A dog can be a loyal companion in trying times. One of the investigators has a dog – as a faithful guardian, a reliable tracker, and someone he can always trust. Today, however, there appears to be something wrong - as the investigator comes downstairs, it stands in the hall, growling up at him. It doesn’t seem to want to come upstairs, but won’t let him go down.
Possibilities
1 The dog was scratching around in nearby woods a few days ago when it unearthed a Traveller larva, swallowed it and was possessed. The alien’s ship fell to Earth in an asteroid shower a centuries ago and this entity has only recently been disturbed by the dog’s digging.
The Traveller now seeks a more suitable host and wants to trap the human upstairs until it can attack more effectively - though it has control of the dog and could reanimate it if killed, it cannot yet make the special filament attacks typical of mature Travellers.
Meanwhile, the investigator might recall that the dog has been acting peculiar since going for a run in the woods a few days ago.
2 A sadistic serial-killer attacked the investigator last night and died, but the shans that controlled him simply flew into the investigator’s brain. It made him dump the body and then blanked his memory of the event. The dog can detect the creature, but does not wish to hurt its master.
By day, when the alien sleeps, the investigator notices gaps in his memory (such as not recalling anything in the papers about a serial-killer before, though it has been a lead story for weeks) and small clues that the shans has not yet had time to twist. By night, the alien is active, editing memories and making him kill sadistically, starting with the dog. It even adds memories from previous homicidal hosts, although the investigator’s friends have ready alibis for him in most of those cases.
3 The dog is trying to warn its master to stay upstairs – the centre of the kitchen floor is starting to subside, and the faint scrapings and slippages have distressed the animal all night. A little weight or a little more decay reveals that this part of the house was built over an old well. After many years, dampness in the shaft has decayed the capstone, resulting in subsidence.
On examination this shaft is found to be quite dry – the capstone has been chipped away from beneath until it collapsed. At the bottom of the well are piles of bones. Most are those of children, but those at the top of the pile belong to an adult. Research discovers that the local landowner was thrown into this well after it was discovered that he cast children into it as sacrifices to his dark god. By night, the sorcerer’s skeleton scales the walls to chip away at the stone used to seal him in.
© Pete Wright
Possibilities
1 The dog was scratching around in nearby woods a few days ago when it unearthed a Traveller larva, swallowed it and was possessed. The alien’s ship fell to Earth in an asteroid shower a centuries ago and this entity has only recently been disturbed by the dog’s digging.
The Traveller now seeks a more suitable host and wants to trap the human upstairs until it can attack more effectively - though it has control of the dog and could reanimate it if killed, it cannot yet make the special filament attacks typical of mature Travellers.
Meanwhile, the investigator might recall that the dog has been acting peculiar since going for a run in the woods a few days ago.
2 A sadistic serial-killer attacked the investigator last night and died, but the shans that controlled him simply flew into the investigator’s brain. It made him dump the body and then blanked his memory of the event. The dog can detect the creature, but does not wish to hurt its master.
By day, when the alien sleeps, the investigator notices gaps in his memory (such as not recalling anything in the papers about a serial-killer before, though it has been a lead story for weeks) and small clues that the shans has not yet had time to twist. By night, the alien is active, editing memories and making him kill sadistically, starting with the dog. It even adds memories from previous homicidal hosts, although the investigator’s friends have ready alibis for him in most of those cases.
3 The dog is trying to warn its master to stay upstairs – the centre of the kitchen floor is starting to subside, and the faint scrapings and slippages have distressed the animal all night. A little weight or a little more decay reveals that this part of the house was built over an old well. After many years, dampness in the shaft has decayed the capstone, resulting in subsidence.
On examination this shaft is found to be quite dry – the capstone has been chipped away from beneath until it collapsed. At the bottom of the well are piles of bones. Most are those of children, but those at the top of the pile belong to an adult. Research discovers that the local landowner was thrown into this well after it was discovered that he cast children into it as sacrifices to his dark god. By night, the sorcerer’s skeleton scales the walls to chip away at the stone used to seal him in.
© Pete Wright
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