Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 09 Number 05
Chaosium Digest Volume 9, Number 5
Date: Wednesday, December 21, 1994
Number: 2 of 3
Contents:
Deadwave, Part Two (Mark Morrison) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: Mark Morrison <bassst@zikzak.apana.org.au>
Subject: Deadwave, Part Two
System: CALL OF CTHULHU
DEADWAVE, PART TWO
by Mark Morrison Copyright (c) 1994
[Continued from V9.4]
PLAYER'S INTRODUCTION
There is no player introduction. There is no warning. When the Fiend
is ready, it comes for them.
However, in the weeks beforehand two articles appear in the local
daily. On the surface, they appear unrelated, but each is bizarre
enough to warrant some attention; later they acquire more meaning.
The Dogs Begin to Howl
One Thursday night, all the neighborhood dogs are set off. First one
dog, then another, then a chorus, howling and growling. If the
Investigator has a dog, it too raises its muzzle and wails and then,
fur stiff and bristling, hides under the table. Outside, owners
curse, and swear at the beasts. After about fifteen minutes they all
quiet down.
The dogs are upset by the visitation of Nyarlathotep, who appears in
town briefly to drop the Fiend.
The First Article
This appears in the local paper on Saturday morning:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LOCAL UNDERTAKER DISAPPEARS
Body of girl missing.
Man sought by police.
Police are seeking Mr Clem Baker, a local mortician. Baker (pictured
below) was last seen at the funeral parlour of which he is a partner,
Baker & Ratchett, on Thursday evening.
At six p.m. Baker had told his associate, Stephen Ratchett, that he
would be staying behind to prepare the body of a local girl for burial
on Friday. Mr Ratchett reports that working late was by no means an
unusual practice, and had been done by both men many times in the
past.
However, when Mr Ratchett arrived at work at eight a.m. on Friday
morning, he noted that the lights were still on in the building. The
company hearse was missing, and the body of the girl was no longer on
the premises. Investigations have ascertained that Baker did not
return to his lodgings on Thursday night. A number of tools and
chemicals are also missing from the Lake Drive funeral parlour.
The name of the dead girl has not been released, to prevent further
distress to her family.
Police are asking for anyone who knows the whereabouts of Baker, or
who may have seen the hearse, to come forwards.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What really happened: the Fiend hit town, and realized that the first
thing it was going to need was a mortician. It was in need of
embalming. It found Baker, and made him do the job. It then revived
the girl as a drone zombie. By this stage Baker had lost his mind,
and did what he was told in a kind of stupor. The three drove away in
the hearse.
Curious investigators might look into the matter. Here are further
sources of information, noted briefly:
The Funeral Parlour: they'll need the consent of the Police to get in
(Debate or Law). A special Spot Hidden notes, in the preparation
room, an unused .45 calibre shell rolled under a cabinet.
Baker's Lodgings: they'll need to break in, or obtain police
permission to inspect it (see above). It's a bachelor apartment. By
the looks of it, Baker hadn't packed to leave.
The Dead Girl: it is hard to learn who she was. The police must be
sincerely convinced (special Oratory) of the investigators' good
intentions before releasing the name. Failing that, they could try to
trick one of the officers (Fast Talk, with an INT x5 roll from the
cop). She was Dianne Castille, of a middle class suburb. She was
sixteen at the time of her death; she broke her neck when she dived in
at the shallow end of a swimming pool. She had red hair, and was
about five foot six. Her parents are shocked senseless at the body's
theft.
A Witness: in the day following the article, a cab driver contacts the
police to say that he saw the hearse heading south, away from the
funeral parlour. He maintains there were three people in the front
seat. It is one of many reported sightings and associated crank
calls, and the police do not pay especial attention to it.
That's as far as the case goes. There are further newspaper reports,
but no fresh information.
The Second Article
About a week and a half later, this report follows:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BUS LOST
Driver and vehicle reported missing.
Police were notified late last night of the apparent disappearance of
a town bus. Neither bus nor driver returned to the depot on the
conclusion of the night's service.
The bus was license number B-039, and was on route 19. The driver is
Mr William Marsh. Marsh was last seen setting down a passenger and
collecting one at ten minutes to eleven p.m. at Stop 33 on Long Road;
since then there has been no sighting.
The police urge any citizen who may have seen the bus to contact them
immediately. Door-to-door enquiries along Long Road and the
surrounding district are presently being undertaken.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What really happened: the Fiend has been busy. It has acquired some
real estate, a disused abattoir. A workshop for fresh walking dead
has been set up. Several vehicles are on site, including the hearse
and a (stolen) delivery van. The Fiend also saw a need for a bus, and
hijacked this one at gunpoint. Marsh, the driver, was forced to drive
the bus to the Fiend's hideout, where it has been hidden in a shed.
Marsh was killed, and subsequently brought back to life.
Again, the investigators might follow this up. They learn:
The Bus: is just your standard bus.
The Route: is just your standard suburban route. It's a fairly quiet
area, south of the central business district.
The Driver: William Marsh was about as reliable as the next man. He
wasn't a workaholic, but he did his job. His wife has no idea where
he is, and is a little cynical about it - she thinks he's just cleared
off. If the investigators ask the Marsh's neighbors, they learn that
the two fought like cat and dog.
The Last Passenger: the police can point them to this person (Oratory
or similar to get the name and address, or Law to get a copy of his
statement). He is Rudolph Zymenski, a factory worker. He was coming
home on the bus after doing a late shift. He got off at his stop as
usual. The passenger waiting outside was dressed in dark clothing,
and wore a hat. Zymenski said that he had a bad smell about him. If
they interview Zymenski, a Psychology roll detects that he is
uncomfortable about talking about the man. If asked why, he answers
that he doesn't know; he just felt uneasy. In truth, once he was out
of the bus, he ran all the way home.
Like the undertaker affair, nothing else comes to light in the bus
case.
STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN
About a week later, the Fiend is ready. Bad things start.
Use the order given below. Some events may need to be reshuffled or
modified in response to the investigators' actions. You need not use
every one; some you simply may not be able to implement, others won't
be appropriate. Think of them as examples to conduct your own
campaign of terror. Add to them.
The major thing to remember is that although the Fiend is cunning, it
is not invisible. Once the Investigator gets vigilant, they might
stake out their own house. Give credit where credit is due; it may be
the only way they'll catch their tormentor.
Here are some simple precautions the Fiend generally takes:
- Disguise. It occasionally dresses up as a postman, a pregnant
woman, a repairman, etc. (To be precise, it gets the undertaker
to dress it.) So it may be around when they are looking for it,
but in an unexpected form.
- Distraction. When the investigators are getting wise to it, it
arranges bluffs. For example, if the Fiend wants to do something
in their front yard, it creates a ruckus in the back yard to draw
them away, even if it's only pitching a rock over the roof. If it
wants them away from the back of the house, it might get one of
its dead to make a phone call to draw them into the hallway. (Of
course, the dead have nothing to say, so the conversation isn't a
long one.)
- Parking a street or two away. It won't just lob up to the front
door generally; it parks the vehicle and sneaks around.
Sometimes, it prefers to make a bold entrance (see below).
- Means of escape. It likes to keep a rescue vehicle handy, or
something that will create a distraction while it gets away.
This scenario is a mystery that your players aim to solve, so play
fair, but play mean.
FIENDISHNESS
Space these as you see fit. The first ones should be a couple of days
apart each; then the pace picks up.
THE INVESTIGATOR'S PET VANISHES
Their Pet vanishes, quietly. No sign of a struggle or anything like
that. It wants to be let out one night, and doesn't come home again.
If they think to ask their neighbors, no-one saw anything, although at
the third house they make enquiries at someone recalls hearing a heavy
car in the street that night.
COINCIDENTAL CRUELTIES
The Fiend starts popping by in the night, or while the Investigator is
out, and doing little odd jobs. At first these seem just bad luck.
Some examples:
- Their rubbish bin is overturned, presumably by a dog, they
think. Their rubbish is strewn across the street. If they think
to Track, a successful roll discovers boot prints around the bin,
not paw prints.
- Snails eat all the mail in the letter box. A Zoology roll
indicates that perhaps the letter box is a bit too dry for
comfortable snail habitation.
- Pickets from their fence go missing, as if someone was taking
them for firewood.
- Their newspaper stops being delivered. The newsagent maintains
they had word that the Investigator wanted the paper cancelled.
It must have been a mix-up, they apologize.
- A van pulls up, and two men get out and deliver an incredibly
ugly and heavy piece of furniture. They ask the Investigator to
sign for it. They refuse to manhandle it back into the van; even
if it is a mistake, this is the correct address, the item is paid
for, and it's their lunch break. The item has no actual
significance, but unless the Investigator can convince the men to
take it away (Fast Talk, or a bribe), it remains on their porch,
making getting in and out of the front door inconvenient.
BAD DREAMS
The Investigator suffers three bad dreams, each of which herald some
new horror when they wake. These are legitimate dreams, and so the
Investigator has no control over them. The keeper may employ change
of perspective, inability to act, and inexorable motion, all of the
things which make real nightmares so claustrophobic and disturbing.
THE FIRST BAD DREAM
One night, they dream the following. They are being chased. They
can't see what is chasing them, but they know it is just behind them.
They can hear its shambling pursuit. It seems close enough to breathe
on them, but they can hear no breathing. They are running along
corridors, down stairs, through darkened rooms. Finally, in a room
with a window, they feel they have lost their pursuer. Then there is
a great shattering of glass and an arm through the window and a voice
hissing "I'm back"...
A Present
...and they toss in their bed, head fouled with sleep, sheets roiled
with sweat. Time for a SAN roll, costing 0/1. Their throat is dry,
their limbs are trembling. A time to remember the empty space on
their bed where their Pet should be sleeping.
The Investigator sure could use a glass of water. As they move around
the house, they see that the breaking glass of their dream was
reality. A front window has been smashed inward. There is an object
lying on the floor. Another SAN roll for the blending of dream and
reality, losing 0/1 again.
There is a sudden pounding on the front door. It is a neighbor; he
heard the breaking glass; is everything okay?
When they get to inspect the object, it is some manner of artifact
thematically linked with the Fiend in life. That is to say: if the
Fiend is Lang Fu (from FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH) it could be a Chinese
puzzle box; if the Fiend is Jerry (from "Pickman's Student") it could
be a heavy ankh; if the Fiend is Baron Hauptmann (from FUNGI FROM
YUGGOTH) it could be an odd pair of binoculars. If the Investigator
does not make the connection, let it be an enigma. They'll discover
the truth soon enough.
The object was thrown from a moving vehicle. Again, if they ask
around, on a Luck roll they find a neighbor who saw it, briefly.
They had the impression it was a long black automobile (the
hearse, in fact).
THE DEAD RELATIVE IS STOLEN
The next morning a ringing telephone wakes them. It is the
police. The grave of their Dead Relative is unearthed, and is now
vacant. Could they come down to the station to help with
enquiries? A SAN roll should be made as they put the phone down,
costing 1/1D3.
The facts of the theft are simple. Someone broke into the
cemetery overnight and excavated the grave. The coffin has been
broken open, the body is gone.
The police can't do much. They are obliged to tell the
Investigator about the theft, and ask if they have any ideas.
They express their shock and outrage, and promise to work on the
case day and night. Nothing further comes of it.
An Oratory or Law roll can get the police to confess that this is
the latest of a series of exhumations. They have lost half a
dozen bodies in the last fortnight, from various places. They are
keeping details of the cases out of the newspapers, for fear of
widespread panic.
If the Investigator presses the point, they can learn who these
missing people were (Oratory or Debate). All had been dead less
than a month.
The missing bodies:
Joe Plimsoll, 42, mechanic, cause of death: skull fracture from
rolling truck.
Edna Delaware, 34, nurse, cause of death: fell down flight of
stairs.
Randy Thompson, 24, student, cause of death: football injury.
Klaus Tod, 31, laborer, cause of death: falling masonry.
Bess Kellerman, 43, stenographer, cause of death: struck by
automobile.
The grave-robbing continues, and a few days later the police are
forced to reveal the situation. Citizen watches are posted in the
cemeteries in town. The thefts then are reported in outlying
districts. No-one is seen, or caught.
THE SECOND BAD DREAM
That night the Investigator dreams that they are walking in a
graveyard. Mist swirls around them. Softly, they hear someone
calling their name. They follow the sound, and arrive at the
grave-side of their Dead Relative. Arms burst out of the earth and
pull them down.
Change of perspective. The Investigator is now in the coffin, buried.
They can smell their own rot and putrefaction. Then there is a bump
on the coffin lid, and another. A shovel, digging down, striking the
top of the box. A rasping voice from above, "You can't hide in
there". The shovel hitting the lid. Bump. Bump...
The Pet Comes Back
...Bump. Bump. They wake up. Roll SAN for the dream, losing 0/1.
The bumping sound that wakes them is real. It comes from the front
door. If they peek out to see who's there, initially they see nobody,
not at head height anyway; it is their Pet, returned, bumping at the
door, wanting in.
If they open the door, the animal walks in. It is home, safe and
sound. The Investigator's joy soon sours, as it becomes plain that
the animal is not well. It moves stiffly. It collides with the
furniture. It is totally silent. It smells awful.
How do they first find that their Pet is actually dead? There are many
clues. It has no interest in food or water; the flies hover around
it, and yet the animal makes no attempt to brush them off; a Listen
roll detects that it does not breathe; a Spot Hidden notices that it
has no pulse.
When the truth comes, SAN loss is 1D3/1D8. Whatever violent emotional
response is wrought from the Investigator, the Pet has no reaction
whatsoever, but stands dumbly and looks on.
When they recover from the shock, they must decide what do about it.
They can leave it be, but the animal takes to following them around
everywhere, and smelling worse and worse. Each day it is around costs
an automatic 1 point of SAN. Or they can kill it, which takes a
couple of blows. The animal just stands there and takes it. This is
just as upsetting, and costs an automatic 1D4 points of SAN.
They'll then probably bury it. When they pick it up, a Spot Hidden
notices a scattering of red dust in the animal's matted fur (this is
from the abattoir yard). A Geology roll notes that this red dust is
common around the south eastern fringe of town, mostly industrial
suburbs. It blows across many of the yards and back lots there.
If they head off on a random search for dusty red yards, the magnitude
of the task overwhelms them. They have only a 5% chance per day of
stumbling across the right place by this method, but the keeper should
drag out the exploration of a few innocuous sites first (graveyards,
rubbish tips, quarries).
ANONYMOUS ATROCITIES
The small inconveniences become twisted and inexplicable, and it
is clear that they are not ill luck or coincidence. Some
examples:
- Two bottles of milk are left on the step, as usual. Except
instead of two white bottles, there's one white and one red. 1 pint
of milk, 1 pint of fresh human blood. (SAN 0/1D3)
- A letter is delivered. The envelope contains a small clump of
human hair. An Idea roll indicates that the color is the same as that
of the Dead Relative. Caught along the gum sealing the flap are a few
grains of red dust (see above). (SAN 0/1D2)
- Overnight the front yard is filled with frogs and toads. Some
are mildly poisonous. All are disgusting. (SAN 0/1)
- A neighbor cheerfully delivers a small package 'mistakenly'
delivered to them (the addressee has written the name of the
Investigator, but put down the wrong street number). The package
contains a bundle of old rusty spent bullets. A note is affixed:
'HAVE THEM BACK'. (These are bullets which the Investigator or
their friend shot at the Fiend, which it has gouged out of its
flesh. Only use this if they gunned down the Fiend back when it
was alive.) (SAN: no loss, unless they've guessed the Fiend's
identity, in which case 0/1)
- Washing left on the line is crawling with flies. If the insects
are all brushed away, traces of excrement are found smeared on
the material. (SAN 0/1)
IF THEY LEAVE HOME
It would be a wise move around now for the Investigator to leave. An
unknown villain is after them - why stay around and be easy prey?
Abandoning one's home though is a drastic move, and signals both
victory to their unknown persecutor and the end of their former life.
Moving out costs the Investigator 1 point of SAN.
Where do they relocate? A hotel? A friend's house (putting that
friend at risk too)? The back seat of their car? Another town?
If they leave totally, the scenario is, for now, over. But the
patient dead Fiend tracks them down eventually. You will need to
extend and modify the scenario, but, somewhere, a bus-full of dead
people roll through the night on their trail.
If they stay in town, the Fiend will try to find them. You must judge
how long this will take, judged on the ingenuity of their smoke
screen.
As soon as it becomes apparent that they've left, the Fiend places an
ad in the Personal Notices:
"[Investigator's Name], Please come home. I know we can work it out.
Things will only get worse if you stay away, much worse. Believe me.
Much worse. Please come home. [Fiend's first initial]."
IF THEY STAY AWAY
The Fiend means it. If they don't return in two days, it breaks in.
It leaves one of its drone zombies to stand guard in the shadows in
the front yard. It then goes around and quietly breaks in the back
door. It artfully arranges a large sack full of body parts, in
varying states of decay, all over the house. As decorations, in the
icebox, in the umbrella stand, in the bed, in the wardrobes, all over.
It then leaves via the back door, after unsnibbing the front door and
leaving it ajar. When the coast is clear it calls away the drone
zombie.
The Fiend then rings the police, and reports a break-in. The police
come around, see the open door, and step in. Discoveries are made.
GRISLY DISCOVERY IN SUBURBAN HOUSE reads one headline the next
morning. CANNIBAL HOUSE OF HELL screams another. SAN loss for
opening up the morning paper and copping this is 1/1D3.
The Investigator's face is everywhere. Even if they report to the
police immediately to give their side of the story, people in town
always recognize them with a shudder, and have as little to do with
them as possible. If they don't turn themselves in, of course, they
are assumed to be the criminal. Life becomes impossible for them.
And the Fiend is still on their trail.
[Continued in V9.6]
--------------------
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.
