Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 07 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 7, Number 10
Date: Sunday, October 2, 1994
Number: 2 of 3
Contents:
The Jonty Scenerio, Part One (Alligator Descartes) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: Alligator Descartes <descarte@istellar.demon.co.uk>
Subject: The Jonty Scenerio, Part One
System: Call of Cthulhu
THE JONTY SCENERIO
PART ONE
Time Zone: 1920 - 1930
Setting: Southern England. Midway between Glastonbury and London.
Manor in the countryside with small village nearby.
Rough Sketch: "Lurker at the Threshhold" meets Crowley's "Moonchild".
** TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dramatis Personae V7.10 +35
Player Breakdown V7.10 +102
Area Map V7.10 +124
House Plan (Ground Floor) V7.10 +198
House Plan (Upper Floor) V7.10 +326
House Plan (Attic) V7.10 +453
House Plan (Basement) V7.10 +490
Basic Plot Outline V7.11 +20
Timeline V7.11 +76
** DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Jonty Ffarquar-Smythe, The Lord of the Manor (34)
Sees the world through glassy eyes. Nothing really seems to register
at all. A bit of a secret drinker (through the day). Takes a
'hunting, shooting, fishing' attitude to everything, and firmly
believes things will go away if he ignores them long enough. This
last note applies to Henry, his wife. A bit of a drip, really.
Henry (Henrietta) Ffarquar-Smythe, his Debutante Wife (29)
American woman who married Jonty believing he was titled. Instead,
he's just landed. She was a bit peeved to find this one out. She and
Jonty now live in separate rooms and tend to lead separate lives.
Henry starts drinking heavily early in the evening and can usually be
found in the drawing room early in the morning by Thompson in a state
of complete oblivion. Henry tends to wear sunglasses quite often, and
doesn't eat much.
Thompson, the Butler (63)
Solid and dependable, has been in this family for over 40 years &c.
Knows *everything* (within reason) that has gone on, also. The
proverbial mine of information.
Thompson is trying to use the villagers as sacrifices for his Gods,
the Old Ones, and to do this, must firstly eliminate the
Ffarquar-Smythes. Once he has done this, he will inherit the Manor,
titles, and all the land in the area, including the village. He then
may act as he pleases, without fear of repurcussions from anyone.
Cook, the Cook (58)
Cook has been in the family since the day she was born, her mother
being the Cook before her. She knows 'young Esther' (see PLAYERS,
below) since they are related, Esther's mother being Cook's sister.
The stereotypical cheery, plump Cook. Knows a lot about the village
nearby, but savours keeping information from people.
Old Man Ffarquar-Smythe, Jonty's late father (deceased)
The Late Old Man Ffarquar-Smythe died two years before the start of
the adventure.
Leah, the servant-girl (deceased)
Leah was a servant-girl hired by the Old Man primarily for his sexual
rites in the pursuit of his occult studies.
Leah was actually Thompson's illegitimate daughter by a gypsy woman
that camps at an old tower near the village regularly. The woman has
a reputation for being a powerful witch around the village, and they
tend to consult her for 'remedies'. These generally involve newts...
Thompson's Lover, a Gypsy Woman (47)
This attractive red-haired woman met Thompson over twenty years ago
when she was encamped in the area with her gypsy family. After an
on-off relationship of a few years, she became pregnant with Leah. A
few years after that, she and Thompson became embroiled with an old
'witch-woman' that had joined the gypsies, and began learning about
the Old Ones and their Lore. Over the course of the years, Thompson
and this woman have become ardent devotees of the Old Ones, especially
of Nyarlathotep.
** PLAYER BREAKDOWN/SUGGESTED PLAYING TIPS
Ideally, Professor Windsor and Esther Leigh should both be players.
If more players are needed, most any type should be appropriate. All
players are driven by curiosity to seek out what's happening since
they all believe it to be part of their sphere of knowledge. The GM
should assign player 'occupation' duly.
Professor Windsor, professor of Antiquities, from London (50)
Stuffy and pedantic, Professor Windsor picks up on small points and
drones. Similar to Sean Connery in 'Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade'
but not quite as batty. Wears three piece suits and looks
continuously at his fob watch. Grey hair, short clipped moustache.
Esther Leigh, Religious Student, from Glastonbury (22)
Professional virgin. Member of the Order of the Inner Light run by
Dion Fortune at Glastonbury. A bit naive about life as we know it.
Picks up on small bits of information and trys to make them
significant through 'occult' reasoning.
** AREA MAP
+-----+
|Manor|
+-----+
| /----------- -> London
| /
| /
+----+ /--------------------/
|Lake| /
+----+ /
|
\----\
| +-----+
+-------+ | |Tower|
|Village| | +-----+
+-------+ |
/
<- Glastonbury /
-------------------------/
Manor
See below for a full description of the Manor.
Lake
The lake is a scenic small natural lake in the middle of some woods.
There is a small island in the middle of it. A grotty old rowing boat
is tied to a rotten wooden pole at the side of the lake. There is
nothing particularly interesting about this lake! It is, however,
particularly well-noted for its newt population.
Being a witch (of sorts), Thompson's lover occassionally visits this
lake to get newts for her remedies that she sells to the slightly
gullible villagers. Thompson meets her here, and the two may visit
the island for a quick 'tryst'.
Village
The village is a small affair with around 200 people in it. It
contains a Post Office, a doctor's office, a church (Church of
England), a small chapel (Roman Catholic), a one-man Police Station
and a lawyer's office.
As with most small villages, gossiping is a much-indulged in pastime.
They are particularly suspicious of the gypsies.
Tower
The tower is located near the village not far off the road. A small
cart-track leads to the tower, where the gypsies can usually be found
encamped in a field very nearby.
The gypsies are fairly hostile to characters approaching them, and
characters caught snooping are severely dealt with. What happens is
up to the GM.
The tower is constructed of smooth grey stone and stands about 2
storeys tall. There is a small stone archway at the foot of the tower
which leads to a set of spiral stairs that leads up the inside of the
tower to a small hole in the top level of the tower. The top is a
platform upon which people can stand. There is a stone cuboid here
about 6'x3'x3' in size. Players checking this exhaustively may spot
dried blood stains on this altar.
There are strange bas-relief carvings on all four sides of the altar.
The top is perfectly smooth upon first glances, but on more close
checking, a minute indentation in the shape of a human body can be
seen.
On the Full Moon, Thompson and the woman can always be found on the
platform of the tower doing their rite to summon Nyarlathotep.
** HOUSE PLAN (GROUND FLOOR)
+-----> <--------+----> <-----------+-------> <--------+
| | | |
v | | |
| Old Master's Study | v
| |
^ +---------------->--<+
| Jonty's | Stairs Down | ^
| Study | +--->--<---+ | |
| | |----------| | |
v v |----------| | |
^ |--Stairs--| | v
^ | |----Up----| | Library
| | |----------| v
| ----------------+ |----------| ^ ^
| | +----------+ | |
| | | |
v | +---------------------+
| | | #1
v Entrance v Dining Room v
Drawing Room ^ Hall ^ ^
^ | | |
| | | |
+---> <----------------->-----<----------> <-----> <---+
Ground Floor Break Down
Jonty's Study
Jonty's Study is permanently locked. The windows are permanently
drawn over with heavy black velvet curtains and are also locked with a
snib on the inside, if the players look hard enough.
The study contains a fairly vast collection of erotic artwork and
paintings that adorn the walls and are strewn across the desk. Erotic
sculpture is placed aesthetically about the room.
The furniture is all made from heavy mahogany and plush black velvet
that looks to be in impeccable keeping. The light comes from antique
Arabesque lamps kept at a constant guttering low.
Jonty holds the key to this room on a chain round his neck. He never
takes this off, even in bed.
Stairs Down
The Stairs Down start at a small double door underneath and at the
back of the main staircase. The doors are usually kept shut, and a
sharp draught whistles up between them with a strange eerie noise.
Good for putting candles out.
Once opened, the doors lead down a small rock-hewn staircase to the
Kitchen.
Stairs Up
The Main Staircase is a magnificent oak staircase that separates into
two smaller staircases that lead to the upstairs of the house. A
statue of Athene stands at the crux of the two smaller staircases on a
mezzanine-level mini-landing.
Drawing Room
The Drawing Room is a fairly standard manor house drawing room. It
contains a crackling fire on the West wall, with a drinks cabinet to
the North and some bookcases to the South and East.
One or two Gainsborough-esque portraits hangs on the West wall.
In the North-East corner of the room sits a mahogany bureau.
Entrance Hall
The Entrance Hall is a fairly impressive foyer to the house. The
walls, bar none, are oak-panelled and a magnificent staircase sweeps
up away in front of you as you stand at the maindoor. Two small
passages lead away beside the staircase into the gloom.
Dining Room
The Dining Room is dominated by a huge oak table with 13 chairs round
it, six on each side, and a larger chair at the head. In the
North-East corner of the room, a dumb waiter can be found in the wall.
At the west of the room lies the tables containing plates, cutlery &c.
At the east, there are some tables upon which the food is delivered.
A large fusty stuffed stag's head can be seen on the north wall. Jonty
can't stop talking about this head when he's in here.
Old Man's Study:
The study has one door made of *heavy* oak studded closely with iron.
The window is dirty and badly locked. It will prove a swine to open,
though, there seemingly being some sort of 'force' holding it shut.
Looking through the window gives the players no ideas as to what's in
it. It has been hung with suprisingly dense white net curtains.
The room contains a complex magic circle painted in blue, yellow, red
and white. It looks not unlike that on the cover of Simon's
Necronomicon. Similarly, invent something. Just make it complex and
arcane-looking.
Thompson holds the key for this room, but, when asked, will deny all
knowledge of it, and say Master Jonty has it. He will never swerve
from this statement.
Library
This room is huge and quite ancient. On entering the room, two huge
lead-latticed windows can be noticed in the left wall (North). In
between these sits a heavily-framed portrait of a sixty-ish year old
man in slightly archaic-looking clothes. His face is twisted into a
knowing sneer, and the eyes are positively hypnotic. Esther Leigh is
terrified by this picture. Players locking eyes with it will feel
images of unearthly architectures flood into their minds, unnerving
them. The best description to give the player is of Vigo out of
Ghostbusters II! Make him a little more cold though.
The other books are lined up in vertical cases along the other three
walls. There are two tables in the room, at diagonals with each
other. One is to the North-West, the other to the South-East.
Another lead-latticed window is present in the East wall. The overall
feeling in this room is of coldness, brooding terror and unearthly
presence. Players don't like it. Particularly stuffy ones won't
notice.
** HOUSE PLAN (UPPER FLOOR)
+--> <---+---> <---+--> <-----> <-+--->---<---+
| Spare | Spare | Games Room | Bathroom |
| Room | Room | | |
| | | | |
+--->--<--+--->-<--------->---<-------+--->-<-----+----> <--+
| v| | | | | |
| +-+-+-+ Stairs Down +-+-+-+ ^| | | | | | Stairs up
| | | | |-----------------| | | | +----------+
| +-+-+-+-----------------+-+-+-+ | EL's v
| | | v Room
| +-----------Banister----------+ ^ ^
| | v
+---><---+-->-<----------+ +---->-<----+---><---+
| Jonty | Old Man's | | Henry's | Windsor| ^
| Room | Room | | Room | Room | |
| | | | | +--------+
| | | | | |
+--> < +------+--------+ +-> <-> <-+---> <---> <- -+
| Spare | |
| Room v |
| ^ |
| +-----+
| |
+--> <----> <--+
Spare Rooms
These rooms are all scantly furnished. They contain the bare minimum
to be comfortable: a bed, bureau, washbasin, chamber pot, chair and
small dresser.
The quality of the furniture is in keeping with the rest of the house,
ie, heavy, dark and solid.
All the doors are lockable with a key given to the owner of the room,
and the bureau has a separate key. The windows are snibbable from the
inside.
Games Room
The Games Room is a fairly well equipped room with billiards table,
dart-board, small drink cabinet and a deer's head stuffed on the wall.
There are also one or two pictures of the rustic landscape variety on
the walls. It would appear to the studious observer that this room is
the most used in the house, and let's just say, it's not feminine.
Bathroom
The bathroom is fairly large. It contains a plumbed bath, washbasin,
large mirrors, bathroom cabinet above the sink and a pair of scales.
Not to mention the ubiquitous toilet itself!
Curious players may note there are no toiletries lying about in this
room, nor are there any items in the cabinet.
Stairs Up
This small set of stairs is hidden behind a wooden panel in the wall.
They lead up to the servants quarters. Only players either stumbling
on someone coming out, or looking quite hard will be able to spot this
one.
Stairs Down
They just lead down that beautiful staircase towards Athene.
EL's Room/Windsor's Room
These two rooms can be treated as Spare Rooms above.
Henry's Room
Henry's Room is a slightly feminine affair, with a great four-poster
bed dominating the room. Pastel shades abound. So does a heavy
fragrance of incense used in an attempt to mask out the smell of musty
alcohol.
A locked bureau in one corner of the room can be easily broken into,
yielding up letters of an intimate nature between Henry and someone
called 'Giles'. Careful scrutiny of the letters will reveal that
there is a meeting planned between the two in the next few days (see
TIMELINE below).
Jonty's Room
Jonty's Room is a minimalistic "man's room". It has a functional bed,
a functional washbasin and the functional usual other assorted things
you'd expect him to have. A bureau sits in the corner. It contains
some papers pertaining to the running of the house, and one or two
other interesting ones penned by his late father. These contain
invoices for books from outlandish libraries in Nepal and the like.
They were *very* expensive.
Old Man's Room
The Old Man's Room, like his study, is firmly locked and the door,
again, is studded oak. Players will be able to get into this, but
only with extreme determination. Burning has no real effect on the
wood, nor does an axe. The axe will blunt fairly quickly due to the
studs in the door.
The room is archaically decorated, with a black marble vesica set into
the floor. Inside this is a white, red, blue and yellow sigil in the
form of a magic circle.
The room is musty, but still has a pervading sense of debauchery and
evil in it.
Under the huge, canopied four-poster bed are situated 2 small metal
flasks. These are hermetically sealed and have no apparent seams,
breaks or joins. There are two small holes on the side of each flask,
however.
Also underneath the bed are what look like audio speakers, although
they are quite heavily disguised as chamber pots.
There are no windows in this room. An old window frame can be seen in
the South wall, but it has been hermetically sealed up with brick.
Banister
The Banister is an elaborately carved piece of oak and mahogany. Just
near it, hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the statue of Athene,
is a glorious chandelier.
** HOUSE PLAN (ATTIC)
+--------------> <-----+------------+
| | | | | | | | || Stairs Down
| Cook's v +--------->-<+
| Room ^ |
| | |
+--> <--+--->-<----+--->--<---+--><--+
| | |Store |
| Thompson | Leah's | |
| Room | Room | |
+---><-----+---> <---+--> <-+
Cook's Room
Cook's Room is a homely kind of room. It contains nothing more than
an iron bed, a wardrobe, a dresser and a chair. Some knick-knacks lie
littered about the area. A chamber pot can be discovered under the
bed, if the players are so nosey!
Thompson's Room
Thompson's Room contains the same sort of furniture as above, but it
tends towards a more spartan lifestyle.
Leah's Room
This room contains a small pallette for sleeping on, a mattress, and a
small chest of drawers and a mirror. There is nothing else in this
room. Thompson, if asked, will say the room has been idle for over a
year since Leah moved in to tend the sick Old Master.
Store
The Store contains some old brooms, a bucket or two, a mop, and some
other spare old utensils.
** HOUSE PLAN (BASEMENT)
+----+
|----| Stairs Up
|----|
+-------------+----+-----+----------+
| | |
| Kitchen | CoalStore|
| v |
| ^ |
| | |
+-------------+--->-<----+----->-<--+
| |
| Scullery |
| |
+----------+
Kitchen
The Kitchen contains kitcheny things, and, more often than not, Cook
herself. Players mooching about will be given some work to do. Cook
tends to gossip and prattle a lot in these occassions. A plentiful
source of garlic and carving knives!
The walls appear to be hewn from the rock and loosely dressed with a
hard, black stone. The floor is covered with flags of the same sort
of stone. It seems to 'pulse' under the player's hands and feet.
Cook says it's to do with the homely atmosphere in her kitchen.
Investigators are not so sure!
The Dumb Waiter is present in the East/South Wall of the kitchen.
Scullery
The Scullery is a small stone room containing a wash-board, double
sink and some mops. This room is freezing cold and has walls made of
the same material as the Kitchen.
Coal Cellar
The Coal Cellar is partly full of coal. There is a small hatch set
into the ceiling bolted on the outside. This hatch on the outside
lies at point #1 on the GroundFloor map above.
[continued in V7.11]
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's
Games. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to:
appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. The old digests are archived on
ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be
retrieved via FTP.
