Crystals

Thomas Redding, a middle-aged wealthy landowner disappears from his estate during a snowstorm. Two days later he is reported missing by a neighbor. During the search of the house the police finds clear signs of struggle and destruction in the house. Furniture and windows have been broken and several shots have been fired inside the house, but no weapon has been found. They also found something much, much stranger; several large crystal clusters vaguely humanoid and arachnid in shape.

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Mr. Redding has no enemies according to his relatives, friends and neighbors. In fact, he has a very good reputation and donates large amounts of money to the local university. Neither the neighbors, his friends or family know anything about the purpose of the crystals, no one has even seen them before.

Mr. Redding’s best friend Jonathan Dawson was the last person that saw Thomas before he disappeared. Jonathan had been invited to dinner, some whiskey and a few cigars three days before the storm. They had stayed up until midnight talking about old times before Mr. Dawson’s driver had driven him home. Mr. Redding seemed troubled by something and Jonathan was surprised by topic of the conversation since Thomas usually never talk about the past.

Possibilities

1 Thomas Redding is dead. Mr. Redding attempted to create life from a non-organic “primordial soup” he had created after reading the instructions how to from a book. It worked. Crystalloid life forms grew from the “soup” that he had in the basement. As time passed they grew more and more advanced... but also more and more aggressive. They scared him and soon he simply locked the basement door and tried to ignore them. But it was impossible, he could hear them move around down there. He sent down his housemaid downstairs to find out what was happening down there. The maid tried to flee when the creatures attacked her, but Redding had locked the door behind her. The creatures seemed to calm down for a while after that but soon they made sounds again. He figured that they must be hungry and feared for his life. After the dinner with Mr. Dawson he forced his cook, his driver and his butler down into the basement as well under gun threat. This time he watched as the creatures sucked his servants dry from fluids. The crystals they creatures were made of seemed to “infect” the bodies and they were soon transformed into human-shaped crystal clusters. The creatures grew larger and larger because of the fluids until they broke free and killed Thomas during the snowstorm. He shot a few of the smaller spider-like creatures but was eventually overwhelmed, devoured and crystallized. The gun became overgrown with crystals and remains in his hand.

2 Thomas Redding was murdered by his sister, Rebecca Harding and her husband Lars Harding hoping they would inherit Thomas’ fortune. Lars bought a stolen gun, shot Thomas, cleaned up and then dumped the body in an abandoned cabin in a nearby forest. Rebecca will try to plant a fake will in the estate she or someone else can “find” which will give her right to the money. But what no one knew was that Thomas was dying, he had a severe case of cancer. Only he and his doctor knew about it. He had invited his friend Jonathan over for dinner to tell him this, but he didn’t have the courage to do it. The crystals caused Thomas’ cancer. Thomas had recently bought these strange crystals from a friend. But neither of them knew that the crystals contains traces of uranium and is dangerously radioactive.

3 Thomas Redding was in deep debt. He had made bad bets with the wrong people and now that he couldn’t pay up they made an example out of him. They kidnapped him during the snowstorm and now they’re keeping him in a industrial warehouse where they occasionally torture him. But not too soon they will end his life unless someone finds him. The crystal clusters were merely works of art made by Thomas using crystal clusters glued together to form strange creatures and is a hobby that Thomas had taken up recently.

© Björn Hanson

Captive Audience

One of the investigators finds an anonymous package on their doorstep. Inside is a framed painting. There are clues to its origin on the object, e.g. the artist’s initials (K.M.) and the date it was painted, and the investigators soon learn the truth - everyone who has previously possessed the painting has died within a week of first seeing it.

Possibilities

1 The painting appears to be modern art, with many bizarre intersecting lines and angles. However, it is in fact very old indeed, having been painted by Keziah Mason, the witch mentioned in The Dreams in the Witch House. The painting is a one-way window 700,000,000 years into the past - it allows the Hounds of Tindalos to observe whoever looks into it. One or more of the Tindalos will be arriving in seven days, and the investigators had better act soon.

Hound - image credit

2 The painting is of a hideous old man (or woman, if appropriate), decrepit and ugly. As the investigators search for clues to its origin, they notice that the figure in the picture is becoming younger - and beginning to resemble the investigator that first received the painting!

The painting is stealing life from the investigator, and they soon experience rapid ageing. If they cannot find a way to stop the process they will soon wither and die. They cannot simply destroy the painting, as it now contains part of their soul - damage inflicted on the painting is also inflicted on the investigator - and so they must find a way to dispel the curse.

3 The painting is desired by a ruthless art collector, who will stop at nothing to get it. The investigators will soon be targeted by thugs and assassins in his employ. This also happened to the last few people to own the painting, resulting in their rapid demise.

© James David Beard

Butter knife

As you walk into Mary Heff’s kitchen the first thing you notice is a tub of butter placed in the middle of the counter.

As you step closer you notice a rusty old butterknife sticking precariously out of the tub of butter.

You pull back the slippery lid and see a pool of blood slithering on top of what little butter remained, and there in the blood sits a human heart, still pumping...

Possibilities

1 Mary Heff was killed by her husband, a surgeon, because he loved another woman. He sliced out her heart with a rusty butter knife, and put it in the tub of butter. Whoever sees the heart will have a horrible love life.

2 While scooping through the tub of butter, poor, depressed Mr. Heff ‘lost his heart’. He cut away the only artery that attached him to it. Then he kept it in the tub and put it in the freezer. He decided to take it out and give his heart to a lady who he loved more than his wife. But Mrs. Heff saw it and she shot him in his head.

3 Mrs. Heff loved another man. She found that this man was in love with a much finer lady than herself. In anger Mrs. Heff cut off, and stole the heart of the young man, and kept it with her in a cool butter tub. Now the man can`t love anybody else, other than her.

© Sakuni Egodawatte

Bump in the Night

Mr. Harold Winfield was driving home after a long day of hard work. It was dark and the road to his home in the little town of Biltstone was badly lit, only by the full moon. As he was dozing off behind the wheel he didn’t notice the dark shape crossing the road. Mr. Winfield tried to avoid hitting the figure, to no avail. The humanoid form crashed into the screeching car and flew over it. Harold got out, thoroughly shocked he saw the victim (an old man) lying on the road, unconscious and bleeding heavily. He put the poor man in his car and raced towards the village. There, the old man was put under the care of Doctor White. After surviving the night, the man is now in a coma.

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Yet, strange things are happening in Biltstone. Mr. Winfield went insane shortly after a visit to the old man at the hospital. Nurses and doctors often perform their surgeries and other tasks imperfectly, with horrible consequences. Patients are scarred for life because of incisions that weren’t even needed. Babies are born with sickening deformities...

Still the old man lies there, no relatives, only under the care of Doctor White, still in a coma. Dr. White becomes more and more reclusive and secretive.

Possibilities

1 The old man is a rare form of Nyarlathotep. It lets itself become wounded or hurt and then starts to terrorize the people who take care of it. Meanwhile, the caretakers are slowly becoming completely devoted to it, dedicating their whole lives to it. At the peak of this dedication (which even surpasses the greatest love), the old man dies, devastating the minds of the caretakers. Should anyone guess at its nature (for example asking him, while in coma: “Hey are you Nyarlathotep?”) he’ll slap them around a bit, when nobody’s watching, scream and moan, spit blood at them, and die.

2 The old man is a witch. He popped out of a gate and was hit by Mr. Winfield. Physically incapacitated, he cursed him and all his relatives (among them Dr. White and some other hospital employees, after all, Biltstone IS a small village).

3 Doctor White is a mad man. After finding some of Herbert West’s notes in the Miskatonic Library he decided to carry on with West’s experiments. With great success: Some of the employees of the hospital are living dead (hence the accidents during surgery and so forth). White intends to make the old man his Opus Magnum, during several operations (including some rituals) the old man will be enhanced with metal parts. He will then be resurrected and herald the coming of a new human race.

© Kars Alfrink