The Power Cut

During a storm a few nights ago there was a power cut affecting a wide area around a nearby town; when the lights came back on, Robert Wilkinson (a friend of the investigators) was found dead in his home. His body was strangely withered and aged.

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Possibilities

1 Wilkinson is actually the malignant agent of a local cult. In the cellar of his home he keeps a young Colour Out of Space that he uses to kill captured victims and unwary investigators. The Colour is trapped within an electromagnetic field that Wilkinson can switch on and off at will; however, with the house’s generator undergoing repairs the energy for this field is tapped directly from the local power lines. With the power cut, the Colour was released, and it quickly fed upon its captor. Now it has once again been drawn into its magnetic prison, and only the strange drain on the nearest power plant indicates its existence to the outside world.

2 Wilkinson was older than he appeared. A lot older. He had discovered an ancient scroll bearing a ritual that would allow him to regularly rejuvenate himself, effectively bestowing eternal life. However, a few nights ago he made a fatal error when choosing to perform the ceremony, and the sudden power cut – a possibility he had entirely overlooked – interrupted his reading of the all-important magic words. With the spell suddenly broken he reverted to his real age, and the scroll – a contract with the Outer Gods – crumbled into dust, its final conditions met. Only Wilkinson’s secret diary bears any clue as to the terrible pact he made, a pact he paid for with his soul.

3 The investigators have made some dangerous enemies, individuals who will stop at nothing to destroy them. This group travelled under cover of darkness to the home of Wilkinson, where they tortured and interrogated the player’s friend with the Shrivelling spell, before finally ending the interview – and the poor man’s life. Now this group is ready to strike, strengthened by the information they have acquired. They know as much about the players and the progress of their investigation as did their late friend.

© Callum Pearce