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Chaosium Digest Volume 16 Number 07
Chaosium Digest Volume 16, Number 7
Date: Sunday, October 6, 1996
Number: 2 of 3
Contents:
...In The City of Angels, Part One (Eamon Honan) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: "Eamon Honan" <spire@indigo.ie>
Subject: All is Not Well in the City of Angels, Part One
System: Call of Cthulhu
All is Not Well in the City of Angels
A Call of Cthulhu Adventure by Eamon Honan
Copyright 1996 Eamon Honan
- * -
INTRODUCTION
Los Angeles, the 9th of August, 1954. While the rest of the city is
sleeping or going about its (un)lawful business, there's a party going
on in a motel on Long beach. Several well connected people attend.
12:14 and the party is going well, then for 34 seconds of nightmarish
horror, hell is cabin 4, in the Bates Motel.
This adventure revolves around the investigation of what happened
there and its implications for the entire city of Los Angeles. There
are no pre-prepared speeches or dialogues, I've simply listed what
information a NPC knows and is willing to divulge, along with a brief
description of the NPC. The sense of panic and the almost hysterical
need for action is central to this adventure; the investigators have
three days to complete the investigation and the keeper must try and
make them sweat throughout. The Keeper must manipulate events to keep
the sense of danger and drama as constant as possible, having new
bodies turn up just as the players begin to get a handle on things.
There will be a certain amount of friction between the characters, but
the Keeper must ensure that they do not come to blows. Emphasize the
point that cooperation is not only desirable, but vital, and remind
them what will happen to them if they do not finish this case. Each of
the players has a lot to lose should they not succeed and you should
stress this point every so often.
Think of films like Miller's Crossing, Reservoir Dogs and Psycho.
There's a feeling of barely contained mayhem and violence about. Try
and keep that feeling going in the game. Have ther radio crackle with
reports of incest, multiple murders and rape, just to keep the
insanity flowing. Use the terrain, the closeness and the vastness of
the city to your advantage. Never, ever say anything good about the
city; describe the thick choking smog and the constant oppressive
prickling heat. Keep on pushing the ideas of racial segregation,
economic deprivation and poorly restrained racial hatred.
A SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS
The Past: Party in Cabin 4
The investigators must track down the person responsible for the
deaths at the Long Beach party.
There were eight people at the party, including: a collection of the
sons of the rich and powerful, Chuck Dieterling, Bernie Cross, Jane
Halstead, Eric West, and David Riosca; a guard, Nicholas Franklin; and
two prostitues, Randy Blackwell, and Margaret Stevens ("Sadie").
Eric West, the youngest son of LA's Mayor, is a quiet bookish sort. He
had begun to hang around with "shady characters" in the shape of the
sons and daughters of Hollywood's Stars. He is a keen reader and
researcher into the history of Los Angeles or El Pueblo de la Reyna de
Los Angeles (The Town of the Queen of the City of Angels) as it was
originally called.
At the motel, high on pot and extremely drunk, Eric decided to impress
his friends by showing them a incantation he found in the darker,
older sections of his father's library. Taking out a "lucky charm" (an
elder sign) that his father had given him, he began the incantation.
He certainly did not expect it to work and he certainly did not expect
what happened next. Five Nightgaunts appeared out of the night sky and
tore the corner of the roof off the cabin and began to drag the
partygoers screaming out into the night.
Of the party-goers: Bernie Cross was killed at once, torn in two;
Chuck Dieterling, Jane Halstead, David Riosca and Sadie were all
carried away, and later dropped to their death, though their bodies
have not yet been found; Nicholas Franklin and Randy Blackwell both
were left behind, though they did not escape without physical and
mental injuries; and Eric West was carried away in safety, due to his
elder sign.
After this, Eric's mind snapped completely and memories came flooding
back to him. Memories of a dark, dark place under his home, of a
father who chanted in eldritch tongues in the night and who consorted
with hunched, cackling things that snapped bones open and sucked out
the marrow. He became obsessed by the Nightgaunts and prepares to
build obscene monuments to them, but of course there is only one
medium worthy for such a task, flesh.
Such is the background when the investigators, Jack Turner, Julie
Colinkski, Alicia Bailey, Rebecca Beirnstein, Buddy Petersen, and
Wendel Boyd, are called on to the scene. (See THE CHARACTERS, in
V16.8, for full information on the prepared characters.)
The Future: Eric's Vile Plot
Unfortunately, Eric has been demented by his experiences at the Bates
Motel. Thus, as the players try to investigate the original murders,
new atrocities will be commited. Below is a synopsis of them.
Eric returns to his home and steals a large quantity of money from his
father. He intimidates a mentally retarded man called John Martin from
his neighborhood, and forces him to rent a warehouse on his behalf.
The warehouse is incidentally in David Riosca's neighborhood. Once
there, Eric begins thinking of ways to recreate the "beauty" of the
Nightgaunts.
On the evening of the first day of the investigation, he solicits a
prostitute named Molly Landsteiner in down town LA, drugs her and
spends the night "sculpting" her into the required form. At
approximately 5am that morning he deposits his creation behind LA Zoo.
It is discovered the next morning. While pleased with the results, he
hires a male prostitute named Randal Horne from a homosexual escort
agency and drugs him, "sculpts" him and deposits him outside the Los
Angeles Museum of Art.
The bodies of the first four missing partygoers will slowly show up
during these investigations (Chuck Dieterling, Jane Halstead, David
Riosca and Sadie). With the discovery of Riosca's body, the
investigators will realize there is only one person unaccounted for,
Eric West. The investigators should discover the warehouse (covered
with Eric's prints) and the remains of John Martin, who was also
"sculpted" by Eric.
Once Eric realises the investigators are after him, he flees to the
caves beneath his fathers house, where "his" Nightgaunts roust.
Obviously there is only one thing the investigators can do: search the
mayor's house. There, they will discover a cellar which leads to a
series of caves underneath the house. They come upon Eric with his
Nightgaunts and will probably dispatch them (most of the Nightgaunts
will flee once Eric dies).
Once Eric bites the dust and the din dies down, the investigators will
hear little scuttering noises further down the tunnel, and thus be led
to a new horror. Should they follow the noises, they will come upon a
cave, where they will hear little scraps of English every so often
amongst the barks and growls. When their flashlights illuminate the
cave they will see a little group of naked, dirty, huddled figures:
one of whom will turn around and they will see the Mayor, Chief Exley
and the rest of the city council, squinting and nibbling delicately at
the ear of a human head. Thus is the man that led Eric West down his
fearsome path truly revealed.
INITIAL INVESTIGATOR'S INFORMATION
The investigators first hear about the occurrence at cabin 4 when they
are rung at 3 am by their respective bosses and told to get their
asses down to Long beach, pronto. When they arrive they will be given
a quick run down on the whole situation by John Carter, of LAPD
homicide. They will be allowed to examine THE CRIME SCENE and are
promised the lab reports as soon as they arrive (1.30pm). They will be
told about the two survivors (Blackwell and Franklin). They will be
able to interview Randy Blackwell immediately. They'll have to wait
until they've met Chief Exley and Dudley Smith before they can
interview Nicholas Franklin.
John Carter, 44, LAPD Detective
John Carter is a stolid, unimaginative detective. He achieved that
rank through hard work and professionalism. While he is not a great
cop, he is an honest one and is disgusted by the intrusion of such
demi-gangsters as the investigators, trying to take over his
investigation. While he doesn't like them, he was ordered to help
them and that is what he will do. He doesn't have to like it though.
Carter thinks the murders were the work of a lone human psycho.
Role-playing: Speak in short clipped sentences. Throw veiled insults
at the investigators and don't back down to them. You despise them and
you're going to let them know it.
What Carter knows
- There were seven people at the party (he doesn't know about Riosca).
- Four people are still missing: Chuck Dieterling (19, son of
animation Kingpin, Max Dieterling), Jane Halstead (21, a starlet on
a Howard Hughes "personal services contract"), Eric West (26, the
Mayor's only son), and a prostitute known as "Sadie" (Sadie is her
street-name").
- One body has been found: Bernie Cross (22, youngest son of the DA,
he was grabbed by two different Nightgaunts and was literally torn
in two).
- There were two survivors: Randy Blackwell (14, a carhop prostitute)
and Nicholas Franklin (41, LAPD Cop).
Blackwell is catatonic and is in a police car wrapped in a blanket
sobbing wordlessly (interviewing her is a waste of time, she is
traumatized and will never speak again. She won't be released until
the 70s).
Franklin is in intensive care, with his left arm torn clean off.
Franklin was acting as security for a cut of the drugs. (Franklin is
well known as a small time junkie and shake down artist, who has
been looking at indictment for a long time now.)
- A large quantity of cocaine, marijuana, uppers, downers and ether
was found scattered around the house.
- Forensics is going through the place with a fine tooth comb and the
investigators will have the report when it is completed.
- Neighbours heard loud music up until about 12.14, which was followed
by a loud scream and hideous laughter. They investigated five
minutes later and found it as is.
- Most of the corner of the roof at the south east corner of the cabin
has been torn off. There are several long serrated marks on the
ceiling and on the roof tiles. They are always parallel and found in
groups of two on the ceiling, while only single lines are found on
the roof (the lab report can't explain them).
- Franklin managed to get off two shots before he was attacked, and
says he hit with one of them.
- A .45 slug was embedded in the ceiling near the lines (the slug
came from Franklin's gun).
- There is a small quantity of an unknown liquid, black in color and
sticky to the touch underneath the hole in the roof.
- The remains of Bernie Cross were found on the floor. His torso was
outside the cabin, while his lower half lies on the sofa. Bernie
parted at the waist, both his legs were broken and both his
shoulders dislocated. Whoever did it utilized incredible strength.
- Blood, hair and tissue samples put all seven people in the cabin
when the event occurred.
- Semen, hair samples and finger prints were found in both bed rooms.
Samples are currently being examined.
- The investigators have to report to Chief Exley in the afternoon,
once they've had a look at the crime scene.
THE CRIME SCENE
Notes in brackets [] refer to the findings of the lab report, which is
not available until 1.30pm of Day One.
It is most likely that players will head out to the Crime Scene as
soon as they finish talking with Carter. The lab report should be
ready shortly after they arrive.
Cabin 4 is a pretty ordinary motel cabin, painted white inside and
out, and decorated sparsely. It is one of fifteen motel cabins, rented
hourly or daily by Simon Bates, a widower in his 60s, who is terrified
that the whole thing will destroy his business. He recognized Margaret
Stevens ("Sadie") as a prostitute, who occasionally brought customers
there.
Kitchen
The kitchen is fitted with a fridge, a gas stove and three empty
cupboards. There is the usual cutlery and pot and pans.
Hall
A empty room leading on to the living room. There is a picture of the
Virgin in the corner.
Bathroom
Done in white tile, the bathroom is fitted with a toilet, a bath with
a shower curtain and attachment. There are three towels all marked
"Drake Hotel, Chicago". There are a number of cigarette butts floating
in the toilet.
NE Bedroom
Spartanly furnished, with a doublebed, a bedside locker and a empty
wardrobe. There are a pile of used joints in the centre of the floor
and a jar of ether under the bed. The bed has been slept in. [Hair
samples in this room put Randy Blackwell in the bed. The fingerprints
in this room have been identified as belonging to a David Riosca, 24,
son of Kirk Riosca, ex-actor and big man in Hollywood. Two condoms
filled with type AB+ semen were also found in a bedside locker, which
also matches Riosca.]
SE Bedroom
This room is furnished as the other bedroom. There is a party dress
hanging up in the wardrobe that can be identified as Jane Halstead's.
The bed was been slept in. [There are finger prints from Jane
Halstead, Chuck Dieterling and Nicholas Franklin all over the place.
There are also finger prints from Margaret Stevens, the prostitute
known as "Sadie". There is also a type O+ semen stain on the sheets,
which makes it either Eric West's or Chuck Dieterling's (it's
Chucks).]
Living Room
The largest room in the cabin. There's a sofa and an easy chair in
purple velvet and a TV against the wall. There is also a small table
against the wall with a record player on it, and a collection of LP's
(Elvis, John Lee Hooker, Jerry Lewis and Buddy Holly). These can be
identified by Max Dieterling as Chuck's. The corner of the roof has
been torn off and there is terrible stench of blood. The lab boys are
beginning to clean it up. As the investigators arrive they're just
bagging Bernie's legs (San Loss: 1d3/1d6). By the time the
investigators arrive they've already bagged the drugs that were
scattered all over the floor. Part of the wall was demolished by an
easy chair (twin to the one within) that was dragged over it and now
lies beside Bernie's upper half.
The strange black blood-like liquid that Carter described is under the
hole in the roof, dried to a sticky film. San Loss to Touch: 0/1. [The
Lab has been unable to make any sense of this, though it shares
characteristics with squid blood.]
MEETING WITH THE OFFICIALS
After examining the crime scene, the investigators will be ready for
their meeting with the LA officials.
The investigators will be led into Chief Exley's office and motioned
towards seats. There's the sound of a flushing toilet and the DA
emerges from a private bathroom, tightening his belt. Exley calls his
secretary and tells her to show Mr. Smith in. Exley sits at his desk,
while Officer Smith and the DA, Cross, stand behind him. He explains
the situation.
Chief Exley
Exley is a probably the best detective LA has ever known. He was
brought up in a family of patrician policemen and can trace his
ancestry back to Scotland Yard and the Bow Street Runners. He's a cold
individual and does not approve of over fraternization between lower
and higher ranks. He is also in the process of turning into a ghoul,
but takes careful measures to disguise this fact.
Role-playing: Keep a straight face, speak in short, but formal
sentences. Be absolutely clear about what you want and don't beat
around the bush. These people are below you; let them know that.
Other then that just act as if Sherlock Holmes was a yank and you
can't go far wrong.
And what Exley wants is:
- The investigators are to investigate the occurrence at cabin 4 at
the Bates Motel, and they are to discover who was responsible and
deal with him.
- The investigators are not to deal with the press in any way, shape
or form. Should the occurrence at cabin 4 become public, Julie is to
report for the LA Times (a paper that LAPD can control).
- Because of the high profile nature of the people and the somewhat
inflammatory nature of their activities should they become public,
the investigators are to keep as quiet as is physically possible
about the case.
- Should the investigators fail, Boyd and Peterson can kiss their
careers goodbye. Mr Turner's license will also come under review and
Ms. Bailey's illegal activities will be made generally known.
Once Exley has got this across, he will hand the floor over to Dudley
Smith (the DA is there only as window dressing).
Dudley Smith
Dudley Smith is the next most powerful man in LAPD after Chief Exley.
While several ranks below him, Dudley exerts considerable power over
Exley and most of the LAPD. He hates Blacks and Communists worse then
Satan. He is personally responsible for the "containment" of Compton,
one of the largest Black ghettos in LA, flooding the area with cheap
heroin to keep the inhabitants docile. Dudley is a very big man and
used to box in his younger days, but his brawn does not outweigh his
brain in any way. He is the single most charismatic man in LAPD and
owns the souls of most of his officers.
Role-playing: Act like a stage Irishman (Chief O'Reilly from Batman is
a good example). Be very friendly and smile all the time, call every
body "lad" or "boyo". Stand up when you talk and look big.
What Dudley will tell the investigators...
- He will quickly reiterate what Exley has said in his own inimitable
style.
- He will make it clear that violence, torture and trumped up "shot
while resisting arrest" charges will be overlooked, should they
occur.
- There will be a special 24-hour phone line directly to the LAPD
records office, should they need to check number plates, rap sheets,
etc.
- The investigators have the full resources (within reason) in terms
of officers, weapons, cars, money, dope, information, etc. of the
LAPD at their disposal (Note that though Dudley promises this, Exley
has noticed the possible Mythos connection and will make the
investigators sweat for everything toothpick they get from LAPD,
mainly to protect his own ghoulish activities).
- The investigators are not to harass the various important people
indirectly involved in the occurrence at cabin 4 in any way,
especially the mayor.
INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS FRANKLIN
The investigators will probably want to interrogate Nicholas Franklin.
He's in intensive care in LA City Hospital. If the Doctor in charge of
Franklin, a Dr. Jeff Watts, sees Jack Turner, he will back off.
Otherwise, only persistent or forceful characters will get to see
Franklin, but the use of force (if they are that stupid) will bring an
official complaint and a slap on the wrist from Exley or a "friendly
word" with Dudley.
Nicholas Franklin
Nicholas Franklin is a bent cop, an extremely bent cop, a man so
corrupt he doesn't even stay bribed. A junkie and small time shake
down artist he's looking at least at suspension and probably prison
time, as he was high on a mixture of coke and uppers at the time he
was brought in. This is probably the lever the investigators will use
against him.
Role-playing: You're desperate. You're looking at maybe 10-15 years in
San Quentin and you know what they do to cops in there. While you do
want to be useful in hope of it being remembered when your blood test
comes up, you don't want to put all your cards on the table. Breath
heavily, mumble and groan. Hold a paper cup in your mouth when you
talk to muffle the sound. Talk for about two minutes and then lapse
into unconsciousness.
What Franklin sings....
(*= info. Franklin will volunteer. ^=will reveal only if pushed)
* The things that attacked the party tore the roof off the house and
tore Bernie in two.
* They were black, and flew. They had no eyes.
* Riosca was there talking about voodoo and his Dad's church.
* Jane was laughing when they dragged her off.
^ They were all high on a cocktail of drugs.
^ Franklin was with Riosca when they solicited Margaret and Randy.
^ He offered to act as security for a cut of the drugs.
^ Riosca slept with Randy after the arrived.
Once Franklin loses consciousness, they investigators will be ushered
out of the room, no matter how hard the protest.
BACKGROUND CHECKS
After the investigators interview Franklin, they will probably want to
make background checks on the other people that they know were at the
party. They can either do this themselves or have a LAPD file clerk
do it for them.
* Jane Halstead, 21, white female, works as an actress for Howard
Hughes. No felonies, parking tickets mostly.
* Bernard Cross, 22, white male, the son of the present District
Attorney. Of independent means, arrested for public indency 16 times
(dropped for lack of evidence).
* Randy Blackwell, 14, white female, formerly of Saint Mary's Home for
orphaned girls. Arrested for soliciting 8 times, cautions and fines
mostly.
* Chuck Dieterling, 19, white male, son of Max Dieterling. Of
independent means, arrested for drunken driving (license suspended
for 2 years) and possession of heroin 6 times (dropped for lack of
evidence).
* Eric West, 26, white male, son of Simon West (present mayor). Of
independent means. No felonies, fined for littering and traffic
offences.
* David Riosca, 24, white male. Of independant means, arrested for
public indency 3 times (dropped because of lack of evidence),
posession of marijuana, heroin and cocaine 9 times (dropped for lack
of evidence), statutory rape 9 times (dropped for lack of evidence),
dangerous driving 3 times (dropped for lack of evidence).
* Margaret Stevens, 22, white female. Arrested for soliciting 19
times.
[Continued in V16.8]
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