves. They should also be teased with random glimpses of Eva in windows, rain puddles, and their shaving and compact mirrors (SAN loss 0/1). Enough canvassing of people and institutions around the island associated with death (i.e., the sanitarium, the County Sexton’s office) leads to the mausoleum. The coffin has a critical clue about what is going on, and that may put investigators onto the “legend” track of research. It may be that the investigators barge right in to the mausoleum without trying to do the background research about what is going on or who is in there, and start burning things. That’s fine, but when you are ready, have the ghost reappear in the bathroom mirror, accompanied by a fly bite, or have the fly swarm terminate a spent investigative lead or an associate. Give investigators enough time to go back and do more research, but this time they can wade through sideways rain and wind surges. (Johnny Johnson will have stashed some of Eva’s ashes by that point and Plan B will be under consideration). If the investigators really need a kick in the pants after a “false finish”, have them become aware of an abduction and find a bunch of dead blowflies in the victim’s room. But in the author’s view, failure to stop Eva Esterhazy is an acceptable ending: when they board their floatplane at the end of the scenario, let them sit next to an NPC they already know, who now looks just a little…different…and has picked up a bit of an accent.

Spot Rules For Being Out In A Hurricane Courtesy of the Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying rulebook: Hurricanes bring two factors to consider: wind and rain. A smallish hurricane such as will be encountered either in the precursor storm of 1926 or the remnants of the Great Miami Hurricane impose a -50% penalty to appropriate skills that the wind might affect, and may (if a player faces a direct, unsheltered gust) force a STR vs. STR check vs. the storm’s strength of 9 to remain upright. It also imposes a -50% penalty to movement on foot, as well as to Listen checks or checks involving spotting things at a distance.

Rewards and Repercussions Foiling the resurrection of Eva Esterhazy gains the investigators 1D6 SAN. Figuring out the mystery of the ghostly reflection gains them 1D3 SAN. Assuming that one or more of them are not the target of her reintegration scheme, they probably never hear of any negative consequences from failure. But should they encounter Eva Esterhazy in the future (her new guise gradually shifts to resemble a mix between her current form and her natural one), charge them with 1D6 SAN if they make the connection.

A Top Down View On How Things Are Likely To Go, And Keeper Hints

Eva Esterhazy, Now in One Spiritual Piece

Although the investigation may seem daunting, it should not be if the Keeper keeps the investigators on the task that they are here to perform: get to the bottom of the ghost in the dining room. The resort management wants that problem solved. Management and staff members nag the investigators for progress reports and want to see visible efforts. Once investigators figure out that the flies’ reflection is the source of the apparition, they should start doing the necessary research. If not, nudge them with an Idea roll or have an NPC suggest going to talk to the over-the-top Madame LePointe. The investigators should be seeing the ghost themselves in reflections at regular intervals. They should be able to recreate the incident in the ballroom if they leave the veranda doors

STR 13 CON 14 SIZ 13 INT 18 POW 20 DEX 12 APP 15 EDU 25 SAN 0 HP 13 Damage Bonus: +1D4. Weapons: Butcher Knife, 90%, 1d6 +db. Skills: Anthropology 45%, Astronomy 75%, Bargain 80%, Cthulhu Mythos 25%, Drive Auto 25%, English 55%, German 55%, Greek 99%, History 90%, Latin 99%, Library Use 90%, Listen 55%, Modern Hungarian 99%, Natural History 70%, Navigate 90%, Occult 75%, Old Hungarian 99%, Persuade 50%, Psychology 65%, Ride 90%, Serbo-Croatian 55% Spot Hidden 60% Turkish 99%,. Spells: Contact Narlato, Augur, Blight/Bless Crop, Candle Communication, Food of Life (variant, requires bathing in the victim’s blood rather than eating them), Enchant Blade, Evil Eye, Flesh Ward, Heal, Levitate, Powder of Ibn-Ghazi, Wrack.

112

d a r k n e S s i l l u m i na t e d b y Jon H ook

Introduction

murdered by Frances Warren, their bodies were dissolved in a vat of industrial acid and their brains transferred into a mi-go brain cylinder by the alien captive. Two other people, a technician and a security guard, were also killed when the mi-go made an unsuccessful escape attempted. Meanwhile, Dr. James (Jim) F. Herrington, a wealthy and successful physician, was leading a charmed life. He was a father, with two young sons, James and William, and a beautiful wife named Deloris. Dr. Herrington was also a well respected surgeon with Boston City Hospital. However all this tragically came to an end on Easter Sunday, April 4, 1926. The family’s sailboat ran into a late season storm which capsized it with the entire family onboard. When the storm was over, James Jr. and Deloris Herrington were dead, William was in a coma, and Jim was left to deal with the aftermath. He was devastated, missing the funerals of his wife and child, as he would not leave the bedside of his surviving son. Weeks turned into months, and William did not awaken from his coma. Jim used his vast wealth to call in the top physicians, medical researchers, and pharmacists from across the United States and Europe, trying every treatment possible to heal his son’s broken mind. These efforts consumed not only the man’s fortune, but also his life, as Dr. Herrington separated himself from friends, family, and colleagues, losing his job, his home, and most of his material possessions. Soon, he was desperate and destitute, facing his darkest hour. This was when Francis Warrens approached him. Mr. Warrens produced a strange drug which, when administered, caused young William’s eyes to open for the first time in months. Francis Warrens promised to help the comatose boy, but only if his father agreed to come work for him. Broke and desperate, Jim immediately ferried his son to the Warrens Laboratories research facility in Arkham. The pharmaceutical company’s laboratories were amazing to behold, with cutting edge equipment Jim had never heard of or seen before. It was almost too good to be true. But it was true; they could save his son! However, Jim soon learned that the cost would

Our story begins in 1923, with Francis Warrens, a veteran of the Great War and the son of Arthur E. Warrens, founder of Warrens Laboratories, an American pharmaceutical company. Francis was nearly killed while hiking in the hills of Vermont, when a sudden storm and corresponding flash flood swept through the area. While wandering back to camp, he made an amazing and terrible discovery: the downpour had flooded a cave system, washing out the bodies of three strange creatures. Two were dead and the other severely injured. Francis, hardened by the horrors he faced during the war, gathered his senses and captured the helpless creature and spirited it away to the Warrens Laboratories research facility. The creature recovered and began to communicate with its captors, explaining that it was an alien being belonging to a race called the Mi-Go. It offered great rewards to the humans if they released it. By then Francis had taken measures to ensure that the escape was impossible. Francis learned that the alien possessed knowledge far beyond human understandings, especially in the sciences of chemistry and biology. By examining and studying the creature while it was incapacitated, Francis learned enough about mi-go physiology to discover how to inflict pain on one. Through brutal interrogation, Frances wrung secrets out of his alien captive, gaining unprecedented advances in both scientific and medical knowledge. Over the past three years, this information proved vital in propelling Warrens Laboratories far ahead of its competitors. However, all this gain was not without some costs. Three researchers at Warrens Laboratories balked at Francis methods, voicing their concerns over keeping the incredible discovery secret for industrial gains. One also questioned the morality of imprisoning and torturing a sentient being. All three vanished while working late at the labs—after being

113

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Involving the Investigators

be graver than he could ever imagine. In return for “saving” his son, Dr. Herrington became a party to Francis Warren’s plot. The pharmaceuticals company helped get Dr. Herrington a job at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind in Arkham, in order to begin secret human tests on a new drug being developed which showed signs of helping to restore sight to the blind. Jim isn’t happy about performing these secret tests for Warrens Laboratories or the exploitation of the captured alien for scientific gain, but he feels trapped by his circ*mstances. Also, he isn’t completely in control of his actions. The captive mi-go is currently at work on its latest escape attempt. Using the greed of its captor against him, the alien being has inserted extra effects into the serum being tested on the disabled teenagers at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. The eight teenaged test subjects have had more than just their sight restored; they’ve been genetically altered to become more than human. Each of these teens are now telepathic and under the control of the mi-go. They are currently in the process of building highly advanced weapons and armor, a fusion of human and mi-go technology. Soon, they will be ready to storm the pharmaceutical facility and free their alien master. Investigators are drawn into this conflict, with the captive mi-go attempting to escape on one side, and Francis Warrens and Warrens Laboratories on the other. Both sides have pawns at their disposal, and their contest will soon come to a head. The investigators may well be either the deciding factor in this contest or part of the collateral damage the final confrontation is likely to cause.

The investigators can become involved with the scenario through Florence and Lester “Pike” Nussbaum, the owners of Pike’s Haberdashery, a fine suit and hat store, in Arkham. The Nussbaum’s son, Hans Nussbaum, lost his sight battling smallpox as a child. Today, the young man is a student and resident at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. Recently, Hans was given a special treatment by the school’s new physician Dr. Herrington, a former surgeon at Boston City Hospital. The drug showed great promise in restoring some of the vision of those who had lost their sight to illness. Hans and his parents were excited to try the new drug, but things have not gone well. While the initial results showed some improvement in vision, Hans became withdrawn and distant. The young man has broken off all contact with his parents. Dr. Herrington assures them that Han’s odd mood is a side effect of the medication and that, once his body fully adjusts, he’ll be back to his normal self. Florence and Lester Nussbaum aren’t convinced. They’re very worried about their son, as they’ve never seen this sort of behavior from him before. The couple asks or hires the investigators to snoop around St. Lucy’s to check on their son and make sure he’s okay. The Nussbaums cannot afford to pay to the investigators very much, but offer each male investigator a new tailored suit and hat of their choice from their shop. Female investigators are offered a one-of-a-kind designer hat and matching handbag. Alternatively, investigators could be hired to look into the disappearances of personnel working at Warrens Laboratories; Dr. John Coleman, Dr. Cillian O’Donnell, and Dr. Karl Jared. They may also he hired to look into the mysterious deaths of Dr. Thomas Grine and his laboratory assistant Leonard Talbot, both publicly listed as industrial accident victims. Also, Keepers can involve the investigators by having them simply looking into the large number of missing cats and dogs in Arkham between April 21st and the 28th.

Keeper’s Note Darkness Illuminated is designed as a reactive scenario, i.e., a sandbox, for the investigators to explore and interact with. Certain events will occur according to a timetable which can be affected by the investigators. Keepers should familiarize themselves with the factions and timetables presented in the scenario in order to react to the investigators’ actions. There is no set course of action for investigators to follow. What side, if any, the investigators choose to support is entirely up to them.

Timeline of Key Events, Past February 1923 Francis Warrens finds the crippled mi-go and captures it. Over the next six months, he studies the creature as it slowly heals, learning to communicate with it.

The Factions The two major factions are Frances Warrens/Warrens Laboratories and the captive mi-go, which the researchers refer to as both The Consultant and Subject Alpha. Warrens Laboratories employs Dr. James Herrington to assist in field research and human trials outside the Arkham research facility. Subject Alpha has also managed to acquire operatives outside of the facility, in the form of the eight test subjects from St. Lucy’s School for the Blind and William Herrington. What remains of William Herrington is currently grafted onto Dr. James Herrington’s chest, making the doctor’s ultimate loyalties and overall situation rather complicated.

July 1923–October 1927 Warrens Laboratories begins making amazing advancements. Key employees are disturbed by what they witness at work. Three go missing before they can inform the authorities. These are Dr. John Coleman (April 17, 1924), Dr. Cillian O’Donnell (May 2, 1924), and Dr. Karl Jared (June 7, 1924). August 1925 Mi-Go captive attempts escape, killing a researcher, Dr. Thomas Grine (July 22, 1927), and a laboratory technician Leonard Talbot (September 27, 1927) in the process. Drastic

114

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D

The Key Players

improvements are made to security and methods of interrogation become more brutal. April 4, 1926 Easter. The Herrington family boating accident.

Francis Warrens & Warrens Laboratories

December 1927 Francis Warrens approaches Dr. Herrington. Warrens convinces Herrington that his company can help his comatose son William. Jim moves to Arkham with his son, visiting the secured facilities within Warrens Laboratories. Here, the mi-go captive, being called The Consultant, performs the surgery on the comatose William, restoring some of his consciousness by grafting the boy’s face and implanting a section of the boy’s brain onto his father’s chest.

Warrens Laboratories is fast becoming the premiere American pharmaceutical developer, in a field dominated by European medical research firms. It has production facilities in several locations across the north east, but the primarily research facility is located at 406 N. Peabody Ave., in Arkham, Massachusetts. The facility boasts high security, explained away by Francis Warrens as a need to protect against corporate espionage. In truth, the facility is equal part research laboratory and high security prison, where an alien prisoner is housed and interrogated (for more information see Warrens Laboratories in Key Locations). Only a handful of employees know the truth about The Consultant, most suspecting the mysterious resident of the facility to be a European scientist working on secrets stolen from another pharmaceutical developer. The mastermind behind this facility is Francis Warrens, son of the company’s founder. While not a scientist or even a businessman, Francis is a retired army Intelligence officer who served in the Philippine-American War (1899-1913) and the Great War. With his gift for learning languages and vast experience in housing and questioning prisoners, Francis Warrens soon saw the opportunities a captured Mi-Go could provide.

December 1927–January 1928 Warrens Laboratories arranges for Dr. Herrington to begin working as the School Physician at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind, in order to perform human drug trials on the patients there. February 1928–April 1928 Operating under orders from Warrens Laboratories, Jim begins experimenting with drugs that will restore sight to some of the children at St. Lucy’s. Because of the telepathic influence of his son, he altars the serum to turn the children into Mi-Go Thralls. The drug has limited success in restoring vision to the subjects, but also mutates them, turning them into full Thralls. April 21, 1928–Present The mi-go telepathically controls the teenagers, and commands them to go out after nightfall to begin gathering their arsenal. Present The investigators become involved in the scenario in late April of 1928.

Timeline of Events, Pending April 21, 1928–April 28, 1928 The mi-go thralls begin catching stray cats and dogs that roam the French Hill neighborhood at night in order to harvest biological material to construct a form of Yuggothian bio-armor.

FRANCIS WARRENS, Opportunist Entrepreneur STR 12 CON 14 SIZ 11 INT 16 POW 14 DEX 12 APP 13 EDU 18 SAN 0 HP 13 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: .45 Revolver 45%, 1D10+2 damage Skills: Chemistry 35%, Credit Rating 50%, Cthulhu Mythos 9%, Medicine 45%, Persuade 55%, Psychology 65%, Other Language: German 45%, French 50%, Spanish 50%, Phillipo (and five other Malayo-Polynesian dialects) 45%.

April 30, 1928 The mi-go thralls rob a radio repair shop for the material needed to construct high tech weapons. May 1, 1928–May 2, 1928 The mi-go thralls assemble their bio-armor and construct their weaponry in preparation for the coming assault.

Goals

May 3, 1928 The mi-go thralls mount an attack against the secured facilities within Warrens Laboratories in an effort to free the captive mi-go.

Francis Warrens hopes Warrens Laboratories will become the top developer and producer of medical drugs in the world. He hopes to keep making cutting edge discoveries, using The Consultant’s vast knowledge of chemistry, to achieve total dominance in the industry. As the company’s wealth

All pending events are detailed in the Key Events section.

115

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE and position grows, so too does the arrogance of Warrens and the Warrens Laboratories employees who know about The Consultant. They believe that The Consultant’s will is broken and that the measures they’ve put in place are sure to keep their prisoner in and prying eyes out. They are wrong on both counts.

❖ Leading its human thralls out of Arkham and to Vermont ❖ The total destruction of the Warrens Laboratories research facility

Timetable The consultant’s plan is to appear to be doing nothing, other than obeying the orders of Francis Warrens. In truth, it is busy marshalling its thralls through psychic links and organizing the upcoming assault. Once freed from captivity, it will take a more active role in its escape. If the investigators make contact with its thralls, the Consultant may try to parley with them, speaking through the body of one of its linked youths. It would gladly accept any assistance the investigators could give it. However, it does not consider itself bound to any promises it might make to gain their aid; it will say whatever it needs to and then do exactly as it pleases once freed (see Alien Recruitment).

Timetable Francis Warrens spends most of his time at the research facility. He has built an apartment there to be closer to his work and his prisoner. However, he does occasionally go out for dinner at the end of a long work day. This typically happens 2–3 times a week between 7–10pm. Francis Warrens is always driven and escorted by one of his security personnel, and sometimes accompanied by Dr. Sophia Nilda, an Austrian chemist and part of the Warrens Laboratories inner circle.

The Consultant

Dr. James Herrington

This mi-go was a leader among its kind, a top scientist and administrator. It is a large specimen, an elder of its race. This alien creature was nearly killed six years ago when flash flooding destroyed the base it was stationed in. However, while incapacitated, it was captured by Francis Warrens, who made the creature his prisoner. The alien has been systematically tortured and forced to perform medical procedures and reveal advanced pharmaceutical secrets to his captors. Due to its injuries from the flood, and those it suffered at the hands of Francis Warrens, it is partially crippled and less mobile than it once was. The alien bided its time, studied its enemy, and tried to escape. That attempt failed, and it was tortured in retaliation. It is now pretending to be subjugated and accepting of its fate, but this could not be farther from the truth. The alien, now called The Consultant, devised a more subtle and cunning plan to escape. The Consultant now has numerous agents acting on its behalf, preparing to storm the facility and free it.

This once brilliant surgeon has suffered a horrible tragedy, losing his wife and son in a boating accident. His remaining son survived, but in a deep coma. He became obsessed with trying to save his son. The boating accident and subsequent obsession fractured his sanity, and after visiting the Warrens Laboratories research facility in Arkham, his sanity completely shattered. Dr. Herrington can still function as a doctor at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind and conduct experiments for Warrens Laboratories, but when not working, his mind is deeply disturbed (see Timetable). Warrens Laboratories and The Consultant saved the mind of young William Herrington, but not his body. Portions of the boy’s brain and face were transplanted onto the chest of his father by The Consultant. The side effect is a slight impairment of Dr. Herrington’s muscular control on his right side, much like the effects of a stroke. Because of this, Dr. Herrington is now forced to walk with a cane. He can now communicate telepathically with his son, but during the surgery, the mi-go programmed William Herrington’s brain. William is now completely subject to the mi-go’s will, and through the link between father and son, so is Dr. James Herrington. Control of these two became the cornerstone of The Consultant’s latest plot to escape from Warrens Laboratories. Dr. James Herrington II is 42 years old, is of medium build, and walks slowly with the use of a cane. If asked about the cane or mobility, he attributes it to a previous accident. This is a lie and a successful Psychology roll informs investigators that Dr. Herrington is hiding something about his injury. In public, he wears a long white physician’s coat that obscures a slightly bulging on the right side of his chest.

THE CONSULTANT, Tortured Mi-go and Elder Fungi from Yuggoth STR 8 CON 6 SIZ 10 INT 18 POW 14 DEX 8 HP 10 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Nippers 25%, 1D6 damage + grapple Armor: None, but the extraterrene body causes all impaling weapons to do minimum damage. Spells: Blinding Fog (Create Mist of Releh). Sanity Loss: 0/1D6

Goal The Consultant’s main goal is to free itself from captivity and return to the rolling wilds of Vermont. Once there, it will try to make contact with any of its own kind or their agents. Secondary goals include:

DR. JAMES HERRINGTON II, Insane Grieving Father STR 12 CON 11 SIZ 9 INT 16 DEX 6 APP 17 EDU 18 SAN 0 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Sword Cane 25%, 1D6 +db damage

❖ The death of Francis Warrens, its captor and tormentor

116

POW 12 HP 10

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D Timetable

Skills: Biology 40%, Credit Rating 70%, First Aid 50%, Medicine 65%, Other Lang (Latin) 40%, Pilot (Boat) 50%, Pharmacy 45%, Psychoanalysis 40%, Psychology 35%.

From the hours of 7am until 4pm, Dr. Herrington works at St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. Between 5pm and 6pm, he visits Warrens Laboratories research facility, where he gives his daily progress reports on the drug trials being conducted at the school before going home (228 N. East Street, in the River Town neighborhood). From 7pm until about midnight, Dr. Herrington sits in front of a mirror in his bedroom with his shirt off, talking out loud while looking over his son’s face. From midnight until 6am, the doctor sleeps.

Dr. Herrington presents himself as a serious medical professional dedicated to his work and those under his care. If the investigators question him about the experimental drug treatments to cure blindness, he is surprised they know anything about it. He explains that the subjects or their guardians all signed non-disclosure agreements about the treatments, which are for everyone’s protection. Dr. Herrington also explains that each family was also paid for their participation in these trials, and the subjects received free treatments. He says that is it far too early in the research to go public with such information. Under the guise of medical confidentiality, Dr. Herrington refuses to share any information about the drug or its results except to say that the treatment looks promising.

William Herrington This six year old boy should have died in a boating accident several years ago. Badly hurt and in a long term coma, it was only constant medical care which kept him alive. The best doctors could do nothing for him, as his brain and spine were both badly damaged. However Warrens Laboratories, with the assistance of The Consultant, was able to return the child to consciousness, albeit in a horrific way. Portions of William’s brain were transplanted into his father’s abdomen, and the child’s face was grafted onto Dr. Herrington’s chest. The boy is able to talk to his father telepathically, and when he does so the mouth twitches and moves. The boy’s consciousness is only about 60% Williams’s, the remaining 40% being controlled by the will of the mi-go

Goal Dr. James Herrington has achieved his goal, that of being reunited with his son. However, this has broken his grip on reality and his sanity. He wishes nothing more than to make his son William happy, and pretty much does whatever the boy tells him to do (within logical reason). This means that Dr. James Herrington is essentially a de facto agent of The Consultant, as William Herrington is under the control of the mi-go.

117

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE Goals

who conducted this procedure. Should investigators attempt to Persuade or Fast Talk either Dr. Herrington or William, the mi-go still has a 40% chance to force control William against his will. Dr. Herrington never acts counter to what William instructs him to do, as their relationship is at the core of his insanity. William’s father, grief stricken for so long, doesn’t notice the difference in his son’s personality and accepts having William back in ANY way, including this.

William’s goals are simple, to protect his father and help the mi-go escape. If forced to choose between these two goals, William chooses his father only 60% of the time (the same percentage as the amount of actual consciousness the boy’s brain controls). The Consultant will attempt to force William to sacrifice his father and himself if that is what’s required in winning its freedom.

WILLIAM HERRINGTON III, Parasitic Son

Timetable

INT 14 POW 10 APP 3 SAN 0 HP 1(*) Weapons: Gas Spore 75% in a 10-foot radius. See boxed text below.

During the day William is mostly dormant, chatting with his father and The Consultant from time to time. Between the hours of 7pm and midnight, William is very active, enjoying time with his father where they share stories and play word games. William goes wherever Dr. Herrington goes, as they are physically bound together.

Special Ability: Telepathic Link: William Herrington maintains a telepathic link with both his father, Dr. James Herrington and the mi-go captive known as The Consultant. While the mi-go has no direct control over Dr. Herrington, it has control over William. Through William, the Consultant whispers eldritch secrets to the doctor all night long. This accelerated Dr. Herrington’s insanity and made him more pliable to the suggestions of his “son”.

The Thralls

(*) Keeper’s Note – An attacks made specifically to William damages his father, unless it is a critical hit. Should this happen, what is left of William’s brain is destroyed, and the remaining damage from the attack is suffered by Dr. Herrington.

Gas Spore Attack The mi-go implanted a genetically altered organ into Dr. Herrington and his son during the transplant procedure. This organ allows William’s face to cough forth a cloud of gas spores designed to paralyze victims. A successful gas spore attack roll creates a 10foot diameter cloud of spores which delivers a POT 17 paralytic attack. A failed roll on the Resistance Table results in full-body paralysis for 2D6 rounds. Those resisting have their movement rate and all skill checks reduced by half for 1D4 rounds. This paralysis does not affect the involuntary nervous system, allowing the heart, lungs, and diaphragm to function without impairment. William / The Consultant will only use this attack to protect Dr. Herrington. Once it expends the spores, the organ requires 2 hours to produce enough spores for another such attack, so this is usually an action of last resort. The Thralls also have this organ, which developed within their throats and tongues as part of their re-written genetic code. The POT of 17 and limit of one use per two hours is the same, although their spore distribution is delivered in a 15-foot cone instead of a 10-foot radius. Thralls, William, and Dr. James Herrington are all immune to the paralytic effect of the spores.

118

Before Dr. Herrington came to St. Lucy’s School for the Blind, these eight young people were simply patients and residents. Each was either born or stricken blind at a very young age, through illness, infection, or injury. They worked hard to become as independent as possible and learn a trade to support themselves. Each had also given up hope of ever regaining their sight. The promises of Dr. Herrington were met with skepticism, but with little to lose, three agreed to take part in the experimental treatment. When the initial group, Stage One, showed marked improvement in their vision, five more students stepped forward to participate. This second group, Stage Two, received a more powerful and refined version of the serum. Over the next few weeks, the children changed, regaining their sight, and also gaining a host of physical improvements and a dark purpose. As their genetic code was re-written, each stopped being something human and became a thrall of the mi-go known as The Consultant. The Stage One Thralls are Allison Dowell, age 16; Hans Nussbaum, age 17; and Eugene Shaw age 14. The Stage Two Thralls are Richard Cooke and Lynn Walsh, both age 16; Vincent Navarra, age 18; Patricia Morris, age 19; and David Whiteman, age 15.

YUGGOTHIAN THRALLS, Lesser Servitor Race These creatures are created when a special serum is introduced into a human being while they are in puberty, but before they’ve reached adulthood. The eight Yuggothain Thralls were all students at the St. Lucy’s School for the Blind in Arkham. The subject’s body is then at the perfect stage for drastic physical alteration, and the serum takes advantage of that. The subjects’ genetic codes are re-written as they are

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D Intellectually, thralls have been granted a number of advanced scientific, technical, and arcane skills through a psychic link to their master. This allows them to create any number of highly advanced weapons, defenses, drugs, and chemical compounds to help them in achieving their objective, the freeing of their master from captivity. Thralls are also able to cast certain spells. Thralls are able to use any weapon usable by a normal human being. The thralls at St. Lucy’s are easily able to arm themselves with various knives, clubs, or tools (1D4+db or 1D6+db, with a 25%–35% chance to hit). Given enough time and materials, these thralls can and will create highly advanced weapons and defensive suits using alien scientific technologies. The odd behavior of all thralls has the effect of making it impossible to tell if one is lying or telling the truth. Thralls no longer exhibit any of the typical physical cues on which an observer could base a determination. Investigators making a successful Psychology roll against a thrall realize there is no way to tell if one is lying and must make Sanity check of 0/1 point due to the creatures’ unnerving behavior.

turned into something other than human. The eight thralls at St. Lucy’s were created by the mi-go known as The Consultant and are totally devoted to its service. Each of these minions has a psychic link to The Consultant. The thralls were created in two groups: Stage One, which was an initial test batch, and Stage Two, which received a more refined and advanced serum. These creatures still seem human, aside from a number of small differences. Stage One Thralls all have blond hair (all previously had dark hair), and Stage Two Thralls all have white hair. Thralls seem to be distant, detached, and cold when interacting with others, as they have lost much of their empathy. The thralls all try to be careful not to offend people with their behavior and typically explain it away as a side effect of their treatments. Physically, thralls are stronger, hardier, and faster than they were when human. They can not only see, but also see into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. Thralls have pale white (in stage one) or blue (in stage two) eyes, which seem to glow. They also have elongated tongues with a nipplelike tip which can produced a jet of gas like paralytic spores (see Gas Spore Attack). Stage Two Thralls have improved physical defenses, as their internal organs have taken on fungal-like qualities which grant them limited resistance to the effects of piercing attacks (gunfire, stabbing, or thrusting weapons).

119

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE YUGGOTHIAN THRALLS, Genetically Enhanced Mi-Go agents

diate cardiac arrest and die 1D3 rounds later unless treated with a successful Medicine check.

Stage One Stage Two char. rolls averages rolls averages STR 3D6+2 12–13 4D6+4 17 CON 4D6+2 13–15 4D6+6 20 SIZ 2D6+3 9 2D6+3 9 INT 3D6+4 14–15 3D6+4 14–15 POW 4D6 14 4D6+4 18 DEX 2D6+6 13 4D6+2 16 APP 4D6 14 Move 9 12 HP 11 14 Average Dam. Bonus: +0 +1D4 Weapons: Fist 50%, 1D3+db; normal and/or advanced weapons Gas Spore Attack 35% (for Stage One) or 55% (for Stage Two) Armor: Possible normal or advanced armor Stage Two Thralls take 1/2 damage from piercing weapons and firearms Spells: Stage One: Create Mists of Releh Stage Two: Create Mists of Releh and Contact Mi-Go Skills: Climb 50%, Chemistry 65%, Electrical Repair 65%, Hide 65%, Jump 40%, Listen 50%, Mechanical Repair 65%, Pharmacy 75%, Sneak 55%, Spot Hidden (Night Vision) 40%, Throw 45%. Sanity Loss: none, if appearing human, 0/1D4 if a thrall’s eyes are visible or a thrall uses the gas spore attack.

Slug Thrower This weapon looks like a few metal tubes formed into the shape of a pistol, topped by a bundle of batteries, magnets, and a glass jar containing the brain of a cat. This weapon silently fires slugs of molten copper, its ammunition being common pennies. It has a range of just 5 yards, fires twice per round, and carries eight pennies when fully loaded. Its malfunction number is 92%, and base chance to hit is determined by the standard handgun skill. The weapon does 1D8 points of damage, causing painful burns as molten copper lances through its victim. Thralls so armed have a 50% chance to hit with these weapons.

Questioning the Thralls Investigators questioning the Yuggothian Thralls soon learn that they cannot determine whether or not the thralls are lying. They will each apologize for their behavior, saying that the drugs they are on to restore their vision make them feel oddly disconnected to things. They claim the effect is “getting better” and that they’ll try harder not to be rude. They each say that their vision has improved quite a bit, allowing them to see shapes, light, and shadows (each still being considered legally blind). The truth is that each is now perfectly able to see, but they all continue to wear their dark glasses and use their canes so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Yuggothian Weapons and Defenses The thralls have advanced technical knowledge granted to them by their master, The Consultant. To make ready for the coming attack on the Warrens Laboratories research facility, they are gathering materials for and constructing several high tech weapons and defensive armor. For more details on these efforts, Keepers should go to Key Events. The specific items they are constructing are:

Goals The thralls have one primary goal: assault the Warrens Laboratories research facility and free their master, the mi-go. To achieve this goal, they are gathering materials to construct both weapons and armor under the psychic direction of The Consultant. Each thrall willingly sacrifices its life in the pursuit of this goal. Secondary goals are the elimination of Frances Warrens and the physical destruction of the Warrens Laboratories research facility.

Thrall Bio-Armor Unlike standard mi-go bio-armor this is designed specifically for thrall physiology. It provides less protection against attacks, and it wears out faster than regular mi-go bio-armor, in 1D4+4 days. The thrall bio-armor provides 5 points of protection against electrical, flame, and physical attacks. The armor can be removed by the thralls without damage, but a regular human wearing this armor and then removing it suffers 1 HP of damage and reduces the armor’s effectiveness by 1 point. While standard bio-armor is a web of slime, these suits are formed from biological material harvested from abducted pets and strays.

Timetable During the day, Patricia Morris, Vincent Navarra, and Hans Nussbaum take the bus to work, a booth that sells candy, newspapers, and other travel items at the B&M Train Station, on 289 W High Street. They remain there between 8am and 5:30pm, before returning to St. Lucy’s for dinner. The others, all younger, attend trade classes during the day, learning Braille and simple trade skills that don’t require sight. The students usually go to bed by 8pm. However, the Thralls often sneak out of the school to prepared for or conduct the coming attack on the Warrens Laboratories research facility.

Electric Grenades These cylindrical weapons are formed from a pair of radio tubes wrapped together with wire and magnets. Activating the grenade causes the tubes to glow with a blue light. When thrown, the grenade bursts on impact and detonates in a 10-foot diameter sphere of blue sparks, causing 1D10 points damage to everything within range. Similar to mi-go Electric Guns, those injured by this weapon must also compare their remaining hit points against the damage they received from the grenade on the Resistance Table. Those who fail this roll are knocked unconscious for 1D4+2 rounds. Those who critically fail this roll enter imme-

120

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D

Important Locations There are a number of important locations the investigators may wish to visit, such as: ❖ St. Lucy’s School for the Blind—518 Lich Street, French Hill neighborhood, Arkham ❖ Boston City Hospital—745 Massachusetts Ave, South End Neighborhood, Boston ❖ Warrens Laboratories, Arkham Research Facility—406 N. Peabody Ave, Downtown Arkham

St. Lucy’s School for the Blind Previously known as St. Lucy’s Asylum for the Blind, this facility was established in 1877. It was renamed in 1911, when the charter was updated to focus on the education of the visually impaired instead of on hospitalization. St. Lucy’s is clean, well run, and reputable, but underfunded and overcrowded with students from all across New England living here. It currently houses and educates twenty-seven students, divided into two age groups, 7–14 years old and 15–21 years old. When the investigators arrive, construction is just beginning on the school, adding a much needed second floor to the dormitory wing. This addition will contain small private rooms for students 18–21 years old. The school has a staff of nine, although only three live here full time:

Map Key A

St. Lucy’s School for the Blind

❖ Mr. Roy Natt—A 30-year-old teacher who’s been blind his entire life.

Warrens Laboratories, Arkham Reasearch Facility

❖ Ms. Barbara Natt—The 27-year-old spouse of Roy Natt, assists in managing the school.

Dr. Herrington’s Residence

The Rado Center

❖ Father Anthony Scarpetti—55-year-old Catholic priest and director of the school.

Abandoned House

B & M Train Station

121

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Speaking to the Staff

tells them a little bit more about the current situation. This includes the following points:

Investigators can attempt to gain access to the school and question the staff, including Dr. Herrington, anytime between 7am and 6pm. However, doing so requires investigators to make a successful Credit Rating, Fast Talk, or Persuade check. A cash donation of at least $5 would also succeed, as St. Lucy’s is usually, although not currently, in desperate need of funding. Generally, the staff is quite helpful, but very protective of their students, most of whom are still minors. They will not allow investigators unsupervised interviews with their students or access to any of St. Lucy’s records. They explain that many of these children come from highly placed New England families, which value their privacy a great deal. If the investigators mention Dr. James Herrington’s drug treatments, the staff quickly attempts to end the meeting and escort them out. They explain that the investigators shouldn’t even know about that, as everyone participating signed a legally binding agreement not to discuss it with outsiders. A successful Psychology roll indicates they are fearful and hiding something. Investigators must again roll a successful Credit Rating, Persuade, or Fast Talk to resume the conversation; or make an additional cash donation of at least $50. If the investigators succeed, the staff tells calms down and

❖ Dr. Herrington is a brilliant surgeon from Boston City Hospital. He lost his family in a boating accident several years ago and has dedicated his life to helping others. St. Lucy’s is lucky to have him. Keeper’s Note—This may lead investigators to Darkness Papers #1. ❖ Dr. Herrington is working with Warrens Laboratories in developing a new treatment for blindness. It’s a medication that is supposed to work only on those experiencing puberty, because of something about their bodies being in a period of alteration. ❖ The drug is being testing on a number of students who have all responded well and have regained some of their vision. “It’s a very exciting time! Oh, the wonders of modern medicine!” ❖ For its participation in this study, St. Lucy’s has received generous support from Warrens Laboratories, allowing the school to upgrade its programs, make a few needed repairs, and finally expand its dormitories. ❖ Warrrens Laboratories was quite explicit about these tests being confidential, as the company fears going public too soon.

122

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D locked and contains a detailed journal of his medical findings (see Journal of Alien Medicine).

❖ The drug seems to have some mild physical and behavioral side effects, but the school has been assured that these will fade in time, and the students do seem to be getting better.

The Subject’s Rooms

Research on Dr. Herrington

Should investigators manage to get into the rooms of students involved in the drug trials, there is little for them to find. They find clothes, tactile wooden toys, a few books written in Braille, and other personal items. Investigators can also find letters, converted into Braille by St. Lucy’s staff, from the concerned families of the test subjects. If investigators are somehow able to read these letters, they learn that each subject has halted all communication with family and friends, and is exhibiting drastic changes in behavior.

If the investigators research Dr. Herrington or his boating accident in any major New England newspaper, they find the following article with a successful Library Use roll (see Darkness Illuminated Papers #1). The investigators also find in the April 5 issue an apology for confusing the ages of the two boys.

Dr. Herrington’s Office This room contains the standard books, papers, and materials one would expect in a “general care” doctor’s office. Investigators who manage to gain unsupervised access here may locate several unusual things. There is a small locked cabinet (Dr. Herrington has the only key) filled with a variety of common drugs, with six unlabeled bottles tucked behind them. These contain the experimental drug being tested on the students (see Experimental Serum). Also here is a large mason jar, filled with moist soil within which is growing a strange fungus. Investigators making a successful Natural History roll learn that it is an unknown species possibly related to the morel mushroom. In truth, this is an alien fungus and a key part of the treatments. Dr. Herrington’s desk is also

Boston City Hospital Investigators wishing to learn more about Dr. Herrington may contact or visit his former colleagues at Boston City Hospital. The two people investigators find who are most willing to speak are Abigail Bloom, chief surgical nurse, and Dr. Sean Matthews, a personal friend of Dr. Herrington. Investigators with medical credentials or those making a

Map Key 1.

Entrance

Closet / Storage

Dr. Office

Chapel

Director’s Office

Director’s Bedroom

Classroom (shop)

Classroom (school)

Dining Room

10. Kitchen 11. Recreation Room 12. Women’s Bathroom 13. Girl’s Dormitory (Children) 14. Boy’s Dormitory (Children) 15. Men’s Dormitory (Young Adults) 16. Women’s Dormitory (Young Adults) 17. Men’s Bathroom 18. Staff Dormitory 19. Stairs down to boiler room

Darkness Illuminated Papers #1

123

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE successful Credit Rating, Fast Talk, or Persuade roll learn the following information from either:

and factories in upstate New York. Few people realize that their primary and most important research center is located in Arkham, Massachusetts. This facility was once a residence, but has been renovated into a state of the art medical research center. Few really know what goes on here, as, from the outside, it appears to be like any other home in the area. However, it is surrounded by a tall gate whose entrance is always locked and manned by a pair of security guards. Most of the scientists, technicians, and security personnel live on-site, so there is very little traffic in or out of the facility and work going on around the clock. In truth, the facility is equal parts pharmaceutical research laboratory and high security alien detention center. While most employees know about the mysterious researcher called “The Consultant”, only a select few know the truth of that being’s identity. Keepers can stock the rooms of the facility with whatever security, scientific, or technical personal that seems appropriate. While the facility operates around the clock, the third shift (1am–9am) is always staffed by a skeleton crew. The technological and medical advancements being worked on at the facility are left intentionally vague. Keepers are encouraged to create whatever is necessary to make this scenario entertaining for the players.

❖ Dr. Herrington is an amazing osteopathic surgeon. ❖ He lost his wife and his oldest son due to a boating accident. His younger son lingered in a coma for some time after, but never regained consciousness and died about a year and a half later. ❖ He didn’t attend his family’s funerals because he wouldn’t leave William’s bedside. ❖ Jim came through the accident with hardly a scratch and had a lot of guilt about that. ❖ Jim spent his entire family fortune looking for a cure for William, but to no avail. I heard the boy died while Jim was having him treated in Arkham. William was buried in a private ceremony that not even close family was invited to. Dr. Matthews and Nurse Bloom will be surprised to learn that Dr. Herrington is working at a school for the blind or for a pharmaceutical company. They explain that, while a very gifted surgeon, Dr. Herrington has no experiences in the field of ophthalmology or medical research.

Security Guards

Warrens Laboratories, Arkham Research Facility

STR 13 CON 12 SIZ 12 INT 13 POW 9 DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 12 SAN 45 HP 12 Damage Bonus: +1D4. Weapons: .38 Revolver 40%, 1d10 damage Nightstick 35%, 1d6 +db damage Skills: Dodge 35%, Fist/Punch 65%, Grapple 40%, Kick 50%, Listen 40%, and Spot Hidden 40%.

Warrens Laboratories, fast becoming the premiere pharmaceutical company in North America, has main offices in Philadelphia

Experimental Blindness Drug The serum looks and smells like watery spoiled milk. A single dose of the drug is defined as 5ml injected intravenously. Patients receive one injection per day, but, in truth, no longer require further treatments. Should anyone who isn’t both blind and between the ages of 13 and 21 take this drug, it has the effects of a POT 20 neurotoxin, with a fatal onset time of 15 minutes.

Journal of Alien Medicine This large book found in Dr. Herrington’s desk contains detailed records on how the drug experiment is proceeding. While written in English, the notes are recorded in a personal medical shorthand cipher which investigators must make a successful Medicine roll to understand. The journal contains notes concerning medical and biological principles barely understood by modern science. It seems to involve a process where a symbiotic relationship with certain fungal organisms is reached, with the host reaching a state of hybridization. The center for this drug’s development is listed as Warrens Laboratories and the chief researcher is someone identified only as “The Consultant”. Journal of Alien Medicine: The journal requires a successful Medicine roll and one hour to skim, six hours to read, or two weeks to study. Sanity Loss: 1/1D4; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles.

124

125

Conference Room

Security Room

Supply Closet

Water Closet

Break Room

Communications (Telephone and radio)

Security Locker Room

Director’s Office

Chemistry Lab

Secure Chemical Storage

Security Office

Francis Warren’s Living room

Francis Warren’s Bedroom

Weapon’s Locker

Water closet

Biology Lab

2nd Floor

11. Research Archives

Front Security Desk

Security barracks Alien Biological Lab Alien Technologies Lab Break Room Detention Area

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Security checkpoint Experimental Fungal Cultivation Supplies The Consultant’s Cell Torture/Interrogation/Experimental Surgery Area

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Sub-Basem*nt

Water closet

Alien Chemical Lab

Weapons Locker

Security Checkpoint

Basem*nt

12. General Lab Storage

10. Animal testing

1st Floor

Map Key

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

The security guards are armed, but trained to use lethal force as a last choice. They are dressed in grey shirts with black accents, Warrens Laboratories patches on both shoulders and nametags over their left breast pocket.

The technical staff dresses in tan utility jumpsuits with Warrens Laboratories and the technician’s last name embroidered over the right breast pocket. The jumpsuits have numerous pockets containing a variety of tools. The technicians are not overly motivated to fight, instead fleeing and / or calling for security personnel. However, they will defend themselves if given no other option. Most of the technicians hold degrees in engineering. They are tasked with both maintaining the facility and adapting mi-go technologies.

Scientists STR 10 CON 12 SIZ 11 INT 16 POW 12 DEX 11 APP 13 EDU 16 SAN 60 HP 12 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: none. Skills: Biology 35%, Chemistry 40%, Medicine 35%, and Pharmacy 60%.

Important Locations in Warrens Laboratories, Arkham Research Facility

The scientists conducting research will either flee, call for security, or both if they encounter intruders. If cornered, they surrender. More than half speak with thick accents, as they are some of the top chemists, biologists, and medical researchers from Europe. They are dressed in business attire worn under long white lab coats with the logo of Warrens Laboratories embroidered across the back.

Frances Warrens’s Apartment The only part of the facility that still resembles a residence is the suite of rooms where Frances Warrens lives. Investigators find a standard wealthy bachelor’s apartment with antiques and art collected from South-East Asia. There is a locked desk here filled with over a dozen journals of Warren’s notes, taken during his interrogations of The Consultant. (Each journal takes 1 week to read, and reading the entire collection grants

Technicians STR 12 CON 10 SIZ 12 INT 14 POW 10 DEX 10 APP 9 EDU 13 SAN 50 HP 11 Damage Bonus: none. Weapons: Wrench or Pipe or Hammer 25%, 1D6 +db damage Skills: Electrical Repair 40%, Locksmith 25%, Mechanical Repair 55%.

126

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D Biological Harvest (April 21st–28th)

Cthulhu Mythos +4 percentiles and requires a Sanity Check for 1/1D3). Investigators making a successful Spot Hidden roll locate a secret panel in one wall which opens to some recessed shelving. These shelves contain several machines and a trio of metal cylinders marked “JC”, “COD”, and “KJ”. These are the mi-go brain canisters for Dr. John Coleman, Dr. Cillian O’Donnell, and Dr. Karl Jared. The machinery here must be plugged into the canisters to allow the mind inside to see, hear and communicate with the outside world. If the investigators manage to activate any of the mi-go brain canisters they can communicate with the mind inside of it. Each identifies themselves as one of the missing scientists and happily tells the investigators all they know about The Consultant, Warrens Laboratories, and Frances Warren. They also lay blame for their deaths squarely upon Frances Warrens and explain that he murdered each of them in order to ensure their silence after they threatened to go to the authorities. They’ve been kept alive in this way for their scientific expertise and are being forced by Warrens to continue their work on various company research projects. They ask to be taken away from Warrens and hidden away somewhere so they can simply sleep for all eternity.

The thralls easily sneak out of St. Lucy’s School for the Blind at about 2am and travel to the French Hill neighborhood. Here they break up into four teams, three of which roam the area collecting stray cats and dogs. These hunter teams corner and bludgeon the animals as quietly as possible before placing their catch into thick sacks. The fourth team sets up a central base in an abandoned building (510 Powder Mill Street) and waits for the hunter teams to arrive. When the hunter teams finish their sweep of French Hill, they go to the abandoned building where the fourth team is waiting. Here the thralls butcher the animals, removing the animals’ spines, ribs, intestines, and adrenal organs. Investigators viewing the students killing and butchering the animals must roll a 0/1 Sanity check. The rest of the animals’ bodies are dumped in the basem*nt of the abandoned building, and by the 28th, the pile of bodies becomes a fly covered carnal heap of rotting flesh. The children place their harvested organic material inside numerous mason jars filled with ammonia. These they hide inside a gardening shed behind St. Lucy’s. They then wash their bloody clothing and hang it up to dry. The thralls return to their dormitories sometime around 4am.

The Holding Cell

Robbing The Radio Center (April 30th)

In the lowest level of the research facility is a high security holding cell, complete with both intercom and alarm systems. At least two armed guards are here at all times, and unlike the guards posted elsewhere, these shoot to kill at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary. Fast Talk, Persuade, and Credit Rating checks simply don’t apply as they’ve been ordered never to let anyone into this area who isn’t accompanied by Francis Warren. The alien prisoner, the mi-go elder known as The Consultant, is kept here in a metal cage. The cage is bolted to the floor in the center of the room and has no door. Welding equipment can be found here, along with a high pressure fire house and a machine that produces high frequency sounds and flashes of light. These items are used to inflict pain on the mi-go during interrogations. Freeing the creature requires at least two bars to be cut and bent (doing 60 HP of damage or 30HP and a success vs. STR20 on the resistance table). However, the welding equipment can inflict 1D12 points of damage to the bars per round, and is by far the easier way to free the captive mi-go.

The thralls sneak out of St. Lucy’s sometime after midnight and head to The Radio Center, a shop located at 385 West Main Street in Arkham’s merchant district. The thralls make the trip using Father Anthony Scarpetti’s car, which they start by hot-wiring with their high technical expertise. The shop’s owner lives outside Arkham, so the store is deserted. The smallest of the thralls, Eugene Shaw, is simply boosted up through a window into the shop; then, he opens the back door for the others. The thralls move through the shop without the use, or need, of a light source as they can all see in total darkness with their new eyes. The thralls remove boxes of technical components, loading their borrowed car with ballast tubes, interstage transformers, RF amplifiers, speaker horns, and spools of wire, magnets, and a variety of nuts, bolts, and pipes. They also steal about a half dozen smaller model radios, which they intend to cannibalize for parts. The thralls are done with their heist by 1:30am and drive back to St. Lucy’s. They unload their materials and hide them in the gardening shed before returning to their dorms.

The Thrall’s Mission, Key Events

Constructing Yuggothian Technology (May 1st–2nd)

Below is the list of actions the thralls take during the scenario. Investigators have ample opportunity to interrupt these actions and alter the course of these events. If investigators take no actions to effect this timetable, it continues forward until its eventual conclusion. Keepers should be ready to alter the course of these events based on the investigators’ actions.

After gathering the necessary biological and technical components, the thralls gather to assemble their weapons and armor. They sneak out of their dormitories around midnight, gather at the gardening shed, and begin constructing eight suits of Thrall Bio-Armor, eight Slug Throwers, and four electric grenades. Work continues until 4am, whereupon the thralls sneak back into their dormitories. The thralls build half of their items on the first night and store their

127

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Parley, Alien Recruitment

completed equipment in their footlockers. After the second night of work, they have completed assembling the rest of their arsenal and are ready to launch their assault on Warrens Laboratories.

If the investigators talk peacefully to the thralls, if they’ve been captured by the thralls, or if they manage to subdue and question a captive thrall, this presents The Consultant with an opportunity. While eight thralls are a good strike team, additional forces only improve its chances of winning its freedom. One of the students says, “Our commander would like to converse with you, to discuss this complex situation. Do you agree?” If the investigators agree, several thralls enter a trance like state while the remainder stands guard over them, if possible. A moment later, the entranced thralls all begin speaking in perfect unison, their voices and manner of speech subtly changed. Those hearing this must make a 0/1 Sanity point check. The investigators are now in speaking through the thralls directly to The Consultant. The Consultant tries to explain the situation in the simplest terms, portraying itself as an innocent victim being held prisoner against its will and tortured by a ruthless pharmaceutical company for monetary gain. It claims to have cured these unfortunate youths of their blindness, and, in return, they are trying to free it. The Consultant may or may not tell the investigators about Dr. James Herrington’s involvement. The alien tells the investigators of the students’ pending attack on the Warrens Laboratories compound and of their plans to escape together afterwards. “These young people will have a good future, with me and my kind, where they won’t be looked down upon and their lives will have real meaning.” If the investigators object to the students from St. Lucy’s leaving with the mi-go, it explains, “These unfortunate young people have been changed, fundamentally. They will be outcasts among their own kind, exploited and experimented upon. I know what that is like and I would spare them that fate. Coming with me is what’s best for them; if you question that, speak with the individuals themselves. See what their wishes are.” The thralls, of course, wish to go with their mi-go master as they were essentially programmed to serve it unto death. The thralls are also willing to either phone or write to their parents to explain that they have been offered jobs and are leaving Massachusetts to start a new career. The Consultant then asks for their help, saying, “I do not wish for any innocent people to be harmed. Your help could minimize the damage and casualties on both sides. Negotiation is not possible; Francis Warrens will never release me and has murdered his own people to maintain my imprisonment. Will you help us?” The investigators must then choose either to help the mi-go and its thralls, agree to help them in order to escape (if they are captives of the thralls), or refuse the alliance. If the alliance is rejected, the thralls attack the investigators if at all possible, as the thralls are unwilling to risk the security of their operation. If the investigator lie and are captives of the thralls, they are released, and must maintain their ruse long enough to escape their confinement. If the investigators honestly agree to help, they participate in the attack on the side of the mi-go and its thralls.

Assault on Warrens Laboratories, Arkham Research Facility (May 3rd) The thralls sneak out at midnight with bags filled with not only their assault equipment, but also their clothing and personal effects as well. Win or lose, they have no intention of returning to St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. The thralls steal the contractor’s utility truck, which is parked outside, and drive to the Warrens Laboratories research facility. The thralls approach the main gate of the facility, pretending to be lost, and lulling the guards (who know nothing of the drug trials) into a false sense of security with their apparent blindness. Using their gas spore attacks, the Mists of Releh spell, and weapons, they overpower the guards and silently enter the facility. The thralls kill or incapacitate most of the personnel in the facility, losing half of their number in battles against the guards. The surviving thralls eventually kill Francis Warren, free their captive alien master, and escape with it in the stolen boxed truck after setting the facility on fire. By dawn, the facility has burned to the ground, and the thralls and mi-go are driving swiftly towards the wild hills of Vermont.

Confronting the Thralls Investigators may confront the thralls with evidence of their nocturnal activities or their physical and mental changes. The investigators may also interrupt the thralls during one of their excursions, either hunting in French Hill or breaking into the Radio Center, Downtown. If the investigators attack the thralls, the thralls defend themselves. In combat, the thralls drop all pretence of being blind and move about quickly, removing their signature dark glasses. Their eyes glow in dim light or darkness, causing the investigators to roll a 0/1 Sanity check. If the confrontation is non-violent, the thralls deny these charges or make an excuse, attempt an honest parlay (see Alien Recruitment), or attack either with the intent to subdue or with the intent to kill. What happens depends on a number of factors. If the thralls think they can overpower the investigators without significant risk, they may attack to subdue the investigators with blasts of their Gas Spores. If this succeeds, the thralls have the option to parley with the investigators from a position of strength or to stash them in some place where they won’t be discovered until after the thralls attack the research facility. If the thralls are certain of easily overpowering the investigators (Keeper’s best judgment), they may try to eliminate them and continue on their mission, although this might put their security and overall objective at risk.

128

D A R K N ES S I L L UM I N ATE D Keeper’s Note While The Consultant is linked to William Herrington, it cannot communicate through him. Also, Dr. Herrington is unaware that his son is linked to The Consultant and would be very bothered if he learned this. Therefore, the Consultant does not convey a message through William, because his father would need to be the one physically doing the talking in such communications. The Consultant is also aware how mentally unstable Dr. Herrington is and suspects that such actions would likely push him completely over the edge of sanity.

Options for Resolution This scenario can end in any number of ways. Keepers should be familiar with the factions, their motivations, and their goals. Keepers should also be mindful of how the investigators’ actions interact with the timetable of events and the factions involved. Most importantly, Keepers should strive to provide an exciting and fulfilling climax to the investigators’ actions, whatever those actions turn out to be.

The Setback If the investigators eliminate the thralls without parleying and leave the Warrens Laboratories research facility unmolested, the scenario ends. The existence of the Consultant might never be realized, and Warrens Laboratories continues its program of alien exploitation and human testing. The Consultant bides its time and creates an even more cunning plan, never giving up on the hope for escape and eventual freedom. The investigators gain 1D4 sanity points for removing a non-human mythos threat from Arkham and the scenario ends. Exactly what happens to the investigators, who are now technically guilty of the murder of eight young, apparently blind teenagers, is up to individual Keepers. With many of these children coming from wealthy New England families, there is certain to be a rather enthusiastic investigation by both authorities and privately hired investigators. Frances Warrens immediately orders all records concerning his company’s connection to St. Lucy’s School for the Blind burned and transfers Dr. Herrington overseas. Outrageous claims by the investigators of things like sinister pharmaceutical companies, illegal drug testing, aliens, and the victims being monsters are quite likely to cause more harm than good. However, if these claims can be backed up with hard evidence, Keepers should consider enacting the Going to the Authorities outcome.

Siding with Warrens Laboratories If the investigators go to Warrens Laboratories about what they have learned, they meet with Frances Warrens personally. If the investigators accuse him of anything, Mr. Warrens explains that everything he and his company do is either legal or not illegal, as there aren’t written laws concerning their ac-

tions. He says, “We have a good legal department, a number of really wonderful lawyers, and more than a few judges I golf with.” The implied threat should be clear. If the investigators talk about the risk of holding an alien creature, he smiles. “I am not saying I do or I don’t have such a prisoner, but if I did, I would have the thing under control. When two species, meet one dominates the other, it’s the law of nature. This is our planet, mankind’s home world; if such a thing were here is would be an intruder, an invader, and a threat. Also, human rights are by definition exclusive to members of the human race. If I did have such a thing prisoner, I’d see the damn thing dead before I allowed it to roam free on my planet.” If the investigators warn him about the effects of the latest trials, namely the actions of the thralls, he quickly realizes this is yet another attempt by his prisoner to escape. He thanks them for the warning and offers the investigators $5,000 to lure the thralls into a trap. Francis Warrens explains, “These things aren’t people anymore, and they’re dangerous. We’ve made a mistake, and it’s time to clean that mistake up.” If the investigators agree he coordinates an ambush where they aren’t harmed, but his security team quickly eliminates the threat with a burst of rifle, shotgun, and Thompson submachine gun fire. Investigators who betray the thralls and see them shot down must make a Sanity Check for 1/1D4 points. The investigators receive their $5,000 reward and 1D8 Sanity Points if they believe their actions are just and necessary to protect human lives, and the scenario ends. If they investigators threaten Francis Warrens, especially if they threaten to go to the authorities, things go badly. Warrens is not a man who takes kindly to threats. He is a wealthy, ruthless man with a small army of armed guards at his disposal. He’s killed to protect his company’s secrets before, and he won’t be squeamish about doing so again.

Siding with the Consultant If the investigators side with the mi-go and its thralls, they take part in the attack on Warrens Laboratories, and Keepers should present a challenging tactical climax to the scenario, using the map of the facilities and the forces stationed there. Francis Warrens personally defends the holding area and must either be subdued or eliminated; he will not surrender or be dissuaded from his beliefs. In the end, if the attack succeeds, The Consultant is freed and escapes with the thralls; the facility is burned to the ground, and the investigators are offered a reward. The Consultant has secretly prepared and hidden a number of tonics. These tonics are in steel syringes and must be injected into a subject’s bone marrow, causing 1 HP of damage. There is one tonic for each investigator. The tonic permanently raises a human’s CON score to 18. The tonics have the side effect of granting immunity to Sanity Checks for viewing mi-go (those injected with the tonic now view mi-go as beautiful, feeling both calm and joy in the creatures’ presence). The investigators receive 1D6 Sanity points for freeing the imprisoned alien and seeing the formerly blind youths happily move forward to lead productive lives as mi-

129

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE go agents, and the scenario ends. The Consultant may offer the investigators a long term partnership, promising them payment in both knowledge and monetary gain. Should they accept the investigators are invited to join The Consultant and the thralls in Vermont, but become both mi-go agents and NPCs. If the investigators refuse (or do not receive the offer), but attempt to follow the mi-go and thralls to Vermont, things become complicated, as other mi-go and their agents come to The Consultant’s aid. Keepers should handle this in whatever way they see fit, but investigators will be lucky to escape with their lives.

further involvement. Federal agents raid the research facility; a gunfight ensues, and before it is over, the building is burned to the ground. Francis Warrens and The Consultant are both killed in the fighting, and the thralls, William, and Dr. Herrington die soon after. A cover story about Francis Warrens running an illegal distillery out of the research facility, and then having his men fire on federal agents, is released to the press. No one questions the story, and it quickly fades from the headlines. Investigators gain no sanity awards if they arrive at this outcome.

Sanity Awards

Clearing the Playing Field The investigators may see both sides of this conflict and decide that neither side is right. These investigators may choose to remove both Francis Warrens and The Consultant for the overall safety of mankind. The investigators can side with one faction against the other, and then turn on their “ally” to put a stop to them. If The Consultant is killed, all thralls and William Herrington, experience a massive seizure, falling dead moments later. Those witnessing this must make a Sanity Check for 0/1 point. Dr. Herrington commits suicide after the death of his son, and if prevented from doing so, he will die of blood poisoning within 90 minutes. All medical attempts to save him fail; without his son, the doctor has simply lost with will to live. If the investigators believed that removing both threats was the best course of action, then this outcome gains them 1D8 sanity points and the scenario ends.

If the scenario concludes with The Setback: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D4 Sanity Points If the scenario concludes with Siding with Warrens Laboratories and the investigators believing their actions were justified: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D8 Sanity Points If the scenario concludes with Siding with the Consultant and the investigators are successful: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D6 Sanity Points If the scenario concludes with Clearing the Playing Field and the investigators believing their actions were justified: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1D8 Sanity Points If the scenario concludes with Going to the Authorities: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .No Sanity Points

Going to the Authorities If the investigators go to the authorities, it is not likely to go well. Warrens Laboratories is a powerful company and politically well connected. Incredible claims about aliens, human drug trials, or possible murder are not considered credible or looked kindly upon. Investigators could be ordered to stop harassing the company, arrested for trespassing, or even committed to Arkham Sanitarium for observation. If, somehow, the investigators are able to convince the authorities of wrongdoing, possibly with physical evidence or an autopsy of a thrall, the situation is handled without their

130

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTER EQUIPMENT LIST o Alcoholic Beverage, 16oz

o Change of clothes (casual)

o Perfume/Cologne

o Change of clothes (formal)

o Pipe w/tobacco

o Cigarette case (empty)

o Plane/Aircraft (large)

o Automobile (affordable)

o Cigarettes, pack

o Plane/Aircraft (small)

o Automobile (luxury)

o Radio

o Automobile (truck)

o Reading material

o Bag (large)

(fine)

o Alcoholic Beverage, 16oz (poor)

___________________________

o Bag (small)

___________________________

o Bicycle o Binoculars/Telescope

4 3

o Boat (large)

o Boat (small)

o Camera w/film

o Camera, disposable

o Camping gear (for 6)

o Candles, Box of 12

o Candy/Confection

___________________________

o Canteen/Waterskin

of/Cigars (4)

o Clay, 2lbs

o Compass

o Diversion*

___________________________

o Flashlight

o Fuel can, 1 gallon (empty)

o Gas Mask

o Hip flask (empty)

o Horse w/saddle

o Lantern w/2 hours of oil

o Lighter

o Matches, box of (50)

o Medical bag**

o Motorcycle

o Motorcycle sidecar

*A deck of cards, harmonica, dice, chess or checkers set, etc.

Equipment Rules

o Rope (per 25 ft)

o Set of cosmetics/toiletries

o Signal Whistle

o Sketchpad w/charcoal

o String, yarn or ribbon (20 yards)

o Tool (large)

___________________________

o Tool (small)

___________________________

o Tool Kit/Lab set

___________________________

o Typewriter, portable w/25 sheets

o Wrist/pocket watch

o Notepad, notebook, or journal w/pen

___________________________

2 **Free for characters with greater than 45% in Medicine

Starting Money

Equipment Pts.

Above is a list of 52 general items investigators might find useful during the course of an investigation.

All investigators begin play with a number of dollars equal to their Credit Rating.

Each item is assigned a value in equipment points. The more expensive or difficult the item is to obtain, the higher the number of equipment points it is worth.

Each unspent Equipment Point is converted into cash, equal to half the investigator’s Credit Rating score in dollars.

Each investigator has a number of equipment points equal to their Credit Rating score. Players Should allocate some or all of these points before the start of play.

Example: An investigator with a Credit Rating of 30% starts play with $30. If the same investigator started play with 3 unspent equipment points they begin play with $30+($15x3)=$75.

Example: A Credit Rating of 15% = 15 Equipment Points

131

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

132

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

133

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

134

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

135

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

136

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

137

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

138

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

139

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

140

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

141

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

142

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

143

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

144

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

145

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

146

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

147

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

148

P R E - G EN E R ATE D CHA R A C TE R S

149

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

150

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

151

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

152

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

153

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

154

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

155

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

156

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

157

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

158

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

159

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

160

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

161

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

162

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

163

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Consumption Papers #1

Consumption Papers #2

164

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Consumption Papers #3

165

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Consumption Papers #4

166

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Children Papers #1

167

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Children Papers #2

168

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Lighthouse Papers #1

169

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Lighthouse Papers #2

170

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Lighthouse Papers #3

171

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Lighthouse Papers #4

172

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Lighthouse Papers #5

173

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Lighthouse Papers #5

174

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Lighthouse Papers #6

175

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Lighthouse Papers #7

176

Blue Uncertain Papers #1

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

177

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Blue Uncertain Papers #2

178

M A P S AN D HAN D O UTS

Blue Uncertain Papers #3

179

I S LAN D O F I GN O R AN CE

Darkness Illuminated Papers #1

180

::::

wwwwwwww

:::::

wwwwwwww

wwwwwww

Island of Ignorance, The Third Cthulhu Companion (Dewm) - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2024)

References