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Chaosium Digest Volume 35 Number 11
Chaosium Digest Volume 35, Number 11
Date: Friday, March 22, 2002
Number: 1 of 1
Contents
* The Upper House (CTHULHU)
by Tim Wiseman
Editor's Note:
This issue brings us back on schedule. I still have two articles submitted
that will be used within the next couple of issues of the Digest. If we can
keep the submissions coming in a steady trickle, I should be able to easily
maintain the intended bi-weekly schedule for the Digest in the near future.
Keep those submissions coming!
This issue presents an excellent Call of Cthulhu adventure capsule by Tim
Wiseman. The Upper House is rooted in historical events given a Mythos
twist. Perfect material for a CoC adventure.
Enjoy!
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The first issue of The Black Seal features:
* 'The Tombola Cipher' - the Army of the 3rd Eye's secure channel of
communications by Rik Kershaw-Moore
* 'Let Sleeping Gods Lie: PISCES Section H' by Graeme Price
* 'A Landscape of Barrows and Stones' - an examination of leylines and
lloigor by Davide Mana
* 'With Extreme Prejudice...' - a look at PISCES' Jaguar teams in action by
Jonathan Turner
* 'Zodiac Clearance' - a campaign outline and starting brief by Phil Ward
* 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' - underworld complications by Nick
Brownlow
* A Mythos Gazetteer to the British Isles (England, Wales, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and Ireland) by Adam Crossingham
* Firearms of the UK and Irish Military and Police by Hans-Christian
Vortisch
* UK Mental Health Laws by Phil Ward
* Tales of Terror
* Dangerous Places
* The Further Files of Prof. Grant Emerson
* Unusual Suspects
* Occupational Templates for Investigators and Agents
* Green Box equipment reviews
* Reviews
For those still interested in looking before they buy, check out our preview
PDF on our web site: http://www.theblackseal.org.
I look forward to your orders.
--
Adam Crossingham
Was, Is, Will Be: The Black Seal - March 2002
E-mail: info@theblackseal.org
------------------
The Upper House
1. Preface
This is an adventure written for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying system.
Designed to occur in the years 1928 and 1929, it could be amended to take
place anywhere from 1910 to 1940 with a minimum of difficulty. The adventure
takes real events (the Tsotsowa nomads, their massacre by the Mustang
rulers) real places (Jiwakhar, Drakmar) real people (Agon Sangpo,
Rigdzinbum) and incorporates elements of the Cthulhu Mythos in a retelling
of the history to set up the present.
2. Introduction: Geography and Brief History
Mustang is an isolated Himalayan kingdom in northern Nepal. It is split
north - south by the empty river gorge of the Kali Gendaki. The valley was
formed where a section of the earth's crust, set through by fault lines,
slipped as the plates slipped apart. This is the deepest river gorge in the
world and affords a unique direct passage through the 24,000-foot peeks
between the Tibetan plateau and China to the north and the Indian
subcontinent to the south. A vast river must have once flowed between the
towering walls for sedimentary deposits exist to a depth of several hundred
feet. Also, the region is perhaps the richest known source of shaligram
(fossil ammonite shells from the Tethys Sea) that is used to carve symbols
of Vishnu that stand on altars throughout Hindu India.
The landscape is scoured by icy winds and is almost treeless; wood is a
valuable commodity in Mustang, and the depth of firewood stowed atop a man's
dwelling provides an indication of his status. Cliffs are deeply
wind-eroded - soft sediments have been endlessly shaped to form fantastic
caves and weird formations - and as long as 3,000 years ago man-made caves
were hollowed alongside natural occurrences in the plateau above the great
river gorge. Today "chortens" (stone pillars), prayer flags and colours
(red, white, black) appear wherever there is a population - all having
religious meaning.
The scattered tribes have relied on the same three components of their
economy for these millennia: agriculture (with careful use of the little
water), pastoralism (goats, yaks) and trade.
The first mention of Mustang comes in the Tun-Huang Annals for the rat year
652, when it comes under the influence of the Yuang dynasty - a situation
that would endure until the 9th century. By the 10th century it was under
control of the Ngari Korsum dynasty of western Tibet at which time Bonpo
meditators came to inhabit the Kali Gendaki's caves and passages. The 12th
century brought the Menshang nomadic tribe who settled and populated Tibet,
Changthang and then Mustang, and the 13th century saw the Jumla move in. In
the latter part of the 13th century the Tibetan kingdom of Gungthang came to
prominence over Mustang and indeed the rest of Tibet; a century later,
Mustang returned to the control of the Menshang.
None of this presaged a remarkable rise to power of the Mustang region's
small and poor indigenous population. In the first half of the 15th century,
under their shrewd leader Amepal, Mustang suddenly rose to become the
foremost power in Western Tibet. His son Agon Sangpo continued this
dominance; and legendarily brutally put down the Tsotsowa nomads after he
murdered their leaders under a supposed truce. After Agon Sangpo followed
his three sons who maintained Mustang's supremacy in the region through the
end of the century.
But by the 16th century, the place of Mustang in the region seems to have
slipped just as dramatically and inexplicably as it had risen a hundred
years before for tributes were being paid to a neighbouring kingdom. Famine
further weakened Mustang and it split: Upper Mustang falling under the
influence of Ladakh and Lower Mustang under Jumla. The two territories
feuded for decades, Jumla finally emerging as the partial victor by the end
of that century. But with Ladakh and Jumla continuing to fight over Mustang
through the early 18th century, the region reached it lowest point only
regaining some power when its king was recognized by the rulers of
Kathmandu.
3. A Story: Mustang and the Tsotsowas
The facts above hide a very different story and at the same time explain the
rapid rise and rapid fall of Mustang.
In the early 15th century Amepal, much to the surprise and alarm of his
advisers, cultivated ties with the Tsotsowa nomads (the fabled Tcho-Tcho of
the Cthulhu Mythos) having learned rumours from spies of their dark secret.
The Tcho-Tcho tribe, only some two thousand strong, wandered the Nepalese,
Chinese and Tibetan lands - and were much hated and persecuted by the local
peoples for their brutality and rituals. Yet their real power lay in Drakmar
in the river gorge in Mustang, their only permanent habitation. This was a
holy place to the inhabitants of Mustang for the cliffs, rising massive and
red illustrate a myth. It states that the hero Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambhava)
fought and slew Balmo, a huge demoness. Her blood and liver dyed the
precipitous rocks, her intestines formed a long wall of stones and a large
chorten was erected to pin down her heart. Lesser chortens cover spillages
of her blood. Here several hundred semi-human Tcho-Tcho dwelt in secret with
their god, and tended to his needs: they hid in the lower caves of the stark
ochre cliffs, while high and deep in the rocks, immobile on a rock pedestal
was the Great Old One Chaugnar Faugn. The Nepalese shunned the area around
the ancient site, their myths reinforced by deaths and unearthly noises -
the rituals of the Tcho-Tcho.
Amepal guessed he had things to gain, so he gave sacrificial victims and
companions to the nomadic Tcho-Tcho, who took them to Drakmar and their god.
Chaugnar Faugn had subsisted for many hundreds of years on the very few
travelers and enemies that his servants could provide him, or even the
twisted Tcho-Tcho themselves; the far greater quantity of these offerings
awakened. The Tcho-Tcho, freed from the difficult task of gaining sacrifices
petitioned their God on Amepal's behalf who targeted the leader's enemies.
He sent dreams of himself to them, driving them mad, or for those who
resisted he would simply stop their hearts as we would stop a clock. So
Amepal's opposition close and far from home were weeded out and his
reputation and strength were unrivalled. The power and glory of the Mustang
kingdom grew greater than it could ever have hoped to do.
And so things went until Amepal's death. But his son despised the Tcho-Tcho,
and even though his father was rightly convinced that the sacrifices were
efficacious, Agon Sangpo determined he did not need the help of these cruel
and inhuman wanderers to maintain his prestige. He laid a trap for the
Tcho-Tcho under the guise of wanting to expand current arrangements:
"As it happened that the Mustang king Agon Sangpo and the army chief Amogha
told the Tsotsowa nomads: "There are many reasons why we and the Tsotsowas
must hold talks, Come with your headmen to discuss them." Accordingly
Tsotsowa Rigdzinbum lead about ten headmen together with their assistants
and went to Mustang. At that time Agon Sangpo remained behind as he went to
see the army chief. Agon's nephew, who was not far from the meeting place,
went to the meeting. not many days after, as many butchers were each given a
task, Rigdzinbum and his brother; Arpon, a chief; one called Pon Gyel; five
notables; and Rigdzinbum's assistant Pelsi were murdered. Moreover, the eyes
of five of the six chiefs were taken out" -- The Biography of Cheleg
The survivors, leaderless, were forced into perpetual flight for the next
generation as Agon Sangpo sought to eradicate them utterly. The population
of Drakmar was forced to flee too, and abandon their god as the Mustang army
reached their refuge. Soldiers penetrated into the outer caverns and a
little beyond, but faced with the evidence of the dreadful rituals, and the
terrible and unseen proximity of Chaugnar Faugn they retreated. They sealed
the passages and entrances with prayer wheels, magic charms and chortens,
thinking that Balmo had returned to life and the earth. Chaugnar Faugn
slowly relapsed into a state of perpetual and random sleep and there was no
focus to these dreams.
The persecution took many Tcho-Tcho lives and was considered to be
completely successful, however by the time that Agon Sangpo was succeeded by
his son Tashigon and Tashigon's two brothers, the few survivors had crept
back to Drakmar, reopened it, and with elaborate rituals reawakened Chaugnar
Faugn. And Mustang too, was bereft of its alliance and threatened by its
neighbours.
Now the Tcho-Tcho took a terrible slow revenge, and the three brothers and
many around them were tormented nightly by the recurring nightmares of an
elephant-headed obesity, while others were struck down in their prime as
their hearts were choked. Its leaders insane and dying, Mustang slowly and
inevitably fell. The Tcho-Tcho, just a few dozen in number, hid in their
fastness and awaited the promised White Acolyte who would come from the West
and bear Chaugnar away to a new land.
4. The Fate of the First Expedition, 1928
In late 1927, an Italian researcher at the University of Milan, Professor
Roberto Anzalone believes he has made an important historical, in that he
had pinpointed the location of Jiwakhar, the 14th century Mustang capital,
seat of Agon Sangpo. An expedition is planned and put in place from two
Italian universities, augmented by the Italian military.
Nepal's borders have been closed to westerners since the mid-18th century
and the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah, ("First the Bible, then the trading
stations then the cannon"). The party's ostensible goal will be research
into the Gungthang kingdom of Tibet. Rather, they will set up a base there,
hire sherpas and strike just across the border into Nepal and Mustang.
The expedition does not find Jiwakhar - indeed the city has not been
discovered to this day - rather they encountered the site of Drakmar holding
its ghastly secret. Expedition members are listed in the appendix.
Timeline:
18th August 1928: Expedition leaves Naples on the Italian freighter
'Vittorio Alfieri" bound for Calcutta via Bombay.
19th September: Arrive Calcutta. Spend eight days collecting further
equipment.
1st October: Expedition enters Tibet having traveled overland by rail and
horseback through India via Bacca (now Dhaka capital of Bangladesh) and
Darjeeling.
31st October: Expedition reaches Jongkha, Tibet, having come by zopkio (male
cow-yak crossbreeds) and mule. Takes over a climbing/hiking hall and hires a
guide, Pon Rinchen and seven other sherpas. The next two weeks are spent
garnering supplies. Delnegro, Tuminardo, Rinchen make a short reconnaissance
trip.
15th November: The 15 expedition members pushes east across the Mapphm Tsho
river expecting a three week push to Mustang and then three days to the site
of Jiwakhar. Schippone is left at Jongkha to man the radio and act if
unforeseen circumstances arise.
4th December: Expedition enters Nepal (Mustang) on schedule. The route
Anzalone has chosen leads along the Kali Gandaki gorge and then up and out
to Drakmar.
17th December: Party arrives at Drakmar. Anzalone and Bacci argue: this is
clearly not Jiwakhar but Drakmar (also read about but never seen by western
eyes). Bacci wishes to push on, but Anzalone determines rather to explore
and document this site and stake the expedition's success upon this find.
The sherpas make camp a full mile back, unnerved by the state of the camp
(see Pon Rinchen's interview later). The Italians camp right in the shadow
of the cliffs.
21st December: Party (Anzalone, Bacci, Conte, Boggiani, Delnegro) penetrate
Drakmar for the first time; they encounter some drawings and remarkable
script. Tuminardo and Gary remain in the camp, which is now spotted by the
Tcho-Tcho who begin rituals to awaken Chaugnar Faugn. They do not attack,
for this is likely to be White Acolyte and his retinue.
23rd December: Second exploration: evidence of recent habitation. Christmas
Day: Chaugnar Faugn awakens and his heartbeat can be heard throughout the
valley that night, sounding to each man as though it is his own. That night
he sends dreams that affect 3 of the 7 Europeans (Anzalone, Boggiani and
Gary) and 3 of the 8 sherpas. In each camp all three awaken in a panic and
confer.
26th December (day): Third exploration, and Chaugnar Faugn attacks.
Anzalone, Boggiani and two sherpas (Sonam Dendu and Lhapka Gyalu) are
killed. With the others in the caves, Gary stays on the radio to Schippone
the entire day, exhausting the last batteries, as he babbles on recounting
his dream. Schippone cannot calm him. The party decides to pull back at
first light the next day. Three sherpas retreat sooner - Rinchen comes up to
the forward camp with the news, but Gary does not even acknowledge his
presence.
26th December (night): Guards set. The god sends dreams that affect Conte,
Gary and Rinchen (who has returned to the sherpas' camp. With a full moon in
the sky, the Tcho-Tcho attack the advance camp, and despite armed resistance
from the alert camp they overcome and carry off the five Italians.
27th December: Rinchen and the remaining two sherpas seek to find the party.
They find no one. They take Bacci and Boggiani's diaries and Delnegro's
cameras.
1st January 1929: Was to be the turnaround date.
20th January: Rinchen and five of the seven sherpas arrive back in Jongkha -
the two groups having joined on the way back.
23rd January: Schippone meets Rinchen and tries to convince him to take him
to Drakmar - Rinchen refuses. Word has spread that Drakmar is cursed so
Schippone cannot engage other help.
25th January: Schippone telegraphs Milan for assistance.
4th, 6th February: Italian newspapers speculate on the expedition's fate.
12th February: Milan notifies Schippone that seasonal weather is deemed too
severe to attempt to reach the camp. In reality the weather is not the
deciding factor - the university does not have the resources to mount
another trip, and the increased chance of the discovery of an incursion into
Nepal dissuades the Italian government from sponsoring its own expedition.
15th February: Schippone leaves Jongkha with a guide, arriving in Calcutta
via Khampa Dsong (Tibet), Darjeeling and Rajshari.
12th March: Schippone arrives back in Italy via Alexandria.
5. The Goals of the First Expedition
Prof. Anzalone's ambition: His professional interest has drawn him to this
period - he has been fascinated by trying to explain Mustang's rise to
become a regional power. While he has little inkling how the Tsotsowa nomads
could have been involved, he does realize there is no economic, military or
political theory that has been advanced that adequately explain events. He
feels that in finding Jiwakhar he may find the key and he wants the prestige
that this detective work will bring him.
The Italian government's interest: This expedition bears political risk -
Nepal is closed to Westerners (and doesn't reopen to the West until 1951),
so the government has offered only unofficial support. If the expedition is
a success it will be trumpeted; Italy is anxious to have foreign glory to
hold up against those of its rival colonial powers. If the expedition fails
it will be ignored and if necessary disowned.
Dreams of riches: it is quite possible that the lost city will produce
treasures. Anzalone and the university will keep 25% - the government and
Roman Museums the rest.
Appendix
Documentation on the First Expedition
a) Corriere dell Sera (Milan) runs story on departure 17th August 1928
UNIVERSITY OF MILAN
EXPEDITION TO SEEK
ANCIENT TIBETAN ARTIFACTS
An Italian expedition leaves from Napoli for Calcutta today on its way to
Tibet. It aims to discover artifacts dating from as early as the 12th
century.
The expedition is under the leadership of Professor Roberto Anzalone,
Professor of Asian History at the University of Milano and a worldwide
authority on Asian civilization.
Also among those traveling are Professor Paulo Bacci also of Milano and
Professors Guiseppe Conte and Rafaele Boggiani of the University of Roma.
This Italian expedition marks the first time that Europeans have tried to
reach this part of this remote and forbidding Himalayan province.
b) The Statesman (Calcutta) note's arrival
20th September 1928
ITALIAN TIBETAN PARTY
ARRIVES IN CALCUTTA
An Italian archaeological party disembarked at the Calcutta docks yesterday
afternoon at 2 o'clock. They had traveled on the small freighter 'Vittorio
Alfieri' which left Naples on 7th August and made a stop in Bombay.
The party is bound for Darjeeling and thence the Tibetan town of Sakha Dsong
which will serve as their base for a journey into the southern region of
that country bordering Nepal. The party hopes to make discoveries dating
from the 13th century contemporaneous with the Tibetan kingdom of Gungthang.
c) Schippone's record of his interview with Pon Rinchen
[Notes on interview with Tibetan Guide Pon Rinchen, 23rd January 1929. Carlo
Schippone, University of Milan.]
"There is nothing to talk of in the journey. The travel is very slow after
we leave the valley because of the high land and the slowness of some of the
men. We come to the site of Drakmar and the leaders argue to go or not as
they look for Jiwakhar. My men will not stay in Drakmar as it is unholy."
[Drakmar is the place where according to legend the hero Guru Rimpoche
killed Balmo. The chorten there to pin down her heart has been felled -
Schippone.]
"The stones now describe the wrong shapes. We make camp two thousand paces
down the valley, the other men make camp against Drakmar. We are to stay 16
days. The first days there is nothing to talk of, but on the 9th night [25th
December - S] some men have bad dreams which scare them very much. Sonam and
Lhapka Gyalu stop breathing during the day [It seems they are the ones who
had dreams - S] and Gyalzen and Tenzing and Ang Rinzing will not wait
longer. Ang Temba Lhapka Doma and I put the dead men under rocks. I am very
tired even though we are not high up. I walk up to Drakmar, only one man is
there talking to the box [Gary on the radio - S] and he does not speak to
me. On the next night I have an evil dream [he would not explain it - S] and
I wake to guns from the other camp. [more than twenty shots - S] On the 11th
day, I, Ang Temba and Lhapka Doma walk up to Drakmar as we fear for the men.
No one is there, but there is blood, boots, and blankets. We are too tired
to go higher, and we fear Balmo has taken them. We go back and catch Gyalzen
and Tenzing and Ang Rinzing four days after."
[Rinchen refused to entertain returning to Drakmar and became uncooperative
causing this interview to end - S.]
d) Schippone's radio transcripts from the expedition, 18th November to 29th
December 1928
Contains key information on the route that the party took, initial finds in
Drakmar and an extended synopsis of Christian Gary's tortured retelling of
his dream.
e) Corriere dell Sera, Il Messagero (Rome) mention party's presumed loss
f) Bacci's diary
g) Boggiani's diary
h) Delnegro's camera
Personalities
No statistics and only skeleton skills are given for most of the European
characters of the First Expedition, as dependent on the Keeper they will all
but on be dead before the players become involved in this story. Statistics
are provided for the sherpas and Schippone.
1. Robert Anzalone, Age 51, Professor of Asian History at the University of
Milan, expedition leader
2. Paulo Bacci, Age 38, Professor of Archaeology at Milan
3. Guiseppe Conte, Age 49, Professor of Chinese History at the University of
Rome
4. Rafaele Boggiani, Age 48, Professor of Geology at Rome
5. Ricardo Delnegro, Age 32, ex-Captain in Italian Mountain trips
6. Christian Tuminardo, Age 46, comrade of Delnegro, camp chief experienced
in travel in Libya and Abyssinia.
7. Christian Gary, Age 42, comrade of Delnegro, Physician.
8. Carlo Schippone, Age 31, stolid Graduate Student of Archaeology at Milan
STR 16, DEX 14, INT 14, CON 12, APP 9, POW 7, SIZ 14, EDU 16, SAN 17, HP 15
Damage bonus +d4
Skills: Archaeology 42%, Geology 36%, Library Use 64%, Persuade 41%, Occult
12%, Speak Italian 84%, Latin 40%, Tibetan 13%, French 25%
Attacks: Grapple 37%, Fist 42%
An unlikely looking academic, big and broad, Schippone had been at Milan for
5 years before the expedition. Though not a gifted scholar, he works hard
and takes direction well. He blames himself for the failure to rescue the
party, and has nightmares of himself up on that plateau, seeing what Gary
saw. His nationalistic fervor, previously strong, has been undermined by the
failure of the authorities to react to the disappearance of his colleagues.
He will be reckless in his desire to get to Drakmar but he is also
straightforward and honest.
9. Pon Rinchen, Tibetan, Age 39, Guide
STR 12, DEX 14, INT 12, CON 16, APP 7, POW 9, SIZ 13, EDU 0, SAN 38, HP 15
Damage bonus +d4
Skills: First Aid 45%, Hide 59%, Tibetan/Nepalese History 34%, Identify
flora and fauna 78%, Listen 80%, Predict Storm 40%, Navigate Land 84%, Track
30%, Speak Tibetan 48%, Nepalese 28%
Attacks: Grapple 58%, Kick 44%, Knife 35%
10. Sherpas, Tibetan, Age 26
STR 13, DEX 14, INT 10, CON 15, APP 7, POW 7, SIZ 11, EDU 0, SAN 40, HP 13
No damage bonus
Skills: Hide 50%, Identify Flora and Fauna 60%, Listen 70%, Navigate Land
55%, Speak Tibetan 40%
Attacks: Grapple 42%, Kick 35%, Knife 20%
References
Carrier, Jim. "Gatekeepers of the Himalayas" National Geographic Vol 182,
No. 6 Dec. 1992
Forgey, Benjamin. "From Nepal, Images of the Stark Ages" Washington Post,
Feb 14th 1999
Powell, Robert. "Earth Door Sky Door: Paintings of Mustang" Serindia
Publications 1999
Schofield, John. "Kathmadu's Remarkable Newars" National Geographic Vol 155,
No. 2 Feb. 1979
Ship - Get them on a plane then a ship through the Suez Canal? The idea of a
Canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea dates back to ancient times.
Unlike the modern Canal, earlier ones linked the Red Sea to the Nile,
therefore forcing the ships to sail along the River on their journey from
Europe to India. It has been suggested that the first Canal was dug during
the reign of Tuthmosis III, although more solid evidence credits the Pharaoh
Necho (Sixth Century BC) for the attempt. During the Persian invasion of
Egypt, King Darius I ordered the Canal completed. The Red Sea Canal,
consisted of two parts: the first linking the Gulf of Suez to the Great
Bitter Lake, and the second connecting the Lake to one of the Nile branches
in the delta. The canal remained in good condition during the Ptolemaic era,
but fell into disrepair afterwards. It was re-dug during the rule of the
Roman Emperor Trajan, and later the Arab ruler Amr Ibn-Al-Aas. Over the
years, it Fell again into disrepair, and was completely abandoned upon the
discovery of the trade route around Africa. It was Napoleon's engineers who,
around 1800 AD, revived the idea of a shorter trade route to India via a
Suez Canal. However, the calculation carried out by the French engineers
showed a difference in level of 10 meters between both seas. If constructed
under such circumstances, a large land area would be flooded. Later, the
calculations showed to be wrong, and the final attempt to dig the Canal was
undertaken by former French Consul in Cairo and famous Canal digger
Ferdinand de Lesseps. He was granted a "firman" or decree by the khedive
Said of Egypt to run the Canal for 99 years after completion.
In 1859, Egyptian workers started working on the construction of the Canal
in conditions described by historians as slave labour, and the project was
completed around 1867. On November 17, 1869, the Canal was officially
inaugurated by Khedive Ismail in an extravagant and lavish ceremony. French,
British, Russian, and other Royalty was invited for the inauguration, which
coincided with the re-planning of Cairo. A highway was constructed linking
Cairo to the new city of Ismailia, an Opera House was built, and Verdi Was
commissioned to compose his famous opera, "Aida" for the opening ceremony.
Ironically, Verdi did not complete the work in time and "Aida" premiered at
the Cairo Opera a year later.
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