The Fatted Calf

Hilary Eastfield notices that over a period of several weeks she is gaining weight. No matter how much exercise she does or how little she eats she keeps piling on the fat. There is no end to her ever-increasing girth and calculations reveal she is steadily gaining a pound a day. Doctors shed no light on the phenomenon and give the impression that they think she is hiding psychological problems that manifest themselves as a compulsive eating disorder.

Maybe they are right. However, if Hilary asks a close friend to keep watch on her at all times she discovers that the weight gain has nothing to do with excess eating and actually occurs at midnight every night.

Possibilities

1 Hilary has been selected as the next carrier of the Bloated Woman avatar. Upon reaching about 400 pounds she is visited by a tall, strongly-built man with jet-black skin who rapes her. As he does so, Hilary’s soul and consciousness are driven out of her body and the chaos of Nyarlathotep takes over.

2 Hoping to derive power from Ghatanathoa, a witch, cultist and sorceress has identified Hilary as a prime sacrifice. As sacrifices need fattening, she is using her powers to bring this about. If Hilary is unable to track down the witch, she will eventually be visited by a manifestation of Ghatanathoa who feasts upon her living flesh.

3 Craig Hampson is the grotesquely fat leader of a local cult. His voracious eating habits mean that he has had to find a way to rid himself of the excess weight. Whilst trawling through ancient Sumerian texts he found a spell that may help him.

He selected Hilary at random; his trial victim. His spell is a success and weight transfers from his frame to Hilary’s. Once she dies (from obesity) he chooses another victim.

© Simon Taylor

End of the World

Every psychiatrist that has interviewed Henry Joseph Rodgers agrees that he is insane. He claims to have witnessed the end of the world. Not in dreams or visions, but that he was actually present when the Great Old Ones came through.

The police arrested Henry when he was found wielding a gun on the steps of a local church. He claimed the pastor was ‘The Black Man’ and would open ‘The Way’ for the return of ‘The Great Old Ones.’ The pastor, Reverend Douglas, declined to press charges, but the local police held Henry on: Disturbing the Peace; Reckless Endangerment; Illegal Possession of a Firearm; and Discharging a Firearm within City Limits.

Henry claims that he and three friends were drawn into the opening of ‘The Way’ as the Great Old Ones were entering. Henry and his friends apparently spent some time in ‘The Void’ before returning to either an alternate dimension, or an earlier point in time of a now slightly altered world.

Henry killed his three friends when it became obvious that they were possessed by ‘Things from Out There.’ As a result of his first interview with the police psychologist, the police found the bodies, and charged Henry with the murders.

Other than well documented psychiatric interviews, there are no records of Henry J. Rodgers . . . He was not born, he did not marry, he never drove a car, he never voted . . . He is a non-entity as far as the government is concerned. And like Henry, the dead friends are similarly non-existent.

Possibilities

1 Henry really is insane. In his paranoid state he falsified his identity: Henry Rodgers is not his real name and does not exist.

‘Henry Rodgers’ may be of use to the investigators: he once was an investigator and may hold information useful for them. Unfortunately, he is quite mad, and quite dangerous.

2 Henry is insane, but he is also for real. Everything happened (or will happen) as he said it did. If the investigators are familiar with his extensive ramblings they may notice similarities - such as a blood moon on the first of the month, a nil-nil superbowl result, and so on.

But when you know the end of the world is nigh, what do you do?

3 Henry is a cult lure, designed by slightly-rational cultists to see who their enemies are. They will wait to see who checks out Henry Rodgers’ story beyond the usual detectives and shrinks. Then, they will kill any investigators they identify.

Of course, this is not all bad news. The investigators may encounter other investigators looking into Rodgers’ story, and perhaps together they may survive the cult’s onslaught.

© M. J. Aylor

The Phennor Fragments

The Phennor Fragments are a set of 53 stone triangles discovered by Professor John Phennor during an archaeological dig in Iraq. The equilateral triangles are about a half inch thick, their sides measuring about three inches. They have etched marking extending to the centre of each edge. Phennor guessed that if the triangles can be assembled correctly, it will be possible to translate the symbols. Other scholars suggest the markings are a map, or even a game. Since the symbols appear to be unknown, translation is an impossible task.

Possibilities

1 The fragments cannot be translated. They are the divination tools of a long-dead Persian sorcerer, and worked much like a set of Tarot cards. Individuals with an aptitude for magic may realise what their purpose is, and how to use them. Intensive study of the triangles results in odd dreams with worrying predictions.

2 47 triangles are missing from the set. When complete they can be arranged into a single large triangle – which shows a map to the Well of Eternal Life. Some of the missing triangles are still at the dig site, others are in the hands of murderous collectors who know what the triangles really represent: immortality.

3 If soaked in a mild acid, the triangles take on a marbled appearance which quickly aids their assembly. Once the 53 triangles are assembled, they emit a bright light, and fuse together in the correct configuration. Then, they start gently throbbing. What is going on?

© Robin Low

The Scarecrow

A small village has recently been the target of a series of murders, all sharing the same modus operandi. The victims are found impaled by a large pitchfork against a convenient wall. The murders have occurred on a weekly basis, always on the same evening; the killer has already struck six times – once during each of the preceding six weeks.

Small patches of straw have been found littered around the dead individual’s room, while witnesses report seeing a scrawny, humanoid figure flee the scene. One witness, Mr Addey, claims that its eyes blazed with a hellish, unearthly light. A few residents believe that Mr Addey was drunk at the time, but the majority accept his tale as the truth. Superstitious residents now speak (in hushed tones) of the “Scarecrow”, a malign entity that, as legend has it, committed similar acts two hundred years ago.

Possibilities

1 The murders are actually being committed by Mr Addey. His victims were all farmers, each possessing a sizable tract of land. With the farmers dead he plans to buy the land from the grieving family (for a fraction of its actual value) and put it to profitable use.

Addey has heard of the “Scarecrow” legend and makes his murders look like the work of the foul creature, knowing that the locals will not pursue their enquires too enthusiastically. Once each week, Mr Addey dons the scarecrow disguise and follows his victim home.

2 Two hundred years ago a sorcerer called Krakenartos lived in a tower located a mile outside of the village. His sleeping chambers and living quarters were within the tower, while his laboratory, study and library were situated beneath it.

Krakenartos, although a kindly individual, became concerned when a mob of townsfolk attempted to enter his abode. From that fateful day, he began to appreciate his own mortality and created a guardian for his tower. Krakenartos animated a scarecrow, since its function was also to deter pests. The “scarecrow” was a powerful construct; its strength many times that of a man. The creature was capable of fending off the primitive attempts of the townsfolk to breach Krakenartos’ home. Any who crossed the threshold were ruthlessly hunted - even beyond the confines of the tower - and killed.

The townsfolk shunned the tower, and Krakenartos continued his studies undisturbed. Two hundred years passed and the tower fell into ruin, sealing the subterranean complex. Krakenartos is long dead, but his creature lives on.

Recently several townsfolk uncovered the entrance and explored Krakenartos’ sanctuary. They kept their discovery to themselves. After such a long period of inactivity the creature was slow to respond and by the time it had fully awakened its prey had left.

Since then it has eliminated six of the trespassers. After each attack it withdraws to regain sufficient energy for its next assault.

3 Two months ago one of the villagers, Paul Townsend, inherited a substantial sum of money and the diary of a distant relative – a seventeenth century sorcerer. The tome, as well as being an account of his life, details various blasphemous rituals.

Mr Townsend gathered together a group of his seven closest friends and randomly selected a ritual to try. It was the Call Azathoth spell. Fortunately (for them) they failed to summon the deity, but a link was established to the court of Azathoth. A single Lesser Other God was wrenched from its master’s side and deposited upon the Earth. Unable to return to Azathoth’s court; it possessed the nearest unresisting humanoid form – a scarecrow. It knows that it is bound to the planet for only as long as its summoners live. After the ceremony it killed the first of the group but had insufficient energy to attack another.

When the group heard of their comrade’s death, they assumed Azathoth (whom they believe to be a demon) was responsible. The following week they attempted to Dismiss Azathoth. This failed as Azathoth was not around to be dismissed, but the released energies were absorbed by the Lesser Other God who then killed another.

So the cycle continues: each week the group try to dismiss Azathoth but instead rejuvenate it.

© Hadley Connor