The Mythos Collector

It is a stormy night. In an attempt to find shelter, the investigators enter an antique shop by the name of Bradshaw’s Curios. Bradshaw’s Curios is owned by Marshal Bradshaw, a withered old man. (In reality, Bradshaw is only 36 but he has experienced things that have agee him.) Bradshaw is obviously kind but if asked about the weather, he says, “Nice, is it not?” His mind is obviously shattered, and this only a hint of it.

The interior of Bradshaw’s Curios is filled with objects, artefacts and curios of the past and present. There is a flight of stairs at the far end of the shop leading up to a door.

Upon one wall there are five clay bas-reliefs. One is of a pulpy octopus head surmounting a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings (Great Cthulhu). Another shows a monstrous ever-shifting mass of protoplasm (a shoggoth).A third  is of a bloated, grotesque and headless human-like body, completely naked with orifices upon the palm of its hands (Y’Golanac).

One bas-relief is clearly different to the others, as it is more detailed and appears to be more recent. It shows a worm-like entity with tentacles upon its head that has been pierced by an odd crystal. The sides of the crystal are covered various symbols (among them the the Elder sign, the yellow sign, Y’Golonac’s symbols and others).

This bas-relief was carved by Bradshaw himself and shows a trapped and bound Cthonian - a scene Bradshaw saw in life. Due to the realistic like of said bas-relief the sanity loss is much more severe then any of the other statues.

One wall is covered with book shelves that are crammed with books and pamphlets. The collection includes a number of forbidden books: Necronomicon in Latin, Al-Azif in Arabic, the Book of Eibon in English, The Cthäat Aquadingen in German and more.

Possibilities

1 Using sorcery contained within one of the forbidden books, Bradshaw is able to create an illusion that brings the bas-reliefs to life.  Bradshaw does this to entertain himself - he doesn’t have a television or radio.

2 If Bradshaw perceives the investigators as a threat, he will excuse himself and retire upstairs. There he tries to summon a byhakee - but unfortunately the summoning goes wrong. The byahkee arrives, but is merely angered. It lashes out and kills Bradshaw before turning on the investigators.

3 The stairs are a powerful magical illusion. If anyone tries to climb them they fall through the seemingly solid “wall” and into caverns below the shop. The caverns are deep and almost endless - and somewhere down there is a Cthonian, trapped by a giant symbol-covered crystal... 

© Daniel Dunn

Kindergarten Kult

All is not well at the Arkham Day-Care Center. The children who attend seem to have fun at the Centre, but recently they complained of nightmares. The nightmares vary, but they all seem to be about Mrs Mollse, the Center’s nurse.

Possibilities

1 Mrs Mollse is a member of the Arkham Witch-Cult. She has recently been given a mind-control spell by the Outer God Yitllicn, the Alterer of Thoughts. She is using it on the children under her care. Whilst under the spell’s influence, they think all is normal, not knowing that they are carrying out unspeakable tasks in the name of Yitllicn. However, when they sleep, the memories of what really happened seep through.

2     About a month ago, Cthulhu visited Mrs Mollse in her dreams, "requesting" that she become one of her priests. Foolishly, Mrs Mollse refused. The Dreamer in R’lyeh is now trying to incriminate Mrs Mollse in a child-abuse case (deep ones are really carrying out the abuse).

3     The nightmares are of Mrs Mollse being torn up by awful dog-like beasts (experienced investigators will realize that these are the Hounds of Tindalos). Before she came to the Center, Mrs Mollse was a New Age Traveller. Experimenting with a certain drug, she encountered the Hounds. She fled the New Age camp and became a kindergarten nurse, which she thought would be enough to give the Hounds the slip. The Hounds have not caught up with her yet, as she went quite far in time. The dreams are warnings sent by arrival species of angular time.

© Arthur Boff

The Manacles

Taken from G Hall’s Myths and Legends in Cornwall (1921), this is the only recorded copy of this legend. The Manacles derive their name from ‘maen eglos’ which means ‘stone church’ in Cornish.

Just around from Manacle Point (on the nearby coast) is Porthoustock. The cliffs there are carved into grotesque shapes by extensive blasting.

Possibilities

1 The legend is partially correct and a great demon known only as the kirix is imprisoned beneath the sea bed.

2 The legend is a complete fabrication, but there was evil present at one time. Upon the Manacles an ancient, squat temple dedicated to a dark god, can be found. This is the stone church and it was abandoned centuries ago and can be found by anyone who explores the Manacles.

3 The stone church is a deep one temple, with their hybrids quarrying away at Porthoustock to free a star-spawn of Cthulhu trapped there. They are still a long way from freeing the vast beast.

© Steve Hatherley