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

Slump-Fast

Let’s see, what’s in the mailbox:

Image by artflow.ai

Bill, notice, advertising, bill -oh, a package... pfft, another marketing trick with a free sample of a new diet drug called Slump-fast - 100% guaranteed weight loss, even after eating prime ribs for a whole week while only working the chew muscles... well, it’s free and you’ve gained a bit weight - how bad can it be?

Possibilities

1 It works! Unbelievably, it works! Slump-Fast got thousands of happy customers in the last few weeks, who enjoy eating anything they want, while still losing weight. No side effects, nothing - and all the while, people enjoy eating more... and more... and more... ... ‘Brains!’ ... !

2 Behind Slump-Fast is a group of cultists-cum-businessmen, who worship the old ones. The drug itself contains eggs of a microscopic form of extra-terrestrial larvae, which will spread inside the body, nourishing themselves from body fat. They won’t harm the carrier’s body or internal organs (at least in the first years...). However, they’ll start to take control over their victim's body, first only while sleeping or unconscious, later even in conscious state, making them obedient to the cultist’s telepathic orders.

3 A week later: Of course, no loss of weight. Another bluff package! In fact, analysis shows, that the drug only contains the usual ingredients allowed for a non-prescriptive drug: herbs, water, salt, plutonium... Plutonium?!

© Philipp Mählmann

Southern Discomfort

It’s a hot summer day in 1897, when renowned millionaire industrialist Henry Bowens invites family, friends and acquaintances, including the investigators, to a wedding between his son Eric, and Amelia the lovely daughter of a banker.

Henry, who pays for the entire wedding, has arranged for the celebration to take place on a riverboat cruising the Mississippi river for a couple of days.

But halfway through the dinner party, the lovely bride suddenly pours a bottle of liquor on herself and ignites it with a lit candle. Quick-reacting family members and guests extinguish the burning bride, but it’s too late; Amelia succumbs to her injuries and dies.

As they are witnessing the bride’s death, a mutual question is asked by the horrified family members and guests; what made such a lovely lady do such a horrid thing to herself?

Possibilities

1 A man bent on revenge and skilled in voodoo made Amelia kill herself. But poor crisp Amelia was not the vengeful man’s target. Her father-in-law, Henry Bowens, was.

The man, Raymond LeManeux, is the sole survivor of a bloodbath on his family during the American Civil War. A bloodbath that was ordered by Henry Bowens when he was a high-ranking officer in the Union army.

For several decades, Raymond has plotted to track down and exact his revenge on the murderous Henry. And now, armed with a vengeful heart and dreadful skills in voodoo - which he learned from a small band of runaway slaves who cared for him - Raymond has finally succeeded.

Raymond infiltrated the wedding party disguised as a cook. He now exacts his vengeance on Henry Bowens and his family, using his voodoo spells through the cooking. But even though his first victim, Amelia, went up in flames, Raymond believes that “Revenge is a dish best served cold”.

2 Forbidden love drove Amelia to kill herself. Even though Amelia was marrying Henry Bowen’s son, her heart belonged to another.

The marriage was arranged - Eric Bowen became smitten with Amelia and even though he realised that she didn’t return his affection, he got his father to exercise his wealth and influence on Amelia’s family. Soon after, Amelia was engaged to marry Eric. She was also forbidden to see her true love, Frederic Jones - a young man of meager status and wealth.

Despite her family’s plans and prohibitions, Amelia continued to meet with Frederic, in secret. Unfortunately, Eric found out and, once again, he ran to Daddy. He informed Amelia’s family and a few days later, a fatal “accident” befell poor Frederic. Distraught to learn about her lover’s fate, Amelia quickly realized the sinister truth about his death. But instead of confronting her family about her suspicions, Amelia conspired a plan all by herself. A suicide plan.

With hopes of an eternal reunion with her lover in Heaven, Amelia poured the liquor over herself and ignited it, setting herself ablaze.

3 Mental illness drove Amelia to kill herself. During her teen years, Amelia began to show signs of a progressive mental illness - brought on by her father’s molestations of her during her childhood years. Worried about her wellness, or rather, what the local gossip mill would say, her family arranged for her to be married to the son of a business friend, Henry Bowens. The family also hoped that the marriage would banish Amelia’s mental illness.

But the family’s plans and expectations did not banish anything. It only made it much, much worse. But no one took time to notice her deteriorating mental illness.

Amelia’s mind finally snapped moments before she turned herself into a human torch.

© Tim Deer

Stained glasses

An investigator is helping an elderly friend or relative to move house. While clearing out the attic, a box labelled “Glasses” is found. When asked where he wants it put, the old man pales and mumbles that he had forgotten all about that box. He suggests that it should be destroyed, and cautions against opening it.

Image by artflow.ai

Possibilities

1 The box contains a pair of opera glasses. The glasses allow scenes at a distance to be viewed with remarkable clarity, but (due to a malicious enchantment) show such scenes in the worst possible light. Viewed through the glasses, a loyal dog looks like a rabid beast and a friendly conversation takes on the appearance of a whispered conspiracy.

2 The box contains two beautiful, slender champagne flutes. They have been enchanted with a love charm.  If two people drink the same wine from the glasses, they will certainly fall in love. The charm, however, has been corrupted by the dark magic used to effect it. A love begun by the glasses will, over time, become a jealous, possessive and fearful thing.

3 The box contains fragments of glass reminiscent of the glass formed of sands beneath a nuclear strike. It is in fact the remnants of a similarly destructive event - an incarnation of Hastur on earth, many years ago. The old man helped to eradicate the menace in his time, but fears that this glass could provide the link necessary for its return. He is unsure why he has kept the fragments, but the miswritten label provides evidence of his unsettled mental state at the time.

© Barbara Robson and Stuart Barrow

Sentence Served

A Correctional Officer (CO) at a county jail is worried that an inmate who is currently incarcerated on a drunk driving conviction is set to be released in a few days. He wants the investigators to help.

Image by Artflow.ai

The inmate had been isolated from general housing because he caused too much of a disturbance with the other inmates. He’d never done anything directly; in fact, he’d been nothing short of well-behaved the entire time he’d been there, but he seemed to have a natural ability to make everyone around him agitated. He stank to high heaven, like rotting meat no matter how often he showered and, whatever housing unit he went to would start having problems--fights, unruliness, and a general sense of malaise--as soon as he arrived.

Once in isolation, the CO heard strange noises coming from the inmate’s cell at night--sounds like baying dogs, lions roaring, and hyenas laughing. Yet when he investigated, the inmate would be curled up in his bunk, apparently asleep.

One night, while doing his security rounds, he checked inside the man’s cell through the window in the cell door. The inmate was lying down with his eyes closed; as he turned to walk away, he felt something staring at him. When he turned, the inmate was peering out the cell window at him, his eyes pitch black, his lips drawn back to reveal a smile of pure malevolence.

The officer doesn’t have anything concrete to base this on, but he worries that the area will not be safe once this inmate is released from custody. He’s looking for the investigators to keep an eye on him.

Possibilities

1 The inmate is a powerful cult leader and a practitioner of black magic. He only allowed himself to be caught and arrested so that he could make contacts within the jail. The Correctional Officer is right to be worried - this man is dangerous and has nefarious plans once he is freed.

2 It isn’t the poor inmate’s fault; he’s been tormented ever since he inadvertently summoned a powerful demon during what he thought was some harmless fun with a ouija board. This demon haunts and sometimes possesses this man. He finds some respite in booze, which is how he ended up in jail.

3 The CO is making the whole thing up. He is the real evil one. He knows who the investigators are and wishes to dispose of them, and concocted this story as a mere red herring; something to distract them so he can catch them off guard.

Copyright (c) 2009 Luke Manning

Shannon's Photo

The photo was found in a collection of old photos donated by little Shannon. Coming from her old grandfather’s own, more extensive collection, this one seems out of place and perhaps that is because it is. While most of the photos in her collection depict bright and sunny places, parks, trees, animals at play and a host of cousins, aunts and uncles, this one shows a very moody, dark room.

Image by Artflow.ai

The grainy photo almost seems double-exposed, with hazy lines around some of the primary fixtures in the image. An ordinary table is the centrepiece, heavily shaded by something out of frame and stained darkly with layer upon layer of casually splashed pigment, all showing as varying shades of grey in the monochromatic photo.

Most notable is a mirror to the left of the frame that seems to display a much-obscured form, mostly in shadow except for a curious pair of leering female lips. The photo is too small to reveal too much detail, no bigger than a snapshot.

Possibilities

1 The photo is nothing more than a snap-shot cast aside by the girl’s grandfather and mistakenly included in her collection. The woman in the mirror is actually the photographer and her expression is nothing but amusement and frustration combined as she tries to get the shot right.

2 The picture is the last photo taken in a very macabre series kept in a lock box by the grandfather. The grandfather, a form psychiatrist, had taken them as a part of an ongoing study of a very lascivious and twisted woman, a woman with a dark history of violence, murder and of all things cannibalism.

3 The picture is a stray shot of an old room found in the basement crime scene during the grandfather’s days as a city crime photographer. Strangely, the woman is not in any of the reports or recollections of the men who were there that night (few of which survive). The phantom lady only seems to exist in the photograph.

© Eli Arndt

Sister Rosetta

Dr. Matthew Devereaux is a well-known psychologist. He also works with a local paranormal research institute, providing specialist knowledge when called for. He believes that paranormal phenomena have rational explanations that can be discovered through scientific means. This does not mean, however, that he believes that the rational explanation is necessarily something that science is already familiar with.

Recently, Dr. Devereaux was investigating supernatural occurrences at a local cemetery. He was the only survivor of his team, and was found clinging to a large vine-covered stone gravestone in the shape of a cross.  He was half hysterical, muttering incoherently and behaving in an alarming manner. He has been sent to his own sanatorium for observation, and his co-workers are unsure if he’ll ever recover. He only says one thing that anyone can make sense of: “Sister Rosetta.”

Possibilities

1 Sister Rosetta is a nun at the church the graveyard is located at. She also isn’t particularly pious or chaste; she’s been using the graveyard to have secret meetings with her multiple lovers, some of whom are quite influential figures.

Dr. Devereaux’s team caught her and one of them (a particularly violent underworld figure) in a compromising position. Being the only one with the presence of mind to hide before he was noticed, Dr. Devereaux watched helplessly as the sister and her lover calmly and systematically murdered all the witnesses.  The doctor is suffering from shock, and will recover in time.

2 The cross that he was found clinging to marks the grave of Rosetta de Mar, who was a nun in the late eighteen hundreds. She was found murdered in the graveyard where she was later buried, and the murderer was never caught.

Research will show that since that time, the graveyard was thought to be haunted by her angry spirit. It was clear that something was attacking people foolish enough to be in the graveyard at night, particularly young men. Unknown to anyone on Dr. Devereaux’s team, a young man, Charles l’Orosi (an employee of the institute), is a direct descendant of Sister Rosetta’s murderer. The enraged spirit attacked what she perceived to be her enemy, killing him. Then she turned on the others who tried to help him. Dr. Devereaux used her gravestone as cover, and thus survived her wrath; but he did not escape unscathed.

3 Sister Rosetta is a gifted psychic employed by the institute and was part of Devereaux’s team. The graveyard was being raided on a regular basis by a pack of Ghouls in search of their next meal. The team interrupted them, and the Ghouls were only too happy to take something a tad fresher. Sister Rosetta became hysterical shortly before the massacre (the result of a premonition), and fled before the ghouls arrived. Currently, she is wandering around the countryside with stress-induced amnesia.

© Megan McKnight