Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 24 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 24, Number 10
Date: Sunday, April 5, 1998
Number: 2 of 5
Contents:
>From Foreign Shores, Part 2 (Paul Williams) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: "Paul Williams" <paulw@betanet.co.uk>
Subject: From Foreign Shores, Part 2
System: Call of Cthulhu
Scene 15: An Assassin by Any Other Name
Barely have the Investigators left Ibrahim's shop when an unknown
assailant attacks them. As the first Investigator passes a small
alleyway a garrotte is placed around his throat and then pulled
tight. If the others attack the assassin he releases the garrotte and
pulls a long curved dagger from his belt.
The assassin is completely fanatical and will kill himself rather than
risk capture by the Investigators. Anyone stopping to study the
situation may make an Idea roll. If successful they notice that the
assassin looks as if he is in some sort of trance; his eyes are
showing very little expression.
Once despatched, a search of the assassin's body reveals no clues to
his identity. The only items on him are his garrotte and his knife.
If the Investigators fetch Ibrahim from the shop to look at the body
he does so without question, then shrugs and says. "It is a dead
man. I do not study dead men." If they mention his bizarre stare he
shrugs once more and says, "Many people smoke hashish in these parts."
The police will be of no help either; merely telling the Investigators
that muggers are always present in that part of town and that they
should take more care in future. The police know full well that the
assassin is a member of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh but are
too afraid to act against them, instead they sweep such attacks under
the carpet and ignore them.
Checking a sample of the assassin's blood, which requires a successful
Medicine or First Aid roll as well as access to the proper medical
equipment (such as those available at the asylum), reveals large
amounts of hashish present.
Scene 16: The Greco-Roman Museum
The Museum of Greco-Roman Antiquities is situated in The Rue de Muse,
opposite the town hall. It is open from 9.30 am to 12.10 p.m., and
then again from 3.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. daily. Admission tickets cost 2
P.T. and are purchased either from the Investigators' hotel or from
the booth at the museum entrance.
The museum contains the best artefacts from the Greco-Roman occupation
of Alexandria, although ancient Egyptian relics can also be found in
some of the rooms. The Cairo Guidebook (an excellent CoC supplement)
has a floorplan map of the museum. The director of the museum is
Professor E. Breccia. He is an expert on Greco-Roman Alexandria and
can be found in his office during opening hours.
Security within the museum is rather lax, consisting of a few security
guards that pay little attention to the artefacts they are supposed to
be watching. Investigators could probably steal small items without
too much bother if they are inclined. Investigators who are caught are
taken away, charged and sentenced harshly to ten years imprisonment.
There is no appeal system in Egypt.
If the Investigators have heard mention of the Sea People they may try
to seek out artefacts from that culture in the museum. In a small
wooden cabinet in room 221 (the Fresco Room) there is a section of
wall decorated with scenes of a battle. An army of Egyptian soldiers
is being beaten by an army of bipedal figures wearing what looks like
fish scales as armour. The caption, which is written in Arabic,
French, and English, proudly proclaims that the "Army of Rameses III
defeats the invading Sea People." Investigators making a successful
Idea roll quickly realise that the truth is almost exactly the
opposite, judging by the artwork.
Scene 17: Meeting the Director
Professor Breccia is in his office when the Investigators enter the
museum, assuming they enter during opening hours. If they seek him out
they need to make Fast Talk or Credit Rating rolls to successfully
gain admittance to his office.
Once they are inside the professor listens to their story with
interest. He knew Professor Hutchinson very well and was shocked to
hear what the professor has apparently done. If asked about the
artefacts from the professor's dig he admits that the police brought
them here after they arrested Professor Hutchinson. The items were
taken to the storeroom to await examination by experts.
He also mentions that the Museum was sponsoring part of the
professor's dig and that certain pieces were to be offered to the
Museum first. These were mainly large statues and sphinxes that the
professor's team had located under the water on previous expeditions.
Investigators who question the professor about the Sea People discover
that they were a race who came from "the western ocean" and were
amongst the first soldiers to wear what later became known as scale
mail armour. They are always shown with this armour on, even in scenes
that do not involve warfare. He knows very little else about them
except that they were effectively wiped out during a natural cataclysm
many millennia ago.
Scene 18: A Storehouse of Artefacts
If the investigators wish to see Professor Hutchinson's artefacts
Professor Breccia leads the Investigators through a locked door
marked, in French, English, and Arabic, "Employees Only" and down
several flights of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs is a dimly lit
corridor that ends in a sturdy wooden door with two locks in it.
After a few seconds trying to find the right key, Professor Breccia
opens the door and leads the Investigators into the museum's storeroom
for artefacts that need studying, need conservation work, or have
nowhere to go upstairs. Much of the stuff in here is junk or badly
damaged, some of it through years of neglect by the museum staff.
Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artefacts lie side by side
gathering dust; statues, vases and scrolls are piled willy-nilly
wherever room can be found for them. There is no cataloguing system
for these artefacts and Professor Breccia does not know where the
items the Investigators are searching for are exactly. He is happy to
let them browse so long they do not break or steal anything.
Scene 19: A Most Bizarre Skull
Whilst browsing through the artefacts piled up in the museum basement
the Investigators may make Spot Hidden rolls. Those who succeed spot a
rather strange looking fish skull buried under some Greek statues of
Poseidon.
The skull is most definitely that of some sort of fish but is larger
than a man's and a successful Natural History rolls reveals that it is
of no recognisable species.
Professor Breccia, when he sees the Investigators studying the skull,
nods a few times and says to them. "A most strange find. One of our
research teams was sailing around the area a few miles to the west of
the city, by a small island chain, when they spotted this washed up
upon a beach. It is very large and must be from a prehistoric
fish-monster. It is probably tens of thousands of years old at the
very least, do you not think?"
The skull is in fact that of a deep one who lived near the island
chain of which the curator speaks. Many decades ago there was a
prosperous fishing village inhabited by deep one/human hybrids on the
site but Father Dagon ordered it abandoned when Alexandria began to
expand.
Scene 20: Testing the Skull
If the Investigators wish to borrow the skull to perform some tests on
it Professor Breccia is only too happy to let them. To him the skull
is practically worthless and if these mad Westerners wish to spend
money studying old fish bones then he is happy to let them--after
all, he can then find out any useful information for free.
In order to test the skull the Investigators will need access to a
scientific lab, like those found at the University or the Museum
itself. For a nominal fee Professor Breccia willingly lets the labs
out to the Investigators. He initially requests 20LE per day but will
settle for 3LE if pushed hard.
To successfully determine anything about the skull the following skill
checks must be made. Each roll is assumed to take one hour of time and
may be repeated with no penalty. This represents the Investigators
trying different tests to achieve results.
* A Chemistry roll determines that the Investigator cannot easily
calculate the age of the creature, as he has no references to work
with. However, he can reasonably deduce that the skull was in the
water for around thirty years. A long way off the "ten of thousands
of years" that Professor Breccia spoke of.
* A Natural History roll determines that the creature, although
aquatic and undoubtedly fish-like, shows definite signs of having
been bipedal and most definitely had forward facing eyes. Small
bone-ridges along the "cheeks" indicate that it may have gills.
* A Biology roll determines that the creature was around seven-foot
long (or high) and had a brain of a size roughly equal to that of a
human being. The teeth show that it was probably carnivorous in
nature, although it being omnivorous cannot be ruled out.
* A Cthulhu Mythos roll reveals that the skull might belong to a
Lesser Servitor race, although one can never be sure when dealing
with such forbidden knowledge.
Scene 21: The Golden Pyramid
After an hour or so of rummaging around, the Investigators find a
small box labelled in English. The label reads "Professor Hutchinson -
Alexandria East Harb. Dig." The box is not locked nor has it acquired
much dust.
Inside the box are several pieces of pottery, some tarnished but
readable copper coins, a few pieces of statuary, and something wrapped
in an oiled-leather cloth. Anyone making a successful Archaeology roll
can determine that the finds date from around the time of Cleopatra
VII (the best known of the Ptolemys), although further tests would be
needed to confirm this.
Unwrapping the cloth reveals a lump of gold about the size of a
child's hand. It is irregularly shaped, although the sides and angles
are cut straight. There are no rounded corners or curves. The outer
surfaces are dotted with hieroglyphs.
A successful Idea roll allows the Investigator to realise that it is
part of a larger item, some sort of puzzle. At a guess it could be
pyramidal in shape.
Professor Breccia can, if so asked, read the hieroglyphs on the
Investigators' behalf. He looks the thing over, scratches his head a
few times and then emphatically states, "It cannot be read without
some more words! It is just nonsense, single words that have no
context. Maybe there is more here somewhere!"
No matter how hard or how long the Investigators look, there are no
more pieces of the golden puzzle to be found here.
Scene 22: A Day Trip to the Island
The island where the fish skull was found can be reached by boat from
Alexandria in a little over three hours. A suitable vessel can be
hired through their hotel for 1LE for the day. If the Investigators
decide to visit the harbours and hire their own vessel they will
undoubtedly be charged considerably more. Their Dragoman has a cousin
who will take them for 3LE and he promises a comfortable journey.
Either way, the Investigators set sail for the island chain. The
captain of the boat in which they travel knows a little of the island;
he says, "it is cursed because the people who lived there turned away
from Allah and returned to worshipping the old gods." He does not know
which old gods they worshipped, nor does he wish to find out.
After roughly three hours a small group of islands comes into
view. The captain will moor the boat as close to the beach as he can
and say that he is going to wait on board the boat. He wishes to be
long gone from the island before nightfall and makes that very clear
to the Investigators ac they disembark.
Scene 23: A Long-Lost Shrine
Once safely ashore the Investigators can begin to search the ruins of
the fishing village. Have each of them make a Spot Hidden roll as they
perform their investigation. A successful roll reveals a large piece
of stone sticking out from the ground that looks as if it has been
deliberately buried.
An hour of digging is required to remove the dirt and sand from around
the object. Once cleared of debris the stone can be seen to be part of
some kind of crude altar that looks extremely weathered. Some kind of
carving adorns the sides of the altar.
A Geology roll is required to give any sort of date to the altar,
allowing for weathering. A successful roll determines it to be
approximately four hundred years old. The carvings on the altar reveal
men with the heads of fishes dancing around a gigantic man-fish
figure. A successful Occult roll allows the investigator to deduce
that the altar is probably dedicated to Oannes, or maybe some other
anthropomorphic fish deity, and is no doubt s left over from more
barbaric days.
There is nothing else of interest to the Investigators on the island.
The captain will not let the Investigators bring any items from the
island onto his boat without some very heavy baksheesh. A small bribe
in the order of 5LE satisfies him.
Scene 24: Visiting the Professor's Dig
Following the death of three of the research team and the
incarceration of Professor Hutchinson, work on the dig has temporarily
been halted. The few remaining Arkham University workers are in a
hostel near to the harbour front. Whilst work has stopped they spend
their time writing up their notes in preparation for the return to
Arkham. Temporary leadership of the expedition has fallen on the
shoulders of William Franklin, an archaeology major in his final
year. He is also staying at the hostel.
When the Investigators arrive they find William copying inscriptions
from small pieces of pottery found al the dig. He recognises some of
The Investigators from the University campus and the town of Arkham
itself and is very glad to see them. Refreshments are soon made
available.
William cannot be of much help, as he readily admits. "The Prof. was
looking forward to this season's work as he was convinced that he had
discovered the real location of Cleopatra's palace complex under the
eastern harbour water. On the journey over he began to act a little
strangely and looked tired, although he seemed even more eager to get
to the site and start work.
"Once we arrived he set us to work straight away and he accompanied
every diving team we sent down. After about... oh... three weeks or
so, he began to act very strangely. He looked nervous and kept looking
over his shoulder as if someone was following him. It was about that
time that he picked up some sort of infection, for the skin on his
face began to discolour.
"I was working on shore on that fateful day. The Prof. and three of
the lads, Hilly Watson, Kenneth Cristie and Phillip Bartholomew, went
out with the Arab pumpmen as normal. I don't know what happened but
next thing I know the boat has raced home, the Prof. is in deep shock
and the Arabs kept shouting that Professor Hutchinson had murdered his
men. Then the police came and took the Prof. away to the asylum.
"Since then we haven't been allowed to dig underwater so we spend our
time writing up our notes. How is Professor Hutchinson?"
If asked to show the Investigators their finds he only has a few bits
of pottery and some almost unreadable coins to show them. He complains
that "the police took most of the interesting pieces to the museum for
safekeeping. We haven't been allowed to study them. The Prof. sold a
few minor pieces to Mr. Schuler a few weeks back. He might let you see
them if you ask."
William directs the Investigators to Mr. Schuler's shop if they ask
for directions. If not, their Dragoman knows where it is.
Scene 25: Diving for Clues
The Investigators may decide to visit the bottom of the harbour for
themselves and see what clues they can find. The Arkham dig team has
several spare diving suits (enough for each of the Investigators) and
the current acting-team leader, William Franklin, is happy enough to
let them borrow them for although the Arkham team are banned from
diving the Investigators are not.
A boat with five Arab rowers, who also work the air pumps, are made
available and they row out to where the professor last dived into the
water. The Arabs help the Investigators into the bulky diving suit and
make sure that all the hoses are connected properly.
The leader of the Arabs, Abdul, explains that the bottom of the
harbour is very sandy and the water is extremely murky, even in the
best of conditions.
Walking about only kicks up the sand so he urges the Investigators to
take slow, deliberate steps and not to move too fast.
If the Investigators ask for spear guns the Arabs laugh loudly whilst
talking swiftly in Arabic amongst themselves. The leader explains that
there are no sharks in the Mediterranean so they will not need them.
Talk of fish-men only causes the Arabs to laugh louder.
Once suited up the Investigators enter the quiet, murky depths of the
eastern harbour water.
Scene 26: Another Golden Pyramid
After a half-hour or so of intensive searching around the bottom of
the harbour have each Investigator make a Spot Hidden roll with a -20%
penalty. Keep making this roll every hall-hour until someone succeeds
or the party gives up.
The Investigator who succeeds and rolls the lowest spots something
glinting dimly in the murky waters. A few brief moments of shifting
the sand away from it, which incidentally makes visibility even worse,
reveals an irregularly shaped golden object, the sides and angles of
which are cut straight. There are no rounded corners or curves. The
outer surfaces are dolled with hieroglyphs.
If the Investigators have already acquired one or more pieces of this
item they will immediately recognise it for what it is. A successful
Idea roll allows the Investigator to realise that it is part of a
larger item, some sort of puzzle. At a guess it could be pyramidal in
shape.
Scene 27: More Translations
Professor Breccia of the Museum of Greco-Roman Antiquities can, if so
asked, read these hieroglyph' on the Investigators' behalf. He marvels
at the two pieces as he fits them together and looks the thing over,
scratches his head a few times, and then sighs heavily.
"It makes a little more sense now," he says. "It says something about
a tomb in the marsh to the west and the Night of Thoth, but there are
still crucial words missing. You will need to find the other piece so
I can translate the full text. When you find the missing piece the
museum will happily take possession of such a glorious find when you
come to hand it over to the Department of Antiquities."
Investigators making a successful Law roll know that removing
artefacts from Egypt without the proper paperwork is an offence
punishable by up to twenty years imprisonment. Inspector el-Mahduk
happily explains this to the Investigators if they ask him about the
"exporting" of artefacts from Egypt.
Scene 28: First Contact
Whilst diving through the murky water each Investigator should make a
Luck roll. Ask for continuing rolls every half-hour of game time until
an Investigator fails. If more than one fails choose the one who
failed by the most.
As that particular Investigator passes by the remains of a toppled
pillar, half-buried in the sand, a deep one suddenly emerges from the
gloom in full view of the Investigator. It slops a few feet short of
him, stares for a moment and then darts back into the murky water,
stirring up clouds of sand and is very quickly lost to the
Investigator's sight. Describe the deep one in vague and horrifying
terms.
The Investigator should now make a SAN check. Because of the eerie
surroundings and the totally unexpected shock, the penalty for failing
the roll is 1d6+1 SAN points. Even passing the Sanity check costs the
Investigator 1d3 SAN points from the sheer fright.
If the Investigator suffers from temporary insanity he immediately
drops whatever he is carrying and flees towards the surface. Any
sensible Investigator would also try to get to the surface as quickly
as possible as well! An insane Investigator will be shaking
uncontrollably and does not wish to enter the water again. This
feeling lasts for at least 24 hours, the shaking for only a few
minutes. If asked to describe what he saw the Investigator may call
the creature a fish-man (or man-fish if he prefers) but should not use
the term deep one, no matter how much the player knows about that
particular race.
If the Investigator who saw it has any score in Cthulhu Mythos he may
make a test against it. If successful he can reveal that it was
definitely a member of a Lesser Servitor race, although he does not
know the name of the race.
Further dives incur no further encounters with deep ones, although the
pyramid, if not already found, may still be located.
Scene 29: Schuler's Antique Shop
Mr. Leo Schuler's shop is at 6 Rue Sherif Pasha and he specialises in
old and rare books and antiques. He has all the correct licenses
needed to buy and sell antiquities, although he is not allowed to
export them. The shop is open between 8.00am and 6.00pm, although it
closes between noon and 2.00pm for lunch and to allow Schuler to
conduct business transactions. He has no knowledge of the Mythos.
When the Investigators enter the shop he is dealing with a customer, a
British gentleman, and he briefly speaks to the Investigators, saying,
"I'll be with you in a minute gentlemen." This gives the
Investigators a chance to browse.
The shop has dozens of shelves crammed full of old books written in
Arabic, Latin, and Greek. Many are worth hundreds, if not thousands of
dollars and really belong in museums. Amongst the antiques are statues
of various Egyptian gods, Roman and Greek statuary, vases, golden
scarab,s and other jewellery and various unguents said to be from the
tombs of the Pharaohs. Everything is an original and the average price
for an item is 500 LE. If the Investigators decide to go shopping the
referee will have to play it by ear.
After a few minutes the business deal is completed and the British
gentleman leaves the shop with a small parcel tucked under his
arm. Schuler asks the Investigators if he can help them.
If they mention Professor Hutchinson by name Schuler looks quite sad
and mutters, "Such a great waste. He was a brilliant archaeologist you
know." He is more than happy to show the Investigators the few
trinkets that he acquired from the professor. None are particularly
valuable, and the collection consists of some coins, small statues of
beautiful young women, a statue of Horus, and a small gold ring with a
scarab emblem engraved on it. Schuler is willing to sell the entire
lot for 500 LE, although he settles for 300 LE if the Investigators
haggle.
--
