The tower

The investigators read a newspaper report about a mysterious stone tower that has recently been investigated by the authorities. The tower is of unknown origin and is located on a desolate island owned by wealthy fisherman Marcus Moore outside of Nova Scotia.

The tower stands 30 feet tall and has been constructed using stones from and around the island. It is hollow and has a doorway at its base. Markings of unknown origin cover several of the stones, and can clearly been be seen on the photograph of the tower that accompanies the newspaper report.

Possibilities

1 According to local rumour, the tower has only been raised recently and the small fishing community on the island stays away from it. The islands’ owner, Marcus Moore, wants to tear the tower down - but the authorities have prevented him as they want to make sure the tower is not older than the local community claims.

The tower was actually constructed six months ago under the direction of two sorcerers - it is part of their plan to summon Yog-Sothoth. They have already arranged for a platform to be constructed and it just needs to be place it at the top of the tower and wait for the right moment to perform the ritual.

2 The tower is the meeting point for a local cult practicing animal and human sacrifices. The cult worships Dagon and was started 50 years ago when a fisherman named Jacob Moore arrived and told them about a powerful entity called D’go that lived in the ocean. D’go is a distorted version of Dagon, and Jacob discovered this “entity” when he read a very old and fragmented version of a scripture containing chants and rituals. Jacob quickly rose in power as he convinced the other villagers that D’go was the one true god. Those who were not convinced either left the area themselves or were chased away.

The stone tower was built to honor D’go. As the non-believers disappeared, the cult became more and more paranoid and bloodthirsty They usually stay away from the outside world and neighboring communities stay away from them. The cult is currently lead by Jacob Moore’s grandson, Marcus Moore. However, the cult is slowly dying since few children are allowed to live and the cult has failed to attract new members.

The report in the newspaper concerns an investigation by the police of several skeletons found near the tower by a fisherman.

3 The tower is a magical beacon that, when used correctly, attracts monsters and creatures from the deep. The tower is the last remnant of a human civilisation that worshipped Dagon. The civilisation is new to science, and archaeologists from several universities have been sent to examine the tower - and it is this that forms the report in the newspaper.

© Björn Hanson

Lost at Sea

The disappearence of Andrew Grayson, the wealthy young Canadian businessman, devastated his friends and family. Grayson was enjoying a Pacific cruise with his family on board the S.S. Arcadia. One evening, he told his wife he was going to take a stroll on deck, but he never returned. The alarm was raised, but Grayson was never found, and was eventually presumed dead, lost overboard.

Possibilities

1 Grayson did fall overboard, and he was washed up on an island. He spent several days surviving off the land before falling foul of the Dzygan. The Dzygan is a flesh-eating monstrosity that was imprisoned on the island centuries ago. It obtains the memories of anything it devours, and can imitate them almost perfectly. With a human form and memories, it can now escape the island.

2 This is not the first disappearance aboard the Arcadia, but the cruise line have managed to cover them up until now. The ship’s captain and a number of the crew are worshippers of Dagon. They sacrifice passengers in return for wealth and fair sailing. Unfortunately for them, this high-profile death has roused suspicions.

3 Grayson, bored of his wealth and his family, turned to ever more exotic experiences to sate his remarkable brain. Eventually he fell in with Angelo Botticelli, an ageing sorcerer who offered him unlimited power in return for sacrificing all his worldly ties. Grayson faked his own death and has become Botticelli’s apprentice. However, a prominent and wealthy businessman like Andrew Grayson can’t easily go unnoticed, and reported sightings of him in Fiji are proving hard to ignore.

© Rob Illing

Breaking New Grounds

Shock and grief spreads like a wildfire through Boston, when the mutilated corpse of renowned construction entrepreneur Richard Walker is found sprawled on top of the thrashed scale model of his recent building project, covered in a rancid smelling fluid.

When questioning the family, friends, neighbors and employees of the deceased construction entrepreneur, they all seem to have noticed a man, who seemed to have stalked the victim. But when asked, no one seems to be able to describe the strange stalker.

Possibilities

1 The strange man, who stalked the victim, is not the murderer, but he is a spy for the true murderers – a group of ghouls. Ghouls, who felt, that the victim was about to threaten their existence.

The construction entrepreneur, Richard Walker, was about to turn an unoccupied spot of real estate into several apartment complexes. But the same real estate already housed the underground warrens of the ghouls.

Knowing that the imminent construction of the apartment complexes would inevitably reveal the existence of the ghouls, they quickly plotted to track down and stop the entrepreneur from putting his plans in motion.

The scale model that the victim was found sprawled upon, represented what was planned to be constructed on the abovementioned real estate. The rancid fluid is from the ghouls, who snuck in and murdered the entrepreneur.

2 The strange man, who stalked the victim, is the murderer – a hired killer, sent by a locale gangster, in order to shut up the victim for good, as he was about to alert the authorities.

The construction entrepreneur, Richard Walker, planning to construct several expensive luxury apartments, had bought the real estate from a local gangster. But when the entrepreneur learned that the gangster had used the real estate as a dumping ground for several barrels containing dangerous chemical waste, he chose to gather more evidence, and then alert the proper authorities of his findings.

When told about the entrepreneur’s suspicions, and his successful attempt to gather irrefutable evidence, the gangster hired a professional killer to seek out and silent the entrepreneur for good.

The scale model that the victim was found sprawled upon, represented what was planned to be constructed on the abovementioned real estate. The rancid fluid was the samples that the victim had collected to present to the authorities.

3 The strange man, who stalked the victim, is the murderer – sent from the remnant Esoteric Order of Dagon, hiding in the ruined remains of dreaded Innsmouth, in order to thwart the entrepreneur’s newest building project.

As a highly skilled and recognized construction entrepreneur, Richard Walker was hired by the US government to turn the dilapidated Innsmouth into a new and thriving coastal town, hoping it would bring new life and blood to the dread and forgotten town. A huge project worth billions of dollars, all funded by the government, and destined to take several years.

But when the remnants of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, who had be hiding within the ruined remains of bombed Innsmouth, learned about the plans to rebuild and renovate Innsmouth, they chose to act against the project immediately, and thus they sent one of their agents, who hasn’t yet made the change into a deep one, fully.

The scale model that the victim was found sprawled upon represented how the new and renovated Innsmouth would look like, when finished. The rancid fluid comes from the murderer - a human/deep one hybrid.

© Tim Deer

Empty Streets

Ever since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the coastal town of Safehaven, New Jersey has had a sizeable number of homeless people. This situation became especially aggravated in the Reagan years, to the point where the traditionally liberal populace of Safehaven showed signs of animosity towards the homeless. A few beatings were reported, and local aid was drastically reduced. Despite all this, the homeless remained.

Now, they are gone.

Overnight, every last hobo, drifter, and bag-lady vanished without a trace. At first, no one seemed to notice. Then a social worker voiced concern. The mayor conjectured the homeless had moved to Pennsylvania with its higher welfare benefits. The police chief argued they had probably moved to warmer climates. Most people were relieved; the streets were so much cleaner, nicer, and safer now. The streets were empty.

Possibilities

1 After the disaster in Innsmouth, the Deep Ones of the Atlantic seaboard scattered. They found fertile new breeding grounds in those impoverished by the Great Depression. They did not have to worry about another government attack: nobody cared. They have been replenishing their numbers for 60 years.

But now, they have called all their kin to a reef off the coast of New Jersey, for the stars are right, and Dagon awaits.

2 Zaka’rn, a man of Leng and a sorcerer, has opened a physical gate between the Dreamlands and the waking world. He has given a special potion (via the soup kitchens) to the homeless of Safehaven, and has led them sleepwalking to the gate, which is located in the side of a cliff on Safehaven beach. In the Dreamlands, he intends to sell the homeless to his masters, the Moonbeasts, who savour the taste of living flesh. His reward will be great.

3 A secret government weapons and pharmaceuticals research laboratory is at work near Safehaven. With the help of the mayor and the police chief, they have captured the homeless to conduct terrible experiments on them. Everybody is happy: the scientists can progress, the police chief’s work is now much easier, and the mayor’s chances for re-election are excellent.

© Markus Huenemoerder

The Poisoned Sailor

A doctor is awakened in the middle of a rainy night by furious banging at his front door. If opened, a desperate, haggard-looking sailor will storm in, pleading for help. He rolls up his shirt’s sleeve, offering his horridly bulging arm for examination. Swelled and blackened, it appears to be affected by necrosis. The man begs for help, claiming he was poisoned by a rival.

“Duh bastar’ hates me guts cos my business runs strong, an’ he’s a lazy, warty ol’drunkar’ who can’t keep ep. He’s poison’ me drinks! Help me please, ain’t wanna die, oh Gawd!”

The arm responds to no medical treatment the doctor can come up with. Hospitals have no more success. The necrosis worsens by the hour.

Possibilities

1 The sailor is telling a half truth. The ‘rival’ isn’t simply jealous because of business competition, he’s seeking something the sailor has: an old trophy from a shipwreck, looking like a copper bracelet with intricate designs. The rival, actually a follower of Dagon, knows that it’s a piece of deep one jewellery, and badly wants it. Since the sailor refuses to part with it, the cultist has cursed the sailor, and will later contact the sailor for a bargain.

2 The sailor has tainted deep one blood, but is also cursed. His now-dead (human) mother found the strength of will to break free of the bonds imposed by her monstrous consort.

Furious by such unprecedent behaviour, the deep one asked Dagon to curse both she and any offspring she might have in the future. Any descendant would come to the world doomed to end his life, transformed into a ravenous human-eating monster, one far more horrible than the most degenerate deep one hybrid. Unfortunately for the sailor, the onset time for the transformation is over... but perhaps there is a way to reverse it.

3 The sailor really is poisoned, but it is incredibly potent. A creation of a serpent man sorcerer that the sailor had wronged. But how?

© Ricardo Christe