Latin Course

This takes place after the investigators have found a book written in Latin - a language they don’t already master. Therefore they need to learn Latin before they can read the ancient book. As luck would have it, there’s a Latin course held at the local university. The course is taken by Professor Donald Brown, an elderly man with a strange accent.

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Possibilities

1 Donald Brown is a sorcerer from Hungary. The locals discovered his Mythos activities and poisoned him. He survived but was partly paralyzed and managed to escaped to the USA. As a professor of Latin, it was easy for him to get a job at the university. The class also gives him opportunity to meet young people with healthy bodies. He now plans on finding someone with a weak mind and perform a mind transfer to get a new healthy young body.

2 One of the other students is Timothy Lyman, a young dilettante. He is taking the course to improve his Latin, as his present skill in the language was not sufficient to read a newly-bought book. The book, however, is written by Nyarlathotep and contains a spell that will summon Azathoth. Once someone has begun reading the book, they are compelled to complete it and cast the spell. If they does not do this then Nyarlathotep sends dreams to the reader, forcing him to finish the task. The dreams describe how anyone casting the spell will be greatly rewarded by the Deamon Sultan. Unknown to Lyman, however, summoning Azathoth resembles detonating a nuclear bomb.

3 The investigators feel unwelcome. It is as if the rest of the class (including the professor) is keeping a secret from them. The truth is that the whole class is a cult, and the lecturer is the high priest. Nobody actually learns Latin during the lectures (instead Latin cult phrases are repeated and learned by rote). The investigators have been placed in this class by mistake - will they discover the mistake before they are abducted and sacrificed at the next sabbath?

© Nicolai E Lassen

Late Night Out

While relaxing at a local watering hole in the town of Arkham, the investigators are approached by a patrolman to whom they have some familiarity. After a few cautionary glances around the room, the officer furtively explains a strange situation he has been dealing with.

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For at least six months, a peculiar number of post-revelers have been found staggering around in the early morning; often stumbling over themselves as they shelter their eyes from the fingers of dawn’s light. The officer soon clarifies that it is not so much the amount of over-indulgers he has been rounding up in the mornings, but their identities that concerns him. Unlike the expected round up of recovering college students and forlorn recent lay-offs; the officer has been collecting men and women from the city’s upper classes.

At first, there was nothing too unusual about finding the leftover attendees from late night society parties. However, the patrolman now finds himself dealing with four or five of these types each weekend morning, an unusual number for a small conservative New England town. Moreover, these wealthy drunkards have all demonstrated unusually potent symptoms of recovering inebriation; none have any memories of the evening before. This has caused a distressing situation for the officer since the duty of returning embarrassed society folk to their homes is immeasurably more delicate and time consuming than dealing with recovering students. Lastly, one characteristic peculiar to all of these late night partygoers both unifies them and disturbs the police officer. They all have dark stains around their mouths and have halitosis that reeks of purification and decay.

Possibilities

1 Over the past year, a most popular, and expensive, wine has been introduced to some of the finer restaurants in Arkham. One of the alluring traits of the vineyard that produces this drink is its unusual origin, the hills of central Maine. Although most people believed this region to be too cold, too rocky, and too mountainous to produce fine grapes, a local farmer has been successfully growing several varieties of unusual wine grapes and producing wine. However, this unexpected agricultural prosperity derives from an abyssal horror beneath the vineyard.

Several years previous, an earthquake opened up fissures in the ground near a farm in rural Maine. These fissures extended far below the earth to the dwelling place of the Great Old One, Ghatanothoa. Since then, this being’s tentacles have been slowly winding their way upwards, and in the process, they have contaminated and enchanted the soil. The tainted produce from the farm has slowly been driving the farmer and his family mad, and in the process allowed the Ghatanothoa to implant vile suggestions in their minds. Acting on these suggestions, the family began producing vile wine derived from the essence of the ancient evil being.

The imbibers of the beverage will soon too become enthralled by Ghatanothoa’s influence and carry out his plans to free himself from the depths.

2 It is strange that the police officer is so concerned with the multiplication of wandering drunken socialites when a more distressing phenomenon has been taking place. Coinciding with the appearance of wealthy hung-over partygoers has been a staggering rise in missing homeless persons.

A wealthy, though insane, dilettante who had acquired a copy of the forbidden German text, Unausprechlichen Kulten, was the initial assailant of these unfortunate street people. The blood of his victims was used in a strange recipe deciphered from the blasphemous tome. This recipe produces a magical and blissful cocktail that sends the imbiber’s mind to a dimension of wonders for several hours, leaving their body in a mindless state for the duration. He has now enthralled several other socialites by throwing lavish parties where he serves the intoxicating cocktail. After these parties, several of the attendees have stumbled into the streets drunk on the magical potion, only to be found by disgruntled police officers.

The upper classes have now developed a desire for more of the forbidden potion, a desire that drives them to kidnap lost souls for more blood to brew the magical draught.

3. A new resident to the country has recently moved to Arkham from somewhere in the ancient Zargos mountains of modern-day Iraq. With him, he has brought dark and powerful secrets that his family has carried though the centuries. These antediluvian secrets can be used to fulfill many modern-day desires, and the immigrant has made use of this by teaching them to local families in exchange for certain sacrifices. Many of these families made quick use of the powerful lore to increase their social status and wealth. The sacrifice demanded of them by the immigrant-wizard is the nightly servitude of a close family member. More specifically, the unfortunate family member must submit their soul in an unholy ritual; thereby becoming a mindless zombie controlled by the wizard.

No one yet knows what the magically bonded family members do, or where they go, each night. However, with such a large number of zombie-workers, the wizard’s schemes are likely to be considerable and terrifying, and may involve restoring his homeland to its former Mesopotamian splendor.

© Joel Karwatsky

Keyboard Music

The radio was jealous of the computer keyboard, the writer could see that now. He had written his radio scripts with the keyboard, and they had been played on radios across the world. Except his own. He didn’t want to hear his own plays; they were so much better in his imagination. But, the radio was fed up at not even being able to be a part of its master’s success. The writer realized that as soon as the keyboard started playing music.

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Closer inspection reveals that there is a crack in the cellar wall, and the snail has come through from next door. The neighbouring house is owned by Sebastian Crease, a thin gentleman in his late-fifties, who lives alone.

Possibilities

1 The writer has been doing a lot of work recently, and is just tired. What actually happened was that he left the keyboard by the radio, and due to a trick of acoustics the music seemed to originate from the keyboard.

2 It’s true. The radio has developed an evil intelligence.

3 The writer recently was asked to write a censored, non-sanity threatening version of The King in Yellow. This is Hastur’s vengance. It is just part of a long campaign to drive the writer insane.

© Arthur Boff

In the cards

A friend of the characters reads Tarot cards. Their latest client drew the death card as the final card. The client, a middle-aged man, was murdered shortly after. The cards may contain significant clues to unmasking the killer -- if, of course, divination is real.

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Possibilities

1 The cards do indeed reveal the identity of the killer. He is a professional criminal who was hired to kill the client and make it look like a random mugging. The victim’s wife and lover hired the thug, who is not a full-time hitman.

2 The cards are meaningless. The death of the client is a coincidence. The culprit is a hitman hired by business associates of the victim. As the card reader says, “the death card is actually positive -- it signifies change”.

3 The fortune teller actually killed the man to boost his own profile as a fantastic reader. The victim described the reading to friends before his demise. The card reader will try to mislead the characters with false clues and red herring suspects.

© Brian Woodman

I see a bird. No, wait . . . a byakhee!

An alienist from central Europe has recently moved into town. His reputation among the well-to-do profits from the developments of European psychoanalysis (Jung, Adler, Freud), and his references are spotless. Many successful treatments of upper-class patients spread the word, and soon he becomes known only as Doctor Blue, for his therapy of choice is the inkblot test.

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After half a year, though, many former patients start to exhibit homicidal and suicidal behaviour, and disappear. These apparently unrelated incidents are mostly covered up. Any suspicions take a while to emerge. Has an investigator been treated?

Possibilities

1 It’s in the shapes of the inkblots. He doesn’t use random shapes; his base set was designed by his Egyptian assistant (Nyarlathotep), who worked for him back in Europe. Checking for this person reveals that he disappeared near Gizeh three years ago. The homicides and suicides committed by the former patients all relate to clichéd Egyptian motives: Buried alive, suffocated in cloth, bitten by an asp, ritual sacrifice...

2 It’s in the ink. The doctor once found a strange squid-like creature while beachcombing, felt compelled to take it home, and has been using it to produce ink ever since. Handling the ink, and working with the inkblots can spread the Innsmouth taint. The doctor has escaped the taint so far, but his doom is inevitable. When he finally disappears, what happens with the sea spawn?

3 Doctor Blue is a cultist and a “Revanchist”. He feels that Americans (or whoever) must be punished for their role in the great war. His carefully designed inkblots contain fractal images of Daoloth. Their full effect only manifests after several months, affording the illusion of successful cure. Several months, that is, unless someone expands them into full images of Daoloth - in which case the full effect takes place in seconds.

© Felix Girke

Hoarder of the Unspoken Words

When you step inside the damp, dark forest and walk straight for about a mile; you will come acrose a cave made of solid granite. If you dare step inside; you will have two tunnels to choose from. If you go to the right one, you will fall to your death over a steep cliff. If you go to your left you will enter an open, hollow space.

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You will probably fall dead when you see the crumpled figure in front of you, but if you don’t you will be able to cast your eyes upon the lady’s face. She will give you a toothless smile. You will ignore her and look around the small cave. Will you will notice are many shelves, and thousands of jars piled on those shelves. Then maybe, if you have a keen eye, you would notice that inside the jars, small entities whizz around.

The old hag would take one step closer. You won’t notice her, because you are in awe at the contents of the small cave. The old lady will promptly topple you over. She will bend down and inhale your soul. Your voice will soon follow your soul. You will die instantly, and the lady will place your voice and soul in an empty jar.

Possibilities

1 When unlucky visitors like you stumble upon the old hag’s cottage, she grabs you, sucks out your soul and your voice, and places them in a jar. It is said that only one person has ever escaped from the witch. Nobody knows for sure why the old thing collects people’s souls and voices, but some people say that she never had her own soul or voice, so she doesn’t want others to have some either.

2 The old hag is just a hallucination of the mind. After wandering for about an hour in the forest, most people are so used to the damp darkness that they start having crazy illusions. Humans shouldn’t be in pitch dark with their eyes open for more than an hour, so it is very possible that this is the case. The hallucination is probably very strong, so the people who see it die.

3 The witch is just a made-up story.

© Sakuni Egodawatte

Highway to Hell

A car has been causing some problems for its drivers. It drives normally until out public view, then breaks through dimensional barriers and into other universes. So far each of its owners has driven stubbornly onward through the universes in shock and terror until they revert back to Earth after one mile. Then they leave it by the roadside. It always ends back in the city.

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Possibilities

1 A cultist owned the car, and used a spell that allowed him to phase in and out of reality. He disappeared after an unfortunate run-in with an otherworldly entity.

2 Through choice or force, a dimensional shambler is bound to the car and has been unable to break free of its magical bonds. It keeps trying, though.

3 Nyarlathotep has been having some fun with his new mask, driving insane its various owners.

© Sterling Olson

Hands

It’s late one night on a particularly isolated stretch of road. The temperature begins to drop, and the driver suddenly senses that “something else” is in the car.

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Suddenly, a pair of hairy Hands reach over and grasp the wheel, wrenching it from the driver’s control. The vehicle spins to a halt, narrowly missing some trees. Immediately the Hands vanish, having been there for mere seconds. A careful examination of the car reveals no anomalies.

The disembodied Hands are extremely strong. Each Hand has three sinewy fingers and a thumb, each sporting a talon or claw. The Hands usually appear attached to powerful forearms that disappear at the elbow. They never attack directly, but may operate machines, prod and shove people/objects and even scratch or write messages.

The Hands usually appear out of nowhere, work their evil, and then vanish abruptly.

Possibilities

1 The “Hairy Hands” are a popular local myth. The stretch of road in question is notorious for fatal accidents, and many survivors of accidents claim to have seen the hideous Hands. Legend states that a murderer was lynched on that spot 150 years ago - and that the spirit of the murderer lives on.

2 The vehicle itself is haunted. When it was very new, it struck and killed a young man, Frederick Winterbottom. Winterbottom himself dabbled in dubious occult arts and his spirit now haunts the car.

3 The Hands were a part of a deliberate attack by the remnants of a previously vanquished cult. Remaining members, seeking revenge, have summoned a black and terrible spirit to do their bloody deed. Part of the summoning ritual involved each cultist cutting off a hand. The Hands will not cease until revenge is complete.

(Inspired by the “hairy hands of Dartmoor”.)

© Rob Illing

Grand Guignol

Showman and master of the macabre, Mondreau the Magnificent has been stunning carnival crowds for more than 15 years with his gory exhibitions. Mondreau, whose real name is Vincent Van Dorpe, puts on a grand guignol show called “The Theatre of Pain”. The blood flows in gouts and the actors scream as their bodies are gouged, burned and maimed by many different cruel devices and methods. “All in good fun” as Mondreau likes to put it. Mondreau assures the stunned crowd it was just a show and always brings the actors out to take a bow. The show is so realistic that most find it hard to put out of their minds.

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Over the last few years many people have asked him how he does it. He politely refuses of course. The investigators have been hired to look into the show and what the mysterious Van Dorpe’s ulterior motives are, if any.

Possibilities

1 Van Dorpe is really an ancient and powerful sorcerer and devoted servant of Shub Niggurath. Some of his actors are re-animated dead bodies, which he uses in his show. In addition to his zombies he has a loyal band of gypsy disciples, which he has promised immortality if they follow him and do his bidding. The undead used in the act really are hacked and maimed, but since they are undying, they simply need to be stitched back together. Using several different stage names and acts he has been touring the world with his band of animated dead for the past 122 years. His followers are totally loyal to him and will defend Van Dorpe and the show to the death. Van Dorpe needs to travel as he does to sustain himself and his followers. Large quantities of blood and human sacrifices for his god are all that keep him from the death that he has for so long eluded.

2 Mondreau the Magnificent is the leader of a troupe of cannibals. The Theatre of Pain is a front for their activities. Between cities Van Dorpe and his cannibalistic entourage pick up hitchhikers and transients. The unlucky victims are fed, drugged and hypnotized for use in the show. The people who are maimed and tortured on stage really are. There are no mythos influences involved, just garden variety cannibalism.

3 Mondreau the Magnificent is what he says he is… a showman. He and his troupe have honed their act to the point of perfection. The reason his act is so realistic is that the actors who play the victims really are maimed, but not by him. Van Dorpe uses actors who are amputees or suffer from some form of handicap to add to the realism. When an arm is sawn off in the show it is a realistic prosthetic or when an eye is gouged out it was glass. His troupe of actors is devoutly loyal to him and will not divulge any of Mondreau’s secrets of stagecraft.

© Kevin Kaier